Of the four TMNT statues Playmates released several years ago, Michelangelo is probably the easiest and cheapest to find. But it's only a matter of time before the supply runs dry and he becomes as coveted as the Raphael and Donatello statues from the same series.
The Dover Ballroom in Dover, OH will be hosting a free pizza party and screening of the original TMNT film on December 5! It doesn't get much better than Turtles and pizza, except for when it's free Turtles and pizza, so if you're in the area, go check it out!
A representative for 4Kids has announced over at TheTechnodrome.com (and on 4Kids.tv) that "Turtles Forever" will air on CW4Kids, for one time only, on November 21.
So, how many times can you get over the cancellation of the TMNT Adventures conclusion, "The Forever War"? Having first been canceled when the title itself was canceled in the mid-90s, and after several on-and-off broken promises throughout this decade that Mirage would publish the 5-part story, fans were given hope that the project might actually see the light of day as it was put on Mirage's schedule as part of the 25th anniversary celebration.
Mark Freedman made the TMNT famous back in the 80s when he and his company, Surge Licensing, Inc., introduced the concept to Playmates toys. The toy deal became a TV deal, and the rest was history. Not much has been heard from Freedman and Surge Licensing (in respect to the TMNT) since their licensing contract expired in the 90s, so it's a bit surprising to hear that the man who helped to make the Turtles a world-wide phenomenon advised Nickelodeon on the deal throughout negotiations, as was revealed in a statement released today.Mark Freedman, an advisor to Viacom/Nickelodeon in its milestone acquisition of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and original worldwide licensor, through his Surge Licensing, during the first decade of the property's mega-success, said, "Viacom, with its Nickelodeon and Paramount Pictures companies, and master global toy partner, Playmates Toys, will create Ninja Turtles magic that will succeed on every media platform."
"The Turtles are an iconic property entrenched in the hearts of two generations of fans and Nickelodeon can inventively and creatively leverage the Turtles brand and deliver the most exciting and compelling experience yet," he added.
Freedman, an advisor to Viacom during the negotiations, said, "I have no doubt that the Nickelodeon-Turtles will be a huge entertainment and licensing and merchandising success under the new management team."
While supplies last, PanelToPanel.net is making the book plate pictured left, previously available with last year's Tales of the TMNT Vol. 5 TPB collection, once again available with copies of the original TMNT Collected Book Vol. 4 from 1990, which collects the classic story "Return to New York."
If you haven't checked it out yet, yesterday's TMNT episode of Nerdy Show is now available.
Today's Gold Box Deal of the Day over at Amazon.com is TMNT Smash-Up for the Wii, for the low price of $29.98. The regular Amazon price is $46.99, and the MSRP is $49.99, so this is a deal you don't want to miss if you've been holding out on this title. This deal will expire at the end of today, so don't wait!
As you'll recall, one of the first victims of last week's announcement was the canceled publication of the "Mirage Universe" book. And with no book to release, that left PanelToPanel.net's awesome Dan Berger-created book plate without a home.
Someone said to me via Twitter this afternoon, "Please help me figure out how I am supposed to feel about the sale.. I am so confused!" Well, I can't tell you how you should feel about this, but perhaps by saying how I feel about this I can offer a bit of perspective.
Ok, I take one part of that back. While I'm not shocked that Peter Laird sold the TMNT to Viacom/Nickelodeon, I am a little surprised at the timing. Given the investment Mirage put into the TMNT 25th Anniversary (with no shortage of the use of the word "shell-ebrate"), it is rather shocking that in the same year Mirage (more specifically, Peter Laird) would "quit" the Turtles. And, similarly, I can't quite wrap my head around Mr. Laird's insistence on certain (and generally unpopular) creative decisions when he was apparently so willing and ready to wipe his hands clean of the whole thing for a "little" bit of cash.
While deals like this really don't afford it, it would have been nice to have been given a little notice of these plans so that we, the fans, could return the favor and give a last little "Hurrah!" back to the creators and the creations that many of us have held onto for a significant part of our lives. There's still a little bit of time left before all strings are cut, so perhaps that opportunity still exists. But it seems that the TMNT are fated to never receive a proper farewell whenever they depart, be it from TV, comics, movies, or now the studio from which they were born. It seems that Mirage will once again become its illusionary namesake.
The truth of the matter is that the TMNT have been flailing as a franchise for awhile. High expectations have fallen short, and some expectations haven't delivered at all. It certainly hasn't helped that Mr. Laird so obviously had lost the interest and motivation that would be required to set everything back on track again, and with a seemingly equal lack of motivation to get anyone else to do those things (or, simply, willingness to let anyone do those things).
A lot of questions still remain about how the transition from Mirage to Nickelodeon will proceed, but I say: Bring on the Future.
News is spreading across the various wire services and news Web sites this morning that Nickelodeon has apparently acquired the global rights to the TMNT.NEW YORK, Oct. 21 /PRNewswire/ -- Furthering its mission to provide premium content to its audiences, Nickelodeon--part of MTV Networks, a division of Viacom Inc. (NYSE: VIA, VIA.B)--has acquired the global rights to the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles from The Mirage Group and 4Kids Entertainment, Inc. (NYSE: KDE). The acquisition provides Nickelodeon, the world's number-one entertainment brand for kids, global intellectual property rights to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the hit television, film and video game property that has delighted kids around the world for the last 25 years. The aggregate purchase price for the transactions is approximately $60 million.
