Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2014) Synopsis. Darkness has settled over New York City as Shredder and his evil Foot Clan have an iron grip on everything from the police to the politicians. The future is grim until four unlikely outcast brothers rise from the sewers and discover their destiny. Read Full Synopsis. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is a movie that takes its characters and its premise seriously, until it doesn't, and that operates at two speeds: tortoise (ponderous) and hare (head-spinning).
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is a 2014 American superhero film based on the fictional superhero team of the same name. It is the fifth film in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles film series and the first in the reboot series. It features the main characters portrayed by a new cast, and stars Megan Fox, Will Arnett, William Fichtner, Danny Woodburn, Abby Elliott, Noel Fisher, Jeremy Howard, Pete Ploszek, Alan Ritchson and Tohoru Masamune, as well as the voices of Johnny Knoxville and Tony Shalhoub. The film was directed by Jonathan Liebesman and written by Josh Appelbaum, André Nemec and Evan Daugherty. The film was announced shortly before Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles co-creator Peter Laird sold the rights to the characters to Nickelodeon in October 2009.
The film was released on August 8, 2014,[6] and received generally negative reviews from critics for the plot and lack of character development. However, it was a box office success, earning $493 million on a $125â150 million budget and becoming the highest-grossing film of the series. A sequel, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows, was released on June 3, 2016.[7][8]
Plot[edit]
April O'Neil, a local reporter for Channel 6 Eyewitness News in New York City, investigates a crime wave by a group of criminals called the Foot Clan. At a dock at night, she sees the Foot raiding cargo containers. After an unseen vigilante attacks the thieves, April notices a symbol left behind. April's supervisor Bernadette Thompson and her coworkers are oblivious to her story. Later while covering a charity event thrown by Sacks Industries, April expresses gratitude to the company's CEO Eric Sacks, who was her late father's lab partner.
Frustrated by the vigilante, the Foot Clan's leader Shredder has the Foot Soldiers take hostages at a subway station in order to draw him out. April, at the scene, becomes a hostage herself. Four mysterious figures arrive, take out the Clan, and free the hostages. April follows them to a rooftop and is shocked to see that the vigilantes are anthropomorphic mutant turtles, causing her to pass out. When she regains consciousness, they advise her not to tell anyone of them. As they leave, April hears Raphael and Leonardo's names.
April returns to her apartment and remembers 'Project Renaissance', her father's science experiment, which involved four turtles named Leonardo, Donatello, Michelangelo, Raphael, and a mutated rat called Splinter. Unable to convince Bernadette of the Turtles' existence, April is dismissed. Her coworker Vern Fenwick drives her to Sacks' estate where she confides in him about her discovery. Sacks believes her and reveals that he and April's father had been experimenting on a mutagen created to cure disease, which was thought lost in the fire that killed her dad.
At Splinter's behest, the Turtles bring April to their sewer lair. Splinter explains April had saved them all from the fire and freed them into the sewers. The mutagen caused the five of them to grow and develop humanoid attributes. Splinter took on the role of their father, using April's father as an example. After finding a book on Ninjutsu in a storm drain, he proceeded to teach himself, then the Turtles, in the fighting style. When April reveals she told Sacks about her discovery of the Turtles, Splinter informs her that Sacks turned on her father and killed him.
Then, Shredder and the Foot Soldiers attack the lair, defeating Splinter and incapacitating Raphael while the other Turtles are captured. April comes out of hiding and she and Raphael plan to save the others. At Sacks' estate, he has the Turtles' blood drained in order to create an antidote to a deadly virus that Sacks hopes to flood New York with, believing he will become rich from people seeking his cure. Raphael, April, and Vern storm the estate and free the other Turtles. The group then escapes the compound in pursuit of Sacks.
On a radio tower in the city, Sacks and Shredder plant a device that will flood the city with the virus while Sacks is preparing to convert the mutagen to healing factor. April and Vern subdue Sacks in the lab, while the Turtles are battling Shredder on the roof. During the fight, the tower's support beams collapse. As the turtles try to keep it from falling and infecting the city, April confronts Shredder with the mutagen. In the struggle, the tower collapses and the Turtles pull April onto it with them, while Shredder falls to the street and is captured by the police. Believing they are about to die, the Turtles confess their secrets, while Raphael gives an impassioned speech of his love for his brothers before they land harmlessly on the street. They vanish before the humans find them and return to the sewers, where they give Splinter the mutagen and he begins to recover.
Sometime later, April meets with Vern, who tries and fails to ask her on a date. The Turtles appear in a special modified 'Turtle Van', and Michelangelo accidentally blows up Vern's new car with a rocket. As police respond to the explosion, the Turtles leave, but not before Mikey tries to serenade April with 'Happy Together' by the band The Turtles, much to his brothers' annoyance and April's amusement.
Cast[edit]Voice actors and motion-capture[edit]
Live-action actors[edit]
Production[edit]Development[edit]
In October 2009, following the news of Nickelodeon purchasing all of Mirage's rights to the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles property, it was announced that Nickelodeon would produce a new film through corporate sibling Paramount Pictures with an expected release date sometime in 2012.[10] In late May 2010, it was announced that Paramount and Nickelodeon had brought Michael Bay and his Platinum Dunes partners Bradley Fuller and Andrew Form on to produce the next film that will reboot the film series. Bay, Fuller, and Form would produce alongside Walker and Mednick.[11] For the script, the studio originally hired Art Marcum and Matt Holloway to write the film for close to a million dollars. According to TMNT co-creator Kevin Eastman, the John Fusco version was a little too edgy for what Paramount wanted.[12] A year later, the studio turned to writers Josh Appelbaum and André Nemec to rewrite the script.[13][14] In February 2012, Jonathan Liebesman began negotiations to direct the film, beating out Brett Ratner.[15] Later in March, it was announced that Paramount had pushed back the film's release date to Christmas Day 2013.[16] In early March 2012, Bay revealed at Nickelodeon's 2012 upfront presentation that the film will be simply titled Ninja Turtles and that the turtles would be 'from an alien race'.[17][18] News of Bay's creative change was met with criticism from within the fan community.[19]
In response to the announcement, actor Robbie Rist, who voiced Michelangelo in the first three films, wrote to Bay accusing him of 'sodomizing' the franchise. Rist later remarked that he could have been out of line since Bay makes more money than he does.[20] In response to the feedback, Bay issued a statement asking fans to calm down since a script had not been revealed, his team was working closely with the creators, and would include all the elements that made them fans to begin with.[21] Both Brian Tochi, who voiced Leonardo in the first three films, and Judith Hoag, who played April O'Neil in the first film, have voiced their support towards the creative change.[22] TMNT co-creator Peter Laird expressed his thoughts on the change asking fans to take Bay's advice and wait until more of Bay's plan is made available. Laird also stated that he felt the 'ill-conceived plan' could be a 'genius notion,' as it would allow fans to have the multitude of bipedal anthropomorphic turtles that they have been asking for. He would point out that while the concept of a turtle-planet backstory made for a great run-of-the-mill science fiction story, it had no real place in the Ninja Turtles universe.[23]
