70 Fun Facts About Cars Movie

Who voices Lightning McQueen in the Cars films?

Keith Ferguson takes over the role in Cars Toons and most of the video games.

Lightning McQueen's racing number was originally going to be 57. Why was it changed to 95?

The 57 would have referred to director John Lasseter's birth year.

Lightning's surname honours whom?

Glenn McQueen died in 2002; the 2017 book Cars Origins gives Lightning's birth name as Montgomery 'Monty' McQueen.

In which forgotten town along U.S. Route 66 does Lightning get stranded in the first film?

The town was bypassed when the interstate was built, which is the quiet tragedy at the heart of the movie.

Which championship trophy is Lightning chasing throughout the first film?

The season ends in a three-way tie with Chick Hicks and The King, forcing a tiebreaker in Los Angeles.

Which legendary actor voiced Doc Hudson in his last non-documentary film role?

After his death in 2008 Doc was written out of Cars 2, then returned in Cars 3 through archival recordings.

Doc is a 1951 model of which car, and once raced under the name 'The Fabulous' one?

The character was based on real Hornet drivers Marshall Teague and Herb Thomas.

How many championships did Doc win in his racing days?

Lightning is dumbfounded when Doc dismisses the three trophies as meaningless.

Who voices Tow Mater?

Lasseter approached him after watching the Blue Collar Comedy Tour with co-director Joe Ranft.

Mater is named for a NASCAR fan Lasseter met at a Charlotte-area speedway. What was the man's job?

Douglas 'Mater' Keever introduced himself with 'like tuh-mater, but without the tuh', a line that went straight into the film.

Mater's design was inspired by a rusty old wrecker spotted on Route 66 in Galena, in which state?

The truck was later parked outside a service station as a tourist attraction and renamed 'Tow Tater' at Disney's request.

Sally, the town attorney voiced by Bonnie Hunt, is what kind of car?

In 2022 Porsche built a real one-off 911 with Pixar as a tribute, the 'Sally Special'.

Sally runs which local business, based on the real Wigwam Motel with its wigwam-shaped rooms?

The rooms are giant traffic cones.

Chick Hicks, Lightning's cheating rival voiced by Michael Keaton, wears which racing number?

He steals McQueen's 'ka-chow' and turns it into 'ka-chicka', and his grille looks like a 1980s moustache.

Which NASCAR legend voices Strip 'The King' Weathers, a 1970 Plymouth Superbird?

His real wife Lynda Petty voices The King's wife, and Waltrip appears as announcer Darrell Cartrip.

Which comedian voiced Fillmore, the hippie Volkswagen bus, in the first film?

After Carlin died in 2008, Lloyd Sherr took over for the sequels; Cheech Marin voices the lowrider Ramone.

Luigi's tyre shop is famous for a stack of tyres shaped like which landmark?

Luigi is a 1959 Fiat 500 voiced by Tony Shalhoub; his forklift friend Guido speaks only Italian, except for 'pit stop'.

Which Pixar regular voices Mack, Lightning's transporter truck?

Ratzenberger's own father drove a Mack truck.

Lizzie, the elderly Model T who runs the curio shop, is the widow of which car?

She was voiced by Katherine Helmond, whose last franchise appearance was Cars 3 before her death in 2019.

Which Route 66 historian voices Sheriff and led Pixar's animators on research trips down the highway?

He took eleven animators along the route in rented white Cadillacs.

What was the working title of Cars in 2001, dropped to avoid confusion with a 1960s TV series?

Jorgen Klubien's even earlier script, The Yellow Car, was about an electric car in a gas-guzzling world.

Cars was dedicated to Joe Ranft, a Pixar story chief and co-writer who died how?

He voiced Red the fire truck; his brother Jerome took the role in Cars 3.

Where did Cars hold its premiere on May 26, 2006?

The speedway is in Concord, North Carolina; the film opened nationwide on June 9.

