Happy 20th Anniversary CARS

Has it really been 20 years?

It really has been.

20 years ago, DISNEY & PIXAR released a film into cinemas about ANTHROPORMORPHIC CARS.

Aptly titled:

Say what you will about the FRANCHISE and how it was nothing more than just a premise based on JOHN LASSETER's 1999 family road trip...

But this film does indeed hold a special place in my heart.

I vividly remember I was about to finish SECOND GRADE at STRATHCONA ELEMENTARY,

I also was in this AFTER-SCHOOL YOUTH program called LATCH-KEY.

Anyway, this program often would take us kids to the nearby INTERNATIONAL VILLAGE Cinema near STADIUM-CHINATOWN Skytrain Station, just to watch movies shown in there.

Of course, this was back when the U.S cinema chain CINEMARK owned the property rights to the cinema, hence the original name TINSELTOWN CINEMAS INTERNATIONAL VILLAGE.

GOD, I MISS CINEMARK TINSELTOWN!!!

The cinema is still there and the interiors are still the same

but the CINEPLEX branding doesn't feel as nostalgic for this cinema as it was back in the 2000s.

I don't remember what auditorium we watched the film back in the day but I do remember sitting there being at awe at the film's presentation, back when films were still in 35MM filmstock.

Pretty sly for a film that was rendered at 2.35:1 Aspect Ratio

And at the time, this was the 3rd film to use the ASPECT RATIO

with THE INCREDIBLES from 2 years prior in 2004

and 

A BUGS LIFE from 1998

At the time, PIXAR would continue with ULTRAWIDE Lenses with 

RATATTOUIE(2007)

&

WALL-E(2008)

Before breaking their streak with UP in 2009.

All of which I watched at the same multiplex in VANCOUVER.

But this is CARS we're talking about.

The designs for the CARS are spot-on.... if controversial according to JALOPNIK.

The Cars eyes are placed on the windshield because according to PIXAR, it makes giving expressions to Cars that much more likeability

In the past, Many artists preferred to put the Eyes at the Headlines because that's how it's been done in the past and it's more logical that way.

Examples include:

The Jalopies from THE BRAVE LITTLE TOASTER(1987)

&

Benny the Cab from WHO FRAMED ROGER RABBIT(1988)

The only time that design mandate was broken before 2006 was in the 1952 short film

SUSIE THE BLUE COUPE

This film was also the one of the first FEATURES to start using RAY-TRACING for the renders.

Previously, CGI renders from before this time period that weren't tied to Live-action often went for a plastic toy look which at times made the render a little better than even the best rendering techniques for video games you saw on PS2, GameCube, Xbox, or even Windows XP.

But PIXAR wanted to change all of that.

Having seen what happened with the results that befallen FINAL FANTASY:SPIRITS WITHIN in 2001, 

PIXAR decided to use the tech for CARS to allow the shine required to make each Car's paint job look as realistic as possible.

So PIXAR's inhouse RENDERMAN renderer was reprogrammed from the ground up to include code that allowed for the more hyper-realistic rendering of Paint, shine, sparkle, reflection, refraction, etc.

Here's a progression GIF to give you a sense of what this is all about:

1. Storyboard

2. Wireframe

3. Catmull-Clark Polygons

4. Ambient Occlusion Shadows

5. Reflection Maps

6. Final Rendered Frame

This could not be possible on the previous SUN MICROSYSTEMS Renderfarm that PIXAR used from TOY STORY(1995) to FINDING NEMO(2003)

So PIXAR really made use of their then BRAND SPANKING NEW Intel Xeon Renderfarms for the task of rendering.

All while competitors like DREAMWORKS instead Favored AMD and their equally capable OPTERON CPUs.

Yes, I know I missed the mark when this film reached it's 20th Anniversary which was June 9th 

But I was majorly busy at my job at FAIRMONT HOTEL WATERFRONT in Vancouver so I had no time or mental thinking to make the post on that date.

As for where to watch the first CARS movie?

The easiest is of course DISNEY+

But for Physical Media lovers(myself included)

Just refer to your DVDs or Blu-Rays.

All you gotta to do is take the disc out and insert it into your player or PS5 and watch along.