Sneak peeks at Pixar’s “Cars”

An event that’s widely anticipated by Route 66 fans is the release of Pixar Studios’ “Cars” on June 9, 2006. Because the animated film is based on Route 66, it could bring more publicity — and travelers — to the Mother Road than any event since the original publication of the Michael Wallis best-selling “Route 66: The Mother Road” in the early 1990s.

Route 66 fans have known about “Cars” for the past two years because Wallis has been providing a few tantalizing details about the film during his speeches. He says he voices the character of a 1949 Mercury police cruiser, and he also was a technical adviser for the film. “Cars” also stars Paul Newman, Owen Wilson, Bonnie Hunt, Cheech Marin, Larry the Cable Guy, Tom and Ray Magliozzi of “Car Talk” and NASCAR stars Darrell Waltrip and Richard “The King” Petty.

The fact Pixar has an outstanding track record at the box office — with hits like “The Incredibles,” “Toy Story,” “Finding Nemo” and others — only heightens the anticipation.

For a long time, I thought the only sneak preview available for “Cars” was the trailer from the Pixar Web site. But a search of bloggers found an even greater wealth of material.

One site, Upcoming Pixar, has these screenshots from the film. UPDATE: The photos links no longer work, but you can see the screenshots in the order I list them from the link above.

— A wide view of Route 66 that strongly resembles the outskirts of the Mojave Desert town of Amboy, Calif.

— A view of mountains that’s like a bizarre hybrid of the Black Mountains range near Oatman, Ariz., and Cadillac Ranch in Amarillo.

— The cast of characters, including Wallis’ Mercury at the far right.

— Paul Newman’s darkly colored character car.

— More character cars, including a VW microbus that’s reportedly based on Route 66 artist and superhippy Bob Waldmire.

— Owen Wilson’s character stockcar, which apparently has been given the dreaded boot.

Also, I found the cover of a coloring book that will be published closer to “Cars'” release date.

I indirectly uncovered this information when I found a news release about a memorial service for longtime Pixar artist Joe Ranft. He was killed in an automobile accident Aug. 16 at age 45. Leo Holzer wrote:

I could only read blog accounts and imagine how his colleagues at Pixar were dealing with the loss, especially (director) John Lasseter. The two have become good friends over the years — sharing a love of storytelling and researching their projects from the trip to a Toys R’ Us store for “Toy Story” to a memorable cross-country tour of Route 66 for the upcoming “Cars.”

“I’d never in a million years trade that trip down Route 66, the Mother Road,” Lasseter said.

Another story about Ranft:

“Joe cherished the process and trusted it,” Lasseter said. At some point with every film, we’d find ourselves with story problems “working on the worst picture ever, but Joe just sat there smiling.” Joe Ranft had a saying above his office door at Pixar … THE JOURNEY IS THE REWARD and he had this faith in the skills of the team at Pixar and what they were doing. They’d continue to hone and then plus the story until everyone was pleased with the results. The public responded and Pixar’s reputation only grew stronger with each new release.

“We joked that storyboarding was really story reboarding and on ‘Cars,’ it had become story salvage. I thought we’d break a record of horrible sequences with ‘Cars,’ ” Lasseter said. “We were lost in a maze but Joe knew if you just kept walking eventually you’ll get out of the maze.”

The studio is nearly done with “Cars” and Lasseter believes that Joe Ranft’s greatest film achievement came in his story ideas for Mater the tow truck character in upcoming Summer 2006 release. Mater is the world’s best backwards driver and is one of the standout characters in “Cars.”

“When you see the smiles in the audiences as they watch ‘Cars,’ that’s Joe Ranft,” Lasseter said.

2 thoughts on “Sneak peeks at Pixar’s “Cars”

  1. I just returned from yet another session with my pals at Pixar. Yesterday I viewed the almost final version of CARS. It is stunning. Our film is a complete and fitting tribute to the Mother Road and its people. The music alone from Randy Newman, Cheryl Crow, James Taylor and many others will captivate any audience.

    Thanks for including some of the coverage about my good friend, the late Joe Ranft. What you posted is so true. Joe was as sweet as Angel Delgadillo. He really loved the highway and all those he met.

    FYI there is also some word emerging about the companion book, THE ART OF CARS, written by Suzanne and myself for Chronicle Boks. While in California this week I also saw a final galley and was very pleased. It will be published just prior to the world release of the film now set for June 9, 2006.

    Cheers to all,
    Michael Wallis
    The Sheriff of Radiator Springs

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