Cars was Pixar's first Cars feature film to be nominated for an Academy Award.
At the 79th Academy Awards, Cars received a nomination for Best Animated Feature. The film competed in the category after its 2006 release and was Pixar's seventh feature. It did not win; the award went to Happy Feet.
Cars 2 and Cars 3 were also released as feature films in the franchise, but neither became the first Cars entry nominated in that category. The original film's nomination is therefore a franchise-history fact, not a claim that it won the Oscar.
The film also received recognition from other award organizations, including the Golden Globe, where it won Best Animated Feature Film. Its Academy Award nomination helped establish Cars as both a commercial franchise and a significant animated feature beyond its racing premise.