Cars is a 2006 animated feature film produced by Pixar and directed by both John Lasseter and Joe Ranft. It was the seventh Disney/Pixar feature film, and the final film by Pixar before it was bought by Disney. Set in a world populated entirely by anthropomorphic cars and other vehicles, it features voices by Owen Wilson, Paul Newman, Bonnie Hunt, Cheech Marin, Jenifer Lewis, Tony Shalhoub, John Ratzenberger, George Carlin, Larry the Cable Guy and Michael Keaton as well as voice cameos by several celebrities consisting of Billy Crystal, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Bob Costas, Darrell Waltrip, Jay Leno, Michael Schumacher, and Mario Andretti.
Cars premiered on May 26, 2006 at Lowe's Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina, and was released on June 9, 2006, to generally favorable 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 in late 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 $1 billion in sales.[2]
Plot
From left to right: Chick Hicks, Lightning McQueen, and The King.
The last race of the Piston Cup stock car racing season ends in a three-way tie between retiring veteran Strip "The King" Weathers, perennial runner-up and dirty fighter Chick Hicks, and rookie Lightning McQueen. A tiebreaker race is scheduled for one week later at the Los Angeles International Speedway. McQueen, eager to start practice in California as soon as possible in order to become Cup champion and gain the sponsorship of Dinoco Oil, pushes his driver Mack to travel all night long. Mack is too exhausted to notice when McQueen, asleep, falls out the back of the truck. McQueen awakes in traffic and speeds off to try to find Mack, but ends up in the run-down town of Radiator Springs, inadvertently tearing up its main street. McQueen is arrested and tried the next day by the town's judge and doctor, Doc Hudson, who at first wants McQueen out of town as fast as possible, but at the insistence of Sally Carerra, the town's lawyer, assigns him community service to repave the road.
McQueen finds that the job of pulling the asphalt-laying machine requires a slow pace despite attempts to complete it faster. As the days pass, McQueen becomes friends with many of the townsfolk, and learns that Radiator Springs was once a popular waypoint along U.S. Route 66, but effectively disappeared from the map when a nearby interstate was built and bypassed the town, causing many of the businesses and residents to leave. McQueen also discovers that Doc is actually the "Hudson Hornet", a three-time Piston Cup champion forced to retire after a racing accident, who chose to disappear quietly in Radiator Springs. McQueen, encouraged by his new friends, successfully completes the road and spends an extra day in town, cruising with Sally and partaking of businesses from the remaining shops to get a new paint job and tires. However, that night, Mack, followed by the media, finally catches up to McQueen, who reluctantly leaves Radiator Springs in order to make the race on time.
As McQueen prepares to race, his thoughts keep returning to his new friends, and distracts him from performing well. However, he is surprised to discover that Doc, outfitted in his "Hudson Hornet" colors, and others from Radiator Springs are serving as his pit crew. Encouraged by their presence and their incredible pit stop speed, as well as using tricks he learned from them while in Radiator Springs to overcome Chick Hicks' dirty tactics, McQueen is able to gain the lead. On the last lap of the race, Hicks purposely runs into The King to try to catch up to McQueen, sending The King into an accident. McQueen stops inches short of winning the Cup to drive back and push The King across the finish line, preventing what happened to Doc from happening to The King, and allowing Hicks to take the Cup. After the race, Hicks is shunned for his tactics despite his victory, while McQueen is praised by The King and his wife as well as the press and crowd for his sportsmanship. McQueen returns to Radiator Springs and announces that he will set up his off-season headquarters there, helping to revitalize the town and its business, much to the pleasure of his new friends.
Production
Like all Pixar productions, the animation is computer generated. This is a work-in-progress screenshot.
Unlike most anthropomorphic cars, the eyes of the cars in this film were placed on the windshield (which resembles the Tonka Talking Trucks, as well as the characters from Tex Avery's One Cab's Family short and Disney's own Susie the Little Blue Coupe), rather than within the headlights. According to production designer Bob Pauley, "From the very beginning of this project, John Lasseter had it in his mind to have the eyes be in the windshield. For one thing, it separates our characters from the more common approach where you have little cartoon eyes in the headlights. For another, he thought that having the eyes down near the mouth at the front end of the car made the character feel more like a snake. With the eyes set in the windshield, the point of view is more human-like, and made it feel like the whole car could be involved in the animation of the character."[3] The characters also use their tires as hands and feet, the exceptions being the various tow truck characters who sometimes uses their tow hooks, and the various forklift characters, who use their forks.
