Well, maybe … if you had really high box-office expectations like Jim Hill Media and others did.

"Cars" is the first Pixar film to not do better on its opening weekend than its last one. "The Incredibles" grossed $70.5 million its opening weekend, and its predecessor, "Finding Nemo," grossed $70.3 million. "Cars" grossed an estimated $62.8 million, despite higher ticket prices and more screens.

The film-buff site Rotten Tomatoes had a good angle on why "Cars" saw relatively lower numbers:

One reason Cars did not surge higher may have been that the marketplace has suffered through a glut of computer animated films this year. Not long ago, the arrival of a digital toon was an event as it only happened once or twice a year. Nowadays with weaker entries like Doogal and The Wild hitting theaters, and more studios jumping into the game, the novelty has worn thin. Over the Hedge and Ice Age have been satisfying families over the past two months grossing a stellar $322M combined. Also not helping matters was the film's lengthy 116-minute running time which is considerably longer than the typical 90-minute length that most young kids are used to sitting through.

But it's still widely anticipated to gross at least $200 million in North America alone. The opening was still the second-biggest-ever for the month of June. And word-of-mouth probably will bring in viewers for weeks to come.

With more and more school children starting their summer vacations every day, mid-week grosses should be strong in the weeks ahead for Cars. Reviews have been good so many fans may end up catching the film in the weeks ahead. The Incredibles went on to reach a final domestic haul of $261.4M which was almost four times its opening weekend. Nemo had even stronger legs finding its way to $339.7M, or about five times its debut. Given its start out of the gate, Cars still looks set to zoom well past the $200M mark in North America.

It sounds like the studio bosses aren't too worried, according to a report from the Los Angeles Times:

"They are batting 7 for 7," said Chuck Viane, president of distribution for Disney. "This is a home run in anybody's ballpark — you don't measure the feet."

Viane said the movie posted an opening similar to last year's Disney smash "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe," which premiered at $65.6 million and went on to gross $291.7 million in the U.S. and Canada.

Then there's this opinion from a market analyst:

"Pixar is like the parent who has a straight-A student: One day the child comes home with a B-plus," said Anthony Valencia, an analyst at money management firm TCW in Los Angeles.

Viane said the movie posted an opening similar to last year's Disney smash "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe," which premiered at $65.6 million and went on to gross $291.7 million in the U.S. and Canada.

And Jim Hill Media is having a discussion about the "Cars" box-office numbers. Of course, if the film turns out to the be the runaway hit of the summer by Labor Day and grosses $500 million internationally, all this talk may be for moot. And it's still going to be a huge boon for Route 66.

A news release came out today of Jim Jenner of Paccom Films essentially hawking his Route 66 documentaries.

But Jenner certainly has one thing right — Pixar's "Cars" film "could be the biggest thing to hit the highway in many years."

"It may be a cartoon, but Pixar has done a terrific job in helping people understand that this wonderful two-lane road represents a different era, and a different pace, than today's boring interstate highways," said Jenner. "It's bound to increase visitors for the businesses that fight to stay open out there. For us it means that millions of people will realize what a compelling story the preservation of historic Route 66 really is. They are sure to seek out books and documentary films that tell the whole story."

Jenner has produced "Route 66: An American Odyssey" and "Route 66: Return to the Road," both of which I recommend and can be purchased on Paccom's Web site.

The Kansas City chapter of the Ford Galaxie Club of America made a stop in Bloomington, Ill., on Sunday on their way west down Route 66 to California. Here's the story from the Bloomington Pantagraph.

For more about the Galaxie club's tour, go to its Web site here. 

The Thunderbird Motel's neon sign, which once graced Route 66 in Miami, Okla., sold for $24,000 at the Dingman Ford estate auction in New Hampshire this past weekend, reports the Boston Globe.