“Cars,” the seventh animated feature to be created by Pixar Animation Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures, is a high octane adventure comedy that features a wide assortment of cars as characters who get their kicks on Route 66.
After taking moviegoers magically into the realm of toys, bugs, monsters, fish, and superheroes, the masterful storytellers and technical wizards at Pixar Animation Studios (“The Incredibles,” “Finding Nemo,” “Monsters, Inc.”), and Academy Award-winning director John Lasseter (“Toy Story,” “Toy Story 2,” “A Bug’s Life”), hit the road with a fast-paced comedy adventure set inside the world of cars.
Lightning McQueen (voice of Owen Wilson), 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 –including Sally (a snazzy 2002 Porsche voiced by Bonnie Hunt), Doc Hudson (a 1951 Hudson Hornet with a mysterious past, voiced by Paul Newman), and Mater (a rusty but trusty tow truck voiced by Larry the Cable Guy) – who help him realize that there are more important things than trophies, fame and sponsorship. Fueled with plenty of humor, action, heartfelt drama, and amazing new technical feats, “Cars” is a high octane delight for moviegoers of all ages.
After taking moviegoers magically into the realm of toys, bugs, monsters, fish, and superheroes, the masterful storytellers and technical wizards at Pixar Animation Studios (“The Incredibles,” “Finding Nemo,” “Monsters, Inc.”) and Academy Award-winning director John Lasseter (“Toy Story,” “Toy Story 2,” “A Bug’s Life”), hit the road with a fast-paced comedy adventure set inside the world of cars.
A Pixar Animation Studios film presented by Walt Disney Pictures, “CARS” is a high octane delight for moviegoers of all ages, fueled with plenty of humor, action, heartfelt drama, and amazing new technical feats. Adding to the fun is a driving score and new songs by Oscar-winner Randy Newman, along with original musical performances by such top talents as Sheryl Crow, James Taylor, Brad Paisley, Rascal Flatts, and John Mayer. he film coincides with the celebration of Pixar’s 20th anniversary, and the company’s recent acquisition by Disney.
Lightning McQueen (voiced by Owen Wilson), 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. En 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 – including Doc Hudson (a 1951 Hudson Hornet with a mysterious past, voiced by screen legend Paul Newman), Sally Carrera (a snazzy 2002 Porsche voiced by Bonnie Hunt), and Mater (a rusty but trusty tow truck voiced by Larry the Cable Guy) – who help him realize that there are more important things than trophies, fame, and sponsorship.
The all-star vocal cast also includes free-wheeling performances by Tony Shalhoub, Michael Keaton, Cheech Marin, George Carlin, Katherine Helmond, and perennial Pixar “good luck charm,” John Ratzenberger. Michael Wallis, author of the critically acclaimed book, Route 66: The Mother Road, and the authority on that legendary American artery that connected north to south, and east to west, is heard in the film as the voice of the Sheriff of Radiator Springs.
Delivering more fun and authenticity to the cast for “CARS” are vocal performances from some of the all-time greatest names from the racing world, including the legendary Richard Petty, plus “drive-on” roles by Mario Andretti, Dale Earnhardt, Jr., Darrell Waltrip (who holds the record for five wins at the NASCAR Coca Cola 600), and Michael Schumacher, the ace German Formula 1 racing legend, who is widely considered to be the best Grand Prix racing driver of all-time.
Veteran Olympic and sports commentator Bob Costas lends his seasoned voice to the character of Bob Cutlass, the colorful host at the film’s racing events. Tom and Ray Magliozzi (aka Click and Clack, the Tappet Brothers), hosts of the popular NPR program, “Car Talk” (first broadcast in Boston in 1977 and picked up nationally ten years later), weigh in as the not-so-coveted sponsors Rusty and Dusty Rust-eze.
Commenting on the characters themselves, Bonnie Hunt (the voice of Sally) says, “When they write these movies at Pixar, they start with the heart of the character first. And once the heart is there, it doesn’t matter what’s on the outside. Even a car becomes a character and a personality. The heart and soul is what turns a steel car into a character and a person. It’s not only the script that makes these films special. John Lasseter and the artists at Pixar provide the imagination that is the gold mine of their storytelling process. Their imaginations go to the fantasies of the heart, and of life, and of our values. Anything that you can possibly visualize in your mind, they bring to life.”
The driving force behind “CARS” is John Lasseter, who returns to directing for the first time since “Toy Story 2” in 1999. During the past seven years, in addition to guiding “CARS” through the production process, Lasseter has executive produced and overseen all of Pixar’s creative endeavors (“Monsters, Inc.,” “Finding Nemo,” and “The Incredibles”), and supervised the building of a new state-of-the-art Studio in Emeryville, California. This latest film tapped into Lasseter’s personal love of cars and racing, as well as a variety of issues that were near and dear to him.
“CARS” was co-directed by Joe Ranft, who also served as story supervisor for the film, and voiced several incidental characters. One of the most gifted and respected story artists in modern day animation, and the congenial voice behind such favorite Pixar characters as Heimlich the ravenous caterpillar (“A Bug’s Life”), Wheezy the penguin (“Toy Story 2”), and Jacques the shrimp (“Finding Nemo”), Ranft passed away in August, 2005. He had collaborated with Lasseter on all three of his previous directing efforts, and had been a key creative force at Pixar for over a decade.
Serving as the film’s producer was Darla K. Anderson, a Pixar veteran whose previous producing credits include “A Bug’s Life” and “Monsters, Inc.” Combining her technical expertise with her tremendous respect and knowledge of the creative process, Anderson guided all aspects of the production and helped support Lasseter’s vision from the start. The film’s associate producer was Tom Porter, a technical pioneer in the world of computer animation who has been part of the Pixar inner circle since its inception. Eben Ostby, another original member of the Pixar team, was the supervising technical director.
The original story for “CARS” was conceived by John Lasseter, Joe Ranft, and Jorgen Klubien. The screenplay for the film was written by Dan Fogelman, Lasseter, Ranft, Kiel Murray and Phil Lorin, and Klubien.
Central to the plot and themes of “CARS” is the iconic Route 66, along which much of the story takes place. Lasseter and his team headed out on the historic highway on several occasions to research and observe the importance and impact of this cultural phenomenon.
Route 66 expert Wallis, who has been exploring the “Mother Road” for over 60 years and who served as guide/pathfinder for the research trips, explains, “Route 66 is a mirror held up to the nation. It reflects what’s going on in the nation at any given time. For most people, this highway is the most famous in the world, and it represents the great American road trip. It’s a chance to drive from Chicago, (the city of big shoulders) through the heartland, and the Southwest, past ribbons of neon, across the great Mojave, to the Pacific shore at Santa Monica. Route 66 is the road the Dust Bowlers took.
