Cars Pushes Limits of Computer Animation

Cars Pushes Limits of Computer Animation
A talented young race car learns what is important in life when he gets stuck in a small town in the new feature from Pixar, the animation studio with a history of family hits including Toy Story, Monsters, Incorporated and Finding Nemo.

Alan Silverman spoke with director John Lasseter and his star-studded voice cast for this look at Cars, a film in which all the characters are Cars.

Lightning McQueen is brash and cocky to the point of being reckless; but this impetuous youngster is the newest star on the "Piston Cup" racing circuit:

Lightning ignores the advice of veteran racers who warn him that he cannot really succeed without teamwork and loyalty; but it takes getting lost for the rookie to learn that lesson, in a dusty town on old Route 66, the highway that ran through the heart of the American west before it was bypassed by high-speed super-highways.

The town, its motorized inhabitants and scenic surroundings all come alive through vividly realistic computer animation, far more detailed than even Pixar's previous hit films:

"This is by far the most complex movie Pixar has ever done.

We really brought the computers to their knees rendering this movie," said John Lasseter, creative head of Pixar.