Line #21 WesternAnimation/Turbo


1	%%Administrivia/HandlingSpoilers Do not ever conceal the name of the trope in a list of trope examples, the list on the work's page.
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3	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/turbo_poster.jpg]]
4	[[caption-width-right:350:Slo mo no mo.]]
5
6	->''"I wish I was fast."''
7	-->-- '''Turbo'''
8
9	''Turbo'' is a 2013 Creator/{{DreamWorks Animation}} CG family film that revolves around a garden snail, Turbo (Creator/RyanReynolds), who dreams about becoming fast so that he can race like his Indianapolis 500 idol, Guy Gagné (Creator/BillHader). His dreams make him a little distant from his slow-paced snail society, which includes his careful brother Chet (Creator/PaulGiamatti), who is constantly putting up with the embarrassment Turbo brings into his life. As luck would have it, a freak accident causes Turbo to get just what he's asking for when nitrous oxide becomes infused in his DNA. This causes him to become a snail racing wonder, and the possibility of competing in the Indianapolis 500 is just within his grasp.
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11	The film was directed by David Soren, who was a story artist for several other [=DreamWorks=] movies, as well as the head of story for ''WesternAnimation/SharkTale''. Watch the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QULzGYRThH8 first trailer here]] and the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F-L5bzwdpVI second trailer here.]]
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13	Before the film even aired, a [[UsefulNotes/AdobeFlash Flash-animated]] television series entitled ''WesternAnimation/TurboFAST'' (Fast Action Stunt Team) was announced to begin airing on Creator/{{Netflix}} in December 2013. The first season's episodes were released in blocks of about five episodes at a time every three months from December 24, 2013 to December 1, 2014; season two starting July 31, 2015; and season three started on February 5, 2016. The series is animated by Creator/{{Titmouse}}, who previously did another Flash-animated series involving high-speed action, ''WesternAnimation/{{Motorcity}}''. It ended up being the first in a long string of Dreamworks spin-offs on the Netflix platform.
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15	[[JustForFun/IThoughtItMeant Has no relation]] to the character from ''VideoGame/SnailMail'', even though both are fast snails named Turbo.
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17	----
18	!!''Turbo'' provides examples of:
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20	* AcquiredSituationalNarcissism: After mastering his SuperSpeed, Turbo begins showing this trope, mainly by blowing off the Snail Crew when they propose him to join. They're quick to give him a lesson and deflate his ego.
21	* ActorAllusion: Creator/MichelleRodriguez plays a WrenchWench, as she did in [[Film/TheFastAndTheFurious another movie about car racing]].
22	* AmazingTechnicolorWildlife: The snails range in all sorts of different colors.
23	* AnimalFacialHair: Chet and Theo’s boss Carl is a snail with a big bushy mustache.
24	* ArtisticLicenseAnimalCare: A deep crack in a snail's shell like the one Turbo suffers cannot heal on its own, and requires a lot more than a bandage to repair: the exposed cavity must be thoroughly cleaned and disinfected, and the breach, carefully sealed with gauze, plaster of Paris, and nail varnish. Bringing Turbo to a race ''before'' confirming his shell was restored was also extremely dangerous, as snails' exposed bodies are ''extremely'' vulnerable to desiccation, infection, or exposure to air pollutants.
25	* ArtisticLicenseBiology: The shot of Turbo's heart being imbued with nitrous oxide shows it attached to a branching network of blood vessels. Snails have an open circulatory system. Snails are also hermaphrodites,[[note]]Which means they have two biological sex, male and female, simultaneously[[/note]] so the running joke of Chet's gender is a moot point.
26	* ArtisticLicenseChemistry: Nitrous oxide isn't anything especially fast. It just allows engines to burn more fuel. And if anything it slows animals down (it's laughing gas).
27	* ArtisticLicensePhysics: As mentioned elsewhere on this wiki, SuperSpeed has one of the longest RequiredSecondaryPower lists there is, and this is only exacerbated by Turbo being a snail.
28	* ArtisticLicenseSports: Racing practically runs on NotCheatingUnlessYouGetCaught; because of this, what defines a car is pretty rigorously defined, negating the AnimalAthleteLoophole. Also, a crash like what happened on the last lap would have almost certainly drawn a red flag and stopped the race - having [[spoiler:Turbo and Gagné "racing" to the finish line - one dragging his broken car, the other dragging his broken ''shell'' - ]] was pure RuleOfFunny.
