The new Pixar animated film BCarsC isn?t as funny as BToy Story,C as visually captivating as BThe Incredibles,C or as emotionally satisfying as BFinding Nemo.C

But it still retains that signature Pixar heart with fun characters on a grand mission and a poignant message underlining the main story.

The film follows the basic fish-out-of water BDoc HollywoodC formula in which your young hot-shot protagonist on his way to fame, fortune and glory inadvertently rolls into a small, out-of-the-way American backwater, and essentially finds the true meaning of life and happiness.

It?s a weird universe where just cars and flying vehicles populate the planet and participate in the grand game of commerce and romance. Our hot-shot protagonist is Lightning McQueen, an homage in name to the late great Steve McQueen, the star of the 1971 European racing picture BLe MansC and the car-chase classic BBullitt.C

McQueen, a red race car, has dreams of winning the Championship Piston Cup at the Los Angeles Motor Speedway and thus getting the lucrative endorsement deal with the Dinoco Energy Corporation. The picture opens with a big race between McQueen and two other race cars, ending in a three-way tie.

On the way to the tie-breaker race in Los Angeles, a mishap allows McQueen to roll off his transport semi into the long-forgotten desert town of Radiator Springs, a once-bustling stop along Route 66, now in the throes of economic stagnation after an interstate was built to save motorists time.

There he meets the townsfolk, which include Paul Newman as the stately, but secret-harboring, Doc Hudson; Larry the Cable Guy as the dim but good-natured tow truck Mater, and Bonnie Hunt as smart and sexy Sally the Porsche.

McQueen is stuck in the town because he inadvertently destroys a road, just as Michael J. Fox destroys a white picket fence in BDoc Hollywood.C Hudson, the town judge, sentences McQueen to community service: Rebuild the road.

While in town he discovers Hudson?s secret, falls in love with Sally, and learns the fine art of Btractor tippingC and driving backward from Mater.

Actor Paul Newman, a real auto racer who drove the 24 hour Le Mans in 1979, is very good in the film. Shoot, anything with Paul Newman in it is good. He?s a living legend and a masterful actor 8 even if it?s just his voice.

Bonnie Hunt is also one of those great comedic actresses and it?s good that, as female love interests go, Pixar always hires talent and quality instead of the hot ingenue or diva actress as some other animated films tend to do for dumb marketing reasons.

My thing about Owen Wilson is that he plays himself in just about everything he does. But he?s a winsome, charismatic actor and the goofball shtick works 70 percent of the time.

The whole film is pretty predictable, but it?s filled with a lot of heart, humor and visual wit. Lasseter is a master of films with heart and wit, as is evident from his Pixar-directed both of the BToy StoryC classics, as well as BFinding Nemo.C

The thing that sets the film apart from its Pixar forebearers is perhaps the allegory isn?t as substantive as the loss of childhood (BToy StoryC), the loss of former glory (director Brad Bird?s BThe IncrediblesC), and the stakes aren?t as pressing as a father trying to find his son in a vast ocean (CFinding NemoC). And while not as fun and engaging as the 2004 Pixar film BThe Incredibles,C there are some real poignant and heartwarming scenes in BCars,C like the James Taylor-themed montage, which explains why Radiator Springs lost its former glory to the interstate and the scene in which McQueen restores neon luster back to the town.

Also there are many great shots of cars, whether driving on an open highway or on a motor speedway, that just take your breath away with the artistry of great animation.

The cars (and other vehicles of land, sea and air) have windshields for eyes and grills for mouths, which reminded me of the same kind of cars in several classic Disney shorts like BSusie the Little Blue CoupeC and the cautionary BStory of Anyburg, USA.C I loved these Disney shorts as a kid, and you get the sense that the fine folks at Pixar respect the classics and the reasons the Disney name used to mean quality and creativity.

Having BCar?sC director Lasseter in charge of the creative department at Disney is definitely an exciting development. Before his arrival, the studio had been resorting to putting out lackluster sequels for earlier greats like BPocahonatasC and BPeter PanC and dreadful CGI animated features like BChicken LittleC and more recently BThe Wild.C I miss the traditional hand-drawn hand-painted Disney animated feature, especially the kind made in the late ?80s and early ?90s, and Lasseter reportedly has called for a much needed return to those kinds of films.

With Pixar?s Lasseter in charge, things are looking bright at Disney again.

Three stars stars out of four.