The "Cars" movie franchise began when the first movie premiered in 2006. In this movie, the audience not only meet Lightning McQueen and trusty Mater, but they are also introduced to the desert city of Radiator Springs. This small town becomes the place where Lightning McQueen comes to find himself again.

"Cars" is an American computer-animated sports comedy film. It was produced by Pixar Animation Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures. The film was directed by John Lasseter from a screenplay by Dan Fogelman, Lasseter, Joe Ranft, Kiel Murray, Phil Lorin, and Jorgen Klubien. The story ideas are by Lasseter, Ranft, and Klubien and were part of the final film independently produced by Pixar after its purchase by Disney in January 2006. Set in a world populated entirely by anthropomorphic talking cars and other vehicles, the film is concerned with a hotshot rookie race car who, on the way to the biggest race of his life, gets stranded in the run down desert town of Radiator Springs. There the race car learns a thing or two about friendship, family, and the things in life that are truly worth having.

As a footnote, even though the city in this case is completely fictional, people can actually now visit Radiator Springs as an attraction at the Disney California Adventure Park (commonly referred to as California Adventure or by its acronym DCA), a theme park located at the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California.

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