Poster © Buena Vista Pictures Distribution. Shown at reduced size for review and commentary.
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GenreAdventure, Animation & Comedy
RatedNot Rated
Runtime1 hr 56 mins
ReleasedJune 9, 2006
StreamingSee Where to Watch
DirectorJohn Lasseter
StarringPaul Newman, Owen Wilson, Bonnie Hunt
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Cars (2006)
| ▶Stream It | ★The Numbers |
| 🎫Get Tickets | ✎Edit History |
| iIMDb Profile | %Rotten Tomatoes |
| WWikipedia | LLetterboxd |
| TTMDB | +Add to Top 8 |
| Cars's Details | |
| Genre | Adventure, Animation & Comedy |
| Rated | Not Rated |
| Released | 05/26/2006 (Lowe's Motor Speedway); 06/09/2006 (United States) |
| Streaming | See Where to Watch on this page. |
| Running Time | 1 hr 56 mins |
| Budget | $120M (reported) |
| Box Office | Updated daily from Box Office Mojo. See the numbers below. |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Cars's Interests | |
| General | Route 66, Piston Cup trophies, tractor tipping, neon at night, Luigi's tires, Flo's V8 Cafe. |
| Music | Randy Newman. Plus Rascal Flatts covering 'Life Is a Highway', for every road trip ever. |
| Movies | Toy Story (1995). Same director, more plastic, fewer wheels. |
| Television | Cars on the Road. Mater and McQueen take the show on tour. |
| Heroes | Mater. Best friend, best backwards driver in Carburetor County. |
| Cars's Crew | |
| Director | John Lasseter |
| Writers | Dan Fogelman, John Lasseter, Joe Ranft, Kiel Murray, Phil Lorin, Jorgen Klubien, John Lasseter (story), Joe Ranft (story), Jorgen Klubien (story) |
| Producers | Darla K. Anderson |
| Cinematography | Jeremy Lasky, Jean Claude Kalache |
| Music | Randy Newman |
| Edited By | Ken Schretzmann |
| Production | Pixar Animation Studios |
| Distributed By | Buena Vista Pictures Distribution |
Nobody in Cars has hands, and yet somebody built every gas station, stoplight and tiny tire shop in Radiator Springs, and I need answers. Pixar never explains. The bigger problem is the story: a show-off rookie learns that slowing down is good, in a movie that runs 116 minutes and feels every mile of it. The middle stretch idles like an engine left running in a driveway. Mater is a one-joke tow truck, and the joke wears thin fast. What saves it is Paul Newman as Doc Hudson, gruff and sad and better than the movie around him, plus racing scenes that still look great. Owen Wilson plays McQueen exactly like Owen Wilson would play a car, which is a compliment. $482.4 million worldwide, an A CinemaScore, and a catchphrase every kid can do. A 6.0 because Doc is great and kids love it, but it’s Pixar’s most toy-aisle movie. $21 says you catch yourself saying "I am speed" in the school pickup line this week.
What works: Paul Newman’s Doc Hudson gives the movie real heart, and the race scenes look great even now.
What doesn’t: The slow-down-and-smell-the-roses story runs long for a kids movie, and Mater’s one joke wears out well before the end.
Who it’s for: Kids who line up toy cars on the windowsill, and parents who secretly love an old highway road trip.
Spoilers
McQueen gives up the Piston Cup to push the wrecked King across the finish line, Chick Hicks gets a trophy nobody cheers for, and Lightning moves his racing headquarters to Radiator Springs.
Lightning McQueen (Owen Wilson) is a flashy, full-of-himself rookie race car who just tied for the Piston Cup with retiring legend The King (Richard Petty) and sore loser Chick Hicks (Michael Keaton). On the long haul to the tiebreaker in California, he tumbles out of his truck Mack (John Ratzenberger) and lands in Radiator Springs, a sleepy Route 66 town nobody visits anymore. After he tears up their main road, the local judge Doc Hudson (Paul Newman) sentences him to repave it. Sally (Bonnie Hunt) and a rusty tow truck named Mater (Larry the Cable Guy) are watching. John Lasseter directs. One hundred sixteen minutes, ka-chow.
Anyone who likes slow drives and small towns. Fill up at Flo's.
| Owen Wilson | Lightning McQueen |
| Paul Newman | Doc Hudson |
| Bonnie Hunt | Sally Carrera |
| Michael Keaton | Chick Hicks |
| Larry the Cable Guy | Tow Mater |
| Cheech Marin | Ramone |
| Tony Shalhoub | Luigi |
| Michael Wallis | Sheriff |
| George Carlin | Fillmore |
| Paul Dooley | Sarge |
| Jenifer Lewis | Flo |
| Guido Quaroni | Guido |
| Richard Petty | Strip "The King" Weathers |
| Katherine Helmond | Lizzie |
| John Ratzenberger | Mack |
| Joe Ranft | Red |
| Jeremy Piven (US) / Jeremy Clarkson (UK) | Harv |
| Bob Costas | Bob Cutlass |
| Darrell Waltrip | Darrell Cartrip |
| Humpy Wheeler | Tex Dinoco |
| Lynda Petty | Lynda Weathers |
| Dale Earnhardt Jr. | "Junior" #8 |
| Michael Schumacher | Michael Schumacher Ferrari |
| Tom and Ray Magliozzi | Rusty and Dusty Rust-eze |
- (cur | prev) 14:30, 18 October 2026 DataBot +40 Numbers refreshed: IMDb users 7.3 / 10 (552,068 votes) → 7.3 / 10 (552,121 votes).
- (cur | prev) 14:30, 17 October 2026 DataBot +480 Numbers refreshed: Worldwide box office $482.4M; Domestic box office $255.2M; Opening weekend $60.1M; Profit / loss (est.) +$61.2M; Rotten Tomatoes 74%; CinemaScore A; box office chart updated; Rotten Tomatoes critics 74% (199 reviews); Metacritic 73 / 100; CinemaScore A; IMDb users 7.3 / 10 (552,068 votes); movie.guru score 7.7.
- (cur | prev) 12:00, 17 October 2026 DataBot +2,000 Profile created from Wikipedia and Box Office Mojo: cast, crew, release dates, budget, official trailer.