Nickelodeon Buys the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

[pap64]

You heard me right. Nickelodeon has bought the rights to the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Not only have they bought the rights to both the old and new series, as well as the movies, they have plans to create a new CG series as well as produce new movies under the Paramount label.

Jerry Beck has the story:
http://www.cartoonbrew.com/tv/meet-the- ... ktoon.html

I feel mixed about this. On one hand, the turtles now have a bigger audience, which means that the series could go on for a long while if the Nickelodeon audience enjoys it, and keeps the series fresh beyond its nostalgia factor.

On the other, I am worried as to how the stories will be presented. Mind you, 4Kids did a good job of keeping the edge and violence the series is known for, but with Nickelodeon being far bigger they could alter it so it fits well with the Spongebob viewing audience. Then again, Avatar was pretty violent and serious, and that was successful on the channel.

We'll see what happens...

[disneyboy20022]

First Disney Buys Marvel Comics, Now Nickelodeon buys TMNT....

What's next? Donald Trump buys The Care Bears??

[xxhplinkxx]

This is bullshit. They're gonna give us some stupid, watered-down kiddie version of the Turtles. The only good thing to come out of Nickelodeon in the past ten years has been Avatar.

[pap64]

This is bullshit. They're gonna give us some stupid, watered-down kiddie version of the Turtles. The only good thing to come out of Nickelodeon in the past ten years has been Avatar.

And what exactly do you call the old 80's cartoons?

[xxhplinkxx]

Awesome-ness.

[Just Myself]

This is bullshit. They're gonna give us some stupid, watered-down kiddie version of the Turtles. The only good thing to come out of Nickelodeon in the past ten years has been Avatar.

And what exactly do you call the old 80's cartoons?

Nearly 25 years old.

I've never been a huge TMNT fan, but this is interesting news to say the least. They've got a huge following, so if Nickolodeon screws this up, there will be hell to pay, I'm sure.

By-the-by, I haven't found anything good on Nick since the mid-90's at best. I was only a casual fan of Avatar and the fact that The Last Airbender is being directed by M. Night Shyamlammadingdong only makes matters worse.

Cheers,
JM

[SpringHeelJack]

I submit to you: The Fairly Odd Parents. Hilarious.

But uh, yeah, the cards are stacked against those post-pubescent pizza-partying punks.

[xxhplinkxx]

Oh, I agree, B. However, Fairly Odd Parents debuted in 1998. And Sponge Bob debuted May of 1999, also just out of the 10-year period I gave.

I don't count new episodes, I just mean things that are new. But yes, I love Fairly Odd Parents.

[jpanimation]

Oh great, another ruined franchise. Nickelodeon has lost its identity (logo anyone?) and is trying to do with Nicktoons Network what Disney is doing with DXD, appeal to boys, which just isn't going to happen. Nicktoons Network, like Toon Disney, has stopped showing all the good classic in favor a cheap crap that they think boys will enjoy (Iron Man Armored Adventures, Wolveriene and the X-Men, Fantastic Four, Speed Racer, etc.).

My guess is this is just one more attempt to try to appeal to boys and it will also fail. Why don't they just commit to making quality shows again and quite worrying who its going to appeal to. The old Nick and Disney had something for everyone but they are quickly alienating demographics and are trying to rectify it by turning their classics channels into all guys channels.

I want the old Nicktoons and ToonDisney back as Boomerang is the only channel showing the classics anymore.

[pap64]

Awesome-ness.

I ask because, and you might disagree with me on this, but that's what the original series was; a stupid, watered down kids show.

Allow me to elaborate...

The original TMNT comics were dark, serious, and very violent. The story was also very different from any of the incarnations. The Shredder wasn't even a main villain! He gets killed off in the first issues!

The problem was that they wanted to make action figures out of the characters in the comic, but thought the series was too violent for the target audience. So, like every other cartoon in the 80s, they worked out a deal where they could make the toys as long as a cartoon show was on. The show has NO input from the original creators and it was completely different in order to appeal to the kids and make lots of toys out of it.

So, in theory, the original cartoon series was indeed a watered down version for the kiddies.

[Disney's Divinity]

So I guess a Nickelodeon take would be a more watered down version of an already watered down kid's version?

Anyway, I only really remember the TMNT live-action films. They've actually been showing them on ABCFamily the past few months (I was shocked). As for Nickelodeon, it's a horrible channel. The good things are very rare. I can't really think of anything off the bat that I liked from the channel except The Wild Thornberrys, Tiny Toons and Rugrats. And they're pretty old now.

