And of course there will be the usual stereotype characters....Radiator Springs 7-11 will be run by a Tata Nano....and thene there is the scene where a british racing green Jaguar treats a couple of VW New Beetles like their at a Nazi prison camp!

Go easy here my middle name is Mater

@Bento the Wertsmith: That's some funny shiat, right there.

Looking forward to it, although I feel I won't be quite as enthusiastic about it as I did with the first one. One of my biggest draws to the original was the whole Route 66 and abandoned town storyline, since I'm an old highway buff. I've been to the town that inspired Radiator Springs several times.

@LTDScott, Porcubimmer pilot: Have you seen the short film that is on the extras disk of the Cars DVD? It features John Lasseter and a trip they made prior to the filming of the movie? I have long been a Route 66 buff, too, and have spent some time around there.

@Bento the Wertsmith: But Bento, they screwed up big-time by giving Mater (International Harvester) the English teeth! Now what are they going to do for that Jaguar?

I am a BIG fan of all things Pixar and Cars in particular was so surprising. When seeing it in the theater I liked it but wasn't smitten but then when I picked it out of my DVD collection as the inaugural movie viewed on my new 1080P projector... I found myself, as with gems like Major Payne, Wayne's World, etc, not able to stop watching it and was just glued to the couch!

If Pixar was still steering their own boat, I'd have 0 worries, but since the Disney acquisition.. a little skeptical (think Aladdin 37, or Cinderella 9)

@MeMikeYouNot: No I haven't, which is surprising since I own the DVD! I just rarely watch the special features. Now I think I'll have to.

I just hope they put some really obscure cars in the next one. Remember how the movie reintroduced the masses to the Fiat 500 and the awesomeness that is the Twin-H-Powered Hudson Hornet? I want more of that. I want to see Studebakers, Peugeots, and maybe a Humber Super Snipe. Strange cars make good characters.

@Peabody S. Preston, Esq., Bruce, El Caminion: I'd give Pixar the benefit of the doubt. I thought a movie about a family of past their prime superheroes sounded dumb. And how are you supposed to make a movie about a rat that cooks in an French restaurant?

Until they screw one up, I'm going to keep showing up opening night without a second thought.

Also, when I saw "Cars" in the theater, it was shown on a digital projector - it was gorgeous.

Ratatouille was the weakest movie they've made in a decade, and it was still on the strong side of outstanding. IMHO, of course.

2012, eh? There's an apocalypse scheduled in 2012. I hope the release date is before then--unless "Cars 2" is one of the harbingers. Then it could be delayed.

[en.wikipedia.org]

This just made my 2 year olds day.

@SwatLax: OH I'm a devout fan they just haven't released a movie under the new regime yet.. though really WALL-E is right there with IJ4 and batman and ironman

@MerWiz: This just made this 32 year old's day!

I was troubled by the animation, in that everyone knows that the motor is the brain, the headlights are the eyes. If the eyes were in the windshield, well, there wouldn't be anything behind them, would there? What are they, like crabs with eyes on stalks? No. It's just wrong.

@Novaload: Damn straight.

The whole idea just ripped off the Chevron Cars, thanks to Aardman Animation (Wallace & Gromit), who got it right several years prior to "Cars"

[www.chevroncars.com]

Cars was a fantastic movie? Really? Worst. Pixar. Movie. Ever.

@TrojanBMW:
Like Mel Brooks said: Merchandizing, merchandizing. Cars continues to do huuuuge business in the toy department. Think of it as the Transformers of Pixar movies.

@Armand, Star-Spangled Pedant: Don't you mean "Fabulous Hudson Hornet"?

Somewhere, I have the Matchbox version of the Cars Hornet with all the crap painted on for racing (but inexplicably it has street tires) but I think it looks a lot better in the regular street trim (also part of the same "toy" line).

Doc Husdon (2).jpg (JPEG Image, 2588x1209 pixels)

fabuloushudsonhornet.jpg (JPEG Image, 600x889 pixels)

@Novaload: You can do a lot more facial expression with more-visible eyes, plus the different placement is part of the appeal.

Any good photographer will tell you that a portrait in which the eyes are not sharp and don't have a catch light is a dull portrait, even if the viewer doesn't consciously notice either factor.

nice! i loved the movie... and my daughter did as well!

ampnetmedia.com

I wonder what the plot will be like this time around. Personally, I'd like to see Lightning get a GT car rear wing and some center-lock wheels and join some sort of world (or at least European) championship, racing at Cars universe versions of Le Mans, the Ring and maybe the old combination course at Monza.
And get as many F1 and sports car drivers to do cameos. Show American tots (and their parents) there's more to motorsports than just "stock" cars.

Can we have the entire DOTS ensemble as extras?
Murilee, get on it!
Attack Pixar from all sides until they see what's good for them

@muleshoe: Is that like tuh-mater without the tuh?

They need to have a rotary powered character in the sequel. If they do anything involving road racing, it's mandatory.