The original script (called The Yellow Car, about an electric car living in a gas-guzzling world) and some of the original drawings and characters were produced in 1998 and the producers agreed that Cars would be the next movie after A Bug's Life, and would be released in early 1999, particularly around June 4. However, that movie was eventually scrapped in favor of Toy Story 2. Later, production resumed with major script changes.
In 2001, the movie's working title was Route 66 (after U.S. Route 66), but in 2002, the title was changed to prevent people from thinking it was related to the 1960 television show with the same name. Also, Lightning McQueen's number was originally going to be 57 (Lasseter's birth year), but was changed to 95 (the year Toy Story was released), the number seen in the movie today.
Cars was originally going to be released on Friday, November 4, 2005, but on December 7, 2004 the movie's release date was changed to Friday, June 9, 2006.[4] Analysts looked at the release date change as a sign from Pixar that they were preparing for the pending end of the Disney distribution contract by either preparing non-Disney materials to present to other studios, or they were buying time to see what happened with Michael Eisner's situation at Disney.[5] When Jobs made the release date announcement, he stated that the reasoning was due to wanting to put all Pixar films on a Summer release schedule, with DVD sales occurring during the holiday shopping season.[4]
Cars is the last film worked on by Joe Ranft, who died in a car crash in 2005. The film was the second to be dedicated to his memory, after Corpse Bride. This is also Paul Newman's last movie before he retired in 2007.
The international versions of the film have some English text replaced by text in the local language. For the DVD it becomes the language that you choose upon inserting the disc. It's the first Walt Disney Animated Feature dubbed to Ukrainian language. The replaced text includes, for instance, the "Cars" movie logo, Doc's newspaper clippings, the "Closed" signs in Los Angeles and the "Lead lap" text during the last race. The Russian title of the film is "Тачки" (TAh-chki), which translates to "wheelbarrows," and is in common usage as a slang term for cars.
Development
John Lasseter has said that the idea for cars was born after he took a cross-country road trip with his wife and five sons in 2000. When he returned to the studio after vacation, he contacted Michael Wallis, a Route 66 historian. Wallis then led 11 Pixar animators in rented white Cadillacs on two different road trips across the route to research the film. Throughout the trip, the animators collected items they found by the roadside, like wheat, thistles, snake skin, and road kill. They attached the items, which they called "Okie hood ornaments" to the cars and at the end of the trips, they buried them in the desert during a ceremony.
For the cars themselves, Lasseter also visited the design studios of the Big Three Detroit auto makers, particularly J. Mays of Ford Motor Company. Lasseter learned how real cars were designed.
Computers used in the development of the film were four times faster than those used in The Incredibles and 1,000 times faster than those used in Toy Story. To build the cars, the animators used computer platforms very similar to those used in the design of real-world automobiles.[6]
Settings
The track on which the opening race (Motor Speedway of the South) takes place is based on an enlarged version of Bristol Motor Speedwaycitation needed. The venue for the Piston Cup tiebreaker race (the Los Angeles International Speedway) is a conglomeration of the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, the Arroyo Seco in Pasadena where the Rose Bowl is located, as well as the Auto Club Speedway in Fontana.
The landscape in the background behind Radiator Springs is made up of rock formations intentionally reminiscent of Cadillac Ranch in Amarillo, Texas. The road map shown in the montage history of the town calls the area "Cadillac Range." Some of the mountain peaks in Cadillac Range, shown during the movie, resemble the quarter panels of late-50's Cadillacs, with their distinctive tailfins.
Radiator Springs and vicinity
The setting for the fictional town of Radiator Springs is situated between Gallup, New Mexico and Kingman, Arizona. However, the physical location of Radiator Springs in relation to I-40 is similar to that of Peach Springs, Arizona.
