• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

Nickelodeon's TMNT CGI cartoon: New Info

Status
Not open for further replies.
Couldn't find a non-dead thread about the show and I didn't feel it was worth bumping the ones I came across soooo here's the news!

7278320316_8a0c7509c4_z.jpg





http://www.tmntlair.com/2012/05/27/detailed-info-on-nicks-upcoming-tmnt-cartoon-from-londons/

They then started the slide show. The first slide just had some bullet points about the show;

Focus on brothers relationship/sibling rivalry
First time they’ve been to the surface
CG/Anime


There were a few more but I can’t remember right now. They said that a big thing for them was making them teenage brothers, noting how several previous versions had them looking very muscular and not really like teenagers. Rich said the muscle is still there but they wanted them to be more like high school gymnast in size. It was said that this also gave them room to evolve the TMNT over the series as they grow up (whether or not this will happen is another matter). They wanted them to have a true brotherly relationship, with all the comradery and rivalry that comes with that.

It will be CG but it will have anime influences (like emoticons). Rich commented on how every time Nick does a new CG show they want to push the boundaries. They did this on TMNT and then pushed it again as they felt it still wasn’t enough. Kevin was asked if he’d seen any footage and he said he’d seen it at pretty much every stage (he loves being involved and seeing the process and how it evolves) and he said he loved it. He commented on the depth of the backgrounds, saying how when they’re running across rooftops the city can stretch up to 20 blocks into the background.
They also commented on how they all want this to be the best possible series. They even got a Ninja master in to help choreograph the moves. Their storyboard artists would go down to the dojo and record him going through sequences and combinations then come back and board from the video.

The Characters!
Next up were character slides for the 4 Turtles. Each of these had a quote on them.

Leonardo – “Heroes don’t ask for permission”
The first thing commented on was the quote. Leo sees himself as the leader and they’ve given him a cheesy sci-fi show, like Star Trek, that he loves and he wants to be the Captain Kirk figure, which is why he’ll come out with lines like “Heroes don’t ask for permission”. He actually is a great leader but he’s not got the experience and can be too enthusiastic about it so he makes mistakes. This again comes back to making the characters believable as teenagers, he’s not perfect and has room to grow.

Raphael – “Raise some shell”
Not sure if that quote is right or not. Raph is still the hothead of the group. Kevin was asked if growing up he was more the “want to be the leader” guy like Leo or the hothead like Raph, and he said he was definitely more like Raph.

Michelangelo
I can’t remember Mikey’s quote at all, which is annoying me as it was pretty funny. Mikey will still be the most comic relief of the group, but they stressed he would deliver the goods in the fights as well. They said Mikey is the most inventive of the TMNT and he can often be the one who gets them out of tough spots.

Donatello – “Think you shellbrain”
Donatello is the inventor of the group. They commented on the gap in his teeth, joking he probably smacked himself in the face with his staff in training. They then talked about how they differentiated the look of the TMNT with them all being slightly different shades of green, different heights, different builds, Don’s gap in his teeth, the crack on Raph’s chest (“no doubt from one of his famous brawls”). Don will have a crush on April that the others will tease him about.


------------------

Splinter. They noted that he is younger and taller. He will be more actively involved than in the past. He will be fighting Shredder, “Shredder is coming for Splinter right from episode one”. They also want him to be more of a Sensei to the Turtles. No mention was made about any daughter. His CG image looked much better than the figure seen at Toy Fair (and at the Nick booth outside the theatre).

April. Strangely they just showed a 2D image of April not the 3D one we’ve already seen. It was noted that her age was probably one of the biggest changes they’ve made. As I said earlier, they said the main reason for the change was to bring her age more in line with the TMNT as a 30 year old woman constantly hanging out with a group of 14/15 year olds could be seen as a bit weird, but did acknowledge that it was also done to appeal more to their target audience. They said April would be more involved in their world and Rich “accidentally” let slip that she would be kidnapped at some point (I’m assuming this is by The Kraang and is her first meeting with the TMNT when they rescue her as revealed at previous Mutation in Progress events).

Shredder – “Tonight I Dine on Turtle Soup” Will not be goofy or stupid. He is menacing and evil. Kevin’s favourite Shredder is still the original (he loved getting to play with the character each time they brought him back) then the first movie version (closest to the original) but he loves what Nick are doing with this Shredder. There is a personal conflict between Shredder and Splinter but nothing more was said here (again no mention of any child).

