The Teenage Mutant
Ninja Turtles have been a part of my life for as long as I can
remember. The 1990s trilogy of live
action films are movies that I have grown up with. The first one was released a few months
before I was born. My whole life has existed
alongside these movies. I saw them when
I was young and still watch and enjoy them.
It is partially driven by nostalgia from my childhood. These movies are engrained in who I am.
I haven’t written a post like this for a long time. Throughout the Sunday “Bad” Movies, there
have been times when a movie was used to discuss my relationships with
movies. When I watched The Room, I wrote about the many times I
had seen it. When I watched Snakes on a Train, I wrote about my
history with The Asylum. It’s been far
too long since I wrote this kind of post.
This week, I will give insight into how the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movies have affected my life.
Let’s start with the movie series. I have seen the three Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movies countless times. They were all released by the time I was
three years old, and we had a VCR. I was
constantly watching them on VHS. I
enjoyed each one, though I knew that the third (even at my young age) was the weakest. Casey Jones was a cool guy, but I was always
a bigger Michelangelo fan. My favourite
movie in the trilogy was the second one, Teenage
Mutant Ninja Turtles II: Secret of the Ooze. The blend of good action and funny moments
helped me fall in love with it more than the others. I will still sit down and watch the movies if
they come on. I enjoy them. Why wouldn’t I watch them?
My love of these movies has seeped into many aspects of my
life. The first notable one is that I
was a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle for
Halloween when I was four years old. I
know this because a few years ago, I found my journal from that time and there
was a picture of me dressed as one. I
can’t remember who I was dressed as. It
was either Michelangelo or Donatello.
I’m thinking I was Donatello even though Michelangelo has always been my
favourite. When I saw the picture, I was
pleasantly surprised. I hadn’t
remembered ever being a Teenage Mutant Ninja
Turtle for Halloween but it made perfect sense. The amount of time I spent watching the
characters, it would only be fitting for me to be one on the day that children
cosplay for candy.
The next big moments would be the two Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles television series that I watched as a
child. If you know me, you know that
another staple of my childhood was Mighty
Morphin Power Rangers. I still watch
that show. In the late 1990s, the
producers of that series, Saban, started making a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles live action television series. It would be called Ninja Turtles: The Next Mutation.
That series was a loose continuation to the movie trilogy and introduced
viewers to a female turtle named Venus de Milo.
There was no April O’Neil and no Casey Jones. There were new antagonists in The Rank and
their leader Dragonlord. I remember
watching this series, though I don’t remember any specifics. It lasted one season and has mostly been
forgotten.
Zoom ahead to 2003 when the other Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles series I watched came out. I was twelve at the time. Fox began airing a new animated series during
their Saturday morning cartoon block.
The show was back to four turtles.
Splinter, April, and Casey Jones were all there. The Foot Clan and Shredder were the bad guys
again. It was the stuff that everyone
knew and loved about the franchise. I
watched the first season or two of the show.
When I was fourteen, I got a job which had me working on Saturday
mornings. I stopped watching around that
time. I enjoyed the show, but much like
the live action Saban incarnation, I remember almost nothing about it. There may be a time in my future where I
return to this series and watch it all the way through.
This post isn’t really about these television shows
though. It’s about my relationship with
the movies. My interest in the shows was
inspired by my love for the movies, but let’s move onto some movie related
stuff. Let’s talk about the animated
movie from 2007! This was an animated
sequel to the live action movies. In
that, I mean that it is the same continuity.
The entire cast was new. Chris
Evans came in as Casey Jones, and Sarah Michelle Gellar voiced April
O’Neil. Patrick Stewart, Laurence
Fishburne, Nolan North, and Kevin Smith also had roles in the movie. This animated movie had the Ninja Turtles broken up and coming back
together to defeat a new foe. I wasn’t a
huge fan when it came out. I think most
of it had to do with my anger at it not being live action. That was immature of me. I haven’t watched it since, though. I own it, but I haven’t rewatched it.
