The Buzz Cut
July 8, 2002
When I was a young kid, the Power Rangers had yet to morph and you didn't need to collect all the Pokemon. We had something better—much better: the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TMNT).
If you've never heard of the Turtles, then you were either living under a rock for the better part of the 1990s or you were born a wee bit too late to have experienced the best ... thing ... ever. Turtlemania” swept the nation seemingly out of nowhere and once it picked up steam, good luck stopping it. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles wasn't merely an animated television series, it was a bonafide phenomenon that consumed every young boy's life in the nation.
I look at the pop-culture landscape today and there’s nothing nearly as cool as the “awesome foursome.” What's capturing imaginations like the Turtles were in their prime? The Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers was "the big thing" for a time, but there’s no comparison. The Power Rangers were like a bolt of lightning: flashy and cool for two weeks, and the show was gone before you had time to think about it. Or at least it shoulda' been. You can even make a case that Pokemon was Poke-awesome for a while… but stand the actual cartoon series up against the Turtles and even the lovable Pikachu looked ugly as sin.
What’s the point to my nostalgic diatribe, you ask? It’s not to lament that there is no modern-day equivalent to the TMNT. That much is obvious. It’s to shed some light on the Turtle fervor that might just spark up again. That’s right, Leonardo, Donatello, Michaelangel and Raphael are all making their way back to a television near you. The franchise is about to become bastardized all over again with video games, movie deals and action figures. And I'm ecstatic!
4Kids Entertainment, Inc. and Mirage Licensing, Inc., the holder of the rights to the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, announced a few months ago that 4Kids will produce 26 new animated episodes. Peter Laird, who along with Kevin Eastman created the TMNT, will be working with 4Kids to make it happen. The new series will premiere sometime in the first quarter of next year on Fox's Saturday morning block of programming.
Laird has been quoted as saying he wants to return to the roots of the TMNT franchise—the comic book. What most fans didn't realize, even in the height of the Turtles' popularity, was that their origin stemmed from a comic book that wasn't as lighthearted as the television program. So with the 2003 series, expect an edgier product than the one seen before.
According to the official TMNT Web site, there's a chance some 3D models will be used for backgrounds in the new series, but the show will be done in traditional 2D cel animation. The lead director is Ilya Skorupsky and the head writer is Lloyd Goldfine. The goal, Laird said, will be not only to appeal to children, but adults as well. The animation studio that's working on the series is the same studio that worked on the animated Men in Black and Jackie Chan Adventures. Characters said to be appearing include Splinter, April, Casey Jones, Shredder, the Foot and Baxter Stockman. Other characters are being kept under wraps for now.
Oh yeah, and remember how I said a movie was also on the way? Don't expect a live-action adaptation this time around. Mirage and Digital Rim Entertainment principals John Woo and Terence Chang are teaming up to produce a feature-length "TMNT" film done completely in CGI. The deal, according to the TMNT site, was for a TMNT television show to begin airing first before a movie went into production. So the CGI flick should hit sometime in 2004 or 2005.
Dan Berger, the webmaster of the Ninja Turtles site, told Toon Zone that, "Whether you're an old school comics fan, original Turtle 'toon fan or brand new to the TMNT altogether, this show will have something for you to dig!"
It will be interesting to see if the Ninja Turtles can regain their strangehold on popular culture. I can't remember a time when a big hit from the past returned to set the world on fire a second time. But if any franchise can do it, it's the Ninja Turtles. It will be even more interesting to see the route the new series and movie will take. An all-new origin or a continuation or retelling of the original series? Whatever, the case, I think America is ready for another dose of the best cartoon heroes ever. Yes, Thundercats included.
Extras:
Want to see some pics of a new limited edition Turtle figure? Click here. It's based on the comic book images, not the original cartoon series.
Want to read a commentary on the first episode of "TMNT," as well as seeing some pics of it? Click here.
Want to see what bastardization of a franchise is all about? Click here.
Want to see some of the original sketches? Click here and here.
