Turbo Fast is an American flash-animated[5]web television series based on the 2013 computer-animated film Turbo. Produced by DreamWorks Animation Television and animated by Titmouse, it is being exclusively released on Netflix in United States and in the 40 countries where Netflix offers its services at the time,[6] but it became available worldwide via Netflix over time. It is the first Netflix original series for children, and the first DreamWorks Animation series produced for Netflix.[6]
The first five episodes of the first 26-episode season were released on December 24, 2013,[7] with subsequent batches of five to six episodes following around holidays throughout 2014.[7][8] Each episode consists of two 11-minutes segments, except for few double-length episodes.[9] Season 2 was released on Netflix on July 31, 2015.[10] The third and final season was released on Netflix on February 5, 2016.[11][12]
Set five months after the events of the film,[13] the series follows Turbo and his crew to Starlight City,[14] where they master new stunts and compete with villains.[6] It is being animation directed by Mike Roush,[5] casting and voice directed by Andrea Romano,[8] art directed by Antonio Canobbio,[15] produced by Ben Kalina, Shannon Barrett Prynoski and Jennifer Ray,[4] and executive produced by Chris Prynoski and Jack Thomas.[4][16] Beside Ken Jeong and Michael Patrick Bell, who reprise their roles of Kim-Ly and White Shadow from the film, the series features an all-new cast. It consists of Reid Scott as Turbo, John Eric Bentley as Whiplash, Grey DeLisle-Griffin as Burn, Phil LaMarr as Smoove Move, Amir Talai as Skidmark and Tito, and Eric Bauza as Chet and Guy Gagné.
On April 2, 2023, the series was removed from the streaming service.[17][18]
Premise
Five months after the events of Turbo (2013), Tito builds a city for all the snails along with Turbo, additionally building a race track for the snails to race. Turbo continues his racing adventures with the help of his brother Chet, and his friends Whiplash, Burn, Skidmark, White Shadow, and Smoove Move. Together they decide to call themselves the Fast Action Stunt Team, or F.A.S.T.
Characters
Main
Theo/Theodore "Turbo" (voiced by Reid Scott)[19] – The main protagonist of Turbo, a snail who has gained super speed, skills and abilities similar to a car after being swallowed by a car engine which infused his DNA with Nitrous oxide, and who has won the Indy 500 with said powers.
Whitney "Whiplash" Chubbington (voiced by John Eric Bentley)[20] – The tough-as-nails leader of the F.A.S.T. crew, whose shell is equipped with a jet engine. Despite his gruff attitude, he has a fondness for lavender lotion.
Skip "Skidmark" Markovich (voiced by Amir Talai)[20] – The F.A.S.T. crew's main mechanic, whose shell is equipped with a propeller. He is fond of conspiracy theories, which seems to annoy the other team members, despite most of them proving to be true. Despite his idiosyncrasies, he is a devoted team member. He is best friends with White Shadow.
Chester "Chet" (voiced by Eric Bauza)[21] – Turbo's paranoid older brother, who is the main safety patrolman of Turbotown and the manager of the F.A.S.T. crew. He is also Burn's boyfriend. His shell is equipped with an ambulance/helicopter, nicknamed the ‘Shellcopter’.
Smoove Move (voiced by Phil LaMarr)[20] – The "grooviest" snail of the F.A.S.T. crew, whose shell is equipped with bass speakers. He has a taste for funk and rap music, which help him to "groove" through the track. He is also a DJ and has a knack for painting.
Bernice "Burn" Guzman (voiced by Grey DeLisle) – The only female member of the F.A.S.T. crew. She is a hot-head with a sassy attitude. She is also known for her co-leadership and passion for racing, gum, and Chet who is her boyfriend. Her shell is equipped with a flamethrower.
Whitman "White Shadow" Shafford (voiced by Michael Patrick Bell)[13] – The largest snail in the F.A.S.T. crew, who has a habit of acting stealthy, though his large size is a disadvantage. He is best friends with Skidmark, and often proves to be just as quirky as him. He is somewhat dim-witted and a big eater. His shell is equipped with tires.
