Turbo Dogs is a Canadian/New Zealander animated Preschool Show based on the children's picture book Racer Dogs by kids' author Bob Kolar. It was produced by Canada's CCI Entertainment (previously known for such series as Eckhart, Erky Perky, and Harry and His Bucket Full of Dinosaurs) and New Zealand's Huhu Studios.
Set in a World of Funny Animals, Turbo Dogs follows six canine friends - Dash, Mags, GT, Strut, Stinkbert, and Clutch - who have earned their eponymous collective title due to their reputation as the fastest dogs around. Whether it be around their hometown of Racerville or at the local vehicle track, the Turbo Dogs are all united by their love of racing vehicles at high speeds. And as they work together to withhold their reputations as racers and find things to do around their favorite hangout spots, the Turbo Dogs learn important lessons about friendship, teamwork, and good sportsmanship.
The show ran for a single season of 26 episodes between October 3, 2008 and May 4, 2011. It aired on Kids' CBC in Canada and Qubo in the United States.
Turbo Dogs provides examples of:
- All-CGI Cartoon: Done entirely in 3D animation, in contrast to the original book's paper cutout-style 2D illustrations, which are distinctive of Bob Kolar's work.
- Animated Adaptation: Of Bob Kolar's book Racer Dogs
. - Expository Theme Tune: The show's theme song "Let's Go, Turbo Dogs!" explains all you need to know about the show.
- Fully-Dressed Cartoon Animal: All of the dogs wear clothes.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: only two major instances, both of them being Stinkbert.
- In "Stink Positive", after learning that his signature stench was the reason a surprise party he planned for Clutch went lopsided to start, Stinkbert sadly leaves and announces that he's taking a bath. This shocks the other Turbo Dogs, who pass it off as mishearing him until they see that he was good on his word the following morning, where both Stinkbert and his car are clean and pristine.
- In "Everyone's a Winner", Stinkbert decides to quit racing for good after losing one-too many races, a decision which shocks not only the other Turbo Dogs, but everyone else around town.
- The Engineer: GT is this for the Turbo Dogs.
- The Klutz: Clutch is known for his clumsiness.
- The Pigpen: Stinkbert, as his name suggests, isn't the cleanest guy around, especially given his love for garbage.
- Sliding Scale of Animal Communication: In this show, only dogs can talk.
- The Smurfette Principle: Mags is the only female in the group.
- Stealth Pun: One of the show's recurring characters was a chicken that crossed the road, a play on the "Why did the chicken cross the road?" joke.
- World of Funny Animals: All the characters are anthropomorphic animals.
- You Need a Breath Mint:
- The episode "Turbo Toothache" has GT eating part of an onion in an attempt to soothe his sore tooth. After that doesn't work, Strut comes along and asks him to open his mouth so he can see what's wrong. You can see where this is going.
- Earlier in "Stink Positive", Stinkbert blows up a balloon and gives it to Dash, advising him not to let it pop. Dash quickly plugs his nose and groans, saying he "wouldn't dream of it."
