Cars
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Lightning McQueen, a hotshot rookie race car driven to succeed, discovers that life is about the journey, not the finish line, when he finds himself unexpectedly detoured in the sleepy Route 66 town of Radiator Springs. On route across the country to the big Piston Cup Championship in California to compete against two seasoned pros, McQueen gets to know the town's offbeat characters.
What critics thought
Cars landed as a solidly enjoyable Pixar entry rather than an all-time great, with most critics charmed by its visual invention and nostalgic warmth but skeptical of a story that felt thinner and slower than the studio's best work. The sharpest divide was between those who found its meditation on lost small-town America genuinely moving and those who felt the film's meandering midsection and underdeveloped characters kept it several laps behind Toy Story or Finding Nemo.
“Despite representing another impressive technical achievement, it's the least visually interesting of the computer-animation boutique's movies, and—in an ironic twist for a story about auto racing—drifts slowly through its semi-arid midsection.”
Brian Lowry·Variety
“Cars might get us into car world as a gimmick, but it doesn't get us into car world as a state of mind. Thus, the animation, rather than seeming like an expression of the movie's deeper truth, becomes an impediment to it.”
Mick LaSalle·San Francisco Chronicle
“While it's a technically perfect movie, its tone is too manic, its characters too jaded and, in the end, its story too empty to stand up to expectations.”
Jessica Reaves·Chicago Tribune
“While Cars may cross the finish line ahead of any of 2006's other animated films, it's several laps behind its Pixar siblings.”
James Berardinelli·ReelViews
“it tells a bright and cheery story, and then has a little something profound lurking around the edges. In this case, it's a sense of loss.”
Roger Ebert·Chicago Sun-Times
Accolades
Genres
Adventure, Animation, Comedy
Cast & Crew
John LasseterDirector
Owen WilsonLightning McQueen (voice)
Paul NewmanDoc Hudson (voice)
Bonnie HuntSally Carrera (voice)
Larry the Cable GuyMater (voice)
Cheech MarinRamone (voice)
Tony ShalhoubLuigi (voice)
Guido QuaroniGuido (voice)
Jenifer LewisFlo (voice)
Paul DooleySarge (voice)
Michael WallisSheriff (voice)
George CarlinFillmore (voice)
Katherine HelmondLizzie (voice)
Randy NewmanComposer
Dan FogelmanWriter
Joe RanftWriter
Jørgen KlubienWriter
Jeremy LaskyCinematography
Jean-Claude KalacheCinematographyFrom the studio
Cars
Lightning McQueen, a hotshot rookie race car driven to succeed, discovers that life is about the journey, not the finish line, when he finds himself unexpectedly detoured in the sleepy Route 66 town of Radiator Springs. On route across the country to the big Piston Cup Championship in California to compete against two seasoned pros, McQueen gets to know the town's offbeat characters.
What critics thought
Cars landed as a solidly enjoyable Pixar entry rather than an all-time great, with most critics charmed by its visual invention and nostalgic warmth but skeptical of a story that felt thinner and slower than the studio's best work. The sharpest divide was between those who found its meditation on lost small-town America genuinely moving and those who felt the film's meandering midsection and underdeveloped characters kept it several laps behind Toy Story or Finding Nemo.
“Despite representing another impressive technical achievement, it's the least visually interesting of the computer-animation boutique's movies, and—in an ironic twist for a story about auto racing—drifts slowly through its semi-arid midsection.”
Brian Lowry·Variety
“Cars might get us into car world as a gimmick, but it doesn't get us into car world as a state of mind. Thus, the animation, rather than seeming like an expression of the movie's deeper truth, becomes an impediment to it.”
Mick LaSalle·San Francisco Chronicle
“While it's a technically perfect movie, its tone is too manic, its characters too jaded and, in the end, its story too empty to stand up to expectations.”
Jessica Reaves·Chicago Tribune
“While Cars may cross the finish line ahead of any of 2006's other animated films, it's several laps behind its Pixar siblings.”
James Berardinelli·ReelViews
“it tells a bright and cheery story, and then has a little something profound lurking around the edges. In this case, it's a sense of loss.”
Roger Ebert·Chicago Sun-Times
Accolades
Genres
Adventure, Animation, Comedy
Cast & Crew
John LasseterDirectorOwen WilsonLightning McQueen (voice)Paul NewmanDoc Hudson (voice)Bonnie HuntSally Carrera (voice)Larry the Cable GuyMater (voice)Cheech MarinRamone (voice)Tony ShalhoubLuigi (voice)Guido QuaroniGuido (voice)Jenifer LewisFlo (voice)Paul DooleySarge (voice)Michael WallisSheriff (voice)George CarlinFillmore (voice)Katherine HelmondLizzie (voice)Randy NewmanComposerDan FogelmanWriterJoe RanftWriterJørgen KlubienWriterJeremy LaskyCinematographyJean-Claude KalacheCinematographyFrom the studio
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Rent & Buy