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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!