The topic of this page has a wikia of its own: Turbo.
- “He's fast. They're furious.”
- ―Tagline
Turbo (also known as Ready, Set, Slow) is a 2013 American 3D computer-animated sports comedy film produced by DreamWorks Animation and the second film distributed by 20th Century Studios, directed by David Soren based on his story idea he wrote with Robert Siegel and Darren Lemke who co-wrote his screenplay. It premiered on July 17, 2013. The film was met with generally positive reviews, but grossed $282 million worldwide against it's $127 million budget. Due to the film's performance, the studio had to take a $15.6 million write-down.
Synopsis[]
Turbo is an ordinary garden snail with an impossible dream: to become the fastest snail in the world. When a freak accident gives him extraordinary speed, Turbo sets out to try to make his dream come true.
Plot[]
In Los Angeles, California, Theo, a.k.a Turbo, is a garden snail who dreams of being the greatest racer in the world, just like his hero, 5-time Indianapolis 500 champ, Guy Gagne. His obsession with speed and all things fast has made him an oddity and an outsider in the slow and cautions snail community, and a constant embarrassment to his cautious older brother, Chet. Turbo desperately wishes he could escape the slow-paced life he's living, but his one chance to live proves a near fatal disaster when he tries to recover a prize tomato and needs to be rescued by Chet.
Demoralized, Theo wanders onto a freeway to admire the traffic and wishes on the very first star (later revealed to be an airplane) to be fast. Suddenly, he gets into a freak accident when he gets sucked into the supercharger of a Chevrolet Camaro, fusing his DNA with nitrous oxide. Arriving home the next morning, a weary Theo finds himself copying the characteristics of a car, such as eyes that light up like headlights, a spontaneous car alarm, and blaring music from radio broadcasts.
Theo is targeted by the the Shellcrusher, a little boy who loves to squash snails; upon the boy attempting to kill him, Theo discovers he has attained the power of superspeed, using it to scare the Shellcrusher away, but crashing his tricycle into the garden, getting himself and Chet fired from the garden crew. As the siblings quarrel, Chet is snatched by a crow, but is pursued and rescued by Theo at a rundown strip mall called Starlight Plaza, where they are then captured by Tito, a taco truck driver, and is brought to race with other snails. Theo astounds both humans and snail alike with his speed and earns the respect of the snails, led by Whiplash, with his crew Smooth Move, Burn, Skidmark and White Shadow, who have impressive skills of their own.
Inspired by this extraordinary snail, Tito dreams to revive the strip mall with Turbo as an attraction, though at the behest of his brother Angelo, who has grown unsupportive of him due to his past failed attempts at stirring up business. Tito's attempt to advertise Turbo ends with little to no success. When Tito tries to cook up more ideas, Turbo takes the opportunity to suggest entering him in the Indy 500 as a competitor. After their idea is vehemently dismissed by their brothers, the two refuse to give up, and Tito sets up a presentation to instead pitch his idea to the other business owners of the plaza - Paz, Bobby, and Kim Ly - but they also dismiss him. With business still at a standstill, Whiplash and his crew manage to divert and strand a tour bus and drum up impressive business. Despite the extra buzz, Angelo still declines to support Tito, but the neighbors agree to put up the entrance fee and accompany them to Indiana, to Chet's chagrin. They leave the next day, just as Angelo's oven gives up on him, leaving him with no fees to replace it. Along the way, Turbo is built a new and tricked-out racing shell. Once at Indianapolis, Tito is refused entry into the race, but a chance meeting with Gagne gives Turbo a chance to show off his speed by qualifying for the race via achieving a 226-mph speed record, astonishing the audience.
A boy who recorded Turbo during his run posts the footage on YouTube, and Turbo soon becomes a sensation on social media. The CEO of IndyCar holds a press conference to respond to the buzz; he initially refuses him entry, but when Tito and Turbo are vouched for by Gagne, the crowd spurs the CEO into allowing the snail to compete. The night before the race, Turbo storms off after a heated argument with Chet, and wanders into Gagne's garage to admire his car and trophies. Gagne discovers him, and explains that countless rookies come to race for the title, but the conversation turns dark when he reveals that the young rivals that do challenge him never win, and thanks Turbo for causing the whole world to watch the race, intending to win at any cost. He sends Turbo away, threatening him to crawl home while he still can.
On the day of the race, Tito and the Starlight Plaza staff make a grand entrance, although Turbo is still nervous from his meeting with Gagne the previous night. Meanwhile, Chet is taken by a young boy to see the race from the skybox, trapped in a cup. The CEO kicks off the race, and a still-jittery Turbo ends up struggling in the early start from the more experienced drivers, leaving him in last.
