The Cars Behind Cars
A new animated movie from Disney takes cars and creates characters which reflect their quirks, traits, and details
By Ronald Grover
The animated film Cars, which Walt Disney will release on June 9, grew from a cross-country trip Pixar creative guru John Lasseter took a few summers back with his wife and kids. For Lasseter, raised in car-crazed Southern California, it was a trip back through his youth when muscle cars and VW bugs competed for his attention with comic books and afternoon cartoon shows. It was also great fodder for the man who created such Pixar classics as Toy Story and A Bug's Life.
The movie's lead is Lightning McQueen, a hot-shot race car who dreams of the fame and money that will come from becoming the youngest car to win the Piston Cup Championship. Lightning McQueen is one of a few characters based on a generic car. But as seen by Pixar's army of computer graphic artists, his co-stars take on unique personalities based on the special characteristics of speed, style, and attitude that the cars they're based on were designed to give their owners.
Source: Pixar, BusinessWeek