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.
| Cars on the Road | |
|---|---|
| Genre | |
| Developed by | Steve Purcell |
| Voices of |
|
| Theme music composer | Bobby Podesta Jake Monaco |
| Opening theme | "Cars on the Road" by Bobby Hamrick |
| Composer | Jake Monaco |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 9 |
| Production | |
| Executive producers |
|
| Producer | Marc Sondheimer |
| Cinematography | Robert Anderson Laura Grieve |
| Editors | Jason Brodkey Serena Warner |
| Running time | 8 minutes |
| Production company | Pixar Animation Studios |
| Original release | |
| Network | Disney+ |
| Release | September 8, 2022 |
| Related | |
| Cars Toons (2008–2014) | |
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.