During World War II, it was used as a military road by the G.I.s. It’s the road of Bobby Troup and Elvis. It’s the road our fathers, mothers, and grandparents traveled. Everybody at some point in their life in this country, whether they know it or not, has touched that road. It really does have iconic status. It gives motorists an experience that they’re not going to get in the great coastal cities. They have to go out in the middle of that juicy pie and taste it; not just nibble the crust…and really indeed life begins at the off ramp,” concludes Wallis, who co-authored the book, The Art of Cars with his wife, Suzanne Fitzgerald Wallis.
“CARS” represents one of Pixar’s most challenging and ambitious efforts to date. The Studio has successfully and convincingly brought moviegoers into the world of toys, bugs, monsters, fish, and superheroes, but creating a believable and true world inhabited solely by cars was a whole other matter.
Lasseter’s mandate to have the car characters look as real as possible posed some daunting new challenges for Pixar’s technical team. Having a film where the characters are metallic and heavily contoured meant coming up with resourceful ways to accurately show reflections. “CARS” is the first Pixar film to use “ray tracing,” a technique which allows the car stars to credibly reflect their environments.
The addition of reflections in practically every shot of the film added tremendous render time to the project. The average time to render a single frame of film for “CARS” was 17 hours. Even with a sophisticated network of 3000 computers, and state-of-the-art lightning fast processors that operate up to four times faster than they did on “The Incredibles,” it still took many days to render a single second of finished film.
Lasseter also insisted on “truth to materials,” and instructed the animation team not to stretch or squash the cars in ways that would be inconsistent with their heavy metal frames. The animators did a lot of “road testing” to get the characters to behave in a believable and entertaining way, and found ways to add subtle bends and gestures that were true to their construction. The animators also discovered how to use the tires almost as hands to help them with their performance.
The Car Stars / Voice Talents
LIGHTNING MCQUEEN – Poised to become the youngest car ever to win the Piston Cup Championship, this hotshot rookie race car has just two things on his mind – winning and the perks that come with it. But when he gets detoured in the forgotten town of Radiator Springs and has to shift for himself, he gets a crash course on what matters most in life. Owen Wilson (“Bottle Rocket,” “Shanghai Noon,” “Meet the Fockers,” “Wedding Crashers”) is up to speed as the voice of this cocky race car who learns that life is about the journey, not the destination.
DOC HUDSON – A seemingly quiet country doctor (mechanic) with a mysterious past, this 1951 Hudson Hornet is a cornerstone of Radiator Springs, and also serves as town judge. Respected and admired by the townsfolk, Doc is a car of few words, and is unimpressed by the town’s newest arrival – Lightning McQueen. The speed-obsessed hotshot race car dismisses Doc as just an old Grandpa car, but comes to discover that the old timer still has a few tricks under his hood. Acting legend, Oscar-winner, and Guinness Book World Record Holder (the oldest driver to win a professionally sanctioned race in 1995 in Daytona) Paul Newman gives a winning performance as the voice of this venerable vehicle.
SALLY CARRERA – This sporty 2002 Porsche 911 from California grew tired of life in the fast lane, and made a new start for herself in Radiator Springs. As the proprietor of the Cozy Cone Motel, and one of the town’s most optimistic boosters, she has high hopes that it will one day return to its former glory, and wind up “back on the map.” She takes an instant shine to Lightning McQueen, and helps to steer him in the right direction. Multi-talented actress / filmmaker Bonnie Hunt (“A Bug’s Life,” “Monsters, Inc.,” “Cheaper By the Dozen”) gives a premium performance as Sally, with just the right blend of charm, intelligence and wit.
MATER – This good ol’ boy tow truck may be a bit rusty on the outside, but he has the quickest towrope in Carburetor County and is always the first to lend a helping hand. Sweet and loyal to a fault, Mater befriends McQueen and sees his potential as his new best friend, despite his many flaws. The self-proclaimed “world’s best backwards driver,” Mater dreams of someday flying in a helicopter, but stays grounded with his day job running “Tow-Mater Towing and Salvage.” Comedy sensation Larry the Cable Guy gives a “tow-de-force” vocal performance that is both hilariously funny and touching.
FILLMORE – Radiator Springs’ resident hippie is a 1960 VW bus who brews his own organic fuel and preaches its many benefits. Visitors can check it out for themselves in the tasting room behind his love-bead and tie dye covered geodesic dome. His conspiracy theories and unkempt yard don’t sit well with his neighbor, Sarge, but despite their frequent disagreements, they can’t live without one another. Comedy legend George Carlin gives a far-out performance as the voice of this peace-loving bus.
SARGE – This patriotic 1942 WWII Willy’s Army jeep runs Radiator Springs’ army surplus store, Sarge’s Surplus Hut, and is often found manicuring the lawn in front of his Quonset hut into a precise flat-top. Although he likes to complain about his VW bus neighbor, he knows that life is more interesting with Fillmore around. Actor Paul Dooley (“Breaking Away,” “Desperate Housewives”) sounds off as this regimented vehicle whose bark is worse than his bite.
RAMONE – The proprietor of Ramone’s House of Body Art, this 1959 Impala low-rider is a true magician with paint and metal, but he hasn’t had anyone to customize in years. While waiting for a paying customer to come along, he re-paints himself daily and hopes that McQueen will consent to letting him add a few new flourishes. Comedian / actor Cheech Marin turns in a colorful performance as the voice of this feisty fellow.
FLO – Married to Ramone, and the owner of Flo’s V-8 Café, is this sassy, no-nonsense 1950s show car. Offering the “finest fuel in fifty states,” Flo’s is a popular gathering spot for the locals to sip some oil, share some gossip, and listen to a little motherly advice from Flo herself. It was love at first sight for Flo and Ramone, ever since they met when she was traveling across country as a glamorous Motorama girl. Jenifer Lewis goes with the “flo” as the voice of this spirited character.
LUIGI – Big-hearted, gregarious, and excitable, this 1959 Fiat 500 runs the local tire shop, Luigi’s Casa Della Tires, which is the “Home of the Leaning Tower of Tires.” With his forklift pal, Guido, by his side, Luigi is an avid race car fan (with a bias towards Ferraris) who is always eager to please. Business hasn’t been good in years, so you can always count on a bargain on a new set of wheels from this merry merchant. Tony Shalhoub (“Big Night,” “Monk”) puts the accent on comedy in this tireless performance.
