“Are you a car? Are…you…a…car?”

If you have not seen Turbo, the moving about the racing snail, you need to see it.

Turbo is a story about believing in the unbelievable. Theo, an ordinary garden snail, believes he was born to race, much to the chagrin of his rule-abiding, worry-wort brother Chet.

After a life changing experience with nitrous oxide, Theo develops super-snail speed. He can move at over 200 miles an hour. As all racing snail tales go, Theo is picked up by a down-on-his-luck taco truck driver (who just happens to race snails as a hobby).  When the taco truck driver Tito discovers Theo’s speed, the two snail brothers are warped into a racing world which they never dreamed possible.

As they make their way into animated car racing history, Theo and Chet meet up with a band of thrill-seeking snails. This band of adrenaline-junky snails has modified shell covers that allow them to move at jet speeds. They are the first racing opponents Theo ever faced and quickly become his pit crew.

In spite of all odds, Mother Nature, and Angelo (Tito’s brother) insisting that they cannot do it, Tito (along with the adrenaline-junky snails) enter Theo (a.k.a Turbo) into the Indy 500. The first few laps don’t look good for Turbo and he pulls into the pits for a tune up. The humans don’t know what to do with the snail but his shelled buddies know what’s up.

Whiplash, leader of the racing snails, (voice of 
Samuel L. Jackson) smacks Turbo and says, “Are you a car?” Turbo replies, “No.” Whiplash repeats, “Are…you…a…CAR?” “No,” says Turbo.

“Then quit driving like one,” is Whiplash’s inspiring reply.

From there Turbo takes off racing HIS way, speeding under cars, along the wall of the track, and taking place as leader of the race. Of course, there is a happy ending (I won’t ruin it for you with what actually happens. You have to watch it for yourself.)

The moral here is quit trying to race life like a car. We are not cars. We are designed to move at our own speed, think in our own way, grow at our own pace. Speed doesn’t need to be our motivator. Reaching our destination in life the best way we know how should be our intent.

Wherever you find yourself in the pack, as you race through your day, know that no two of you making this lap around the sun are going about it the same way. You are not a car. You are you. Take that knowledge and shift into high gear at whatever speed gets you where you need to be.

By: Melanie A. Peters

P.S. Warning: this movie will make you see tomatoes, snails, and Samuel L. Jackson in a whole new light.

P.P.S. The snails are all voiced by super amazing actors: Burn is voiced by Maya Rudolph; Smooth Move is voiced by Snoop Dogg; Paz is voiced by Michelle Rodriguez; Skidmark is voiced by Ben Schwartz; Turbo is voiced by Ryan Reynolds; Chet is voiced by Michael Pena