BOTF: Cars 3

Young (and young at heart) fans of Disney’s hit animated Cars film series rejoice, Lightning McQueen is back and ready to race... Except that this time around he is no longer the number one hot shot speedster on the racing circuit and has to find a way to get his mojo back.

The film – the 18th animated feature produced by Pixar – opens with Lightning McQueen (again voiced by Owen Wilson) being regularly beaten by high-tech racer Jackson Storm (Armie Hammer). When Lightning suffers a terrible crash, many start to wonder if it is his time to retire from racing altogether. But Lightning is made of sterner stuff, and with a little help from his friends, and in particular from keen young race technician Cruz Ramirez (Cristela Alonzo) who has her own plans on how to succeed, he hits the training circuit to work up to a comeback in the Florida 500.

Pixar chief creative officer John Lasseter – who directed the first two Cars films - says this new film is more akin to the first film, saying that while there are great new characters and great racing, it is also a very emotional story. Many of the voice cast from the original films return, including Bonnie Hunt, John Ratzenberger and Larry the Cable Guy. Also included are Kerry Washington and Nathan Fillion. Formula One star Lewis Hamilton, who voiced himself in Cars 2, returns as Hamilton, a voice command assistant to Cruz Ramirez.