First Look at Nickelodeon Ninja Turtles

I actually like the title Ninja Turtles. I was a fan of the name "TMNT" used for 2007 and Ninja Turtles sounds good. Otherwise I have no faith in this. The Nickelodeon series looks like pure utter expletive dee-leeted.

TMNT is unique, in that the revivals didn't screw everything up. I've hated most the Transformers revival cartoons and don't even acknowledge the existence of the Michael Bay movies. TMNT 2003 and the 2007 film I thought were astonishingly good.

TMNT the cartoon got really goofy, and TMNT 2 and 3 movies were terrible(yes I thought they were terrible even when I saw them as a kid)

But the original TMNT film...I dont know if its because it was filmed in the fall of 1989 and just hit at the right time, the involvement of JHC, the dark tone and vision...or just everything, but the 1990 TMNT I still consider one of the best movies I've ever seen(and Ive seen thousands)

Btw, you mentioned Green Lantern. The problem with that film was it was made. Nothing about that movie looked appealing. Even most Marvel films look avoidable.

And when it comes to remakes, just see the trailer to the new Total Recall to see how all the magic and point is zapped in these sterile reboot/remakes

Hunger Games...is that the new Twilight franchise girls are going gaga for?

Live action series.

I said it.

There are a lot of blotches on the TMNT's record, most of them just side marketing things from the old series... that horrible first video game, really stupid easy reader books, those terrible, terrible concert videos (though Pizza Power is a pretty enjoyable song). But the live action series, which if Shout releases, I'll give a second look into... but the live action series ruined all its potential because of the network and really, really stupid decisions made about a much better second season that didn't exist.

I only need to say Venus. Now the thought of a female Turtle was considered Pre-fan fiction by girls ticked off that there wasn't a fifth member that was female, like them. The show quickly proved why they were wrong. No one wants a fifth Turtle anymore than a fourth Stooge or Laurel, Hardy and some other guy. The fact that she was personality devoid only added to the mess. She was added ONLY for the completely hypocritical reasoning that all boys shows have to have positive female role models when girls cartoons mostly

1. have nothing or need nothing to appeal to boys
2. have bimbos or otherwise vapid characters anyway.

The problem is, April O'Neil (the positive female role model in every TMNT version there is... though, frankly a better one in 2k3) didn't come in till the second season, which never got produced because the show was shockingly a hit, but not so much of a hit that it justified the high budget.

There are a lot of wonky episodes in both 87 and 2k3 (especially the last season with Lord Dregg and the seasons where the toy company screwed them around respectively), but nothing as bad as adding a female turtle with no personality to screw up the dynamic.

Even then, the live action one cost the turtles 7 years.

It's weird that people would complain about the lack of the "Teenage Mutant" in the title. Back in 2007, who the heck knew what a "TMNT" was? The movie made some bank and proved that audiences know the characters without needing the title shoved down their throats.

It didn't hurt that a high rated cartoon series based on them was on at the time. It got a lot of the younger TMNT watching audience in those seats. Too bad Meet the Robinsons (a good movie in its own right) came out like a week after and crushed the rest of it's potential.

Too bad they didn't come to a good consensus for a sequel... not that it wouldn't have been put on perminant hiatus like everything else Imagi was making before idiotic management decisions forced the studio to go bankrupt and close down. But somehow, it seems that if that second movie happened, Laird probably wouldn't have sold TMNT to Nick.

Yeah, freaking Imagi. I wonder how much of Gatchaman was done? Imagi was very high quality stuff I believe, which is more than I can say for a lot of non Pixar cgi film companies.

For me and many other diehard TMNT fans, they're dead. The Nick show from the previews looks like crap(remember the style shown in the 2d illustrations in the Nintendo Power TMNT cover from late 2008? that shoulda been the style) Thats like late 90's looking cgi from the previews.

HEH! Bay's Abomination has been production blocked!

I hope this means they're going to redo the film with ANOTHER production company... even if it's just a 90 minute episode of the new series theatrically.

If Paramount WANTS a TMNT movie franchise, they need to do it right. They need films that build up to something. Something that starts with Baxter Stockman, leading to a Shredder story. And NO alien Turtles... alien chemical runoff YES... Alien Turtles NO.

Thank goodness the nightmare has been delayed.

Unfortunately, we still have the abortion known as Nickelodeon TMNT

I'm keeping an open mind on that one. I don't care for the look or Tweenage April, but I'd have to actually see an episode to really judge the program. There are a LOT of shows I didn't care much for the look of, but I found enjoyable. Especially CGI ones.

Still, there's not enough for me to go on to reject this project as of yet.

Did you see that quote from Bay in the article?

Why does that almost sound like a threat? Lol. Just kidding. But seriously though, I'm having flashbacks to an old episode of Transformers where the Autobots go to Hollywood and are forced to play stunt cars in pointless explosion scenes because a clueless director doesn't recognize their acting potential. Kind of eerie when you think about it, lol.

How could I miss it? It's plastered all over every article about it ever. Jeez. That's the problem. Bay has the tastes of a slow witted 10 year old. No wonder why he's a bad director. 10 year olds shouldn't direct films.

I resign myself to the fact that, like everything else in the Transformers mythology, it's basically to sell toys. But Hasbro was so much smarter then. The marketing department came up with a complex and amazing back story for essentially mismatched, yet similar, toylines from another country, and built a whole world through comic books and animation.

