There are no human characters in "Cars," but few movies this year will have more humanity.

As in the "Toy Story" movies and "Finding Nemo," "Cars" demonstrates Pixar Animation Studios' ability to invest rag dolls and tow trucks with deeply human traits. "Cars"' cast of characters has a selfish race car named Lightning (voiced by Owen Wilson); Doc, an older speedster who's melancholy about life passing him by (Paul Newman); Sally, a Porsche who chose life in the slow lane (Bonnie Hunt); Mater, a good ol' car who's dying for some excitement (Larry the Cable Guy), and a dozen others. All of them have shifted into neutral to cool their wheels in Radiator Springs, a Route 66 small town that's been getting smaller ever since a bypass steered motorists away from it.

"Cars" is rated G, and there's nothing racier than some mild auto erotica between Lightning and two fans, but it strikes me as the most adult-oriented of all the Pixar films. Its themes — respect for the past, the simple pleasures that can be appreciated if you slow down once in a while, the importance of thinking about others and of keeping your word — are the kinds of things that tend to make kids scramble for their PSPs when Grandma and Grandpa start talking about them.

The wizards at Pixar, though, know how to suck adults and children in with well-defined characters and complex storytelling. Other Pixar movies have been funnier than "Cars," but director John Lasseter and his collaborators really make us long for the dusty charms of Radiator Springs, a town Norman Rockwell might have imagined if he'd had a hard drive at his disposal. After a speedy beginning designed to indoctrinate the next generation of NASCAR fans, "Cars" downshifts for the remainder of its nearly two hours, lulling us into the sleepy, folksy pace of a place where everyone likes everyone else.

I bet you'll like them, too, especially if you're a fan of the "Toy Story 2" sequence where cowgirl Jesse sings about being cast aside — a scene that has a similar tone to "Cars." With its wry wit and visual marvels that turn even a fly settling on a fluorescent bulb or a fan whirring in a courtoom into things of beauty, "Cars" is a lovely place to idle for a couple of hours.