Foot Soldiers. Aim was to make them look more like ninjas than before. Always in groups, never less than 2. They may be used to comic effect sometimes but will always be a threat due to their numbers.

The Kraang. The design looks really cool in CG. They wanted to draw on the popular 80s villain but also go back to the comic roots (Utroms) that inspired the design of the original Krang, hence a whole race of Kraang. They’re experimenting with mutagen and want to take over the world. No mention here of any alliance with Shredder. They can only talk when they are in their mechanical bodies. They’re all called Kraang, but the panel joked that even in large groups they know which “Kraang” is being talked to, so if one shouts “hey Kraang” at a group of 20 Kraangs, only one would turn and respond.

Other stuff ...!

Other villains – Leatherhead, Baxter and Rat King were all confirmed

Cowabunga – They tried to dodge this one. Rich said they were trying some new stuff and Mikey’s catch phrase was going to be “booyakasha” and when Leo said it Mikey replies “it sounds funny when he says it” to which the others reply “it sounds funny when you say it”. He then said they are listening to the fans (they encouraged the use of #NickTurtles) and are listening to them and appreciate their input. He asked if the audience wanted Cowabunga which got a big applause and Eastman just said “it’s in”.

Bebop and Rocksteady – doesn’t sound like any plans but this could change, are characters that fill those roles

Casey – again they skirted round the question a bit saying they’re not doing anything with him at the moment (they didn’t mention what’s been previously said about him being in Season 2) but they did talk about character ages, saying they wouldn’t be making big changes to Casey when they did use him. Rich said Kevin is doing a teenage Casey in the IDW series but he’s still the same Casey, Kevin joked that he thinks he was just “born Casey”.

Venus – Poor Kevin got all the tough questions! When asked if Venus would be in the show Kevin laughed and said he loved Venus but there weren’t any plans for her to be in the Nick show at the moment.

Karai – didn’t sound like any plans, but we know Kelly Hu has done some voice work for her.

New Weapons – This is just something they’re trying with Don and Mikey, they wanted to bring in more Ninja stuff.

Stand Alone Episodes Vs. Episodic Story – They were planning on doing more stand alone stuff with more important game changing episodes every 9 episodes or so. But when they were doing this they realised that they couldn’t do story A until character 5 had been introduced, etc. so they switched up and it sounds like it will now be more episodic. They stressed that the individual episodes will stand alone, you can watch episode 3 and still enjoy it, but you’ll get more from it if you’ve seen episode 2. So very much more like 2K3 than the 80s series.

There's more info out there that's not from this event so I will just update this later with that stuff.


UPDATE: Oh yeah, here's some youtube vid that shows a bunch of pics I can't seem to find on the inter-webs ...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e9ZSZ51bD9M

UPDATE 2: I used my super smarts to google the water mark and got the pics.

Here are pics from the show it seems. Maybe first episode.




UPDATE 3: Just came across the character bio pics that were leaked some time ago. Been looking for them EVERYWHERE but I kinda stumbled upon them just now some how ...
The character bios of Nickelodeon's new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle cartoon were posted, then later taken down on their Facebook page. Possibly due to they revealed some plot details for the show or being posted prematurely. Here are all of them








http://www.theouthousers.com/index....5-character-bios-for-nicks-tmnt-revealed.html

And even more character info I don't think has been covered ...
Splinter
The turtles rat sensei has received quite a change. First, he is Hamato Yoshi himself and not his mutated pet. He is younger and more agile than ant previous incarnation. It was also stated that this version of Splinter can feel the universe's vibration making him able "to project and sense energy and the intentions of others".

Splinter also had a wife and Daughter prior to be muatated to a rat. His wife was murdered (we assume at the hand of Shredder), while we are not sure if his daughter is alive or not. Rumor has it, that after he lost his family, Splinter started living in the sewers with his four pet Turtles.

April
You cannot have a Ninja turtles show without April. In this series, Miss Oneil is neither a reporter in a yellow jumpsuit, nor a lab assistant to Baxter, instead she is a 16 years old teenager who lost her family and feels more comfortable with the turtles than with her high-school friends. According the to the producers, the reason behind April's age change was due to the fact that it felt weird that a grown young woman will hang out with 15-16 years old boys (the turtles).

young April still lives above an antique shop, much like in the Comics and 2k3 animated series version. She is also been "officially" described as "sensitive to the universe vibrations", something that Splinter sees in her and decides to train her to be a Kuno-Ichi (female Ninja), so we can assume that this April O'neil will not be the damsel in distress that she was in the orignal cartoon series.