- The story of Radiator Springs is loosely based on Amboy, California in the Mojave Desert -- a town that showed a decline in almost all traffic when I-40 opened in 1972. Sally references this in the film.
- A landmark, called Radiator Cap, overlooks the town, and has two white letters ("R" and "S") written upon it, similar to the white "T" painted on Tucumcari Mountain. In the PSP version of the game, there is a track called Radiator Cap Run.[7]. The style and relative positioning of these letters on the landmark closely resemble the "RS" badge used on the first-generation "Rally Sport" Camaros.
- Willy's Butte resembles the landmark of Mexican Hat, Utah.
- Nearby "Ornament Valley" (a reference to Monument Valley) is derived from the rugged Black Mountains (Arizona) and the famous Cadillac Ranch sculpture in Amarillo, Texas.
- Lizzie’s Curio Shop in Radiator Springs resembles the crazy Route 66 jumble of memorabilia and knickknacks at Hackberry General Store in Hackberry, Ariz., and the SandHills Curiosity Shop, aka the City Meat Market building, in Erick, Okla.
- The bridge that McQueen sees Sally driving on resembles several bridges on Route 66, including the Cyrus Avery Route 66 Memorial Bridge in Tulsa, the Colorado Street Bridge in Pasadena, Calif., and the now-closed bridge over Diablo Canyon at Two Guns, Ariz.
- Flo's V8 cafe looks like a V8 engine head on,with a circular air filter, tappet covers, spark plugs and pistons and connecting rods as the supports for the shelter. The blinking neon lights on the spark plugs blink in the firing order of a Ford flathead V8citation needed.
Route 66
Many characters and places in the movie are directly inspired by real Route 66 places and people.
To quote the Pixar crew:
- "As we traveled on Route 66, we were privileged to visit many places and to meet a number of people who live and work alongside 'The Mother Road.' The following is a list of the places and people we wanted to honor by including their names in our 'Special Thanks' credits at the end of the film." [8]
The Cars soundtrack has two versions of the classic Bobby Troup jazz standard "Route 66" (popularized by Nat King Cole), one by Chuck Berry and a new version recorded specifically for the film's credits performed by John Mayer.
Among the many references to Route 66 landmarks and personalities:
- The Cozy Cone Motel's design is based on the two Wigwam Motels along Rt. 66, in Holbrook, Arizona and Rialto, California. These were once two out of seven built motels, with individual cabins shaped like teepees. Three Wigwam Motels remain; the third (and oldest) is in Cave City, Kentucky, far from Route 66. The recently restored Tee Pee Motel in Wharton, Texas, south of Houston, is of similar design but unrelated. The name "Cozy Cone" was inspired by the Cozy Dog Drive-In of Springfield, Illinois, which lays claim to being birthplace of the corn dog.
- The character "Fillmore", referring to the famous San Francisco music venue The Fillmore, was at one time to be named "Waldmire" after Bob Waldmire, a self-proclaimed hippie artist known to Rt. 66 fans for his detailed pen-and-ink maps and postcards of the route. Though Waldmire's family owns the Cozy Dog Drive-In, Bob, now a vegan, preferred not to see his name put on a character that would become a McDonald's Happy Meal toy.[9]
- Ramone's House of Body Art is based primarily on the U-Drop Inn in Shamrock, Texas. It opened in 1936 as Tower Conoco (from its distinctive Art Deco spire) with the U-Drop Inn Cafe and a retail building attached. Many other establishments built along Route 66 in its heyday had Art Deco elements that might be reflected in the design of Ramone's.
- The yellow billboard for Lizzie's Curio Shop reading "HERE IT IS" with an image of a Model T is based on the Jack Rabbit Trading Post signage in Joseph City, Arizona.
- Sheriff is voiced by Michael Wallis, an American historian and author of Route 66: The Mother Road.
References to other Pixar films
-
Soundtrack
-
Nine of the songs on the soundtrack are by popular artists, as the last eleven are instrumentals by Randy Newman. The album was released by Disney Records on June 6, 2006.
