Turbo Dogs
Encyclopedia
Turbo Dogs is a television show that airs on Qubo
and Kids' CBC
. The show is based on the book Racer Dogs by Bob Kolar. The show premiered on October 3, 2008.
Dash - Dash is a selfless, thoughtful beagle
with a heart of a gold and a healthy spirit of competition. His colors are red
and white
and his player number is 1 which is colored blue
. His gloves have the same color as his number. He is also very tidy and neat. In one episode it was shown that Dash also has a large collection of racing memorabilia and model cars. He is voiced by Lyon Smith.
Mags - Mags, an American Cocker Spaniel
, is the only female Turbo Dog. Her colors are purple
and orange
, her player number is 2. She is responsible and cheerful, and often tends to be the voice of reason when things go awry. She also owns a pet hamster
named Lulu. When her helmet is off, she's revealed to have bangs and purple hairbands. She is voiced by Stacey DePass
.
GT - GT is a bulldog
that is an inventor and a mechanic. His colors are blue
and white
and his player number is 3. It is said that GT can fix just about any car, and "could probably make an engine out of a leash and some empty dog food cans". He is voiced by Dan Petronijevic
.
Strut - A dachshund
, Strut makes up for his small size by making big plans, that sometimes backfire. His colors are blue
and yellow
and his player number is 5. His car has six tires unlike all the other cars. He is the only one of the Turbo Dogs who regularly uses his car's special apparatus to give him an unfair advantage during the races, however it usually ends up with him spinning out or crashing. He is voiced by Joris Jarsky
.
Stinkbert - Stinkbert is a terrier
who likes garbage. His colors are chartreuse
and goldenrod
and his player number is 6. He is shown to have a cheerful and relaxed personality. One of his talents is cooking. Stinkbert has a strong odor, which the other Turbo Dogs do their best to tolerate. While he appears to be grey in color, the occasional bath has shown his actual fur colour to be white. He is voiced by Hadley Kay
.
Clutch - Clutch is a chocolate-colored Labrador
who means well. He is usually the one who picks up the slack when the other Turbo Dogs need him. His colors are green
and yellow
and his player number is 7. Even though he is a bit clumsy at times, he can race with the best of them. He usually comes in fourth or fifth place with Strut and Stinkbert. His racer is a green and yellow sports car
. He is voiced by Peter Cugno.
Cam - A Beagle
who is the announcer for every race. He is usually seen on the large display screen on the side of his personal airship that he flies above the racetrack during races. He is voiced by Terry McGurrin
.
Ump - A German Shepherd
, Ump is Racerville Raceway's track official. He is also the flagman for every race, and enforces the track rules. He is voiced by Ron Pardo
.
Five- A pizza delivery dog who is in charge in the Dog-Gone Pizzeria, Five is usually seen travelling on his pizza-delivery scooter. He got his name from his "five minutes or less" delivery policy. He is voiced by Joseph Motiki
.
The Chicken
- A chicken who attempts to cross the road/track
in every episode, and is usually costumed according to the theme of that particular segment. However, no matter how carefully he looks both ways, he is always narrowly missed by whoever is driving by and sent spinning to the other side of the road, dizzy, but unharmed.
Marlene - A spaniel who runs "Marlene's", the shop where the Turbo Dogs get their racing helmets and suits.
Officer Gruffer - A retriever who is the local highway patrol officer.
Zanner - A young dog who is one half of "the Howler Brothers", and is Dash's biggest fan. He wears a large, gold dog tag around his neck, blue pants, belt, and brown sandals. He likes playing golf, watching TV with his friend Dash, eating snacks, and hanging out with his best friend Fanner. Zanner is from Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Australia, and Ukraine.
Fanner - A small terrier who, along with Zanner, is the other half of "the Howler Brothers". He wears racing gloves and sometimes a cape to emulate his idols, the Turbo Dogs.
