Sorry I haven't been on guys, but I've been busy with art class projects. I got some new stuff though! Looka dis!
This movie was originally titled "Route 66". The name was changed to "Cars" so as not to imply a connection with the TV show "Route 66" (1960).
The music that opens the teaser trailer of this movie is the main theme to A Bug's Life (1998).
The film's animators drew up over 43,000 sketches for designs of the cars.
Mia and Tia are modeled after the first-generation Mazda MX-5 Miata.
The rock formations in the distance beyond Radiator Springs resemble Cadillac Ranch, and is actually named Cadillac Range on the maps shown during montages. Cadillac Ranch is an art exhibit consisting of 10 Cadillacs half-buried in a line outside Amarillo, Texas, near where Route 66 once ran. Additionally, when seen from "above", the hills around Radiator Springs resemble the hoods and fenders (complete with ornaments) of classic cars.
Instead of making the cars' headlights the eyes, as is done on most cartoons, the Pixar artists decided to put the eyes up on the windshield, because that made the characters more expressive. This idea was largely influenced by the Disney cartoon Susie the Little Blue Coupe (1952), one of director John Lasseter's favorite cartoons.
Flo isn't based on any single car but shares elements of the 1951 Buick LeSabre, the 1951 Buick XP-300, and the 1957 Chrysler Dart--all actual show cars.
One of the bumper stickers on Fillmore reads 'Save 2D Animation.'
The neon lights on Flo's V8 Cafe in the movie flash in the proper firing order for a Ford flathead V8.
The number on the train that Lightning out runs is A113, a reference to California Institute of the Arts, where many Pixar animators studied.
Lightning McQueen's original number was to be 57, director John Lasseter's birth year. It was later changed to 95 to represent the year that Toy Story (1995) was released. The car in the final film who has the number 57 (who wins the race in the first teaser) vaguely resembles McQueen, and is probably an earlier production design for that character.
The tires of Lightning McQueen are Buzzard models manufactured by Lightyear, a reference both to the real Goodyear "Eagle" tires used in NASCAR and character Buzz Lightyear from John Lasseter's previous 'Toy Story' films.
Porsche's profession as an attorney is a reference to Portia, a nickname for female lawyers, named after the character in Shakespeare's "Merchant Of Venice".
Guido is an Italian name. But it is also the Italian for "I drive".
The character Lightning McQueen is a reference to Glenn McQueen, a Pixar animator who died in 2002.
Mater's license plate reads "A113", yet another reference to the animation room at California Institute of the Arts, where many Pixar animators studied. Also, the lights on the train that almost hit Lightning say "A113" (See trivia for Toy Story (1995))
If you look closely at one of the racing cars, it's white, has the Apple logo, and the number is 84. 1984 was the year Apple released the Macintosh, the computer that revolutionized Apple as a company. Pixar was previously owned by Steve Jobs, the CEO of Apple.
The cars' designs were inspired by similar car sculptures displayed throughout the central business district of the City of Detroit.
Designs of the cars:
Ramone is a 1959 Chevrolet Impala or Bel Air two door hardtop, a very popular car with the low riders.
Luigi is a 1959 Fiat 500.
Guido is an ISO Isetta, a "bubble car" originally designed and built in Italy by ISO; the design was later licensed to BMW and to manufacturers in France and Brazil.
Mater is a 1955-1957 Chevrolet or GMC truck.
Sally is a 2002 Porsche 911 Carrera (Type 996).
The original idea was about an electric car living in a gas-guzzling world.
Additionally, when seen from "above", the hills around Radiator Springs resemble the hoods and fenders (complete with ornaments) of classic cars.
Among the cities closed for race day is the city of Emeryville, California, the home of Pixar.
WILHELM SCREAM: Used by one of the cars in Lightning's dream sequence.
The morning show crew from
www.RadioAlice.com (a local favorite radio station) lend their voices to a number of ancillary characters in the film (like Kori Turbowitz, Not Chuck, Traffic Copter and Reporter #9).
The Cozy Cone Motel's design is based on the two Wigwam Motels along Rt. 66; in Holbrook Arizona and Rialto, California. These were once two out of seven motels, with individual cabins shaped like tepees. Another motel from the chain survives in Cave City, KY. The name "Cozy Cone" was inspired by the Cozy Dog Drive-In of Springfield, IL, which lays claim to being birthplace of the corn dog.
The character "Fillmore" was at one time to be named "Waldmire" after Bob Waldmire, a self-proclaimed hippie artist known to Rt. 66 fans for his detailed pen-and-ink maps and postcards of the route. Though Waldmire's family owns the Cozy Dog Drive-In in Springfield, IL, Bob, now a vegan, preferred not have his name put on a character that would become a Happy Meal toy.
