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Ideas (approx. 2.5 years)
There were multiple ideas put into the movie Cars. It started 8 years before the theater release date because of Toy Story 2, so the script and storyboards of the idea were haulted. -
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Storyboard (approx. 3 years)
When Jorgen Klubien first developed the idea of a movie with all cars and no people, he began writing a script. He also started drawing rough drafts of what he imagined the film would look like. When the idea was haulted, it gave more time for others to be inspired, including John Lasseter. After his family trip, Pixar animators went to Route 66 to develop drawing ideas for the storyboard. -
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Script (approx. 2.5 years)
Jorgen began writing the script of The Yellow Car right away. The original script had to be put to the side while Toy Story 2 was developed. This process continued on when John sparked a new idea, adding Route 66 to The Yellow Car. The script for Cars was written by John Lasseter, Jorgen Klubien, and Joe Ranft. -
"The Yellow Car"
Jorgen Klubien started writing an original script, called The Yellow Car, in the fall of 1998. Producers decided that Cars could be the next film after "A Bug's Life", being released in 1999. Instead, Toy Story 2 was developed and Cars was put on the back burner. The title, The Yellow Car, was inspired by the story, The Ugly Duckling. -
John Lasseter's Idea
John Lasseter was inspired from taking a trip with this family cross-country, where he thought of the idea of Route 66. John discussed it with a historian, who led 11 animators on a couple trips to research Route 66 for the film. -
Route 66
After his trip, John and the Pixar team begain working on the movie. Sometime in 2001, the movie's working title was "Route 66". Although, they changed it because it was too closely related to a 1960 tv show with the same name. -
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Record (approx. 2 years)
Recording voices for animated movies usually takes several months. The actors read lines/expressions off the script in front of them, speaking into large microphone. Depending on how many lines they have, it can take up to a year or more to record all voices. Once their voices have been recorded, then they can begin on animation. -
Begin Recording Voices
In animated movies, the characters voices must be recorded prior to creating the final animation. This way the movements of their voices and faces are more accurately synced. -
Title= Cars
After realizing they titled it Route 66, after a television show with the same name, John and the Pixar team renamed the film. The final title to this Pixar film was Cars. -
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Edit (approx. 2 years)
After the voices have been recorded, it's time to begin taking the sketches from the storyboard to edit them into animation. This process involves scanning the sketches onto the computer, then editing them to make the video play smoothlly. Next, they sync the actors' voices with the animation and the musical tracks. Now the pieces fit together and the movie is done. -
Animation Begins
After most of the voices have been recorded, it's time to begin the animation part of the process. Referencing to the storyboards they created, they are able to use computers to turn those sketches into animated visuals. Most of the editing was done by Ken Schretzmann. -
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Finish (approx. 2.5 years)
This is the final part of the process. After the animated movie is done being edited, they producers find when to put the movie in theaters. Cars took longer because Disney bought Pixar right before it was done. Instead of being released during November 2005 (Disney's release schedule), it was released June 2006 (Pixar's release schedule). -
Steve Jobs - New Release Date
Steve Jobs announced that they were going to keep the Pixar films summer release schedule. -
Original Release Date
Since Pixar signed on with Disney, they were originally supposed to release Cars in theaters on November 4, 2005. -
Theater Release Date
After waiting until Pixar's usual summer release schedule, Cars was finally released on June 9, 2006. This way the DVD sales would occur during the holiday shopping season. -
DVD Release Date
The Cars DVD was released on November 7, 2006 to make it available during the holiday shopping season.