Rock Rally - A German Shepherd and Dash's idol, Rock is actually a movie-star who makes racing movies. Upon visiting the Turbo Dogs home track to make a new film, Dash is pressed into service to double for him in the driving scenes. Dash soon discovers that the reason for this is driving makes Rock "very nervous", and he doesn't do his own driving in his films.
Auntie Ratchet - Dash's aunt. A bright, extremely cheerful little dog who lives in the country, Auntie Ratchet is an inventor and former racer with a surprising number of skills, which she demonstrates.
Wrenchini – Wrenchini is the local master mechanic and garage owner who obtains parts and occasionally works on or modifies the Turbo Dogs racing cars. He is idolized by GT and has a German accent.
Pit-Crew Dogs - A crew of small Schnauzer-type dogs who do the tire changing, fueling, and other pit work on the Turbo Dogs racing cars.
The Alstatian Aces - A sister trio of terriers with human hair and eyeglasses. Their names starts with "A".
The Globe and Mail
, Canada's national newspaper, says this about Turbo Dogs:
"This new cartoon takes the creativity ingenuity of the movie CARS and uses dogs instead. For many kids, the combination couldn't be better. Turbo Dogs is a glossy, computer animated toon based on the book Racer Dogs, by Bob Kolar. The series is full of verve, humour and parent-friendly messages about helping your friends and being a good sport. Turbo Dogs ends with its fourth season sometime in 2014."
The Hollywood Reporter
writes:
"Bottom Line: Going to the dogs is a good thing in this charming new animated series. The best thing about Turbo Dogs is its flawless animation, and the dogs all are charming in a loopy kind of way. It's all stuff kids will love, and the education they might get - how to behave in the world and find what's important - is an extra added canine attraction."
Qubo
Qubo is a multi-platform children's television specialty channel endeavor operated as a joint venture between ION Media Networks, NBCUniversal, Nelvana, Scholastic Corporation, and Classic Media...
and Kids' CBC
Kids' CBC
Kids' CBC is a preschool commercial-free programming block aired weekday mornings on CBC Television.Currently, the hosts of the block are Patty Sullivan and Sid Bobb.-History:...
. The show is based on the book Racer Dogs by Bob Kolar. The show premiered on October 3, 2008.
Premise
Canine friends Dash, Mags, Strut, Stinkbert, Clutch, and GT learn lessons in friendship, fair play, and teamwork as they pull together to protect their reputations as the fastest dogs in Racerville in the animated series adapted from Bob Kolar's book Racer Dogs.Characters
Beagle
The Beagle is a breed of small to medium-sized dog. A member of the Hound Group, it is similar in appearance to the Foxhound, but smaller, with shorter legs and longer, softer ears. Beagles are scent hounds, developed primarily for tracking hare, rabbit, and other game...
with a heart of a gold and a healthy spirit of competition. His colors are red
Red
Red is any of a number of similar colors evoked by light consisting predominantly of the longest wavelengths of light discernible by the human eye, in the wavelength range of roughly 630–740 nm. Longer wavelengths than this are called infrared , and cannot be seen by the naked eye...
and white
White
White is a color, the perception of which is evoked by light that stimulates all three types of color sensitive cone cells in the human eye in nearly equal amounts and with high brightness compared to the surroundings. A white visual stimulation will be void of hue and grayness.White light can be...
and his player number is 1 which is colored blue
Blue
Blue is a colour, the perception of which is evoked by light having a spectrum dominated by energy with a wavelength of roughly 440–490 nm. It is considered one of the additive primary colours. On the HSV Colour Wheel, the complement of blue is yellow; that is, a colour corresponding to an equal...
. His gloves have the same color as his number. He is also very tidy and neat. In one episode it was shown that Dash also has a large collection of racing memorabilia and model cars. He is voiced by Lyon Smith.
Mags - Mags, an American Cocker Spaniel
American Cocker Spaniel
The American Cocker Spaniel is a breed of sporting dog. It is a spaniel type dog that is closely related to the English Cocker Spaniel; the two breeds diverged during the 20th century due to differing breed standards in America and the UK...
