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Netflix gives 'Fast and Furious' the cartoon treatment it deserves

It's not as far-fetched as it seems.

With eight feature releases and a couple of short films, the Fast and Furious franchise has worked its way into the public consciousness. When you think about it, though, while the films are rated PG-13, the core concept is pretty kid-friendly: fast cars and one-liners abound. It doesn't hurt that it's also the sixth-highest-grossing film series of all time. That's probably why Netflix and DreamWorks are bringing the concept to the small screen as an animated series.

The collaboration is part of a five-year relationship that has already brought 14 animated kids and family programming to Netfix based on DreamWorks properties, like Guillermo del Toro's DreamWorks Trollhunters, DreamWorks Spirit Riding Free (there's a naming convention here) and All Hail King Julien. There are an additional four planned series coming this year, as well.

The new Fast & Furious animated series will revolve around Tony Toretto, a teen who follows in the footsteps of his cousin Dom (played by Vin Diesel in the movies). Tony is recruited by a government agency to infiltrate an elite racing league bent on world domination, which sounds about as plausible as anything in the live-action flicks. "We are thrilled to take our fantastic partnership with DreamWorks Animation to the next level with new opportunities from the vast library of Universal Pictures," said Netflix's VP of Kids and Family, Melissa Cobb in a statement. "The Fast & Furious franchise is a global phenomenon beloved by audiences of all ages, and we can't wait to get started on the new animated series that will capture the action, heart, humor and global appeal of the feature films."