Ninja Turtle Rage

So what’s up with all the Ninja Turtle rage? The upcoming Ninja Turtles film produced by Michael Bay is driving some shell heads crazy with some changes to the heroes in a half shell. So what exactly the source of this outrage?

This film has two big changes to the Turtle franchise:

1. The Turtles are no longer mutants; they are aliens from a far off planet where everyone is apparently a turtle.
2. They’ve also dropped the “Teenage” from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles title as well, so now its the much shorter title Ninja Turtles. (This was a decision by Paramount for marketing purposes to have a shorter, concise title).

These two announcements, plus what other changes that are yet to be announced, has started a fan outrage that hasn’t been seen since the Transformers and GI Joe movies of the last decade, every super hero film, and even 1987’s Masters of the Universe. The point is, that it is inevitable that the story will be changed from the source material.

Think about this…the original Peter Laird and Kevin Eastman Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles published by Mirage Studios is different from the Fred Wolf Films cartoon series. Take it one step further and you will see that there are other differences in the Playmates toy line, the long-running Archie Comics series, and every subsequent film/cartoon show. The point is that these are all variations of the same theme and are all valid.

So what does Michael Bay have to say about this?

“Fans need to take a breath, and chill. They have not read the script. Our team is working closely with one of the original creators of Ninja Turtles to help expand and give a more complex back story,” said Bay on his message board.

“Relax, we are including everything that made you become fans in the first place. We are just building a richer world.”

And this is the inherent problem with fandom. We all wind up judging the final product before its been released. Everyone gets worked up over these changes, sounding like morons with the whole “you’ve raped my childhood” hyperbole. If Ninja Turtles is going to suck, it’s not going to solely be because they’re aliens and not mutants. And if the film is awesome, its’ not going to be because of that change either.

What is going to make or break this film is much larger; the combination of story, the acting, the special effects, even the marketing. To judge it by a minor plot tweek is insane.

On a final note, to everyone who is not a fan of Michael Bay, I challenge you to tell me why his Aaron Burr Got Milk collection isn’t amazing.