Where Do the Disney/Pixar Cars Come From?

The man in charge of developing Disney/Pixar’s Cars universe has heard your crazy fan theories — and he thinks they’re probably right.

If you haven’t seen them, the Cars and Planes movies take place in a world that’s identifiably an Earth once inhabited by humans — but in which the only living things now appear to be sentient cars, boats, planes, and other motorized vehicles. It stretches all the way down to the world’s flies, which are tiny VW bugs, and

During an interview with Screen Crush, Jay Ward, the Creative Director of the Cars universe for Disney, seemingly agrees with the Cracked.com video above, in which the After Hours crew argue that the first Cars

“If you think about this, we have autonomous car technology coming in right now,” Ward said. “It’s getting to the point where you can sit back in the car and it drives itself. Imagine in the near-future when the cars keep getting smarter and smarter and after one day they just go, ‘Why do we need human beings anymore? They’re just slowing us down. It’s just extra weight, let’s get rid of them.’ But the car takes on the personality of the last person who drove it. Whoa. There you go.”

In case you might think this is just idle speculation, it’s worth noting that the official story bible for the Cars franchise, an internal Pixar document that’s never been released to the public, was apparently written by Ward.

He also offered a similar, less-depressing possibility:

“[Cars 3 production designer] Jay Shuster did a great drawing a long time ago of a meteor hitting the earth,” Ward said, then mimicking a “Poof!” sound effect. “And all the humans are gone and all of a sudden the cars start rising up and moving around.”

Blindsided by a new generation of blazing-fast racers, the legendary Lightning McQueen is suddenly pushed out of the sport he loves. To get back in the game, he will need the help of an eager young race technician with her own plan to win, inspiration from the late Fabulous Hudson Hornet, and a few unexpected turns. Proving that #95 isn’t through yet will test the heart of a champion on Piston Cup Racing’s biggest stage!

Cars 3 is set to debut in theaters on June 16, 2017.

More Cars 3 news:

• First Full-Length Cars 3 Trailer Released
• Cars 3 Goes Hood-To-Hood In New International Posters
• WATCH – First Look At Mater In New Cars 3 Trailer
• Cars 3 Adds Scandal And Firefly Stars To Cast