Franchise's co-creator Kevin Eastman stated that he had been invited behind the scenes of the film, and concluded that he was officially on board with the project and that, although he could not say much, he believes it to be 'awesome'.[24] Via Twitter, Corey Feldman, who voiced Donatello in the first and third films, voiced his support for the film saying that he loves Bay's remakes and he is eager to reprise his role.[25] In response to the backlash, Liebesman stated that he was glad to hear about the fans' response, since he and Eastman had been locked in a room working on ideas that, from his own perspective as a fan, everybody would love.[26] While he would not confirm whether or not Bay's comment did represent the film's premise, he did stress on the ooze itself and its background in the original comic, reminding that the ooze was the product of alien technology. In regards to how the Turtles would be rendered, Liebesman would not say exactly what visual direction would be taken, but he did state that he enjoyed Weta Digital's work in Rise of the Planet of the Apes. He also pointed out that the film would not be exclusively about action but will also focus on brotherhood, friendship, and responsibility.[27]
In late March 2012, Bay posted on his website explaining the title change and stressing that nothing had changed regarding the Turtles. He stated the reason the title was shortened was a request by Paramount to make the title 'simple'. He continued that the Turtles were the same as fans remember and regardless of the title change they still act like teenagers. He urged everyone to give everybody who was involved a chance, as they had the fans interest at top priority and would not let anybody down.[28] On June 12, 2012, Eastman revealed some of the things for the film stating that April would not be 16 years old like in the 2012 cartoon series, he feels Ken Watanabe would make a great Shredder, he would like to bring Reyes back as a Foot lieutenant, and martial arts wise they are looking at Fist of Legend and The Raid: Redemption.[29] Three days later, it was reported that production for this project had been shut down. While the release date had been pushed back five months, the work stoppage for the film was said to be 'indefinite'.[30] However, other sources said that the film would be released on May 16, 2014, due to problems in that script that need to be corrected.[31][32] In July 2012, Eastman called it 'easily the best Turtle movie yet'.[33] Kevin Eastman stated that the movie is creating its own story but has to be true to the source material or else they will get 'murdered'.[34]
In August 2012, an early version of the script, dated January 30, 2012, titled 'The Blue Door' and written by Appelbaum and Nemec, was leaked online. It featured major changes to the origins: the Turtles hail from another dimension that consists of turtle warriors, Splinter is an alien from the same dimension as well, Shredder is 'Colonel Schrader', a government agent who is secretly an alien who can grow blades from his body, 'The Foot Clan' is just 'The Foot', an elite Black Ops unit led by Col. Schrader, Casey Jones is an 18-year-old security guard/amateur ice hockey player that finds the Turtles and is the focus of the film, April is also 18 and is having relationship troubles with Casey because she is moving to New York City due to an internship at CBS, Raphael is the comic relief instead of Michelangelo, and Michelangelo falls in love with a turtle woman from his home planet.[35] A cease and desist order was sent by Paramount Pictures to a website that was hosting the script.[36] Peter Laird read the script and commented on his blog that 'all true TMNT fans should be grateful to the new 'powers that be' that they did not allow this wretched thing to go any further.'[37] In response to The Blue Door, Bay stated that the draft had been written before he and Platinum Dunes joined the project and was promptly rejected some time before.[38] On January 12, 2013, Production Weekly revealed the film would start filming in April 2013 in New York.[39][40] The following month, the studio pushed back the film's release date until June 6, 2014, and a new writer, Evan Daugherty, was brought on board.[41] On August 15, 2013, Paramount postponed the release date to August 8, 2014, in order to avoid competition with family-friendly films released in June 2014 as well as one of Paramount and Michael Bay's other releases, Transformers: Age of Extinction.[42]
Casting[edit]
In mid-February 2013, actress Megan Fox was reported to be cast as April O'Neil,[43] marking her first collaboration with Bay since her remark comparing him to Adolf Hitler.[44] Bay confirmed Fox is back in good terms with him as early as April 2011.[44]Jessica Biel had expressed interest in playing the part.[45] In regards to Fox's casting, Laird commented that he felt there were better choices to play April, but that he would prefer not to get too worked up over the issue.[46]
A month later, it was reported that Alan Ritchson, Pete Ploszek, Jeremy Howard and Noel Fisher were cast as Raphael, Leonardo, Donatello and Michelangelo respectively.[47][48] In early April, Will Arnett was cast in a role that was being kept secret until leaked photos revealed that he had been cast as April's cameraman and rival, Vern Fenwick.[49][50] Soon after that, actor Danny Woodburn joined the cast as Splinter.[51]
In early May, William Fichtner was cast in the film as 'a lead with iconic stature in the Turtles' mythology,' marking his third collaboration with Bay following Armageddon and Pearl Harbor.[52] On June 22, 2013, Fichtner revealed to the Huffington Post that his character was named 'Eric Sacks.'[53][54] At this point in production, Sacks was intended to be the film's version of the Shredder, but this idea was subsequently abandoned in favour of casting actor Tohoru Masamune as an authentically Japanese incarnation of the character. The movie underwent reshoots to change this element of the plot, with Sacks being changed to the Shredder's adopted son.[55]
Also in May, former Saturday Night Live star Abby Elliott was cast in the film.[56] Also, it was revealed that Whoopi Goldberg appeared on set, and that she is portraying Bernadette Thompson, a female version of Burne Thompson.[57] In October 2013, William Fichtner revealed that Bebop and Rocksteady would not be appearing in the film.[58] In March 2014, it was revealed that Abby Elliott would be playing April O'Neil's roommate.[59] In April 2014, Elliott revealed that her character will be named Taylor, and on April 3, actors Johnny Knoxville and Tony Shalhoub joined the film to dub Ploszek and Woodburn as the voices of Leonardo and Splinter respectively.[60][61]
Filming[edit]
Principal photography commenced March 22, 2013, in Tupper Lake, New York.[62] Shooting began in April in New York City and at Jones Beach State Park in Wantagh on Long Island, New York under the code words 'four squared' (4SQ).[63] On April 20, 2013, the film was renamed Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.[64] On April 29, 2013, Michael Bay retracted comments that the turtles would be aliens.[65] Early set photos were made public showing the turtles' actors in black and grey motion capture suits, complete with life-sized turtle shells, with each actor wearing arm bands and accents of their corresponding turtle's signature color.[66] Brazilian cinematographer Lula Carvalho, who was invited to work in the film during production of the 2014 remake of RoboCop, described the process as 'demanding much imagination and participation of the visual effects supervisor', given that despite their presence on the set the actors would effectively be replaced by computer-generated creatures.[67] Production for the film wrapped on August 6, 2013.[68] Additional filming occurred in January and April 2014.[69][70][71]
![]() Visual effects[edit]
The visual effects of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles were handled by Industrial Light & Magic, who had previously worked with Michael Bay before, doing the special effects for the Transformers film series. To make sure the digital turtles had more nuanced facial expressions, the technicians employed a new motion capture system that captured the actors' faces with two high-definition cameras, which captured roughly 1 terabyte of data per day.[72] Along with a more realistic design, the effects artists wanted the Ninja Turtles to be 'charming, intimidating and individually recognizable'.[73] Thus each had a distinctive body figure resembling their personalities and physicality. According to effects supervisor Pablo Helman, âDonatello is more like a basketball player, Raph is more like a football player and Mikey is a very short Messi and plays soccer.â[74]
Music[edit]
The film's score was composed by Brian Tyler. The soundtrack was released by Atlantic Records on August 5, 2014.
