An arrogant racecar winds up stranded in a long forgotten road trip
​town, where he learns the true meaning of friendship and teamwork.

FAMILY/SPORT

Cars (2006)

Directed by John Lasseter and Joe Ranft

Written by Dan Fogelman, John Lasseter, Joe Ranft,
​Kiel Murray, Phil Lorin, Jorgen Klubien

Starring Owen Wilson, Bonnie Hunt, Paul Newman, Larry the
Cable Guy, Tony Shalhoub, Cheech Marin, Guido Quaroni,
Jenifer Lewis, John Ratzenberger, Michael Keaton,
Richard Petty, George Carlin, Paul Dooley, Jeremy Piven

Oscar Nominations - Best Animated Film,
Best Original Song (Our Town)

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Connor Eyzaguirre

March 11, 2022

8/10

Cars is right down the middle when people often discuss Pixar's best and worst films. A lot of people love it. A lot of people hate it. While I can't for the life of me understand why we got three of these before we got even one sequel to The Incredibles, Cars has grown on me. It's a delightful, funny, charming film that acts as Pixar's ode to small town America and a time where the little things mattered just a bit more than they do today. Plus, I won't lie. The racing scenes are still incredibly tense, even though I've seen this one about a dozen times over the years.

Lightning McQueen (Wilson) is the most famous racecar in the world. He's also arrogant, selfish, and has no friends he didn't buy. After a three way tie in the race of his life, he heads to California for a tie breaker race with longtime champ The King (Petty) and douchey wannabe Chick (Keaton). Along the way, he gets lost and accidentally tears up the road of a small nowhere town called Radiator Springs. There, he meets the town's defacto leader Doc Hudson (Newman), who forces Lightning to make things right and pave the road. While in town, Lightning learns to appreciate life a bit more, and makes some genuine friends who remind him of what's really important in life. How can you not love that?

This film is worth watching if only for the moment where Lightning freaks out and screams "I'm in hillbilly hell!" in a Disney movie. Apart from that, though, it's an enjoyable film about friendship, loyalty, and strength. Basically, it's Pixar's bread and butter but in a NASCAR movie, which I'm sure helped put people off back in 2006.