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14 hours ago · Inside McQueen’s Mythical Show With Salma Hayek, Woosung and Cardi B. DRAMA QUEEN: Sean McGirr dialed up the drama with a theatrical runway show featuring a smoke-filled runway and Irish lore-filled looks. It was the creative director’s second Paris Fashion Week outing. More from WWD. Salma Hayek sat with husband and Kering chief executive ...
Lightning McQueen is a fictional anthropomorphic stock car and the protagonist of the Disney / Pixar Cars franchise. He was developed by John Lasseter and co-director Joe Ranft from a story concept by Jorgen Klubien.
Lee Alexander McQueen CBE (17 March 1969 – 11 February 2010) was a British fashion designer and couturier. [2] He founded his own Alexander McQueen label in 1992, and was chief designer at Givenchy from 1996 to 2001. [2]
Sep 9, 2024 · Alexander McQueen, British designer known for his groundbreaking clothes, shocking catwalk shows, and precise tailoring. His audacious designs were known for their romantic qualities and violent, grotesque elements. Learn more about McQueen’s life and career.
- The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
- Creation
- History
- Cars Land
During research for the first film, John Lasseter and General Motors designers met to discuss the updated Corvette design, which Lightning McQueen and Chick Hicks were originally intended to be based on. However, changes to the plot resulted in both characters being left as generic stock racers. According to production designer Bob Pauley, Lightning's final design used elements from GT40s and Chargers, among many other models, to reflect his personality and role. Originally, Lightning's number was 57, John Lasseter's birthyear.
Athletic figures such as boxer Muhammad Ali and football quarterback Joe Namath were looked to during development of McQueen's personality, as well as popular musician Kid Rock, in order to create a cocky-but-likable character. Additionally, Michael Jordan was also looked to by the designers, due to his unique style of playing his sport.
Background
While depictions of McQueen's origins have varied in details, recurring elements of the racecar's backstory paint him as an arrogant and self-centered "one-man show" who quickly became a standout in his local racing scene, driven by ambitions of becoming a professional Piston Cup driver and the face of the prestigious Dinoco brand. Following a harsh race turnout, the dejected trainee ran into a semi-trailer truck named Mack, whose connections within the Piston Cup circuit convinced McQueen to partner up with him and travel to a significant opportunity. Desperate for a new spokescar amidst their former's retirement, the goofy businessmen Rusty and Dusty Rust-eze gave Lightning his "big break" offering him a role as the driver for Rust-eze, and despite McQueen's distaste for their image, McQueen reluctantly accepts and enters the Piston Cup with his new friend Mack as his transporter. McQueen's beginnings were first illustrated in the 2008 story "And Now a Word from Our Sponsor" from the World of Cars anthology book. Here, Lightning McQueen is an up-and-coming local racer on the Eastern seaboard, competing in regional events under sponsorship of Smell Swell Deodorizer. One day at the Simpletown Speedway, McQueen's management drops him in favor of another driver, whose "stinky" driving apparently suited Smell Swell's image better. A fan of McQueen's named Mack overhears their conversation, and knowing that his employers are on the lookout for a new spokescar to replace their own retiree, the trailer truck approaches Lightning and offers him a ride to Boston to meet them. The two become fast friends, and upon arrival in Boston, Rusty and Dusty hire McQueen practically on sight - The rookie soon finds this is due to their product Rust-eze's humiliating branding. With Mack as his transporter, Lightning is ready to begin his Piston Cup career. The 2009 comic Cars: The Rookie follows a similar narrative, shown via flashbacks as McQueen recounts them to Darrell Cartrip prior to the big Dinoco 400 race seen in Cars. He tells of his scrappy origins as a gifted but reckless racer known as "Bulldozer" McQueen, apparently due to his "pushy" demeanor on the track. In his first full season, McQueen is successful, but his narcissism and self-centered attitude throughout the season inspire two of his rivals to sabotage him during the championship race. Discouraged and distraught, McQueen departs and runs into Mack, a rusty moving van for the Eggman company. Mack offers to bring him to the Beachside 500 Piston Cup race, as his longtime friend Gray has close connections in the Piston Cup. When the legendary the old Rust-eze #01 car suddenly calls it quits mid-race, Mack and the Rust-eze crew encourage McQueen to take over and finish the race - Though out of his element, McQueen manages to finish third behind the reigning champion The King and frequent runner-up Chick Hicks. Impressed by McQueen's talents, The King coins the nickname "Lightning" McQueen. In the junior novel Struck by Lightning, McQueen's birthname is revealed to be Montgomery, or "Monty" for short.