Cars was the last film Pixar made independently before which company bought the studio in January 2006?

The film grossed $462 million worldwide on a $120 million budget.

Cars lost the Best Animated Feature Oscar to which film?

It did win the inaugural Golden Globe for Best Animated Feature Film and the Annie Award.

Which Randy Newman song from Cars won a Grammy and was nominated for the Best Original Song Oscar?

It lost the Oscar to 'I Need to Wake Up' from An Inconvenient Truth.

Which country act recorded the version of 'Life Is a Highway' heard in Cars?

Sheryl Crow, John Mayer and Brad Paisley also contributed songs to the soundtrack.

Cars is often compared to which 1991 Michael J. Fox comedy about a doctor stuck in a small town?

Some critics went as far as alleging the Cars script plagiarised it.

Which three-race international event does Lightning enter in Cars 2?

The three-race event was created by Sir Miles Axlerod to promote his alternative fuel Allinol.

Which British actor voices the spy Finn McMissile in Cars 2?

The car's design borrows from the Aston Martin DB5 and BMW 507, with fins from a 1958 Peerless.

Which city hosts the first of the three international races in Cars 2?

Mater's wasabi mishap at the promotional party there kicks off the whole spy mix-up.

Francesco Bernoulli, Lightning's Formula One-style rival in Cars 2, is voiced by whom?

The car is based on the 2009 Ferrari F60 and his surname comes from the Bernoulli principle in fluid dynamics.

Sir Miles Axlerod, the secret villain of Cars 2, is voiced by which comedian?

His design draws on the Range Rover Classic and Land Rover Defender, two cars famous for poor build quality.

Professor Zundapp's henchmen Grem and Acer are which two much-mocked 1970s American cars?

The 'lemons' conspiracy is made up of unloved models like these.

Which spy-in-training voiced by Emily Mortimer becomes Mater's love interest in Cars 2?

Her design is a Pixar original, the 2008 MT-R Mark II, nodding to a TVR Tuscan.

Cars 2 holds what unwanted distinction among Pixar films with critics?

Its 40 percent score makes it the lowest-rated Pixar film on the site, though it still grossed over $559 million.

Which of the three films in the franchise is the highest-grossing worldwide?

Cars 2 took over $559 million; Cars 3 was the lowest at $383 million.

Who directed Cars 3, taking over from John Lasseter?

Fee had been a storyboard artist on the first two films.

Jackson Storm, the next-gen rookie who pushes Lightning toward retirement in Cars 3, is voiced by whom?

Storm's top recorded speed is 214 miles per hour at Florida International Super Speedway.

Cruz Ramirez, Lightning's trainer in Cars 3, is voiced by which comedian?

Cruz is a yellow sports coupe with styling cues from a Jaguar F-Type and a Corvette C7.

When Cruz becomes a racer at the end of Cars 3, which number does she choose in tribute to Doc Hudson?

Doc was a 1951 Hudson Hornet.

In Cars 3, Lightning tracks down Doc's old crew chief Smokey in which Georgia town?

Smokey is a 1947 Hudson Super Six pickup voiced by Chris Cooper.

Miss Fritter, the demolition-derby terror of Thunder Hollow in Cars 3, is what kind of vehicle?

Her stop-sign blades nearly saw Cruz in half during the 'Crazy Eight' figure-eight race.

Which race must Lightning win in Cars 3 to earn the right to decide his own future?

Sterling, the new owner of Rust-eze voiced by Nathan Fillion, sets the terms.

Which animated short played in front of Cars 3 in cinemas?

The film was first screened for the NASCAR industry in Kannapolis, North Carolina, before opening on June 16, 2017.

In Planes (2013), crop duster Dusty Crophopper dreams of racing despite what?

Dane Cook voices Dusty after Jon Cryer dropped out, and the film premiered at the EAA AirVenture fly-in in Oshkosh.

Cars Land, a 12-acre replica of Lightning's adopted hometown, opened in June 2012 at which theme park?

