Disney film crew looks for “Cars” inspiration

Author Michael Wallis (above, left) and a camera crew from the Disney Channel were on Route 66 in Kansas and Oklahoma on Monday and Tuesday to tape a segment for the "Movie Surfers" show. They sought out the real-life inspirations to the Pixar Animation Studios crew when it was touring Route 66 and brainstorming ideas nearly six years ago for the "Cars" movie, which will be released June 9.

I attended the Tuesday taping at the historic Rock Cafe in Stroud, Okla. About a half-dozen classic cars were parked in front of the restaurant to provide a colorful backdrop.

But the main reason the film crew was there was because Dawn Welch (above photo, left), proprietor of the Rock Cafe, is one of the inspirations for Sally the Porsche in "Cars," voiced by Bonnie Hunt. Thank-you notes to Welch from Pixar employees are framed on the wall.

Young teens who hailed from Italy, Japan, France and the United Kingdom peppered Welch with questions about her restaurant, Route 66 and the movie in front of the lights and cameras as her employees went about their usual restaurant duties of serving juicy burgers, chicken-fried steak and oatmeal pie.

The "Movie Surfers" segment will run about 150 times before the release of "Cars." Wallis told me that some footage also would be used in the eventual "Cars" DVD.

During the "hurry up and wait" conversations between shoots, Wallis told me that he and the Disney crew had shot footage of the following:

• Dean Walker of the Kansas Route 66 Association, who provided at least some of the inspiration for Mater the tow truck in "Cars." One of Walker's claims to fame is he is able to turn his feet completely backwards.
• The Rainbow Bridge in Riverton, Kan.
• Scott Nelson at his Eisler Bros. Store in Riverton, Kan., who sang his usual rendition of "(Get Your Kicks on) Route 66." Wallis said "Cars" director John Lasseter is a fan of the store's hand-made sandwiches.
• The Round Barn of Arcadia, Okla., along with its affable caretaker, Butch.

Wallis said that some of these sights are not direct inspirations for the content of "Cars," but helped create the ambiance and nuances for the film.

The crew was unable to film one of the "Cars" inspirations, however. When the Pixar crew first traveled down Route 66, the studio's "story guru," Joe Ranft, became inspired by a rusty old pickup truck he saw in a junkyard near Galena, Kan. That truck provided much of the template to the equally rusty and rickety Mater. Regrettably, Ranft died in a car wreck last year, and Wallis said the old pickup truck at the junkyard was gone when he searched for it on Monday. Wallis said he had hoped to buy the truck and fix it up so it would be running again.