Has Pixar drawn itself into a corner? After years as Hollywood's pre-eminent CGI-animated outfit, the California-based company -- recently acquired by Disney in a deal that would make Scrooge McDuck blush -- must now not only top itself, but fend off CG-animated challengers.

That's no small task considering a) Pixar's credits include Toy Story, and Finding Nemo and b) their rivals are comprised of such hits as Ice Age and Shrek.

Still think cartoons are kids' stuff? Think again -- a simple announcement of a Shrek 4 can send DreamWorks stock soaring (just as the dud A Sharks Tale can send it into a freefall). With so much money stake -- as profitable as a successful animated flick can be, they're also stupendously expensive -- the danger arises when fiscal responsibility overpowers creative risk-taking.

So the timing of Cars couldn't be more astute.

Breaking from the hyper-kineticism that has dominated CG cartoons of late -- my stomach continue to reel from the crash-bang, anarchy of Robots -- this gorgeous-to-behold fable introduces a world populated entirely by cars. Yet rather than the pedal-to-the-metal free-for-fall you might expect, director John Lasseter's movie is just the opposite. Its message? Sometimes a gear shift down a notch or two is good for the soul.

Owen Wilson voices Lightning McQueen, the cocky up-and-comer of the NASCAR circuit who's on his way to the Piston Cup Championship when he hits a road block in the ghost town of Radiator Springs., Calif. -- namely the town's judge, Doc Hudson, a 1951 Hudson Hornet voiced by screen legend (and race-car fanatic) Paul Newman. Hudson sentences McQueen to community service after he accidentally wrecks havoc in the town. McQueen, of course, balks at first but eventually discovers the breathtaking beauty found in the least expected locations. He even falls for a girl (well, a Porsche with the voice of Bonnie Hunt, anyway) and makes a new best friend in a tow truck voiced by Larry The Cable Guy.

Involving Larry in this -- or any -- film is a gross miscalculation, but Lasseter more than compensates with scene after glorious scene of awestruck bedazzlement.

EXTRAS: The DVD includes deleted scenes, the animated short One Man Band and a new short with Larry The Cable Guy's tow truck.

CARS

Starring: Owen Wilson

Directed by John Lasseter

In brief: Wilson voices a race car stranded in a small forgotten California town.

Sun Rating: 3 out of 5