Casey Jones
The hot headed vigilante known as Casey Jones will join the series in its second season. Not much is known about him, except that he is an 18 years old boy.

Leather head
Confirmed via a banner shown by Playmates in last month's Toy fair 2012 (see above), the mutant alligator, known as Leatherhead, will show up in the upcoming series. Whether he will be an ally (like the Mirage comics and in the 2k3 series) or an enemy (like the original cartoon series) will remain to be seen.

Shredder
The Ninja Turtles arch-nemesis will be the main antagonist of the new series. This version of the shredder looks menacing and vicious and will act as such. He is the leader of the Foot Clan, and considers Splinter his worst enemy as he blames him for the death of his true love. This Shredder has an adoptive daughter, named Miwa, that he loves dearly.

At this point we do not know if Miwa is this show's version of Karai who was Shredder's adoptive daughter in the 2k3 animated series.

In order to enhance his Clan's power and technology, Shredder will later make a deal with a malevolent alien Race known as the Krang.

The Krang
Not to be confused with Krang from the original series. The Krang in the upcoming show is not one individual but a race of malevolent aliens who have infiltrated earth a long time ago and are studying the humans in hopes of conquering the planet when they are ready, and making it suitable for their species. The krangs are the evil equivalent of the peaceful Utroms from the comics and the 2k3 series.

Much like the Utroms, the Krangs use robot bodies to walk and disguise themselves as humans. They have also the ability and knowledge to mutate animals and human beings with, what is called, a mutation chamber, and will, sooner or later in the series, create mutants to serve them and the Shredder.


The foot Clan
The ferocious ninja clan oled by shredder plays an important role in the animated series. In the beginning of the series, the clan is made entirely of human ninjas, but later Shredder makes a deal with the Krangs, who agrees to enhance the foot with robotics, creating cyborgs and even full robot foot ninjas.

Fun Note: It seems the foot Clan will have the same Foot-like logo from the original 80's tv series.


Baxter stockman
The evil scientist and creator of the mousers will show up in the upcoming show. Not much is known about this version of Baxter, except that he is an African american(like the comics and the 2k3 series) and will create the mousers robots to hunt down Splinter and the Turtles. A playmates banner of Stockman (shown above) was displayed during toy fair, showing him wear an advance techno suit.

Metal-Head
The robot turtle will be introduced during the series. Besides his design (seen below) not much is known about him.

Dogpound, Fish-face, and Snake-weed
These three new mutants are rumored to be part of Shredder's henchmen. Not much is known about them besides the look we had at their toys from Playmates during the 2012 Toy fair.
http://www.comicbookmovie.com/fansites/ninjaturtles/news/?a=58154

UPDATE 4! This on is about impressions from the viewing and such.
We were informed that many of the staff of the new show were fans with great respect for the franchise's history and that in the earliest stages of development, fans had been invited to the studio to ensure Nickelodeon understood the long term fans' feelings. At the same time a consistent effort will be made to bring forth new ideas and make the series something unique for a new generation of fans, not simply repeating ideas that have already been done before.

---
We were then treated to the exclusive of the panel- a brand new world premiere trailer. Things start with the brothers darting across rooftops of NYC at night before settling in an alley. Mikey is goofing off playing kick the can, which causes his three brothers to angrily shush him in a Teen Titans-reminiscent sight gag. A group of Foot soldiers emerge from the shadows, and Leo's cocky quip is met by several more. The Turtles still emerge triumphant and their demand for a better challenge is met with the sinister mocking laughter of the Shredder. Focus then switched to an encounter with a Kraang, visibly freaking the brothers out before Mikey starts beating it unconscious in another comedy sight gag. Waving his trophy around, he berates the other three for not believing him such a creature existed before it wakes up and latches onto his face, leading Raph to quip, “How can you be proven right and still look stupid?” While the earlier preview had received a positive reaction, the response to the new one was certainly higher, with the audience awed at the action and getting a good laugh from the comedy.

---

In all, it was a noteworthy presentation which shows Nickelodeon are concerned with treating this property with respect. Fan feedback was the clear goal of the screening and clearly not just for the larger bases like America but smaller ones like the UK. I have to admit that when news first broke that Nick were planning to reboot the series so soon after the 4Kids version I questioned if it would work. Having now seen this, I think it's clear they plan to do something unique and respectful that will both please existing fans and more importantly capture the imaginations of a whole new generation.
http://www.toonzone.net/news/articl...view-of-nickelodeons-tmnt-at-mcm-expo-london/
 

RubxQub

φίλω ἐξεχέγλουτον καί ψευδολόγον οὖκ εἰπόν
Gap tooth on Donatello? What the...

