Inside Pixar

Route 66 News points out that John Horn from the Los Angeles Times was given a very close look inside Pixar while it was finishing up on Cars.

If ‘The Incredibles’ was the studio’s most grown-up movie to date, the G-rated ‘Cars’ is its most nostalgic and sentimental. While Lasseter worked to cut its running time, and says he was pleased with its final length of nearly two hours, some people at a theater owners’ convention preview found ‘Cars’ about 15 minutes too long. (One other ‘Cars’ challenge will be attracting young girls, who generally flock to Pixar movies but may be less interested in automobiles.) Where earlier Pixar films celebrated friendship and parenthood, ‘Cars’ is more interested in hope, heartbreak and making the right choices in life. At one point, McQueen must make a decision during a race, and he slams to a halt. As Sweetland, one of two ‘Cars’ supervising animators, reviewed the rough animation in a screening room, Lasseter took out his laser pointer and circled McQueen’s eyes, which, like all of the film’s anthropomorphic characters, are built into the windshield.

Sweetland thought McQueen was trying to figure out what to do next, and therefore needed to close his eyes and collect his thoughts, the way the scene was animated. ‘Isn’t it about McQueen’s trying to decide what he’s doing?’ Sweetland asked.

‘I hear what you are saying. I just don’t agree with you,’ the director told Sweetland.

says the article

The article is very in depth and very interesting. I must agree with Ron from R66N when he says..

It really is a great article and it is a must read.