An event that’s widely anticipated by Route 66 fans is the release of Pixar Studios’ “Cars” on June 9, 2006. Because the animated film is based on Route 66, it could bring more publicity — and travelers — to the Mother Road than any event since the original publication of the Michael Wallis best-selling “Route 66: The Mother Road” in the early 1990s.

Route 66 fans have known about “Cars” for the past two years because Wallis has been providing a few tantalizing details about the film during his speeches. He says he voices the character of a 1949 Mercury police cruiser, and he also was a technical adviser for the film. “Cars” also stars Paul Newman, Owen Wilson, Bonnie Hunt, Cheech Marin, Larry the Cable Guy, Tom and Ray Magliozzi of “Car Talk” and NASCAR stars Darrell Waltrip and Richard “The King” Petty.

The fact Pixar has an outstanding track record at the box office — with hits like “The Incredibles,” “Toy Story,” “Finding Nemo” and others — only heightens the anticipation.

For a long time, I thought the only sneak preview available for “Cars” was the trailer from the Pixar Web site. But a search of bloggers found an even greater wealth of material.

One site, Upcoming Pixar, has these screenshots from the film. UPDATE: The photos links no longer work, but you can see the screenshots in the order I list them from the link above.

– A wide view of Route 66 that strongly resembles the outskirts of the Mojave Desert town of Amboy, Calif.

– A view of mountains that’s like a bizarre hybrid of the Black Mountains range near Oatman, Ariz., and Cadillac Ranch in Amarillo.

– The cast of characters, including Wallis’ Mercury at the far right.

– Paul Newman’s darkly colored character car.

– More character cars, including a VW microbus that’s reportedly based on Route 66 artist and superhippy Bob Waldmire.

– Owen Wilson’s character stockcar, which apparently has been given the dreaded boot.

Also, I found the cover of a coloring book that will be published closer to “Cars’” release date.

I indirectly uncovered this information when I found a news release about a memorial service for longtime Pixar artist Joe Ranft. He was killed in an automobile accident Aug. 16 at age 45. Leo Holzer wrote:

I could only read blog accounts and imagine how his colleagues at Pixar were dealing with the loss, especially (director) John Lasseter. The two have become good friends over the years — sharing a love of storytelling and researching their projects from the trip to a Toys R’ Us store for “Toy Story” to a memorable cross-country tour of Route 66 for the upcoming “Cars.”

“I’d never in a million years trade that trip down Route 66, the Mother Road,” Lasseter said.

Another story about Ranft:

“Joe cherished the process and trusted it,” Lasseter said. At some point with every film, we’d find ourselves with story problems “working on the worst picture ever, but Joe just sat there smiling.” Joe Ranft had a saying above his office door at Pixar … THE JOURNEY IS THE REWARD and he had this faith in the skills of the team at Pixar and what they were doing. They’d continue to hone and then plus the story until everyone was pleased with the results. The public responded and Pixar’s reputation only grew stronger with each new release.

“We joked that storyboarding was really story reboarding and on ‘Cars,’ it had become story salvage. I thought we’d break a record of horrible sequences with ‘Cars,’ ” Lasseter said. “We were lost in a maze but Joe knew if you just kept walking eventually you’ll get out of the maze.”

The studio is nearly done with “Cars” and Lasseter believes that Joe Ranft’s greatest film achievement came in his story ideas for Mater the tow truck character in upcoming Summer 2006 release. Mater is the world’s best backwards driver and is one of the standout characters in “Cars.”

“When you see the smiles in the audiences as they watch ‘Cars,’ that’s Joe Ranft,” Lasseter said.

For Route 66 fans who like their music to sound like it was recorded before rock started to roll, the Mercury Lounge in Tulsa on Halloween Night promises a treat. That’s when Wayne “The Train” Hancock will get the juke joint jumpin’ as he begins a tour through the Midwest.

For those who haven’t heard him, Hancock plays a retro mix of classic country, jump blues and Western swing, and his singing sounds quite a bit like Hank Williams.

He’s also a fan of Route 66. Last I checked, he has a Route 66 shield affixed to his guitar, he regularly performs “Route 66″ at gigs, and he calls our beloved highway “the church of the road.” I remember an interview with No Depression magazine in which he told about his van breaking down at night on Route 66 in Vega, Texas. He was fortunate enough to have a old, nice motel on one side of the road and a mechanic’s shop on the other. Hancock got a good night’s sleep, and his van was fixed by the next morning.

That experience might explain the lyrics to his best-known song, “Thunderstorms and Neon Signs.” Here is a Windows Media sample of the song. Here is a RealPlayer sample.

The night promises to be a fun for another reason. The Mercury Lounge lists it as a “Hot Rod Halloween,” and the bar has hosted other events for classic-car enthusiasts to show off their beauties. So it sounds like an evening of tailfins and hillbilly swing.