29	* BadassCrew: The Snail Crew. Period. [[spoiler: For example, they are able to hijack a flock of ''crows'' - who've spent the whole movie preying on snails - to use as their personal [[PowerUpMount Power-Up Mounts]].]]
30	** In the final race, [[spoiler: each one of them gets a shell upgrade: their own customized, stylish, Transformers-style miniature ''vehicle'' to help them compete in their snail races.]]
31	* BigBad: [[spoiler:Guy Gagné, the decorated Indianapolis 500 champion is a self-centered man that wants his image promoted more than anything else. He starts to resort to increasingly reckless efforts once Turbo starts getting fame over him.]]
32	* BigBrotherInstinct: Chet is this to Theo A.K.A. Turbo: It's justified since Turbo is quite reckless.
33	* BigLittleBrother: Tito hovers over his older brother, Angelo.
34	* BirdsOfAFeather: Non-romantic example: Turbo and Tito.
35	* BizarreAlienLocomotion: The "tuck and roll" maneuver [[spoiler: which carries Turbo across the finish line]].
36	* BlackComedy: A dramatization on tv shows a crude animation of Turbo competing in the Indianapolis 500 and ''getting crushed by a race car’s tire.''
37	* BrokenPedestal: [[spoiler:Guy Gagné, Turbo's idol, is actually a self-centered jerkass who only supported Turbo in order to promote himself.]]
38	* BroughtDownToNormal: [[spoiler: A surprising subversion. Even though Turbo's shell did crack and made him lose his SuperSpeed, the shell only needed to heal on its own for his SuperSpeed to return.]]
39	* CelebrityParadox: When Turbo struggles with his newfound DNA, "Drop It Like It's Hot" plays through him as if he's a radio. Music/SnoopDogg, the song's artist, plays Smoove Move in this film.
40	* ChekhovsSkill: One lift skill that is told to Turbo by Chet is to tuck and roll out of dangerous situations. [[spoiler:Turbo ends up using this maneuver to dethrone Guy Gagné and win the Indianapolis 500.]]
41	* ChekhovsSkill: As the Snail Crew teaches Turbo, having powers means nothing without honing natural ability and practice. When the crew challenge Turbo to a race, he initially out paces them till he reaches a part of the track his speed can't cross. The crew, however, having raced much longer than him, manage to cross with little problem using their ingenuity and the mucus on their bodies. This comes back into play later in the climax of the film when they encourage him to keep going by just using his natural talents rather than his speed power.
42	* ChemistryCanDoAnything: Nitrite oxide is able to infuse with Theo's DNA and give him car-like powers by being absorbed into his circulatory system.
43	* CloseOnTitle: The movie’s title does not appear until the very end.
44	* CloudCuckoolander: The Snail Crew, particularly White Shadow.
45	* ColorCharacter: White Shadow is a pale colored snail who claims to be fast like a shadow.
46	* ContrivedCoincidence:
47	** Turbo landing right on the hood of a car about to race.
48	** The birds carrying Turbo to the hood of a truck belonging to a guy who races snails.
49	** The Indy 500 truck showing up right when Turbo is being asked what they should do next.
50	* CoolCar: The car in which Turbo gets his powers from is a heavily modified Chevy Camaro.
51	* CreativeClosingCredits: The snails messing around objects pertaining to who worked on what ( Example: A laptop for animators. An ipod for Music Composers, etc) as well as objects seen in the movie. Followed by a long sequence of credits on the taco truck's menu board.
52	* DeadpanSnarker: Chet. Especially towards Theo AKA Turbo.
53	* {{Determinator}}: Turbo and Tito definitely qualify, especially the former.
54	* DreamWorksFace: Well, ''duh''. Even without eyebrows, Turbo makes this face on the movies’ promotional poster.
55	* DownLADrain: Where the race that Turbo gets caught in takes place.
56	* TheFaceless: The driver of the Camero never has his face shown directly, only being shown from behind.
