Cars on the Road

Cars on the Road is an American animated series of shorts produced by Pixar Animation Studios for the Disney+ streaming service and based on the Cars franchise. The main cast includes Owen Wilson as Lightning McQueen and Larry the Cable Guy as Mater. The series is written by Steve Purcell and produced by Marc Sondheimer. Set after the events of Cars 3 (2017), Cars on the Road follows Lightning (Wilson) and Mater (Cable Guy) as they embark on a road trip to attend the wedding of Mater's sister, while visiting various locations and characters along the way.

The short series was announced in December 2020, during Disney's Investor Day. Sondheimer says the directors worked together to maintain continuity within the series. The title was revealed in November 2021, during Pixar's special for 2021's Disney+ Day. Concepts for the episodes include stories which pay homage to films such as Mad Max (1979) and The Shining (1980). The production designer altered the lighting to further evoke Ray Harryhausen's films. Production for the series took place over 15 months. Jake Monaco provided the score for all nine episodes, who also co-wrote the series' title theme song with Bobby Podesta, with Bobby Hamrick performing the song.

Cars on the Road premiered on September 8, 2022, as part of Disney+ Day. The series received positive reviews for its vocal performances, messages, humor, role models and homages to pop culture.

Premise
Some years after Lightning McQueen and Cruz Ramirez won the Florida 500 against Jackson Storm in the events of Cars 3 (2017), Lightning McQueen and Mater embark on a cross-country road trip around the United States to attend the wedding of Mater's sister, Mato. Along the way, they come across various locations and characters old and new.

Voice cast

 * Owen Wilson as Lightning McQueen
 * Larry the Cable Guy as Mater
 * Quinta Brunson as Ivy
 * Bonnie Hunt as Sally Carrera
 * Jenifer Lewis as Flo
 * Cheech Marin as Ramone
 * Lloyd Sherr as Fillmore
 * Tony Shalhoub as Luigi
 * Guido Quaroni as Guido
 * Tania Gunadi as Lisa
 * Ruth Livier as Louise
 * Steve Purcell as Randy / Wraith Rod
 * Matthew Yang King as Clutch Humboldt / Wraith Rod / Crew Pitty
 * Kathy Holly as Speed Demon
 * Masa Kanome as Noriyuki
 * Toks Olagundoye as Margaret Motorray / Chiefess
 * Gabby Sanalitro as Griswold
 * Megan Cavanagh as Mae Pillar-Durev / Bella Cadavre
 * Hayden Bishop as Kay Pillar-Durev / 1st AD
 * Secunda Wood as Brakelight Pictures' producer
 * Matt Lowe as Brakelight Pictures' crew members
 * Zeno Robinson as Lance the Writer / Jeremy
 * Dave Fennoy as Town Marshall / Justice Stern
 * Tom Bromhead as Cap'n Long Leggy
 * Debra Cardona as Squat
 * Cristela Alonzo as Cruz Ramirez
 * Dana Powell as Mato
 * Oscar Camacho as Mateo

Red, Mack, Sheriff, Sarge and Lizzie make silent cameos in "Dino Park". Taco makes a silent cameo in "The Legend".

Development
On December 10, 2020, Pixar announced on Disney Investors Day that an animated series starring Lightning McQueen and Mater traveling the country while meeting friends, new and old, was in development and that it would be released on Disney+ in the fall of 2022. It also announced that the series is written by Steve Purcell and produced by Marc Sondheimer, with Purcell, Bobby Podesta and Cars 3 director Brian Fee directing episodes for the series. According to Sondheimer, the directors worked together to maintain continuity within the series. On November 12, 2021, it was announced that the series would be titled Cars on the Road. Production for the series took place over 15 months. According to Purcell, a few concepts for episodes were unusued, througth he hopes to use them in a potential second season.

Writing
The filmmakers wanted a short-form series because they felt it was the best way to explore the concept of a road trip, while also exploring the relationship between Lightning and Mater, as the producers felt the characters lacked screentime together. Each episode features a different tone and genre. The concept for the series was suggested by Purcell as the producers brainstormed ideas, having been inspired by a childhood road trip he took with his family; he wanted to explore how Lightning and Mater react to finding themselves in different scenarios. Purcell also sought for each episode to have "a totally new sensibility" for which McQueen and Mater would react to. According to Purcell, the story for each episode was decided out of a basic scenario, after which the filmmakers pitched concepts that fit within the Cars world and had not been explored before. Concepts for the episodes include stories inspired by films such as Mad Max and The Shining. For Mater's relationship with his sister, Mato, Podesta drew inspiration from his relationship with his sisters. The writers were also deliberatedly vague on Mato's personality beyond her relationship with Mater until the final episode in order to create audience expectation.

