The Stars of Disney/Pixar's 'CARS' Hit the Road for 'CARS Road Trip '06' Presented by State Farm(R)

The Stars of Disney/Pixar's 'CARS' Hit the Road for 'CARS Road Trip '06' Presented by State Farm(R)

BURBANK, Calif., April 17 /PRNewswire/ -- Two of the stars of Disney/Pixar's exciting new computer-animated feature "CARS" will race straight off the movie screen and into the real world as actual life-sized models of hotshot rookie racecar Lightning McQueen (voiced by Owen Wilson) and Sally Carrera, a snazzy 2002 Porsche 911 (voiced by Bonnie Hunt) will hit the road today for Disney/Pixar's "CARS Road Trip '06" presented by State Farm, it was announced today by Brett Dicker, Executive Vice President of Buena Vista Pictures Marketing.

(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20060417/LAM102-ahttp://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20060417/LAM102-bhttp://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20060417/LAM102-c )

The film's sheet metal counterparts were created by famed movie car creator and customizer Eddie Paul of Customs By Eddie Paul, with help from Porsche and Pixar Animation Studios' artists and technicians. Paul is responsible for famous Hollywood car creations such as the hot rod that John Travolta drove in "Grease" as well as custom built vehicles for "The Fast and the Furious" and "xXx."

Disney/Pixar's "CARS Road Trip 06" presented by State Farm will bring the "CARS" stars to life through interactive experiences. The tour, which was designed and will be managed by the Becker Group, will cross the country with stops in over 40 cities and be highlighted by an appearance at the World Premiere for Disney/Pixar's "CARS" on May 26 in Charlotte, NC at the Lowe's Motor Speedway. The cars will ride in style via a special truck inspired by the character Mack, which will be provided by Mack Trucks, Inc. As the number one auto insurer in the U.S., and with their headquarters located along Route 66, State Farm sought to sponsor "CARS Road Trip '06" in addition to their category sponsorship of "CARS."

"CARS" tells the story of Lightning McQueen, a hotshot rookie racecar driven to succeed, who discovers that life is about the journey, not the finish line, when he finds himself unexpectedly detoured in the sleepy Route 66 town of Radiator Springs. On route across the country to the big Piston Cup Championship in California to compete against two seasoned pros, McQueen gets to know the town's offbeat characters who help him realize that there are more important things than trophies, fame and sponsorship. The all-star vocal cast includes free-wheeling performances by Paul Newman, Owen Wilson, Bonnie Hunt, "Larry the Cable Guy", Tony Shalhoub, Michael Keaton, George Carlin, Katherine Helmond, Cheech Marin, John Ratzenberger, Paul Dooley, Michael Wallis, Darrell Waltrip, Richard Petty, Jenifer Lewis and Jeremy Piven. Fueled with plenty of humor, action, heartfelt drama, and amazing new technical feats, "CARS" races into theaters on June 9.

About Pixar Animation Studios

Pixar Animation Studios (NASDAQ:PIXR) (http://www.pixar.com/) combines creative and technical artistry to create original stories in the medium of computer animation. Pixar has created six of the most successful and beloved animated films of all time: "Toy Story," "A Bug's Life," "Toy Story 2," "Monsters, Inc.," "Finding Nemo" and "The Incredibles." Pixar has won 20 Academy Awards(R) and its six films have grossed more than $3.2 billion at the worldwide box office to date. The Northern California studio's next two film releases are "CARS" (June 9, 2006) and "Ratatouille" (summer 2007).

About State Farm

State Farm(R) insures more cars than any other insurer in North America and is the leading U.S. home insurer. State Farm's 17,000 agents and 69,000 employees serve nearly 73 million auto, fire, life and health policies in the United States and Canada. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company is the parent of the State Farm family of companies. State Farm is ranked No. 22 on the Fortune 500 list of largest companies. For more information, please visit statefarm.com(R) or in Canada statefarm.ca(TM).

About Becker Group

The Becker Group is an experiential marketing company that has over fifty years of experience creating immersive, entertaining attractions and brand based experiences for a wide variety of clients and venues including top consumer brands, movie studios, shopping malls, television networks, theme parks, museums and casinos around the globe. The award-winning company is headquartered in Baltimore, Maryland and has offices in Los Angeles, St. Louis, Salt Lake City, Miami, Barcelona, Spain and San Paulo, Brazil. For more information visit http://www.beckergroup.com/ .

