Animation fans are in for some disappointments this month, with three big Dreamworks movies leaving Netflix throughout September. First, Turbo will disappear from the catalog on Saturday, Sept. 11, then Kung Fu Panda and Kung Fu Panda 2 will leave on Thursday, Sept. 30. Now is the time to get your fill of these children’s classics.
Netflix has announced all of its additions coming in September, and all of its departures as well. It’s going to be a tough month for fans of Dreamworks pictures, which created all three of the big titles listed above. Fans can at least rest assured that the spinoffs are staying put — the Netflix original series Turbo Fast, Kung Fu Panda: Awesome Secrets Collection and Kung Fu Panda: Secrets of the Scroll will all still be available when the month is over. For the main titles, time is running out.
For those unfamiliar, Turbo came out in 2013, and it stars Ryan Reynolds as a garden snail with big dreams of becoming the fastest snail alive. He resides in Los Angeles, California in an ordinary tomato garden, where he sets out to become the greatest racer of all time. Sadly, the other snails are far more cautious than he is, so his dreams are often mocked.
Other stars of the movie include Paul Giamatti, Michael Peña, Snoop Dogg, Maya Rudolph, Michelle Rodriguez and Samuel L. Jackson. It was direct and co-written by David Soren, who shares screenplay credit with Darren Lemke and Rober Siegel. The movie was considered a general success at the time, and now that nearly a decade has passed since its release, its legacy is being put to the test.
Meanwhile, Kung Fu Panda debuted in 2008 starring Jack Black as Po, a clumsy but enthusiastic giant panda with an urge to learn all the martial arts he can. All the characters are anthropomorphic animals native to China, including the red panda Master Shifu (Dustin Hoffman), Master Tigress (Angelina Jolie), Master Mantis (Seth Rogen), Master Viper (Lucy Liu), Master Crane (David Cross), Master Monkey (Jackie Chan) and the snow leopard Tai Lung (Ian McShane).
Kung Fu Panda was successful enough to earn two sequels in addition to the spinoffs listed above. The third movie is not on Netflix now and will not be added even as the other two are leaving.
At the time of this writing, Turbo is not streaming anywhere except Netflix, so if you miss the Sept. 11 deadline you’ll need to buy or rent it on a digital store. Kung Fu Panda is also streaming on Peacock for now, while Kung Fu Panda 2 is streaming on Peacock and on IMDbTV, where it is shown with ads.