Cars was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature.
The nomination recognized Pixar’s 2006 film at the 79th Academy Awards, which honored movies released in 2006. Cars competed in the category alongside Happy Feet and Monster House. Happy Feet won the award, so Cars was a nominee rather than the winner. The distinction is important because Cars received major recognition even though it did not take the Oscar.
Cars was Pixar’s seventh feature and combined computer animation with a story influenced by American road culture and stock-car racing. Its nomination reflected the film’s animation, design, characters, and broad appeal. The movie also received nominations for Best Original Song and Best Animated Feature at other awards ceremonies, but its Academy Award result was a nomination for the animated-feature category.
Cars 2 was not nominated for Best Animated Feature at the Academy Awards, while Cars 3 also did not receive a nomination in that category. The first film’s Oscar recognition is therefore the canonical franchise answer. Toy Story 2 was an earlier Pixar release and is not a Cars movie, making it another common category confusion.