Leonardo, Raphael, Michelangelo, Donatello. These four names combines will undoubtedly evoke a response in generations of avid cartoon watchers. Of course everybody who loves cartoons will know about The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. The fearsome ninja four have undergone some serious transformations over the years. They face their deadliest challenge yet: being usurped by children cartoon mega-giants Nickelodeon.
How will this affect The Ninja Turtles direction and heritage?
First off I have to say Nickelodeon doesn’t completely inspire feelings of confidence, as far as The Ninja Turtles are concerned. Granted they have one or two kid’s cartoons of merit, such as Spongebob Squarepants and Jimmy Neutron, but these examples are a far cry from “Ninja Turtle territory”.
The latest addition to the Nickelodeon family that gives me hope is the award winning Avatar series…which gives a bit of oomf to the kids cartoon market.
While Nickelodeon has mentioned that the turtles will be used in further animations, video games and live action, there is no word on its release as a comic. Which is particularly strange considering it was originally a comic back in the day before it blew our minds on the telly. Have The Ninja Turtles been defeated as a viable comic format?
While the original series from the 80’s was very “kiddie safe”, it took a different road in 2003 when its content became much darker and the action more serious. Although the turtles got beefed up and became more hardcore, it was still considered a children’s cartoon because of the nature of the humour and character interaction. The reason for the harder revision of the cartoon, which was more closely linked with the comics, was apparently because the original creators Mirage had a majority on the rights and wanted to do it right. Good on them!
The problem now is that The Ninja Turtles are in the hands of the biggest cartoon machine in the world…which usually means “processed cheese”. It makes me shudder to think what they will do to the famous series. PLEASE DONT BUTCHER IT! I’m sad to hear that Mirage gave up the rights to Nickelodeon, especially at such a low price ($60M). Word is that there will be a CGI version coming out (or at least another one)…gross. Talk about bringing it up to date with a full bucket of slick radioactive ooze.
The future for The Ninja Turtles is shrouded in mystery…will they survive Nickelodeons evil mitts LOL.
Fingers crossed!
D.
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