7 SURPRISING FACTS ABOUT THE MAKING OF THE CARS
With a little bit of pixie dust and a lot of elbow grease, the Cars of Radiator Springs have always been a fan favorite as part of Disney On Ice presents Worlds of Enchantment.
LIFE-SIZE FUN
The life-size Cars characters were developed by the in-house innovative minds of the Feld Entertainment scenic department. If you’ve ever wondered how those cars make it from the shop to the ice, we’ve complied some fun facts to give you a peek under the hood.
› IT TOOK 2,000 HOURS TO COMPLETE EACH CAR
- From design to performance debut, it took 2,000 man-hours to complete each car within a three-month timeframe to finish all five cars that appear in the show.
› EVERY CAR IS OUTFITTED WITH CUSTOM ANIMATRONICS
- Every car has its own personality with animatronics to show it off including blinking eyes and hydraulic lifts that bounce to the beat of the music. Tow Mater and Lightning McQueen even come complete with moving mouths, enabling their dynamic personalities to shine through each time they speak.
› EACH CAR IS SHRUNK TO 85% SCALE
- All five cars are based on life-sized cars of the same make and model. To fit into tractor-trailers for traveling from city-to-city, the final design is an 85% scale of the original for a compact show- size version.
› MATER CAN DRIVE BACKWARDS
- He is specifically engineered to allow the driver to shift and face backward while steering normally without looking over their shoulder.
› EACH CAR WEIGHS ROUGHLY 2,800 POUNDS
› THEY CAN REACH UP TO 40 MPH
- But are programmed to not exceed 15 mph
› REAL TIRES ARE USED ON EACH CAR
- They are filled with foam to prevent leaks and flats. The foam also allows for spikes to be screwed into the tires to give them traction on the ice.
