Eastman and Laird Aren’t Helping AlienTurtleGate

?The co-creators of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles have commented on the kerfluffle that is Michael Bay’s Teenage Alien Ninja Non-Turtles. As the people who created the TMNT in the first place — and then sold out the concept over and over again, repeatedly, letting anyone do pretty much anything to the property without the slightest concern — I felt it was worth posting their thoughts. First, Kevin Eastman:

Hey Guys, Sorry to have been away for so long–completely swamped
with work–but it is some pretty exciting stuff. I had been invited to
check out the TMNT film development by my friend Scott Mednick over the
years, and a while back had a full look behind the curtian at what
writers Appelbaum and Nemec, director Liebesman, and producer Bay are
doing–and trust me–it IS AWESOME. I’m officially on board, and will
share more as I’m allowed… thanks all!”

If I may sum Eastman’s comments up in a word, that word would be “$.” But that’s fine, whatever. So what about Peter Laird?

A few people — who don’t seem to understand that I am no longer in
control of the property — want me to stop this, somehow. Obviously, I
can’t do that, even if I wanted to.

But I would actually encourage TMNT fans to swallow the “chill pill”
Mr. Bay recently suggested they take, and wait and see what might come
out of this seemingly ill-conceived plan. It’s possible that with enough
truly creative brainpower applied to this idea, it might actually work.
I’m not saying it’s probable, or even somewhat likely… but it IS
possible.

He then goes on to rant about Venus di Milo and how having the Turtles be aliens is a good idea because it allows movie makers to create as many new Turtles as possible, as if that was a good thing, or as if that was ever the issue. Still, I feel there’s a key idea in Laird’s comments that people haven’t quite realized:

It’s possible that with enough
truly creative brainpower applied to this idea, it [making them aliens]might actually work.

Actually, I agree with Laird. If a truly creative, smart person were in charge of TMNT, I bet they could make the Turtles aliens in a way that would satiate fans and wow new audiences. However, it’s worth remember that this is the guy in charge of the TMNT movie:

?The words “Michael Bay” and “truly creative brainpower” are not words that will ever be associated together, unless they show up as a FIND THE ANTONYM question on the SATs. So forgive me if I feel we might as well write off the upcoming TMNT movie as “fucked.” (Via /Film and ToyNewsI)