Around that time, I was buying up the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movies on DVD. I hadn’t yet upgraded to blu-ray. I bought, I think, Secret of the Ooze and Teenage
Mutant Ninja Turtles III on DVD before I found the best possible item. One day while I was walking through Zellers
(RIP Zellers), I saw a DVD four pack with all four Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movies in it. It had the three live action movies, as well
as the animated one. This is why I own
the animated movie. The packaging was a
zipper case, much like people used to often use for CDs. It wasn’t the ideal case. I don’t really want a zipper case for my
movies. It makes things weird when
you’re looking for a specific movie. This
was different. It wasn’t a plain zipper
case. The case was designed to look like
a manhole cover. It signified the fact
that the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
lived in a sewer. I needed this four
pack. It was one of the first special
packaging sets that I ever bought and will always hold a high place in my
heart.
Not holding such a place is the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Coming Out of Their Shells Tour. This was a touring musical from 1990 that
featured the Ninja Turtles singing
songs on stage in front of a theatre audience.
Why am I placing it here in the timeline when it’s from 1990? I watched it sometime in 2012 or 2013. Much like the 1990 movie that came before it,
the turtles were people in suits.
There’s nothing too special or even all that memorable about the musical
except for the semi-catchy title song.
They’re turtles in a rock band.
Another film related to Teenage
Mutant Ninja Turtles that I watched was a documentary called Turtle Power: The Definitive History of the
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. The
documentary was released in 2014 and in July of that year, I watched it on
Netflix. The documentary gave a detailed
history of the franchise from the comics to the movies, up until close to the
modern day. It didn’t go into great
detail, but it did give a good summary of what the franchise started as,
became, and would be known for. It was a
great watch for someone who is interested in the legacy of the franchise.
That brings to the 2014 Michael Bay produced reboot of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. I’m not going to get too into this movie
since it is the most unrelated to what I’m covering. But there’s something about the movie that I
want to share with you guys. To get into
that, I first need to get into some of the local events. Around here, there is a festival of lights in
the winter. Throughout the parks that
border the river, the city sets up light displays. Disney used to help with the festival. There would be displays depicting many of the
children’s classics. Mickey Mouse, The
Lion King, all of the Disney princesses… They would get displays. Disney pulled out a few years ago and the
city has been trying to find a good replacement since then.
In 2014, they came up with an idea. They would try to partner with a different
studio. They chose to team up with
Paramount for one display. It was no
longer a studio helping to set up the entire festival. Paramount helped with a single display and
that was it. The city made a whole thing
of it. There was a ribbon cutting
ceremony, and there were special movie screenings. That movie was the Michael Bay produced Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. I went to the opening ceremony. I listened to our mayor call the studio
Paramont the entire time. But the worst
part of it was that they couldn’t even get the movies straight. In celebration of the ribbon cutting
ceremony, they played music from the 2007 TMNT
animated movie. That wasn’t the movie
they were promoting. The display was for
the 2014 movie. They were screening the
2014 movie. But they played the music
from a different movie. I was aghast.
I was almost as aghast when I saw the 2014 interpretation of
the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. The design of the computer generated turtles
in this live action movie was like a Michael Bay reimagining of the Ninja Turtles. That’s exactly what the movie was,
though. I’m not sure what I
expected. They were accurate
representations of the current teenagers that I have had communication
with. But I tend to find this kind of
personality irritating. This was
especially prevalent in the elevator scene where all four of the brothers were
beatboxing while waiting to go up to the roof for a fight. I may have fallen victim to doing the same
sort of thing in boredom, but it comes across as sort of arrogant in the movie. It’s loud in the way that Michael Bay makes
his movies and characters loud. It was
less about the martial arts and more about explosions. I guess that sums it up.
