Turbo Fast is one of those animated shows that gets overlooked in the big histories of streaming animation, but it shouldn’t be. When it premiered on Netflix on December 24, 2013, it was one of the very first original animated kids’ series the streamer ever produced. Netflix wasn’t yet the animation powerhouse it would become with shows like BoJack Horseman, Tuca & Bertie, and Arcane — Turbo Fast was an early bet on whether original animation could work on the platform.
It did. The show ran for 3 seasons and 52 episodes through 2016, helped legitimize Netflix as a kids’ animation destination, and featured one of the most impressive voice casts of any 2010s animated show.
Here’s the full character roster.
Quick context: Turbo Fast (stylized as Turbo F.A.S.T., which stands for “Fast Action Stunt Team”) was a Netflix Original series based on DreamWorks Animation’s 2013 film Turbo. It ran from December 24, 2013 to February 5, 2016, across 3 seasons. The series was DreamWorks’ first major Netflix original following the partnership deal that also produced All Hail King Julien and The Adventures of Puss in Boots.
Turbo (Theo)
The protagonist. Theo (Turbo’s real name) is a garden snail who, after a freak accident involving nitrous oxide in the 2013 film, gained super-speed and rocket-fast racing abilities. The TV series picks up after his Indianapolis 500 win and follows him leading the F.A.S.T. (Fast Action Stunt Team) on increasingly bizarre racing adventures around the world.
Turbo is voiced by Reid Scott, who you almost certainly know better as Dan Egan from HBO’s Veep (2012-2019). Yes, the snail with the dream of racing is voiced by the same actor who plays one of the most cutthroat political schemers in TV history. The range is genuinely impressive.
Reid Scott’s range: Doing Dan Egan and Turbo simultaneously is one of the more underrated voice-acting achievements of the 2010s. Same actor, two completely different vocal performances. Veep won multiple Emmys during the years Scott was also voicing a cartoon snail. Hollywood is wild.
Chet
Turbo’s anxious older brother. Chet is the voice of caution in the F.A.S.T. crew — the snail who reminds everyone that maybe entering an underground gladiatorial racing tournament in Russia isn’t actually a good idea. Of course, they go anyway. Chet just makes sure to worry about it the whole time.
Chet is voiced by Eric Bauza, who is currently one of the most prolific voice actors in modern animation. Bauza is the official Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Tweety, Marvin the Martian, and basically every other Looney Tunes character in modern Warner Bros. productions. He took over the Looney Tunes cast in 2015 and has been the keeper of those characters ever since. Casting him as Chet was prescient — they hired one of the future cornerstones of American voice acting before he was a household name.
Whiplash
The original leader of Tito’s snail racing team before Turbo arrived. Whiplash is the tactical brain of the crew — he calls the shots, manages the racing strategies, and serves as the more experienced mentor figure for the younger snails. He has a permanent quietly-confident-veteran energy.
Voiced by John Eric Bentley, who also voiced Lightning (another snail character on the show) — voice actors doubling up on roles is standard practice in animated TV.
Burn
The fierce, fast, and fearless member of the F.A.S.T. team. Burn is the snail who charges into danger first and figures out the consequences later. Her competitive streak rivals Turbo’s, which leads to genuinely good character chemistry in episodes that pair them up.
Burn is voiced by Grey DeLisle (now credited as Grey Griffin), who is genuinely one of the most accomplished voice actresses in modern animation. Her other major roles include Daphne in Scooby-Doo (the modern version, since 2001), Vicky in The Fairly OddParents, Mandy in The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy, Azula in Avatar: The Last Airbender, and approximately 500 other characters across animation and video games.
Smoove Move
DJ Doctor Smoove Move is the laid-back music-loving member of the team. He has a slim, lanky build (unusual among the typically chunky snail designs), a gradient color scheme of purple-into-green, and a pair of fuzzy lavender dice perpetually dangling from his neck. Pure 1970s funk vibe in snail form.
Voiced by Phil LaMarr, one of the most prolific voice actors of his generation. LaMarr’s other roles include Hermes Conrad in Futurama, Samurai Jack in Samurai Jack, Wilt in Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends, John Stewart/Green Lantern in Justice League, and dozens of other major characters. He was also an original cast member of MADtv.
