Lightning McQueen Turns 20: Happy Anniversary, Cars!

Float Like A Cadillac, Sting Like A Beemer

We’ve all got our favorite childhood movies—those films we get nostalgic for now, as adults, and watch back fondly. For this author, I grew up big with Disney. Disney animated movies, Disney Channel, Disney toys and games. My siblings and I each had our favorite film that we would watch over and over again.

For my older sister, it was Hercules, the Greek legend who saved the heroine and earned his strength. For my brother, that movie was The Incredibles—a superhero family in hiding who have to save the world from an evil-doer. My favorite? Cars. I love everything about that movie; the characters, the jokes, the music. It’s always been my favorite Disney movie, and still is to this day.

I’m not alone in my favoritism for this film. Cars is everywhere—backpacks, Crocs, stickers, water bottles. Cars even became a 3-movie franchise that kept Cars in the media from 2006, to its third release in 2017. The Cars representation is seriously on another level for a Disney film that’s turning 20 this year!

THE HERO’S JOURNEY, ANIMATED

“I am speed. One winner, forty-two losers. I eat losers for breakfast.”

Disney Pixar’s Cars raced into theatres on June 9th, 2006. Starring Owen Wilson and Paul Newman, and directed by John Lasseter, Cars follows the story of racing rookie, Lightning McQueen. Lightning lives life in the fast lane. He moves from race to race, focusing only on one thing: winning. Lightning is fast, and he knows it. Winning the Piston Cup championship would show everyone what this rookie is made of.

While on the road to California where the tie-breaking race will take place, Lightning gets lost and crashes (literally) into the rundown town, Radiator Springs. Here, he slowly starts to befriend the town’s strange residents. Tow Mater, his rusty new best friend, Doc Hudson, a weathered racing veteran, and Sally, the one car that doesn’t fall at Lightnings tires.

Lightning starts to realize that there are more important things to life than racing. As his race approaches nearer, Lightning must decide what kind of racing car he wants to be.

Sounds enticing, right? That’s ’cause it is! Cars is a classic Disney film for a reason, it’s loved by fans of all ages. I think there’s someone for everyone in the story of this movie. It’s hard not to find something relatable when it comes to the ‘hero’s journey’.

The movie has such a great soundtrack too, with artists like Chuck Berry, Sheryl Crow, and the song “Life is A Highway” by Rascal Flatts. Sheryl Crowe’s song “Real Gone” is a great opening, and a statement piece for the story itself. My favorite song is always going to be “Sh-Boom” by The Chords, play that and try not to tap your foot, I dare you.

WAVE THE CHECKERED FLAG

It’s been 20 years since the initial release of Cars, if you can even believe it. I feel aged just thinking about it, but the truth is, they just don’t make Disney movies like that anymore! I know it’s a little bias, because everyone thinks that they had the best generation of childhood movies, but seriously the late 90s-early 2000s era of Disney was top tier. Here are the other Disney movies that came out in 2006, just to show you how good a year it was: High School Musical, Wendy Wu: Homecoming Warrior, Step Up, Brother Bear 2, and The Santa Clause 3.

I think we all need to celebrate Cars a little extra this year, 20 is a pretty big birthday! I already watch Cars no matter what kind of mood I’m in, but I think it’s time to dig out my old soundtrack CD.

Start your engines!

Cars is currently streaming on Disney+ KaChow!