Pixar exploded onto the movie scene in 1995, thanks to Toy Story, which was the company’s first feature-length film, and something that revolutionized animation forever. It was a technological marvel, establishing that entire films could be computer animation. The unbelievably good Toy Story 2 ensured Pixar ended the 1990s on a high, and then the company began the 2010s in a triumphant way, thanks to the long-awaited Toy Story 3.
As for what happened between 1999 and 2010? Well, Pixar kept its creative streak going throughout. It got to the point where arguably no other animation studio making feature films has ever had as strong a decade as Pixar had in the 2000s. The following seven films should hopefully prove this, with the company’s worst film of the decade still being relatively well-received, and the other six pretty much being untouchable animation classics.
So, for all the positivity about Pixar’s 2000s output, it is clear that one film stands out as being comparatively weak: Cars. It comes smack in the middle of the company’s 2000s movies; the fourth of seven. Still, it did little to trip up or weaken the hot streak overall, mainly because it’s far from a terrible movie, and also because Pixar put out three absolute bangers in 2007, 2008, and 2009, all of which overshadow Cars, critically speaking.
But as for this 2006 movie? It takes place in a world ruled by cars, and follows a race car getting stranded in a small town on his way to compete in what he thinks is a very important race. There’s a message here, some car-related comedy, and typically high-quality animation, as one would expect from Pixar. Some of its characters are annoying, it’s not ideally paced, and it doesn’t hit too hard emotionally, but it is a more-than-solid family film, albeit one that might appeal more to kids than adults (whereas with better Pixar films, younger and older viewers are likely to enjoy them equally).