White Shadow
Whiteman Shatford, better known as White Shadow, is the team’s source of unwarranted confidence. He claims to be “fast like a shadow,” which sounds impressive until you realize that shadows aren’t actually fast — they’re just the shape that follows the thing that IS fast. White Shadow is the human personification (snail personification?) of the friend who’s bad at the sport but thinks he’s incredible at it. The team puts up with him because they love him.
Voiced by Michael Patrick Bell, also credited as Mike Bell, who plays several characters across the series.
Skidmark
The weird one. Skidmark is the team’s most eccentric member — his strategies are bizarre, his behavior is unpredictable, and his solutions to problems usually involve doing something nobody else would have considered. Sometimes this works brilliantly. Sometimes it ends in disaster. Either way, it’s funny.
Voiced by Amir Talai, who also voices Tito (the human character). Talai’s other voice work includes characters in The LEGO Movie, various roles in American Dad!, and live-action appearances across multiple sitcoms.
Tito Lopez
The human in the cast. Tito Lopez works at Dos Bros (a taco shop) with his brother Angelo. Tito’s actual job is driving the Dos Bros truck. His actual passion is organizing underground snail races behind the strip mall after hours, which is how he ends up running F.A.S.T. as their human handler and racing organizer.
The tension between Tito’s snail-racing obsession and his actual job is one of the show’s recurring comedic engines. Angelo (his brother) spends most of the series furious that Tito keeps blowing off taco delivery to run snail races. Voiced by Amir Talai (doubling up with his Skidmark role).
Mel Shellman
Turbo’s old garden neighbor. Mel Shellman is the elderly, world-weary snail who knew Turbo before his transformation and provides occasional wisdom-of-the-old-snail commentary throughout the series. He’s basically the “wise old man” archetype, in snail form.
Voiced by Daran Norris, who is best known as the voice of Cosmo (and Big Daddy, and Jorgen Von Strangle) in The Fairly OddParents. Norris has been doing voice work since the 1990s and has hundreds of credits across animation, video games, and live-action commercials.
Hardcase
One of the show’s recurring antagonists. Hardcase is a tough, militaristic snail who appears in racing episodes as a competitor. Voiced by Diedrich Bader, who is having a great career across animation (Batman in Batman: The Brave and the Bold, Hoss Delgado in Billy & Mandy) and live-action (Veep, The Drew Carey Show, American Housewife).
Ace Gecko
A recurring rival character. Ace Gecko is, as the name suggests, a gecko — not a snail — who serves as one of Turbo’s longest-running competitive enemies in the racing circuit. The gecko-versus-snail dynamic creates good speed-mismatch comedy. Voiced by Jeff Bennett.
Breakneck
The Mark Hamill role: Breakneck is voiced by Mark Hamill, who you know as Luke Skywalker (from Star Wars) and as the voice of the Joker (from Batman: The Animated Series and countless other DC animated projects). Hamill is also one of the most accomplished voice actors in modern animation — his career as a voice performer is arguably bigger than his live-action career. Casting him as a Turbo Fast villain is the kind of move that signals the show was taking its voice acting seriously.
Breakneck is a tough racing snail who appears as one of the more intimidating antagonists. Hamill brings his trademark menacing-villain-voice energy to the role.
Fusion
A futuristic/sci-fi-themed snail character voiced by Will Friedle. Friedle is best known as the live-action Eric Matthews from Boy Meets World, but he’s also had a major voice acting career, including Terry McGinnis/Batman in Batman Beyond and Star-Lord in various Marvel animated projects.
Tickula
A vampire-themed snail antagonist voiced by Maurice LaMarche. LaMarche is best known as the Brain in Pinky and the Brain, Kif Kroker in Futurama, and Calculon in Futurama. He’s one of the most distinctive voices in animation history.
Kim Ly
The Ken Jeong cameo: Kim Ly is voiced by Ken Jeong (Senor Chang from Community, Mr. Chow from The Hangover films, the Asian Doctor from Knocked Up). Jeong is one of the most recognizable Korean-American comic actors of his generation, and his appearance in Turbo Fast was the kind of high-profile guest casting that suggested DreamWorks saw the show as a real prestige project.
Singe
Voiced by Tara Strong, the legendary voice actress behind Bubbles in The Powerpuff Girls, Timmy Turner in The Fairly OddParents, Twilight Sparkle in My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Harley Quinn in countless DC projects, and roughly 800 other major animated roles. Strong is one of the most prolific voice actresses ever.
