This article is about the 2006 film. For the film series, see Cars (franchise).

Cars

Theatrical poster
Directed by John Lasseter
Produced by Darla K. Anderson
Screenplay by Dan Fogelman
John Lasseter
Joe Ranft
Kiel Murray
Phil Lorin
Jorgen Klubien
Story by John Lasseter
Joe Ranft
Jorgen Klubien
Starring Owen Wilson
Paul Newman
Bonnie Hunt
Larry the Cable Guy
Tony Shalhoub
Cheech Marin
Michael Wallis
George Carlin
Paul Dooley
Richard Petty
Michael Keaton
John Ratzenberger
Music by Randy Newman
Cinematography Jeremy Lasky
Jean Claude Kalache
Editing by Ken Schretzmann
Studio Pixar
Distributed by Walt Disney Pictures
Release date(s)
June 9, 2006
Running time 116 minutes
Country United States
Language English
Budget $120 million[1]
Box office $461,983,149[1]
Cars is a 2006 American computer-animated comedy-adventure sports film produced by Pixar, and directed and co-written by John Lasseter. It is the seventh Disney·Pixar feature film, and Pixar's final, independently-produced motion picture before its purchase by Disney. Set in a world populated entirely by anthropomorphic cars and other vehicles, it features voices by Owen Wilson, Larry the Cable Guy, Paul Newman (in his final non-documentary feature), Bonnie Hunt, Tony Shalhoub, Cheech Marin, Michael Wallis, George Carlin, Paul Dooley, Jenifer Lewis, Guido Quaroni, Michael Keaton, Katherine Helmond, and John Ratzenberger as well as voice cameos by several celebrities including Jeremy Piven, Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Petty, Dale Earnhardt, Jr., Bob Costas, Darrell Waltrip, Jay Leno, Michael Schumacher, Tom and Ray Magliozzi from NPR's Car Talk, and Mario Andretti. The film is also the second Pixar film—after A Bug's Life—to have an entirely non-human cast. The film was accompanied by the short One Man Band for its theatrical and home media releases.
Cars premiered on May 26, 2006 at Lowe's Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina, and was released on June 9, 2006, to positive reviews. It was nominated for two Academy Awards, including Best Animated Feature, and won the Golden Globe Award for Best Animated Feature Film. It was released on DVD November 7, 2006 and on Blu-ray Disc in late 2007. Related merchandise, including scale models of several of the cars, broke records for retail sales of merchandise based on a Disney·Pixar film, with an estimated $5 billion in sales.[2] The film was dedicated to Joe Ranft, who was killed in a car accident during the film's production.
A sequel, Cars 2, was released on June 24, 2011.[3]
Contents [hide]
1 Plot
2 Cast
3 Production
3.1 Development
3.2 Animation
3.3 Settings
3.3.1 Radiator Springs and vicinity
3.3.2 Continuity
3.3.3 Route 66
3.4 Cameo
4 Soundtrack
5 Release
5.1 Critical reception
5.2 Box office
5.3 Awards
5.4 Home media release
5.5 Video game
6 Similar films
7 Sequel
8 References
9 External links
Plot

Cars takes place in a world populated by anthropomorphic transportation. The film begins with the last race of the Piston Cup championship, which ends in a three-way tie between retiring veteran Strip "The King" Weathers, infamous runner-up Chick Hicks, and rookie Lightning McQueen. The tiebreaker race is scheduled for one week later at the fictional Los Angeles International Speedway in California. Lightning is desperate to win the race, since it would allow him to leave the unglamorous sponsorship of Rust-Eze, a rust treatment for old cars, and allow him to take The King's place as the sponsored car of the lucrative Dinoco team. Eager to start practice in California as soon as possible, Lightning pushes his big rig, Mack, to travel all night long. While McQueen is sleeping, the exhausted Mack drifts off and is startled by a gang of reckless street racers, causing McQueen to fall out the back of the truck into the road. McQueen wakes in the middle of traffic, and speeds off the highway to find Mack, ending up in a run-down town of Radiator Springs and