Release[edit]
Will Arnett and Megan Fox at a Special Event Screening of the film in Sydney, Australia
The release date was moved around several times until it was set for August 8, 2014.[6] The film premiered on July 29, 2014, in Mexico City.[1][75][76] Premiere events also occurred in Los Angeles and New York City.[77][78] On September 12, 2014, the film was released in IMAX 3D for a one-week limited engagement.[79]
Marketing[edit]
A teaser trailer for the film was shown at Cinema Con on March 24, 2014,[80] before its public release on March 27.[81] The trailer reached over 31.4 million views on YouTube in its first week.[82] On April 13, 2014, the first TV spot for the movie was released.[83] A second version of the teaser trailer was released on April 30, 2014.[84] Footage of the film was shown at CineEurope with an introduction from Megan Fox.[85] On June 18, 2014, Playmates Toys announced they have a new product line of toys based entirely on the film, including action figures, vehicles and role play gear.[86] Nickelodeon Consumer Products also announced a complete merchandise lineup of movie-based products that will be available in all major retailers from July 2014 through the holiday season.[87] On June 23, 2014, Paramount gave fans the opportunity to see new posters and a new trailer by voting for their favorite turtle on Twitter.[88] The following day, Paramount released a new trailer which includes the single 'Reptile's Theme Song' by Skrillex.[89][90] A second TV spot for the film was released on July 3, 2014.[91] On July 7, 2014, Pizza Hut announced a new advertising campaign for the film, which included the return of the chainâs Cheesy Bites Pizza, social media contests themed around the film, and a television advertisement featuring the new movie incarnations of the characters.[92] On July 10, 2014, four motion posters of the turtles were released and new TV spot debuted that day as well.[93][94] Another new TV spot was released on July 15, 2014.[95] An extended behind-the-scenes featurette was shown after the 2014 Kids' Choice Sports Awards.[96] On July 21, 2014, a single titled 'Shell Shocked' by Juicy J, Wiz Khalifa, and Ty Dolla $ign featuring Kill the Noise and Madsonik was released, as it is part of the movie's soundtrack.[97] An extended TV spot debuted the following day.[98] Paramount promoted the film on July 24, 2014, at San Diego Comic-Con International.[99][100] Five new TV spots were released that day as well.[101] The music video for the song, 'Shell Shocked' debuted on July 28, 2014.[102] On August 1, 2014, Paramount debuted eleven new TV spots for the film.[103] On August 4, 2014, Pentatonix released a new song titled 'We Are Ninjas' and a music video as part of the promotion for the film.[104][105]
In Australia, a poster was released which featured the four turtles jumping from an exploding skyscraper as promotion for its September 11 release.[106] The poster offended many people since the World Trade Center was destroyed back in 2001 during the September 11 attacks.[106] Paramount apologized and removed the poster.[107]
Home media[edit]
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles was released on Digital HD on November 25, 2014, and was released on DVD and 2D and 3D Blu-ray on December 16, 2014.[108][109] The film topped the home video sales charts in its first week and achieved the highest ratio of disc sales to theatrical tickets sales its first week in stores.[110] It retained the top spot on the home video sales chart in its second weekend.[111]
Reception[edit]Box office[edit]
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles grossed $191.2 million in North America and $302.1 million in other countries for a worldwide total of $493.3 million, against a budget of $125 million.[4]Deadline Hollywood calculated the net profit of the film to be $81.3million, when factoring together all expenses and revenues.[5]
On its opening day, the film grossed $25.6 million, including $4.6 million from Thursday night showings.[112][113] In its first weekend, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles opened in first place with $65.6 million,[114] which exceeded Paramount and box office analysts's predictions of a $40 to $45 million opening,[115] and achieved the fourth highest weekend debut for the month of August.[114] The movie remained at the number one spot in its second weekend by grossing $28.5 million (down 56.5%),[116] but slipped to number two for its third weekend (grossing $16.7 million, down 41.4%), as Guardians of the Galaxy reclaimed the top spot.[117]
The film led the foreign box office during the weekend lasting from October 31 through November 2, 2014, by grossing $34.7 million ($26.5 million coming from China).[118]
Critical response[edit]
Rotten Tomatoes, a review aggregator, reports that 22% of 148 surveyed critics gave the film a positive review; the average score is 4.2/10. The site's critical consensus reads, 'Neither entertaining enough to recommend nor remarkably awful, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles may bear the distinction of being the dullest movie ever made about talking bipedal reptiles.'[119] On Metacritic, the film has a score of 31 out of 100 based on 33 critics, indicating 'generally unfavorable reviews'.[120] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of 'B' on an scale of A+ to F.[121]
Kyle Smith of the New York Post gave the film one out of four stars, saying 'The comedy-action mash-up is as weird as if the Dark Knight took a break from belting the Joker to plug Pizza Hut and bang out a hiphop beat on his nunchucks.'[122] Sandie Angulo Chen of the Washington Post gave the film two out of four stars, saying 'While this reboot is fun, it's also forgettable and occasionally infuriating.'[123] Joe Neumaier of the New York Daily News gave the film zero stars, saying 'Even youngsters may wonder why any hint of charm or fun has scurried away. Those new to the franchise may withdraw their head into their neck, turtle-like.'[124] Rafer Guzman of Newsday gave the film two out of four stars, saying 'Rougher and slightly funnier than the 1990 original, but still harmless junk at best.'[125] Peter Howell of the Toronto Star gave the film one and half stars out of four, saying 'Not much of an effort is made to differentiate the personalities of the turtles, who all frankly look as grotesque as a Terry Gilliam cartoon.'[126] Nicolas Rapold of The New York Times said 'Attached to this movie, the title no longer sounds zany; it looks like a series of keywords.'[127] Mark Olsen of the Los Angeles Times said 'There is something half-hearted about the entire film, as if those behind it were involved not because they wanted to make it, not because they should make it, but just because they could.'[128] Kyle Anderson of Entertainment Weekly gave the film a C+, saying 'Too-brief thrills only shine a harsher light on the film's laborious pacing and cringeworthy one-liners spilling from the maws of the ninja teens.'[129]
Nancy Churnin of The Dallas Morning News gave the film a B, writing 'The turtles (engagingly voiced by Alan Ritchson, Noel Fisher, Johnny Knoxville and Jeremy Howard) look terrific' and 'The best part is that the film has heart'.[130] Justin Lowe of The Hollywood Reporter gave the film a positive review, saying 'Liebesman relies on his genre-film resume to keep events moving at a brisk clip and the motion-capture process employed to facilitate live-action integration with cutting-edge VFX looks superior onscreen.'[131] Justin Chang of Variety said the film is 'Neither a particularly good movie nor the pop-cultural travesty that some were dreading.'[132] A.A. Dowd of The A.V. Club gave the film a C+, saying 'What the new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles lacks is not fidelity, but a spirit of genuine boyish fun -- the sense that anyone involved saw more than a very specific shade of green in the freshly digital scales of these 30-year-old characters.'[133] Soren Anderson of The Seattle Times gave the film one out of four stars, saying 'If ever there was a movie that should not have been made, this is that movie.'[134] Drew Hunt of Chicago Reader said 'The light, comedic tone is weighed down by unimaginative pop-culture references and half-witted one-liners.'[135] Bill Goodykoontz of The Arizona Republic gave the film two out of five stars, saying 'It's just kind of a mess, as unfocused and immature as the four mutant turtles at its core. Stuff happens, stuff blows up and this is probably a good time to mention that Michael Bay produced the film.'[136] Alonso Duralde of The Wrap gave the film a negative review, saying 'Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is a movie that takes its characters and its premise seriously, until it doesn't, and that operates at two speeds: tortoise (ponderous) and hare (head-spinning).'[137]