SHERIFF – Route 66 expert/author Michael Wallis provides the voice of this 1949 Mercury Police Cruiser, sworn with upholding the peace in Radiator Springs. Always on the prowl for would-be speeders who might want to barrel through his town, Sheriff enjoys telling stories about his beloved Mother Road, and taking the occasional nap behind the town’s billboard.
THE KING (aka STRIP WEATHERS) – This 1970 Plymouth Superbird is a racing legend who has won more Piston Cups races than any other car in history. Despite his fame, he’s a down home guy, who knows it takes more than trophies to make a true champion. He believes in hard work, team playing, and making time for his wife, Mrs. The King. Set to retire at the end of the season and relinquish his coveted Dinoco sponsorship, the King is the envy of all the up-and-coming racers. Racing legend Richard Petty, a seven-time NASCAR Nextel Cup Championship winner, lends his voice to this classy champ. His wife, Lynda, provides a cameo voice as The King’s car-mate.
CHICK HICKS – This racing veteran is a ruthless competitor, who has bumped and cheated his way into more second place finishes than any other car. Forever living in the King’s shadow, he’s the consummate runner-up and will stop at nothing to win the Dinoco sponsorship. Convinced that “the Chick era” is about to begin, he isn’t about to let Lightning McQueen get between him and his dream of winning the Piston Cup. Versatile actor Michael Keaton (“Mr. Mom,” “Batman,” “Herbie: Fully Loaded”) gets down and dirty as the voice of this hard-driving road warrior.
MACK – No Pixar film is complete without a vocal performance by John Ratzenberger, and in “CARS,” the popular actor weighs in as the voice of a 1985 Mack Super-Liner who has a thorough knowledge of Federal regulations. As McQueen’s trusted driver, he is willing to push the limits of his own sanity and sleep requirements to accommodate his celebrity employer. McQueen’s luxurious bachelor pad is fully loaded with the best in fiber optics, TVs, a massage chair, and more.
Tuning Up the Story
“CARS” was a very personal story for John Lasseter. As a boy growing up in Whittier, California, he loved to visit the Chevrolet dealership where his father was a parts department manager, and got a part-time job there as a stock boy as soon as he turned 16.
According to Lasseter, “I have always loved cars. In one vein, I have Disney blood, and in the other, there’s motor oil. The notion of combining these two great passions in my life – cars and animation – was irresistible. When Joe (Ranft) and I first started talking about this film in 1998, we knew we wanted to do something with cars as characters. Around that same time, we watched a documentary called `Divided Highways,’ which dealt with the interstate highway and how it affected the small towns along the way. We were so moved by it and began thinking about what it must have been like in these small towns that got bypassed. That’s when we started really researching Route 66, but we still hadn’t quite figured out what the story for the film was going to be. I used to travel that highway with my family as a child when we visited our family in St. Louis.”
It was at this point that Lasseter’s wife, Nancy, persuaded him to take a much-needed vacation, during the summer of 2001. Lasseter recalls, “Nancy said to me that if I didn’t slow down and start paying attention to the family, the kids would be going off to college before I knew it and I would be missing a huge part of our family life. And she was right!”
The entire family packed up a motor home, and set out on a two-month trip with the goal of staying off the interstate highways, and dipping their toes in the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. “Everybody thought we would be at each others throats the whole time,” adds Lasseter, “but it was the exact opposite. When I came back from the trip, I was closer to my family than ever and I reattached to what was important in life. And I suddenly realized that I knew what the film needed to be about. I discovered that the journey in life is the reward. It’s great to achieve things, but when you do you want to have your family and friends around to help celebrate. Joe loved the idea and our story really took off from there. Our lead car, Lightning McQueen, is focused on being the fastest. He doesn’t care about anything except winning the championship. He was the perfect character to be forced to slow down, the way I had on my motor home trip. For the first time in my professional career I had slowed down, and it was amazing. The unique thing about Pixar films is that the stories come from our hearts. They come from things that are personal to us, and that move us. This gives special emotion and meaning to the films.”
In 2001, Lasseter, Ranft, producer Darla Anderson, production designers Bob Pauley and Bill Cone, along with other key members of the production team flew to Oklahoma City and headed out from there in a caravan of four white Cadillacs on a nine-day trip along Route 66. Historian/author Michael Wallis led the expedition, and introduced them to the people and places that make that road so very special.
At each stop along the way, the team observed firsthand the “patina” of the towns, and tried to capture the richness of textures and colors. Painted advertisements on the sides of buildings, weathered and overlaid, were of particular interest. Careful studies were made of rock and cloud formations, and the variety of vegetation along the way.
Wallis notes, “Every road has a look based on where the road goes. It reflects the territory on both shoulders. The look of Route 66 is everything from the licorice colored soil of Illinois in the land of Lincoln, to the desert sands of the Mojave. It’s the all-American look.”
“On our research trip, we went to the cafes and mom-and-pop shops, and motels along the way. We talked to hitchhikers, cowboys, waitresses and mechanics. We met a lot of interesting characters along the way. If you’re a real road warrior and you know the old highway, you will be pleased, because the film is going to remind you of places and people you might know on the Mother Road.”
Out on the Texas Panhandle, just west of Amarillo, is an unusual site named Cadillac Ranch, where an eccentric Texan commissioned three artists collectively known as “Ant Farm” to create site-specific art work on his ranch. They buried a row of Cadillacs as a monument to the rise and fall of the tailfin, and Pixar has paid homage to that landmark in `CARS.’”
Car-isma: Pixar’s Animators and A Top Vocal Cast
The blending of first-rate vocal performances with exceptional animation has been a Pixar hallmark since their debut film, “Toy Story,” eleven years ago. This tradition continues with “CARS” and brings a whole new level of sophistication and fun to the characters. For this film, more than 100 unique car characters were created.
Lasseter observes, “We really worked hard to make this world believable. It took many months of trial and error, and practicing test animation, to figure out how each car moves and how their world works. Our supervising animators, Doug Sweetland and Scott Clark, and the directing animators, Bobby Podesta and James Ford Murphy, did an amazing job working with the animation team to determine the unique movements for each character based on its age and the type of car it was. Some cars are like sports cars and they’re much tighter in their suspension. Others are older 50s cars that are a lot looser and have more bounce to them. We wanted to get that authenticity in there but also to make sure each car had a unique personality. We also wanted each animator to be able to put some of themself in the character and give it their own spin. Every day in dailies, it was so much fun because we would see things that we had never seen in our lives. The world of cars came alive in a believable and unexpected way.”