Recurring
Tito (voiced by Amir Talai) – A snail race trainer and the employee of Dos Bros Tacos.
Kim-Ly (voiced by Ken Jeong) – An elderly manicurist at Starlight Plaza.
Guy Gagné (voiced by Eric Bauza) - A disgraced former racer and Turbo's arch-nemesis.
Hardcase (voiced by Diedrich Bader) – A tiger beetle who envies Turbo's fame and wishes to outrace him, even resorting to cheating. He does not tolerate losing, and even threatens to ravage Turbotown until he wins a race.
Darryl (voiced by Ron Perlman) – Turbo and Chet's father.
Princess Thora (voiced by Rachael MacFarlane) – A praying mantis princess. She is one of Turbo's love interests and his ex-fiancee. Although they're no longer a couple, they still remained friends.
F.A.J.I.T.A. – Enemies of the F.A.S.T. crew. It consists of Fusion (voiced by Will Friedle), Lightning (voiced by John Eric Bentley), Groove Rider (voiced by Phil LaMarr), Snap (voiced by Grey DeLisle), Peel-Out (voiced by Eric Bauza), and Mondo Tires (voiced by Michael Patrick Bell). While most of shells for F.A.J.I.T.A. are based on the Shells of the F.A.S.T. crew, Fusion's shell is powered by a Fusion Engine, unlike Turbo's, whose power is all natural.
Dean Cuisine (voiced by Amir Talai) - A villainous celebrity chef and the owner of F.A.J.I.T.A. crew.
Shellworth (voiced by Maurice LaMarche) - A rich snail, LaMarche also voiced his owner.
Aiden Hardshell (voiced by JB Blanc) - A snail actor from Hollywood whose appearances are similar to White Shadow.
Edvard (voiced by Alexander Polinsky) – Tickula's son who broods a lot and says "whatever" every time.
Rudy Guana (voiced by Maurice LaMarche) – An iguana who wants to beat Turbo in order to impress his mother who always thought of him as disappointment.
The Stinger (voiced by Kevin Conroy) – A self-proclaimed superhero wasp.
Clip and Clap (both voiced by Brendon Small) - A pair of hermit crab twins who likes to steal.
Ace Gecko (voiced by Jeff Bennett) – A con artist who regularly makes false deals with the citizens of Turbotown, especially Chet. Although he dons the alias "Gecko", he is actually a newt.
Hayaku (voiced by Lauren Tom) – A Japanesecricket who pretends to be in love with Turbo in order to beat him in a race in Tokyo. Although she still claims him to be her enemy, Turbo still believes she has feelings for him. Her name means "Quickly" in Japanese.
Queen Invicta (voiced by Laraine Newman) – A fire ant queen.
Captain Dirtbeard (voiced by John DiMaggio) – A rat who is a pirate captain who regularly tries to get revenge on Turbo and the F.A.S.T crew and once ruined everyone's food supply to sell packets in a smuggling operation.
Slushbeard (voiced by John DiMaggio) – Dirtbeard's brother.
Wild Pete (voiced by Norman Reedus) – An outlaw cricket.
"TurboBlows47" (voiced by Chris Hardwick) – An ill-mannered dung beetle who is also an internet troll and use his social media to discredit Turbo.
The series premiered on December 24, 2013, when the first five episodes of the first season were released.[16] Following batches of five episodes were released on April 4, 2014,[22] June 27, 2014,[23] September 12, 2014,[24] and December 1, 2014.[25]
Five-episode release is a departure from previous Netflix release strategy, where an entire season of a series was released at once. Netflix explained the change of the strategy: "Production on animation is on a different timetable, so we chose to make the episodes that are ready now available for viewers as they were ready."[26] However, they went back to the original formula of a full-season release for the remaining two seasons.
Skidmark and White Shadow weasel their way out of another trip to stay home and watch a show, but the hermit crabs, Clip and Clap, interfere with this by seeking out treasure in the crew's house.
