The King,” is voiced by Petty’s wife, Lynda Petty.

Reigning racing champ Strip “The King” Weathers is voiced by legendary racer Richard Petty, who has the same nickname as his animated counterpart. MANY AUTO WORLD LUMINARIES LENT THEIR VOCAL TALENTS. (Keever improvised the line, which was originally “Well dip me in axle grease and call me lubrication.” Producer Darla Anderson opted to change it, Keever speculated, because “maybe she thought it sounded sexual, I don’t know.”) 4. Keever has a voice cameo in the film, as the motor home who says “Well dip me in axle grease and call me slick” early in the film. The country bumpkin tow truck Mater got his name from NASCAR superfan Douglas “Mater” Keever, whom the filmmakers met while on a research trip to North Carolina’s Lowe’s Motor Speedway (now called the Charlotte Motor Speedway). MATER IS BASED ON A REAL-LIFE NASCAR ENTHUSIAST. Tim Burton’s Corpse Bride (2005), which Ranft executive produced, is also dedicated to him. ITS CO-WRITER/DIRECTOR PASSED AWAY DURING PRODUCTION.Ĭars is dedicated to Joe Ranft, the film's co-writer and co-director, who died in a car accident on August 16, 2005-while Cars was still in production. The story was deemed too slight to carry an entire movie, but the small-town setting remained an inspiration. This famous Danish character wasn’t accepted at first, but in the end it proved to be right on the money.” It reminded me of The Ugly Duckling by Hans Christian Andersen. I thought the electric car was ahead of its time, and it struck me as odd that my fellow Danes didn’t agree. “They put it into production and it worked great in the city, but out on the highway it was too slow.

“In the 1980s some enthusiastic folks got the idea of making a three-wheeled one-person car that ran on electricity,” said Klubien. Pixar animator/artist Jorgen Klubien, who developed the story during production on A Bug’s Life, was inspired by real-life automotive history from his home country of Denmark. IT WAS ORIGINALLY AN UGLY DUCKLING-TYPE STORY ABOUT AN ELECTRIC CAR.Ĭars started off life as Little Yellow Car, about an electric car that faces prejudice from its gas-guzzling counterparts. So put on your helmets, rev those engines, and let’s take a look at some behind-the-scenes facts about the Oscar-winning animation studio’s fastest-moving film. Pixar’s Cars was released on this day 12 years ago.

Axle my story animated