, is the only female Turbo Dog. Her colors are purple
Purple
Purple is a range of hues of color occurring between red and blue, and is classified as a secondary color as the colors are required to create the shade....
and orange
Orange (colour)
The colour orange occurs between red and yellow in the visible spectrum at a wavelength of about 585–620 nm, and has a hue of 30° in HSV colour space. It is numerically halfway between red and yellow in a gamma-compressed RGB colour space, the expression of which is the RGB colour wheel. The...
, her player number is 2. She is responsible and cheerful, and often tends to be the voice of reason when things go awry. She also owns a pet hamster
Hamster
Hamsters are rodents belonging to the subfamily Cricetinae. The subfamily contains about 25 species, classified in six or seven genera....
named Lulu. When her helmet is off, she's revealed to have bangs and purple hairbands. She is voiced by Stacey DePass
Stacey DePass
Stacey DePass is a Canadian voice actress that lives in Toronto with her husband and fellow actor Jeremy Harris. She has starred in various animated television series.-Career:...
.
GT - GT is a bulldog
Bulldog
Bulldog is the name for a breed of dog commonly referred to as the English Bulldog. Other Bulldog breeds include the American Bulldog, Olde English Bulldogge and the French Bulldog. The Bulldog is a muscular heavy dog with a wrinkled face and a distinctive pushed-in nose...
that is an inventor and a mechanic. His colors are blue
Blue
Blue is a colour, the perception of which is evoked by light having a spectrum dominated by energy with a wavelength of roughly 440–490 nm. It is considered one of the additive primary colours. On the HSV Colour Wheel, the complement of blue is yellow; that is, a colour corresponding to an equal...
and white
White
White is a color, the perception of which is evoked by light that stimulates all three types of color sensitive cone cells in the human eye in nearly equal amounts and with high brightness compared to the surroundings. A white visual stimulation will be void of hue and grayness.White light can be...
and his player number is 3. It is said that GT can fix just about any car, and "could probably make an engine out of a leash and some empty dog food cans". He is voiced by Dan Petronijevic
Dan Petronijevic
Daniel Petronijevic is a Canadian actor, who performed the role Thad Guerwitcz on ESPN's football series Playmakers and is also the voice actor of Geoff in Total Drama Island, Total Drama Action, and Total Drama World Tour, a role which he had to sing for, and even got an entire solo song. He...
.
Strut - A dachshund
Dachshund
The dachshund is a short-legged, long-bodied dog breed belonging to the hound family. The standard size dachshund was bred to scent, chase, and flush out badgers and other burrow-dwelling animals, while the miniature dachshund was developed to hunt smaller prey such as rabbits...
, Strut makes up for his small size by making big plans, that sometimes backfire. His colors are blue
Blue
Blue is a colour, the perception of which is evoked by light having a spectrum dominated by energy with a wavelength of roughly 440–490 nm. It is considered one of the additive primary colours. On the HSV Colour Wheel, the complement of blue is yellow; that is, a colour corresponding to an equal...
and yellow
Yellow
Yellow is the color evoked by light that stimulates both the L and M cone cells of the retina about equally, with no significant stimulation of the S cone cells. Light with a wavelength of 570–590 nm is yellow, as is light with a suitable mixture of red and green...
and his player number is 5. His car has six tires unlike all the other cars. He is the only one of the Turbo Dogs who regularly uses his car's special apparatus to give him an unfair advantage during the races, however it usually ends up with him spinning out or crashing. He is voiced by Joris Jarsky
Joris Jarsky
Joris Jarsky , also known as Joris Jorsky, is a Canadian stage, film and television actor who has received recognition for being a versatile actor, and is known for his role as Marty Strickland in the series Vampire High....
.
