Happy Thursday everyone!
OK, so here's the plan: Every Thursday, I'm going retro. How better to start the tradition than with my favorite cartoon and toy line of all time, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. I've got to say, when I was a kid, I had a lot of toys. I had a ton of Power Rangers and even more Ghostbusters. In fact, the Ghostbusters are a very close second to the Turtles. But there was just something about the Ninja Turtles that kept you coming back for more. They have you something to believe in, and something to root for.
I really got into the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles in 1989. At this point, the comic book has been long established, but the television series and the toy line are just starting to get hot. Let me just say, the toy line from Playmates, in my opinion, goes down as the most successful toy line in history. Why? Because here we are over 25 years later, and the two are still partnered. That speaks volumes to me. Not to mention, the toys were timeless. They were the most fun to play with, and the fact that there were so many different varieties made for endless fun, along with endless imagination.
You could start with your four standard turtles, then decide it's going underwater. Bust out your scuba diving turtles, and you are in business. The villain line was awesome as well. They had the complete roster of bad guys. If you were lucky enough to have a number of Foot Soldiers, you could really put together battles consistent with the TV show and the films. Of course, you fight Shredder at the end. You save the day, but only the day. You know ol' Shred-Head will be back for more tomorrow afternoon after school.
The only thing I didn't love about the toy line was the array of villains and allies that never actually existed in the show. I get it, Playmates needed to keep making money, but they could done more. I would have liked to have seen more heroes and villains from Dimension X. I think that would have been better than some of the absolute nonsense they came up with. I remember getting a few of them for a birthday one year. I thought the action figures were cool, but couldn't understand why they were in Ninja Turtle boxes. To be honest with you, I played with these oddball toys, but I actually never played with them AND the Turtles at the same time. I sent them on their own adventures.
Speaking of another confusing adventure, how can you forget the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle video game for the Nintendo? The year was 1989, the company, Konami. I remember my parents buying us this game. My brother and I were beyond excited to have it. Honestly, we could never get past the bomb stage. Apparently, we traded the game to my father's friend for a copy of Mario Brothers 3. I'm not sure if this was meant to be a permanent trade or not, but it ended up being so. Not that it mattered, we bought it a few years later at Funcoland and ended up with both games.
It's 2012, I still can't get past the 3rd level of this catastrophe. Between the re-generating enemies, lack of pizzas for energy, and electric freakin' seaweed, there was no way for a kid to get past it. I'm 25 now. I play the game on my Wii console, and I'm stick stuck. The game makes absolutely no sense. Almost none of the enemies in the game existed in the show, or even made sense. Leatherface is in the game, along with robots who heads fly, mini evil astronauts, robotic falcons, and men on fire. It's a game that I will always play, and always look back on with fond memories, mostly of being a kid in love with the turtles, but let's be real: this game is horrendous (as were most games on the NES). It's a huge letdown compared to the arcade version, which is probably the greatest arcade game of all time.
The next year brought perhaps the greatest Ninja Turtle moment of all time: A full length, live-action, feature film! I remember when my dad took me to see this movie at the late Commack Multiplex. In fact, I think I made him take me about 4 or 5 times. To this day, it is still one of my favorite movies. I don't care what anyone says. It was fairly true to the TV show, and was as much fun as any episode. It wasn't without a few flaws. There was no Krang, Bebop or Rocksteady, and April was missing her yellow jumpsuit. There was no Technodrome, and the story between Splinter and Shredder had been altered, but all in all, it was a fun watch. It still is!
The 2nd movie was a lot of fun. As a kid, I actually liked it more. As an adult, I don't like it as much for the same reason: It is just too goofy. I know that sounds strange, considering the flick is about Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, but it was just too silly at times. It was almost as if the writers were trying to one up each one-liner with ANOTHER corny one-liner. It wasn't as dark, and the fight scenes weren't nearly as good. There was a reason for this, however. It had to do, mostly, with international distribution. Believe it or not, many countries overseas had declared the nunchaku illegal many years before the show even began. As a result, the show, as well as the first film, had to be completely re-edited in order to be shown overseas. If you notice, Michelangelo really never uses them. You hardly even see them!
We saw two new villains introduced in the movie, Tokka and Rahzar. Again, no Bebop and Rocksteady. No Casey Jones either! And who could forget the "Ninja Rap", courtesy of Vanilla Ice. Don't get me wrong, it wasn't a bad movie. It's still a fun one to sit and watch, but it wasn't nearly as good as the first one. As an adult, it comes off a bit too fluffy for me. The one positive takeaway was an actress change for April. I always liked Paige Turco over Judith Hoag in the role. I think the animatronics were also better in this film. Makes sense, it was a little later, and the Jim Henson Company had the opportunity to build on what they already had.
