This image started with a screen shot of a basic grey block out of the room in our game prototype. I used photoshop to draw over it, and modelled some of the detail elements and composited them in the shot.
This started as a need to create a helicopter obstacle that McQueen would jump through in the game. I modelled out a basic framework in Maya and drew ontop of it with Photoshop.
Technology constraints of the WII dictated that we create a simplified look compared to the XBOX and PS3. In the past we'd just down-rez textures and geometry to cram it into the WII's memory. I pitched something with a deliberate design that kept the WII's limitations in mind.
(McQueen and Mater images borrowed from "Cars" and "Mater and the Ghost Light" Golden Books)
