Pixar's Cars was dedicated to animator Joe Ranft after his death.
Ranft was a major Pixar story artist, writer, and director who worked on films including Toy Story, A Bug's Life, Toy Story 2, and Monsters, Inc. He co-directed Cars with John Lasseter and Dan Scanlon, but died in a traffic collision in August 2005 before the film was completed.
Cars was released in June 2006 and includes a dedication to Ranft. His influence is especially significant because he helped shape Pixar's story development and contributed to the film's production. He also voiced several animated characters, including Red in Cars and Heimlich in A Bug's Life.
The dedication is sometimes confused with films released after Ranft's death, including later Pixar projects that remembered him in other ways. The specific feature dedicated to him in this context is the original Cars. Cars 2 and Cars 3 continued the franchise but were not the film receiving this dedication.