El Capitan rides high with ‘Cars 2’ World Grand Prix attraction

“Cars 2” is a hit with the younger crowd, thrilled to see familiar animated friend Lightning McQueen engaged in action-packed motor racing and fender-deep in cool, spy-world gadgetry. The new Pixar animated sequel also features Mater the tow truck and many of the characters from the original 2006 film as they travel overseas to compete in the World Grand Prix and become entangled in James Bond-esque intrigue.

But young visitors to Hollywood’s El Capitan Theatre can take the adventure further. Just behind the celebrated movie house lies the World Grand Prix, an interactive outdoor attraction in which the “Cars 2” characters come to life.

The mini-amusement park, set up expressly for the premiere of this summer’s movie, features rides and games based on the film, such as the Tokyo Tower gravity slide, the Eiffel Tower bungee jump and Mission McMissile’s Nerf-missile-launching spy game.

“The filmmakers have created such an interesting, lovable world that seeing the movie isn’t enough, you want to experience it,” said Lylle Breier, senior vice president of worldwide special events and El Capitan Theatre. “It’s a car-ized trip around the world.”

As you enter the 52,000-square-foot attraction, built on the Hollywood High football field, it feels like you are walking into a cartoon set with Big Bentley, Carliment and the Eiffel Tower in the skyline behind a 16-foot wall of tires inside which tots can swing and climb like they’re scaling Goodyear mountain. Tire Town is located in the Radiator Springs section (the name of the town in the original movie), where kids can put on a smock, grab a brush and paint an old junkyard Mercedes. In between each show, the car is repainted white so each group can start with a clean canvas.

“It’s not just a movie, it’s an experience afterward,” said Jennifer Gassner of Arcadia. “It’s the atmosphere and the excitement for all the kids. You don’t do it all the time; it’s one of those special occasions.” Her 4-year-old son, Jake, was a little out of sorts when he had to leave before he could make his own Lego racing car. That’s where his 11-year-old brother, Jeremy, and friend, Kenneth, spent their time, creating their own Lego cars and racing them down the looping four-lane tracks.

Kids who’d rather take a turn behind the wheel of an actual vehicle can head over to the Porto Corsa racetrack, where they can challenge other racers in mini pedal-powered go-kart cars and bikes.

With just one screen, the El Capitan was the highest-grossing theater in the country on “Cars 2’s” opening weekend late last month, according to box-office results. It is likely to continue to do decent business, with busloads of campers venturing from areas such as San Diego and Bakersfield all summer long.

Brian Woodworth, a father of four, made the trek from Ventura. “It’s worth it,” he said. “It’s a great experience.” His kids’ favorite was the Pit Stop, where they learned to change a tire on a real car.

While kids are occupied, parents can sneak into the large, air-conditioned Petersen Automotive Museum tent to take a close look at concept and real-world vehicles from the museum’s collection, including the 1957 Teverbaugh & Kirkland Bonneville Special, a 1956 BMW Isetta 300 and one of the movie’s bad guys, a 1976 AMC Pacer.

It’s no surprise moviegoers and tourists from around the globe have discovered the World Grand Prix attraction, given El Capitan’s Hollywood Boulevard address. Its Spanish Colonial exterior harkens back to the heyday of 1926 Hollywood, when the theater was built by real estate developer Charles Toberman and Sid Grauman. In 1989, the Walt Disney Co. took over and restored the venue as an exclusive first-run theater for Walt Disney Pictures, reopening it in June 1991 with the world premiere of “The Rocketeer.”

If you go, don’t forget to take a keepsake picture with the life-size Lightning McQueen, Mater and superspy Finn McMissile. At the Kodak green screen photo area, families can get photos of themselves appearing in some of the film’s most memorable locales.

And if the kids still haven’t had enough of “Cars,” don’t despair; “Cars Land,” a life-size re-creation of the town of Radiator Springs, is due to open next year at Disney’s California Adventure.

liesl.bradner@latimes.com