One of the biggest decisions affecting the design and animation of the car characters was the placement of the eyes. Production designer Bob Pauley, who oversaw the design of the car characters, explains, “From the very beginning of this project, John 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.”
Among the biggest design inspirations for Lasseter and his team was the classic 1952 Disney short, “Susie the Little Blue Coupe.” One of the key animators on that film was the legendary Ollie Johnston, who at age 92 is the last surviving member of Walt Disney’s original team affectionately known as “the nine old men.” Lasseter maintains a special relationship (in addition to a love of trains) with Johnston, and he had numerous occasions to discuss the “CARS” approach with his friend and mentor.
Animating car characters had its share of challenges for the team. Supervising animator Scott Clark explains, “Getting a full range of performance and emotion from these characters and making them still seem like cars was a tough assignment, but that’s what animation does best. You use your imagination, and you make the movements and gestures fit with the design. Our car characters may not have arms and legs, but we can lean the tires in or out to suggest hands opening up or closing in. We can use steering to point a certain direction. We also designed a special eyelid and an eyebrow for the windshield that lets us communicate an expressiveness that cars don’t have.”
Doug Sweetland, who also served as supervising animator, adds, “It took a different kind of animator to really be able to interpret the `CARS’ models, than it did to interpret something like `The Incredibles’ models. With `The Incredibles’ the animator could get reference for the characters by shooting himself and watching the footage. But with `CARS’ it departs completely from any reference. Yes they’re cars, but no car can do what our characters do. It’s pure fantasy. It took a lot of trial and error to get them to look right.”
With his background in animation, and his love of the art form, Lasseter inspired his team to do some of their finest work. Murphy observes, “John is the greatest collaborator of all time. And I think that’s what makes him so successful. He is tirelessly collaborative.”
Clark adds, “John is incredibly supportive of the animators. He understands the medium so well, and he knows the designs. He knows that if you can imagine something, you can animate it. And that’s what animation should be. It should be something you can’t do in live-action. He is an expert at creating a whole world that exists in and of itself. He gets excited about the littlest observations and he focuses in on things. He loves cars so much that he can make you excited about animating them. His way of directing is very encouraging. He really knows how to bring out the best in artists. He has a vision, he has ideas, but he also knows how to encourage us to do our very best work.”
LIGHTNING McQUEEN/ OWEN WILSON: The character of Lightning McQueen is an original design that features the voice of Owen Wilson. Pauley notes, “We used a standard stock car as our starting point. John and I began thinking about our favorite cars and what made them so cool. We pared down all the ideas and did a bunch of drawings that we felt were good. From there, a clay sculpt was made just like they would do in Detroit, and our star modeler Andrew Schmidt took it from there. McQueen was a blast to do. It was also a major challenge to make a car that reads as a character and has a strong face on screen, yet doesn’t look derivative.”
Wilson observes, “John would walk me through the storyboards and sometimes show me some rough animation to get me up to speed. You get a good idea of what’s going on from the script, but a lot of times it involves going inside your head and using your imagination. It kind of felt like when you were a kid, and you would do funny animated voices. You’re dreaming the stuff up and creating a character. Working with the Pixar people was fun. I loved going up to their Studio because it was such a great place to hang out. It’s a creative fun atmosphere with people skateboarding around, and playing ping pong and foosball.
“My character is kind of obsessed with winning,” adds Wilson. “He isn’t a cheat or anything like that, but he doesn’t really care about much else beyond winning and the glory that comes with that. I think that’s how he measures himself. Over the course of the movie he gets stuck in this small town and begins to appreciate some of the values and things this small town has to offer. He also falls in love with this really hot car named Sally. He tries his usual game on her and it doesn’t work, so he has to come up with a new approach.”
Bobby Podesta, a directing animator on the film, notes, “Owen has a really great and unique voice, in the sound, in his delivery, and with the comic timing. From the moment he came on board, I suddenly felt that this character had a lot of interest to me. He starts off very cocky, but in this way that you still love him. And that’s hard to do. Owen pulls it off and gave us a great range.”
Directing animator James Ford Murphy adds, “To get some insights into McQueen, we studied famous cocky characters who are also charming. We looked at guys like Joe Namath, Muhammed Ali, and even Kid Rock. All these guys are super cocky but you still like them. Owen was really able to get that across where he says something cocky, but he says it in such a charming way that you almost don’t hear what he’s saying. John also told us to think of this character as being like Tiger Woods or Michael Jordan in their rookie years. A character who is exceptionally talented and has seemingly come out of nowhere.”
DOC HUDSON / PAUL NEWMAN: For the role of Doc Hudson, Lasseter and company had the good fortune of enlisting the talents of screen legend and race car enthusiast Paul Newman.
Lasseter observes, “I’m so proud of this character and thrilled that Paul Newman agreed to provide the voice. Not only is he one of our greatest actors of all time, but his association with racing made him the perfect choice for this role. We were thrilled when he agreed to voice Doc. Paul was great to work with and was really excited to be providing the voice for a car character.”
“When I first got the call asking if I’d be interested in doing an animated feature for Pixar about race cars in which I played a 1951 Hudson Hornet, I told them I found the combination irresistible,” says Newman. “I hadn’t seen a script or anything, I just knew it was Pixar, it was Lasseter, and it was about racing. Those are the three ingredients that I was familiar with.
“The vocal aspect of Doc’s character came very quickly,” adds the actor. “He was southern, he was old, he was tired, and he was smart. Doing a voice for an animated film is so different from making a live-action film. You bring nothing physical to the role. You don’t bring your appearance or your physical mannerisms; you don’t bring anything except your voice. That’s the only instrument that you have. Working with John was a pleasure and I think we complemented each other. I took a lot of the stuff he said, and tried to give it to him exactly as he wanted, and then I tried to augment and exaggerate it.
“I’m really delighted with the way the film turned out, and I think it will exceed anything that Pixar or Disney has done,” concludes Newman. “The race sequences are very exciting, and the personalities of the characters really show through and are so well represented by the types of cars they are. The scenes in the stadium, the skies, and everything in the background are so incredibly detailed.”
According to Scott Clark, “Paul is such a great actor. Every line you get from him has character. You can hear the wisdom and experience and richness in his voice.”
SALLY CARRERA/ BONNIE HUNT: The character of Sally was based on the design for the 2002 Porsche 911 Carrera. Bonnie Hunt gives a high performance delivery in her third assignment for Pixar.