Stinkbert - Stinkbert is a terrier
Terrier
A terrier is a dog of any one of many breeds or landraces of terrier type, which are typically small, wiry, very active and fearless dogs. Terrier breeds vary greatly in size from just a couple of pounds to over 70 pounds and are usually categorized by size or function...
who likes garbage. His colors are chartreuse
Chartreuse (color)
Chartreuse is a color halfway between yellow and green that was named because of its resemblance to the green color of one of the French liqueurs called green chartreuse, introduced in 1764...
and goldenrod
Goldenrod (color)
Goldenrod is a color that resembles the goldenrod plant.A Crayola crayon with this name and color, although a lighter version, was created in 1958.-Goldenrod:Displayed at right is the web color goldenrod....
and his player number is 6. He is shown to have a cheerful and relaxed personality. One of his talents is cooking. Stinkbert has a strong odor, which the other Turbo Dogs do their best to tolerate. While he appears to be grey in color, the occasional bath has shown his actual fur colour to be white. He is voiced by Hadley Kay
Hadley Kay
Hadley Kay is a Canadian-born voice actor who appeared in the first two Care Bears movies: as the voice of magician Nicholas in The Care Bears Movie and as the villain Dark Heart in Care Bears Movie II: A New Generation. He also voiced P.C...
.
Clutch - Clutch is a chocolate-colored Labrador
Labrador
Labrador is the distinct, northerly region of the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. It comprises the mainland portion of the province, separated from the island of Newfoundland by the Strait of Belle Isle...
who means well. He is usually the one who picks up the slack when the other Turbo Dogs need him. His colors are green
Green
Green is a color, the perception of which is evoked by light having a spectrum dominated by energy with a wavelength of roughly 520–570 nanometres. In the subtractive color system, it is not a primary color, but is created out of a mixture of yellow and blue, or yellow and cyan; it is considered...
and yellow
Yellow
Yellow is the color evoked by light that stimulates both the L and M cone cells of the retina about equally, with no significant stimulation of the S cone cells. Light with a wavelength of 570–590 nm is yellow, as is light with a suitable mixture of red and green...
and his player number is 7. Even though he is a bit clumsy at times, he can race with the best of them. He usually comes in fourth or fifth place with Strut and Stinkbert. His racer is a green and yellow sports car
Sports car
A sports car is a small, usually two seat, two door automobile designed for high speed driving and maneuverability....
. He is voiced by Peter Cugno.
Cam - A Beagle
Beagle
The Beagle is a breed of small to medium-sized dog. A member of the Hound Group, it is similar in appearance to the Foxhound, but smaller, with shorter legs and longer, softer ears. Beagles are scent hounds, developed primarily for tracking hare, rabbit, and other game...
who is the announcer for every race. He is usually seen on the large display screen on the side of his personal airship that he flies above the racetrack during races. He is voiced by Terry McGurrin
Terry McGurrin
Terry McGurrin is a Canadian actor and writer from Ottawa, Ontario.Terry is perhaps best known for doing the voice of Jonesy Garcia in the TV show 6teen. He has also done voices in TV shows such as Medabots and Stoked...
.
Ump - A German Shepherd
German Shepherd Dog
The German Shepherd Dog , also known as an Alsatian or just the German Shepherd, is a breed of large-sized dog that originated in Germany. The German Shepherd is a relatively new breed of dog, with its origin dating to 1899. As part of the Herding Group, the German Shepherd is a working dog...
, Ump is Racerville Raceway's track official. He is also the flagman for every race, and enforces the track rules. He is voiced by Ron Pardo
Ron Pardo
Ron Pardo is a Canadian actor, voice artist and impressionist, known for playing a wide variety of characters on the television show History Bites.-Life and Career:...
.
Five- A pizza delivery dog who is in charge in the Dog-Gone Pizzeria, Five is usually seen travelling on his pizza-delivery scooter. He got his name from his "five minutes or less" delivery policy. He is voiced by Joseph Motiki
Joseph Motiki
Joseph "Joe" Frederick Motiki is a Canadian television host and performer.Motiki was born and raised in Toronto, Ontario and graduated in 1995 from the Radio & Television Arts program at Ryerson University. While an undergraduate at Ryerson, Motiki beat out 350 hopefuls to become the host of What,...
