Claim: Michael Keaton acts.

Cars is a 2006 American computer-animated comedy-adventure film produced by Pixar Animation Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures . Directed and co-written by John Lasseter , it is Pixar 's final independently-produced motion picture before its purchase by Disney in May 2006 . Set in a world populated entirely by anthropomorphic cars and other vehicles , the film stars the voices of Owen Wilson , Paul Newman -LRB- in his final acting role -RRB- , Bonnie Hunt , Larry the Cable Guy , Tony Shalhoub , Cheech Marin , Michael Wallis , George Carlin , Paul Dooley , Jenifer Lewis , Guido Quaroni , Michael Keaton , Katherine Helmond and John Ratzenberger . Race car drivers Dale Earnhardt , Jr. , Mario Andretti , Michael Schumacher and car enthusiast Jay Leno -LRB- as `` Jay Limo '' -RRB- voice themselves .   Cars premiered on May 26 , 2006 at Lowe 's Motor Speedway in Concord , North Carolina , and was theatrically released on June 9 , 2006 to mostly positive reviews from critics . It was nominated for two Academy Awards including Best Animated Feature , and won the Golden Globe Award for Best Animated Feature Film . The film was released on DVD on November 7 , 2006 and on Blu-ray in 2007 . The film was accompanied by the short One Man Band for its theatrical and home media releases . Merchandise based on the film -LRB- including scale models of several of the cars -RRB- broke records for retail sales of merchandise based on a Disney/Pixar film , bringing an estimated $ 10 billion for 5 years after the film 's release . The film was dedicated to Joe Ranft , who was killed in a car accident during the film 's production .   A sequel , titled Cars 2 , was released on June 24 , 2011 , and a spin-off film titled Planes , produced by DisneyToon Studios , was released on August 9 , 2013 , which was followed by its own sequel , Planes : Fire & Rescue , released on July 18 , 2014 . A series of short animated films titled Cars Toons debuted in 2008 on Disney Channel and Disney XD . A second sequel , Cars 3 , is scheduled for release on June 16 , 2017 .