It”s been 10 years since audiences first got to see Mater and Lightning McQueen on the big screen. Pixar”s Cars opened in theaters on June 9, 2006, following its world premiere at Lowe”s Motor Speedway in Concord, NC.
The seventh feature from the Emeryville, CA-based animation studio, it returned John Lasseter to the director”s chair.
Cars failed to reach the box office grosses of the three other Pixar movies released before it in the new millennium – Monsters, Inc., Finding Nemo and The Incredibles – but, unsurprisingly, merchandise sales were huge for this one.
A sequel was released in 2011, and Cars 3 is set for a June 2017 release.
Other notable June 9 happenings in pop culture history:
• 1950: British noir film Night and the City had its U.S. premiere.
• 1963: Barbra Streisand appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show for the third time.
• 1984: Cyndi Lauper”s “Time After Time” hit the top of the Billboard singles chart.
• 1984: Elsewhere on the Billboard Hot 100, Huey Lewis & The News song “The Heart of Rock & Roll” peaked on the chart at No. 6. It was on the singles chart for a total of 20 weeks.
• 1986: Genesis album Invisible Touch was released. It featured five singles that would reach the top of the Billboard Hot 100.
• 1989: Star Trek V: The Final Frontier opened in theaters.
• 1989: Prince”s single from the Batman soundtrack, “Batdance” was released as a single ahead of the film”s opening later that month. It became Prince”s fourth song to reach the top of the Billboard singles chart.
• 1997: The series finale of Married… with Children aired on Fox.