OWEN WILSON HAS A NEED FOR SPEED

Owen Wilson is the voice of Lightning McQueen in Cars the hot rod racer who stands to become the youngest winner of the Piston Cup Championship when he gets …

Owen Wilson is the voice of Lightning McQueen in Cars the hot rod racer who stands to become the youngest winner of the Piston Cup Championship when he gets sidetracked to Radiator Springs and his dreams of winning are gone in a flash. Owen says he’s got a need for speed.

Usually Owen was all alone in a sound booth getting direction from Pixar’s John Lasseter, but the times he got to interact with his fellow co-stars got things revved up.

“It’s kind of like Maverick in Top Gun, somebody who just wants to go fast and win. Over the course of this movie he has to learn that there’s more important things.”

Lightning McQueen is anything but the little engine that could. Owen says a special sound effect was developed to illustrate his car’s cocky attitude.

“The times that I did work with somebody else I did a couple of sessions with Bonnie up at Pixar and you do get kind of a different energy having somebody kind of there in the room. One time we got to Manhattan and work with Paul Newman and there was exciting to kind of be there with Cool Hand Luke.”

Cars also stars Bonnie Hunt as the voice of Sally the metallic blue Porsche who plays Wilson’s car love interest. Cars opens June 9.rn

“The kachow is sort of Lightning McQueen’s, he’s a little bit of a vain car and kachow is for his lightning bolt little kind of flash the crowds. It’s one of the insignias on his car and it does a little sound effect for when it flashes the lightning bolt. That sound effect is kachow.”