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Wednesday, April 6, 2011

Nickelodeon TMNT Fan Preview Event - The "Pilot" Animatic




Adding to yesterday's post, now I'm going to attempt to describe the details of the animatic "pilot" we were shown. As I've previously mentioned, this "pilot" was not of the actual first episode and consisted of 2D still drawings (with some animated elements here and there) with voice and music tracks. Once again, this is a Mutation in Progress. This pilot was 25 minutes long, and would need to be trimmed down to 22 minutes to become an actual episode. Also, I make no promises of how accurate my memory is on the details of this one, and I might have flip-flopped some of the scenes. Anyone else who attended can feel free to correct or add details. With all that said, let's go...

The episode started with the Turtles training with Splinter in their Lair. The Turtles' training evolves into an argument about whether or not they can go up to the streets. There is a lot of humorous banter between Splinter and the Turtles using the repeated line, "YES... and no." The argument ends with the Turtles not being allowed to go above.

After training, Donatello presents the others with his newest invention: The world's most advanced MP3 player. He calls it the T-pod; it has a special AI chip inside it and can hold a bazillion songs. Mikey is in awe of it and slips the ear buds under his bandana, into his "ears." How many songs are actually on the MP3 player? Three.

April stops by the Lair with some pizza, which they then eat and add to a chart of "Best Pizza in New York." April invites the Turtles to join her at the movies that night. Donatello is thrilled, as he has an obvious crush on her. However, the Turtles have just been told they can't go to the streets, so it takes some persuasion of Leonardo to decide that they will all sneak out later.

Cut to later that night and we see the Turtles sneaking out of the Lair. Mikey still has the T-pod with him. The Turtles reach the surface and start heading toward the theater. On their way, they come across a man wearing a weird metal "suit" trying to break into a building. The man is Baxter Stockman. The Turtles watch him for a bit, laughing at him because his attempts at breaking in aren't going so well and his "suit" is more clunky than it is intimidating. They eventually show themselves and beat him up, leaving him in a dumpster.

The Turtles continue to the movie theater, scaling rooftops and fire escapes as they go. At one point, Leo (or Mike?) runs through a bee hive. Because of their earlier distraction, it is late and by the time they get to the theater, an annoyed April is just leaving the theater. Mike realizes he no longer has the T-pod,

Back in the alley, Baxter has found the T-pod, which Mike had dropped. He plugs into it and the AI chip empowers his suit, transforming it from clunky scrap and into super powerful armor.

By the time the Turtles get back to the alley, Baxter and the T-pod are gone.

The next day, the Turtles are hanging out in their Lair when April stops by. She shows annoyance at the fact that she was "stood up" the previous night. They are watching TV, and on the TV they see a news report about a man in a super suit attacking an office building. It's Baxter, and he's having revenge against the company that recently fired him (for being late, once). Awhile later, the Turtles sneak out again to find Baxter.

When they do find him, Baxter proceeds to kick their butts in his now powerful suit. Eventually, Leonardo goes back to the bee hive they had run into the previous night, grabs it, and shoves it into Baxter's suit through the face mask. Baxter, who is completely sealed inside the suit, gets stung by many now-angry bees. The Turtles use the distraction to dislodge the T-pod from the suit, and it crumbles into the worthless scrap metal it started out as.

The Turtles return to their Lair and a very suspicious Splinter.

9 comments:

  1. I'm certainly liking the details of that. I wonder if, in the show, how they met April will be explored or if it'll just be as if she's always been there.

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  2. From yesterday's write-up:

    "The Turtles meet her when they rescue her and her parents from being kidnapped by the Kraang (or Shredder? not exactly sure), presumably for their mutation experiments. This is from the actual first episode, which is not the "pilot" we saw, so we really weren't told any more details about how that plays out, but it obviously ends with April becoming a regular visitor to the Turtles down in their Lair."

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  3. -->> .. i like this new take on BaX.

    Deff' different, but still menacing !!

    Did he have a mustache ??

    I mean you 'See' Baxter's face in the animatic right ??

    ~ t

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  4. Yeah, we saw him. He might have had a mustache, but I don't recall for certain.

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  5. I like the sound of this. Thanks for the report.

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  6. It all sounds very nice, finally some details of the new project are coming around.
    But, honestly, the description of the pilot episode made a lot of Russian fans think that it's gonna be only for children, more like the first series of 1987 than the one of 2003. What do you think about it?

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  7. Well, do keep in mind that this *is* a project for kids. Probably the standard boys 7-11 demographic. But that doesn't mean older fans won't enjoy it, and so far I've seen nothing that would keep me from enjoying it - or at least giving it a chance. Keep your mind open and I think you'll be pleasantly surprised when the show finally airs.

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  8. Thanks for your answer.
    Yes, you’re absolutely right. It may turn out to be real good. I hope it really will, and we all will enjoy it.
    You know, at our message board we discuss the new project and, sure, there are lots of different opinions about it. Some people somehow think that the new cartoon maybe more like Back to the Sewer, but a lot of people don’t like this season. If it’s okay for me to ask – what do you personally think about Back to the Sewer? Do you like it?

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