So is this like a Star Trek reboot kinda thing? Time continuum stuff?

But what if 4 turtles ARE enough?

I love that OldSkool Mikey carries his Pizzas for Battle. Man the new turtles look really blocky.

What's the deal with the Death Star in the movie poster?

Will this be a direct to DVD movie, or will it air on TV?

the goofy 80's version was way better; the newer shows may have better styles but that whole fast forward thing was so lame and got old fast. I miss Shredder and Krang and Beebop & Rocksteady.

"So... remember that Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles special that 4Kids was working on that was going to team-up the current Turtles with their late '80s counterparts? "

No, I didn't! That's awesome. But why's Razar and Toka in there? Put Bebop and Rocksteady!

Nice terrible cropping job with the "new" Turtles.

Wow, I was assuming this idea would just fade into development hell and die. I'm kind of excited, even without the original voice actors.

Actually, 4Kids doesn't own the old Ninja Turtles; Fred Wolf Films and Lionsgate Home Entertainment own the old cartoon lock, stock, and the rest. They don't even have to tell Mirage Studios, the guys who created the characters in the first place, when they are going to release a new DVD set with the old toon.

I think it was only just recently that some sort of agreement was reached in which the old depictions of the characters within that show could even be used by Mirage. But part of the caveat to that was Mirage has to create new art of the stuff for things like retro t-shirts, for example; they can't use the old artwork which was associated with the old cartoon.

Why is the new Donatello's staff only three feet long?

I love that OldSkool Mikey carries his Pizzas for Battle. Man the new turtles look really blocky.

Indeed. I really loathe how American cartoons characters are now composed entirely of angles.

Meh, I only liked the original run of Eastman and Laird comic books. I was too old for the cartoons, but enjoyed the first movie a great deal.

I'll probably watch this though, just for the sheer nerdyness of it.

Batzarro:

Bebop and Rocksteady will be in it, as well as Tokka and Rahzar

http://www.4kids.tv/show/tmnt-back-to-the-sewer/blog/tmnt-25th-anniversary-part-4

http://www.4kids.tv/show/tmnt-back-to-the-sewer/blog/tmnt-25th-anniversary-part-5

ZADL: You may want to see this anyway. Check my site above for more details, or just take a look at the top of the building on the right...

If you check out the high-res version, you can see the silhouettes of old-school Shredder and Krang (above 80s Raph) and the original Eastman/Laird turtles (above 80s Leo). I'm really looking forward to this. Hopefully it makes up for the last two years of relatively crummy TMNT cartoons.

@Kellyanne: Are you sure it's not Unicron?

12 Teenage Mutant Ninja TURTLES!? wow! This better be awesome...

I don't know if adding 'FOREVER' to the end of a film title is ever a good idea...but they've earned my respect for not putting an exclamation mark after the tag-line.

NEW Turtles? Guess I must be out of the TMNT loop...and get off my lawn!!

too bad the original voice actors are not going to be back doing their roles again. but given fans love of the characters no doubt the movie will do some good business mostly due to curosity sake of how the execs are going to manage all those characters on screen .

Well, my rational side is a bit hesitant about this, seeing as every time my favorite cartoons are redone in this manner it ends up raping my childhood in some horrible, godawful way... but my inner kid wants to see this sooooo bad.

So, I will end up seeing this anyways. Curse you 4kids!

@Snoodle

Just be glad it's not "Turtles and Robin", then we'd really be fucked.

Oh no, why did they have to title it "Forever"

WHY?!

Neat! I never really watched the old Turtles show, but I had a ton of their toys. I've always like the Eastman and Laird comics the most, and the new TMNT does a good job of feeling like those while still toning it down for the target audience. I'll definitely watch this.

Spare me...

About the only thing the 80s turtles did was the theme song. And I'd RATHER watch Fast Forward than those old cartoons. nostalgia be damned.

And one last question... they're working on this... meanwhile they've also released better (read, more episodes in each set, not 3 episodes on a disc)collections of seasons 1,2,4, Fast Forward seasons 1 and 2, and the lost episodes of the 2007 Turtles series... anyone notice what I left out? That's because they HAVEN'T FUCKING DONE IT YET!!!! WHAT THE HELL?!?!?

Once again... you find yourself on the WRONG end of the argument, due to your ignorance of the situation.

Didn't you learn your lesson with the whole Futurama freak-out debacle? Apparently not, because... here we are again.

It goes a little something like this. 4Kids is non-union. Many of the original TMNT 80's cast is PRO-union. Including Rob Paulson and Cam Clarke.

Rob Paulson (Raph), Cam Clarke (Leonardo), and a host of others probably wanted nothing to do with the project, due to their views on the importance of union politics.

So there you go. The original actors didn't want to be involved. But hey.. again, it's always so easy when we can look at absolutely everything in the industry as black and white.

Clearly, original actors not returning to do any project is ALWAYS because the "big evil corporation" won't let them. Right? And certainly never because the original actors had absolutely no interest in coming back to reprise.

Seriously though. I thought that this kind of fanboy stupidity of always painting the original actors as the poor unfortunates who are always abused by the system, despite maybe their personal politics or just their egos getting in the way?

Sometimes, it really is the actors fault. They don't always care about the fans. It's really all just business to them, you know.

Clarke, Paulson, and all of the other union actors from the 80's probably declined because of the clear and noted disagreement in union politics.

That having been said... the audio of this special has been leaked from a screening.

And all the recast voices are very, VERY good. Very close likenesses. Certainly close enough for this whole controversy to not even matter.

Maybe some of you braindead, thickheaded caveman mentality fanboys will be crying yourselves to sleep clutching your Ninja Turtle figures at this tragic news which is the worst thin to happen to you since 9/11, but the rest of us will just still enjoy it for what it is, and be fine and content to watch what is in all honesty, fine and well, and no cause for concern.

At least 80's Leonardo knew how to hold a katana.

Karma... ain't he a bitch?

Yu-Gi-Oh! The Abridged Series basically sums up my feelings on 4Kids Entertainment.

This was previewed during a private party for TMNT fans at San Diego Comic-Con. You can click my name to visit my website and get a preview.