Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Panel Recap

Who was there: The moderator of the panel was Gary Richardson, who is the CEO Mirage Studios. The rest of the panel included Kevin Eastman, cocreator of TMNT; Lloyd Goldfine, supervising producer of 4Kids Productions; Steve Barron, director of the original TMNT movie; Karl Aaronian, former senior VP at Playmates; Matt Leunig, associate producer at Ubisoft; and Galen Walker and Scott Mednick, producers of the new TMNT movie, which is scheduled for 2011.

What did they talk about: The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are celebrating their 25th anniversary this year, and the TMNT panel at the San Diego Comic-Con was a good mix of people who are tied to the brand in various ways. The panel began with a video of Kevin Eastman and cocreator Peter Laird, discussing how they originally started the comic in their own home. The members of the panel went on to talk about their involvement with TMNT, starting with Kevin, who was asked why he decided to go with turtles instead of some other random animal. Kevin talked about how he used to bother Peter as much as possible while he watched bad television shows by drawing stupid things. He married the two dumbest things he could think of. "What if Bruce Lee was a… turtle?" And that was how it started.

Eastman went on to talk about how Jack Kirby and Frank Miller were a huge inspiration and how he and Peter just bounced ideas back and forth until they got something that they liked. When asked why the turtles became so successful, Kevin mused that it was probably the crazy title and the respect that the turtles had for one another, which mirrored the relationship Peter and Kevin had with their art teachers and circle of fellow geeks.

Karl was met with a lot of resistance when he originally pitched the TMNT toys to various retailers, but eventually it caught on because of the character of the turtles, the brotherhood, and sense of humor.

The original TMNT movie had a budget of 3 million when Golden Harvest approached Steve Barron. It was difficult to go into production because most studios rejected the idea of ninja turtles. When Newline Cinema signed on, they offered 2 million, and the movie would then go on to gross 150 million. When asked about a director's cut of the original movie, Steve said that he would love to do it, except that he doesn't know who owns the rights or where he could get started. Turtle fans, you can start the petition now.

Matt from Ubisoft talked about specifically bringing a turtles game to the Wii (TMNT: Smash-Up) so that it could encompass a larger audience, including kids and their parents. It is meant to be easy to play and isn't tied to a particular turtles property, so they could go anywhere with it.

Lloyd, from 4Kids Production said that he wanted a show that was more tough and edgy, staying true to the original comic. He defended himself by saying that a lot of strange characters in the new cartoon series were actually Peter's ideas, like Utron Shredder.

Scott and Galen were both insistent that they want to make the best turtles movie ever, respecting the work that has come before, and talked about hiring screenwriter John Fusco, who is right for the job. They want to keep the spirit of the turtles by having action, humor, and heart.

"Where we are today, we have a new generation of fans. Let's give something that allows us to take today's storytelling techniques with the brilliance that has gone before, and let's create something that Galen put it, 'the best turtles movie ever.'" --Scott Mednick

Best audience question: Will Keno the pizza boy be in the next turtles movie? Not the best question, but it stood out because the question was asked by Ernie Reyes Jr., the actor who played Keno in the second turtles movie, Secret of the Ooze. He jumped in after someone who was dressed up as the Shredder asked Eastman which version of the Shredder was his favorite. The answer: Kevin went off track and told the origin of the Shredder, which happened when he was drying dishes and came across a triangular cheese grater and said how it would be awesome to have a villain called "the Grater," and Peter responded with, "How about the Shredder?"

Worst audience question: Since the panel was limited on time and with questions, most of the audience questions weren't that bad, although one person did comment that the third TMNT movie was pretty but didn't felt like a turtle movie at all. It seemed that most people wanted to know whether or not the new movie would follow in the footsteps of the first. Scott confirmed that there would be no portals, aliens, or yo-yos in the upcoming movie.

Random Fact: Casey Jones' name was from Casey at bat, not from the Grateful Dead song.

The Takeaway: Judging from what Scott and Galen were saying, the next movie is going to return to the roots and be a darker and grittier film. They mentioned that Harry Potter can get away with more mature themes and that the audience is different now. We're definitely looking forward to seeing what they come up with because we won't ever get tired of seeing the turtles onscreen. It was great to see the different types of people involved with the turtles brand, and even though it was stated multiple times during the panel, it's obvious that the reason TMNT is so successful is because beneath the wacky title, there's a lot of humor, action, and heart.