*This post was written by me on behalf of 20th Century Fox and DreamWorks Animation. All opinions are 100% mine.
This past week I had the pleasure of interviewing David Soren, the Director/Screenwriter of Turbo the movie. Before our interview, I did a little background research on his accomplishments and I was very impressed to find out that he directed “Merry Madagascar” the first animated holiday television special starring the beloved quartet of Central Park Zoo animals from Madagascar and Madagascar: Escape to Africa. Seeing as how this is one of my sons’ favorite animated films, I knew that I was in for a real treat being able to speak to him about what inspired him to create these films.
Soren joined DreamWorks Animation after graduating from Sheridan College, located near his hometown of Toronto, Canada. His latest project, Turbo, raced into theaters on July 17th in 3D. It features the story of a snail named Turbo who aspires to win the Indy 500 despite the fact that the odds are against him because snails are traditionally not associated with being fast. It is a feel good underdog story where viewers are taught the importance of persevering in order to accomplish goals and not give up on personal dreams.
When I watched Turbo with my sons at the screening, one of the things that struck me was the fact that the characters in the film were ethnically diverse and multicultural. During my interview of David Soren, I asked him if he deliberately considered creating such diverse characters when he was conceptualizing the film. His response was that it was definitely something that he was striving for when he was casting the film and even designing the characters.
In his opinion, having culturally diverse characters is a rarity in animated movies and it was important to him to especially create human characters that were a real reflection of the audiences viewing them. He stated that diversity has always been something that he has admired in the world around him, especially having come from Toronto which is considered a big melting pot of cultures. Additionally, he wanted the characters to reflect the people in the city of LA since the storyline is set there.
Make sure you check out Turbo the movie in a theater near you. You can also like Turbo on Facebook and follow on Twitter to find out all about how a little snail learns a valuable lesson which is that we all need somebody sometime to help us achieve our dreams!
Disclosure: I was invited to interview David Soren and review Turbo the Movie as a member of the media. There was no other compensation for writing this post and all opinions expressed are 100% my own.
© 2013, Tough Cookie Mommy. All rights reserved.
I’ve been hearing a lot about this movie and it sounds so cute that I want to see it. I enjoyed reading more about the movie and David Soren
We love the movie and my husband chuckled several times, which is rare.
I haven’t gotten to see this one yet but reading your interview made me want to see it even more!
We haven’t seen this yet, but my kids have been playing the video game all week 😉 I, myself, am looking forward to this one. Great to hear that the characters are diverse. That is very rare for an animated picture and I think oit makes this one even more worth seeing.
Looks like a cute movie! Taking my son to see it this weekend 🙂
This looks like an adorable film. I have seen a couple of the commercials for it.
Oooh, we can’t wait to see this movie. It looks so cute. Thanks for the great interview, too!
Great interview! My girls can’t wait to see this! Honestly, I can’t wait either. 🙂
Great cast! Would love to see this movie with my kids.