Even with disappointment like the 2014 movie, what continues
to bring me back to the Teenage Mutant
Ninja Turtles franchise is my love of the original three live action
films. I haven’t rewatched either of the
television series I’ve seen. I haven’t
seen the later movies more than once. What
I have done is watched the three movies from the early 1990s many times. My love for these movies is what allows me to
give the other installments a chance. I
will probably be seeing the newest movie at some point because my love for the
franchise has been a lifelong thing.
What is it about these original three movies that has caused
me to have an overwhelming affection for the Ninja Turtles? We need to
start with the original movie. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is a few
months older than I am. It has been a
part of my life since I was born. I
watched it at a young age. One of my
first movie memories is watching the opening scene on VHS. It was the first real superhero movie that I
ever watched. When you’re a child,
superheroes can be a wondrous thing. It
was funny, it was action packed, and it was a kids’ movie. It was everything that a young me could have
wanted.
The sequel worked even better to my personal tastes. I’ve always been interested in comedy, though
it took me a while to fully understand it.
I wasn’t a funny kid so much growing up.
Sure, I tried to be funny. But I
had no sense of how to translate funny in my head to funny to other
people. It wouldn’t be until I made a
connection with the internet that I found my own sensibilities in humour. I knew what made me laugh though, and the
second movie made me laugh. It was much
more humorous than its predecessor. It
was lighter in both tone and visuals. It
had a cameo from Vanilla Ice that I have and will always appreciate. It was a go to action comedy for me as a
child and remains my favourite of the series.
Teenage Mutant Ninja
Turtles III is a different story. It
tried to keep the humor of the second movie but took away other things that
helped make the first two good. From a
pure filmmaking standpoint, the third installment was a mess. Casey Jones was relegated to comedic relief,
being the straight man to some goofy Japanese men. The costumes for the turtles changed between
movies, as the Jim Henson Company did not work on the third movie. There were still a lot of jokes in the movie,
but too many of them relied on references to other movies and TV shows. It was like a Friedberg/Seltzer movie in
terms of references being thrown in.
They didn’t work. But… The story
is still an okay story. Having the turtles
and April be sent into feudal Japan and trying to find their way out is an
interesting idea. The execution isn’t
great to my adult mind, but when I was a child, I ate this stuff up. Ninja
Turtle time travel!
The thing that made these movies so dear to my heart wasn’t
that they were great movies. The first
two are fun but nobody would consider them masterpieces. They are dear to my heart because as a child
they captured my imagination. They made
me believe that four turtles could be changed by some ooze and turned into a
crime fighting team. I wanted to join
them; fight beside them; joke with them.
I wanted to stop the Foot Clan and defeat Shredder. The movies made me want to be a better
person. They entertained me and in some
shape or form made me into the person I am today. The Teenage
Mutant Ninja Turtles movies are a part of my life. They are a part of me. I will always love them, for better or
worse. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III was worse. Yet I still love it. That’s what movies are about.
The post isn’t over until I make some notes:
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III was suggested by @joshraj9.
- Corey Feldman made his third Sunday “Bad” Movies appearance with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III. He was previously in Friday the 13th: A New Beginning and Citizen Toxie: The Toxic Avenger IV.
- Two actors from the Iron Eagle franchise made an appearance in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III. Robbie Rist was in the first Iron Eagle. David Fraser was in Iron Eagle IV.
- Finally, Mark Caso was in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III. He was also in Mortal Kombat: Annihilation.
- What are your thoughts about the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchise? You can discuss it, or more specifically the third installment in the comments below.
- The comments are also a good place to suggest movies that I should watch in future Sunday “Bad” Movies installments. You can let me know on Twitter if you don’t want to comment.
- I have a snapchat where I put up some randomness in my story, but mostly just clips of bad movies that I watch. If you want to see this, you can find me with the username jurassicgriffin.
- Next week’s movie is going to be The Happening, one of my favourite bad movies. There’s a lot of bad in it but there’s also some sort of likeable quality to it. I can’t help but enjoy it. I’ll let you know why next week when I come back with another post. Come on back now, y’hear?
No comments:
Post a Comment