History WhatCouldHaveBeen / Cars

[[caption-width-right:350:Early story development from the 1996 Yellow Car draft.]]

** One untitled film would have concerned space travel. The film was announced at [=D23=] 2017, but was canceled in part due to the closure and Lassiter’s departure.

* In early development, Rip Clutchgoneski was [[SacrificialLamb killed]] instead of spinning out when hit by the Lemons' radiation beam. [[MeaningfulName Hence his name,]] Rip (R.I.P) Clutchgoneski (Clutch gone to the sky).

* France and Germany would have originally been two extra locations for the World Grand Prix. They were cut as the movie was becoming two long. [[EarlyDraftTieIn Some video games like the DS version of the movie features these locations to race on though.]]

** Lightning originally voluntarily chose community service instead of racing Doc, only to have an [[OpinionChangingDream Opinion Changing Nightmare]] where his engine (and consciousness) is transferred to a steamroller while Mater's is transferred into Lightning's. Mater winds up [[GrandTheftMe assuming Lightning's life-style]] while Steamroller!Lightning is forced to repave all of Route 66. After waking up, Lightning insists on doing the race. In the final film, this NightmareSequence isn't used, and the circumstances leading to Lightning racing with Doc are different. Additionally, this scene seems to imply that Lightning was either traveling with another racecar or Mack picked up the wrong racecar at some point in the story-making process. When Mack shows up in the dream, another racecar is seen in Mack's trailer who tells Lightning!Mater "sorry about the mix-up". Mater is also depicted in a much more malicious light during the dream, showing him having purposefully had his engine placed in Lightning's body and giving Lightning a sinister grin and saying "I always wanted to be a race car..." as he takes Lightning's place in Mack's trailer. It isn't apparent if this was part of an intended characterization overall or simply Lightning ''imagining'' Mater as more sinister than he is during his dream.

* The movie was originally going to be called ''The Yellow Car'' when it started development back in 1998. The main car was a foreign yellow electric car trying to win approval from the gas-guzzling small-town folks in the movie by entering a local Grand Prix race after traveling through the countryside when forcibly getting tossed on a train by some of the townsfolks to get rid of him. Also, In this version of the film, there would have been humans but they would serve as mainly background characters and have very little story purpose.

!Pre-Cars

!Cars

* The movie was originally going to be called ''The Yellow Car'' when it started development back in 1998. The main car was a foreign yellow electric car trying to win approval from the gas-guzzling small-town folks in the movie by entering a local Grand Prix race after traveling through the countryside when forcibly getting tossed on a train by some of the townsfolks to get rid of him. Also, In this version of the film, there would have been humans but they would serve as mainly background characters and have very little story purpose.

** Another film, ''Metro'', would have been an urban set film directed by ''WesternAnimation/KimPossible'' veteran Steve Lotor, composed by Raphael Saadiq, and featuring Creator/JeramineFowler as the lead. While the film was never finished, Lotor incorporated a number of design elements from the film into the animated series ''WesternAnimation/MoonGirlAndDevilDinosaur2023'', where he would again collaborate with Saadiq and Fowler.

* Before settling on the film's final story, a scene was written involving [=McQueen=] attending a high-profile party in California filled with celebrity cameos, including [[{{Franchise/Ghostbusters}} The Ecto-1]] and Disney's very own [[Film/TheLoveBug Herbie]]. At one point, anthropomorphized versions of [[Series/Batman1966 the original]] and [[Film/TheDarkKnightTrilogy modern]] Batmobiles (who may or may not have been voiced by [[Creator/AdamWest their]] [[Creator/ChristianBale actors]]) would be seen talking to one another.

* Tomber the three-wheeled car was originally envisioned as one of the lemons if some storyboards for a deleted scene is anything to go by.

* In early development, Rip Clutchgoneski was killed instead of spinning out when hit by the Lemons' radiation beam. [[MeaningfulName Hence his name,]] Rip (R.I.P) Clutchgoneski (Clutch gone to the sky).

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/lf_75.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:An early storyboard from the Little Yellow Car draft from 1996.]]