Moving on without the Henson Company seems like it would be a mistake. It was, but it is the tip of the iceberg of problems with the third movie. This movie is so bad, it couldn't keep me entertained as a 6 year old. This is a true story: My mother rented the VHS for me the day I finished Kindergarten. It was a reward for doing a good job. I watched half the movie, turned it off and she returned the tape the next day. I didn't see the rest of the movie until two years ago. I had purchased the DVD box set during a Black Friday sale at Best Buy. I had the first movie on DVD, but not the second. The box set was actually cheaper than the regular DVD, so I figured, why not? The trade off was that I ended up with the third flick. It was as bad as I remember it being, and that's putting it lightly. I'm not even going to give it the courtesy of a review. Instead, I filled its space with an anecdote about Kindergarten and Black Friday deals to watch out for.
Now I must say, I did like the fourth movie from 2007. Despite that it was CGI, had an entirely different cast and was made 14 years after the third movie, I do consider it as a part of the series. Why? Because it picks up a few years after the third movie left off. It has all of your favorite characters, sans Shredder since he bit the big one in "Secret Of The Ooze". I thought it had its funny moments, while stayed dark and gutsy. The fight scenes were pretty good, and reminded me of the early TV show, before the censors and international distribution destroyed it. If you haven't seen it yet, check it out.
I said it earlier, the TV show was my favorite of all time. I have about half of the original series on DVD, and should have the collection finished by the end of the year. The early episodes were by far the best. They were funny enough to keep you laughing, and action packed enough to leave you wanting more. It was exciting to watch as a kid. In fact, you wanted to BE one of them .You wanted to be the hero and fight off the bad guys. I think that's what made the toys so much fun. You couldn't be a turtle, but you could still fight the good fight and create your own stories.
Like I said previously, the early episodes were much better than the later ones. I would say it was around Season Four when the show started to change. The weapon use was reduced, and in some cases, removed completely. Michelangelo's nunchakus were eventually removed and replaced with a grappling hook. I mentioned before how the second film differed from the first because of the censors and the risk of losing money is they couldn't show the film outside of the U.S. The same was said for the TV Show. In fact, in some countries, they are known as the "Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles". Apparently, the word ninja isn't allowed to be used because of the violence associated with the game. But swords, bo staffs, and twin sai attacks are acceptable if used sparingly. Despite it all, the show had a successful 9 year run, ending in 1996.
Naturally, any successful TV show, toy line, comic book, etc, is going to been merchandised left and right. This franchise saw so many different foods, it was insane. Everyone who loved the turtles woke up to a cool bowl of Ninja Turtle cereal on the table. This stuff was the best. It was almost like sugary Crispix, along with marshmallows; a kids dream. I can still taste the stuff. You know you can't complete your breakfast before you take your Ninja Turtle vitamins though. Once you were done, it was off to your toys. The pudding pies were also a favorite. I remember many afternoons spent chompin' away at these while watching the show on TV. I could keep going, but honestly, there is just too much to talk about. These were the three things I remembered the most.
Dear Michael Bay, please don't ruin my Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
Alright, we all know that a new live-action movie is in the works. Honestly, I was excited when I heard that Michael Bay was attached to it. He did a great job with the first Transformers film, and I really believe he can make a dark, gritty Ninja Turtle movie. Not to mention, I love that it's taking the live-action route again. However, all of that came crashing down when he said that the story was being changed. They are no longer teenagers. Actually, they're really not even turtles anymore! They are aliens...aliens! They come from another planet, and are, more or less, warriors. He said he did it so that they would have a better back story. Last time I checked, their back story was pretty solid.
 |
| Could this be what the new turtles look like? Early rumors suggest they might. |
He caught a lot of crap immediately, and took to the internet to tell everyone to calm down. In all fairness to him, we haven't seen it yet, and there isn't enough information out there to make a complete decision of how we feel. In all fairness to the fan boys out there (and myself as a bona fide fan boy), I think we have a reason to complain and be worried. My biggest question is how Splinter is going to play into this. There can be no Ninja Turtles without Master Splinter. Also, if this an alien planet run by overgrown animals and reptiles, or is it a planet consisting of Turtle-esque creatures, in which case, how is Splinter even there or involved.
Until we know more about it, I don't want to make a final determination. I'll wait until we know more, or at least until we see the movie. My only plea is that the film, characters, and franchise as a whole, doesn't lose its integrity or direction. I'm OK with a little change, as long as it makes sense in the end. Don't forget, the origins on Splinter and Shredder in the 1990 movie are different from the story in the TV show, and that worked out OK. I just hope that the movie stays as true to the original story as possible. And even if he does make a big mistake, it won't be the worst Turtle moment on film...
Nickelodeon
You may or may not know this, but Viacom acquired the rights to the Teenage Mutant Nina Turtle franchise, and is releasing a new TV Series this Fall. It will be CGI, and star Sean Astin and Jason Biggs. I've got to say, I'm kind of excited about this one. I think, from the early looks of it, that this generation of kids will be treated to a show that is fairly similar to what we grew up with. And you can't forget about Playmates either. They are releasing the toys, just like they did when we were kids. In addition to the new line of toys, they are also releasing a retro line. I'll be picking these up for sure. I've seen the early prototypes online, and they seem pretty impressive.
Hope you guys enjoyed this one. I look forward to more Throwback Thursdays. Hopefully, you do as well.
Off to eat some pizza.
-Sean
No comments:
Post a Comment