Cars
In Cars, Lightning McQueen is a hotshot superstar who is on the cusp of becoming the first rookie ever to win the Piston Cup. The film opens at the Motor Speedway of the South, where the cocky and self-centered McQueen is competing in the Dinoco 400 for the champion title. After a three-way tie between him, seven-time champion The King and consistent runner-up Chick Hicks, Chick makes a bet with McQueen, where the first one to reach the tie-breaker race at the Los Angeles International Speedway wins the Dinoco sponsorship. Desperate to win, McQueen rushes to Mack, who forces him to make an appearance at his sponsor's tent, which McQueen hates. Soon, the two are on the road, and McQueen urges Mack to drive through the night, without resting. Mack, sleeping, is later harassed by a gang of delinquents, who accidentally open McQueen's trailer unknowingly releasing him. Lightning wakes up in the middle of the highway, and quickly tries to catch up with Mack. However, after mistaking a Peterbilt truck for him, McQueen figures that his best option is to search for help on the Interstate. McQueen rushes past a sleeping police officer named Sheriff, who chases him through a nearby town. While scared, McQueen accidentally knocks over a bunch of cans at Flo's, scratches Ramone's paint, knocks over Luigi's tires, and rips up the road with a statue of the town's founder, which ultimately lands him in the town's impound. When he wakes up in the morning, he discovers he is in the deserted town of Radiator Springs, where the angry residents sentence him to community service and make him fix the road by pulling a road paver named Bessie. Persistent of making it to Los Angeles before Chick, Lightning first attempts to escape, but runs out of gas and is returned to the town, where he tries to fix the road quickly. The residents feel disrespected due to the rushed bumpy road, and Doc Hudson, the town's lawyer and doctor, challenges him to a road race, which Lightning loses, due to the lack of familiarity with dirt tracks. Though initially hesitant to affiliate himself with the townsfolk, Lightning ends up making friends with the residents, particularly the absent-minded Mater, and the beautiful attorney Sally, who Lightning quickly gains a crush on. After learning of the history behind both the town and Doc Hudson, who was previously a famous Piston Cup dirt track racer, Lightning begins to marvel at Doc's skill and the certain racing tricks that Doc knows. After taking a drive with Sally, Lightning finds Doc out at Willy's Butte. Later, McQueen finishes the road, and while the townsfolk originally think he left without saying goodbyes, McQueen surprises the residents by arriving and asking for a new paint job and new tires. That night, while enjoying a "cruise" with the residents, the press find McQueen and take him away to the tie-breaker race. At the beginning of the race, McQueen cannot get the thought of his new friends out of his mind and falls behind The King and Chick. When Mack asks him if he is all right when he swerves out of control, McQueen stammers as he does not know what to say, but when he hears Doc stating that he didn't come all the way to the race to see McQueen quit, the latter is surprised to see his Radiator Springs friends have arrived to serve as his racing team and Doc as his crew chief, and with the help of his team, especially Guido, who performs the quickest pit stop in Piston Cup history, Lightning finds himself well ahead of Chick and The King. However, sick of constantly coming in second, Chick performs a PIT maneuver on Weathers, causing him to spin out and crash. When McQueen remembers Doc's words about winning, Lightning gives up his victory and instead decides to help Strip to the finish line so that Strip can finish his final race, much to the happiness of the fans. Though Chick technically won the race, he is ignored, and instead, fans congratulate McQueen. Lightning decides to permanently establish Radiator Springs as his hometown, and the publicity sparks great interest in the town.
Cars: The Videogame
In Cars: The Videogame, which takes place just one year after the events of Cars, Lightning McQueen appears as the central character of the game's story mode, as well as the car that the player takes control of throughout the majority of the game. In this game, McQueen finds himself at the beginning of a new Piston Cup season, where Mack asks McQueen to obtain some practice before the first race, and he turns to the Radiator Springs citizens for help. After a few races, Mack and McQueen travel to the first race of the season, where Chick, who Lightning previously spotted observing him practicing, greets him. Upon Lightning's victory, Chick begins to seek additional help to sabotage McQueen's chances. After more practicing and another Piston Cup race, Lightning meets and challenges a gang of race cars from Queens, New York City, who later reveal themselves to be allies of Chick. Still not satisfied, Chick continues to search for help, and meets with the same gang of tuner cars who had messed with McQueen the year earlier. The four cars are hired to rob Mack of McQueen's goods while he is on the Interstate, but McQueen manages to obtain them again by stealing it all back from the cars on the highway, who are then captured and subsequently arrested. They reveal themselves to be under hire of Chick, who Lightning later confronts at the Smasherville International Speedway. There, Lightning declares a three-race "Radiator Springs Grand Prix" event to determine who is the better competitor, an event that is supported by the Piston Cup. After defeating Chick in all three races, McQueen then manages to win the championship, and upon his return to Radiator Springs, his trophy is put with Doc's three trophies from his past inside of the clinic. Lightning also appears as a playable character in the Arcade and Versus modes. He has relatively high statistics in comparison to other characters, and also has the most paint jobs out of all characters.
A model based on Lightning McQueen makes two different appearances in Cars Land. In one, he is driving through Radiator Springs, talking with the guests. There, he appeared in his Cars 2 attire until 2017 when he was changed to his Cars 3 attire.
Lightning's other appearance is in the Radiator Springs Racers attraction. In the ride, after the guests escape Frank, Lightning and Sally greet them and direct them towards either Luigi's Casa Della Tires for new tires or to Ramone's House of Body Art for a new paint job. After the race, he and Mater congratulate the guests on their performance and state that "you can't win if you don't race!", among other phrases.
Streaming Now on Disney+ – Sign Up at https://disneyplus.com/95: The Untold Story of Lightning McQueen, directed by Academy Award nominee Morgan Spurlock, is...
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- Pixar
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Montgomery “Lightning” McQueen is the protagonist of Cars and Cars 3 and the deuteragonist of Cars 2, and the overall main protagonist of the Disney • Pixar Cars franchise.