As for Avatar, I own all three seasons (I watched each season as it came out at Christmas for the first time) and it had potential, but really seemed to go nowhere. Still, for Nickelodeon, it's one of the best things they've done.

[PixarFan2006]

I personally never really cared for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles as a kid (Probably because it was already popular when I was born), so I have no opinion on this news except that it may anger fans of the original series.

Also, I do not care for Nickelodeon or Nicktoons Newtork at all anymore. Both networks jumped the shark several years ago.

[Ala ad-Din]

As long as they aren't anime insprired flash animated cartoons!

[SpringHeelJack]

Oh, I agree, B. However, Fairly Odd Parents debuted in 1998. And Sponge Bob debuted May of 1999, also just out of the 10-year period I gave.

I don't count new episodes, I just mean things that are new. But yes, I love Fairly Odd Parents.

Oh, wow, I feel old.

[Mooky]

So, in theory, the original cartoon series was indeed a watered down version for the kiddies.

Agreed. As much as I love the original show, the new one beats it in every way imaginable. Or at least it did, until that Fast Forward season – I stopped caring/watching afterwards. The first four seasons were flawless though.

Btw, does anyone know when that TMNT '87/TMNT '03 crossover comes out?

[Ala ad-Din]

Btw, does anyone know when that TMNT '87/TMNT '03 crossover comes out?

Is that happening for real? It sounds like the crossover they did for Alvin and the Chipmunks in the "Chipmunks go to the Movies" epsiode Back to Alvin's Future when they met the 1960s versions of themselves lol.

[Avaitor]

This is bullshit. They're gonna give us some stupid, watered-down kiddie version of the Turtles. The only good thing to come out of Nickelodeon in the past ten years has been Avatar.

Ned;s Declassified School Survivial Guide?

[pap64]

So, in theory, the original cartoon series was indeed a watered down version for the kiddies.

Agreed. As much as I love the original show, the new one beats it in every way imaginable. Or at least it did, until that Fast Forward season – I stopped caring/watching afterwards. The first four seasons were flawless though.

Btw, does anyone know when that TMNT '87/TMNT '03 crossover comes out?

Funny, that's when I stopped watching as well .

The reason many fans prefer the 80s version over any incarnation of the series is because many have fond memories of it. It was a definitive cartoon for our generation, in the same way that the 60's Batman was iconic for its generations. It had an impact so deep that people refuse to accept any other version, even when its superior to the old cartoons.

I admit I used to be one of them. I LOVED the turtles when I was a kid. Even if I didn't care much for the toy line (was more of a videogame kid, really) the cartoon was my escape from reality (along with many other series).

So much so, that when a friend of mine (who is also a big turtles fan and actually has connections to the original creators) told me that there was a comic book I couldn't believe it, and that it was so drastically different from the old comics it wasn't funny.

When the new TMNT series aired I was in college, and grew in love once more with the heroes in a half shell. I loved the stories, the characters, the action. Even if they did some really weird stuff (like turning the Shredder into an alien), they did some really amazing stories.

At that point I looked back at the old series I was repulsed at how god awful it was. Bad animation, corny dialogue, lame jokes, and boring fights. I became to hate the one thing that had a lot of meaning in my childhood.

But a few years later, I watched some episodes of the old TV show, and realized that the two series are so different from each other that I might as well watch them as two different entities based on one franchise. The old TV show was fun, silly, enjoyable and colorful, while the new series is more serious, focused on story and character development.

It's pretty much a matter of personal preference, since no series is better than the other due to how drastic the presentation is. It would be like trying to compare pancakes to waffles.

[Dragonlion]

I only saw a couple of the episodes of the new series and I thought they were alright. I just hope if Nick does do a new series, it will be better than some of the stuff they're making now.

[Mooky]

Btw, does anyone know when that TMNT '87/TMNT '03 crossover comes out?

Is that happening for real? It sounds like the crossover they did for Alvin and the Chipmunks in the "Chipmunks go to the Movies" epsiode Back to Alvin's Future when they met the 1960s versions of themselves lol.

It's definitely happening. At first I thought it was going to be just an episode or two of the new show, but apparently it's a full-blown feature film. I found some screencaps here, scroll down a bit.

It's pretty much a matter of personal preference, since no series is better than the other due to how drastic the presentation is. It would be like trying to compare pancakes to waffles.

Yep, that pretty much sums it up. I still like to watch the '80s cartoon for sheer fun and nostalgia purposes. However, if I was presented with an option of watching either that version or the new one, I'd choose the 2003 one because its story actually goes somewhere.