Cars (franchise)
Cars is an American animated film series and media franchise set in a world populated by anthropomorphic vehicles created by John Lasseter, Joe Ranft and Jorgen Klubien. The franchise began with the 2006 film, Cars, produced by Pixar and released by Walt Disney Pictures. The film was followed by the sequels Cars 2 and Cars 3. The now-defunct Disneytoon Studios produced the two spin-off films Planes and Planes: Fire & Rescue.
The first two Cars films were directed by Lasseter, then-chief creative officer of Pixar, Walt Disney Animation Studios, and Disneytoon Studios, while Cars 3 was directed by Brian Fee, a storyboard artist on the previous installments. Lasseter served as executive producer of Cars 3 and the Planes films. Together, all three Cars films have accrued over $1.4 billion in box office revenue worldwide while the franchise has amassed over $10 billion in merchandising sales within its first five years.
History
The Cars franchise began with the original Cars. At the time, it was Pixar's least well received film by reviewers.The short Mater and the Ghostlight was released as an extra on the Cars DVD on November 7, 2006. A series of shorts called Cars Toons were produced and aired on the Disney Channel to keep interest up. The brand had sold nearly $10 billion in merchandise by the time of the release of Cars 2 in 2011.
In 2007, [|Cars Four Wheels Rally] ride opened at Walt Disney Studios Park.
In the summer of 2012, the 12-acre [|Cars Land] theme area opened at Disney California Adventure in Anaheim as the main component of $1-billion park renovation.
A third film, Cars 3, was announced on October 8, 2015, and was released on June 16, 2017.
''Cars'' film series
''Cars'' (2006)
Cars is the seventh Pixar film. The story is about rookie race car Lightning McQueen, who gets lost on the way to California for a tiebreaker race in the Piston Cup, a famous race worldwide, and ends up in a little town called Radiator Springs on Route 66, that had been bypassed and forgotten when Interstate 40 was built. He accidentally wrecks the road and is sentenced to fix it. During his time there, he meets Mater, who became his best friend, and Sally. He also comes across Doc Hudson, who used to be a famous racecar called the Hudson Hornet until a career ending crash in 1954.After Lightning fixes the road, Doc Hudson no longer wants him in town, so he secretly alerts the media about Lightning's presence, but it doesn't take long for Hudson to realize how much Lightning has helped Radiator Springs, so he goes back to being the Hudson Hornet and becomes McQueen's crew chief, while most of the Radiator Springs folks become his pit crew. Lightning is about to win the race, but helps The King cross the finish line after Chick Hicks causes him to crash. Chick wins the Piston Cup after being in third on the last lap, but is later booed by everyone, while Lightning receives praise for his sportsmanship.
Despite his loss, Lightning is offered to be the new face and sponsor of Dinoco, but he declines and decides to stay with Rust-eze, his current sponsor. He does, however, arrange for Mater to ride in the Dinoco helicopter just as he promised. The film ends with Lightning setting up his racing headquarters in Radiator Springs, thereby putting it back on the map.
''Cars 2'' (2011)
Cars 2 is the twelfth Pixar film. The story starts with Lightning McQueen competing in the World Grand Prix, organized by Sir Miles Axlerod, a three-race event taking place in three countries: Japan, Italy, and England, with his racing rival being Italian formula car Francesco Bernoulli.Along the way, Mater is mistaken for an American spy by British spy Finn McMissile, and falls in love with junior agent Holley Shiftwell. The three uncover a plot to sabotage the World Grand Prix, which is seemingly led by Professor Zündapp and a group of lemon cars. When the event reaches its conclusion in London, Mater deduces that Axlerod is the mastermind behind the plot, as he started the event in the first place and had intended for cars everywhere to run on oil as revenge for the lemons' reputation as "history's biggest loser cars", implying that Axlerod is also a lemon.