The Voice Cast Is Genuinely Stacked
The Turbo Fast voice cast assembled here is a who’s who of modern animation:
- Reid Scott — Veep’s Dan Egan, recently in Madame Web (2024)
- Eric Bauza — modern Bugs Bunny, Daffy, Tweety, Marvin the Martian
- Mark Hamill — Luke Skywalker, the Joker
- Ken Jeong — Senor Chang, multiple movies
- Tara Strong — Bubbles, Timmy Turner, Twilight Sparkle, Harley Quinn
- Phil LaMarr — Hermes Conrad, Samurai Jack, John Stewart Green Lantern
- Maurice LaMarche — The Brain, Kif Kroker
- Grey DeLisle/Griffin — Daphne, Vicky, Mandy, Azula
- John DiMaggio — Bender from Futurama, Jake from Adventure Time
- Billy West — Fry, Zoidberg, Stimpy, Doug Funnie
- Daran Norris — Cosmo from The Fairly OddParents
- Diedrich Bader — Batman (Brave and the Bold), Drew Carey’s brother
- Jim Cummings — Winnie the Pooh, Tigger, Pete
- Will Friedle — Terry McGinnis/Batman Beyond, Eric from Boy Meets World
- Steve Blum — Spike Spiegel from Cowboy Bebop, Wolverine in many projects
- Jennifer Hale — Commander Shepard from Mass Effect, Aria T’Loak, Sam in Totally Spies
- Kevin Michael Richardson — Joker (multiple projects), various major animated roles
- Brendon Small — Brendon from Home Movies, Nathan Explosion from Metalocalypse
This level of voice talent on a Netflix kids’ show in 2013-2016 is significant. DreamWorks wasn’t treating Turbo Fast as a throwaway project. They invested in real voice acting, and it shows.
Turbo Fast’s Place in Streaming Animation History
Why Turbo Fast matters historically: When Turbo Fast launched on December 24, 2013, Netflix was just beginning to invest in original kids’ programming. The same year that House of Cards and Orange Is the New Black were establishing Netflix as a streaming TV destination, Turbo Fast was helping prove that kids’ animation could also work on the platform. It paved the way for everything that came after — Voltron: Legendary Defender, The Dragon Prince, Hilda, Trollhunters, and so on. Turbo Fast is the unsung pioneer.
The DreamWorks Netflix Deal
Turbo Fast was part of a major partnership deal between DreamWorks Animation and Netflix announced in 2013. The deal produced multiple original animated series based on DreamWorks film IP:
- Turbo Fast (2013-2016) — first out of the gate
- All Hail King Julien (2014-2017) — Madagascar spinoff, surprisingly excellent
- The Adventures of Puss in Boots (2015-2018)
- Dragons: Race to the Edge (2015-2018) — How to Train Your Dragon series
- Dinotrux (2015-2018)
- Voltron: Legendary Defender (2016-2018) — eventually became the biggest of the partnership
The DreamWorks deal essentially built Netflix’s early animated kids’ library. Without it, the platform’s content slate would have looked completely different in the late 2010s.
Where to Watch Turbo Fast
As of 2026, Turbo Fast remains available on Netflix where it originally aired. All 3 seasons and 52 episodes are streamable. The original Turbo film (2013) is currently on Peacock and other DreamWorks streaming destinations. The film and series together make for a complete viewing experience, though the series is genuinely good as a standalone (you don’t have to watch the movie first).
The Turbo Fast Legacy
The honest take: Turbo Fast is one of those shows that did everything right and still got mostly forgotten. The writing was sharp. The voice cast was elite. The premise was absurd in the best way (snail racing should not work as a show — they made it work). The two-stories-per-episode anthology format kept things moving. The animation was solid for its budget.
And yet, it never broke through into the cultural conversation the way some other 2010s animated shows did. Probably because it lived on Netflix at a time when the streamer wasn’t yet a kids’ animation destination people knew to seek out. It deserved more.
If you’ve never watched Turbo Fast and you have any affection for absurdist animated comedy with a voice cast you’d recognize from a dozen other shows, it’s still on Netflix and still worth a watch.
So, did you watch Turbo Fast back in 2013-2016, and which snail was your favorite? For me, Smoove Move with his fuzzy dice is unforgettable, and Burn deserves more credit than she gets in most “best 2010s animated characters” discussions. Tell me yours.
