Bobby Podesta, the Annie Awards nominated directing animator of Pixar’s Cars, joins me to talk about the 2006 animated classic, which returns to theaters nationwide for its 20th Anniversary on Sept. 4. Learn insights on the making of the movie, the origins of Mater’s Tall Tales, and the lasting impact of this mega-popular global franchise. (This Animation Scoop Q&A was edited for length and clarity.)

Jackson Murphy: How does it feel to see this movie come back to theaters 20 years later?

Bobby Podesta: It’s pretty exciting because I don’t think I’ve seen the film that big since then, and I have not seen Radiator Springs that big since walking through [Disney’s] California Adventure and seeing it come to life there.

JM: Wow. I haven’t seen it on the big screen either in almost 20 years. And yeah, Radiator Springs and California Adventure… I got to see that in 2014, and that was… For every “Cars” fan, that’s a dream come true. And have you seen that firsthand as far as kids and the multiple generations now experiencing something like that?

BP: I really have. It’s kind of amazing to see something that… When we were working on this film 20 years ago… and I started on it well before then. I was the first animator on the film. I started in the summer of 2001…

JM: Wow.

BP: …When we were trying to figure out how this would work or what would happen. And I literally was just down at Disneyland, and to see things that you influenced or you helped animate is pretty remarkable. And the amount of passion and love for these characters and this world is just undeniable.

JM: So you worked on many of the early Pixar movies. And along comes “Cars”. You were the directing animator. How exactly did you get that position, and how did your work on the previous Pixar movies lead you to be the directing animator on “Cars”?

BP: So when I started on the film, I was asked to go on, and I was just the first animator on it. I didn’t know anything about cars. I was like, “Okay, sure, why not?” And it was really to go and start the process of discovering these characters and this world, how they would move, what they would do, kind of that whole language of the world. As I went on, we had two supervising animators on that film, Scott Clark and Doug Sweetland, and then myself and another animator named Jim Murphy were the directing animators on that film. We’d all done work, and they liked what we did, and they felt we were in a position to kinda help guide the other animators. ‘Cause it takes a lot of animators to make any of these movies. We work for years, and you get maybe a minute of work. But you add it all together, and it becomes something. And I like to say, if you come to one of our films and it looks like one animator animated the whole thing, it’s a good film. And if you come to one of our films [and] you forget that anyone animated any of it, that’s a great film. And that’s the goal. We wanna be invisible actors, really, behind the scenes.

JM: I was going back through some of the archives of what was going on at Pixar at the time when “Cars” was being made, and there was a lot happening. The fact that this movie was originally supposed to come out in November 2005. I remember that. And Disney didn’t buy Pixar until January 2006. What were some of the highlights for you maybe involving that or other things as far as the production, the making of “Cars”?

BP: For a while we were neck and neck… the first “Incredibles” was being made at the same time. Two very, very different films and different looks. Working on this film with these characters… one of the things that was most exciting that I loved is its pure animation. When you’re animating cars, it’s all invention. It’s all imagination. How do you take a character and make them feel like a truck riding through a field, and then creeping along, like a cat about to pounce on its prey? And then it’s crouched down and wags its tow hook like it’s a dog about to  do something. And then leap up and go, “Hrrr!,” and honk. And you have a tractor tip back, and you go, “Oh my gosh,” and it’s tipping. And you know that it’s a car, and then it’s a cat, and then it’s a pet, and then it’s a car, and then it’s a tractor, but it’s tipping. There’s all these things that kinda come together in this alchemy that is really satisfying… really satisfying for the audience, and quite frankly for the animators doing this.

JM: One of the things that always stood out to me about the movie — the colors just pop. Every character having their own distinct color, and the nighttime scenes and the daytime scenes. Color was such a huge factor. Was it really for you making it as, “Oh my gosh, these colors have to pop”?

BP: Oh, yeah. So as an animator, my part of the process happens well before that, the final color, the final render. But they’re planning that before it even gets to me. Our production designers on that film, Bob Pauley and Bill Cone, were really, really adamant about things being specific, about the kind of patina of Route 66 and the patina of Radiator Springs. If you think about it, you’ve got kind of that muted patina of the day, and then it comes to life at night, and that neon pops, and everything kinda changes. Again, it’s similar to what happens at Cars Land at California Adventure where people gather. And I don’t know if everybody knows this, but anyone who’s been out at that park, whatever time sunset is that day, they turn on the neon at the park in the same order. They play the song, they turn on the neon in the same order as it goes down Main Street of Radiator Springs at the park, and people gather for it. And it’s amazing, ’cause it’s like you’re in the movie. Doing that in the film and what it feels like in the movie, it’s kinda magical.

JM: That is magical, just hearing you talk about all of that. Larry the Cable Guy has said in some interviews over the years how John Lasseter chose him, and it changed his life, and he’s been so emotional in talking about it over the years of how much he loves Mater. Mater’s always been my favorite character. I’ve hung out with Larry. Met up with him in March actually, and he still loves voicing this character. For you to be a part of a movie with an impact of a voice actor like Larry, and of the late Paul Newman and this incredible cast, what does that aspect mean to you?

