Earlier this week (Thursday if you ask Bleeding Cool, Monday if you ask Ninja Pizza), some new promotional shots of Nickelodeon’s new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles series got out. It seems that while updating their website, it accidentally briefly went live a little too soon. Oops. what that means is that we get a good look at not only the new character models, but also short bios.
Check out the pics, then keep reading for my description of the footage I saw at Toy Fair.
It’s interesting to note that in the group shot, Michelangelo and Donatello have their new, bladed, weapons but in their solo pics they’ve got their older-style weapons. Weird.
So that’s what they look like, a little more anime-ish and a bit more cute than we’re used to. Except for Shredder, he looks downright terrifying. But generally, pretty damn cool. The different body types are great, and the facial differences give them so much more character (love Mikey’s freckles). But what about those characters? Is there anything new or different about them? (Click for legibility.)
Awwww.
I adore this description of Mikey. The idea of him not just being “the fun guy” but this eternal optimist that thinks that human society would accept the Turtles. I’m not sure if I want the show to prove him wrong or right.
So, Splinter has super powers now? Huh, ok.
And so will 16 year-old indie-rock April, eventually. Interesting. I’m not sure how I feel about it. I don’t hate it, but I’m not really feeling it yet either. (The super powers, I mean. The revamped April works just fine.)
Apparently the Utroms are called the Kraangs now? I guess this is a compromise for people that are only familiar with the old cartoon and see a brain creature and think “Krang”. I guess.
Anyway, on to what the show itself is like. When I was at Toy Fair taking pictures of the new TMNT toys, one of the reps was showing some buyers around and played a bit of the new cartoon for them. Since no one told me not to watch, I stopped what I was doing and checked it out.
The clip starts with the Turtles sneaking down an alley. All’s going well until Mikey knocks over a spray paint can and everyone freaks out from the noise thinking they’re being followed. When they realize it was just their dumb-ass brother they relax. It’s at this point that a few Foot ninjas show up. It’s pretty even numbers, so one of the Turtles makes a crack about how uneven the odds are. Of course more ninjas show up, then some more. The fight is really well-handled. The action is great, with those same impact freeze-frames that Batman: The Brave and the Bold used. After the dozens of Foot ninjas are dispatched, the Shredder appears ominously and the clip ends.
The animation is a little weird. It’s very CGI, a bit like a video game. Like a Wii game, I’d say. But it’s really fun. It has a very great fluidity, and the voice cast really sells it (especially Greg Cipes using his Beast Boy voice as Michelangelo). This show is going to be a blast.
