Whether you're all about it or really,
really, really against it, the Ninja Turtles reboot is just a few days away.
So, let's skip the buildup and get it going.
Here are seven things you didn't know about the Teenage Mutant Ninja, probably.
We all know that there have been quite a few Ninja Turtle's movies and
TV shows over the years.
We even got a Ninja rap out of the deal.
(Music)
>> But, most people don't know that this summer's release coincides with the 30th
anniversary of the Turtles' debut.
The first issue of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles came out way back in 1984.
And, in the original comics, the turtles didn't wear different colors.
They all wore red masks.
The different colors for each turtle along with their pizza obsession were only added
later on in the cartoons.
(Sound) The next thing you probably didn't know is
that the turtle's origin story is linked to Daredevil.
See, in Daredevil's origin story, Matt Murdoch receives
his super powers after getting hit in the head by a radio active canister.
Well, it's that same canister that rolls down into the sewer, douses the turtles
into radioactive ooze and transforms them into Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
Of course, creators Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird couldn't refer to Daredevil by
name in the comic, but there's pretty much no denying what they were going for.
(Sound) And here's another thing you probably didn't know
about the first issue.
And heads up, this is a spoiler.
Then again, if you haven't read the comics after 30 years,
you're probably never going to.
But, anyway, spoiler alert all the same.
Shredder actually dies in the first issue of the comics.
>> No! >> Obviously he comes back but, yeah.
Definitely, a ballsy opening from the creators.
(Sound) Eastman and
Laird launched their Mirage Studios with the first issue of TMNT.
But you may not know that they originally picked the name Mirage because they didn't
have an actual company, let alone a studio.
The guys drew the first Ninja Turtles comic on their kitchen tables.
It was funded mostly by a $500 tax refund and a loan from an uncle.
To their surprise, the 3,000 issues that they printed were so
popular that they had to print 6,000 more.
Borrowing more money from the same uncle in the process.
They made all the money back in the end, plus $200.
Well, two hundo plus the millions upon
millions they've made from licensing deals in the years since.
By the way, Kevin Eastman supposedly has a cameo in the new movie.
So, look out for him playing a doctor.
(Sound) >> You didn't know.
(Sound) >> Getting into the Ninja Turtles movies,
the new take on how they look is a far cry from what we got in the first movie from
1990.
Jim Henson's creature shop created these turtles and the actor inside is
not the guy providing the voice for any of the turtles except for Raphael.
Cory Feldman actually did the voice for
Donatello while Kevin Clash who's famous for voicing Elmo, and,
(Sound) Some other things, was the voice and main puppeteer for Splinter.
But you do get to see all four turtle actors without their costumes
during the film.
>> Cowabunga!
>> That's Josh Pais, aka Raphael, in the back of the cab.
Michelangelo, real name Michelan Sisti, is the Domino's delivery guy.
This foot messenger is Leif Tilden,
the guy who plays Donatello, finally David Forman who plays Leonardo is one of
the gang members in this fight scene between Casey and Tatsu.
And, he's in there, somewhere, I promise.
(Sound) >> Can't trust the narrator!
>> And even though they weren't wearing extremely hot and claustrophobic,
but turtle costumes with 60 pounds of animatronix built in, Shredder and
Tatsu's voices are also dubbed.
>> Master Shredder.
>> After all,
why pay one actor to do one role when you can pay two actors to do one role?
(Sound) If you haven't watched it in awhile,
you may not remember that the first Ninja Turtles movie has a decent amount
of violence.
It may seem tame to some of us today but Playmates Toys refuse to even make
any action figures based on the movie because of the violence and language.
(Sound) That along with a backlash from pissed off parents lead the producers to
cutting down on the violence in the Sequel drastically.
They went to such an extreme that in the second movie,
the Turtles barely even used their weapons.
Leonardo and Rafael actually never use theirs at any point in the entire movie.
They just sort of, have them for some reason.
(Sound) Along with the movies, there have also
been a few different incarnations of the Ninja Turtles TV show over the years.
And one of them included a lady turtle.
>> A girl turtle?
>> Woo hoo hoo.
(Laugh) >> A girl turtle?
>> Yes, in the late 90s, Ninja Turtles the Next Mutation introduced Venus de Milo,
a fifth member of the ninja group.
But, she didn't last long and obviously isn't still around today.
Rumor is they got rid of her fairly quickly because Peter Laird
hated the character.
I'll admit that adding a new turtle is a pretty lame gimmick to revive
an aging franchise but, y'all know me.
I'm not mad at those tasty turtle hoots.
(Sound) >> You can't milk a turtle!
(Sound) >> The new Ninja Turtles movie is hitting
the reset button after the three previous ones we got back in the day.
But, you probably didn't know there was almost a fourth live action movie in
the late 90s.
It was only cancelled because the third movie was such a runny dump.
>> (Sound) Wipe out.
>> TMNT: The Next Mutation was the working title and it would have shown the ooze and
the turtles' and Splinter's bodies mutating them a second time.
And there's even concept art you can find on the Internet to show you what
they would have looked like.
Michael Angelo's second mutation would have given him the ability to morph so
he could have a more human appearance.
Donatello would have developed psychic and telekinetic abilities, but
the new powers would also deteriorate his vision, hence the fancy glasses.
Leonardo would have been able to mutate his skin into different textures,
although all we really get are what look like gauze bandages in this concept art.
Rafael would've become Raptor Raf with all the claws and the spikes you see here,
which is perfect for a guy with a rage problem and
even Master Splinter would've mutated again.
He'd double in size and would have sort of Hulk thing going where
he wouldn't be able to control his bigger, angrier self very well.
After the movie got scrapped,
they wound up using a lot of these ideas in the cartoons but, who knows?
We might end up seeing some of this stuff on the big screen if the reboot
does well enough for a Sequel.
>> Get ready for Sequel, Sequel, Sequel.
>> That's it for today but we know there are a lot of mixed
feelings about the Michael barefication of the Ninja Turtles.
So, let us know in the comments whether you're excited to see the new movie,
if you're going to stay home and protest, or
if you're going to hate watch it in secret and not tell any of your friends.
Thanks for watching but be sure to check out cinefix.com and subscribe for
more true-ish things about movies.
(Sound).
>> And, sometimes, mutated reptiles.
>> Right here on Things You Didn't Know.
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