Lasseter says, “I always thought that Bonnie would be a fantastic female lead in one of our films, and that she has what it takes to be the perfect voice actor for an animated film. She’s a great actor, and she has a wonderful voice quality that jumps off the screen. She also brings to her role the ability to ad lib. She makes the part her own, and makes it sound natural. I always encourage the actors to find that something that is unique to them, and Bonnie would come up with things that you couldn’t script. She has the ability to make you weep. Her performance has so much emotion and heart, in addition to all the humor.”
Hunt observes, “Sally was a big hot shot attorney living life in the fast lane in California. You know, Blackberry, instant messaging everybody, very very busy. And she took a drive on Route 66. Her car broke down and she stayed in this small town and found what was really meaningful in her life. I knew that she was somebody who used to be tough, and tried to keep up the pace of her life. She slowed down when she got to Radiator Springs and it made her a little softer, so I thought her voice would be a little softer.
“I think it would be really great if parents took their kids in a Winnebago down Route 66 to experience meeting so many different and wonderful characters in real life,” adds Hunt.
MATER/ LARRY THE CABLE GUY: One of the film’s standout characters is a backwards-driving tow truck named Mater. The character quickly grew to become a favorite with the filmmakers, and the inspired choice of Larry the Cable Guy as the vocal counterpart helped to really set things in motion.
“Mater was definitely a popular character with the animators, and I think in a way he became the centerpiece of the movie,” says Sweetland. “Animators loved to work on the character because he was so physical and provided a lot of juicy bits for them to sink their teeth into. The model provided a little more freedom because it had a separate cab and bed to the truck. And then you have the tow cable that you can incorporate as a tail, or even twirl like a helicopter. Mater does all sorts of stuff with it. Larry the Cable Guy gave us a lot to work with. He’s so funny and yet his performance has so much heart. To me, it’s one of those incredibly perfect voices like Sterling Holloway with Winnie the Pooh.”
According to Larry the Cable Guy, “I love all of Pixar’s movies and stuff. I was sittin’ in the house one day and I got a phone call. And they said, `Hey, wanna be in one a those Pixar / Disney movies?’ And I’m like, `Yeah. I’d love to.’ When I got the fax saying it was a done deal, I said, `No way. Ya gotta be kiddin’ me.’ I thought it was going to be some little teeny tiny part. But, man, it ended up bein’ one of the big characters in the film. It was pretty cool. I hadn’t been that excited since I found a vision of the Virgin Mary in some potato salad at a picnic.
“John and I are real good buddies,” he adds. “We’re both into anything that has to do with a track and cars. He makes ya real comfortable. He told me, `Mater is your character. I want you to make it yours and do the lines however you wanna do it.’ When I’d say a line and he’d start laughin’ I knew I was doin’ pretty good.
“Mater is a little bit like me actually,” says Larry. “He’s grown up in a small town his whole life, and I’m from a town of 1200. And what he thinks is fun and exciting, somebody in the city would go, that’s stupid. Why would you do somethin’ like that?’ But in his world, it’s the most exciting thing he’s ever done. He’s the world’s best backward driver. If you ever wanted a friend, you’d want Mater. He’s McQueen’s buddy to the end, and he’d do anything for that guy. There’s not a mean bone in his body.”
Lasseter adds, “Mater is the definition of true friendship, and Joe and I loved this beat-up rusty tow truck that was always there for his friends. Larry the Cable guy is one of the absolute funniest guys you’ll ever meet, and he’s a terrific actor too. We had so much fun working with him. When you first look at Mater with his buck teeth, rusty body and missing hood, you think this is a moving wreck. By the end of the film, you just fall in love with him. It’s the classic thing about not judging a book by its cover, and he comes to represent so much of the growth of the main character, Lightning McQueen.”
MACK/ JOHN RATZENBERGER: John Ratzenberger eagerly accepted his latest assignment for Pixar. Having provided voices for all six of their previous films, he has been dubbed “Pixar’s good luck charm.”
“I’m the lucky one,” says Ratzenberger. “Pixar has created the standard that everyone has to live up to. They’re creating history with each one of their films and I feel lucky to be a part of it. `CARS’ really took my breath away. At first, you’re struck by the detail. As you watch the film, you forget you’re watching an animated feature about cars. It really tugs at your heart strings.
“My character is rugged, strong, broad-shouldered, yet sensitive,” adds Ratzenberger. “He’s not going to get you there fast, and it’s not going to be flashy. But you’re going to arrive where you intend to go – eventually. He’s very reliable and loyal. He’s got a work ethic and he wants to make sure the job gets done the right way. I love working for Pixar because of the enthusiasm they bring. You want to play with them and be in their sandbox. John inspires you with his passion and direction.”
Truth to Materials
John Lasseter had some very specific words for the designers, modelers, and animators who were responsible for creating the film’s car stars: “Truth to materials.” Starting with pencil and paper designs from production designer Bob Pauley, and continuing through the modeling, articulation, and shading of the characters, and finally into animation, the production team worked hard to have the car characters remain true to their origins.
Characters department manager Jay Ward explains, “John didn’t want the cars to seem clay-like or mushy. He insisted on truth to materials. This was a huge thing for him. He told us that steel needs to feel like steel. Glass should feel like glass. These cars need to feel heavy. They weigh three or four thousand pounds. When they move around, they need to have that feel. They shouldn’t appear light or overly bouncy to the point where the audience might see them as rubber toys.”
According to directing animator James Ford Murphy, “Originally, the car models were built so they could basically do anything. John kept reminding us that these characters are made of metal and they weigh several thousand pounds. They can’t stretch. He showed us examples of very loose animation to illustrate what not to do.”
With the limitations of movement imposed by the metal frames, the animators had to be inventive and resourceful to create the wide range of movement and expression required for the story.
Directing animator Bobby Podesta observes, “The really cool thing about cars is that they could be a lot of different things. They can move like a car when they’re driving around. But we could make them appear almost animal-like at times, and have them gesture or do something that humans can do, while staying true to car materials. For example, there’s a scene where Mater creeps across a tractor field, and he’s suddenly like a lion in Africa sneaking up on his prey. You find yourself relating to the car in a different way.”
The Look of “Cars”
From the thrilling opening nighttime race, to the dusty, faded facades of Radiator Springs’ Main Street, and revving up to a climax with the action-packed daytime race in California, Pixar’s production designers and artistic team went into overdrive to capture the diverse moods and settings of “CARS” in a stylish way.
A great believer in research and first-hand experience, Lasseter took his key creative team on a road trip along Route 66 in 2001 to help them prepare for their assignment. Nine people, nine days, four white Cadillacs. For good measure, Route 66 expert Michael Wallis led the expedition and provided a running narrative via walky-talkies along the way.
