Cars (2006)

CARS  (2006)  ¢ ¢ ¢
    D: John Lasseter
To some extent, the history of America since the dawn of the 20th century is the story of cars: how we invented them, designed them, mass-produced them, bought them, sold them, junked them, restored them, showed them off, hauled ourselves around in them, tried to find places to park them, and in the process created a transportation system and a society in which not owning a car became almost impossible. This movie is the ultimate manifestation of that, an animated feature from Pixar/Disney in which humans aren't just relegated to the back seat, they don't exist at all. The cars themselves do the talking, the joking, the complaining, the flirting, the thinking, the driving, the fooling around. The story has a sleek, speedy, sticker-bedecked racer named Lightning McQueen tearing off to a big race in California, but getting stuck in Radiator Springs, a dusthole town on Route 66 that's been dying since the Interstate passed it by. Automotive life lessons are learned, as McQueen gets to know the local tire dealer (a Fiat), the motel keeper (a Porsche), the tow truck (a tow truck) and most memorably, a growly-voiced doctor with a secret racetrack past (an unlikely Hudson Hornet). Paul Newman does the voice of the Hudson. "Cars" was his last film. For a guy who devoted almost as much energy to racing as he did to making movies, and did both without appearing to take himself too seriously, it's a uniquely appropriate note to go out on.