Cars

"Ahhh... it's got that new movie smell."

2006 1h 57m EN

👍

7.1

SOLID

🍅

74%

FRESH

👌

METACRITIC

⭐

7.3

IMDB

★7.1TMDB · 15,603🍅74%Rotten Tomatoes●73Metacritic★7.3IMDB · 528,959

AnimationAdventureComedyFamily

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

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.

“Ahhh... it's got that new movie smell.”

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Cast

Owen Wilson
Lightning McQueen (voice)
Paul Newman
Doc Hudson (voice)
Bonnie Hunt
Sally Carrera (voice)
Larry the Cable Guy
Mater (voice)
Cheech Marin
Ramone (voice)
Tony Shalhoub
Luigi (voice)
Guido Quaroni
Guido (voice)
Jenifer Lewis
Flo (voice)

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: John Lasseter
Writers: John Lasseter, Jørgen Klubien, Dan Fogelman
Languages: English, Italian, Japanese, Yiddish
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

$120M budget — tentpole studio territory.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Made its money back 3.8× over at the box office.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Released 20 years ago.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

Dialogue crosses 4 languages: English, Italian, Japanese, Yiddish.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

CINEMA

Did you know

Part of the "Cars Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

CAST

Did you know

402+ people credited in cast and crew — a small city's worth of labour.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by John Lasseter, shot by Jeremy Lasky. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Randy Newman. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

John Lasseter directs. Jeremy Lasky behind the camera. Randy Newman scores. Ken Schretzmann cuts. Made its budget back several times over at the box office. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English, Italian, Japanese, Yiddish.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1$120M budget — tentpole studio territory.
2Made its money back 3.8× over at the box office.
3Released 20 years ago.
4Dialogue crosses 4 languages: English, Italian, Japanese, Yiddish.
5Part of the "Cars Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.
6402+ people credited in cast and crew — a small city's worth of labour.
7Directed by John Lasseter, shot by Jeremy Lasky. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
8Original score by Randy Newman. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
9Editor Ken Schretzmann shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
10Owen Wilson and Paul Newman and Bonnie Hunt carry the top of the cast.
11Marketing tagline: "Ahhh... it's got that new movie smell.".
12IMDB entry: tt0317219 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
1315,603 TMDB user ratings logged — serious cultural footprint.
14Classified under 28 themes, including "friendship", "car race", "sports", "villain".
15Released under 12 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography: Jeremy Lasky
Original score: Randy Newman
Editing: Ken Schretzmann
Production design: William Cone
VFX supervisor: Jessica Giampietro McMackin
Sound: Tom Myers
Runtime: 117 min · 1h 57m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $120,000,000
Box office: $461,983,149
Return: 385% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): G
IMDB: Cars (2006)
Rotten Tomatoes: 74% 🍅 Fresh
Metacritic: 73/100
IMDB rating: 7.3/10 · 528,959 votes
MPAA: G

Awards

Nominated for 2 Oscars. 28 wins & 34 nominations total

Annie Award for Best Animated Feature
Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Animated Feature

Individual records documented via Wikidata; the summary above may count more.

Part of

Cars Collection

A computer-animated action-adventure comedy film series that follows the adventures of Lightning McQueen and Mater, set in a world populated entirely by anthropomorphic cars and other vehicles.

Also by

John Lasseter

Stills · wallpapers

Selected frames

Full-resolution frames — open one to save it as a wallpaper.

Wallpaper

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

Community reviews

What people are saying

r96sk2020-08-09
★ 8/10
A fun one to watch. <em>'Cars'</em> is very good Disney, not quite in the upper echelons of their releases but certainly close. The voice cast do a lot of grand work, while the animation is super. I also like the tension building and set-up of the racing stuff, even if they don't take the overly realistic approach - which is fine. Owen Wilson is terrific as Lightning McQueen, while Bonnie Hunt and Larry the Cable Guy give noteworthy performances as Sally and Mater. The rest of the cast are good, including Michael Keaton (Chick Hicks). There's yet another role for John Ratzenberger, who features in a funny end credits gag. Solid soundtrack, amusing humour and it even has a decent amount of heart to it too. Would recommend.
Filipe Manuel Neto2022-12-31
★ 7/10
A commercial, critical and merchandising success... but with a cliché story. When it came out, this movie was publicized and sold like hotcakes. It was a fever. A mania. I was already quite grown up, I didn't feel particularly within the target audience that the film wanted to reach, and I was really exhausted from seeing and hearing about the film everywhere, and on any object that could be sold. So, I sacramentally ignored it and all sequels until today. What most surprises and delights in this film are the extraordinary visuals and animations, so natural and authentic that it could be said to be real. The production used all the technology that money can buy, and make no mistake about it, there are indeed millions of dollars invested in the film! The racing scenes, on the car track, are particularly magnificent because all the speed and emotion are really conveyed to the scene, and to the audience. The colors and scenery are amazing too, and the soundtrack, while not being anything relatively notable or striking, sounds good and matches the movie. The film features several big names who lent their voices to the characters in the film. Owen Wilson does it flawlessly and Paul Newman and Tony Shalhoub also do a very good job. Where I really had doubts is in the script. Honestly, it has its quality moments, it's interesting enough that we don't think it's being too childish or being boring. However, it is really a giant cliché: the arrogant and ambitious young man who has to go through a lesson in humility and altruism in order to value others, find love and win the victory he wants. We see this in almost every morally sympathetic movie, with its nuances and differences. This is a problem? Honestly, I think so, that it is not something that favors the film, but it is also not something that should lead us not to see it.
Andre Gonzales2023-05-03
★ 8/10
Had no intention to ever see this movie. Another one my daughter wanted to watch with me. I actually liked it and thought it was hilarious.