57	* FantasyForbiddingFather: ''Brothers'', plural, in this case. One scene even has Chet and Angelo mirror each other as they chastise Turbo and Tito respectively. Hilariously, Chet even goes "what he said" to one of Angelo's comments.
58	* FatAndSkinny: Seems this way with Turbo and Chet.
59	* FieryRedhead: Burns. Technically she has red skin, but it counts.
60	* FragileSpeedster: Being a snail, Turbo already can't take too much damage as it is. Racing down a speedway alongside cars that could cripple or kill a non-protected human...yeah.
61	* FreezeFrameEnding: [[spoiler:Turbo, now with his powers back, starts happily racing alongside the Snail crew in a snail race track.]]
62	* FrenchJerk: [[spoiler:Guy Gagné, although he's French-Canadian.]]
63	* TheFriendNobodyLikes: The rest of the crew seems to find White Shadow more annoying than anything else.
64	* FunWithAcronyms:
65	** F.A.S.T. stands for '''F'''ast '''A'''ction '''S'''tunt '''T'''eam.
66	** At one point Chet mentions something called Crow Awareness Week--in other words, C.A.W.
67	* HoistByHisOwnPetard: [[spoiler:Had Guy not felt the need to make himself look like a supporting and fellow racing competitor and lead a rally to get Turbo to compete in the Indy 500, he wouldn't have lost in the race; to make it worse on his part, Turbo won without his SuperSpeed.]]
68	** On top of that, [[spoiler:his attempts to stomp on Turbo and him jumping out to grab him only HELPED Turbo cross the finish line.]]
69	* IJustWantToBeSpecial: Turbo wants to be more than just your average garden snail. He gets his wish.
70	* IllPretendIDidntHearThat: Twice by Whiplash.
71	-->I'm gonna pretend I didn't hear what I clearly just heard!
72	* ImpossibleHourglassFigure: Paz has a very curvy body.
73	* InkSuitActor: Several, with Creator/LuisGuzman as Angelo being the most notable.
74	* JerkJock: [[spoiler:Guy Gagné seems to be a subversion at first but quickly shows he's this before the final race.]]
75	* LoveInterest: [[spoiler:PlayedWith]]. Burn has LoveAtFirstSight... [[spoiler:for ''Chet''.]]
76	* MeaningfulName: Guy Gagné. "Guy" comes from "Guido", which is derived from an old word for "leader", and "gagné" is French for "won", so he's the leader who won. Some argue that Guido comes from the verb "guidare", meaning to drive, which would make him the Driver Who Won. [[spoiler:Unfortunately for him it doesn't come true in the end.]]
77	* MemeticMutation: In-universe, "Whoa! That snail is fast!" complete with remix videos.
78	* MetronomicManMashing: Turbo does this [[spoiler:from inside a crow that swallowed him just after he saved his brother Chet. Nope, it's '''NEVER''' a good idea to eat something with super powers.]]
79	* MiniatureSeniorCitizens: Kim-Ly is the shortest human in the entire film.
80	* NeverMessWithGranny: Kim-Ly as [[spoiler:Guy]] found out the hard way.
81	* NonstandardCharacterDesign: The crows are photorealistic, but the snails are cartoony, and humans somewhere in between. Justfied; this was done to set the crows apart as feral predators [[spoiler:and later [[PowerUpMount Power-Up Mounts]] to the Snail Crew.]]
82	** The beetles that carry Theo while he is unconscious look just like real beetles, which clashes with Theo’s cartoony design.
83	* OfficialCouple: [[spoiler:Chet and Burn by the film's end.]]
84	* OneWordTitle: Also a ProtagonistTitle.
85	* OnlySaneMan: Chet is the most vocal on Turbo being considered to race in the Indianapolis 500.
86	-->'''Chet:''' Has the world lost its mind?!
87	* PowerGlows: After gaining his super speed ability, Turbo leaves behind a phosphorescent blue trail in his wake.
88	* ProductPlacement: Features several companies due to race cars having branding. Verizon also appears on a mobile phone.
89	* ProductionThrowback: Phil and Mason from ''Franchise/{{Madagascar}}'' can be seen in a newspaper article when Angelo tells Tito that his monkey petting zoo idea was crazy. They are given tails though to make them look like monkeys instead of chimps.