Vehicles and voice cast
-
Race cars
Radiator Springs cars
Reception
Cars opened on June 9, 2006 to generally favorable reviews. William Arnold of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer praised it as "one of Pixar's most imaginative and thoroughly appealing movies ever",[13] and Lisa Schwarzbaum of Entertainment Weekly called it "a work of American art as classic as it is modern." [14]
However, some critics expressed that Cars did not hold up to the standard of other Pixar films, especially after the acclaim received by The Incredibles, Pixar's previous film. "The movie is great to look at and a lot of fun," wrote critic Roger Ebert, "but somehow lacks the extra push of the other Pixar films."[15] Laura Clifford of website Reeling Reviews wrote that the film's "only real drawback is its failure to inspire awe with its visuals and to thoroughly transport with its storytelling."[16]
Rotten Tomatoes gave Cars a fresh 76% (with an average of 6.9) and it earned a 73/100 on Metacritic, both the lowest attributed to a Pixar film. In its opening weekend, Cars grossed $60.1 million, lower than previous Pixar films such as The Incredibles and Finding Nemo. In the United States, the film held onto the #1 spot for two weeks before being surpassed by Click and then by Superman Returns the following weekend. It went on to gross US $461,981,604 worldwide (ranking #6 in 2006 films) and $244,082,982 in the U.S. (the third highest-grossing film of 2006 in the country, behind Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest and Night at the Museum). It was the highest-grossing animated film of 2006 in the U.S., but lost to Ice Age: The Meltdown in worldwide totals.[17]
Awards
Cars had a highly successful run during the 2006 awards season. Many film critic associations such as the Broadcast Film Critics Association and the National Board of Review named it the best Animated Feature Film of 2006. Cars also received the title of Best Reviewed Animated Feature of 2006 from Rotten Tomatoes. Randy Newman and James Taylor received a Grammy Award for the song "Our Town," which later went on to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Song (an award it lost to "I Need to Wake Up" from An Inconvenient Truth). The film also earned an Oscar nomination for Best Animated Feature, but it lost to Happy Feet. Cars was also selected as the Favorite Family Movie at the 33rd People's Choice Awards. Perhaps the most prestigious award that Cars received was the inaugural Golden Globe Award for Best Animated Feature Film. Cars also won the highest award for animation in 2006, the Best Animated Feature Annie Award.
DVD and Blu-ray release
Cars was released on DVD in both wide-screen and full-screen editions on October 25, 2006 in Australia and New Zealand, on November 7, 2006 in the United States and Canada, and on November 27, 2006 in the United Kingdom. It includes the short films Mater and the Ghostlight and One Man Band, as well as Inspiration for Cars, a 16 minute long documentary about Cars featuring John Lasseter, the director. It also had a version of the Pixar short Boundin' as an Easter Egg. According to the Walt Disney Company, five million copies of the DVD were sold in the first two days it was available.[18]
Unlike previous Pixar DVD releases, there is no two-disc special edition, and no plans to release one in the future. According to Sara Maher, DVD Production Manager at Pixar, John Lasseter and Pixar were preoccupied with productions like Ratatouille,[19]. Additional extras not seen on the DVD have since been released on the official DVD website.[20]
In the US and Canada, there were bonus discs available with the purchase of Cars at either Wal-Mart or Target. Wal-Mart featured a Geared-Up Bonus DVD Disc that focused on the music of the film, including the "Life Is A Highway" video, The Making of "Life Is A Highway", Cars: The Making of the Music, and Under The Hood, a special that originally aired on the ABC Family cable channel. Target's bonus was a Rev'd Up DVD Disc that featured material that was mostly already released as part of the official Cars podcast and focused on the inspiration and production of the movie. A two-disc edition was available from Australian retailer EzyDVD, but the second disc did not contain any animation information.