Turbo's aim to increase his fame has him turn to the ever crafty Ace Gecko, who offers to be his sports manager, and Chet comes aboard to, but is suspicious of the lizard.
Smoove Move falls for a slug called Tiffany (voiced by Kate Micucci), and disguises himself to be a slug due to a rivalry between snails and slugs and when his secret is revealed, he challenges the delinquent slugs to a skiing competition for the slug of his dreams.
Turbo, Burn, and Whiplash must look after an infant while Tito searches for the mother, and things don't work out due to the infant's gross tendencies targeted at Turbo, Burn's rather inept ability to nurture the infant, and Whiplash's reluctance to partake in nurturing it.
Turbo and his crew are mistaken for Russian snails and are sent to space where they meet a half calm/half crazed space monkey, who warns them of facing space insanity due to being in space for a long time. Skidmark, meanwhile, having been the sole snail to avoid the mix up, meets the real astronaut snails and mistakes them for aliens.
When the crew are shot out of the space shuttle, they are eventually separated into 3 groups (Turbo, Burn, and Whiplash/Chet and Smoove Move/ and White Shadow flying solo) and each has their own adventure. Skidmark, meanwhile, still thinks that the real astronauts are aliens when they try to ask him for assistance.
Turbo, Burn, and Skidmark find a deceased crow and use it to prank Chet in retaliation for his past pranks, but Chet falls into a catatonic state and they obtain a sickness called Crows Pox and the cure is in the nest upon the tallest tree in Griffith Park.
Skidmark puts an injured maggot in a giant robot so it can be in motion, but this backfires when the robot becomes evil and enslaves the snails. So the crew escapes and Skid tries to fix his blunder.
Turbo rescues a Princess Mantis from spiders and he finds himself engaged to her, much to Chet and Whiplash's concern since female Mantises eat the head of their males.
White Shadow obtains luxurious golden hair and is mistaken for a Liam Neeson-esque snail actor who resembles him and when Clip and Clap discover this, they kidnap him, mistaking him for the true actor, and hold him ransom.
Turbo and the crew compete against several other animals (most notably a cheating pair of Grasshoppers) to have the right to play of a foosball table. Meanwhile, Skidmark has another paranoid break down when he notices a missing foosball figure and searches for a replacement.
Mel Shellman is fired for prematurely insulting his boss on the intercom and eventually bunks with Turbo and the crew, but he pesters them with his habitual announcing.
Chet descends into paranoia and jealousy when Burn's former boyfriend, Torquer, shows up, especially when he thinks he'll ask Burn to be his online official beau.
Whiplash becomes a laughingstock when he stars in a Bulgarian lavender lotion commercial that promotes sensitivity and tries to redeem himself by wrestling a large crab.
When S.E.C.R.E.T. (from "My Pet Clamsquatch") kidnaps the F.A.S.T. crew, Skidmark recruits a rather inept team of conspiracy-obsessed animals to help save them.
The FAST crew’s vacation is threatened by hard-partying toilet frogs.
40b
2
"The League"
Nate Clesowich
Madison Bateman
February 5, 2016 (2016-02-05)
The Crew quits racing when they become obsessed with a fantasy racing league.
41a
3
"How to Train Your Titmouse"
Anthony Chun
Sam Cherington
February 5, 2016 (2016-02-05)
Turbo takes Beakless under his wing during a battle of snails vs. birds.
41b
4
"The Good, The Bad, The Bugly"
Michael Moloney
Devin Dunje & Nick Stanton
February 5, 2016 (2016-02-05)
Chet is Sheriff of a western Turbotown and fights a gang of outlaw crickets.
42a
5
"Shell on Wheels"
Anthony Chun
Madison Bateman
February 5, 2016 (2016-02-05)
Skidmark competes with rich snail Shellsworth to build a railroad.
42b
6
"Keep on Truckin"
Michael Moloney
Sam Cherington
February 5, 2016 (2016-02-05)
Turbo and Chet roadtrip with their trucker dad and protect their cargo from bandits.
