Sightlines · reception
How Cars was received
2006 · John Lasseter · Cars on Sightlines
The arc
In 2006 it landed as Pixar's first critical shrug — solid grosses but the studio's lowest Rotten Tomatoes score to that point, and it lost the animation Oscar to Happy Feet. Twenty years on it's split into two reputations: cinephiles still rank it near the bottom of Pixar, while the kids who grew up on it defend it as sincere Americana about slowing down.
What’s debated
The forever-fight: is Cars the moment Pixar chose merchandise over storytelling, or an unfairly maligned, heartfelt film that just had the bad luck of following The Incredibles?
Its footprint
'Ka-chow!' and Lightning McQueen are permanent meme fixtures, the franchise became a ten-billion-dollar-plus merchandising empire, Cars Land got built at Disney California Adventure, and Rascal Flatts' 'Life Is a Highway' cover is inseparable from the film.
Where it stands
A generational split-vote on Letterboxd: reflexive 'worst Pixar' punching bag for older cinephiles, sincere nostalgic comfort-watch for everyone born after about 1998.
Did you know? Doc Hudson was voiced by Paul Newman — a serious real-life race car driver — in what turned out to be his final feature film role before his death in 2008.
Named by the director
- Divided Highways (1997) — Lasseter cited this PBS documentary about the interstate system killing off Route 66 towns as a key inspiration for Radiator Springs' story.