Huffy Flounce

Based on everything I've heard about it, I don't even have the heart to watch the TMNT trailer.

I haven't bothered to look at the fan reaction. I usually bury myself in fan reactions after watching a video for a property close to my heart. My guess is that fan reaction has been negative.

I'm sure people are focusing at least some of their negativity on the apparent connection of April's father to the SPOILER: creation of the Turtles. I'm sure they're also focusing on the Turtles' Uncanny Valley-creating humanoid mouths. Maybe they're also focusing on how the Turtles look like they're seven feet tall--though that could just be a perspective thing. (It's not like Megan Fox is a giantess, so it's granted that an average-sized male would look tallish next to her. I suppose it's possible, too, that the Jeep/Hummer-looking thing Raph smashes into is some sort of mini vehicle.) It also wouldn't surprise me if people were focusing on how their outfits are less uniform than they've been in the past.

Of course, they could also just be focusing on how the whole thing looks shitty.

I'm up for some changes if the movie is decent, and I'm up for some changes if it doesn't feel like the property has been totally betrayed. That said, I've seen what Michael Bay has done with Transformers, and I've seen bits and pieces of Jonathan Liebesman's movies. It doesn't fill me with much hope.

* * *

When the Turtles originally went from animation to live action, there was a lot of wiggle room for a new visual interpretation. There's a big divide separating hand-drawn characters and real-world puppeteering. The Jim Henson Company probably could have taken more creative license than it did. Instead, they brought the Turtles into the 3D world in a way that was pretty true to the look of the comics and cartoons. It worked in a big way for fans. They wanted to see the Turtles brought to life, and most of them felt that they got that.

It was easy back in '90 for fans to separate the show from the movie. The movie was the prestige format. It had shadows and brooding and was clearly meant for families. It wasn't something made exclusively for kids. It felt like a graduation of sorts to the kids who went to see it. It felt like being allowed to take a sip from your father's beer on your twelfth birthday.

It may not be as easy for today's young Turtles fan to separate the new cartoon from the movie. The new cartoon is CG. It's on Nickelodeon. It essentially looks like a stripped down, slightly cartoonier version of the 2007 CG movie. The new movie Turtles are also CG, and the new movie is also a Nickelodeon property. There's a lot less of a divide going from CG to CG than there is going from cartoon to live action, and since both the new cartoon and new movie are Nickelodeon properties, the radical redesign is likely to have some kids scratching their heads. If the 2014 movie Turtles had been more photorealistic, this might not have been an issue. And those mouths!

I've never seen a Turtles movie. Probably never will.

I saw the first one again a few years ago. It holds up all right. The costumes still look pretty damn good.

I think Quasar was somewhere between 19 and 21 when the first one came out. It's not surprising that he's never seen one.

We've already talked about i. Might as well post it:

Is he not turtley enough for the Turtle Club?

Just rewatched it.

I forgot to mention originally that I hope William Fichtner's Trailer Guy-like exposition isn't in the movie. It looks like it probably is, though. At one point during the narration, it cuts to an actual scene from the movie, and his lips are moving along to it. Eh. Maybe it's a patchwork of dialog, and only the "That's what your father and I were trying to do" part will be in the movie.

According to IMDb, Fichtner's playing Shredder. So he's just going to be a guy in a business suit for most of the movie? That's kinda lame.

I suppose those silver-face-plated people are supposed to be Foot Clanners. They remind me of these guys from 300:

Turtles are really tasty in a stew. With my Grandma's homemade ribbles. Just sayin'.

You're just a breakin' poor Jubbers's heart.

Tonight, I dine on turtle soup!!

[Does Jubboiter like turtles as much as Jubbers does?]

Jubboiter is currently sleeping in a turtle shirt.

But was the shirt her choice, or merely a byproduct of Jubbers' turtle love?

The latter, I think. Jubbers bought the shirt something like five months before Jubboiter was even born. She bought it when we were still in Munich. It was the smallest size they had with that particular print. Jubbers has been waiting almost two years for Jubboiter to be big enough to wear it.

Haven't seen it. Is Bay still involved?

Yes.

Then I shall probably not see it. Also because I always thought the Turtles were a bit shit and never got the appeal.

You were fourteen-ish at the height of the Turtles' popularity. I'd probably feel the same way about them if I'd been born when you were born.

Come on, who doesn't like the Ninja Turtles! Camaan! Camaaaan!

Tastes like chicken ... Actually, more like duck, since the meat is darker and fattier.

Yummy turtle.

It's not a real trailer. I figured Mal would want to see it if he hadn't already seen it, though, so here it is.