Adam Graham of The Detroit News gave the film a B-, saying 'There's enough turtle power to please kids and fans of the original series.'[138] Steven Rea of The Philadelphia Inquirer gave the film two out of four stars, saying 'The kind of cliched, misfit crimefighters-versus-demented villains scenario that Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird happily parodied when they came up with the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comic books way back in the 1980s.'[139] Tom Russo of The Boston Globe gave the film one and a half stars out of five, saying 'The repartee, as ever, is weak. Even with all the extra layers of digital detail, it's still tough to keep these four straight.'[140] Cliff Lee of The Globe and Mail gave the film one and a half stars out of four, saying 'For having gone to the trouble of making a self-descriptive movie called Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, its producers seem ultimately unsure about its most basic concept.'[141]James Berardinelli of ReelViews gave the film one and a half stars out of four, saying 'Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles doesn't so much provide brainless enjoyment as it pummels the viewer into submission. 'Shell-shocked' is a reasonable description of the experience.'[142] Chris Cabin of Slant Magazine gave the film one out of four stars, saying Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles only leaves one with the dim afterglow of forced normalcy, of a film so overworked to ensure mass-market appeal that it loses the charming oddness and loose goofiness that has allowed these characters, and their 'frothy' appeal, to endure.'[143]
Accolades[edit]
Video games[edit]
Magic Pockets released a Nintendo 3DS game based on the film on August 8, 2014, to coincide with the movie.[144] A mobile game, also based on the film, was released on July 24, 2014.[145]
Sequel[edit]
Noel Fisher revealed in an interview that all four of the turtle actors have signed on for three films.[146]
Liebesman and Fuller have confirmed that Casey Jones as well as Bebop and Rocksteady will appear in the sequels.[147][148][149] There were also plans for Krang and Dimension X in the sequels as well.[150] On August 10, 2014, Paramount announced that a sequel will be released on June 3, 2016, with Michael Bay returning as producer and Josh Appelbaum and André Nemec coming back as screenwriters and executive producers.[7][8] Fox and Arnett returned in the sequel along with the character Shredder.[149]
In December 2014, it was revealed that Dave Green, director of Earth to Echo, is in talks to direct the sequel.[151][152] Green was confirmed as the film's director three months later.[153] In January 2015, Fuller and Form told that the sequel would start filming in New York and Buffalo in April 2015.[153][154][155] In March 2015, Victoria's Secret's supermodel Alessandra Ambrosio was cast as herself and a love interest to Vern, also Los Angeles Clippers and Charlotte Hornets players DeAndre Jordan, Matt Barnes, J.J. Redick, Austin Rivers and Spencer Hawes made cameos in the film. It was also announced that actor Stephen Amell has been cast as Casey Jones for the sequel.[156][157][158] In April 2015, Paramount officially confirmed that Bebop and Rocksteady would appear in the sequel and showed the first images of them at CinemaCon.[159] Variety announced that Tyler Perry was cast as Baxter Stockman and Brian Tee portrayed Shredder in the sequel.[160][161] In May 2015, Gary Anthony Williams and Stephen 'Sheamus' Farrelly were cast as Bebop and Rocksteady respectively.[162][163] Brittany Ishibashi also replaced Noji as Karai in the sequel.[164] Johnny Knoxville did not return to voice Leonardo in the sequel as he was not asked to reprise the role.[165] Instead, Pete Ploszek did both motion-capture and voice.
References[edit]
External links[edit]
Retrieved from 'https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Teenage_Mutant_Ninja_Turtles_(2014_film)&oldid=917718369'
The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (often shortened to TMNT or Ninja Turtles) are four fictional teenaged anthropomorphicturtles named after Italian Renaissance artists. They were trained by their anthropomorphic rat sensei in the art of ninjutsu. From their home in the sewers of New York City, they battle petty criminals, evil overlords, mutated creatures, and alien invaders while attempting to remain hidden from society. They were created by Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird.
The characters originated in comic books published by Mirage Studios and expanded into cartoon series, films, video games, toys, and other merchandise.[2] During the peak of the franchise's popularity in the late 1980s and early 1990s, it gained worldwide success and fame.
History[edit]
Cover of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #1 (May 1984)
The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles first appeared in an American comic book published by Mirage Studios in 1984 in Dover, New Hampshire. The concept arose from a humorous drawing sketched out by Eastman during a casual evening of brainstorming and bad television with Laird.[3] Using money from a tax refund, together with a loan from Eastman's uncle, the young artists self-published a single-issue comic intended to parody four of the most popular comics of the early 1980s: Marvel Comicsâ Daredevil and New Mutants, Dave Simâs Cerebus, and Frank Millerâs Ronin.[4] The TMNT comic book series has been published in various incarnations by various comic book companies since 1984.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Movie
The Turtles started their rise to mainstream success when a licensing agent, Mark Freedman, sought out Eastman and Laird to propose wider merchandising opportunities for the franchise. In 1986, Dark Horse Miniatures produced a set of 15-mm (approximately 0.6 inch) lead figurines. In January 1987, Eastman and Laird visited the offices of Playmates Toys, a small California toy company that wanted to expand into the action-figure market. Development was undertaken by a creative team of companies and individuals: Jerry Sachs, advertising agent of Sachs-Finley Agency, brought together the animators at Murakami-Wolf-Swenson headed by Fred Wolf. Wolf and his team combined concepts and ideas with the Playmates marketing crew, headed by Karl Aaronian, vice president (VP) of sales Richard Sallis, and VP of Playmates Bill Carlson.[5]
Aaronian brought on several designers and concepteur and writer John C. Schulte, and worked out the simple backstory that would live on toy packaging for the entire run of the product and show.[5] Sachs called the high concept pitch 'Green Against Brick'. The sense of humor was honed with the collaboration of the Murakami-Wolf-Swenson animation firm's writers. Playmates and their team essentially served as associate producers and contributing writers to the miniseries that was first launched to sell-in the toy action figures. Phrases like 'Heroes in a half shell' and many of the comical catch phrases and battle cries ('Turtle power!') came from the writing and conceptualization of this creative team. As the series developed, veteran writer Jack Mendelsohn came on board as both a story editor and scriptwriter. David Wise, Michael Charles Hill, and Michael Reaves wrote most of the scripts.
The miniseries was repeated three times before it found an audience.[clarification needed] Once the product started selling, the show got syndicated and picked up and backed by Group W, which funded the next round of animation. The show then went network, on CBS. Accompanied by the popular Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 1987 TV series, and the subsequent action figure line, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles became a mainstream success. At the height of the frenzy, in the late 1980s and early 1990s, the Turtles' likenesses could be found on a wide range of children's merchandise, from Pez dispensers to skateboards, breakfast cereal, video games, school supplies, linens, towels, cameras, and toy shaving kits.