About Customs By Eddie Paul

Customs By Eddie Paul, a division of E.P. Industries, Inc. in El Segundo, Calif., has been building famous film and TV cars for more than 30 years beginning with the hit movie "Grease" and the ever-popular General Lee Dodge Charger from the original "Dukes of Hazzard" TV series. Eddie Paul's list of credits includes hundreds of films, television shows, commercials, and music videos. More recently, Eddie is known for building the cars for "Triple X," "The Fast and the Furious," "2Fast, 2Furious," as well as a few non-automotive creations such as the fully functional 14-foot robotic Great White Shark used by the Cousteaus for an upcoming CBS special on sharks.

Customs By Eddie Paul is headed by, of course, designer/artist/inventor Eddie Paul, his wife and financial expert Renee Paul, and long-time employee and General Manager Brian Hatano. In addition to building customs, rods, motorcycles, and vehicles for movies and TV, Eddie's multi-faceted business (www.epindustries.com) also includes a CNC machine shop, prototype development, tool manufacturing, video production, and book publishing.

About Mack Trucks

Dedicated to quality, reliability, and total customer satisfaction, Mack Trucks, Inc. has provided its customers with innovative transportation solutions for more than a century. Today, Mack is one of North America's largest producers of heavy-duty trucks, and MACK(R) vehicles are sold and serviced in more than 45 countries worldwide. All Mack manufacturing locations are certified to the internationally recognized ISO 14001 standard for environmental management systems. Mack is also a proud sponsor of Share the Road, an American Trucking Associations' public information campaign aimed at enhancing the safety of our nation's roadways. Mack is a member of the Volvo Group, a publicly held company headquartered in Gothenburg, Sweden. For more information about Mack, visit www.macktrucks.com.

About Porsche

Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG, the manufacturer of Porsche(R) sports cars and Cayenne(R) sport utility vehicles, is among the most globally recognized symbols of automotive performance and engineering excellence. Founded in 1948, Porsche AG is headquartered in Stuttgart, Germany. Along with the award-wining Cayenne SUV lineup, Porsche AG builds three complete model lines, including the venerable Porsche 911(R) Carrera(R) and the celebrated, mid-engined Boxster(R)/Cayman(TM) S.

"CARS Road Trip '06" travel cities will include:

April 17 Akron, OH
April 18 Washington DC
April 19 Baltimore, MD
April 20 Philadelphia, PA
April 21 Allentown, PA
April 22 Hartford, CT
April 23 Boston, MA
April 24 Toronto, CN
April 26 Detroit, MI
April 27 Chicago, IL
April 28-29 Minneapolis, MN
May 1 Denver, CO
May 2 Salt Lake City, UT
May 4 DuPont, WA
May 5 Seattle, WA
May 6 Portland, OR
May 7 San Francisco, CA
May 8 Bakersfield, CA
May 10-12 Los Angeles, CA
May 15 Houston, TX
May 17-18 Atlanta, GA
May 20-21 Orlando, FL
May 22-23 Jacksonville, FL
May 24-28 Charlotte, NC -- World Premiere/NASCAR Coca Cola 600
May 30 Charlottesville, VA
May 31 Parsippany, NJ
June 1-6 New York, NY
June 11-18 Los Angeles, CA
June 19 Phoenix, AZ
June 21 San Antonio, TX
June 22 Dallas, TX
June 23-24 Tulsa, OK
June 26 St. Louis, MO
June 27 Erlanger, KY
June 28 Cincinnati, OH
June 29 Lexington, KY
June 30 Columbus, OH
July 5 Battle Creek, MI
July 6 Oakbrook, IL
July 7 Bloomington, IL
July 8-11 Chicago, IL

For Further Information
Dave Wong Mia Jazo-Harris
Vice President, National Publicity Media Relations
Buena Vista Pictures Marketing State Farm
(818) 560-7291 (309) 766-5242

Photo: NewsCom: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20060417/LAM102-a
http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20060417/LAM102-b
http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20060417/LAM102-c
AP Archive: http://photoarchive.ap.org/
PRN Photo Desk, photodesk@prnewswire.com
Source: Buena Vista Pictures Marketing

CONTACT: Dave Wong, Vice President, National Publicity of Buena Vista
Pictures Marketing, +1-818-560-7291; or Mia Jazo-Harris, Media Relations of
State Farm, +1-309-766-5242

Web site: http://www.statefarm.com/

Web site: http://www.macktrucks.com/

Web site: http://www.beckergroup.com/

Web site: http://www.pixar.com/

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