Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Thread

[Drtooth]

There's a couple great behind the scenes and asides in this one.

Tang Shen was played by the same woman who played Karai in the live action Bay movie. I really like how stuff like this works out with the whole referencing past projects. I'm sure the episode was recorded just after the movie finished.

Also, there's a great little aside that clears up a major sin of the franchise. The fact that Laird and Eastman couldn't come up with good Japanese names and accidentally named Tang Shen something that sounds a lot more Chinese than Japanese. Fixed with an aside that her grandfather was Chinese, hence the not Japanese sounding Japanese character's name.

Really loved this episode and how it shows the entire series of events in the show is based on Oroku Saki going insane from the death of Tang, and feeling deeply that she was his, and therefore Miwa was his daughter. Of course, here they added the plot point that it was because he thought Hamato Yoshi was also dead... but it still works as the warped mind of a psychopath. No wonder he didn't give two craps about the Kraang taking over the world.

 

[mr3urious]

Those last couple of episodes were pretty intense. We got Zog the Triceraton back, and he gets taken advantage of his oxygen-induced loopiness just like in the 4Kids series. This led up to the two-parter that paired up the Turtle Gang, the Mutanimals, and Agent Bishop (now an ally, and it seems that the Utrom name is used for the good Kraang such as him) with the Foot, Kraang, and Triceratons in an epic battle culminating with

Spoiler

the destruction of Earth including the deaths of Splinter and Bishop all at the hands of Shredder. But the Turtles, April, and Casey are saved by Professor Honeycutt, and takes them into an epic space journey in his ship.

 

[Drtooth]

I'm shocked that no one else paid attention to this story.

DC has teamed up with Nick (and possibly IDW) to bring

A FREAKING BATMAN CROSSOVER!!!!!

TMNT and Batman. That's...that's huge. The closest the two ever got to appearing in official media together is Mikey's cameo in The Lego Movie.

Anyway...

Those last couple of episodes were pretty intense.

Big things are in play for season 4. As far as Season 3 went, while it had some suspense lengthening episodes (especially the horror movie tribute at the beginning of the season), when the show really got intense it got it massively. Ending this season with such dark notes with just a hint of hope seems like the logical conclusion. Showing the root of Shredder's insanity growing from his origin story paid off in the end. I'm glad they've added more original comic and 2k3 elements this year. The references to the 80's series are always good, but we're getting some great notes of other TMNT continuities. Even a subtle casting nod with Tang Shen being portrayed by the actress from the recent TMNT movie who played Karai (who was recast for the sequel).

As for the last 2 episodes... IDW crossed over Ghostbusters with the Turtles, and it seems like Nick did the same thing last episode. "Venkman was Here" was spray painted inside the Statue of Liberty, and an NES Advantage controller was among Zog's old possessions. Hmmm... wonder how he got that. With Crognard over, I wonder if a new cartoon series is to appear in season 4 (though I'd like to see how it happens in outer space). Great to see Kraang Sub-Prime back for an episode. Also great to see Mondo Gecko and Muckman added to the Mutanimals roster (Mondo Gecko was in the IDW Mutanimals group with Pigeon Pete and Slash as well). Also:

Spoiler

Shredder being so petty he doesn't care about Karai or Earth that he outright kills Splinter mere seconds from saving the planet, instead of waiting for Splinter to shut down the machine first is the defining low point of his character. It was so important his feud ended at the nastiest possible moment that he didn't bother to have the clarity to find a way to destroy him another day. It's a brilliant counterpoint to 2k3 Shredder saving the city and becoming a hero, all the while still trying to destroy the Turtles with the other hand. Shredder here was driven so insane by hate and anger his screwed up priorities got the better of him.

That's something deviously dark and deep considering the channel and production company.

 

[Drtooth]

Among other things Mona Lisa is confirmed.

 

[mr3urious]

I like how the Fugitoid in this series has more of a dry British wit to him, which isn't surprising seeing how he was voiced by David "Tenth Doctor" Tennant. And the re-imagined Lord Dregg was a great deal more interesting and disturbing, with Peter Stormare giving him a far more deranged personality to him. So, I'm looking forward to seeing Dregg again.

Oh, and this series' April finally dons a yellow jumpsuit as part of her space garb!

 

[Drtooth]

Wouldn't you know? The day this episode airs, TMNT in Space Suit action figures started popping up. There's even a box set of all 4 Turtles and Fugitoid.

While I do think the time travel reset thing was a might cheap, I had a feeling they were going to pull that one all along. Plus the rest of the episode more than made up for that. I especially like how they were able to sneak in a reference to Fast Forward by giving the turtles similar weapons.

Oh, and yes. Dregg is indeed greatly improved by being made a more specific type of villain than just a standard big evil space lord. Making him just a villain of many to face, and a threat waiting in the wings makes for better writing.

 

[mr3urious]

While I do think the time travel reset thing was a might cheap, I had a feeling they were going to pull that one all along.

But better than Honeycutt revealing that near the end of the season, just like with Glinda telling Dorothy that she could have just used her slippers to go back home all this time.

 

[Drtooth]

Well, here's an unexpected surprise. An online exclusive TMNT special made specifically to tie in to the Half Shell Heroes toy line. It's actually quite good, and I love the animation here. Seems like it's own little Rescue Bots type deal, but only with the same characters as the main series.

Clearly this ties in to a specific Dinosaur themed toy line I saw the other day at Target. The Triceratons make an appearance and Bebop and Rocksteady somehow become more like their original animated incarnations with this one. Even wear rough approximations of their old series costumes, only prehistoric at one point. Almost feels like a pilot for a side series, or a pack in video like DC Super Friends. Obviously, this is non-canonical, especially at the end where:

Spoiler

Bebop and Rocksteady promise to become good guys in exchange for the Turtles saving them from the Triceraton army and agreeing to take them back home.

Seems they set up a sequel hook to for some sort of Future based toy line.

 

[Drtooth]

So now they've revealed the latest of this series's best running gags, a new Show within a show. Capitalizing off the fact one of their characters was a parody of him, they made a delightfully biting parody of Chuck Norris Karate Commandos, only using Chris Bradford.

 

[Drtooth]

So, the trailer for the next movie has been released.
http://www.comicbookresources.com/a...t-of-the-shadows-trailer-arrives-online-early

Have to admit, I have a very cautious level of excitement right now. I kinda like how Bebop and Rocksteady look, and I'm loving Baxter Stockman here. At the risk of speaking too soon, it looks like this will at least be areal TMNT movie instead of the contagion conspiracy picture with the Turtles sort of in it. And Casey Jones appears in it too.

Now, I did sort of like the first one, and the only major issue I had with it is the fact the Turtles barely appear in it, and the movie pretty much could have been written as anything, really. Hopefully this one at least focuses on the Turtles and their core characters. Seems it very well could.