Though the film doesn’t hit US cinemas until July (and we have to wait until October 18 in the UK), DreamWorks Animation is looking to spin racing snail pic Turbo off as a cartoon series, and has entered into a deal with Netflix to produce it.
Turbo follows the adventures of the titular snail (though that’s a nickname), voiced by Ryan Reynolds. A fan of the Indy Car races he sees on the TV, our hero dreams of one day racing in the event, or at least beating his personal best of 17 minutes to travel 30cm.
When he ventures out one day, a freak accident leaves him with his heart’s desire – super speed, and he ends up making friends with a group of racing snails.
The movie also features the voices of Paul Giamatti, Michael Pena, Luis Guzman, Bill Hader, Richard Jenkins, Ken Jeong, Michelle Rodriguez, Maya Rudolph, Ben Schwartz, Kurtwood Smith, and Samuel L. Jackson, though we don’t know how many of those would carry over to a regular TV gig.
This is hardly a surprise for either company: DreamWorks has a history of turning its characters into shows (though more usually proven favourites such as the Madagascar franchise’s penguins) and Netflix is clearly ready to get into more original programming after scoring well with House Of Cards. The plan is for Turbo: F.A.S.T. to arrive in December across all Netflix services, but the other details are under wraps for now.