Turbo (2013)

Turbo is a 2013 American 3D computer-animated sports comedy film produced by DreamWorks Animation and distributed by 20th Century Fox. The film was directed by David Soren (in his feature directorial debut) from a screenplay he co-wrote with Darren Lemke and Robert Siegel. It stars the voices of Ryan Reynolds, Paul Giamatti, Michael Peña, Snoop Dogg, Maya Rudolph, Bill Hader, Luis Guzmán, Ben Schwartz, Richard Jenkins, Ken Jeong, Michelle Rodriguez, and Samuel L. Jackson. Set in Los Angeles, the film follows an ordinary garden snail Theo/Turbo (Reynolds) who pursues his dream of winning the Indy 500 after a freak accident gives him superspeed.

Soren came up with the idea for the film. He conceptualized Fast & Furious (2001) with snails, and won the competition. DreamWorks Animation bought the idea, and let it "simmer" for more than five years. After Soren and his family moved into a new home with a backyard infested with snails, he pushed for the idea and "got it back on the fast track." For the racing side of the film, Soren was inspired by his six-year-old son's fascination with race cars.

Turbo was theatrically released in the United States on July 17, 2013. It was met with moderate positive reviews, with praise for the animation, humor, and voice acting, but criticized for its lack of originality. This was the first film to not use the News Corporation byline since 20th Century Fox was bought by 21st Century Fox in 2013. Despite earning $282.5 million on a $127 million budget, the film underperformed at the box office, prompting the studio to take a $15.6 million write-down on behalf of the film. A television series based on the film, titled Turbo Fast, with only Ken Jeong and Mike Bell reprising their roles, was put into production a year before the film's release, and it first aired on Netflix on December 24, 2013.

The film was dedicated to animator Nicholas Sanger Hoppe, who died from complications relating to his brain cancerpositive diagnosis before the film was released.

Storyline

In a suburban San Fernando Valley tomato garden of Van Nuys in Los Angeles, Theo, self-named "Turbo", is a garden snail who dreams of being a racer, just like his hero, five-time Indy 500 champion Guy Gagné. However, his obsession with racing makes him an outcast in the slow and cautious snail community, and a constant embarrassment to his older brother, Chet.

After nearly getting killed by a lawnmower in an attempt to retrieve a fallen tomato, Theo wanders onto a freeway to admire the traffic and wishes upon a star, which is actually an airplane, that he could be fast. Suddenly, he is sucked into the supercharger of a Chevrolet Camaro, fusing his molecules with nitrous oxide. When he wakes up, he possesses superspeed and other characteristics of a real car. However, his first attempt to try out his new powers ends with him crashing a boy's tricycle into the garden in which many other snails worked at, resulting in him and Chet getting fired from the garden crew.

Chet angrily scolds Theo for his recklessness, and is snatched by a crow, but is pursued and rescued by Theo at a rundown strip mall called "Starlight Plaza". There, they are captured by Tito Lopez, a taco truckdriver who works at the Plaza, and are brought to a snail race held by him and his co-workers. Theo wins the race in a matter of seconds, astounding both the humans and snails alike, earning the respect of the snails, led by Whiplash, and firmly establishing the name "Turbo" as his own. Chet, on the other hand, is not happy with his brother's new ability and wants him to return to normal. Tito dreams of reviving Starlight Plaza, with Turbo as a main attraction, much to his brother and coworker Angelo's annoyance. The snails manage to divert and strand a tour bus to see Turbo's superspeed, bringing impressive business. With this success, Turbo convinces Tito to enter him in the Indy 500 as a competitor, and his coworkers agree to put up the entrance fee and accompany them to Indianapolis.

Tito is initially refused entry into the race, but a chance meeting with Gagné allows Turbo to show off his speed, qualifying for the race via achieving a speed of 226 mph, becoming a sensation on social mediaand forcing the CEO of IndyCar to reluctantly let Turbo compete. The night before the race, after a heated argument with Chet, who is still unwilling to respect his brother's wishes, Turbo sneaks out to meet Gagné, who reveals his true colors by demoralizing him and warning him to back out of the race. In the race the next day, the racetrack and the more experienced competitors leave Turbo in last place. At a pitstop, Whiplash and his crew give Turbo a pep talk, advising him to stop racing like a car. Turbo uses his small size to his advantage and rapidly gains ground, but Gagné resorts to cheating and knocks him against the wall, damaging his shell and weakening his superspeed.

With one lap to go and Turbo in the lead, Gagné drives over debris on the last turn and overtakes Turbo, inadvertently causing a crash involving most of the competitors, including Turbo, who wakes to find his shell punctured and his superspeed gone, causing him to give up and hide in his shell. Surprised at seeing his brother losing hope, Chet, with a change of heart, meets with Whiplash's crew and they encourage Turbo to continue. Turbo, inspired by his older brother's newfound support, resumes the race. Gagné desperately pursues him by dragging his wrecked car, but Turbo narrowly wins and Gagné loses his status.

Starlight Plaza thrives from Turbo's fame, all the businesses become spectacular successes and hold elaborate snail races. Whiplash's crew are given special propulsion aids for their shells, while Chet is the track referee and paramedic, and the garden snails have also received special shells of their own. Turbo discovers that his shell has healed, and his superspeed has returned, now ready to race once again. The film ends with the scene freezing as the snails race toward the camera, screaming with joy.

In a post-credits scene, one of the snails from the garden is finally able to tuck into his shell, until he realizes he is too big to come out of it.

Turbo (2013)

Contents

Storyline

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Movie Trailer

Sound Effects Used

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Audio Samples

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