The crew give Turbo a pit stop as Whiplash gives the garden snail a vital pep talk before sending him off, advising him to stop racing like a car. Back in the race, Turbo, heeding Whiplash's advice, uses his small size to maximum advantage with maneuvers around and under the competition that no human racer can emulate. With the snail rapidly gaining in the standings, Gagne, under pressure, races dirty and corners Turbo into the tire flakes, causing him to hit the wall, damaging his shell and weakening his powers. Tito, alarmed at this, ultimately decides to pull Turbo from the race, but Turbo refuses to give up, instead continuing on after Gagne in the race's final portion in spite of his malfunctioning powers. Gagne attempts to kill Turbo, but the snail bounds off the tire and flips past Gagne, taking the lead.
Turbo defends his position as Gagne chases after him on the final lap. His powers nearly depleted, Turbo manages to get past two lapped cars, leaving Gagne blocked. The driver then makes a desperate move by driving onto the tire flakes, overtaking Turbo, but losing control and causing a multi-car crash towards the finish line, with Turbo ending up in its crosshairs. In the wreckage, Turbo survives, but finds his shell with a large smoking hole, realizing his powers are gone.
Alarmed at seeing his brother actually losing hope, Chet puts himself into incredible danger to meet up with Whiplash's crew to get to the racer. Seeing his brother and friends arrive riding crows to encourage him to continue, an invigorated Turbo resumes the race. Unfortunately, Gagne emerges and pursues him by dragging his wrecked car after the snail and attempts to crush him. At the last second, Chet tells Turbo to tuck into his shell and roll at Gagne's latest blow, and the force allows him to tumble past the finish line to win.
With Turbo's solidified fame through his victory, the strip mall thrives, with all the businesses becoming spectacular successes, including holding extremely elaborate snail races, with Whiplash's crew getting special propulsion aids for their shells, while Chet is content as the track referee and paramedic. As for Turbo, he gains a new racing shell from Tito, and finds that his shell has healed. With it, he regains his powers, which kick in just as Paz sends the snails off.
Voice Cast[]
- Ryan Reynolds as Theo
- Paul Giamatti as Chet
- Michael Peña as Tito
- Bill Hader as Guy Gagné
- Samuel L. Jackson as Whiplash
- Snoop Dogg as Smoove Move
- Maya Rudolph as Burn
- Ben Schwartz as Skidmark
- Mike Bell as White Shadow
- Luis Guzmán as Angelo
- Richard Jenkins as Bobby
- Ken Jeong as Kim Ly
- Michelle Rodriguez as Paz
- Paul Dooley as Carl
- Kurtwood Smith as The CEO/Phil
- Frank Welker as the Crows
- Aaron Berger as Danny
- Chris Miller as Tour Bus Driver
- Aidan Andrews as Big Wheel Boy
- Jen Cohn as a Reporter
- Paul Page as Announcer 1
- Jason Marsden as Announcer 2
- Jeff Bennett as the Untucking Snail
Blu-Ray and DVD Release[]
Turbo was released on Blu-Ray, DVD and Digital on November 12th 2013.
Spin-Off Web Series[]
An advertisement for Turbo FAST on Netflix
A web series, titled Turbo FAST debuted exclusively on Netflix in December 2013. As the first original Netflix series for children, it is available in the United States and in the 40 countries where Netflix offers its service. Consisting of 56 11-minute episodes, the series follows Theo/Turbo and his crew on their worldwide exploits while mastering new stunts and competing with villains.
Gallery[]
Videos[]
Trivia[]
- The second DreamWorks Animation film to be released in July, after Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas.
- This is the second DreamWorks film to be voiced by Ryan Reynolds, following The Croods.
- This is the 12th computer-animated film by DreamWorks Animation to be produced at their Glendale studio, along with Shark Tale, Over the Hedge, Bee Movie, Kung Fu Panda, Monsters vs. Aliens, How to Train Your Dragon, Shrek Forever After, Kung Fu Panda 2, Puss in Boots, Rise of the Guardians, The Croods, the 13th if you count Flushed Away.
- This is also the 15th or 16th overall film produced by their Glendale studio, which also includes their four hand drawn films such as The Prince of Egypt, The Road to El Dorado, Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron, and Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas.
- The movie's tagline could be a reference to the Fast and Furious film franchise, the inspiration behind the film's main point.
External links[]
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