43a
7
"Desserted Island"
Anthony Chun
Devin Dunje & Nick Stanton
February 5, 2016 (2016-02-05)
The crew gets stranded on a candy-filled mystery island.
43b
8
"The Dry Spell"
Michael Moloney
Madison Bateman
February 5, 2016 (2016-02-05)
Burn isn't herself after a losing streak so the crew goes to extreme lengths to help her win.
44a
9
"He Got Game Night"
Phil Allora
Sam Cherington
February 5, 2016 (2016-02-05)
Turbo wants to attend a couple's only game night and is forced to attend with Hayaku and Thora.
44b
10
"73*"
Nate Clesowich
Devin Dunje & Nick Stanton
February 5, 2016 (2016-02-05)
Whiplash is determined to uncover the truth behind White Shadow's lucky winning streaks.
45a
11
"Crew Detective"
Phil Allora
Madison Bateman
February 5, 2016 (2016-02-05)
Whiplash interrogates the crew to find out who broke his stuff.
45b
12
"The Whiplash Effect"
Nate Clesowich
Sam Cherington
February 5, 2016 (2016-02-05)
The crew tricks Whiplash into having a fun, new personality after he loses his memory.
46a
13
"Dial M for Mystery"
Phil Allora
Devin Dunje & Nick Stanton
February 5, 2016 (2016-02-05)
Somebody knocks Whiplash unconscious for real at a fake mystery dinner.
46b
14
"Turbo REAL"
Nate Clesowich
Madison Bateman
February 5, 2016 (2016-02-05)
The crew competes for attention on a reality show, leading to complete chaos.
47a
15
"Best Frenemies"
Anthony Chun
Sam Cherington
February 5, 2016 (2016-02-05)
Skidmark gets jealous when White Shadow and Turbo become best friends.
47b
16
"The Jamaican Jerk Chickens"
Mike Moloney
Devin Dunje & Nick Stanton
February 5, 2016 (2016-02-05)
The crew must race as a bobsled team against the favored Jamaican Chickens.
48a
17
"The Ants and the Grasshoppers"
Anthony Chun
Devin Dunje & Nick Stanton
February 5, 2016 (2016-02-05)
The crew teams up with grasshoppers in a fight against devious picnic ants.
48b
18
"Don't Feed the Troll"
Mike Moloney
Travis Braun
February 5, 2016 (2016-02-05)
Turbo goes to great lengths to make somebody on the internet like him.
49a
19
"Worst in Show"
Phil Allora
Madison Bateman
February 5, 2016 (2016-02-05)
Whiplash finds a perfect poodle moth to enter to compete in the show.
49b
20
"Belle of the Gumball"
Nate Clesowich
Sam Cherington
February 5, 2016 (2016-02-05)
Chet attends a gala with a rich snail after he’s named "Handsomest Snail Alive".
50a
21
"Hawaii Five No"
Phil Allora
Madison Bateman
February 5, 2016 (2016-02-05)
The crew competes for Burn’s affection after she wins a vacation.
50b
22
"The Story of J.J.E.F.F."
Nate Clesowich
Sam Cherington
February 5, 2016 (2016-02-05)
Turbo and Deuce try to beat Hardcase and make the junior racing league fun again.
51a
23
"Turbo Does Laundry" Part 1
Anthony Chun
Story by: Madison Bateman, Sam Cherington, Devin Dunje & Nick Stanton
February 5, 2016 (2016-02-05)
An exciting two-part episode of connected mini-stories following the crew that ends with Silent But Deadly and Thora deactivating a stink bomb.
51b
24
"Turbo Does Laundry" Part 2
Mike Moloney
Todd Garfield
February 5, 2016 (2016-02-05)
The sequel of the previous segment.
52a
25
"137 Hours"
Anthony Chun
Devin Dunje & Nick Stanton
February 5, 2016 (2016-02-05)
Smoove ditches the crew and gets trapped in a clubhouse.
