Toon Zone Talkback - Nick Acquires Rights for "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles"

Why are they making it in CG though?

Unless it can look as good as the 4th movie, why make the show look terrible and dated? CG cartoons age awfully.
 
The original cartoon was aimed at kids but the comedy was aimed at older viewers and they still pushed it as hard as they could.

Considering how strict the censors were back in the 80's and early 90's, I'm surprised the original TMNT cartoon got away with as much as it did. They was still a lot of contact during the fight scenes, (unlike in stuff like Superfriends), and all the characters played off each other well. As silly as Shredder/Krang got at times, it was still a classic story of good vs. evil.

The great thing about the original show is all the main characters had very distinct personalities. The Turtles, Splinter, April and the news crew, Shredder/Krang/Bebop/Rocksteady...all had chemistry and great character interactions amongst each other and other characters. No character was a bland re-tread of anyone else.

I actually watched through Seasons 1-8 of the original TMNT cartoon on DVD, and aside from some dull/silly episodes here and there, the show was very good for its time. It really reminds me of why the series was so popular when it came out, there was really nothing quite like it.

As for what Nick will do, I hope its the original cartoon characters and humor but with the 2k3 series continuity and fight scenes. That would work for me.
 
Well said.

I am truly shell-shocked by this decision. Now I know how Marvel devotees felt when Disney bought the House of Ideas. But I have to say, in a way, this is potentially worse than the Disney/Marvel thing. At least Disney is keeping Marvel pretty the way's been going prior to the merger, and all the players at Marvel are still in place (for better or worse). This doesn't clarify if anyone involved in the Turtles' history (like Steve Murphy, Dan Berger and Ryan Brown) will guide the franchise's future.
One that worries me is that if the Turtles are exclusively under the Nickelodeon brand, does this mean an end to TMNT stories geared towards older audiences? I'm not saying that the Turtles have to be dark gritty, but what I love about the comics from Mirage is that they had some quite genuinely mature storytelling and character development. Will the original Mirage comics even get more reprints?
What about the TMNT movie Warner Bros. and Legendary Pictures were going to make? It's kinda like how Sony is making the Smurfs even though Nick and Paramount were originally producing it (I think they may have even been well into production). It would be profoundly surreal if the TMNT movie were taken away from WB in the same year they announced the TMNT movie that was supposed to come in 2011 (which it still make that date?).
This could work out if they hire people who know, love and respect the TMNT franchise. There's potential for a good series and movie but they need to hire the right people.
 
I think Fred Wolf films owns the rights to the old show, they can release the show on dvd without any problem, they don't even send Mirage copies or information of the dvds.

Anyways the news depends on whether Nick bought TMNT or just got the license, some sites reported they owned it:
http://www.bleedingcool.com/2009/10...nja-turtles-heroes-in-a-half-hundred-million/

In that case I have mixed feelings, no more dark gritty turtles but cool stuff could come from Nick. If they just acquired the rights for a few years then its only good news since it doesn't mean the end of "gritty" turtles, just that Nick probably won't adapt that.
 
I have to disagree with you about that- the fanbase wasn't so rejectful when the animated Star Trek series was finally released on DVD, a several years ago. If they didn't reject the show's DVD release, why would they reject the show, after its DVD release? Think about that.
 
That's great news then. I'd hate for the series to remain a Nicktoons exclusive like most of Nick's action shows but I guess its status is boosted since it'll be premiering right around the movie relaunch.

Hopefully TMNT 2k3 gets better treatment on Nick than how it was handled on Cartoon Network.
 
It was a syndicated show till 1990. So, censorship was at the discretion of whom ever picked up the show in their market. Not every affliate was the same. FOX, for example, was less uptight than the others.
 
So, yeah, this looks like a series headed straight for Nicktoons... but in 2012? Kinda weird they're announcing a new TV series that's two to three years out right now. Unless they're looking for more development time than the typical nine months for the production of an animated episode from start to finish. And that would still be a stretch...

Unless the series development is done in tandem with (or in direct sync with the storyline of) the movie Nick is putting together. Then it would make sense.
 
Yes, it could air on Nick proper, but I see its home as being Nicktoons. They're going to have a big, fat gaping hole in the schedule in 2 years there and what better way to fill it then with their new flagship action title (unless it's just a horrible comedy series :sweat:) ?
 
Some more clarifications from the Technodrome Forums:

Nickelodeon: "they want to focus on the '80s toon Turtles"
http://forums.thetechnodrome.com/showthread.php?t=28753

Mirage still allowed to publish TMNT comics
http://forums.thetechnodrome.com/showthread.php?t=28751

There seems to be some more details coming out from the TMNT and 4Kids staff but I imagine it will be awhile before we know the full scope of this. I'm interested to see where this will go. I'm hoping we hear some more news and maybe even early artwork for the movie and TV show soon even if they are so far off.
 
I knew it wasn't going to be long before TMNT got another reboot but I sure didn't expect Nick to be involved.

I'm a bit weary of this because Nick didn't allow Avatar to truely shine but Avatar was still a great series so this could turn out to be at least as good as 4kids TMNT.

But... I'm a bit confused here because I don't think Mirage would sell TMNT lock stock and barrel but instead sell the rights to the property like they did to 4kids. Meaning Mirage still owns TMNT and it's characters but Nick owns the merchandising and branding rights along with any new show and probably the 4kids show if they bought the property from 4kids.

If Mirage truely sold TMNT to Nickelodeon... I'm quite frankly frightened.

Very interesting developments indeed.

I wonder what other action properties Nick might pick up in the future and I really hope this means the 4kids series will air on Nicktoons at least if not Nick proper for a stint. So Turtles Forever can be shown at least more than once.

And I also hope Paramount releases the 4kids series. They seemed to do alright with Transformers Animated.
 
Sounds about right. Nickelodeon has never really been about straight action really. Avatar has a mix of everything, and The Troop lends itself more to comedy. I think they'll show the TMNT 2K3 series though on Nicktoons.

I wonder what other properties they are eyeing in order to keep up with the Disney/Marvel combo.
 
I'm going more with that most fans don't want it to be canon, even though there's various hints in later material that it could be.

Then again, maybe this all stems from Gene Roddenberry not liking the cartoon either.
 
Can't clarify a thing right now, since what's in the release is all the information anyone has.

You'd think they'd put SOMEthing on the air ... but maybe there will be a interview with someone at Nick in the near future.
 
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