While the animated TV series, which lasted for 10 seasons until 1996, was more light-hearted, the comic-book series continued in a much darker and grittier tone. In 1990, a live-action feature film was released, with the Turtles and Splinter being portrayed by actors in partially animatronic suits created by Jim Henson's Creature Shop. The independent film was very successful spawning two sequels, as well as inspiring a three-dimensional animated film set in the same continuity, which was released in 2007 under the title TMNT. After the end of the cartoon series, a live-action series in the vein of the films was created in 1997 in conjunction with Saban Entertainment. The series was called Ninja Turtles: The Next Mutation and introduced a fifth, female turtle called Venus de Milo. However, the series was largely unsuccessful and was canceled after one season.
The property lay dormant until 2003, when a new animated TV series also entitled Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles began to air on Fox Box (4Kids TV). The series storyline stuck much closer to the original Mirage comic book series, but was still less violent. It lasted for seven seasons and 156 episodes, ending in February 2009.
On October 21, 2009, it was announced that cable channel Nickelodeon (a subsidiary of Viacom) had purchased all of Mirage's rights to the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles property. Mirage retains the rights to publish 18 issues a year, though the future involvement of Mirage with the Turtles and the future of Mirage Studios itself is unknown.[6] Nickelodeon developed a new CGI-animated TMNT television series and partnered with fellow Viacom company Paramount Pictures to bring a new TMNT movie to theaters. The TV show premiered on Nickelodeon on September 29, 2012.[7] The live-action film, produced by Platinum Dunes, Nickelodeon Movies, and Paramount Pictures, directed by Jonathan Liebesman, and produced by Michael Bay, was released on August 8, 2014.[8]
Main characters[edit]
Comics[edit]Mirage[edit]
Eastman and Laird's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles premiered in May 1984, at a comic book convention held at a local Sheraton Hotel in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. It was published by Mirage Studios in an oversized magazine-style format using black and white artwork on cheap newsprint, limited to a print run of only 3,250 copies.[10] Through a clever media kit that included a press release in The Comics Journal #89 and a full-page ad placed in Comic Buyer's Guide #547, the public's interest was piqued and thus began the Turtle phenomenon. The small print runs made these early comics and trade magazines instant collector items, and within months, they were trading for over 50 times their cover price. The name 'Mirage Studios' was chosen because of Eastman and Laird's lack of a professional art studio at the start of their career, before their creation made them both multimillionaires.
Mirage also published a bimonthly companion book entitled Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, featuring art by Ryan Brown and Jim Lawson, which was designed to fill in the gaps of continuity in the TMNT universe. This put the original series and Tales in the same mainstream canon. The title's first volume was from 1987â1989, released in alternating months with the regular Eastman and Laird book. All seven issues of volume one have been collected in trade paperback form twice, and 25 issues of volume two have been collected in trades of five issues each.
As the TMNT phenomenon proliferated to other media, Eastman and Laird found themselves administrating an international merchandising juggernaut. However, this prevented the two creators from participating in the day-to-day work of writing and illustrating a monthly comic book. So, many guest artists were invited to showcase their unique talents in the TMNT universe. The breadth of diversity found in the various short stories gave the series a disjointed, anthology-like feel. Fans stuck with the series, and what was originally intended as a one-shot became a continuing series that lasted for 129 issues, spanning four separate volumes (having 62, 13, 23, and 32 issues in the four distinct volumes).
In June 1996, Image Comics took over publishing the title in what is considered 'volume 3' of the series. It was a slightly more action-oriented TMNT series and although notable for inflicting major physical changes on the main characters, Peter Laird, co-creator of the TMNT, has said this volume is no longer in canon as he began publishing volume 4 at Mirage Publishing. As an explanation, he offered in the pages of the volume 4 (issue #8) letter column: 'It just didn't feel right.' [11]
After taking back the series from Image Comics, Mirage Studios resumed publication of a fourth volume in December 2001, under the simple title TMNT. After the publication of issue number 28, writer Peter Laird placed the series on an eight-month hiatus to devote himself to production of the 2007 TMNT movie. However, after that eight months had passed, Mirage's official website went on to list the series as in 'indefinite hiatus'. In January 2008, Mirage had finally confirmed that the series would return in May 2008. Issues 29 and 30 had a limited printing of 1,000 copies each, and were available through the official TMNT website. Securecrt 8.3.2 license keygen. Although the purchase agreement with Nickelodeon allows Laird to produce up to 18 comics a year set in the original Mirage continuity, no new material was released in the next few years. The latest issue of TMNT volume 4 was issue #32 which came out in print May 4, 2014, and online on May 9, 2014, almost 4 years after issue #31 was last released.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures[edit]
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures was a comic-book series published from August 1988 to October 1995 by Archie Comics. The initial storylines were close adaptations of the 1987 TV series, but with the fifth issue, Eastman and Laird decided to hand the series over to Mirage Studios employees Ryan Brown and Stephen Murphy, who immediately abandoned the animated series adaptations and took the title in a decidedly different direction with all-new original adventures, including the uniting of several of the series' recurring characters as a separate team, the Mighty Mutanimals.
Dreamwave[edit]
A monthly comic inspired by the 2003 TV series was published by Dreamwave Productions from June to December 2003. It was written by Peter David and illustrated by LeSean Thomas. In the first four issues, which were the only ones directly adapted from the TV series, the story was told from the perspectives of April, Baxter, Casey, and a pair of New York City police officers.
IDW[edit]
In April 2011, IDW Publishing announced that they had acquired the license to publish new collections of Mirage storylines and a new ongoing series.[12] The first issue of the new series was released on August 24, 2011. Turtles co-creator Kevin Eastman and Tom Waltz write, with Eastman and Dan Duncan providing art.
Manga[edit]
The Turtles have appeared in several manga series.
Comic strip[edit]
A daily comic strip written and illustrated by Dan Berger began in 1990. It featured an adventure story Monday through Friday and activity puzzles on weekends (with fan art appearing later). The comic strip was published in syndication until its cancellation in December 1996. At its highest point in popularity, it was published in over 250 newspapers.
Television series[edit]First animated series (1987â1996)[edit]
Logo of the 1987 cartoon
When little-known Playmates Toys was approached about producing a TMNTs action figure line, they were cautious of the risk and requested that a television deal be acquired first.[13][14] On December 28, 1987, the TMNT's first cartoon series began, starting as a five-part miniseries and becoming a regular Saturday-morning syndicated series on October 1, 1988, with 13 more episodes. The series was produced by Murakami-Wolf-Swenson Film Productions, Inc. (later Fred Wolf Films). Mirage Studios does not own the rights to this cartoon series. The show is more lighthearted than the comics. Here, the Turtles are portrayed as four funny but serious superheroes that fight the forces of evil from their sewer hideout. They love pizza and put weird toppings on it. They make their first appearance in masks color-coded to each turtle, where previously they had all worn red.[15]
The cast included new and different characters, such as Bebop and Rocksteady and the Neutrinos. Original characters such as Splinter, Shredder, and the Foot Soldiers stayed true to the comics in appearance and alignment only. Instead of being Hamato Yoshi's mutated pet rat, Splinter was a mutated Hamato himself. The Foot Soldiers changed from human ninjas to an endless supply of robotic grunts, allowing large numbers of them to be destroyed without anyone dying (this was a very important decision in terms of the show's child audience; excessive violence would have alienated parents of children, the show's target demographic). Krang, one of the series' most memorable villains, was inspired by the design of the Utrom, a benign alien race from the Mirage comics. The animated Krang, however, was instead an evil warlord from Dimension X. Baxter Stockman, whose race was changed from black to white either due to apprehension toward depicting a villainous African American character in a children's cartoon or that for Shredder to boss around a black Stockman would be perceived as racist. Either way, Stockman was rewritten as a shy and meek lackey to Shredder, later mutating into an anthropomorphic housefly. During the final two seasons of the show, to combat the rising popularity of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, the lead villain switched to Lord Dregg, an evil alien overlord bent on world conquest by trying to distract the public into believing that the Turtles were the enemy instead of himself.