With the plot foiled and the villains defeated, Mater is knighted by the Queen of the United Kingdom, and a new race is held in Radiator Springs. Mater is invited by Finn and Holley to go on another mission, but chooses to stay in Radiator Springs. While his weapons get confiscated, he gets to keep the rocket engines he acquired, as the two agents take off in Siddeley, the British spy jet.
''Cars 3'' (2017)
Cars 3 is the eighteenth Pixar film. The story focuses on Lightning McQueen, now a veteran, dealing with a new generation of race cars taking over the world of racing. Jackson Storm is an arrogant high-tech racer who leads the next generation. As everyone begins to ask him if he might retire, Lightning struggles with keeping up with these racers and during the final race of the season, he suffers a violent crash.Four months later, a recovering Lightning mourns the late Doc Hudson and travels to the new Rust-eze Racing Center, now under the management of Sterling. Sterling assigns Cruz Ramirez to train him on the simulator, which Lightning accidentally destroys after losing control. Cruz's unconventional training methods and lack of racing experience frustrate Lightning, as they race on beaches and a demolition derby. Cruz reveals that she had always wanted to be a racer but never found the confidence to do so. In Thomasville, they encounter Hudson's old crew chief Smokey, who trains McQueen and explains to him that Hudson found happiness in mentoring him. Smokey's training methods inspire Ramirez as well.
At the Florida 500, Lightning begins racing, but remembers Cruz's racing dreams and has her take his place in the race. Using what she's learned on the road, Cruz found the confidence to catch up to Storm. She wins the race along with McQueen and begins racing for Dinoco, whose owner, Tex, purchases Rust-eze. Under the merged Dinoco–Rust-eze brand, Cruz becomes a racer, sporting #51, and McQueen decides to continue racing, with a new paint job in memory of Doc Hudson, but trains Cruz first for the season.
''Cars 4'' (TBA)
Regarding a possible Cars 4, Cars 3 producers Kevin Reher and Andrea Warren told CinemaBlend that "If there's a good story to tell I mean our heads kinda break after having gotten this one done, like oh my God, what could you do the further adventures of? But like any sequel, from Toy Story 4 to Incredibles 2, as long as there's a good story to tell, it's worth investing; we do love these characters, we love them as much as the public does." Regarding which character would be the main protagonist in the movie, Reher and Warren stated that "if Cruz is a breakout character, kind of like Mater was", "she be involved in a 4". Owen Wilson stated at a Cars 3 press event that possible stories have been discussed for a Cars 4, though he would personally like for a fourth Cars movie to delve into aspects of the thriller genre, akin to Cars 2. In an interview with Screen Rant, Lea Delaria expressed interest in reprising her role as Miss Fritter while promoting the release of the short movie Miss Fritter's Racing Skoool with the Cars 3 DVD and Blu-ray release.In December 2023, it was revealed that Pixar is working on new media related to the franchise. During a recent interview at the 2023 Porsche Rennsport Reunion Event, the creative director of the saga, Jay Ward, revealed that they are developing new projects related to the franchise: "There are more Cars things brewing, I can't say much more yet. Cars has got a life that will keep going. I am working on some real fun projects right now that you will see in a couple of years. It takes us a while to make them."
''Cars'' television series
''Cars Toons''
''Cars Toons: Mater's Tall Tales'' (2008–2012)
Mater's Tall Tales is a series of short animated films featuring Mater, Lightning McQueen, and their friends. The first three shorts premiered on October 27, 2008, on Toon Disney, Disney Channel, and ABC Family. Not exclusive to television, the episodes have also been released on DVDs/Blu-rays or as in front of theatrical films. A total of 11 episodes have been released with Time Travel Mater being the most recent.All shorts in the series follow the same tall-tale formula: Mater tells a story of something he has done in the past. When Lightning questions Mater over whether the events in the story actually occurred, Mater always claimed that Lightning was also involved and continues the story including Lightning's sudden participation. The shorts end with Mater leaving the scene, often followed by characters or references to the story that was being told, suggesting that story might be real.