Nickelodeon's TMNT

Started by Previsionary, June 21, 2012, 04:29:19 PM

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HarryTrotter

So I finished season 3 and started a bit of season 4.Well,they butchered Return to new York.The epic story line about the turtles return and victory over Shredder is reduced to one episode of them fighting 3 clone Shredders and running away.But things do get a bit better after the return to NY.I liked the Mutanimals and Mondo Gecko,and Triceratons.I didnt like Hun and Bishop thou.Im not sure why they even bothered using the names.Bebop and Rocksteady i found just bland.Amount of butt jokes REALLY skyrocketed in this season.Im not even sure why Casey is in this show?He doesnt do anything,hes not interesting or in any way important.Turtles in time was just okay(no aardvark cameo this time thou)
I did like the Fugitoid,but this season doesn't see to offer much more then sail space and get into adventures resolvable in the span of one episode.I hope Im wrong there.Also,they really went out of their way to provide a love interest for every turtle.For some reason.
Somehow,for every thing I liked,there end up being 2 that I disliked.
''Even our origin stories have gone sour.''
Jon Farmer

HarryTrotter

I dont know why they didnt just name the series Teenage Mutant Ninja April.Elder Aeon?The heck was that?
On the other hand,Super Shredder was interesting,for about half an episode.
''Even our origin stories have gone sour.''
Jon Farmer

Silver Shocker

See, I quite liked the April episode. I think it's a good thing that April has more development and agency as a character in this iteration considering what a major character in the franchise she is and how other iterations over time (such as the 2003 series and the IDW comics) have given her larger roles beyond damsel in distress and snooping reporter.

Super Shredder was alright. I was more interested in the stuff going on with Splinter in that arc.

Spoiler
I really enjoyed the Rat King appearance in that episode. Very trippy. I found Jeffrey Combs and Hoon Lee (Splinter) were especially good in the voice roles in that episode. And that's gotta be the most overt death in the show to date.

I was pretty surprised that Shredder was hospital ridden after the fight at the end of the space arc. It didn't seem like he got hurt that badly so I was expecting something more to happen to put him in that state.

I was a little curious what happened to Scumbug and Antrax. Did they get away? Were they captured? The show doesn't really tell us. I would guess the creators wanted to keep it open ended in case they want to bring them back.
"Now you know what you're worth? Then go out and get what you're worth, but you gotta be willing to take the hits. And not pointing fingers, saying you're not where you want to be because of him, or her, or anybody. Cowards do that, and THAT AIN'T YOU. YOU'RE BETTER THAN THAT!"
~Rocky Balboa

HarryTrotter

A larger role is okay,but here she somehow always ends up being more important then the turtles.And gets some new super special awesome powers every 3-4 episodes.Like a self insert character in a bad fan fanfiction.
But hey look,Channel 6 building.
''Even our origin stories have gone sour.''
Jon Farmer

HarryTrotter

Tokka is back.They riff on Gamera movies a bit.Passable.
And the final few episodes seem pretty dark according to wikipedia.
''Even our origin stories have gone sour.''
Jon Farmer

HarryTrotter

So that happens.
Spoiler
Splinter died.
''Even our origin stories have gone sour.''
Jon Farmer

daglob

But...

Spoiler
... perhaps he becomes one with the Force...

HarryTrotter

Or(spoilers for still unfinished volume 4 ahead):
Spoiler
He turns out to be a clone and the real/their Splinter is Daimyo of the Battle Nexus.
We still don't know what is up with that and we probably never will.
''Even our origin stories have gone sour.''
Jon Farmer

SickAlice

Had to dig this one out of the dirt but...new episode: Usagi written by Stan Saki! Love it, please and thank you. Know we have some fans of that comic here so thought I'd give a heads up.

BentonGrey

I hadn't watched any of this show for a while, but I tuned in for this episode, and it was pretty decent.  It's hard to go wrong with Usagi, so that was pretty cool.  The whole setting was pretty much directly from the comics, so I enjoyed that.  The anime tropes were minor and relatively subdued, and the action looked pretty good.  I'll be back for the next part.
God Bless
"If God came down upon me and gave me a wish again, I'd wish to be like Aquaman, 'cause Aquaman can take the pain..." -Ballad of Aquaman
Check out mymods and blog!
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HarryTrotter

Apparently,the finale is another crossover with Fred Wolf Turtles.Nothing against them,but please give it a rest.
''Even our origin stories have gone sour.''
Jon Farmer

Silver Shocker

Actually there are apparently three more episodes after that: "The Wasteland Warrior" "The Impossible Desert" and "Carmageddon".  Apparently that aforementioned Fred Wolf Turtles crossover will be released on DVD in early to mid September.
"Now you know what you're worth? Then go out and get what you're worth, but you gotta be willing to take the hits. And not pointing fingers, saying you're not where you want to be because of him, or her, or anybody. Cowards do that, and THAT AIN'T YOU. YOU'RE BETTER THAN THAT!"
~Rocky Balboa

HarryTrotter

#132
In my defense,Wikipedia hasn't been updated on that yet.
Moving on,much of my complaints about the show still stand for its 5 season,but no point in repeating all that again.Good news is that Newtralizer and Lord Dregg are back.Unfortunately,so is Mona Lisa.
''Even our origin stories have gone sour.''
Jon Farmer

Silver Shocker

Didn't like Mona Lisa, eh?

