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Thursday, March 29, 2012

TMNT TV Preview to Air After Kids' Choice Awards?



Ever since showing up on the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Wikipedia page, the rumor has persisted that we may see a preview of the new TMNT CGI series from Nickelodeon connected to the Kids' Choice Awards, which airs this Saturday, March 31, 2012.

Despite the lack of any official confirmation that this may be happening, there is indication that there could be some truth to the rumor. However, it would not be in the form of a complete episode. If we do see anything, expect it to only be a short clip - probably the same clip that was shown at Toy Fair. It's also likely that the preview won't be during the awards show itself, but directly after it.

Keep in mind that all of this is still just speculation, but if there's any truth to it we will probably hear about it within the next day or so via @TMNTMaster on Twitter and/or the official TMNT Facebook page. Even if we don't hear anything, it might be worth it to schedule your DVRs.

UPDATE:
A Tweet from Kenny Byerly, a writer for the series, indicates that there will not be a preview attached to the Kids' Choice Awards this weekend.

Wednesday, March 28, 2012

IDW TMNT #8 Variant Cover Guide



It's new comic book day! Beware lingering Nerd Rage when you go out today; it was in full force last week. And something else for you to ponder: Do the Turtles in the IDW series actually qualify as teenagers? Hmmmm?

Here's your traditional pre-fight preview!

Cover A
Cover B
Cover A: Dan Duncan.
Regular cover; distributed in a 4:1 ratio with cover B.

Cover B: Kevin Eastman.
Regular cover; distributed in a 1:4 ratio with cover A.


Cover C
Cover C: Simon Gane.
Retailer incentive cover; 1 copy sent to retailers for every 10 copies ordered.

Tuesday, March 27, 2012

New Movie to be Called "Ninja Turtles" - Michael Bay Clarifies Why



Still worked up about Michael Bay's "alien" comments from a couple weeks ago, another wave of Internet rage seems to have emerged with the revelation that the working title of the film is simply "Ninja Turtles." People seem to be interpreting this as a way to delete both the mutant and teenage aspects of the characters from the film. However, in another statement made on his official message boards, Bay clarifies that the title change was made by Paramount (not Bay) to simplify the title. In his full statement, he also reiterates that great care is going into the movie to make it something the fans are going to love.
Paramount marketing changed the name. They made the title simple. The characters you all remember are exactly the same, and yes they still act like teenagers. Everything you remember, why you liked the characters, is in the movie. This script is being developed by two very smart writers, with one of the original creators of Ninja Turtles. They care VERY MUCH about making this film for the fans. Everyone on this team cares about the fans. Just give them a chance. Jonathan the director, is a major fan of the whole franchise. HE'S NOT GOING TO LET YOU DOWN.
MICHAEL
Of course, saying "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" repeatedly gets tiring quite fast, and pretty much everyone has simplified it to "Ninja Turtles" anyways. Considering that there are also already three movies that start with "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles," differentiating this new movie from the old ones is a no-brainer.

Sunday, March 25, 2012

Guinness World Record for Largest Gathering of Ninja Turtles




On Saturday, March 17, 2012, a new Guinness World Record was set for the largest gathering of people dressed as Ninja Turtles! The event marked the grand opening of the new ride at Nickelodeon Universe in the Mall of America, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shell Shock.

A crowd begins to gather around the new ride.

Check out video of the event below! Some of the audio is a little hard to hear, but this is essentially the entirety of event, with the 10 minutes of waiting cut out. The final number of people dressed as Ninja Turtles was 836! Cowabunga!


Some of my favorite fan shots from the event! Check out all my pictures on Flickr!






The youngest Turtle?


Best. Hair. EVER!

Friday, March 23, 2012

Director Jonathan Liebesman Comments on New TMNT Movie



While doing press for the upcoming Wrath of the Titans, Jonathan Liebesman finally had a chance to have his own say about the recent "alien" controversy in an interview with Collider.com. And in doing so, he pretty much confirms that the Turtles themselves aren't going to be aliens. He actually said all the right things that should make any TMNT fan ready to embrace and be excited for this movie.
"Look, it's so funny—if everyone was such a die-hard fan, they would know that the TCRI canisters where the ooze comes from. That is alien ooze. Now I'm not saying what Michael said is exactly what the movie is, because we're sitting in a room now figuring everything out. So we don't know, but we are like Michael said: we're expanding it, and the expansion will be true to the mythology. I promise you: fans will love it."
He also commented that this isn't just going to be an action movie.
"We're definitely into the action, but for me what's more important than that is that it's a story about brotherhood and friendship and responsibility. Right now, I'm with the characters because those are what attracted me to the movie. They're the best characters I'll have had a chance to deal with."
These comments alone should be enough to satisfy fans that this movie is going in the right direction and that, for now at least, there's no need for nerd rage.