Casting
On November 12, 2021, it was announced that Owen Wilson and Larry the Cable Guy would reprise their respective roles as Lightning McQueen and Mater. According to director Brian Fee, Larry and Wilson were allowed to provide suggestions while recording their lines.

Animation
According to Podesta, the series was animated under a shorter time frame than usual, with each episode taking 5 weeks to animate. One of the episodes features a flashback sequence to the prehistoric era. For the flashback, animators were inspired by the work of stop-motion animator Ray Harryhausen, whose films Purcell watched in his childhood. For both the dinosaurs' movement and when Lightning and Mater's prehistoric counterparts are picked by the dinosaurs, animators deactivated the motion blur, which they did use for the rest of the sequence, to reflect the feeling of Harryhausen's films. The production designer also altered the lighting to further evoke his films. Other elements such as frames were also altered.

Music
Following the trailer's release, it was revealed Jake Monaco composed the score for all nine episodes. Monaco also co-wrote the series' title theme song alongside director Bobby Podesta, with Bobby Hamrick performing the song. Each episode features a variation of the theme song to reflecting its style. The soundtrack, featuring Monaco's score and four songs, including two versions of the theme, was released on September 5, 2022.

Release
Cars on the Road premiered on September 8, 2022 on Disney+, part of Disney+ Day and consists of nine episodes.

Additionally, the show premiered on the Disney Junior YouTube channel on September 5, 2023, where all episodes were released until December 24, 2023. Disney Junior uploaded a compilation of the entire show on January 7, 2024, too. Moreover, the official Pixar Cars YouTube channel uploaded a compilation of the first five episodes on February 7, 2024 and of the remaining ones on March 14, 2024. Internationally, the show received a YouTube release for the German-speaking region on Disney Junior Deutschland, starting off on October 30, 2023. Other than that, Cars on the Road had its linear debut on the German Disney Channel on November 19, 2023.

Marketing
The official trailer was released by Pixar’s YouTube channel on August 1, 2022. To promote the series' release, McDonald's launched its promotional campaign by including one of eight toys free with the purchase of a Happy Meal.

Critical reception
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the series holds a 93% approval rating, with an average rating of 7.00/10 based on 14 reviews.

Joel Keller of Decider found the series to be a classic buddy road trip, praising the humor and the way the show parodies pop culture, while applauding the performances of the voice actors, citing the dynamic between Owen Wilson and Larry the Cable Guy. Polly Conway of Common Sense Media rated the series 4 out of 5 stars, praised the depiction of positive messages and role models, citing friendship and discovery, while finding the series entertaining across its humor and family-friendly. Randy Myers of The Mercury News gave the series 3 out of 4 stars, called the setup simple yet efficient and found the series joyful and entertaining, stating it succeeds to celebrate friendship across the characters, while acknowledging the references to pop culture.

Audience viewership
According to Flix Patrol, Cars on the Road was the 7th most watched streaming series on Disney+ in the week of its release, as well as the 3rd and 9th most watched in its second and third week respectively. On Disney Junior's YouTube channel, all episodes have amassed more than 34 million views with the most popular episodes being Trucks (9,6M), Salt Fever (6,1M) and Lights Out (5,3M). The compilation adds an additional 11 million views as of June 2024. The compilations on the Cars YouTube channel have 7 and 6 million views respectively.

Additionally, the official music video for the song Trucks from the episode of the same name has received more than 66 million views on YouTube.

Accolades
Christopher Foreman, Elana Lederman, John Lockwood, Jae Jun Yi, Justin Ritter were nominated for the short "Road Rumblers" for the category Outstanding Achievement for Animated Effects in an Animated Television/Broadcast Production at the 50th Annie Awards. The series is nominated for Outstanding Editing for an Animated Program for Jason Brodkey and Serena Warner at the 2nd Children's and Family Emmy Awards. It is also nominated for Short Form Series with associate casting directors Natalie Lyon, Kevin Reher and Kate Hansen-Birnbaum at the 39th Artios Awards.