Starting on September 25, 1989, the series was expanded to weekdays and it had 47 more episodes for the new season. There were 28 new syndicated episodes for season 4 and only 13 of those episodes aired in 1990. The 'European Vacation' episodes were not seen in the United States until USA Network started showing reruns in late 1993 and the 'Awesome Easter' episodes were not seen until 1991. These episodes were delayed because of animation or scheduling problems.[16] The turtles are also well known for their use of idiomatic expressions characteristic of the surfer lingo of the time, especially by Michelangelo. Words and phrases included 'bummer', 'dude', 'bogus', 'radical', 'far-out', 'tubuloso', 'bodacious', and possibly the most recognized, 'cowabunga'.[17] On April 21, 1990, a drug-prevention television special was broadcast on ABC, NBC, and CBS named Cartoon All-Stars to the Rescue that featured some of the most popular cartoons at the time; representing TMNT was Michelangelo, voiced by Townsend Coleman.
Starting on September 8, 1990 (with a different opening sequence), the show began its run on CBS. The CBS weekend edition ran for a full hour until 1994, initially airing a few Saturday-exclusive episodes back-to-back. Also, a brief 'Turtle Tips' segment aired between the two episodes, which served as public-service announcement about the environment or other issues. After 1994, the show was reduced to just a half-hour and only eight episodes per season were produced, grouped into a 'CBS Action Zone' block that also featured WildC.A.T.s. and Skeleton Warriors, both of which were canceled after one season; though TMNTs retained their 'Action Zone' introduction. The two shows in the block were also produced by Fred Wolf Films. The series ran until November 2, 1996, when it aired its final episode. Its enormous popularity gave rise to its numerous imitators, including the Battletoads, Cheetahmen, Wild West C.O.W.-Boys of Moo Mesa, Road Rovers, Street Sharks, Extreme Dinosaurs, and Biker Mice from Mars. Currently, all 193 episodes are available on DVD and VHS.
Original video animation[edit]
In addition to the American series, a Japan-exclusive two-episode animeoriginal video animation (OVA) series was made in 1996, titled Mutant Turtles: Choujin Densetsu-hen. The OVA is similar in tone to the 1987 TV series and uses the same voices from TV Tokyo's Japanese dub of the 1987 TV series. The first episode was made to advertise the TMNT Supermutants toys. It featured the Turtles as superheroes, that gained costumes and superpowers with the use of Mutastones, while Shredder, Bebop and Rocksteady gained supervillain powers with the use of a Dark Mutastone. As with the Super Sentai and Power Rangers franchises, the four Turtles could combine to form the giant Turtle Saint. The second episode was created to advertise the Metal Mutants toys in which the characters gain Saint Seiya-esque mystical metal armor that can transform into beasts.
Live-action series (1997â1998)[edit]
Logo of the live-action series
In 1997â1998, the Turtles starred in a live-action television series called Ninja Turtles: The Next Mutation that directly follows the events of the first three movies. A fifth turtle was introduced, a female named Venus de Milo, who was skilled in the mystical arts of the shinobi.[15] The series was intended as a loose continuation of the movie franchise, as Shredder had been defeated and the Ninja Turtles encountered new villains. Other connections to the feature films include the fact that Splinter's ear was cut, the Foot Soldiers were humans, and the Turtles lived in the abandoned subway station seen in the second and third movies. The Next Mutation Turtles made a guest appearance on Power Rangers in Space.[18] It was canceled after one season of 26 episodes.
Second animated series (2003â2009)[edit]
Logo of the 2003 cartoon
In 2003, a new TMNT series produced by 4Kids Entertainment began airing on the 'FoxBox' (later renamed '4Kids TV') programming block. It later moved to 'The CW4Kids' block. The series was co-produced by Mirage Studios,[19] and Mirage owned one-third of the rights to the series. Mirage's significant stake in creative control resulted in a cartoon that hews more closely to the original comics, creating a darker and edgier feel than the 1987 cartoon, but still lighthearted enough to be considered appropriate for children.
This series lasted until 2009, ending with a feature-length television movie titled Turtles Forever, which was produced in conjunction with the 25th anniversary of the TMNTs franchise and featured the Turtles of the 2003 series teaming up with their counterparts from the 1987 series. 4Kidstv.com featured all the episodes of the series, until September 2010, when Nickelodeon bought the series and air the series occasionally on Nicktoons and Nickelodeon normally during TMNTs marathons.
Third animated series (2012â2017)[edit]
Logo of the 2012 cartoon
Nickelodeon acquired the global rights to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles from the Mirage Group and 4Kids Entertainment, Inc. and announced a new CGI-animated TMNT television series.[20][21][22] The 2012 version is characterized by anime-like iconography and emphasis on mutagen continuing to wreak havoc on the everyday lives of the Turtles and their enemies. The series ran for five seasons.
Fourth animated series (2018âpresent)[edit]
Logo of the 2018 cartoon
Nickelodeon announced a new 2D animated series based on the franchise, which debuted on September 17, 2018. The 2018 version is characterized by lighter humor.[23][24]
Feature films[edit]
The Turtles have appeared in six feature films. The first three are live-action features produced in the early 1990s: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1990), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze (1991), and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III (1993). The Turtles were played by various actors in costumes featuring animatronic heads, initially produced by Jim Henson's Creature Shop. The fourth film, a CGI-animated film titled simply TMNT, was released in 2007.
A reboot, also titled Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles produced by Platinum Dunes, Nickelodeon Movies, and Paramount Pictures, directed by Jonathan Liebesman, and produced by Michael Bay, was released in 2014. A sequel titled Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows was released in 2016.
A seventh film, which is another reboot, is in development.
Merchandise[edit]
Among the first licensed products to feature the TMNT was a tabletop role-playing game titled Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles & Other Strangeness, published by Palladium Books in 1985, and featuring original comics and illustrations by Eastman and Laird. The game features a large list of animals, including elephants and sparrows, that are available as mutant player characters. Several more titles were in this genre, including Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures, Truckin' Turtles, Turtles Go Hollywood, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Guide to the Universe, and Transdimensional Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
In 1986, Dark Horse Miniatures in Boise, Idaho, produced an attendant set of lead figurines; unlike later incarnations, the bandannas on the store's display set were painted all black before the multicolored versions were released to help younger readers distinguish between the four characters other than their weaponry. Palladium allowed the license to lapse in 2000, in part due to declining sales stemming from the 'kiddification' of the animated and live-action incarnations to that point. However, Palladium's publisher, Kevin Siembieda, has indicated a potential willingness to revisit the license given the franchise's recent moves closer to its roots.[25]
The franchise generated merchandise sales of $175 million in 1988 and $350 million in 1989.[26] By 1994, it was the most merchandisable franchise, having generated a total revenue of $6 billion in merchandise sales up until then.[27]
Toys[edit]
During the run of the 1987 TV series, Playmates Toys produced hundreds of TMNT action figures, along with vehicles, playsets, and accessories, becoming one of the top collectibles for children.[28] Staff artists at Northampton, Massachusetts-based Mirage Studios provided conceptual designs for many of the figures, vehicles, and playsets and creator credit can be found in the legal text printed on the back of the toy packaging. In addition, Playmates produced a series of TMNTs/Star Trek crossover figures, due to Playmates holding the Star Trek action-figure license at the time. Playmates employed many design groups to develop looks and styles for the toy line, including Bloom Design, White Design, Pangea, Robinson-Clarke, and McHale Design. The marketing vice president of Playmates, Karl Aaronian, was largely responsible for assembling the talented team of designers and writers, which in turn, helped germinate continued interest in the toy line.