My issue with the current season is it's basically this show's version of Enterprise season 4. One last season composed of smaller arcs with no overarching story until they run out the clock. For example, while it was nice to see them do Usagi in this series, I didn't need three episodes of the Turtles wandering around in Usagi's world with a really stuck-up little kid. The Splinter episode, for example, wasn't a story that really needed to be told at all. It was fine, but it didn't really tell us anything we didn't already know, and it seems to only existed to provide more Hoon Lee as Splinter (which is nice, I'll grant that). Though it also has the distinction of being written by TMNT co-creator Kevin Eastman. I don't know if he's ever written a TMNT episode before.

I'm not sure if I or anyone else have brought this up here but season 5, Tales of the TMNT, is the finale season of the series. It's apparently going to be replacement by a new 2D series called Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (I assume Andy Serkis will be involved  :P ) which will apparently have mystical powers in it (aka a new gimmick) and will be "more humongous, and more light hearted in tone". Personally, I thought the Nicktoons series was already too humor-based, but oh well. I'm waiting to find out if it's a continuation of the current show like Fast Forward and Back to the Sewers were for the 2003 series, and if the voice cast will return. If it is a reboot, then 1) I'm not crazy about watching them start all over again, in a cartoon they say is going to be more light-hearted, and 2) That means the 2003 series still had a longer run. I kinda like that since I still have a soft spot for that series to this day.
"Now you know what you're worth? Then go out and get what you're worth, but you gotta be willing to take the hits. And not pointing fingers, saying you're not where you want to be because of him, or her, or anybody. Cowards do that, and THAT AIN'T YOU. YOU'RE BETTER THAN THAT!"
~Rocky Balboa

HarryTrotter

Wasnt that also the season that casted James Avery(in full Shredder mode) as a Klingon warlord?
Mona Lisa...every turtle needs a love interest,yes?
Thing about 2003 turtles...it had a great animation studio,good writers,long term plans,an input from Peter Laird.At least in the first 5 seasons.Unfortunatl,some threads were left unresolved;and sadly,I dont think we will ever return to that era.Considering the new owners did they best to bury that series.But I was okay with Turtles Forever.It was a decent finale for the franchise.For those who complained about the portrayal of FW turtles,I say: have you actually watched that cartoon?They WERE pizza obsesed stoners. ;)

Which brings me to another thing,2012 version didnt really contribute anything to the mythos.It borrowed from every other incarnation,and rode the 80's nostalgia a bit too much,but never really came onto its own.And that perhaps is the worst problem I have with it.Okay,there was Newtralizer,but thats kinda it.

I heard about the reboot but I dont reall care.Seema like another version that caters to toddlers and FW nostalgics.No offense to anyone.
''Even our origin stories have gone sour.''
Jon Farmer

Silver Shocker

As someone who actually recently rewatched Enterprise (don't worry, I rewatched the ones everyone likes too, there's a good chance I'll back to DS9 in the near future  :P) You are correct, the late great Uncle Phil himself played a Klingon on that show.

As you and I discussed in the past, I am a hardcore TMNT 2003 fan and appreciate everything it did. It paved the way for literally every new iteration that's come since, all of which have followed in its footsteps in any number of ways.

Quoteand sadly,I dont think we will ever return to that era.Considering the new owners did they best to bury that series.

Indeed. To this day we don't have new season sets for the show (merely handfuls of episodes on DVD), and the old season sets were out of print and expensive as all get out when I bought them at the pawn shops a good 3-5 + years ago. It frankly boggles the mind that the Mirage Comics and Archie comics have gotten lavish reprints, yet the cartoon remains unavailable on new DVD sets or on any legit streaming service I'm aware of, yet you can watch darn near every American Transformers cartoon for free on Tubi Tv.

QuoteBut I was okay with Turtles Forever.It was a decent finale for the franchise.

Oh I adored Turtles Forever. The only reason I don't own it on DVD is because I stubbornly refused to buy a release that didn't feature the "Director's Cut" that had the extra scenes filling in the plot holes, like how Karai was able to find Ch'rell/Utron Shredder, and whether she was 100% loyal to him, or conflicted as in previous seasons. Those were, to my recollection, the only significant negatives I had with the film (well, other than, of course, 4Kids' failure to get the original voice actors, something I'll concede Nicktoons absolutely beat them at) and those extra scenes addressed them. I am disappointed that after Turtles Forever kicked off this crossover idea, and Nicktoons Turtles repeatedly did their own, we never got a crossover with the 4Kids show. It probably would have worked better anyway, since the contrast was supposed to be "serious" (notice the quotes, 2K3 was not without humor or personality) vs wacky, while Nicktoons version was...well wacky vs. also wacky, but one of them is traditional animation! The mean draw was the return of the original voice actors. And let's not started on how they took a sledgehammer to the canon by claiming that Fred Wolf Krang was a "rogue" Kraang from the Nicktoons Dimension X...I don't even want to try to figure how that's supposed to work.