Since the movie has lines in Italian, the release in Italy (where foreign movies are mostly dubbed) was handled with a twist. Luigi was dubbed with a slight Modena accent (the home town of Ferrari) and Guido was dubbed with a thick Modenese dialect. The Ferrari in the end of the movie has been dubbed by Michael Schumacher as in the original version (but of course in Italian, with some German accent). A nice coincidence: 'Marco della Noce' , who dubs Luigi, is an Italian comedian whose trademark act, several years before the release of "Cars", was indeed a pretend of the head mechanic of Ferrari; actually in the dubbing he managed to slip some half lines from his routine.
The Italian name for "tire" is "gomma" (rubber), and there are actually a widespread number of tire shops in Italy called "Casa della gomma" (House of the tire).
The other song in the teaser trailer is Green Day's "Westbound Sign" from their 1995 album "Insomniac".
Joe Ranft's final film.
The fictional town of Radiator Springs was inspired by several real life locations along historic Route 66. In 2001, a creative team from Pixar, including directors John Lasseter and Joe Ranft, toured parts of Route 66 in Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and California. Their guide along the way was author and Route 66 historian Michael Wallis. Wallis went on to provide the voice of the Sheriff car in the film.
Fillmore, the VW Microbus voiced by George Carlin, has license plate '51237'. This is Carlin's birth date; May 12, 1937. It's entirely coincidental, but 51237 is also the ZIP code for George, Iowa.
When Lighting McQueen finally gets pulled over by the sheriff after destroying the road, the Sheriff says, "You're in a heap o' trouble, boy." This is a direct reference to Dodge commercials featuring Joe Higgins as the sheriff which aired in the early 70's.
When the Sheriff backfires and Lightning thinks he's being shot at, he says "Serpentine, serpentine." This is a reference to a scene from "The In-Laws" (1979) where Vincent (Peter Falk) instructs Sheldon (Alan Arkin) to run serpentine style to avoid being hit by bullets.
Dinoco, the big sponsor Lightning McQueen is chasing after in Cars, is also the gas station Buzz Lightyear and Woody are stranded at in Toy Story.
When Doc challenges McQueen for a race, some of the clouds/contrails above the dirt race track are shaped as tire prints.
The hill at Radiator Springs (with the white letters RS for Radiator Springs) resembles the top of a radiator with a cap.
At the beginning, after the first race, when Mack and McQueen travel to California, and they pass some power poles you hear and see some birds (just for the blink of an eye) which are from Pixars fun short movie "For the birds". Further film gimmicks are the films shown in the drive-in cinema at the end of the movie: they all are "car-adaptions" of earlier Pixar Productions.
The red-and-white metal-flake paint job that Ramon does for McQueen duplicates that of the Corvette used in the television series "Route 66"
The voice of Lightning McQueen's agent Harv, is provided by Jeremy Piven who also plays Vincent Chase's agent in the TV-series "Entourage".
The character "Mack", Lightning McQueen's transport driver, is based on a Mack Superliner semi-truck.
On the DVD, in the Bonus Features section, the background graphics are postcards from route 66. The icon to return to the main menu uses the Canada Post logo.
During the cross-country driving montage, at one point you see a shot of powerlines going by. Sitting atop of the lines are the birds from Pixar's animated short "For the Birds".
The King is a 1970 Plymouth Superbird, one of Richard Petty's most famous rides. The Superbird was created to get him back into a Plymouth for the 1970 racing season and Petty himself provides the voice. The King's paint scheme is exactly as King Richard's was in the 1970 NASCAR season.
The character of Fillmore, voiced by George Carlin, is a version of Al Sleet, the hippie-dippy weatherman, a popular skit that Carlin performed in the 60's and 70's.
Even with a farm of computers that ran four times faster than the ones on The Incredibles (2004) each frame of Cars (2006) took an average of 17 processor hours to render.
The Rust-eze sponsors each send Lightning off with a warning: "Don't drive like my brother!" This is the sign-off phrase for the popular NPR radio show "Car Talk", hosted by Tom Magliozzi and Ray Magliozzi, who also voice the sponsors.
Michael Schumacher is one of the speakers in the German version, as well as Giancarlo Fisichella in the Italian and Fernando Alonso in the Spanish version.
The voice of Lightning McQueen's agent Harv is provided in the UK dub by Jeremy Clarkson, a motoring journalist and TV presenter.
In the Danish edition "The King" is renamed "Tom Kilerem" and is voiced by 7-time Le Mans champion Tom Kristensen.
The code title for this film, used during production, was "Surgery".
ALSO: SPOILERSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
SPOILER: The King's crash at the end of the movie is a virtual frame-by-frame re-creation of Richard Petty's crash in the 1988 Daytona 500.
Is that enough?
