''Cars on the Road'' is an American

television series A television show, TV program (), or simply a TV show, is the general reference to any content produced for viewing on a television set that is broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, and cable, or distributed digitally on streaming plat ...

produced by

Pixar Animation Studios Pixar (), doing business as Pixar Animation Studios, is an American animation studio based in Emeryville, California, known for its critically and commercially successful computer-animated feature films. Pixar is a subsidiary of Walt Disney S ...

for the

Disney+ The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Di ...

streaming service and based on the ''Cars'' franchise. The main cast includes

Owen Wilson Owen Cunningham Wilson (born November 18, 1968) is an American actor. He has frequently worked with filmmaker Wes Anderson, with whom he has shared writing and acting credits on the films '' Bottle Rocket'' (1996), '' Rushmore'' (1998), and ''T ...

Lightning McQueen Lightning McQueen is a fictional anthropomorphic stock car and the protagonist of the Disney/Pixar ''Cars'' franchise. He was developed by John Lasseter and co-director Joe Ranft from a story concept by Jorgen Klubien. Lightning's appearances ...

and

Larry the Cable Guy Daniel Lawrence Whitney (born February 17, 1963), known professionally as Larry the Cable Guy, is an American stand-up comedy, stand-up comedian, actor, and former radio personality. He was one of the members of the Blue Collar Comedy Tour, a ...

as Mater. The series is written by

Steve Purcell Steven Ross Purcell (born July 30, 1961) is an American cartoonist, animator, game designer, and voice actor. He is the creator of the media franchise ''Sam & Max'' and received an Eisner Award in 2007 for working on the show. The series has e ...

and produced by Marc Sondheimer. Set after the events of ''

Cars 3 ''Cars 3'' is a 2017 American animated sports comedy-adventure film produced by Pixar Animation Studios for Walt Disney Pictures. It is a sequel to '' Cars 2'' (2011) and the third film in the ''Cars'' franchise. It was directed by Brian Fe ...

'' (2017), ''Cars on the Road'' follows Lightning and Mater 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 ''Mad Max'' is an Australian media franchise created by George Miller and Byron Kennedy. It centres on a series of post-apocalyptic and dystopian action films. The franchise began in 1979 with '' Mad Max'', and was followed by three sequels: ...

'' (1979) and '' The Shining'' (1980). The production designer altered the lighting to further evoke

Ray Harryhausen Raymond Frederick Harryhausen (June 29, 1920 – May 7, 2013) was an American-British animator and special effects creator who is regarded as one of the most influential figures in the history of both fields. In a career spanning more than 40 ...

'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 time after the events of ''

'' (2017),

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

as Mater *

Quinta Brunson Quinta Brunson (; born December 21, 1989) is an American actress, comedian, writer, and producer. She is best known for creating, executive producing, and co-writing the ABC comedy series '' Abbott Elementary'' (2021–present), in which she s ...

as Ivy *

Bonnie Hunt Bonnie Lynn Hunt (born September 22, 1961) is an American actress and comedian. Her film roles include ''Rain Man'', ''Beethoven (film), Beethoven'', ''Beethoven's 2nd (film), Beethoven's 2nd'', ''Jumanji'', ''Jerry Maguire'', ''The Green Mile ( ...

as Sally Carrera *

Jenifer Lewis Jenifer Jeanette Lewis (born January 25, 1957) is an American actress. She began her career appearing in Broadway musicals and worked as a back-up singer for Bette Midler before appearing in films ''Beaches'' (1988) and '' Sister Act'' (1992). L ...

as Flo *

Cheech Marin Richard Anthony "Cheech" Marin (born July 13, 1946) is an American comedian and actor. He gained recognition as part of the comedy act Cheech & Chong during the 1970s and early 1980s with Tommy Chong, and as Don Johnson's partner, Insp. Joe Dom ...

as Ramone *

Lloyd Sherr Lloyd Michael Sherr (born February 28, 1956), also known by his stage name Max Raphael, is an American voice actor. He is best known for his role as Fillmore in ''Cars 2 and Cars 3'', taking over the role from George Carlin after his death in ...

as Fillmore *

Tony Shalhoub Anthony Marc Shalhoub ( ; ; born October 9, 1953) is an American actor. He is known for a variety of roles ranging from comedic to dramatic on stage and screen. He has received several accolades including five Emmy Awards, a Golden Globe Award, s ...

as Luigi *Guido Quaroni as Guido *

Tania Gunadi Tania Gunadi (born 29 July 1983) is an Indonesian actress. She moved to Los Angeles when she was a teenager. She is best known for playing Emma Lau / Dark Tamera on '' Aaron Stone'', Miko Nakadai on '' Transformers: Prime'', Sashi Kobayashi on ...

as Lisa * Ruth Livier as Louise *

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 Olatokunbo Susan Olasobunmi Abeke "Toks" Olagundoye (born 16 September 1975) is a Nigerian actress known for playing Jackie Joyner-Kersee on '' The Neighbors'', Hayley Shipton on ''Castle'' and Olivia Finch on ''Frasier''. She also voices Nanefu ...

as Margaret Motorray / Chiefess *Gabby Sanalitro as Griswold *

Megan Cavanagh Megan Cavanagh (born 1960) is an American actress. Early life and education Cavanagh was born in 1960 in Chicago, the daughter of Jim and Rita. Raised in River Forest along with her four siblings, Cavanagh went to Oak Park and River Forest High ...