.
The Chicken
Chicken
The chicken is a domesticated fowl, a subspecies of the Red Junglefowl. As one of the most common and widespread domestic animals, and with a population of more than 24 billion in 2003, there are more chickens in the world than any other species of bird...
- A chicken who attempts to cross the road/track
Why did the chicken cross the road?
"Why did the chicken cross the road?" is a common riddle or joke in several languages. The answer or punchline is: "To get to the other side". The riddle is an example of anti-humor, in that the curious setup of the joke leads the listener to expect a traditional punchline, but they are instead...
in every episode, and is usually costumed according to the theme of that particular segment. However, no matter how carefully he looks both ways, he is always narrowly missed by whoever is driving by and sent spinning to the other side of the road, dizzy, but unharmed.
Marlene - A spaniel who runs "Marlene's", the shop where the Turbo Dogs get their racing helmets and suits.
Officer Gruffer - A retriever who is the local highway patrol officer.
Zanner - A young dog who is one half of "the Howler Brothers", and is Dash's biggest fan. He wears a large, gold dog tag around his neck, blue pants, belt, and brown sandals. He likes playing golf, watching TV with his friend Dash, eating snacks, and hanging out with his best friend Fanner. Zanner is from Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Australia, and Ukraine.
Fanner - A small terrier who, along with Zanner, is the other half of "the Howler Brothers". He wears racing gloves and sometimes a cape to emulate his idols, the Turbo Dogs.
Rock Rally - A German Shepherd and Dash's idol, Rock is actually a movie-star who makes racing movies. Upon visiting the Turbo Dogs home track to make a new film, Dash is pressed into service to double for him in the driving scenes. Dash soon discovers that the reason for this is driving makes Rock "very nervous", and he doesn't do his own driving in his films.
Auntie Ratchet - Dash's aunt. A bright, extremely cheerful little dog who lives in the country, Auntie Ratchet is an inventor and former racer with a surprising number of skills, which she demonstrates.
Wrenchini – Wrenchini is the local master mechanic and garage owner who obtains parts and occasionally works on or modifies the Turbo Dogs racing cars. He is idolized by GT and has a German accent.
Pit-Crew Dogs - A crew of small Schnauzer-type dogs who do the tire changing, fueling, and other pit work on the Turbo Dogs racing cars.
The Alstatian Aces - A sister trio of terriers with human hair and eyeglasses. Their names starts with "A".
Reception
Turbo Dogs has won the 2009 US iParenting Media Award for Best Product in the television category.The Globe and Mail
The Globe and Mail
The Globe and Mail is a nationally distributed Canadian newspaper, based in Toronto and printed in six cities across the country. With a weekly readership of approximately 1 million, it is Canada's largest-circulation national newspaper and second-largest daily newspaper after the Toronto Star...
, Canada's national newspaper, says this about Turbo Dogs:
"This new cartoon takes the creativity ingenuity of the movie CARS and uses dogs instead. For many kids, the combination couldn't be better. Turbo Dogs is a glossy, computer animated toon based on the book Racer Dogs, by Bob Kolar. The series is full of verve, humour and parent-friendly messages about helping your friends and being a good sport. Turbo Dogs ends with its fourth season sometime in 2014."
The Hollywood Reporter
The Hollywood Reporter
Formerly a daily trade magazine, The Hollywood Reporter re-launched in late 2010 as a unique hybrid publication serving the entertainment industry and a consumer audience...
writes:
"Bottom Line: Going to the dogs is a good thing in this charming new animated series. The best thing about Turbo Dogs is its flawless animation, and the dogs all are charming in a loopy kind of way. It's all stuff kids will love, and the education they might get - how to behave in the world and find what's important - is an extra added canine attraction."