A fast-paced comedy adventure set inside the world of automobiles, Cars is Pixar's seventh film and the last one under the computer animation studio's agreement with Disney. John Lasseter is directing this, his first time in the role since Toy Story 2 (1999). Human characters certainly won't feature as prominently as they did in the studio's previous project The Incredibles: the cars drive themselves.

Cars Poster

At the center of the film is Lightning McQueen, a hotshot racecar voiced by funnyman Owen Wilson, who gets lost on the way to the big Piston Cup Championship in California to compete against a couple of seasoned pros. Lightning winds up in a sleepy town called Radiator Springs on the historic Route 66 (which runs from Chicago to Los Angeles). There, he meets some of the town's offbeat vehicles, including Sally (a sleek 2002 Porsche voiced by Bonnie Hunt), Doc Hudson (a 1951 Hudson Hornet voiced by Oscar-winning screen legend/track aficionado Paul Newman), and Mater (a rusty tow truck played by Larry the Cable Guy). The cars of Radiator Springs help Lightning discover that there is more to life than trophies, fame, and the finish line.
Among those providing vocals for supporting characters are NASCAR racer Richard Petty, Pixar veteran John Ratzenberger, Michael Keaton (Batman, Herbie: Fully Loaded), comedian George Carlin, Paul Dooley (Sixteen Candles), Jenifer Lewis, and Tony Shalhoub (TV's "Monk"). Cheech Marin (no stranger to animated characters, with previous roles in Oliver & Company and The Lion King) voices Ramon, a '58 Chevy who's "got a new look every time you see him."
As stated in the first teaser, which debuted in front of theatrical prints of The Incredibles to mixed reaction, Cars was originally intended to hit theaters in November, the month most Pixar films have opened. But in December of 2004, Cars had its release date bumped back seven months. Now the film will open on June 9, 2006, giving it the benefit of a long summer box office run and a DVD release in time for Christmas.