Production designer Bob Pauley, a Detroit native and lifetime car enthusiast, who oversaw the design of the car characters and the two racetrack environments, recalls, “Michael told us at the very start of the trip, `you don’t know what’s going to happen out there. All sorts of new things and experiences are going to happen, and you just have to roll with it and enjoy it, and be open to it.’ And it was true. Typically, we’d go into a town, and we’d hear all these wonderful stories from the locals. We’d soak it all in while getting a haircut at the barbershop, or enjoying a sno-cone, or taking the challenge to eat a 72-ounce steak at the Big Texan. We even took soil samples. It was unbelievable – purple, red, orange, ochre. So many wonderful colors!
“One of the most meaningful moments for all of us occurred at a stop somewhere in Arizona,” continues Pauley. “We were on the side of a road close to the big highway. It was a beautiful road that wound perfectly around the environment. It turns and goes right through this gorgeous butte. As we were sitting there, a truck pulled up with an older Native American and his grandchild. He asked us `How do you like our land?’ We told him how beautiful it was, and he told us that he was out here when they blasted the cutaway for the big highway through his ancestor’s sacred land. It was a powerful moment being there on a road that works so well with the environment, and seeing the interstate that slices through it without any care or respect at all. It was amazing to hear these great stories first-hand from a person whose family had been there for generations.”
Associate producer Tom Porter recalls, “When John and his team came back from their Route 66 trip, there was a lot of talk about wanting to capture the patina of the Southwest. They wanted everything in the film to be shaded so that it had the authenticity of that old 40s, 50s, 60s stuff that was faded and weathered after fifty years. John wanted the full complexity of a Southwestern town looking authentic, and then a similar set of challenges in the racing world.”
Bill Cone, the production designer who was responsible for creating the look of the film’s environments and building a five-mile stretch of road that leads in and out of the town of Radiator Springs, recalls, “I think of the style for this film as cartoon realism. You have talking cars, so you’ve already taken a step away from reality in that regard. The forms are a little whimsical. You’ll see these car shapes on the cliffs, and the clouds are stylized. I reached the conclusion that humans in a human universe would see their own forms in nature, which they often do. They name things like Indian Head Rock. So, in a car universe, they would have car-based metaphors for forms. Suddenly, you could see these cliffs that looked very much like the hoods of cars, or an ornament. Great American artists like Maynard Dixon also had a big influence on us with their landscapes of the Southwest and the clouds that they painted.”
Sophie Vincelette, sets supervisor for the film, was responsible for creating the film’s mountain range that pays homage to the famous Cadillacs planted in the ground along Route 66. Other mountains are shaped like wheelwells, and bumpers.
In every aspect, “CARS” represents a new level of attention to detail for Pixar. With its crumbly bits of concrete, accumulated dust, and layers of faded advertisements painted on brick walls, Radiator Springs feels like a real place audiences could visit.
According to Vincelette, “Our challenge was to give the buildings in town the appearance of having a sense of history. We worked closely with the shading and modeling teams to give them a weathered look, and to make sure that things were not always straight. There are weeds growing out of cracks in the cement on the sidewalk.”
Adding to the authenticity of the desert location, modelers in the Sets department were able to dot the landscape with thousands of pieces of vegetation, including cactus, sagebrush (in brown, green, yellow and tan varieties), and grass. Rocks of varying formations also added interest to the scenery.
To ensure authenticity in their car designs, the production design team conducted research at auto shows, spent time in Detroit with auto designers and manufacturers, went to car races, and made extensive studies of car materials.
“Research is a big thing for John,” says Pauley. “It’s also the most fun part of the job because we got to go to car shows and races, and other neat stuff. One of the things we did was to visit Manuel’s Body Shop right near the Studio. He gave us a lot of detail and helped us understand how they apply layers and coats of paint on a car.”
Characters shading supervisor Thomas Jordan explains, “Chrome and car paint were our two main challenges on this film. We started out by learning as much as we could. At the local body shop, we watched them paint a car, and we saw the way they mixed the paint and applied the various coats.
“We tried to dissect what goes into the real paint and recreated it in the computer,” he continues. “We figured out that we needed a base paint, which is where the color comes from, and the clearcoat, which provides the reflection. We were then able to add in things like metallic flake to give it a glittery sparkle, a pearlescent quality the might change color depending on the angle, and even a layer of pin-striping for characters like Ramone.”
Shading art director Tia Krater adds, “While we were at Manuel’s one day we found this old beat-up chrome bumper and we asked if we could have it. He started to clean it up, and we said `No! No! Don’t clean it!’ It was exactly what we were looking for. We loved how dirty it was and the patina. It had a little bit of everything we were looking for – pitting, scratches, milky blurriness, rust, and blistering. All in one bumper! One of our technical guys, who ended up shading Mater, took it out in the sun, and spent a lot of time staring at it and taking lots of pictures to analyze the textures and surfaces.”
The Ultimate Road Trip Soundtrack
A film that celebrates our universal love affair with cars, and the joys of taking the road less traveled, called for the world’s best road trip soundtrack, and Lasseter enlisted his longtime collaborator Randy Newman (a 2002 Oscar-winner for his song, “If I Didn’t Have You” from “Monsters, Inc.”) and a host of top recording artists to add to the fun and excitement. Taking Pixar in whole new musical direction, the songs integrate with Newman’s score (and great new song performed by James Taylor), and showcase a variety of styles and performances. The combination of Newman’s musical genius with the contributions of these other great artists makes for a rousing musical experience and represents a first for Pixar.
Lasseter got a friend and a longtime collaborator in Randy Newman when he began working with the acclaimed composer/songwriter back on the original “Toy Story.” The two have been making beautiful music ever since with their subsequent collaborations on “A Bug’s Life” and “Toy Story 2.” Newman received Oscar nominations for his scores for “Toy Story” and “A Bug’s Life,” plus nominations for the songs, “You’ve Got a Friend in Me” (“Toy Story”) and “When She Loved Me” (from “Toy Story 2,” sung in the film by Sarah McLachlan).
“Every Randy Newman score is unlike the one before it,” observes Lasseter. “He can write the most heartfelt emotional songs, and he can write some of most humorous songs you’ve ever heard. He’s incredibly funny and smart. Randy’s score for `CARS’ reflects the two distinct worlds – the modern world where it’s all about being fast; and Radiator Springs, where the one commodity they have is time. Everything is slower there, and Randy uses a combination of bluegrass, jazz, and pure Americana to capture that. The racing world has a heavy dose of rock `n’ roll. His score for this film is one of the absolute best he’s ever done.”