On November 6, 2007, Cars was released on Blu-ray.[21]
Merchandising
The Mattel-produced 1/55 scale Toy Cars were some of the most popular toys of the 2006 Summer Season. This is also know as the Disney Pixar Cars Die-Cast Line. Dozens of characters are represented, with some having multiple versions available. Several stores had trouble keeping the toys in stock, and some models are still difficult to find because of being shipped in lower numbers than other characters. Some online Disney enthusiasts are comparing it to the same shortage that Mattel faced with its Toy Story line in 1995. Some of the die-cast cars are only readily available on eBay. On August 14, 2007, the die-cast Sarge car, made between May and July 2007, was recalled due to "impermissible levels of lead" used in the paint.[22]. Another Cars product which followed the Disney Pixar Cars Die-Cast Line were miniature versions of the characters which were painted in different colours to represent different events. These are called Disney Pixar Cars Mini Adventures
On June 22, 2006 Disney Consumer Products announced that Cars merchandise broke records for retail sales based on a Disney-Pixar product, recording 10-to-1 more volume than Finding Nemo.[23] DCP reports that product expansion will take place in the fall alongside the DVD release of the film. Mattel has announced that Cars toys will continue through 2008 with the release of at least 80 new vehicles. A 36 car pack called "Speedway of the South" will feature most of the race cars seen during the opening race sequence of the film.
Estimates from the New York Daily News indicate that sales of Cars merchandise two weeks out from the release of the film amounted to $600 million USD. Estimates put out in November by the Walt Disney Company peg total sales for the brand at around $1 billion.[2]
Kelley Blue Book, the de facto resource for appraising values of vehicles, has humorously "appraised" four of the cars, Lightning McQueen, Mater, Sally Carrera, and Doc Hudson according to their make/model and personalities. [1]
The United States Department of Transportation has used scenes from the movie in a commercial regarding the Click It or Ticket campaign.
In conjunction with the film's release, a chocolate ice cream on a stick resembling a car tire was released in Australia. These ice creams were called 'Burnouts'. The naming of the particular product sparked controversy as the name 'Burnouts' was believed to have encouraged street racing and committing burnouts. These acts are illegal and heavy fines and convictions are issued to those committing these acts in Australia. It is unknown as to whether the products have been discontinued or not.
In Norway, the candy company Nidar produced candy with the characters on the outer packaging and pictures of the characters on the packaging of the assorted candy on the inside. These bags also came with Cars themed tattoos.
In the U.S., an animated Wal-Mart truck can be seen on a Wal-Mart ad and Wal-Mart TV commercial for Cars. In the Wal-Mart TV commercial the Wal-Mart truck was talking to Mater.
In South Africa, Italy, and several other countries where Opel is present (or with Opel models under Chevrolet and Vauxhall brand), GM has a campaign featuring an General Motors Astra, a Opel Meriva, and a General Motors Zafira as characters in the world of Cars, including TV ads made by Pixar, with the Opel models interacting with Lightning McQueen, Mater and Ramone.[24] The first ad involved the Opels coming to Radiator Springs as tourists. The second involved their failed attempts at auditioning for Mater. In the end the Opels lost the part to the real Mater.
In July 2006, greeting card giant Hallmark unveiled its line of 2006 Keepsake Christmas ornaments. Among the collection was an ornament featuring Lightning McQueen and Mater.
There is also a Cars clothing line, which produces various t-shirts and shorts; however, these are only found in children's sizes.
In May 2007, the Cars video game was announced to be a "Platinum Hit" on the Xbox, "Greatest Hit" on the PlayStation 2 and PlayStation Portable, and "Player's Choice" on the Nintendo GameCube. A sequel is on its way to the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and Wii consoles.[25]
A Cars-based attraction opened at Walt Disney Studios Paris in 2007 and scheduled to open in Disney's California Adventure in 2010.
In Japan, Disney Japan and Toyota backuped racing team Cars Racing replaced its racing car "Toy Story apr MR-S" and introduced the "Lightning McQueen apr MR-S" for the 2008 Super GT season. The car was based on the Toyota MR-S and the externals of the car were modeled on its of McQueen as much as possible.[26]
Trailers
One Pixar tradition is to create one trailer for each of their films that contains no footage from the actual released film.
The trailers for this film:
- Mater accidentally hits a little bumblebee while driving, and when Lightning McQueen tells him to forget about it, McQueen hits a swarm of bees. Mater laughs at his misfortune.