Bay clearly can't make up his mind if he's making a Transformers movie or a G.I. Joe movie. There was NO call to give the whole thing an Afghan War tie in. No wonder why Battleship was against alien forces. They wanted to have an upbeat, uber patriotic message that doesn't make itself look like pro-war propaganda. That's "liberal" Hollywood for you.

Hopefully the movie will get made, but with a different staff. I like how Peter Laird defended the movie at first, then basically said he hated the idea, but it was out of his hands.

But lemme tell you this. The TMNT franchise went through some real crap before Nick bought them out. And not because of 4Kids, it's the ONE thing those guys did right... they're so bad at business, it's no wonder they're bankrupt. Playmates kept CONSTANTLY meddling in the series. After all, they wanted to sell toys. Other than the fact they flooded the market with idiotic variants (they had some germane to the cartoon series, but shelved and retooled them), they screwed up the production by forcing Fast Forward before the 5th season (which was toyetic in its own right), and then dumping Fast Forward because the toys didn't sell. Mainly because they cam,e out just before the movie line and they were desperate to dump stock to make way for it. They pushed the movie toys hard with even dumber variants, all the while trying to get another TMNT series off the ground. We got the transition series, Back to the Sewers (after 2 really bad ideas and one really good idea that would have better worked as a reboot), and because Playmates pretty much gave up on TMNT toys at that point (after raising a stink that NECA was making TMNT anniversary figures, designing their own, and NOT releasing them), they jumped abord the hilarious failure of a Terminator Salvation franchise and Star Trek toys that yet to have been fully cleared out. And we had a whole year of nothing to look forward to, and Nick bought the license then and there.

Not to mention the problems with the TMNT movie follow up. The studio wanted a dopey comedy movie, and Laird wanted none of that. They couldn't come to a consensus with the script, the license expired... and it was for the best, because the state Imagi was in, we wouldn't have got it anyway.

Hasbro did manage to create a very rich franchise, despite itself, heh.

I think it came down to them struggling for plot points. That happens when you put all your energy into the visuals, hehe.

I have to admit that I'm just far, FAR more close to TMNT, and I really didn't get into Transformers until I was older and appreciated action cartoons. That was when I was in college. But the story behind the creation of the Transformers franchise is fascinating. After all, we have to get the kids to want to buy a bunch of robots that transform, basically recycled Japanese toys... and they came up with a compelling story and mythos for them.

Bay's movies are just 10 year old making up his own story with no real plot or direction. But the difference is, it's cute when a kid does that.

Yeah I'm late to the game as well. My friend did show me the original cartoon movie in college and that was interesting but I didn't remember a lot afterward, except for the "Dare to Be Stupid" scene, kind of unforgettable, lol. I was pretty hostile towards the Bay movies and how they were a reflection of what's gone wrong with cinema. But someone suggested I check out the original series and I was surprised about how much I enjoyed it. I think it was a relief to see something a little more fresh-faced and optimistic, certainly compared to the Bay movies (ironic since '80s cartoons were always been labeled "too violent," lol).

80's cartoons were a start of things to come in the 90's. There was some violence in 80's action cartoons (being someone who watched 1970's Super Friends and found it quaint, that's not a bad thing) that really helped set the stage for the groundbreaking Batman The Animated series, and Super Hero/comic book based cartoon series in the future.

We're a far cry from the lame 1970's era of giant rock creatures/robots tossing other giant rock creatures/robots being the only action in a supposed action cartoon.

Personally, I LOVE the scene where the Decepticons are drunk...



And I thought the 90's was when they started slipping crap by the censors.

As for the new TMNT series, I'm sure they're going to show something at Comic Con that will be leaked all over the internet. Then I can make a decision.

However, I'm VERY happy with the IDW comic book series. And it's keeping true to its original roots while incorporating some concepts of all the other versions of TMNT. Look who's going to be Re-introduced into the comics in September.

THAT'S the version they should animate. Or the Archie version.

The Trailer has been released

I still can't make up a decision about this one. There's still too little to go on, but they gave Mikey back his nunchucks and Don back his bo staff...

I sorta like the design and sorta don't... I dunno. I want to see a full episode before I make judgement on this. I'm not sure, but it doesn't look terrible as of yet. I'm cautiously optimistic and a little intrigued about this series. Very cautious. I just don't think I'd like it much as the 2k3 or original series yet. Time will tell...

Lol, yeah I know it's perfect. Btw how does Soundwave drink his Energon? ; )

I'll be honest, that animation kinda creeps me out. Like the way claymation used to, lol.

It wasn't the first time they attempted a CGI TMNT Cartoon.



If anything, the new series just has 10 years more of technology. I do like that CGI version of Splinter better than the one they're planning... and heck, better than the 2k7 movie Splinter, too.

I am a HUGE TMNT fan and well, I have some hope in the new series, but here are my only hang ups:

-Leo's voice: Its not commanding or encouraging enough, he doesn't sound like him, so, I hope he at least acts like him D: (he's my favorite turtle, so, he better be radical!)

-Donny's gap tooth is NOT cute, or anything...its just dumb and is an insult to Donatello and his brainyness

-Tween April, she's supposed to be an adult; also, she's like a sister/mother figure to the turtles, its not weird for regular April to hang around with them! (thats Nickolodeon's reasoning behind making April a tween)

-No Casey Jones? I get some people hate him, but, I'm not one of those people. He's Raph's best bud and he BELONGS with April!


What gives me hope:

-Mikey&Donny got their correct weapons back!

-Mikey is still Mikey

-RAPH <3, Raph is perfect, he's still the same bad as heck turtle and his voice is perfect!

So, I'm not super happy, but, I am hopeful