Further details speak to Kevin Eastman's involvement in the film:
"A lot of it is stuff he’s wanted to do for a long time, but just hasn’t had the opportunity [before, but] now we have the budget ... on this film to expand it in the right way."
Finally, Liebesman mentions that the film could be filming in Canada sometime around September, and that they're looking at rendering the Turtles with motion capture suits, similar to Rise of the Planet of the Apes.

Thursday, March 22, 2012

TMNT Creators Weigh-In On Bay's Turtles



Kevin Eastman drawing secret stuff.
Photo by: Jonathan Liebesman
When Michael Bay posted a comment to his official message boards responding to the outrage over the revelation of "alien" Turtles, he mentioned that he was working with one of the original creators on the project. It was easy to speculate that that person was Kevin Eastman, but Kevin has now confirmed that with a brief update to his Facebook page.
Hey Guys, Sorry to have been away for so long--completely swamped with work--but it is some pretty exciting stuff. I had been invited to check out the TMNT film development by my friend Scott Mednick over the years, and a while back had a full look behind the curtain at what writers Appelbaum and Nemec, director Liebesman, and producer Bay are doing--and trust me--it IS AWESOME. I'm officially on board, and will share more as I'm allowed… thanks all!
So, it looks like Kevin is behind the project 100%. And that's good enough assurance for me.

Meanwhile, Peter Laird has posted some of his own musings on the topic on his blog, although he has no personal involvement in the project and knows only as much as the rest of us do. He also drew a cute little alien Turtle.


Wednesday, March 21, 2012

INFESTATION 2: TMNT #2 - Variant Cover Guide



I know everyone is currently obsessed with the idea of the Turtles being aliens, but how about we all take a break from that and focus on Turtles fighting underground alien monster creature... things.

It'll all be ok. Really. Check out the preview, then head to your comic shop!

Cover A
Cover B
Cover A: Menton J. Matthews III.
Regular cover.

Cover B: Mark Torres.
Retailer incentive cover; 1 copy sent to retailers for every 10 copies ordered.

Monday, March 19, 2012

Michael Bay Responds to "Alien" Outrage



As you most likely know by now, Michael Bay created a bit of Internet outrage last week with some comments he made about the new TMNT movie, scheduled for release Christmas 2013. Here's the entirety of the current controversy:






There are several possible interpretations, but "These Turtles are from an alien race," seems pretty straight forward. Although the Turtles have always been Earth-based, their origin in the original comic books and 4Kids TV series came from an ooze created by the alien Utroms. However, when taken at face value, Bay's comments really do seem to indicate that the Turtles themselves are now going to be aliens. What's a fan to think?

Well, let's keep some things in mind, especially before declaring that Michael Bay is ruining the TMNT. Even though he made this presentation, he is still only a producer on the project. He did not write the script and he is not directing.

Just a short while ago, on his official message boards, Mr. Bay responded to all the outrage:
Fans need to take a breath, and chill. They have not read the script. Our team is working closely with one of the original creators of Ninja Turtles to help expand and give a more complex back story. Relax, we are including everything that made you become fans in the first place. We are just building a richer world.   
Michael
It's safe to assume that the creator being spoken about is Kevin Eastman. Not only is Peter Laird absolutely not involved in any of the new projects, but Kevin mentioned having seen the script in an interview late last year during the Lost Angeles: 35 Days of Kevin Eastman event at Meltdown Comics in Los Angeles.

I think for the time being we all owe it to the involved persons to keep an open mind and give this thing a chance. Literally all we know about anything at this point is seven words. And the story and appeal of the Turtles is a lot deeper than their origin.

Sunday, March 18, 2012

New Guinness World Record Set For Most People Dressed as Ninja Turtles!





Yesterday, in celebration of the grand opening of the new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shell Shock ride at Nickelodeon Universe at the Mall of America in Bloomington, MN, 836 TMNT fans successful set the Guinness World Record for the most people dressed as Ninja Turtles in one place!

I will have a full report of the event, along with a bunch of pictures and some video, coming up later this week (after I get my shell back to California). But, I will say in short that the event was a blast, and the ride is reallyreally fun! It was tough to get the cars to do a complete 360, but very rewarding when you succeeded - It really was kinda like ninja training!

For now, here's the official group photo of the event. I left it huge so you can play Where's Waldo if you're in the crowd or know someone who was. Cowabunga, Dudes!


Saturday, March 17, 2012

TMNT: Shell Shock Grand Opening Event Today!