Similar films
Marcus Aurelius Canônico of Folha de S. Paulo described The Little Cars series (Os Carrinhos in Portuguese), a Brazilian computer graphics film series, as a derivative of Cars. Canônico discussed whether lawsuits from Pixar would appear. The Brazilian Ministry of Culture posted Marcus Aurelius Canônico's article on its website.[27]
It has also been noted that the plot of Cars bears a striking resemblance to that of Doc Hollywood, the 1991 comedy which stars Michael J. Fox as a hotshot young doctor, who, after causing a traffic accident in a small town, is sentenced to work at the town hospital, falls in love with a local law student and eventually acquires an appreciation for small town values.[28]
Sequel
-
A sequel has been announced for a Summer 2011 release, simply titled Cars 2. Disney has confirmed that Brad Lewis will be the director.[29] On April 9, 2008, John Lasseter commented "the Cars are going international" in the sequel.[30] Cars will become the second Pixar film to have a sequel, after Toy Story which will have a second sequel in 2010.
See also
References
- ^ a b Boxoffice Mojo Profile for Cars
- ^ a b AppleInsider | Disney sells 5 million copies of Pixar's Cars in two days
- ^ Cars Production Information
- ^ a b "Pixar-Disney delay Cars release", BBC News (2004-12-08). Retrieved on 2007-06-30.
- ^ "Steve Jobs's Sharp Turn with Cars", Business Week (2004-12-09). Retrieved on 2007-06-30.
- ^ Patton, Phil. "Pixar's 'Cars' Got Its Kicks on Route 66." New Yorks Times. 21 May 2006.
- ^ Old postcard of Tucumcari Mountain.
- ^ Pixar's Route 66 inspirations from Route 66 News
- ^ Birthplace (maybe) of the corn dog by Charles Storch, Chicago Tribune, August 16, 2006
- ^ "A grease geek will guide you: 'Cars' decoded" by Dan Neil, Los Angeles Times online, June 04, 2006 accessed 2006-11-01
- ^ a b "New movie rekindles love affair with cars" by Ann Job, The Star-Ledger, May 7, 2006, reprinted for MSN Autos
- ^ Wallis, Michael; Suzanne Fitzgerald Wallis. "The Art of Cars", Chronicle Books, pp. 4. "In Galena, Kansas, we found a lonely old tow truck that most folks would pass by without a second glance. Our Head of Story Joe Ranft, however, saw beyond the rust and broken-down parts — he saw the inspiration for the character Mater."
- ^ 'Cars' is a joyous ride
- ^ Cars | Movie Review | Entertainment Weekly
- ^ :: rogerebert.com :: Reviews :: Cars (xhtml)
- ^ Reeling: the Movie Review Show's review of Cars
- ^ Cars (2006)
- ^ AppleInsider | Disney sells 5 million copies of Pixar's Cars in two days
- ^ Video Business Online report about Cars DVD by Jennifer Netherby of videobusiness.com
- ^ Official Cars DVD Website
- ^ Amazon.com: Cars [Blu-ray]: Movies & TV: Mario Andretti,Jack Angel,Michael Patrick Bell,Susan Blu,Rodger Bumpass,George Carlin,Bob Costas,Jennifer Darling,Paul Dooley,Paul Eiding,Dave Foley,Teresa Ganzel,John Goodman,Katherine Helmond,Bonnie Hunt,Michael Keaton,Richard Kind,Jay Leno,Jenifer Lewis,Sherry Lynn,Jean-Claude J. Kalache,Jeremy Lasky
- ^ Mattel Consumer Relations Answer Center - Recall
- ^ " Disney Shows Muscle with Boys Properties" press release at Disney Consumer Products, June 22, 2006
- ^ " Pixar's Cars - Opel" hot site of the campaign
- ^ Article Detail - PlayStation 3 News - QJ.NET
- ^ "【SUPER GT】「カーズ」レーシングチーム始動！" (in Japanese), response.jp (2008-03-03). Retrieved on 2008-05-04.
- ^ Vídeo Brinquedo faz sucesso com desenhos como “Os Carrinhos” e “Ratatoing”," Ministry of Culture (Brazil)
- ^ 'Cars' rolls along like an animated Doc Hollywood
- ^ "CanMag.Com". Walt Disney Pictures Offers 10 Releases by 2012. Retrieved on April 8, 2008.
- ^ "Aintitcool.Com". Pixar's CARS Sequel Confirmed!!. Retrieved on April 9, 2008.
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