Never before in toy history did an action-figure line have such an impact for over two decades, generating billions of dollars in licensing revenue. The series was highly popular in the UK, where in the run-up to Christmas, the Army & Navy Store in London's Lewisham devoted its entire basement to everything Turtle, including games, videos, costumes, and other items. Playmates continue to produce TMNT action figures based on the 2003 animated series. The 2007 film TMNT also gave Playmates a new source from which to make figures, while National Entertainment Collectibles Association produced a series of high-quality action figures based on character designs from the original Mirage comics. In 2012, a new toy line and a new classic toy line from Playmates were announced to be released.[29]
Video games[edit]
Promotion of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles at E3 2003
The first console video game based on the franchise, titled Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, was released for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) by Konami under their 'Ultra Games' label in 1989 and later ported to home computers and eventually for the Wii on the Virtual Console. Also released by Konami in 1989 was an arcade game, also titled simply Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, later ported to the NES as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Arcade Game, leading to an NES-only sequel, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III: The Manhattan Project, which used the look of the arcade game, as opposed to the first NES game. The next Turtles game, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time, was released in 1991 as an arcade game, and was later ported to the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (Super NES) in 1992, titled Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles IV: Turtles in Time, with a sequel numbering to the NES titles appended. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Hyperstone Heist was also created for the Sega Genesis in the same year, and used many of the art assets from TMNT IV. There was also a trilogy of TMNT video games for the original Game Boy system made by Konami, consisting of: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Fall of the Foot Clan, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: Back from the Sewers, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III: Radical Rescue. As the video game series progressed, and the Ninja Turtles' popularity began to decline in the mid-1990s, the video games changed direction. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Tournament Fighters was released as a set of one-on-one fighting game similar to the Street Fighter series; versions were released for the NES, SNES, and Genesis, each a distinct game.Konami also acquired the license to adapt the 2003 TV series into a video game franchise, resulting in a new series of games with 3D gameplay inspired by the old TMNT beat 'em up games, consisting of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2003 video game), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2: Battle Nexus, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 3: Mutant Nightmare, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles : Mutant Melee.
In 2006, Ubisoft acquired the rights for TMNT games, beginning with a game based on the 2007 animated feature film, along with a distinct game for the Game Boy Advance similar in style to the Konami arcade games.[30][31] A beat 'em up game Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Arcade Attack was released for the Nintendo DS in 2009, to coincide with the series' 25th anniversary.[32] In 2013, Activision released the downloadable game Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows, based on the 2012 TV series and developed by Red Fly Studio for the Xbox Live Arcade, PlayStation Network and Steam.[33]
On January 25, 2016, Activision and PlatinumGames announced Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutants in Manhattan for the PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, Xbox One, Xbox 360, and PC. The game is described as a third-person, team-based brawler. The campaign will be playable either single-player or co-op and will have an original story written by Tom Waltz, IDW comic writer and editor. The art style is based on long time TMNT comic artist Mateus Santolouco.[34]
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Legends, a Free to playRole-playing video game has been released by Ludia in summer 2016 for iPhone, iPad, Android, and Kindle Fire. It is based on the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2012 TV series).
The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles appear as playable characters in the DC Comics fighting game Injustice 2 as a part of the 'Fighter Pack 3' downloadable content.
In other media[edit]Tabletop role playing game[edit]
In 1985, Palladium Books published Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles & Other Strangeness.[35] This was a stand-alone game, as well as acting as an expansion for their game Rifts. The game used many key mechanics from the Palladium system. The game itself is limited to which martial arts are available, but a separate book, Ninjas and Superspies,[36] increased the amount available to a choice of 41 martial arts styles. Examples of animals created are included in the appendices as potential antagonists, including the Terror Bears, Caesers Weasels, and Sparrow Eagles, as well as including stats for the Turtles and other characters.
Food tie-ins[edit]
During the height of their popularity, the Turtles had a number of food tie-ins.[37] Among the most notable of these products was Ninja Turtles Cereal, produced by Ralston-Purina as a kind of 'Chex with TMNT-themed marshmallows' which also came with a small pouch of Pizza Crunchabungas, pizza-flavored corn snacks in the shape of pizzas (the commercial starred the Ninja Turtles as Will Vinton-created claymations); Hostess Ninja Turtles Pudding Pies, featuring a green sugar crust and vanilla pudding inside; and Royal OOZE Gelatin Desserts, distributed by Nabisco under 'Royal Gelatin' in three different flavors: orange, strawberry, and lime. Shreddies used to give out TMNT toys in their boxes when the cereal advertising was still geared toward children. One example of a TMNT prize was rings featuring a character on the cartoon (1992). There was also green Ninja Turtle ice cream with different toppings according to which turtle flavor one ordered. Chef Boyardee also released a canned pasta with the pasta in the shapes of the four turtles.[38]
Concert tour[edit]
To capitalize on the Turtles' popularity, a concert tour was held in 1990, premiering at Radio City Music Hall on August 17.[39][40] The 'Coming Out of Their Shells' tour featured live-action turtles playing music as a band (Donatello, keyboards; Leonardo, bass guitar; Raphael, drums and sax; Michelangelo, guitar) on stage around a familiar plotline: April O'Neil is kidnapped by the Shredder, and the Turtles have to rescue her.[41] The story had a very Bill-n'-Ted-esque feel, with its theme of the power of rock n' roll literally defeating the enemy, in the form of the Shredder (who only rapped about how he hates music) trying to eliminate all music. A pay-per-view special highlighting the concert was shown, and a studio album was also released.[42] The track listing is as follows:
Since the tour was sponsored by Pizza Hut in real life, many references are made to their pizza. Empty Pizza Hut boxes are seen onscreen in the 'Behind the Shells' VHS. As part of a cross-marketing strategy, Pizza Hut restaurants gave away posters, audio cassettes of 'Coming Out of Their Shells', and 'Official Tour Guides' as premiums. The original show of the tour was released on video with a making of video also released. The song 'Pizza Power' was later used by Konami for the second arcade game Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time.