Its headline ride, Radiator Springs Racers, uses the same technology as Epcot's Test Track, and every evening the neon comes on to 'Sh-Boom'.

Roughly how much merchandise had the Cars brand sold by the time Cars 2 was released in 2011?

That dwarfs the roughly $1.4 billion the three films took at the box office combined.

Under what title did the 2022 series in which Lightning and Mater take a cross-country trip premiere?

Owen Wilson and Larry the Cable Guy both returned; Mater's Tall Tales was the earlier Cars Toons series from 2008.

Which DVD-exclusive short about a mysterious blue light was included with the first Cars home release?

Disney said five million copies of the DVD sold in its first two days.

Michael Schumacher has a cameo in Cars as which car?

Mario Andretti and Dale Earnhardt Jr. also voice car versions of themselves.

Which 1952 animated short inspired Lasseter to put the cars' eyes in their windscreens rather than headlights?

The grille became each car's mouth, and animators had to reposition eyelids because the eyes sat too far from the mouths in early tests.

At the start of Cars 3, how many Piston Cups has Lightning McQueen won?

The season that follows is his worst on record and ends with a rollover crash in Los Angeles.

In Cars 3, which business car buys Rust-eze and tries to force Lightning into retirement?

He only agrees to let Lightning keep racing if he wins the Florida 500, and only if he trains with Cruz.

Which Firefly and Castle star voices the new owner of Rust-eze in Cars 3?

He joined the cast in March 2017, two months after the Cruz and Storm castings were announced.

What is the figure-8 demolition derby at Thunder Hollow that Lightning and Cruz enter in disguise called?

Cruz wins it, and Lightning's angry outburst afterwards accidentally breaks her trophy.

Where do Lightning and Cruz try to record his top speed in Cars 3?

Cruz's lack of real-world racing experience shows when she keeps getting stuck in the sand.

Which of these is one of Doc Hudson's old racing friends who helps train Lightning in Cars 3?

She, River Scott and Junior 'Midnight' Moon are based on real pioneering stock-car racers of the 1950s.

Which Cars 3 statistical analyst does Kerry Washington voice?

She confidently predicts a Jackson Storm win, which does not go the way her data suggested.

After winning the Florida 500, Cruz turns down the new Rust-eze owner to sign with which team?

Tex, the team's owner, then buys Rust-eze too, and Lightning repaints himself in a livery honouring Doc.

Who composed the score for Cars 3, returning from the first film?

He quoted tracks from the first film in moments where the director wanted to evoke an earlier time.

Which Black Keys frontman wrote and performed the Cars 3 song 'Run That Race'?

He said the song is 'about never giving up and always trying your best' after being shown the story and some dialogue.

Cars 3 was first screened for the NASCAR industry in which North Carolina town?

That preview came on May 23, 2017, more than three weeks before the film's US release.

The new rendering system used on Cars 3, RIS, had previously been used on which Pixar film?

It let animation and rendering happen at the same time, which made the demolition derby scenes possible.

A Citroën 2CV in Cars 3 is a tribute to which Hayao Miyazaki film?

John Lasseter announced the homage at the Tokyo International Film Festival in 2014.

Which superhero film did Cars 3 knock off the top of the US box office on its opening weekend?

It slipped to third the following weekend behind Transformers: The Last Knight and that same film.

Roughly what was Cars 3's production budget?

It grossed about $383 million worldwide, making it the lowest-grossing film of the franchise.

Which comedian voices Ramone, the 1959 Chevrolet Impala lowrider who changes colour in every scene?

Ramone runs the town's body-art shop and is married to Flo, voiced by Jenifer Lewis.

In the UK release of Cars, who voices Harv, Lightning McQueen's never-seen agent?

Jeremy Piven voiced the same character in the US version.

Roughly how much did Cars gross worldwide, nearly four times its budget?

That made it the sixth-highest-grossing film of 2006.