Cars Is the saga of Lightning McQueen, a hot-shot animated stock-car voiced by actor Owen Wilson. En route to a big race, the cocky McQueen gets waylaid in Radiator Springs, where he finds the true meaning of friendship and family.

The movie centers on speed-obsessed race car Lightning McQueen (Owen Wilson), who gets lost on his way to the track. He lands in Radiator Springs, a downtrodden town off fabled Route 66 that has been bypassed by the interstate. There, he learns about what really matters from the cars of the 1950s and '60s.

Increasingly sophisticated computer technology provides Cars with unparalleled animation, Lasseter says. "The level of detail, the patina on the road, the peeling paint, the dirt — everything looks so real," he says.

Cars' four-year production cycle is a slow cruise for Wilson. Unlike his live-action movies, Cars is more assembly-line process, geared to the meticulous production schedule of animators.

"You'll go in every few months for four or five hours," says Wilson, 35. "You'll roll through 40 pages of dialogue, doing it over until you get it right."

Wilson also appears as Bill Murray's estranged son in December's widely anticipated The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou. Wilson has done animated voice-over work before, but his character in Disney's The Emperor's New Groove in 2000 was eliminated after the project's initial director was replaced.