Turtles Forever

[Christopher]

I did like the yellow jumpsuit comment from Leo though.

Which was undermined by the fact that "his" April later appeared in her own version of a yellow jumpsuit.

It sounds fun, although a little fanwanky and totally non-canon (similar to the "Forever Red" Power Rangers special they did several years ago).

I don't think there's any reason to assume this is non-canonical. For one thing, I don't know if they're going to make any more of the new series after this, so if this is the last thing they do, nothing's going to contradict it. And most of what happened was reset at the end, though I guess there's still Hun's new mutation to contend with. But given that alternate realities are already an established part of the show's continuity, I can see this fitting in.

And whoever said "Forever Red" was non-canonical? It's not as if Power Rangers has ever had a particularly cohesive canon to begin with. It's contradicted itself plenty of times.

As for the original voice of Shredder, wasn't it the guy who played the father on Fresh Prince of Bel-Air?

Yes, James Avery was the original Shredder. He's done a lot of voice work, including the original Jim Rhodes/War Machine on the '90s Iron Man cartoon and Sir Bryant in the syndicated The Legend of Prince Valiant. Strangely, he was later replaced in all three of those roles by Dorian Harewood, who doesn't even sound like him. And not all at once, but several years apart. I always wondered what the deal was there.

 

[Robert Maxwell]

The movie did seem to bash the '80's turtles a lot. Some of it seemed good-natured, but some of it came off more mean-spirited. I can see it two ways:

1. The forces running the new show wanted to make an extensive "take that!" out of the old one, and so purposely set them up as caricatures of themselves.
2. This being a show geared at kids, they felt they had to exaggerate the differences between the two versions in order for kids to not be confused as to which was which.

And maybe it was some combination of the two. They obviously did their research on the original show, getting most of the details right, so I don't get the impression they hated it--why make such a faithful recreation of their world, otherwise?

You really can't exaggerate the bumbling stupidity of Shredder, Bebop, and Rocksteady, though. Their portrayal was pretty spot-on.

I also agree that '80's April was not a constant "damsel in distress." Her role varied, but most often she was either intentionally or inadvertently doing recon work for the turtles, and so was a big help to them. She certainly wasn't a constant liability!

The story itself was pretty cool, and the sequence with the Mirage turtles was badass. You can tell the people involved had a lot of fun with it.

Overall, it was quite enjoyable, and a nice bit of nostalgia.

 

[Holdfast]

Uncle Phil...yes he was Shredder.

whaaa...?

My childhood memories suddenly seem a very scary place.

 

[Delta1]

Since the cartoon Turtles were now present during the events of TMNT #1 in the Mirage universe, does this mean that the events of the Mirage Universe are now non-canon?

I mean, without the injuries inflicted by the Turtles or the thermite grenade, the Shredder might have survived his fall from the roof. And the ambush didn't happen, so his best soldiers are still alive. That changes the entire Turtle-Foot vendetta. And the presence of giant alien-driven androids and a tiny Death Star floating around New York will not go unnoticed. Maybe the Utroms will reveal themselves much earlier? Ch'Rell's invasion of Turtle Prime could have a disastrous, JJ Abrams-like effect on the Prime Universe.

 

[Daneel]

The movie is up on Youtube, in case anyone wants to check it out. Don't know how long it'll stay up there, what with the legal issues and all.

 

[Samurai8472]

All three turtle groups took a swipe at one another's portrayal so it's not so one side

"why is he narrating?"

Mirage's shredder being taken out in a few seconds

"Sellouts"

Mirage Ralph speaking about the multicolored headbands

"We save April once a day!"


I did like the line from the 80's turtle about going back and getting their anti techno drome gear.

They had gadgets for everything. I guess you could consider themselves sellouts.

 

[Galactus]

They made fun of them because the 80's Turtles suck. I have one son in particular that can not imagine how this was ever popular. He had forgotten I tried to show him an episode where someone, was using a joke machine or something to take over the city.

I just saw the end and not the whole thing, but I heard something about a dimensional gate being built with a flashlight? I hope that is wrong. I also hope there is a big reset. I didn't even know they had put Splinter back together yet?

The new Turtles are cool, the old Turtles I despised greatly.

 

[TheBrew]

Okay, that was simply way too awesome. A must watch for any Turtles fan.

 

[Christopher]

They made fun of them because the 80's Turtles suck.

Well, tastes differ, of course. But I felt that the '80s series started out strong and went steadily downhill. It began as a 5-episode miniseries, written by veteran animation writer David Wise. The first episode was terrific. The remaining four episodes were very good, but not as good as the first. Then they filled it out to complete a 13-episode season for Saturday network airings; the back 8 episodes were pretty good, but not as good as the first 5. Then they added another 52 episodes to get a daily syndication package. Those weren't quite as good as the first 13. Then each progressive season was sillier than the last.

I don't know if that applies to the last couple of seasons where they tried to get more serious and Mirage-like. I'd stopped watching regularly by then. But what I did see didn't impress me too much.

 

[Holdfast]

The movie is up on Youtube, in case anyone wants to check it out. Don't know how long it'll stay up there, what with the legal issues and all.

Awesome.

It's pretty funny. I've only watched about half since I need to go to bed. Hopefully the rest will still be up tomorrow!

