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It's been almost 20 years since the theatrical release of the Pixar animated film Cars. It is truly one of the most unique additions to the Pixar line-up, and there are plenty of BTS facts, easter eggs, and more that are worthy of the Piston Cup of fun facts. Some of these facts may even leave your jaw on the floor.
Here are 17 fun facts about Pixar's Cars:
1.Most characters are based on real cars. Doc is a 1951 Hudson Hornet two-door coupe. Mater is a 1955 Chevrolet Stepside tow truck. Luigi is a 1959 Fiat 500. And so on. So many cars in...Cars.
2.Doc Hudson is voiced by Paul Newman, most known for his roles in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Cool Hand Luke, and The Sting. Cars was Newman's final film.
3.Radiator Springs may look familiar because it is indeed a real place...sort of. Several real-life locations along historic Route 66 inspired the fictional town.
4.Some very strange inspirations were used to develop Lightning McQueen's cocky character, including Joe Nameth, Kid Rock, and Muhammad Ali.
5."Float like a Cadillac, Sting like a Beemer" is a nod to Ali's popular catchphrase "float like a butterfly, sting like a bee." This is an amusing nod since McQueen's character was inspired by Ali.
6.Legendary racer Richard Petty voices The King, but I bet you didn't know The King's wife is voiced by Lynda Petty, Richard's real-life wife.
7.Cars was the longest Pixar movie at the time with a runtime of 1h 52m (excluding credits). It was later overtaken by Incredibles 2, but without counting the credits, Cars is still the longest to date. That's a tight race!
8.The tires of Lightning McQueen read "Buzzard" models manufactured by "Lightyear." This is a double reference to the real Goodyear "Eagle" tires used in NASCAR racing, and a nod to Buzz Lightyear from Toy Story. They even use a Lightyear blimp to parody the Goodyear blimp.
9.The movie was originally titled "Route 66." Obviously, it was broken down into its simpliest form so no kid could mistake what the film was about: Cars.
10.The film's animators took the designs very seriously and drew up more than 43,000 sketches for the cars. It's really cool how they managed to find what would make cars so expressive.
11.The cars' eyes are the windshields and animators used the strip of metal above it for the eyebrows and eyelids so they could convey expressions. That's a tall task for characters without arms and legs. It's all in the face!
12.Co-writer and co-director of Cars, Joe Ranft, tragically died in a car crash during the film's production. His vision lives on through a Pixar classic.
13.Cars is the last movie produced by Pixar before Disney officially bought the company. Disney had worked "in joint" with Pixar productions, but they finally bought the company at the start of 2006. Guess you can say that deal was "gitter-ing done...ed"...you know, the Larry the Cable Guy/Mater line.
14.Production wanted to use a version of the song "Route 66" by Chuck Berry that his record company was unaware even existed.
15.Lightning McQueen's tongue pops out when he's thinking about something like a facial tic. This is a characteristic of writer and director John Lasseter, which his animators managed to incorporate into the film.
16.Look closely and you'll find the Pizza Planet truck from Toy Story in the crowd. It's the scene where we see the Los Angeles International Speedway, and by the reporters, that delicious delivery truck can be found right next to him.
17.And lastly, a "A113" sighting! For those who don't know, the animation room at California Institute of the Arts is numbered A113 (many Pixar animators studied there), so it makes a ton of appearances in Pixar films. Mater's license plate carries the number as well as the train.
