The story behind: Cars is a 2006 American animated family film produced by Pixar and directed by John Lasseter. It is the seventh Disney Pixar feature film, and Pixar's final, independently-produced motion picture before its purchase by Disney. Set in a world populated entirely by anthropomorphic cars and other vehicles. Cars premiered on May 26, 2006 at Lowe's Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina, and was released on June 9, 2006, to generally favorable reviews. Related merchandise, including scale models of several of the cars, broke records for retail sales of merchandise based on a Disney Pixar film, with an estimated $5 billion in sales.