Lightning McQueen and friends are returning to Radiator Springs in the next entry in the Cars franchise, but it won’t be in theaters. Cars has become one of Disney and Pixar’s biggest brands, with the franchise making $10 billion in merchandise sales within its first five years. It’s already spawned multiple films, spinoffs, and an entire themed area in California Adventure with Piston Peak National Park coming to Walt Disney World in the future, and its next venture will reintroduce the soon-to-be 20-year-old franchise to a new generation. Variety reports that Disney Junior and Disney Television Animation are developing Cars: Lightning Racers in association with Pixar for a 2027 premiere date. The series will find Lightning McQueen (Owen Wilson) gearing up for all-new adventures in Radiator Springs alongside his best buddy Mater (Larry the Cable Guy) and new friends, including thrill-seeking drag car Pipes (Elemental’s Leah Lewis) and a mud-loving monster truck named Miles (Marvel Rivals Yuri Lowenthal). Many cast members from the films are reprising their roles, including Tony Shalhoub as Luigi, Cheech Marin as Ramone, John Ratzenberger as Mack, and Bob Peterson as Chick Hicks, who took over the role in Cars 3 after Michael Keaton voiced the character in the first film.
‘Ka-Chow’ to Disney Junior and Disney+

Walt Disney Pictures

Cars: Lightning Racers will mark the franchise’s latest foray into television. From 2008 to 2014, Cars Toons was a series of short films in the Cars franchise that aired on various platforms like Disney Channel, ABC, and home video tie-ins. In 2022, Cars on the Road debuted on Disney+. The nine-episode miniseries was set after the events of Cars 3 and followed Lightning McQueen and Mater on a cross-country road trip to attend Mater’s sister’s wedding. Cars on the Road was one of the many Disney+ titles announced in 2020 as part of Disney’s Investor Day to expand their beloved IP into streaming. While Cars is a profitable franchise for Disney and Pixar in terms of merchandise, the prospect of a Cars 4 seemed unlikely due to the mixed to negative reaction the films often got, and also the downward slope the movies had at the box office. Merchandise was still strong, but ticket sales were not, so a television series makes sense. By the time Cars: Lightning Racers debuts on Disney+, it will be arriving 21 years after the release of Cars and ten years since the release of Cars 3, the last theatrical film in the franchise. Cars has always been a popular franchise with young children, so a Disney Junior preschool series is the best way to move the franchise forward. It serves as a new entry point for younger fans to meet these characters and provides additional stories beyond the feature films, so parents don’t have to constantly rewatch the same Cars movies. Plus, for older fans who might have seen Cars as a kid but now have kids of their own, it’s a great bonding experience and a chance to revisit some old fan-favorite characters and possibly meet some new ones.

Cars

Release Date

June 9, 2006

Runtime

117 minutes

Director

John Lasseter

Writers

Joe Ranft, Jorgen Klubien, Dan Fogelman, Kiel Murray, John Lasseter, Phil Lorin

Producers

Darla K. Anderson

Lightning McQueen (voice)

Bonnie Hunt

Sally Carrera (voice)

Larry the Cable Guy

Mater (voice)