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 Zeno Anthony Robinson (born October 25, 1993) is an American voice actor. His most notable roles include Cyborg/Victor Stone in ''Young Justice'', Hawks in ''My Hero Academia'' (for which he won Best VA Performance (EN) at the 2021 Anime Awa ...

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 Cristela Alonzo (born January 6, 1979) is an American stand-up comedian, actress, writer, and producer, who created and starred in the ABC sitcom '' Cristela.'' This made Alonzo the first Mexican American woman to create, produce, write, and sta ...

as Cruz Ramirez * Dana Powell as Mato *Oscar Camacho as Mateo Red, Mack, Sheriff, Sarge and Lizzie make silent cameos in "Dino Park".

Episodes

Production

Development

On December 10, 2020,

Pixar Pixar (), doing business as Pixar Animation Studios, is an American animation studio based in Emeryville, California, known for its critically and commercially successful computer-animated feature films. Pixar is a subsidiary of Walt Disney ...

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

in the fall of 2022. It also announced that the series is written by

and produced by Marc Sondheimer, with Purcell, Bobby Podesta and ''

'' director

Brian Fee Brian Fee is an American storyboard artist, director, and voice actor best known for his work at Pixar Animation Studios where he made his directorial debut with the feature film ''Cars 3 ''Cars 3'' is a 2017 American animated sports comed ...

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 unused, though he hoped 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 ''

'' 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 Stop-motion (also known as stop frame animation) is an animation, animated filmmaking and special effects technique in which objects are physically manipulated in small increments between individually photographed frames so that they will appe ...

animator

, 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 Motion blur is the apparent streaking of moving objects in a photograph or a sequence of frames, such as a film or animation. It results when the image being recorded changes during the recording of a single exposure, due to rapid movement or l ...

, 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, all episodes were uploaded to the Disney Junior YouTube channel from September 5, 2023 to December 24, 2023. Disney Junior also added a compilation of the entire show on January 7, 2024, while the official Pixar Cars channel uploaded a compilation of the first five episodes on February 7, 2024 and of the remaining ones on March 14, 2024. Internationally, Disney Jr. Latinoamérica added all episodes to its YouTube channel from November 2023 to March 2024, Disney Junior España from January through February 2024 as well as a compilation on March 10, 2024 and Disney Junior Deutschland from October 2023 to February, 2024. Finally, 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 YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

channel on August 1, 2022. To promote the series' release,

McDonald's McDonald's Corporation, doing business as McDonald's, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational fast food chain store, chain. As of 2024, it is the second largest by number of locations in the world, behind only the Chinese ch ...

launched its promotional campaign by including one of eight toys free with the purchase of a

Happy Meal A Happy Meal is a kids' meal usually sold at the American fast food Chain store#Restaurant chain, restaurant chain McDonald's since June 1979. A small toy or book is included with the food, both of which are usually contained in a red cardboard b ...

Reception

Critical reception

On the

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews and ratings of products and services, such as films, books, video games, music, software, hardware, or cars. This system then stores the reviews to be used for supporting a website where user ...

website

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

, the series holds a 93% approval rating, with an average rating of 7.00/10 based on 14 reviews. Joel Keller of ''

Decider Decider is both a real word and a "Bushism". It may refer to: * ''Decider'' (website), a pop culture website operated by the ''New York Post'' * '' Bill Maher: The Decider'', a stand-up comedy special * Decider (Turing machine), a Turing machin ...

'' 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 Common Sense Media (CSM) is an American nonprofit organization that reviews and provides ratings for media and technology with the goal of providing information on their suitability for children.

'' 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 ''The Mercury News'' (formerly ''San Jose Mercury News'', often locally known as ''The Merc'') is a morning daily newspaper published in San Jose, California, in the San Francisco Bay Area. It is published by the Bay Area News Group, a subsidia ...

'' 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 during its second and third week respectively. On Disney Junior's YouTube channel, all episodes have amassed about 85 million views with the most popular episodes being Trucks (32M), Salt Fever (18M) and B-Movie (8,7). There is an additional 29 million views on the compilation as of April 2025 as well as a combined 37 million views on the compilations on the Cars YouTube channel. Internationally, Disney Jr. Latinoamérica records 35 million views on all episodes, Disney Junior España tracks about 20,6 millions on the episodes as well as 20 millions on the compilation and Disney Junior Deutschland about 18,4 millions on all episodes combined. Additionally, the official music video for the song "Trucks" from the episode of the same name has received more than 94 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.

References

External links

* * {{Disney+ original ended series 2020s American animated television series 2022 American television series debuts 2022 animated television series debuts 2022 American television series endings American children's animated comedy television series American children's animated sports television series American computer-animated television series American sequel television series Animated television series about auto racing Animated television series set in the United States Animated television shows based on films Cars (franchise) Disney animated television series Disney+ original programming American English-language television shows Television series based on Disney films Television series by Pixar