''Team Hot Wheels'' is a series of

animated Animation is a method by which still figures are manipulated to appear as moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Today, most ani ...

movies by Mattel Playground Productions, Titmouse for the second to fourth films and

Mercury Filmworks Mercury Filmworks is a Canadian independent animation studio based in Ottawa, Ontario. The studio was originally founded in Vancouver by Clint Eland, the current CEO, in 1997. Mercury Filmworks has produced animated television series and feature ...

for the first film. Based on Mattel's

Hot Wheels Hot Wheels is an American brand of scale model cars introduced by American toymaker Mattel in 1968. It was the primary competitor of Matchbox until 1997, when Mattel bought Tyco Toys, then owner of Matchbox. Many automobile manufacturers h ...

toyline, the franchise currently consists of four features released through a multitude of distribution platforms. All were directed by

Matt Danner Matthew Thomas Danner (born June 30, 1981) is an American animator, screenwriter, storyboard artist, director, producer and voice actor. His credits include work on '' The Ripping Friends'', '' ¡Mucha Lucha!'', '' The Looney Tunes Show'', '' X ...

. The first film, ''The Origin of Awesome'', debuted in 660 theatres through a Fathom Events screening in the United States on June 7 and 8, 2014. It was later released on home video by

Universal Studios Home Entertainment Universal Pictures Home Entertainment (formerly Universal Studios Home Entertainment, Universal Studios Home Video, MCA/Universal Home Video, MCA Home Video, MCA Videodisc and MCA Videocassette, Inc.) is the home video distribution division of Am ...

and aired on

Cartoon Network Cartoon Network (often abbreviated as CN) is an American cable television channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. It is a part of The Cartoon Network, Inc., a division that also has the broadcasting and production activities of Boomerang, ...

. The first act was distributed as a 22-minute special on

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a ...

on February 3, 2014. The second film, ''The Skills to Thrill'', and the third (chronologically fourth) film, ''Build the Epic Race!'', debuted exclusively on Netflix on August 17 and October 5, 2015, respectively. Following their broadcast of the earlier films in 22-minute multi-part formats, KidsClick debuted a fourth special, ''Search for the 5th Driver!'' on October 28, 2017.

Cast and Characters

Gage Green (voiced by

Grant George Grant George is an American voice actor who is known for voicing characters in anime dubs and video games. George is best known as the voice of Izuru Kira from the internationally acclaimed ''Bleach'' anime series, the Warrior of Light from ''F ...

) is the leader of Team Hot Wheels. He drives in his Twin Mill, that is until it was destroyed by the Road Pirates and currently drives the Twinduction at the end of "Build the Epic Race!". He has a constant fear of hamsters, as being revealed in "The Skills to Thrill!", and loves to go fast. Gage's catchphrase is "It always comes down to speed.", which is also his motto in "The Origin of Awesome!". He is also the son of Mr. Green, who makes an appearance debut in the second film as well. His mother was also mentioned in the second film, respectively, but she didn't make an appearance in any of the films. Brandon (voiced by

Ben Diskin Benjamin Isaac Diskin (born August 25, 1982) is an American actor who was affiliated in Studiopolis, Bang Zoom!, SDI Media, Funimation, VSI Los Angeles, and NYAV Post. Early life Diskin was born in Los Angeles County, California to a Jewish fami ...

) is the brains of Team Hot Wheels. He drives in his Quick n' Sik, that is until it was destroyed by the Road Pirates and currently drives the Fast 4WD at the end of "Build the Epic Race!". Brandon's catchphrase is "Brandon likey!", and his Quick n' Sik has amazing in-car technology like the Vacu-Suck, and auto-pilot in "The Origin of Awesome!", a plunger, a cloning device, a power drill, and emergency crabo hands in "The Skills to Thrill!", and also super boost, spiral saws, hands, a sword, a force field, a broom, slick-proof tires, and rocket tires and also used the same plunger in "Build the Epic Race!" as well. However, the Fast 4WD also comes up with rocket tires and a tennis racket, too. Rhett (voiced by David Lodge) is the funny guy of Team Hot Wheels. He drives in his Bone Shaker, that is until it was destroyed by the Road Pirates and currently drives the Surf Crate at the end of "Build the Epic Race!". Rhett's catchphrase is "I'm okay!", and in both "The Origin of Awesome!" and "The Skills to Thrill!", it has been revealed that he can relax his chi, and do karate. He also has a mother, who makes her only appearance in the second film, respectively. Wyatt (voiced by Nicolas Roye) is the cool guy of Team Hot Wheels that speaks in a

Southern drawl A drawl is a perceived feature of some varieties of spoken English and generally indicates slower, longer vowel sounds and diphthongs. The drawl is often perceived as a method of speaking more slowly and may be erroneously attributed to laziness ...

. He's the driver of his Baja Truck a.k.a. Jump Truck by Wyatt himself, that is until it was destroyed by the Road Pirates and currently drives the Land Crusher at the end of "Build the Epic Race!". Wyatt's catchphrase is "Wyatt-style, baby!", and his Baja Truck can jump on the top on one building to another. Wyatt is the only member of Team Hot Wheels to be raised by his grandmother, Gammy Gram, due to the fact that none of his parents have appeared in all of the films, nor being mentioned in them either. However, Wyatt-style is an awesome stunt that he came up with, which is that in "Build the Epic Race!", he accidentally caused some destruction to the Epic Race Press Conference, and after Wyatt quits the team, Monkey replaced him, which is actually a part of the Road Pirates' plan, that is until Wyatt rejoined the team as a member, with Monkey being the newest member at the end of the film.

Films

Reception

Writing for

Common Sense Media Common Sense Media (CSM) is an organization that reviews and provides ratings for media and technology with the goal of providing information on their suitability for children.

, Renee Schonfeld praised the first film's character focus, comedy and animation and gave the film four stars out of five. Brian Costello, who reviewed the second and third films for the outlet, was far less positive, summing up both features as "nothing more than a 45-minute Hot Wheels commercial" and awarding them with a one star rating.

References

External links

Team Hot Wheels: The Origin of Awesome! (2014)
at

Internet Movie Database IMDb (an abbreviation of Internet Movie Database) is an online database of information related to films, television series, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and personal biographies, ...

Team Hot Wheels: The Skills to Thrill (2015)
at

Team Hot Wheels: Build the Epic Race (2015)
at

{{Hot Wheels Hot Wheels Fictional racing drivers Direct-to-video animated films Films based on Mattel toys KidsClick 2010s American animated films American auto racing films Animated films about auto racing Television series by Mattel Television

Cast and Characters

Films

Reception

See also

References

External links