Pixar makes sure something called Lightning McQueen is on the Chrissy list of every pre-teen.

Rating: 7/10 (29 November 2010)

A hotshot rookie racing car is sidetracked to a backwater town and must find a way to get back to the big city in time for the final race in the series
Even though Cars is by far the weakest entry in the Pixar line-up it is by no means a bad film. It has some funny jokes, likable characters and some genuinely exciting racing sequences that are both breathtaking to look at and well paced.
The problems that it does have are the fact that many of the peripheral characters are there to provide humour for the adults and not the kids, which would be less of a problem if they were simply funnier, that the overriding theme through the entire film is buried under a win at all costs motif that most single digit aged kids will take away, and it is just too damn long for kids and adults.
Tell your story, sell your toys (I swear Cars sells more spin-off toys to young boys than Toy Story and every other Pixar movie combined) and finish up.
Oh and leave the unnecessary "name" songs and supposedly clever guest voices (Bob Costas, Jay Leno, Jeremy Piven) to the Madagascars and Shreks.
What you hope kids will learn: Winning isn't everything, fairness is. Respect the past.
What they'll take away: Gee whiz that Lightning McQueen backpack looks better than the plain one! I don't care if it's $20 bucks more!
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