BP: It’s remarkable. Mater is a great character, and Doc is a great character. And the performances. Animators… we’re kind of in this partnership with the voice actors in the film. They’re pouring everything they have into these characters well before we touch them. And then we get them, and we’re the other half of that. We’re the visual actors up on the screen. And what we’re trying to do is to create something that’s hopefully relatable. Something that people can watch and be entertained by. And every now and then you create something that becomes iconic, and I think the characters of “Cars” have become that, and that’s really amazing to see after 20 years.

JM: You were Annie Awards nominated for Best Character Animation in a Feature Production for your work on “Cars”. How did it feel at that time being an Annie Awards nominee for your work on this incredible movie?

BP: I’m not gonna lie, it’s pretty exciting. The Annie Awards are kind of the highest honor in the animation industry, and to be nominated by your peers in this industry, not just here, but in this whole industry, was pretty remarkable and exciting. And to do it for “Cars” was wonderful. I felt like all the emotions of Luigi when he gets excited meeting a Ferrari. “I’m meeting a Ferrari!” I was pretty over the moon.

JM: Nice. So I just happened a couple weeks ago to re-watch the “Mater’s Tall Tales” for the first time in a long time. Actually showed my young cousin, who loves “Cars”, them for the first time, and he loved them. And then I found out I was gonna be talking to you today. You pitched the “Mater’s Tall Tales”. Is that right?

BP: I did pitch the “Mater’s Tall Tales”. “Mater’s Tall Tales” was my pitch. So what had happened was the first “Cars” came out in 2006, and it comes out in Blu-ray and DVD six to eight months later. But then in 2007, people were still clamoring for more “Cars”, and we wanted to make something else. Films take a long time, so we’re like, “Let’s make some shorts or something.” And they were taking pitches, and I thought about this shot I had animated on “Cars”. I’d animated this shot of Mater, and he’s sitting there [with Lightning] McQueen. The camera pulls out, and you see Mater standing there. And he goes, “Did I ever tell you about this girl I dated named Doreen. She looked like a Jaguar, but she was a truck.” And McQueen’s like, “What?” [Mater’s] like, “Oh, well,” and he keeps going on. And it’s a bonkers kind of shot. And I thought, “Well what other tall tales would Mater tell?” And I put together these pitches. I think it’s like 12 storyboards, and the pitch goes something like: It says, “Mater’s Tall Tales.” It’s like the first board that I drew, and then he’s like, “Did I ever tell you the summer I worked as a tugboat?” ‘Cause he’s a tow truck, so tugboat-related. “Towed a car clear across to Europe. That’s where we met Luigi and Guido. We followed the race cars.” And then Sheriff pops in and goes, “Mater, stop telling those tall tales.” And then Sheriff drives off, and [Mater] goes, “Did I ever tell you about the summer I worked as a rocket tester?” And he’s got a big rocket on the back. That’s the whole pitch. It’s just the idea that he would talk about these things that he did. And they were all kind of fantastical, yet somehow related enough that maybe it’s believable.

JM: Man, I love those “Mater’s Tall Tales”. I’m so glad they happened. I’m so glad that “Cars on the Road” happened as well because we got more adventures with Lightning McQueen and Mater. You got to do genres. You got to do so much with that, and I think that was really cool for that to debut on Disney+. Did you like the reception that that got and the impact of those [episodes] from 2022?

BP: Oh, I loved it. I loved it. Doing that series with my fellow co-directors, Steve Purcell and Brian Fee, was fantastic. And getting to direct episodes and storyboard episodes and work on songs for that was just a blast. And the reception was good. There’s a trucks episode, and kids love it. They’ll just repeat the chorus of that over and over and over again, which was kind of intentional when we wrote it.

JM: And also the new series, “Cars: Lightning Racers” is coming next year on Disney Jr. and Disney platforms. Sheryl Crow just [performed] a big [new] song at D23. The legacy continues for new generations. I love this perspective and this angle for young kids especially.

BP: Yeah. I think it’s great. I’m excited. I’m excited for a whole new generation to keep watching these characters and falling in love with them, and I hope that I get to talk to you for the “Cars” 40th anniversary or 50th anniversary.

JM: Yes, because the impact is still there. The impact of Rascal Flatts’ “Life is a Highway” will be there forever and ever. It’s crazy. It’s probably one of the most played songs ever — parties, radio stations. Do you remember the first time you heard it?

BP: I don’t remember the first time I heard it, but I remember… it just feeling appropriate. And it’s fun. And I think the first “Cars” film has this wonderful balance of nostalgia and heart and entertainment and goofiness and fun to it that is a little undeniable. It’s like, come on, this is great. This is animation. This is Pixar.