Darla Anderson adds, “Working with Randy feels like working with family. He is family. He and John have such a mutual trust. John talks to Randy, tells him what he’s looking for, and he leaves Randy alone. He always comes back with music that blows us away. Randy’s music for the parts of the movie that take place in Radiator Springs has almost a kind of Copeland-like quality to it. He worked with a 110-piece orchestra to get this amazing score. And then he did a lot of side sessions that had a bluegrass quality with mandolin, guitar and a harmonica.”
Among the four new songs written for the film is a Randy Newman composition called “Our Town.” Sung by Grammy winning recording legend James Taylor, the lyrics powerfully tell the tale of a once thriving town that no one seems to need anymore and of a place where “Main Street isn’t Main Street anymore.”
Grammy Award-winning superstar Sheryl Crow captures the excitement of the film’s opening race with “Real Gone,” a new song that she wrote with producer John Shanks. Lyrically and emotionally, it reflects the thrill of the competition and the crowd’s anticipation.
Country music favorite Brad Paisley contributes two new songs to the film — “Find Yourself” and “Behind the Clouds.” The latter was co-written with his long-time producer and collaborator, Frank Rogers (who also produced both tracks).
In addition to the songs written expressly for the film, there are also new recordings of two favorites. Popular country recording group Rascal Flatts provides a new version of the Tom Cochran song, “Life is a Highway.” Multiple Grammy Award-winning singer/guitarist John Mayer offers some new kicks with his lively and distinctive rendition of the classic 1946 Bobby Troup standard, “Route 66.” The film’s impressive soundtrack also includes recordings by Hank Williams, Chuck Berry (“Route 66”), and The Chords (“Sh-Boom”).
Trusting to Process
“CARS” is dedicated to the storytelling legacy of the late Joe Ranft, and the end credits for the film feature a fitting tribute to his enormous talent and contributions.
A storyman extraordinaire who lent his genius for story and character to some of the most memorable animated features of the past twenty-five years, Ranft was one of the greatest collaborators of all time in the ultimate form of collaborative filmmaking. From his days at Disney, where he helped to shape the stories for “Who Framed Roger Rabbit,” “Beauty and the Beast,” “The Nightmare Before Christmas,” “The Lion King,” and “James and the Giant Peach,” to his decade of achievements at Pixar, where he was head of story on “Toy Story” (for which he shared an Oscar nomination for Best Original Screenplay), “A Bug’s Life,” and “Toy Story 2,” he established a reputation for being tops in his field. As story supervisor (and co-director) on “CARS,” he brought heart, soul, and humor to the film, and left a personal imprint on the character of Mater. Tragically, Ranft passed away in August, 2005 after completing his work on the film.
“Joe was the best story guy I’ve ever known,” observes Lasseter. “He worked with me on every project I ever made. The thing I loved about his humor was that it wasn’t just funny lines. It was character-based. He could make me laugh at a moment’s notice by becoming a character. Whether he was doing an impersonation of Marlon Brando, a cheeky English boy, or a hilarious country character with outrageous buck teeth, he was able to make me laugh until I’d have tears in my eyes. During his Disney days, he took an improv comedy class at the Groundlings, where he learned one of the first rules of comedy is `never say no.’ This had a big impact on the way we worked together and on the way the story room operated. When you start something, you never stop the creative flow of where it’s going. You just keep saying `yes.’ No matter what the idea, let it flow and see where it takes you. And it was amazing. For me, creating a story is like making your way through one of those giant mazes in `The Shining.’ Joe and I basically would get to the entrance of the maze and put our hands on the wall and start walking. You go down every wrong path, but eventually you get out. We would never say `no,’ and we would explore every path. And we would find nuggets, and characters, and discover interesting things all along the way.
“Joe was the heart of our films,” adds Lasseter. “He had the biggest heart of any person I’ve ever known. He had faith in everybody and everything. He was the biggest cheerleader around here. Every story guy would go to him, and he would always give them time. He was everyone’s mentor.”
“More than any other character that we’ve created at Pixar, I’m probably proudest of Mater,” continues Lasseter. “And part of that is because the character is pure Joe. On every film that we worked on, Joe would always zero in on something that really struck his fancy and it would always make it into the final film. With `Toy Story,’ it was the green army men who moved like they were the Green Berets. In `A Bug’s Life,’ it was the scene where the circus bugs found out that the ant colony thought they were warriors by way of a children’s elementary school play. For `CARS,’ it was Mater driving backwards. He had this concept that Mater’s character was there to teach Lightning McQueen that you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover. When McQueen first meets this rusty tow truck, he can’t stand him. But then he discovers that Mater is pure friendship, and driving backwards is what tow trucks do best. Mater is like your faithful dog who is there to greet you when you come home no matter what kind of a day you’ve had. Joe was that kind of friend and he will always be an important part of my life.”
Ranft also had a huge impact on his “CARS” story team. Steve Purcell, one of the film’s story artists recalls, “One of the things that Joe was really excited about as he was winding down on `CARS’ was creating a story community where the story artists were more tuned in to each other and better connected. He would show screenings of Pixar’s old story reels to remind us of the process that we went through to get to the finished story. His motto was `You have to trust the process.’ If you stalled on a story point, you’ve got to work your way through it.”
Dan Scanlon, another story artist on “CARS,” adds, “Joe’s told us not just to refer back to a completed film like `Toy Story.’ Instead, look back at the first reel of the film that was boarded. It was terrible. He encouraged us to analyze how problems were fixed, and how the process can work to make something good from something terrible. It can be very intimidating for a new story person at Pixar when you look at all the great things that have been done. Joe would show us how bad the early versions of some of the hit films were and explain what they did to fix it. He was a very humble guy who encouraged all of us to stay humble and inspired us all with his gift for storytelling.”
Pixar’s Shining Achievements
Over the past 20 years, Pixar Animation Studios has pushed the limits of computer-animation to exciting new heights, and continued to harness the medium to showcase their stories and characters in exciting new ways. From their earliest Oscar-winning and nominated short films to the industry’s first full-length CG feature, “Toy Story,” Pixar has never been content to rest on their laurels. Each film has challenged them in new ways whether it was the blades of grass and crowd scenes in “A Bug’s Life,” the caricatured-but-realistic humans in “Toy Story 2,” the hairy characters and simulated clothing of “Monsters, Inc.,” the vibrant underwater world of “Finding Nemo,” or the action-packed environments and human characters in “The Incredibles.” Their latest undertaking, “CARS,” posed some of the greatest challenges to date.
