Disney on Track to Unwrap Pixar's 'CARS' on May 26th at Lowe's Motor Speedway in Charlotte, North Carolina With First-Ever Mult
March 23 2006 - 10:00AM
PR Newswire (US)
Vocal Cast From Film Along With Racing Legends and 30,000 Guests to
Attend Benefit Event Sponsored by Kodak CHARLOTTE, N.C., March 23
/PRNewswire/ -- Disney-Pixar's exciting new computer-animated
feature "CARS" will stage its World Premiere on May 26th at Lowe's
Motor Speedway in Charlotte, North Carolina in one of the most
unique and elaborate movie events of all-time, it was announced
today by Dick Cook, chairman of The Walt Disney Studios. Paul
Newman, Owen Wilson, Bonnie Hunt, Larry the Cable Guy, NASCAR
legends Richard Petty and Darrell Waltrip, and others from the
voice cast of the film will be joined by a host of stars from the
racing world and 30,000 guests that are expected to attend the
"CARS" World Premiere, taking place at the same location as that
weekend's famous Coca Cola 600 NASCAR race. The screening of the
film represents the first multi-screen digital cinema premiere
ever, with Texas Instruments and its DLP Cinema(R) technology
serving as Disney's event technology partner in providing the
digital cinema projectors. A series of four giant custom-built
outdoor movie screens (115-feet wide and 50-feet tall) will be
constructed at Lowe's Motor Speedway at Turn #2 of the track. Each
screen will have three DLP Cinema 2K digital projectors dedicated
to it. A state-of-the-art sound system is also being created and
installed for the event. Academy Award(R)-winning filmmaker John
Lasseter ("Toy Story," "A Bug's Life," "Toy Story 2"), who directed
"CARS" will also be attending along with producer Darla K. Anderson
("A Bug's Life," "Monsters, Inc."), and other key players from
Pixar Animation Studios and The Walt Disney Studios. Tickets for
the premiere will be made available for purchase by the general
public starting today. Proceeds will benefit Speedway Children's
Charities, and Association of Hole in the Wall Gang Camps. For
tickets, call 1-800-455-FANS, visit the Lowe's Motor Speedway box
office, or order online at http://www.lowesmotorspeedway.com/. To
cap off the weekend, the #96 DLP HDTV car will be wrapped as the
film's lead character "Lightning McQueen" for the NEXTEL Cup series
race in Charlotte the same weekend. Commenting on the announcement,
Lasseter said, "We're thrilled to bring the premiere of 'CARS' to
Lowe's Motor Speedway and excited to share this film with such a
great community of race fans. Humpy Wheeler, the president and
general manager of Lowe's Motor Speedway, has become a great friend
and helped all of us at Pixar when we were developing the story and
characters for the film. In fact, Humpy provides the voice of Tex,
a 1975 Cadillac Coupe de Ville. I have loved automobiles and the
world of racing for a long time and 'CARS' is a very personal story
to me. This premiere event is the perfect way to debut our film to
racing and movie enthusiasts." Cook added, "Pixar has captured the
feel and excitement of the racing world in their latest film,
'CARS,' and we felt that it would be great fun to stage the
premiere in a setting that would do justice to the film. John
Lasseter has done an amazing job bringing the world of cars and
racing to the big screen, and combining it with that magic Pixar
story sensibility that appeals to absolutely everyone. With the
proceeds of this benefit going to two fantastic children's
charities, we hope to launch the film in grand style and help some
worthy institutions at the same time." Humpy Wheeler said, "It's a
great honor to be working with Disney, John Lasseter, and his
colleagues at Pixar in hosting the World Premiere of 'CARS.' This
is a fantastic film that celebrates everything that we love about
cars, and it also gives us a unique view of the world of
competitive racing. All of us at Lowe's are looking forward to the
big event on May 26th, and are delighted that we have been chosen
to participate." After taking moviegoers magically into the realm
of toys, bugs, monsters, fish, and superheroes, the masterful
storytellers and technical wizards at Pixar Animation Studios ("The
Incredibles," "Finding Nemo," "Monsters, Inc."), and Academy
Award(R)-winning director John Lasseter ("Toy Story," "Toy Story
2," "A Bug's Life"), hit the road with a fast-paced comedy
adventure set inside the world of cars. A Walt Disney Pictures
presentation of a Pixar Animation Studios film, "CARS" is a high
octane delight for moviegoers of all ages, fueled with plenty of
humor, action, heartfelt drama, and amazing new technical feats.
Lightning McQueen (voiced by OWEN WILSON), a hotshot rookie race
car driven to succeed, discovers that life is about the journey,
not the finish line, when he finds himself unexpectedly detoured in
the sleepy Route 66 town of Radiator Springs. On route across the
country to the big Piston Cup Championship in California to compete
against two seasoned pros, McQueen gets to know the town's offbeat
characters -- including Doc Hudson (a 1951 Hudson Hornet with a
mysterious past, voiced by PAUL NEWMAN), Sally (a snazzy 2002
Porsche voiced by BONNIE HUNT), and Mater (a rusty but trusty tow
truck voiced by LARRY THE CABLE GUY) -- who help him realize that
there are more important things than trophies, fame and
sponsorship. The all-star vocal cast also includes free-wheeling
performances by Tony Shalhoub, Michael Keaton, Cheech Marin, George
Carlin, Katherine Helmond, and John Ratzenberger. Delivering more
fun and authenticity to the cast for "CARS" are vocal performances
from some of the all-time greatest names from the racing world
including the legendary Richard Petty, plus "drive-on" roles by
Mario Andretti, Dale Earnhardt, Jr., Darrell Waltrip (who holds the
record for five-wins at the NASCAR Coca Cola 600), and Michael
Schumacher, the ace German Formula 1 racing legend, who is a
seven-times world champion, and is widely considered to be the best
Grand Prix racing driver of all-time. About Pixar Animation Studios
Pixar Animation Studios (NASDAQ:PIXR) (http://www.pixar.com/)
combines creative and technical artistry to create original stories
in the medium of computer animation. Pixar has created six of the
most successful and beloved animated films of all time: Toy Story,
A Bug's Life, Toy Story 2, Monsters, Inc., Finding Nemo and The
Incredibles. Pixar has won 20 Academy Awards(R) and its six films
have grossed more than $3.2 billion at the worldwide box office to
date. The Northern California studio's next two film releases are
"CARS" (June 9, 2006) and Ratatouille (summer 2007). For Further
Information Dennis Rice Senior Vice President Publicity Buena Vista
Pictures Marketing (818) 560-5610 DATASOURCE: Walt Disney Pictures
CONTACT: Dennis Rice, Senior Vice President, Publicity, of Buena
Vista Pictures Marketing, +1-818-560-5610 Web site:
http://www.lowesmotorspeedway.com/
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