* The race in Tokyo was originally intended to [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p4VmexcNrMo be much longer]], feature Francesco winning by overtaking Lightning at the last straightway, and would not have been intercut with scenes featuring Mater and the spies.

* The race in Tokyo was originally intended to [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p4VmexcNrMo be much longer]], feature a tie between Lightning and Francesco, and would not have been intercut with scenes featuring Mater and the spies.

* Even after Newman's death, Lasseter had considered a recurring subplot focusing on how Doc's passing affected both Lightning and Mater, though this in the finished film this is relegated to one scene between the two in Hudson's museum and is never brought up again. The creators later decided to revisit this subplot in [[WesternAnimation/Cars3 the next film]].

[[caption-width-right:350:This is a early storyboard ruff from the Little Yellow Car draft from 1996.]]

** Doc Hudson was supposed to have a major role for this film. The death of his voice actor reduced these plans.
** Even after Newman's death, Lasseter had considered a recurring subplot focusing on how Doc's passing affected both Lightning and Mater, though this in the finished film this is relegated to one scene between the two in Hudson's museum and is never brought up again. The creators later decided to revisit this subplot in [[WesternAnimation/Cars3 the next film]].
** In early development, Rip Clutchgoneski was killed instead of spinning out when hit by the Lemons' radiation beam. [[MeaningfulName Hence his name,]] Rip (R.I.P) Clutchgoneski (Clutch gone to the sky).
** Originally, the main antagonist was going to be [[http://worldofcarsdrivein.wikia.com/wiki/Zil Zil]]. His model was based on a racecar that did poorly in the Soviet Union, which would indicate that he was meant to be Russian.
** There was also a character named [[http://worldofcarsdrivein.wikia.com/wiki/Giulia Giulia]], who was a double agent that might have later pulled a HeelFaceTurn. She wound up getting replaced by Holley Shiftwell.
** The race in Tokyo was originally intended to [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p4VmexcNrMo be much longer]], feature a tie between Lightning and Francesco, and would not have been intercut with scenes featuring Mater and the spies.

** Cruz would have been male, and a rookie racer similar to Lightning in the original film, further bringing parallels between Lightning and Doc. These details were changed as the writers were worried that this was retreading too much familiar ground.
** The [[spoiler: final race at Florida 500]] went through several revisions.
*** [[spoiler: In one version, Lightning chose not to race at all, and introduced Cruz as the new 95 racer in his place]]. This ending was scrapped when the creators felt that the [=McQueen's=] arc had already concluded, meaning the race lost all tension.
*** Another version had Cruz and Lightning racing separately. This was scrapped as the two would therefore be racing ''against'' one another, which the writers worried would split viewers regarding which character should win.
*** One draft had a variant of the below-mentioned "More Than New Paint" scene, which reveals that Cruz was a BitchInSheepsClothing seeking to learn Lightning's secrets and then steal his spotlight. This was scrapped because it made Cruz no different from Jackson Storm, and was also a ShootTheShaggyDog scenario that essentially threw Lightning away.
*** [[spoiler: In another draft, [=McQueen=] ran the whole race himself, won it, and then chose to mentor Cruz]]. Director Brian Fee felt this made the ending feel unsatisfying and "hollow", as [=McQueen's=] CharacterDevelopment revolved entirely around him realizing [[spoiler: Cruz's]] potential.
*** [[spoiler: Storyboards of this version showed Lightning was the one who did Doc's acrobatic flip to overtake Jackson and win, but in the completed version, he was replaced with Cruz.]]
*** Several storyboards also implied that Lightning would have worn his [[spoiler: "Fabulous Lightning [=McQueen=]" paintjob]] during the final race, rather than at the very end of the film.
** Before settling on the film's final story, a scene was written involving [=McQueen=] attending a high-profile party in California filled with celebrity cameos, including [[{{Franchise/Ghostbusters}} The Ecto-1]] and Disney's very own [[Film/TheLoveBug Herbie]]. At one point, anthropomorphized versions of [[Series/Batman1966 the original]] and [[Film/TheDarkKnightTrilogy modern]] Batmobiles (who may or may not have been voiced by [[Creator/AdamWest their]] [[Creator/ChristianBale actors]]) would be seen talking to one another.