It is amazing to think that it was nearly two decades ago that Disney Pixar released Cars. The film, based around NASCAR with characters such as Lightning McQueen and Strip “The King” Weathers, a legendary veteran racer voiced by real-life NASCAR icon Richard Petty, is still a cult favorite in 2026.
The King retired from racing towards the end of the film, and McQueen had to push him over the finish line after an accident. But we never got to see how good The King was in his racing career.
That is, until now. Because an independent animator and YouTuber named Arya has decided to create a feature-length, unofficial prequel for his R-ya Productions channel, depicting The King’s rise to the top of the NASCAR ladder. And it will be fully animated in 3D, just like the real Cars movies were.
It is an incredibly daunting task for the filmmaker. But it’s not something he isn’t used to, as he recently created a Star Wars fan film about Darth Vader. But he said this movie will be bigger in terms of scope and length. Clearly, he has set himself big targets to make this film as good as possible.
This Is the Premise of the Film Starring the King
Think of this film as a look back into the earlier days of NASCAR. It will be a grittier take on the Cars universe, replicating a racing world before big sponsors came in and before aerodynamics were a core part of a race car. “Before the seven Piston Cups, before the Dinoco blue, before he was the greatest of all time… his character has so much history that we only really see the end of it,” Arya said.
Arya also said that the prequel will have returning fan-favorite characters, as well as new additions to the grid. But he is trying to make sure the film doesn’t just focus on the on-track action. He wants it to hit us ‘in the feels’ as well and take us on an emotional ride through the Cars world. That is what the original film did 20 years ago, and it’s something that Arya wants to see remain in his prequel.
“The main themes of the story that I really want to focus on are the beauty of friendship and the people you surround yourself with, grief… the right way and wrong way to go about it, and mentorship and the passing of the baton,” he said. It is a hugely ambitious project, and it sounds like it will take a lot of effort to get it off the ground. But Arya’s previous endeavors show us that he can do it.
The Director Is Crowdsourcing Talent for the Film
At the time of writing, Arya is crowdsourcing talent for his film. He is currently putting out an open call for 3D animators in the community to help bring his vision to life. It will take a lot of animation and effort to get it to look as close as possible to the Disney Pixar films. It won’t be impossible to do that, but it will take a lot of hard work.
We don’t know if Disney is currently planning on doing a new Cars film. But if they are planning something in the future, then this would be the perfect way to keep fans busy until an official movie comes out. This could be a very special film.