Dawn Welch, the Little Blue Porsche

Route 66 Restaurateur Inspires Pixar’s “Cars” Character Author: David Hanigar
Issue: 2006 August

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Welch, like her cartoon twin, felt saddened by the lack of neon. She assured Lasseter that the building would be “newly refurbished” in a few months. Welch now laughs aloud at the memory and tells how she, unwilling to let her guests go away disappointed, lined up the Pixar executives next to her worn sign while flipping the switch from on to off, hoping they might get a photo during the fraction of a second before the inevitable short in the sign occurred.

While the neon hysteria and the “newly refurbished” dialogue made it all the way to production, Welch said numerous other subtleties can be found throughout the film. Lasseter, besides ordering one of every item on the menu for he and his crew (even though the cooks had gone home for the evening), spent four hours visiting with Welch and absorbing the slew of stories she loved to tell.

Additionally, he and the crew read every page of 13 books kept on the shelf of the cafe in which travelers are encouraged to write a few words about their journeys and sign their names, Welch said. They looked at every picture, including one of her sporting a fake tattoo similar to the pinstripes on Sally. They asked numerous questions and some were answered with the friendly sassiness that helped shape Sally’s character, Welch said.

“They asked me, ‘Why do they call it the Rock Cafe?’ and I said, ‘Um, have you seen the building?’” Welch said with a laugh, gesturing toward the four rock walls of the structure. In the movie, Welch said that answer formed the basis for Sally’s response to Lightning when he comments on the significance of the cone-shaped motel.

The months and years following that night, Welch said Lasseter and numerous Pixar employees routinely showed back up at the Rock Cafe. Between cooking and washing dishes to keep the restaurant profitable, however, the significance of those visits failed to sink in, she said. Then, in January 2006, when national magazines and newspapers started asking to speak to her because John Lasseter had given them her number, Welch said she began to understand the influence she’d had on the film.

In May 2006, she found herself at the world premiere of the movie in North Carolina, being towed around by Lasseter and introduced to executives and actors as the real Sally of Radiator Springs.

“Owen Wilson was something else. I had to Sally him a little bit,” Welch said with a grin and a roll of her eyes. “John introduced me as the real Sally and he answered, ‘I didn’t know there was a real Sally, but I can see why you made her a Porsche.’”

Welch said her life hasn’t been the same since that day. She’s shared conversation with Lasseter, who Welch describes as a big 9-year old boy while the rest of the world describes him as the most renowned animator since Disney himself. She’s chatted with celebrities. She’ll be seen in the special features on the DVD release of the movie. She’s interviewed with Time Magazine and the New York Times. And she spends her days meeting and greeting people and children who have traveled from great distances to meet the real Sally.

Welch said she wouldn’t trade those experiences, even though she jokes that the publicity only means she has to cook more burgers and wash more dishes. But best of all, as someone who sees the Rock Cafe as her cruise ship and Route 66 as her ocean, she said it has provided her with more of the substance that’s kept her anchored in Stroud since the beginning — more great people and more great stories.

Dawn Welch, the Little Blue Porsche

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