Cars on the Road TV Series Details:
| Genre | Adventure Animation Comedy |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Season | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 9 |
| Release date | September 8, 2022 |
| Running time | 8min |
| Age rating | TV-G |
| Starring | Owen Wilson Larry the Cable Guy |
| Written by | Steve Purcell |
| Executive producer | Pete Docter |
| Producer | Marc Sondheimer |
| Production company | Pixar Animation Studios |
| Original network | Disney+ |
Cars on the Road TV Series Cast & Character:
- Owen Wilson as Lightning McQueen
- Larry the Cable Guy as Mater
- Quinta Brunson as Ivy
- Cristela Alonzo as Cruz Ramirez
- Dana Powell as Mato
- Oscar Camacho as Mateo
- 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
- Matt Yang King as Clutch Humboldt / Wraith Rod / Crew Pitty
- Kathy Holly as Speed Demon
- Masa Kansome 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
Storyline:
The series follows Lightning McQueen and his best friend Mater on a cross-country road trip around the United States. It is set in a world filled with anthropomorphic talking cars and other vehicles. The episodes will depict characters in different scenarios, for example, them being chased by dinosaur-like cars. It will be set in new locations with new characters, additionally featuring returns of the already established characters from the franchise.
About Cars on the Road TV Series:
Cars on the Road is an American computer-animated streaming television 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, visiting various locations and characters along the way.
The 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.
Cars on the Road premiered on September 8, 2022, as part of Disney+ Day. The series received positive reviews for its vocal performance, messages, humor, role models and homage to pop culture.
Cars on the Road Season 1 Episodes:
Cars on the Road S1, Episode 1: “Dino Park”
Mater informs his friends at Radiator Springs that he’ll be leaving the town for a few days to attend the wedding of his sister, Mato. Lightning McQueen offers to accompany him, and the two go on a road trip to the wedding. At McQueen’s insistence, the two stop at a dinosaur museum, where Mater is scared by the dinosaur statues. Mater falls asleep and dreams of him and McQueen as dinosaurs, being attacked by other dinosaurs. He later wakes up, no longer afraid thanks to his dream, before leaving the park with McQueen.
Cars on the Road S1, Episode 2: “Lights Out”
As a storm pours in, McQueen and Mater arrive at a spooky hotel, where they are greeted by a creepy clerk. Mater expresses fear of the hotel, but McQueen assures him to not be scared. That night, while Mater is asleep, McQueen explores the hotel, is haunted by several ghosts, and returns to his room by morning, terrified. As the duo leave the hotel, a ghost then taunts the camera.
Cars on the Road S1, Episode 3: “Salt Fever”
McQueen and Mater reach salt flats and come across land speed racers. A duo of mechanics take Mater and adds boosters to him. Mater proceeds to race, going further as he progresses to McQueen’s cencern. Suddenly, the boosters fall apart and Mater is launched into the air. He experiences an out-of-chassis experience, meeting the soul of the Speed Demon, a car-ified version of the Grim Reaper. Mater returns to his body and uses his hook to prevent him from crashing. Both McQueen and Mater are bombarded by other cars piqued by the records the latter set, and flee the area.
Cars on the Road S1, Episode 4: “The Legend”
While camping on a mountain, Mater meets a group of investigators searching for “Bigfoot” due to supposed sightings in the mountain. After Mater agrees on behalf of both himself and McQueen to join them, the duo accompanies the group on their search. McQueen is carnapped by the purported “Bigfoot”, whom he discovers is actually Ivy, a monster truck who ran away to the mountains due to feeling uncomfortable smashing cars as a performance. Mater finds them at Ivy’s cabin, and the two agree to scare off the investigators by pretending to be aliens. The next morning, Ivy joins the duo on their road trip.
In a post-credits scene, Mater dances on the road while McQueen cheers him on.
Cars on the Road S1, Episode 5: “Show Time”
McQueen, Mater, and Ivy visit a car wash, where the latter two get cleaned. Later on, they see a traveling circus, which McQueen is hesitant to enter due to his fear of clowns. The three watch a show, and then Ivy is picked to perform a show where she crushes cars, similar to her previous shows. Instead of crushing the cars below, Ivy dances over them, amazing the others with her talent. Ivy is invited to stay at the circus as McQueen and Mater, leaving the circus, bid her goodbye.
In a post-credits scene, a worker at the car wash listens to a song on the radio and bops to it.
Cars on the Road S1, Episode 6: “Trucks”
On the road, Mater expresses doubt whether he is a truck or not, as McQueen encourages him that he is one. The two come across a truck-filled rest stop. While McQueen looks around the store, all the trucks bring Mater into a musical number where they sing about their pride of being trucks. Once finished, a more confident Mater leaves with McQueen, who is unaware of the performance.
In a post-credits scene, McQueen has the song stuck in his head, to Mater’s shock.
Cars on the Road S1, Episode 7: “B-Movie”
While driving through a city, McQueen and Mater observe the filming of a zombie sci-fi film. The crew notice McQueen and decide to cast him as a deputy, although the filming goes awry due to his bad acting. Meanwhile, Mater impresses the crew and is given multiple roles, to McQueen’s jealousy. Mater later explains to McQueen that he can’t be good at everything, which comforts him. The next day, the duo find out that the entire story was rewritten to be a musical instead, and Ivy has been cast as a leading role. McQueen and Mater, fired from the film, drive away.
Cars on the Road S1, Episode 8: “Road Rumblers”
While on the road, McQueen and Mater argue, come across a camp, and get captured by cars with spikes attached. The two are forced to compete in the Thundercone, a deadly battle royal where one has to successfully kill the other, while avoiding traps set around the upside-down cone arena that competitors fight on. The competition, however, is interrupted by the arrival of cars with electricity and solar power. One of the cars, Jeremy, explains that both sides used to be one camping group before conflicts emerged and factions were built. McQueen and Mater attempt to dissolve the fight by giving a speech, but it fails and the two flee, with Jeremy following. At a rest stop, they later see that both groups of cars have made peace.
Cars on the Road S1, Episode 9: “Gettin’ Hitched”
McQueen and Mater arrive at Mato’s wedding at Mater’s childhood home, where McQueen discovers that Mater comes from a wealthy family and that Mato’s fiancé is Mateo, the cousin of his protégée, Cruz Ramirez. McQueen confesses to Ramirez that he’s been uncomfortable with the trip due to his experiences. Meanwhile, Mater and Mato reunite, re-sparking their sibling rivalry until Ramirez helps them reconcile. At the wedding, Mater makes a speech that allows McQueen to come to terms with his experiences, and he suggests returning to Radiator Springs by road instead of a plane as he planned.
In a post-credits scene, McQueen wonders where Mato and Mateo went to for their honeymoon, before the couple are shown at a tire maze, which McQueen and Mater had visited previously.
