Turbo is a 2013 American 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.[8] It stars the voices of Ryan Reynolds, Paul Giamatti, Michael Peña, Snoop Dogg, Maya Rudolph, Michelle Rodriguez, and Samuel L. Jackson.[8] 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 The Fast & The 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 premiered at the CineEurope on May 20, 2013, and was theatrically released in the United States on July 17, 2013.[9] 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 Michael Patrick Bell reprising their roles, was put into production a year before the film's release,[10] and it first aired on Netflix on December 24, 2013.[11]
In a suburban San Fernando Valley tomato garden of Van Nuys in Los Angeles,[12] 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 where many other snails worked, 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 he is rescued by Theo at a rundown strip mall called "Starlight Plaza". There, they are captured by Tito Lopez, a taco truck driver 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, however, is unhappy with his brother's new abilities and wants him to return to normal. Tito wants to revive Starlight Plaza, with Turbo as a main attraction, but his brother and coworker Angelo dismisses him. Later on, 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.
Starlight Plaza thrives from Turbo's fame, and all the businesses become spectacular successes and hold elaborate snail races. Whiplash's crew is 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.
Turbo was directed by first-time director David Soren, who also came up with the idea for the film. The origins of the film lie in a competition DreamWorks Animation organized for all employees to pitch a one-page idea. The night before, Soren conceptualized Fast & Furious with snails, and won the competition. The studio bought the idea, and let it "simmer" for more than five years. When 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."[23] Soren explained why he chose snails: "For me, it was less about trying to make a racing movie and more about finding an underdog that I could really latch onto. I think that a snail is inherently an underdog. It's smashed, eaten by people, the butt of slow jokes around the world. It just seemed loaded with obstacles. Obviously, the opposite of slow is fast, and that's where racing came into the picture."[24] For the racing side of the film, Soren was inspired by his six-year-old son's fascination with race cars.[13]
DreamWorks Animation partnered with Hulman & Company, parent company of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and Indy Racing League, LLC (the organisation that sanctions the IZOD IndyCar Series) to make the racing as authentic as possible. Dario Franchitti, four-time IZOD IndyCar Series champion, was a technical consultant on the film, giving advice how Turbo should navigate the speed and competition through the eyes of a snail.[25]
On March 22, 2013, Henry Jackman was announced as the film's composer, making it the third film he composed for DreamWorks Animation, following Monsters vs. Aliens (2009) and Puss in Boots (2011).[27] The soundtrack was released on July 15, 2013, by Relativity Music Group.[28][29] The soundtrack with an additional 11 songs was released on the deluxe edition.[30][31] Snoop Dogg, who voiced Smoove Move in the film, also contributed to the soundtrack with an original song titled "Let the Bass Go", which was played over the closing credits. According to Dogg, the song is "something upbeat that everyone in the house can enjoy. I'm on my old-school rap style there: we took sounds from the Eighties like an 808 bass to give it that 'Planet Rock' and 'Going Back to Cali' feel. It was about paying homage, while at the same time taking the movie to the next level."[32]
Turbo had its world premiere on May 20, 2013, at the CineEurope film distributors' trade fair in Barcelona, Spain.[3] It was theatrically released in the United States on July 17, 2013.[9] Turbo was originally scheduled for a July 19, 2013, release, but DreamWorks Animation moved the release up by two days.[33]
In Chile, this film was the first feature film to play in the 4DX motion format, featuring strobe lightning, motion, wind, water sprays, and aroma effects, which premiered at a Cine Hoyts theater in La Reina.[34][35][36]
A video game based on the film, titled Turbo: Super Stunt Squad, was released on July 16, 2013 on Wii U, Wii, Nintendo 3DS, Nintendo DS, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360. Published by D3 Publisher, the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and Wii U versions were developed by Monkey Bar Games. The Wii, Nintendo 3DS and Nintendo DS versions were developed by Torus Games. In the game, a crew of characters has to perform stunts to build up their skills and win challenges.[40] The game received negative reviews from critics with Metacritic giving the PS3 version a 38/100.[41] It was the last DreamWorks Animation game to be published by D3 Publisher and also the last DreamWorks Animation game to be released on Nintendo DS.
On February 25, 2014, Jeffrey Katzenberg announced that the studio would have to take a $13.5 million write-down on the film, claiming that it "fell short of our expectations", particularly in key international markets.[52] This marked the second film in two years that DreamWorks Animation has lost money on, after Rise of the Guardians.[53] On October 29 it was revealed that DreamWorks had taken a further $2.1 million loss on the film, due to its poor performance in international markets.[54]
The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a 67% approval rating based on 114 reviews, with an average rating of 6.1/10. The website's consensus reads: "It's nowhere near as inventive as its off-the-wall premise might suggest, but Turbo boasts just enough colorful visual thrills and sharp voice acting to recommend as undemanding family-friendly fare."[55] Another review aggregation website Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 top reviews from mainstream critics, calculated a score of 58 out of 100 based on 30 reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[56] The film earned an "A" from general audiences polled by CinemaScore, and an "A+" from audiences under age 18.[57]
Peter Debruge of Variety gave the film a positive review, saying "Co-writer/director David Soren's story offers little that even the average 6-year-old couldn't imagine, though the film's considerable charm comes through via its characters and sense of humor."[1] Chris Nashawaty of Entertainment Weekly gave the film a B, saying "While there's no denying that the film is a harmless, wholesome, and heart-warming ride crafted with polish and skill, it's also so predictable that you'll see every twist in the story driving down Fifth Avenue."[58] Lou Lumenick of the New York Post gave the film three out of four stars, saying "Let's just say there are no surprises here, and that's not necessarily a bad thing in a film that's aimed mostly at the under-10 set. Mercifully, the characters and the comedy are just sophisticated enough to keep their minders from drifting off."[59] Bill Goodykoontz of The Arizona Republic gave the film three out of five stars, saying "There's certainly no harm in seeing 'Turbo.' Competent, pretty funny in places, awfully nice to look at, that sort of thing. There's just not a lot of excitement, though."[60] Rafer Guzman of Newsday gave the film two-and-a-half stars out of four, saying "Turbo has just enough heart to make it to the winner's circle."[61] Claudia Puig of USA Today gave the film two-and-a-half stars out of four, saying "This good-natured but generic animated tale of a puny garden snail with huge dreams has some appealing characters, a few laughs and then devolves into a predictable Tortoise and the Hare spinoff."[62]
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