In the Pixar Cars Movie
Lightning McQueen "Finds Himself"
in Radiator Springs

In 2006, Pixar released its seventh movie: Cars. In this new Cars movie, there was a lot of research that went into making this film.

Again in this movie, we are stunned at the realism. Lasseter implemented a technique called ray tracing in the film's rendering for the first time. Basically it's a software program that shows reflective surfaces showing the reflections of nearby objects.

Ray tracing also enables realistic shadows in complex scenery. In other words, it simulated light effects accurately and correctly and it brought the film to a whole new level of amazing realism. Pure visual eye candy!

This film was well received and was the last film released before Disney acquired Pixar Animation Studios. It was nominated best animated picture in 2006. All the related merchandise, including Disney Cars toys and games, clothing and home decor broke retail sales records bringing in about $5 billion: Ka-Ching!

Creating Cars with Character

The Cars movie characters had their eyes put onto their windshields for several reasons: One, their facial expressions were easier to convey and two, they would appear snake-like if the eyes were put as headlights. Smart move, because each character is unique looking with expressive features.

In this movie, the characters are divided into three sections:

• Race Car Characters
• Radiator Springs Characters
• Other Characters

The story, of course, is full of heart, and it's an all-around joy to watch with classic life lessons young rookie Lightning McQueen must learn about himself and others.

The Pixar short film that was released just before Cars showed was One Man Band. The story is about two street musicians who compete for a small child's coin.

The other short created for the DVD release was Mater and the Ghostlight. This short film is about Mater, who plays practical jokes and gets a taste of his own medicine.

A new Pixar movie sequel will be Cars 2, which is scheduled for release in summer 2011.