CARS is the most awaited animated film this year, directed by Disney’s first Pixar film TOY STORY’s director John Lasseter.  Ambitious, handsomely special effected and crafted, CARS is a more difficult project to be accomplished on screen.  For one, CARS are inanimate objects.  Unlike inherently cute creatures that naturally transform into cutesy and lovable characters as in the animated features OVER THE HEDGE, THE WILD or even A BUG’S LIFE, CARS is even more unfeeling to work with then toys.  But director Lasseter grew up loving cars as his dad was a parts-department manager at Chevrolet.  Throwing in stock car racing into the main story also involves rules, regulations and a lifestyle most young audiences are unfamiliar with.  Given all these obstacles director Lasseter and crew might have discovered midway during the film that they might have taken too much that they could initially handle. 

And it shows!  CARS, way too long as an animated feature running close to 2 hours, has a boring middle, takes a while before getting itself on its wheels and opts once too often to slide back, with tremendous effort, into safe cutesy character territory.  The plot concerns an over confident hotshot race car Lightning McQueen (Owen Wilson).  En route to L.A. for the big race, he is detoured to the town of Radiator Springs where he learns that there is more to life (for cars?) than racing.  With the help of the town cars and Sally (Bonnie Hunt), Lightning undergoes a change in ….. 

CARS contain lots of puns, some funny.  But one can only take so many till they become annoying.  CARS is typical Disney or Pixar, with a message thrown in.  No great mind needed to guess what the message is.  The romantic sub-plot is a real chore to watch and so is the advice/camaraderie between old hot rod, Doc Hudson (Paul Newman) and the rookie racer.  Voices are ok with surprisingly Larry the Cable Guy coming in with top marks for the goofy voicing of the tow truck Mater. 

For once, the songs are a welcome change.  In fact, the saving grace of CARS is Randy Newman’s music.  His new song, OUR TOWN, sung by legendary James Taylor, captures in its lyrics and score, the tale of the once thriving Radiator Springs.  Oldie favorites ROUTE 66 and LIFE IS A HIGHWAY are given a spunky make-over by John Mayer and group Rascal Flatts respectively.  But Lasseter’s CARS still runs as formulaic as any Formula car race.  CARS will undoubtedly yield acceptable fare to the undiscerning audience as evident by the applause at the end of the promo screening.