Cars was Pixar Animation Studios’ seventh feature film.
Pixar released Cars in 2006, following Toy Story, A Bug’s Life, Toy Story 2, Monsters, Inc., Finding Nemo, and The Incredibles. This places the film in the studio’s first decade of feature animation.
The movie was directed by John Lasseter, who had also directed Toy Story, A Bug’s Life, and Toy Story 2. Its story combines a sports-racing plot with a road-trip setting and a small-town community inspired by historic U.S. Route 66.
Cars was also the final Pixar feature released during the lifetime of Joe Ranft, who co-directed it and voiced several characters. The film expanded Pixar’s world-building by making automobiles the characters and treating roads, towns, and service stations as parts of their society.