Nickelodeon also announced plans to develop a new CG-animated television series based on the popular superhero franchise, anticipated to premiere in 2012. Additionally, in partnership with Viacom's Paramount Pictures, a new release of a new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles feature film is also planned for 2012. Nickelodeon has also acquired all merchandising rights to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and will continue to work with its original and long-standing toy partner, Playmates Toys, which has been the creative force behind the successful TMNT master toy program over the last two decades.
"Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles shares a comedic sensibility with the Nickelodeon DNA, with added layers of action and fantasy that have kept this property an evergreen favorite with multiple generations of audiences," said Cyma Zarghami, President, Nickelodeon/MTVN Kids and Family Group. "We are extremely happy to have the opportunity to be able to focus on this property and creatively re-introduce it to a new generation of kids."
"Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is a property that maintains a very passionate global fan base, is rich with opportunity for a tentpole movie, and is exactly the right property for us to work together with Nickelodeon," said Adam Goodman, President, Paramount Pictures.
"Mirage has been the proud keeper of the Turtles' brand since 1984, and in 2009 we celebrated their 25th anniversary with our legions of fans," said Gary Richardson, CEO, Mirage Studios. "Nickelodeon is a powerhouse global brand, and we are confident that the company will be a wonderful steward for Leonardo, Raphael, Michelangelo, Donatello and all the other TMNT characters and take them in all kinds of exciting and new creative directions."
PanelToPanel.net now has the upcoming Mirage Universe sourcebook available for pre-order. While supplies last, all copies of the book ordered through PanelToPanel will include an exclusive book plate (below), created by Dan Berger. These always sell out quickly, so get your orders in now!
Astute Technodrome forum member WEB4KIDZ has found the first preview clip from "Turtles Forever"! You can check it out at WorldScreen.com, or below.
If you aren't familiar with mega-TMNT fan Tokka's artwork, you should be. Not only is he the biggest TMNT fan around, but his artwork is the most unique and equally fantastic you're gonna find. If you've ever wanted a piece of Tokka's art for your very own, now is the best opportunity ever to get it. He is currently offering his promotional 1-inch buttons to anyone who wants one, completely for free (plus shipping). If you make a donation to Tokka in addition to the shipping cost, he'll send you a piece of art done to your request along with your button!
Unfortunately, 4Kids Entertainment and Mirage Studios were unable to reach an agreement with Fathom Entertainment to present the “Turtles Forever” special event.
We will keep our Turtles fan base informed as we work on a new distribution plan for this exciting project.
As always, we thank you for your support.
-4Kids Entertainment & Mirage Studios
On the bright side - without going into details - if there is any possibility of seeing this anywhere else this year this is the way it has to be.
Reira on The Technodrome forums found the complete listing of participating theaters for the "Turtles Forever" screening event.
The rumored theater screening of "Turtles Forever," reported yesterday, has now been confirmed.Date: Thursday October 29, 2009; 7:00 pm
Cost: $10
Type: Film
The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles from the 1980s meet the Turtles of the 21st Century in a dimension-hopping, action-packed, knee-slapping movie extravaganza! When the gigantic, evil, and terrifying Technodrome (a giant mobile battle station from the original 1988 TMNT animated series) suddenly appears in our world, carrying with it the original 1988 series Ninja Turtles, our world’s Leonardo, Raphael, Donatello and Michelangelo find themselves with a huge mystery to solve and four crazy Turtles to babysit! Can the Turtles of the past and the Turtles of the present stop annoying each other long enough to stop all of time and space from unraveling?
It’s a ninja tag-team extraordinaire across multiple dimensions, full of twists, turns and more Ninja Turtles than you have ever seen anywhere before. It is a must-see special event for the millions of Turtles fans everywhere and the perfect 25th anniversary celebration for the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
The feature will be followed by a rare look behind the scenes with Ninja Turtles co-creator Peter Laird, created exclusively for this very special event. Learn how the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles came to be – their Secret Origin. Through rare original comic book art, archival pictures and all-new interviews, Pete tells how he and co-creator Kevin Eastman came up with this crazy idea in the first place as well as highlights over the past 25 years of the biggest Turtle moments of all time.
A little birdie has suggested to me that "Turtles Forever" may be screening in US theaters for 1 night only in October, possibly October 29th. This would be an event similar to the 1 night only anime events that occasionally pop up in theaters.
C21Media.net is reporting that "Turtles Forever," the animated movie from 4Kids Entertainment where the different multi-verses of TMNT history team-up to battle the One True Shredder, will screen at the MIPCOM film festival in Cannes, France. No further details are currently available, although the festival runs October 5-9, 2009.
With Thursday night's weekly newsletter, Sideshow Collectibles revealed the preview for the upcoming Donatello comiquette statue, the first in what is sure to be a series of at least four statues.