90	* ProtagonistTitle: Turbo is indeed the star of the movie. Technically, his real name is Theo, but Turbo does sound cooler.
91	* PunnyName: Slang for a [[http://turbomirage.com/miata/2010_06/IMG_3575.JPG turbocharger]] is "snail".
92	* RecycledWithAGimmick: ''WesternAnimation/{{Ratatouille}}'' [-WITH SNAILS!-]! The plot of ''Turbo'' and ''Ratatouille'' involve a single main character who desires to break out in a field in which it is discouraged due to their species and not their skills. Both Turbo and Rémy are TheSpeechless. Both characters have a brother who attempts to discourage them but eventually, grudgingly supports them. Both glimpse this world through the TV. Both are forced from their world due to circumstances involving natural disaster. Rémy is cast away by a flood and Turbo rescues his brother from a hungry bird. Both situations force them far from their original location. Both works include a bittersweet success at the end. [[spoiler:The restaurant in ratatouille closes down and Turbo loses his SuperSpeed. Rémy ends up working at a small bistro, and Turbo regains his superpowers]].
93	* RecycledPremise:
94	** A non-human with dreams normally only achievable by humans? Gaining an indirect mentor (through television) in a famous practitioner of that dream? The protagonist having a unique trait that makes that dream possible, as well as a human HeterosexualLifePartner? This, in a lot of ways, is the Creator/DreamWorksAnimation equivalent to ''WesternAnimation/{{Ratatouille}}'' if it was based around racing, starred a snail, and with the protagonist meeting the Gusteau analog [[spoiler:(with the Gusteau analog being a villain)]].
95	** The above includes a heaping dose of Pixar's ''WesternAnimation/Cars1''. A racer (snail) finds himself in a town (shopping mall) that can't drum up enough business to make ends meet? In the end his winning a race in an unorthodox way leads to putting the town (shopping mall) on the map again? Check.
96	* RedAndBlackAndEvilAllOver: [[spoiler:Guy Gagné.]]
97	* ShoutOut: The tagline ''[[Film/TheFastAndTheFurious "He's fast. They're furious".]]''
98	* SoreLoser: [[spoiler:Guy Gagné does not take kindly to being shown up by anyone, let alone by a ''snail''.]]
99	%%* SpicyLatina: Burn.
100	* TheSpeedster: The titular Turbo is a SpeedySnail who gains the ability to move as quickly as a race car. This puts him at odds with his older brother Chet, who considers him a freak of nature.
101	* SpeedySnail: The TropeCodifier. The very premise is of a bog standard snail gaining SuperSpeed and competing in a motor vehicle race.
102	* StealthPun: Look at that S(nail)-car GO!
103	* SuperHeroOrigin: One thing that ''does'' distinguish this from ''WesternAnimation/{{Ratatouille}}'' is that it's basically a superhero origin story - with a snail as the superhero.
104	* SuperSpeed: Turbo gets this, becoming fast enough to compete with a race car.
105	* TooSpicyForYogSothoth: A crow [[spoiler:eats Turbo post-transformation, and the result isn't pretty (see above). Yup, '''''still''''' not a good idea to eat something with super powers.]]
106	* TrailersAlwaysSpoil: The fact that Guy was a great A JerkAss GloryHound was pretty much on every commercial whereas in the film he is treated as a kind-hearted team player until the WhamLine around two-thirds into the movie.
107	* UptightLovesWild: Inverted; the wild Burn hits on the ''very'' uptight Chet throughout the film. [[spoiler: {{Zig-Zagged}} at the end, as Chet starts to reciprocate by then.]]
108	* ViewerGenderConfusion: InUniverse Humans can't tell that Chet is a boy, much to his chagrin. Hilariously, snails in real life are hermaphrodites.
109	* WhamLine: While relatively minor, the moment the line dropped was the moment that [[spoiler:Guy Gagné]] was going to be the central antagonist, and if it doesn't help, then the music by the end of his speech turning sinister and him acting like a massive jerk afterwards will.
110	-->''Well, the sad truth is, uh, underdogs seldom win. And the dreamers... let's just say, eventually they have to wake up.''
111	* ZanyScheme: Tito is guilty of concocting some zany gimmicks in order to promote his and his brother's restaurant.

Context WesternAnimation / Turbo