 

[Galactus]

They made fun of them because the 80's Turtles suck.

Well, tastes differ, of course. But I felt that the '80s series started out strong and went steadily downhill. It began as a 5-episode miniseries, written by veteran animation writer David Wise. The first episode was terrific. The remaining four episodes were very good, but not as good as the first. Then they filled it out to complete a 13-episode season for Saturday network airings; the back 8 episodes were pretty good, but not as good as the first 5. Then they added another 52 episodes to get a daily syndication package. Those weren't quite as good as the first 13. Then each progressive season was sillier than the last.

I don't know if that applies to the last couple of seasons where they tried to get more serious and Mirage-like. I'd stopped watching regularly by then. But what I did see didn't impress me too much.

Do you mean when it was like the Turtles, Skeleton Warriors, and WildCATS? If I remember they were trying to be serious but it still was silly, at least to me. Didn't fit with the other shows. Beside Mike had the grappling hook by then so there was no saving it. 2003 Turtles is how it is suppose to be done. Only problem I have is Ultrom Shredder and Yoshi being killed too easily. Given the concept which I never liked they have done an incredible amazing job.

 

[TimmyWl]

I saw it on a website. It's been many years since I've seen TMNT and I've gotten out of touch with the 2k3 version of TMNT. However, it was a good romp and very sound entertainment.

 

[God Magnus]

That was a really enjoyable romp through the Turtle multiverse. I can see why some saw the movie as bashing the 80's Turtles, but at the end I think it was trying to show affection in different ways to each Turtle-verse/era featured in the film. I loved the various incarnations shown in Shredder's "master plan reveal" scene - it was like a trip down memory lane. The way the movie ended also really showed a genuine affection for the Turtles as a whole. I may actually pick this up on DVD once it's out.

PS - Dug that they worked in a Tokka and Rahzar reference too.

 

[Broccoli]

I watched it thanks to the YouTube link. I was amused.

I love how the "Turtles-Prime" p'wned the 2003 Turtles. I also loved how "Shredder-Prime" got p'wned by garbage.

It was also getting super annoying how the 2003 Turtles kept saying shell all the time ("What the shell?", "Hey half-shell!", "Get off my shell."; etc). You can have a drinking game with that. I never watched the 2003 Turtles, but did they do that all the time in the show?

 

[O'Dib]

Yeah, it's a BSG gag. Keeping in line with turtle anatomy, they could've also talked about getting tail, getting head, and so on.

 

[Christopher]

I loved the various incarnations shown in Shredder's "master plan reveal" scene - it was like a trip down memory lane.

I didn't even recognize most of the comics-based Turtleverses they showed. Are there that many different continuities in the comics? Or were they exaggerating?

I did recognize the Turtles from the live-action movies and the CGI movie (although those are supposed to be in the same universe, not two different ones). But I didn't spot the Turtles from the Next Mutation live-action TV series.

 

[Robert Maxwell]

I loved the various incarnations shown in Shredder's "master plan reveal" scene - it was like a trip down memory lane.

I didn't even recognize most of the comics-based Turtleverses they showed. Are there that many different continuities in the comics? Or were they exaggerating?

I did recognize the Turtles from the live-action movies and the CGI movie (although those are supposed to be in the same universe, not two different ones). But I didn't spot the Turtles from the Next Mutation live-action TV series.

If this is accurate, there have been quite a few comic incarnations of the Turtles!

 

[Delta1]

Laird and Eastman have been a little fuzzy on what's in Mirage comic continuity and what's not. Some time after Return to New York and before the City at War prequel, the series had a revolving creative team. One team wasn't always familiar with the work of another team, and discrepancies crept in. When Laird and Eastman returned with issue #48, they explicitly said they were returning "continuity" to the series--whether that means past stories were wiped out or they were just returning to long arcs is unclear to me. Art from a recent Tales (which I have not read) establishes that the multiverse is part of Mirage canon.

Then there's the Image comic, which was in continuity while it ran and is apparently considered out of continuity by Laird now. Some fans say there's sufficient space in the timeline to fit it in and do so, others side with Laird.

Of course, the cartoon-inspired Archie series and the comic strip had their own continuity, separate from the cartoon and the other comics. And the comic adaptations of the movies may occupy a corner of the multiverse distinct from the movies themselves. And there was a Peter David comic based on on the 2003 series, which may also have its own little bit of the multiverse. There was also an RPG, that might have had a universe to itself.

And there were the Chef Boyardee and Kraft Macaroni and Cheese universes, in which the turtles were pasta. And the toy universe, in which they lived in my basement and fought alongside the Ghostbusters. And....

 

[God Magnus]

If this is accurate, there have been quite a few comic incarnations of the Turtles!

Oh yes, and among them were some toy variants like the series where they wore shiny armor and so on. I also noticed (much to my delight) that they used the Michael Zulli Turtles as well, a series of issues that really struck me with its visual style when I was a kid (details: http://www.ninjaturtles.com/comics/mirage/volume01/31/31.htm)

 

[God Magnus]

And the toy universe, in which they lived in my basement and fought alongside the Ghostbusters. And....

That must be right next to the universe I had in my room where Optimus Prime and Bumblebee took down Scorponok with the help of Raphael!