Anyway, there's this new TV show on Nickelodeon called Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles... PSYCHE! It is and it's not... Now being 16 years old and a lover of animation, I watched my fair share of TV when I was younger and happen to vaguely remember 4-5 giant angsty frog-men fight aliens and eat Italian food. And it was awesome. Eleven some odd years later and one anime phase passed I decide to try it again so onward to youtube! I arrive at said website and type in "Teenage mutant ninja turtles episode one" and instead of the two dimensional muscled man-turtles I see this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1uaArlaBg2Q
Now you have to understand that I'm not a huge fan of CGI, in fact I hate the that we're seeing less and less of good ol' hand drawn cartoons and movies. The good one's like Young Justice got canceled and the really gross and annoying ones like Secret Mountain Fort Awesome flourish! :P Blegh.
So in the end I thought, "It couldn't hurt to take a look? I mean after all it IS TMNT!" So I watched the first episode... and was hooked. It was well, awesome! As much as I hate CGI and as much as I liked the 2003 series, this was pretty damn good! From the fantastically emotional voice acting to the epic yet awkward fighting scenes I thought they did an amazing comeback! Then I read the reviews...
I was shocked! Sure there were some parts that I agreed with, but the makers really tried their best! It must have been a huge struggle to keep ALL the fans happy and yet put in some original, fresh ideas. First they had to cater to those who grew up with the Mirage comics, the original stuff. Serious hard core ninja fights, no pupils, the works. Then there was the 1980 fans who grew up loving the pizza, cheesy one liners, saving the day and humorous villains. Then comes along the 2003 series, the one I grew up with. This one is kinda a mix of the first two, no pupils but pizza, hardcore ninja fights but cheesy one liners. I think this one was the most loved out of all of them. Then it ended with the epic Turtles Forever. The one that tied up all loose ends, the one that everyone felt like it truly wrapped everything up with a pretty red, blue, orange and purple ribbon.
How could they ever take that ending and make something new? How could they EVER continue it? Well they did! And people were bias. They really tried their hardest! They kept almost everything, but made it unique! They really emphasized the fact that they were infact only fifteen years old. Making their personalities a little more exaggerated, a little more different. They made them different shapes with unique characteristics looking less like quadruplets and more like the individuals they really are.
Mikey with freckles, Raph has a scar on his shell, Donnie with a gap tooth etc... April is an actual ginger and part of the main plot! Sure they look and act a little different but if you're a true fan, you'd try you best to support the fandom and accept that things have changed! For better or for worse. And the great thing is if you really truly hate it, you don't have to watch it. Its that simple. Turn off the TV, play mancala, plant a pumpkin, get your fingers stuck in a chinese puzzle! If it offends you that much don't get any more riled up than you are already, there's plenty of unique and wonderful fandoms that I'm sure you would enjoy!
"You will not be punished for your anger, you will be punished by your anger."