At the Disney-MGM Studios theme park[edit]
On June 30, 1990, the TMNT appeared in the 'New York Street' section of Disney-MGM Studios theme park in Orlando. Emerging from their Turtle Party Wagon, they would 'ninja dance' across the stage while April performed the theme song to the show. After the main show was done, they posed for pictures and signed autographs. The Turtles also made appearances in Disney's Very Merry Christmas Parade to sing their own rendition of 'Santa Claus is Coming to Town'. They also appeared during the Easter parade dancing to their single 'Pizza Power!' The Turtles' live shows and appearances ceased production in 1996.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2014 Movie Watch Online FreeParodies[edit]
Cover of Cracked #255, August 1990
Although the TMNT had originated as something of a parody, the comic's explosive success led to a wave of small-press, black and white comic parodies of TMNT itself, including Adolescent Radioactive Black Belt Hamsters, Pre-Teen Dirty-Gene Kung-Fu Kangaroos, and a host of others. Dark Horse Comics' Boris the Bear was launched in response to these TMNT clones; its first issue was titled 'Boris the Bear Slaughters the Teenage Radioactive Black Belt Mutant Ninja Critters'. Once the Turtles broke into the mainstream, parodies also proliferated in other media, such as in satire magazines Cracked and Mad and numerous TV series of the period. The satirical British television series Spitting Image featured a recurring sketch 'Teenage Mutant Ninja Turds'.[43]
Controversies[edit]Departure from origins[edit]
The Turtles engaged in a greater amount of overt violence in the pages of the early Mirage comic book series by Eastman and Laird. As the TMNT were introduced into the mainstream, they were radically redesigned. In issue #19 of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the creators published an editorial addressing any possible concerns of readers as a result of this. It stated, in part: 'We've allowed the wacky side to happen, and enjoy it very much. All the while, though, we've kept the originals very much ours â forty pages of what we enjoy and want to see in our books, whether it comes from our own hands or from those of the talented people we work with.'[44] In the film Turtles Forever, the original Mirage Turtles refer to their counterparts from the 1987 cartoon series and the 2003 cartoon series as 'sell-outs', in reference to their colorful accessories (the originals are conveyed in black and white).
Teenage Mutant 'Hero' Turtles [edit]
The title screen from the TMHT version, altered due to censorship.
Upon TMNT's first arrival in the United Kingdom the name was changed to 'Teenage Mutant 'Hero' Turtles' (or TMHT, for short), since the BBC deemed the word ninja to have excessively violent connotations for a children's program.[45] Consequently, everything related to the Turtles (comic books, video games, toys, etc.) was renamed before being released in the UK as well as various other European countries.
The lyrics were also changed, such as changing 'Splinter taught them to be ninja teens' to 'Splinter taught them to be fighting teens'. The policies also had other effects, such as editing out use of Michelangelo's nunchaku (which were at the time banned by James Ferman, chairman of the BBFC, from appearing in films and generally toning down the usage of all the turtles' weapons.)[46] To head this problem off, the showrunners elected to remove Michelangelo's nunchaku entirely during season three, replacing them with a grappling hook called the 'Turtle Line' that served as Mikey's signature weapon for the rest of the show's run.[3]
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In Italy, Spain and Portugal, they kept Michelangelo's nunchaku but the 'TMHT' logo could be seen in the intro, as it was not edited to reflect the title in each of those translations. In Spain the cartoon was originally aired in regional TV channels and thus had different dubs in addition to Castillian: Galician and Catalan;[citation needed] in the Galician version, the title As Tartarugas Mutantes ('The Mutant Turtles') was used. The Italian and European Portuguese dubs also had few edits.
In the Republic of Ireland, the series was initially known as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and the intro sequence was unedited when it debuted on RTE Two with the airing of the second season in September 1990.[47] After the first two episodes were broadcast, the name was changed to Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles and the intro was edited, except for season one. In 2007â2008, episodes were aired in their original US unedited form.
However, when the live-action movie came out in 1990, the Ninja of the title was kept even in the UK. In time, nunchaku scenes were retained in previously-censored movies such as those of Bruce Lee. The same went for the PAL releases of the early video games, which had Michelangelo's weapon of choice fully visible and usable. By the time the 2003 TV series premiered, these censorship policies had been abolished, and no changes have occurred in the content of any incarnations of the show since. The name 'Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles' remained unchanged for the 2003 TV series. As a result, in the UK, the 1987 TV series is still called Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles and the 2003 TV series is called Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. In 2009, Lionsgate Home Entertainment released the 25th Anniversary Collectors Edition on Region 2 DVD in the UK. This 3-Disc set contains all the episodes of Seasons 1 and 2 and 4 episodes from the final season, as well as a 1-Disc DVD with the first few episodes of Season 1. This release features the original, unedited episodes under the 'Ninja Turtles' title, and also marks the first time the show has been released and left uncensored in the UK.[citation needed]
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2014 Free Online GamesOwnership rights[edit]
Due to various movie and television deals, the various TMNT films and television series have split between various companies, with Mirage Studios having retained copyright and trademark until October 19, 2009, at which point the rights for the entire TMNT franchise were sold by co-creator Peter Laird to Nickelodeon.[48][49]
Television[edit]
The original animated series (1987â1996) was produced by Fred Wolf Films Dublin (as Murakami Wolf Swenson (MWS) and Murakami Wolf Dublin (MWD) during earlier seasons), and syndicated by Group W. The series itself is owned by Wolf Films, with home entertainment rights residing with Lions Gate Entertainment, and until recently, syndication rights belonged to Nickelodeon's former corporate sibling CBS Television Distribution.[citation needed] The initial five-part miniseries (retroactively considered the first season) was copyrighted by Playmates Toys, although their rights to those episodes were bought out by Fred Wolf Films.
Ninja Turtles: The Next Mutation was produced by Saban Entertainment, and as of September 2011, is owned and distributed by Saban Brands.[50][51][52]
The second animated series (2003â2009) was a co-production between Mirage Studios and 4Kids Entertainment. Nickelodeon's October 19, 2009 buyout of the TMNT franchise included an approximate $9.75 million payment to 4Kids to terminate its right to serve as the merchandise licensing agent prior to the scheduled expiration of the representation agreement in 2012.[7][49] Due to the buyout, all future TMNT film and television series rights are owned by Nickelodeon.[48] Nickelodeon also gained the rights to the 2003 series after terminating 4Kids' contract.
Films[edit]Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2014 Free Movie Online
The first three TMNT live-action films were produced by Golden Harvest, with New Line Cinema distributing the films in the United States, with 20th Century Fox distributing the second and third films in most other territories. The first two films were copyrighted by the UK-based Northshore Investments. The third film was copyrighted by Clearwater Holdings. The fourth film was produced by Imagi Animation Studios, and released by Warner Bros. Entertainment in association with The Weinstein Company.
Michael Bay produced a feature film directed by Jonathan Liebesman simply titled Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and was released on August 8, 2014 by Paramount Pictures. A sequel, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows, was released on June 3, 2016, with Megan Fox and Will Arnett reprising their roles and debuting Stephen Amell as Casey Jones. Dave Green replaced Liebesman as the director.
Comic books[edit]
Initially, Mirage allowed employees and freelancers to retain the rights to characters they created for the TMNT Universe but had never licensed for media and merchandise outside comic books. Eventually, due to the difficulty of keeping track of everyone's rights, Mirage made TMNT character creators sign retroactive work-for-hire contracts. One creator who did not sign over the rights to his TMNT work was Swamp Thing veteran Rick Veitch.[53]
See also[edit]References[edit]
Bibliography[edit]
External links[edit]
Media related to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles at Wikimedia Commons
Watch Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2014 Free
Quotations related to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles at Wikiquote
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2014 Full Movie Free Download Utorrent
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