QuoteFor those who complained about the portrayal of FW turtles,I say: have you actually watched that cartoon?They WERE pizza obsesed stoners.

Yeah, as someone who was a kid during that incarnation, and a huge TMNT fan (until the "Red Skies" where I actually started to lose interest and largely dropped off) Turtles Forever was pretty accurate. Even the infamous scene with the banana people capturing April really wasn't all that different than "Attack of the Killer Pizzas" or the Mr. Mxysptlk stand-in who talked like Pee-Wee Herman (funny how that connects to Bat-Mite in Brave and the Bold). At the worst, they were slightly wackier just for the purpose of contrast.

QuoteWhich brings me to another thing,2012 version didnt really contribute anything to the mythos.It borrowed from every other incarnation,and rode the 80's nostalgia a bit too much,but never really came onto its own.And that perhaps is the worst problem I have with it.Okay,there was Newtralizer,but thats kinda it.

You know, that is a good point. A snarkier Splinter who can hold his own in a fight? I've seen that before. An April who trained with Splinter and can fend for herself? I've seen that. Karai as Splinter's estranged daughter was a new take, but in the end it amounted to a conflicted Karai who eventually became an out and out ally to the Turtles. The differences tended to be stuff like revised origins for familiar characters, the style of humor and various running gags or characterization quirks. While future incarnations were able to take a lot from 2K3 (Hun, Bishop, bringing back any number of things from the Mirage Comics that the 2K3 revived, Darius Dunn, Angel and The Street Phantoms in the IDW run) I'm not sure how much future iterations will be able to pull from Nicktoons. On the topic of Newtralizer, he was actually based on an unused concept from the 90s. Just as the original TMNT was spoofing on Daredevil, mutant comic book characters and ninjas in general, Newtralizer was supposed to be based on characters like Cable. On the other hand, The IDW volume played a more serious version of the same game, drawing from 2K3, the 87 series and the Archie run while coming with many new ideas (Angel as a superhero, Harold, Old Hob, Alopex, who actually made it into Nicktoons).

I don't hate the new series though. As I said, I have a love-hate relationship with it. I'd say I've really enjoyed about 40-70% of it, maybe more. The humor-oriented episodes with Mikey and the filler stories were what I disliked. I appreciated the wider range of voice talent, that was probably the big improvement over 2K3 If Nicktoons wanted Jeffrey Combs, David Tennent, Danny Trejo, Lance Henrickson, or Ron Perlman, they got them. It reminded me a lot of Transformers Prime in that regard, coming off TF Animated (Prime also had Jeffrey Combs in its cast). The current TF cartoon, which is about to end, had, in my opinion, a much less impressive range of voice talent, and a more kid-oriented approach to storytelling. I'm hoping The next TMNT doesn't go the same route, though it likely will.
"Now you know what you're worth? Then go out and get what you're worth, but you gotta be willing to take the hits. And not pointing fingers, saying you're not where you want to be because of him, or her, or anybody. Cowards do that, and THAT AIN'T YOU. YOU'RE BETTER THAN THAT!"
~Rocky Balboa

HarryTrotter

#136
I kinda liked the Red Skies episodes,it was an okay imitation of Batman TAS.  :)
But I see why it could have alienated its audience back then.

I never really had any hope for a 4kids/Nick turtles crossover.I mean it was possible(and apparently,an episode with Flaming Carrot almost happened),but it was pretty clear the writers only cared about one version of turtles.

Btw,best part of Turtles Forever was Mirage/Leo's Miller-esque monologue.Its just gold. :thumbup:

Its not that I hated this series(I said before it had good stuff,like Rat King for example),its just that it makes me almost angry when I see that it had so much potential and ends up wasting it.Another example,Slash goes from Raphaels evil counterpart to a member of the B-team with a beef against Leo for some reason.Or that sometimes I get the feeling they were more concerned with shipping the telling stories.
Or to make a comparison with IDW comic- it also takes pieces of previous iterations and forms a sort of Ultimate universe,but it also adds a lot of its own and ends up being a lot more then the sum of its part.This show however,well you can see the stitches...But,I said all of this before.

I agree about the Usagi story.Three episodes feels a bit dragged out.Splinter episode was okay,but nothing we haven't seen before.Fun fact,the water tower was Turtles provisional HQ during the original City of War.
''Even our origin stories have gone sour.''
Jon Farmer

HarryTrotter

Raph stars in a Road Warrior homage that doubles as a tribute to Peter and Kevin.I didnt quite catch the tribute part (there are a few mythology references like Caseys flag-mask),its a decent Road Warrior riff.
And Savanti Romero is going around gathering classic movie monsters.Which is just okay.Bit early for Halloween,thou.
''Even our origin stories have gone sour.''
Jon Farmer