Cars (franchise)
Cars is an animated film series and Disney media franchise set in a world populated by anthropomorphic vehicles created by John Lasseter, Joe Ranft and Jorgen Klubien. The franchise began with the 2006 film, Cars, produced by Pixar and released by Walt Disney Pictures. The film was followed by Cars 2 in 2011. A third film, Cars 3, was released in 2017. The now-defunct Disneytoon Studios produced the two spin-off films Planes (2013) and Planes: Fire & Rescue (2014).
Cars
Cars (2006)
2006–present
Cars short film series:
- Mater and the Ghostlight (2006)
- Miss Fritter's Racing Skoool (2017)
- Dancing with the Cars (2021)
- Unparalleled Parking (2021)
Planes short film series:
- Vitaminamulch: Air Spectacular (2014)
- Cars Toons (2008–2014)
- Cars on the Road (2022)
- Cars (2006)
- Cars: Radiator Springs Adventures (2006)
- Cars Mater-National Championship (2007)
- Cars Race-O-Rama (2009)
- The World of Cars Online (2010–2012)
- Cars Toons: Mater's Tall Tales (2010)
- Cars 2 (2011)
- Kinect Rush: A Disney-Pixar Adventure (2012)**
- Disney Infinity (2013)**
- Cars 3: Driven to Win (2017)
- Cars Quatre Roues Rallye (2007–present)
- Radiator Springs Racers (2012–present)
- Luigi's Flying Tires (2012–2015)
- Luigi's Rollickin' Roadsters (2016–present)
- Lightning McQueen's Racing Academy (2019–present)
Cars Land (2012–present)
The first two Cars films were directed by Lasseter, then-chief creative officer of Pixar, Walt Disney Animation Studios, and Disneytoon Studios, while Cars 3 was directed by Brian Fee, a storyboard artist on the previous installments. Lasseter served as executive producer of Cars 3 and the Planes films. Together, all three Cars films have accrued over $1.4 billion in box office revenue worldwide while the franchise has amassed over $10 billion in merchandising sales within its first five years.
History[edit]
The Cars franchise began with the original Cars. At the time, it was Pixar's least well received film by reviewers.[1]
The short Mater and the Ghostlight was released as an extra on the Cars DVD on November 7, 2006.[2] A series of shorts called Cars Toons were produced and aired on the Disney Channel to keep interest up. The brand had sold nearly $10 billion in merchandise by the time of the release of Cars 2 in 2011.[1]
In 2007, Cars Four Wheels Rally ride opened in Disneyland Paris.[3]
In the summer of 2012, the 12-acre Cars Land theme area opened at Disney California Adventure in Anaheim as the main component of $1-billion park renovation.[1]
A third film, Cars 3, was announced on October 8, 2015, and was released on June 16, 2017.[4]
Planes short film[edit]
Vitaminamulch: Air Spectacular (2014)[edit]
A Planes short film titled Vitaminamulch: Air Spectacular was released on the DVD and Blu-ray of Planes: Fire & Rescue.[30] It was directed by Dan Abraham and executive produced by John Lasseter. In the short film, Dusty Crophopper and Chug need to replace two daredevils in an airshow Leadbottom is hosting. At first unsuccessful, Dusty and Chug accidentally start a series of events that captures the audience's attention, eventually completing the stunt.
Cancelled projects[edit]
To Protect and Serve[edit]
A fifth Tales from Radiator Springs short film, titled To Protect and Serve, was announced to be in development for a 2015 release.[31] However, it was never released.
The short would have been focused on Sheriff as he takes a mandatory vacation and leaves two rookies (voiced by Wendi McLendon-Covey and Aziz Ansari) to take over his duties as police officer. This, however, causes problems in Radiator Springs as the rookies over-do every aspect of their job in an attempt to score commendations, turning the town into a hotbed of taped-off crime scenes. Sheriff soon senses an imbalance and returns home to right the "justice" that has been served.
Untitled Planes sequel and spin-offs[edit]
At the D23 Expo held in July 2017, John Lasseter announced a third film in the Planes series. Tentatively titled Beyond the Sky,[32] the film would have explored the future of aviation in outer space. The film had a release date of April 12, 2019.[33] It was removed from the release schedule in March 2018,[34] and on June 28, shortly after the announcement of Lasseter's departure from Disney,[35] Disneytoon Studios was shut down, ending development on the film.[36]
Prior to its closure, the studio was planning several more spin-offs of the franchise focusing on boats, trains and other vehicles.[37] In November 2022, concept art for one of the proposed films, tentatively titled Metro, was leaked online.[38][39]
Reception[edit]
Box-office performance[edit]
Earning over $1.7 billion, Cars, including its Planes spin-off films, is the eleventh-highest grossing animated franchise.
In its opening weekend, the original Cars earned $60,119,509 in 3,985 theaters in the United States, ranking number one at the box office. In the United States, the film held onto the number one spot for two weeks before being surpassed by Click, and then by Superman Returns the following weekend. It went on to gross $461,983,149 worldwide (ranking number six in 2006 films) and $244,082,982 in the United States (the third-highest-grossing film of 2006 in the country, behind Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest and Night at the Museum). It was the highest grossing animated film of 2006 in the United States, but lost to Ice Age: The Meltdown in worldwide totals.[40]
Cars 2 has earned $191,452,396 in the United States and Canada, and $368,400,000 in other territories, for a worldwide total of $559,852,396.[41] Worldwide on its opening weekend, it made $109.0 million, marking the largest opening weekend for a 2011 animated title.[42]
This is a list of characters from the 2006 film Cars, its 2011 and 2017 sequels Cars 2 and Cars 3, its 2013 and 2014 spin-off films Planes and Planes: Fire & Rescue, its 2006 and 2017 short films Mater and the Ghostlight and Miss Fritter's Racing Skoool, its 2014 spin-off short film Vitaminamulch: Air Spectacular, and its 2008 and 2022 television series Cars Toons and Cars on the Road.
Other media[edit]
Video games[edit]
In May 2007, the Cars video game was announced to be a "Platinum Hit" on the Xbox, "Greatest Hit" on the PlayStation 2 and PlayStation Portable, and Player's Choice on the GameCube. Two sequels were released, Cars Mater-National Championship and Cars Race-O-Rama. A video game based on Cars 2 was developed by Avalanche Software and published by Disney Interactive Studios for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Wii, PC, and Nintendo DS on June 21, 2011.[63] The PlayStation 3 version of the game was reported to be compatible with stereoscopic 3D gameplay.[64] In October 2014, Gameloft released Cars: Fast as Lightning, a customizable, city-building racing game for smartphone platforms.[65][66] Lightning McQueen appears as a playable character in Lego The Incredibles which was released in June 2018,[67] and Rocket League in November 2023.