Keep track of event goings-ons by following @NinjaPizza on Twitter!


Thursday, March 15, 2012

Guide to WonderCon 2012



WonderCon, the little sister convention to Comic-Con International, is being held this weekend, March 16-18, at the Anaheim Convention Center. This is a (supposedly) temporary relocation from the usual digs at the Moscone Center in San Francisco. (I sure hope so!)

The only TMNT-related information I have for the convention comes from IDW:

March 17, 12:00-3:00pm - On Saturday, the IDW booth will be hosting a signing with TMNT co-creator Kevin Eastman.

All weekend - The IDW booth will be selling the limited edition black & white variant cover of TMNT: The Ultimate Edition, Vol. 1.

I was hoping to make it to this even though it's not in my backyard this year, but things didn't work out and then something else came up. Happy conventioning to anyone who is going!

Tuesday, March 13, 2012

New TMNT Movie Officially Scheduled for December 2013



Deadline.com is reporting tonight that the new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie, which has been in development for several years now, has an official release date scheduled for Christmas 2013.

And with all signs pointing at the movie moving forward into production, Jonathan Liebesman has been named director. Just a month ago he was rumored to be in talks for the job.

The movie is said to be a live action-CGI combo, although there are no specifics are mentioned on exactly how the Turtles themselves will be realized.

Shout! Factory Acquires DVD Rights for "Ninja Turtles: The Next Mutation"




Last year, Ninja Turtles: The Next Mutation appeared on Netflix streaming as part of a distribution acquisition that included most all of the titles in Saban's library. This was the first time The Next Mutation had appeared in the United States in any format in well over 10 years.

Now, in a DVD distribution deal that consists mostly of Power Rangers episodes, Shout! Factory has picked up the rights for The Next Mutation. This doesn't guarantee that the series will be released on DVD, but it is an important step in making it happen. Here's hoping!

Monday, March 12, 2012

TMNT: Shell Shock Ready to Fly




It looks like the final touches are finally in place, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shell Shock is ready to go on March 17, 2012. If you're in the area, you definitely want to attend the big event, including a chance to get in the Guinness Book of World Records! And Ninja Pizza will be there, live Tweeting the event! I may even sneak in a few videos. ^_^

A video of the attraction on one of its early test flights appeared on YouTube over the weekend. If you look closely, you can see the giant Turtles figures in the lower right of the screen.




Additionally, readers Sonia and Brian have both been kind enough to submit "in progress" pictures of the ride being built. Check out a few of them below, and the rest on Facebook.


The ride controls are designed as a pizza cart.

Riders beware!

Wednesday, March 7, 2012

INFESTATION 2: TMNT #1 - Variant Cover Guide



While this issue is scheduled to be released today, you may want to check with your local comic shop before you make the drive. Due to a distribution problem, only part of the country will be getting their IDW titles today. Shops that don't get them this week will get them next week.

That said, here's a preview for everyone!

Cover A
Cover B
Cover A: Menton J. Matthews III.
Regular cover; distributed in a 4:1 ratio with cover B.

Cover B: Livio Ramondelli.
Regular cover; distributed in a 1:4 ratio with cover A.


Cover C
Cover C: Mark Torres.
Retailer incentive cover; 1 copy sent to retailers for every 10 copies ordered.

Tuesday, March 6, 2012

Character Profiles for Nickelodeon's New TMNT CGI Series



Note: These pictures were removed by Nickelodeon. I'll have them back on the site as soon as I'm able to.

Among the pages discovered during the brief window of time that the upcoming website for the new Nickelodeon TMNT CGI series was viewable (as described yesterday) was a series of character profiles for all of the main characters. Screen caps of all of these profiles are below.

One note about about Shredder's profile is that it mentions that he has an adopted daughter named Miwa. This is interesting because we learned at last year's Fan Preview Event that Splinter, as the Human Hamato Yoshi, had a daughter that was left behind in Japan when he fled to New York. Could Hamato Yoshi's daughter be Shredder's adopted daughter, Miwa?





Monday, March 5, 2012

New Pictures Emerge as Website Launch Nears



Note: These pictures were removed by Nickelodeon. However, they are still on dozens of other websites, so I'll be putting them back up soon. If Nickelodeon has a problem with this, I ask that they please e-mail me.


Some savvy TMNT fans over at The Technodrome have noticed signs of activity at the URL http://www.nick.com/tmnt, including some elements of what looks to be a website close to ready to launch. These pictures reveal the best look yet at the CGI designs for Splinter, April, the Shredder, and the Kraang, in addition to the Turtles themselves.
Just a handful of the discovered pictures are below; you can view more over on Facebook.
(Note: Facebook followers get these sorts of updates first!)