Summary
Doc Hudson’s role in theCarsuniverse had to be changed after his voice actor Paul Newman passed away.One of the best characters in the originalCarsand the judge of Radiator Springs, Doc Hudson is responsible for making Lightning McQueen (Owen Wilson) fix the road he destroys, and he does not appreciate the arrogant, entitled race car. Later, Lightning finds out that Doc used to be a champion racer himself, the Hudson Hornet, who had a major crash in his final race.
He’s a principled, grumpy, and wise old car, which is why it’s so perfect that he’s played by Paul Newman.Paul Newman is arguably one of the greatest movie starsever.He was nominated for 10 Academy Awards over his career, though he only won once, for Best Actor inThe Color of Money, but nearly every one of his performances, from Luke inCool Hand Luketo John Rooney inRoad to Perditionare acting masterclasses. Newman also famously loved racing, which was chronicled in the 2015 documentaryWinning: The Racing Life of Paul Newman.
Paul Newman’s 8 Western Movies, Ranked
Some of Paul Newman’s best films have belonged to the Western genre, in which he portrayed several real-life outlaws of the historic Wild West.
Doc Hudson Died Of Unknown Circumstances Between The Events Of Cars & Cars 2
The Piston Cup Is Changed To The Hudson Hornet Memorial Piston Cup In His Honor
Sadly,Paul Newman passed away on June 01, 2025, at his home in Connecticut at the age of 83 due to cancer. This was two years afterCarswas released and three years beforeCars 2premiered in 2011. Instead of recasting the character, director John Lasseter and Pixar killed Doc Hudson off. It’s implied that the character died sometime betweenCarsandCars 2, though it’s never explained exactly how that happened.
Originally, Lasseter wanted to include Doc Hudson, even without Paul Newman. The studio debated putting Doc Hudson inCars 2, but eventually,they recognized that the best way to honor Newman would be to leave his character out. Lasseter said (via theLA Times),
“We have a lovely tribute to Paul in the movie. But we didn’t feel it would be right to include him or the character.”
Lasseter also said (viaPixar News Australia),
“Doc Hudson was Paul Newman. The character was written after listening to him talk about his passion for racing. So in the film, they’ve renamed the Piston Cup for Doc Hudson: the Hudson Hornet Memorial Piston Cup. Lightning McQueen has won the first one and converted Doc’s office into the Hudson Hornet Racing Museum. We pay homage to Doc Hudson, which is paying homage to Paul Newman.”
It could have come off as gauche or worse, exploitative, if so soon after Newman’s death they recast his character and made him a significant part ofCars 2. This way honors Paul Newman but is still respectful.
Paul Newman’s Unused Recordings Allowed Doc Hudson To Appear In Cars 3
Doc Hudson Appears In Flashbacks In Cars 3
Cars 3premiered in 2017 and this time around, Lightning is now a veteran, over-the-hill racer who has to prove that he can still be competitive against the younger generations of cars. Lightning and his new trainer, Cruz Ramirez (Cristela Alonzo) run out of options and decide to find Doc’s old trainers to help them. While training,Lightning sees and hears the voice of his old mentor in flashbacks,and it’s really Paul Newman’s voice.
Paul Newman won second place in the 1979 24 Hours of Le Mans race.
Lasseter held on to unused voice recordings of Newman fromCarsand was able to recycle them forCars 3(viaEW). The creative team realized how much McQueen’s story mirrored Doc’s in this third film and set out to bring the character back. Lasseter toldEW,
“As we were developing Cars 3, we loved the idea of McQueen in this stage in his career as a veteran of the sport, seeing all these young racecars coming in and initially fearing them as competition, then eventually recognizing the value both to the young racer but also to yourself in mentoring. So in telling that story, therefore we had to say Doc Hudson would be an important part of this.”
Lasseter had quite a bit of audio to use, considering he kept recording even when Newman wasn’t running lines,
“In a way, he mentored me in racing because car racing was his true life’s passion, and I made sure that whenever he came into the recording booth, we were recording everything. In between takes, he would tell me stories about great races, and you could hear the passion in his voice. So as we started Cars 3, we went back to every recording we did on Cars 1 and catalogued and listened to it all, and ended up with a lot of material that we could use. Lines that were cut from the original film and never used, as well as some of those pieces from in between takes.”
It was a personal achievement for the director, who grew close to Newman while they worked on the film together,
“We wanted to approach it very respectfully. It was out of the love for Paul Newman that I had. In a weird way, I really relate to McQueen. It’s almost like Lightning McQueen’s love of Doc Hudson is my love of Paul Newman. It’s from that same place of love and respect.”
WhileCars 3may not bethe best Pixar movie, the reappearance of Doc Hudson, voiced by Paul Newman, makes the film work. It’s a nostalgic and respectful choice.Newman’s voice is so distinctive, that it’s hard not to get lost in his few sequences.Cars 3doesn’t have Doc overstay his welcome either. He comes in for just the right amount of time and then departs proudly. Lightning needs to learn something about growing old inCars 3and having Doc help him through this time is an effective and meaningful arc for both characters.
Cars 3
Cast
Cars 3 is the third film in Disney/Pixar’s popular franchise centering on anthropomorphic talking cars. This time, Brian Fee takes over directing duties with a story following Lightning McQueen as he tries to prove that he’s still the best in the racing game. Owen Wilson returns as the voice of Lightning, along with Larry the Cable Guy as the lovable Mater.