Under the supervision of associate producer Tom Porter, supervising technical director Eben Ostby, and Pixar’s resident group of technical wizards, “CARS” got off to a fast start and scored some impressive achievements along the way.
Perhaps the biggest challenge for the “CARS” technical team was creating the metallic and painted surfaces of the car characters, and the reflections that those surfaces generate. An algorithmic rendering technique known as “ray tracing” was used for the first time at Pixar to give the filmmakers the look and effect that they wanted.
Ostby explains, “Given that the stars of our film are made of metal, John had a real desire to see realistic reflections, and more beautiful lighting than we’ve seen in any of our previous films. In the past, we’ve mostly used environment maps and other matte-based technology to cheat reflections, but for `CARS’ we added a ray-tracing capability to our existing Renderman program to raise the bar for Pixar.”
Ray tracing has been around for many years, but it was up to Pixar’s rendering team to introduce it into nearly every shot in “CARS.” Rendering lead Jessica McMackin was responsible for rendering the film’s final images, while rendering optimization lead Tony Apodaca had to figure out how to minimize the rendering time.
McMackin notes, “In addition to creating accurate reflections, we used ray tracing to achieve other effects. We were able to use this approach to create accurate shadows, like when there are multiple light sources and you want to get a feathering of shadows at the edges. Or occlusion, which is the absence of ambient light between two surfaces, like a crease in a shirt. A fourth use is irradiance. An example of this would be if you had a piece of red paper and held it up to a white wall, the light would be colored by the paper and cast a red glow on the wall.”
“Our computers are now a thousand times faster than they were on `Toy Story,’” adds Apodaca, “but even though they’re faster, our appetites have gotten bigger and we challenge ourselves more. Because of ray tracing and all the reflections, the average time to render a single frame of film on `CARS’ was seventeen hours. Some frames took as much as a week. On this film, we’ve made larger and more beautiful images with more subtle lighting and ray tracing.”
Among the film’s other major accomplishments is a ground-locking system that kept the car firmly planted on the road, unless the story called for some exception to this rule. Characters supervisor Tim Milliron, who managed the group in charge of modeling, rigging and shading the characters, wrote the code for this program.
“The ground-locking system is one of the things I’m most proud of on this film,” says Milliron. “In the past, characters have never known about their environment in any way. A simulation pass was required if you wanted to make something like that happen. On `CARS,’ this system is built into the models themselves, and as you move the car around, the vehicle sticks to the ground. It was one of those things that we do at Pixar where we knew going in that it had to be done, but we had no idea how to do it.”
Another major accomplishment for the Characters team was to come up with a universal rig that would work for practically every character. This means the same animation controls (or avars) could be applied to each of the nearly 100 unique car characters without creating new articulation components. The same basic chassis was also fitted to the geometry of each individual car, but the suspension was customized for each vehicle.
“We topped out at around 1200 avars that the animators would touch,” explains Milliron. “Some characters, like Mater with his tow rig, obviously had more. More than ever, the avars were designed to work together. For example, there are four big avars for the mouth. There’s an avar that moves the mouth to the left, and to the right, something that moves the corner of the mouth up and down, a jaw up-down avar, and an avar that moves the corner of the mouth in and out.”
Milliron’s group was also responsible for the crowds of cars that inhabit the stands at the film’s opening and ending race sequences. With 120,000 cars in the stands, and an additional 2000 in the infield, this easily qualifies as the biggest crowd scenes ever done at Pixar (far surpassing the milling ants in “A Bug’s Life”). Complicating the situation, all of the vehicles in this crowd have some animation on them.
To help capture the thrills and excitement of the film’s racing scenes, Jeremy Lasky, the director of photography responsible for camera and layout, and his team visited many car races, and had extensive talks with the camera experts who photographed such events. Veteran Fox Sports director Artie Kemper, a pioneer in televising car races, proved to be a great source of information.
According to Lasky, “Artie gave us really great notes about where he would typically place his cameras on the track. He also talked about shots that he wished he could get. We were able to do a lot of things that were impossible for him to do. We could put a camera under the car, place one on the middle of the track, set up a crane shot that comes down and have the cars race right over the top of the cameras. Artie told us that he wished he had those toys. The camera placement in `CARS’ allowed us to put the audiences right in the middle of the excitement. We put them into a world they were familiar with, and then we hit them with shots that they’ve never seen. The film has these spectacular moments where the cars are ripping two millimeters past the camera lens, which is impossible in live-action, and we set it up for them to believe it’s possible.”
Even in the more calm and serene setting of Radiator Springs, some impressive achievements were accomplished. One of the film’s most stellar and complex moments occurs at the end of Act II, where the neon lights are turned on again, as the town is revitalized and a parade of cars cruise down Main Street. With its bright, bold, brilliant lights coming from numerous sources and accompanying reflections, this sequence proved to be enormously complicated but one of the film’s most rewarding and luminous moments.
To enhance the richness and beauty of the desert landscapes surrounding Radiator Springs, the filmmakers created a department responsible for matte paintings and sky flats. Technical director Lisa Forsell and her team worked their magic in this area.
“Digital matte paintings are a way to get a lot of visual complexity without necessarily having to build complex geometry, and write complex shaders,” says Forsell. “We spent a lot time working on the clouds and their different formations. They tend to be on several layers and they move relative to each other. The clouds do in fact have some character and personality. The notion was that just as people see themselves in the clouds, cars see various car-shaped clouds. It’s subtle, but there are definitely some that are shaped like a sedan. And if you look closely, you’ll see some that look like tire treads.
“The fact that so much attention is put on the skies speaks to the visual level of the film,” she adds. “Is there a story point? Not really. There is no pixel on the screen that does not have an extraordinary level of scrutiny and care applied to it. There is nothing that is just throw-away.”
Steve May, the effects supervisor for “CARS” brought that same level of scrutiny to nearly ½ of the film’s 2000 shots. Among the numerous effects created for the film were dust clouds trailing behind cars, tire tracks, skid marks, water, smoke, and drool (from Mater’s front end).
These production notes provided by Walt Disney Pictures.
Cars
Starring: Paul Newman, Richard Petty, Owen Wilson, Bonnie Hunt, Dan Whitney, John Ratzenberger, Larry the Cable Guy, Cheech Marin
Directed by: John Lasseter
Screenplay by: John Lasseter
Release Date: June 9th, 2006
MPAA Rating: G for general audience.
Studio: Walt Disney Pictures
Box Office Totals
Domestic: $244,082,982 (52.8%)
Foreign: $217,899,899 (47.2%)
Total: $461,982,881 (Worldwide)