52b
26
"Stalks on a Plane"
Mike Moloney
Jim Martin
February 5, 2016 (2016-02-05)
The crew goes to ridiculous lengths to beat each other in a radio station contest.
Production
Turbo Fast is the first project coming out of the five-year deal between DreamWorks Animation and Netflix, which includes 300 hours of original programming or over a thousand episodes a year.[8][14] For this task, DreamWorks Animation opened a new television production unit, called DreamWorks Animation Television.[14]
Initially, the project started as a standalone special based on the Turbo film. Being impressed with racing visuals which Titmouse, Inc. created for the Disney XD series Motorcity, DreamWorks Animation contracted the studio to make the special flash-animated, rather than computer-animated.[8] Soon after the Titmouse's founder Chris Prynoski signed on as the director, DreamWorks decided to turn the special into a series.[8] Prynoski directed the first few episodes, and then took over as the series executive producer.[8]
Production on the project began in the summer of 2012, a year before the film's release, when it was still undecided if the project would be a special or a series.[15] With the film still having numerous storyboard panels instead of finished animation, Titmouse had to develop their own style: "We were inspired by the movie, but we weren't held to match the movie," said Prynoski.[8] Titmouse's director Antoni Canobbio developed a look that felt new and cool, to suit the project's racing theme.[15]
Beside Flash, which is the main program for animating the series, many additional tools have been used, including Maya, Photoshop and After Effects.[14] To overcome the difficulty of animating intricately detailed snail racing shells, the studio generated 3D models of the shells in Maya, so they could rotate them to any position they wanted.[14] Each time it was put in a new position, it had to be cleaned up by hand to make it look like a 2D drawing. Prepared shell was then put into a library, waiting for next animator to use it when needed.[14]
In addition to Titmouse's studios in Los Angeles and Vancouver,[15] a "sizable piece" of the production is taking place at a couple of studios in South Korea,[42] in order to stay on schedule.[14] This marks the first time for DreamWorks Animation to outsource to the country.[42] On average, it takes a crew of about 80 people about six to eight months to take each episode from premise to delivery.[15]
Unlike previous DreamWorks Animation series, the Netflix deal allowed DreamWorks to maintain creative control. Prynoski said: "Typically, if you are working on a show like this, you might get two sets of notes: one from DreamWorks and one from the network. But we don't get notes from Netflix, which is cool. It allows us to move faster, and we can make the shows, hopefully, the way we want them."[8]
Beside Ken Jeong and Michael Patrick Bell, who reprise their roles of Kim Ly and White Shadow, the cast features all new members. One of the reasons for this was the desire to have the actors working together. "The thing is that these actors are really busy, and we want to get talent in the same room at the same time to get that chemistry. And that's a lot easier to do with professional voice actors," said DreamWorks Animation head of television Margie Cohn.[43] The cast was selected by the Titmouse's casting and voice director Andrea Romano, who chose people Titmouse already knew and had worked with.[8]
Reid Scott, who replaced Ryan Reynolds as the voice of Turbo, knew Prynoski from 2000 or 2001, when they worked together on a Flash Frame pilot for AMC.[44] After that, they lost contact, but they met again ten years later, when Scott successfully auditioned for Disney XD's Motorcity, which Prynoski created and directed.[44] They enjoyed working together, and when Motorcity got canceled, Prynoski offered him the role in recently contracted Turbo series.[44] Scott's initial approach to the role tried to capture Reynold's "inflection, his intonation and the character's attitude.[44] And then slowly it took on a life of its own. The Turbo we have now is inspired by that, but he's very much his own guy."[44] According to Scott, the same happened to all other characters, which "slowly morphed into different versions."[44]
^"Weekly TV Music Roundup (December 29, 2013)". Film Music Reporter. December 29, 2013. Retrieved January 19, 2014. Henry Jackman (X-Men: First Class, Wreck-It-Ralph) and Halli Cauthery (The East) have written the show's original score.
