Pixar weaves its animated magic by finding little corners of the known world - a child's room or a coral reef - and in "Alice in Wonderland" fashion turning them on their heads. The toys walk, the fish talk and, with a bickering assault on common sense normally reserved for humans, propel us down a rabbit-hole of comic misadventure.

In "Cars", Pixar takes its formula into that modern cathedral of the automobile: The NASCAR track and its anthropomorphic tendencies to another level. "Cars" is just that, a world of cars, no people, no cows just a parallel universe powered by internal combustion.

Our hero is Lightning McQueen (voiced by Owen Wilson), a brash young racecar on the NASCAR circuit, who blows a tire-and a sure win-in the big race by refusing to listen to his crew's advice. The race ends in a three-way tie. Lightning heads off to California for a re-match that could put him on the team of NASCAR's biggest sponsor and guarantee him fame and fortune.

Along the way - like countless comedy heroes before him-Lightning wanders off the main road and gets into a scrape with the law in a small town. His journey and his ambitions are put on hold while he does a little community service.

The kind of lovable quirky characters for which Pixar is famous populate the town of Radiator Springs. Pixar seems to have taken over the mantle of charming animated heroes from Disney. It has also, in this case, performed the additional service of giving Larry the Cable Guy what might be his only note-worthy movie role as Mater the chuckle-headed tow truck.

The plot of "Cars" isn't its strong point. For the most part it represents a recycling of timeworn movie conventions. Lightning is in love with himself and his ambitions and only when they are frustrated by his forced association with the down to earth denizens of Radiator Springs does he stop to take a good look at himself and what really matters. Will he find true friendship and true love? Do you really wonder for even a minute?

"Cars" like most animated children's fare sags under the heavy burden of teaching valuable life lessons. And up to a certain point I can't argue. The squirming urchins who sat near me could use a little civilizing influence. But the life lessons my fellow cinephiles were in need of had more to do with how to eat a Junior Mint without half of it ending up on their pants leg or other patrons (in this case me) than the value of friendship. They seemed to have that part down pat.

"Cars" comes alive when it relaxes about its proselytizing responsibilities and has a little fun. When Lightning and Mater sneak off at night to go "tractor tipping" my chocolate smudged comrades roared with laughter and so did I. The scene was inventive, funny, and the finer shadings of friendship were on full display.

As with every Pixar movie, "Cars" is visually stunning. The background illustration and the character design are so breath taking they can pull you attention right off the plot (which in the movies slower moments isn't a bad thing).

"Cars", when it tries to be, is a funny movie with a scattershot wit aimed at the whole family. Whether Mater's misinterpretation of the name "Piston Cup" is the height of movie humor I will defer to the young chocolatiers, and they gave it a whoop.

"Cars" isn't quite on the level of "Toy Story" or "Finding Nemo" but they were always going to be a hard act to follow. What "Cars" does showcase is the immense creative firepower that Pixar has at its disposal and the delightful entertainment it can turn out when it stops worrying about what it should say and trusts its instincts.

Bruce Bulloch may be reached via wseditor@robinsonnews.com