Edit: AND he's got a blade on his bo now?!
 

G-Fex

Member
I'm going to miss mature April.

no muscles wtf, That's STUPID.

and the sibling stuff sounds stupid too.
 

Kai Dracon

Writing a dinosaur space opera symphony
This stuff looks like the character committee that designs shit for those CG Lego cartoons got ahold of TMNT.

April especially is a dead giveaway; she has that round spunky tomgirl face that is like the only one used by western cartoon / children's toy character designers.
 

G-Fex

Member
it'll probably be crap like their other CGI shows. Trash all around, should've been bought by CN. Fuck Nickelodeon.
 

Vandiger

Member
Looks like trash, whats with the weapon changes for Donatello and Michelangelo? A Nunchaku or Bo not extreme enough?
 

FairyD

Member
Are they making the show from an N64? Those are some blocky designs.

Edit: Master splinter looks like Aku from Samurai Jack.
 
Are they making the show from an N64? Those are some blocky designs.

Edit: Master splinter looks like Aku from Samurai Jack.

That's just the art style they're going for.

Why do Donatello and Michelangelo's weapons have blades on them?
Mikey without nunchucks??
They kinda switch I guess. The team wanted to experiment with different ninja weapons.

They are seen with their normal weapons to.

UPDATE: Oh yeah, here's some youtube vid that shows a bunch of pics from the show that I can't seem to find on the inter-webs ...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e9ZSZ51bD9M
 
It looks interesting, I'm not going to write their choice of CG off a couple of pics. GL showed how great CG is, even with barren backgrounds and textures.
 

Rootbeer

Banned
I know that I'm excited. Can't wait to buy the new action figures either. Not a big fan of Splinter's appearance. I like splinter to look like a scruffy, almost borderline gross sewer rat like in the first live action film. he looks very clean and regal in this incarnation

We shall see.

However good or bad this turns out, the look of the turtles themselves is beyond a doubt their best representation outside of the comics so far. WHY did they change some of the weapons though? Especially Mike's... I just don't get it. Just so it can have a blade? Come on... nunchakus looks way cooler, and they are distinct.
 

Grizzlyjin

Supersonic, idiotic, disconnecting, not respecting, who would really ever wanna go and top that
My first reaction was that this looks like garbage, but after about 5 or so minutes the designs started to grow on me.

People need to get out of nostalgia land. I was born in 1986 and was obsessed with the TMNT as a kid. But going back, the show was dumb and poorly done. What's so wrong with a new group of people taking a stab at it and making a TMNT for a new generation?
 

richiek

steals Justin Bieber DVDs
Why does Donatello have a missing tooth?

And what the fuck is up with their feet? Are they wearing shoes?
 

KamenSenshi

Junior Member
This sounds a lot better than I was expecting it to. I'm surprised that the way they are trying to give some personality to the turtles through how they look works pretty well.
 
Why put blades on weapons when they won't even use the damn blade on a kids show?
It seems like those 2 change up their weapons sometimes.

And yes ... once thing I have always hated about cartoons with weapons was the fact that they're never actually used to harm someone. That goes for the 2 with normal bladed weapons to.

Hopefully they fight some robots so that they can get away with it.

My first reaction was that this looks like garbage, but after about 5 or so minutes the designs started to grow on me.

People need to get out of nostalgia land. I was born in 1986 and was obsessed with the TMNT as a kid. But going back, the show was dumb and poorly done. What's so wrong with a new group of people taking a stab at it and making a TMNT for a new generation?

I agree. The style is fine with me and I'm willing to hold off judgment until we see it in motion. Apparently it looks MUCH better in motion and has gotten a ton of positive feed back from people who have actually seen the models moving.
 
This sounds a lot better than I was expecting it to. I'm surprised that the way they are trying to give some personality to the turtles through how they look works pretty well.

yeah, i agree.

having read all of that OP, im actually a bit intrigued.

i like the idea of investigating their relationship as brothers.

could be cool.

...and those screens just posted in the OP actually look pretty good!
 

Platy

Member
I'm still impressed about how the toy design of the show is SO MUCH BETTER than the actual models from the show.

Why do Donatello and Michelangelo's weapons have blades on them?

A better question would be "Why Raphael and Leonardo's weapons have blades on them ?" ...

edit : beaten more like a cartoon's cat
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top Bottom