I thought to myself the only way I would ever be able to find racing entertaining is if the cars were alive and had human features with their own load of personal dilemmas. Lucky for me, Disney and Pixar released a very similar animated film: “Cars.”

The movie centers on rookie racing sensation Lightning McQueen, voiced by Owen Wilson, an arrogant loner on his way to becoming the biggest racing star in the world. But on the way to the last and biggest race of the season in California, McQueen is lost on Route 66 and is detoured to a little town that has literally fallen off the map, Radiator Springs.

McQueen accidentally destroys the town’s road and has to repay his debt to the town folk by repairing it, but can he still to make it to California in time for the race? While spending time with the other cars there, McQueen discovers new friendships and possibly a couple of new racing tricks.

The plot is nothing new, what with the wily old race car Doc Hudson, voiced by Paul Newman, trying to teach the young up-and-comer a life lesson and eventually becoming a mentor figure, and the sassy love interest Sally Carrera, voiced by Bonnie Hunt.

With the exception of Bonnie Hunt, who sounds too much like a nagging, middle-aged mother to be playing the part of a Porsche, the voice acting fits accordingly to the characters, with a very entertaining performance by Larry the Cable Guy as a tow truck named Mater.

What the movie does beautifully is capture the traits and personalities of each of the characters through the animation and, most importantly, makes you feel like these characters are alive and not just cars. I’m not admitting to it, but a tear could have fallen from my eye during the cars’ heart-to-heart moments.

Pixar does a good job of entertaining the adult crowd, by sneaking in its message of the destruction of rural, small town America, and creating visually stunning animation of the California back roads and highways. Not to mention the satire revolving around cars that range from tricked out import cars up to no good and the governor of California played by a Hummer with an Austrian accent, to a guest appearance by Jay Leno playing Jay Limo.

There’s something for car and racing enthusiasts too, with the characters being real makes and models, and guest appearances made by the likes of Richard Petty, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Michael Schumacher. A well done film that is sure to entertain any moviegoer and warm the carburetor.

Rating: Four out of four stars.

Matthew Beltran can be reached at [email protected]