Cars Franchise Returns With a Series on Disney+

By Russ Burlingame

As part of its Disney+ Day presentation, Disney announced that they will launch a new Cars-branded series starring the original film's stars, Owen Wilson and Larry the Cable Guy. The duo will reprise their roles as Lightning McQueen and Tow Mater, a race car and dilapidated tow truck, respectively, but it doesn't look like Radiator Springs will be the primary setting of the show. Titled Cars on the Road, it appears as though the two will be dealing with the same kind of over-the-top fantasy sequences seen in various Cars shorts, most notably Mater's Tall Tales.

From the drawings shared on Twitter, it is not immediately clear whether Pixar will be involved, although it seems likely, as they look very much like storyboards seen in bonus features on the Cars DVD and Cars-branded video games. One image, featuring Mater as a monster truck, repeats a scenario from the 2007 video game Cars Mater-National Championship.

You can see some concept art below.

In the first Cars, Wilson played Lightning McQueen, a hotshot race car who found himself under arrest in a small town and forced to do community service to make up for some property damage. Along the way, he discovered a love for the simple life of the small town as well as some of its inhabitants, making his first real friend in Mater, and picking up a girlfriend in the form of Sally (Bonnie Hunt), a Porsche who served as the town prosecutor.

In the second film and numerous shorts, Mater took the spotlight, and racing all but went by the wayside, with outrageous settings and scenarios stepping in. Whether as daredevils, professional wrestlers, time-travelers or even in one book, saving Santa Car and helping delivery Christmas, the duo would find themselves in unlikely conflicts perfect for selling incredibly specific variant toys.

While the third movie returned to the world of racing, and saw Lightning as an aging superstar helping to train the next generation of racer, there is no mention of Cruz Ramirez (Cristela Alonzo) returning for Cars on the Road at this point. The actress is currently serving as the host of The CW's revival of beloved Nickelodeon game show Legends of the Hidden Temple. 

Are you excited to return to the world of Cars? Are there any characters from Cars or Planes you're hoping to see in World of Cars? Sound off below in the comments, or hit up @russburlingame on Twitter, who has spent way too much of his life looking for those aforementioned very specific variants.

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