- Awesome Music:
- The music from the Planes "Take Flight" teaser
. - El Chupacabra's "Love Machine" song.
- Mark Holman's "Nothing Can Stop Me Now" that plays in the film's opening and end credits. A kickass rock song that even detractors to the film admit is awesome.
- "You Don't Stop - NYC" is a nice groovy jazz/hip hop song.
- Franz originally had a cute ear wormy polka song, "Ein Crop Duster Can Race". Looks like it was cut for time, which is a pity.
- The music from the Planes "Take Flight" teaser
- Cliché Storm: The film is just the typical "underdog overcomes the odds and wins in the end" story mixed with the dreamer template, except the characters are vehicles.
- Critic-Proof: Critics hated the film, regarding it as a bland retread of Cars created only to sell more toys. This didn't stop the film from making back its budget.
- Hilarious in Hindsight:
- Dusty flying through the tunnel; in 2021, flight through a tunnel was successfully performed for the first time.
- Dusty being painted in military colours becomes hilarious after another Air Tractor model, the AT-802, was selected by SOCOM as their new ground attack aircraft.
- Dusty flying through the tunnel; in 2021, flight through a tunnel was successfully performed
- Mis-blamed: Much of the Hatedom for this movie is aimed at Pixar despite the movie being written and designed by Disneytoon Studios and animated by Prana Studios in India (due to outsourcing).
- Moral Event Horizon: Ripslinger sending Ned and Zed to sabotage Dusty during the China-Mexico stretch. Not only would Dusty have been lost at sea and eventually lose fuel, but he would outright die if it weren’t for the Jolly Wrenches saving him.
- One-Scene Wonder:
- John Ratzenberger's character, a ditzy and Motor Mouth jet-tug. Probably one of few memorable things from the movie.
- Skipper's tragic backstory has been seen as one of the saddest scenes in both the Cars and Planes series, even to its detractors.
- Suspiciously Similar Song: Since Dusty's daydream at the beginning of the film plays like a scene from Top Gun, it's no surprise that the soundtrack strongly resembles Kenny Loggins' "Danger Zone".
