Old favourites featured in 2006 'Cars' movie

Old favourites featured in 2006 'Cars' movie

Image courtesy Pixar Animation Studios/Walt Disney Pictures. Cars the movie features an assortment of animated cars.

'Cars', an animated feature created by Pixar Animation Studios, released June 9, 2006, 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.

The story involves aspiring-champion racecar Lightning McQueen (possibly named after the actor Steve McQueen, who also developed a reputation as a world-class race car and motorcycle driver), who is on the fast track to success, fame and everything he has ever hoped for -- until he takes an unexpected detour on the dusty highway.

His have-it-all-now attitude is thrown into a tailspin when a small-town community, Radiator Springs, that time forgot, shows Lightning McQueen what he has been missing in his high-octane life. (U.S. Highway 66 or Route 66 was the most famous road in the U.S. Highway system.)

Commenting on the announcement, Dick Cook, chairman of The Walt Disney Studios (which recently acquired Pixar) said, "Cars is the quintessential summer film for audiences of all ages. It has a fantastic story full of action, adventure, comedy, heartfelt emotion with cutting edge animation and incredible voice talent."

'Cars' longs to be a summer movie, said Pixar CEO Steve Jobs. "We plan to finish 'Cars' on its original schedule, and look forward to 'Cars' and our future films benefiting by summer theatrical releases and holiday DVD releases."

'Cars', the seventh animated feature film to be created by Pixar Animation Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures, is directed by Pixar's two-time Academy Award-winner John Lasseter, who directed 'Toy Story,' 'A Bug's Life,' and 'Toy Story 2.'

'Cars' features the voice talents of Owen Wilson (the voice of Lightning McQueen), Paul Newman and Bonnie Hunt, and has a wide assortment of cars as characters who get their kicks on Route 66.

Image courtesy Pixar Animation Studios/Walt Disney Pictures. Cars the movie features the voices of real race car drivers, including actor Paul Newman.

At an age when most people think about slowing down, Newman, who celebrated his 81st birthday on January 26, 2006, put the pedal to the metal behind the wheel of a real racecar on Feb. 4, 2005, at age 80. He was racing for a new record at the Rolex 24 at Daytona. Newman shared a Ford Crawford with three other drivers, but his team could not finish the race. Teammates Michael Brockman and Champ Car stars Sebastien Bourdais and Cristiano da Matta had several off-course excursions as well as engine problems. At 80, Newman was the oldest driver in the field.

The Academy Award-winning actor, who voices the character of a 1951 Hudson Hornet named Doc Hudson in the computer-animated feature, already holds a place in the Guinness Book of World Records as the oldest driver to win a professionally sanctioned race in 1995 at Daytona.

The all-star vocal cast also includes performances by racing legend Richard Petty and Cheech Marin.