Netflix Is Getting Rid Of Another Original Series, And It’s An Important One
The very first Netflix Original animated series Turbo Fast will no longer be available on the platform starting April 1.
The very first Netflix animated Original Series, Turbo FAST, is leaving the platform after being available to stream online for a decade, according to the Netflix content update site, What’s on Netflix. Based on the 2013 animated film Turbo starring Ryan Reynolds, Turbo FAST crossed a major milestone for the streaming platform when it was first created but is now leaving due to licensing rights.
Turbo FAST takes place after the 2013 animated film by DreamWorks Animation. It follows Turbo, an ordinary garden snail who is now an Indy 500 winner, as he and his friends race other species and fight against their rivals in the snail world of Starlight City. While Ryan Reynolds voiced the titular character in the DreamWorks film, Reid Scott (known for playing Dr. Dan Lewis in Marvel’s Venom) voices Turbo in the Netflix Original.
Turbo FAST was one of the very first Netflix Original Series to be created by the streaming platform. In fact, the first season of this animated children’s show still features one of Netflix’s earlier logos. Turbo FAST was released in December 2013, five months after Turbo the movie premiered in theaters, and following right behind other early Netflix Originals, Lilyhammer and House of Cards.
The Netflix series ran for three seasons and produced a total of 52 episodes, with the final episode becoming available to stream in February 2016. For the past seven years, Turbo FAST has remained a popular show for children, despite no new episodes having been developed for the better part of a decade.
To create Turbo FAST, Netflix had to partner with DreamWorks and the animation studio’s parent company, NBCUniversal, which owned the rights to the movie. NBCUniversal retained the rights for the Turbo FAST series as well, and ultimately, this is why the show is now leaving the streaming platform.
Although Turbo FAST will be leaving Netflix on April 1, 2023, fans of the animation series can hold out hope that it may return someday. No longer is content creation about coming up with new and interesting ideas for stories to tell on screens, but often companies will choose to cancel older shows only to revive them soon after as reboots instead. It’s a path Netflix has followed multiple times in the past, including with the crime drama Lilyhammer and the historical mystery Medici.
The removal of Turbo FAST from Netflix could be an indicator that Netflix will soon be removing all content owned by other production companies, including any other DreamWorks animation series on the platform. Just because a show is branded with the “Netflix Original” banner doesn’t mean that Netflix actually owns the rights to those properties. Popular Original shows like Orange is the New Black, House of Cards, and Ozark are all owned by production studios outside of Netflix’s umbrella.
Recently, Netflix has also been dumping movies that weren’t created by the streaming platform. Two of Tom Cruise’s most successful films, Minority Report and Top Gun are also joining Turbo FAST in the collection of shows/movies being dropped by Netflix.
