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Old 10-21-2009, 08:31 AM   #1
The Big Bad
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Huge News: Nickelodeon Acquires Global Rights to the TMNT

From Toonzone:
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Nickelodeon has announced the acquisition of the global rights to the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchise from the Mirage Group and 4Kids Entertainment. A new CGI animated TV series has begun development, with a scheduled premiere date in 2012, and Nickelodeon has also partnered with corporate sibling Paramount Pictures to develop a Turtles feature film which is also slated for 2012. The lucrative merchandising rights are included in the deal as well, and Nickelodeon will continue to work with its long-standing partner Playmates Toys on new Turtles toys.
Full article and press release on the site.
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Old 10-21-2009, 08:47 AM   #2
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http://www.bleedingcool.com/2009/10/...ndred-million/


I was about to post this, wow, I never thought Laird would sell his baby, I mean why would he.

I have mixed opinions about this, definitely some good news as well as bad. I guess people are going to be mostly negative since we'll never see the turtles in really dark representation at least on TV/Movie, but that was never going to happen anyway. Kinda sad news though that its now owned by a big corporation.

edit: nevermind, the original poster at neogaf worded his title and post as Nickelodeon BUYS TMNT as well as the article I linked, but it seems they just acquired the rights, so in this case I'm all for it, this is great news, nothing bad about it. 4Kids did a great job but I don't think they would have done anything else with the property of that type anymore and would only get more dumb down versions. Now we'll trully get a new take for the new CGi show. Funny I was going to make a thread for a new CGi tv show for a few months now but never quite posted it

Last edited by sdp; 10-21-2009 at 09:01 AM.
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Old 10-21-2009, 09:00 AM   #3
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I'm stunned...

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Old 10-21-2009, 09:02 AM   #4
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Nickelodeon Aquires TMNT

Well, not the license but the entire property...

NICKELODEON ACQUIRES GLOBAL RIGHTS TO TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES

Nickelodeon to Develop New CG-Animated Television Series and Paramount Pictures to Develop Feature Film of Renowned Global Property

NEW YORK—Oct. 21, 2009—Furthering its mission to provide premium content to its audiences, Nickelodeon—part of MTV Networks, a division of Viacom Inc. (NYSE: VIA, VIA.B)—has acquired the global rights to the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles from The Mirage Group and 4Kids Entertainment, Inc. (NYSE: KDE). The acquisition provides Nickelodeon, the world’s number-one entertainment brand for kids, global intellectual property rights to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the hit television, film and video game property that has delighted kids around the world for the last 25 years. The aggregate purchase price for the transactions is approximately $60 million.

Nickelodeon also announced plans to develop a new CG-animated television series based on the popular superhero franchise, anticipated to premiere in 2012. Additionally, in partnership with Viacom’s Paramount Pictures, a new release of a new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles feature film is also planned for 2012. Nickelodeon has also acquired all merchandising rights to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and will continue to work with its original and long-standing toy partner, Playmates Toys, which has been the creative force behind the successful TMNT master toy program over the last two decades.

“Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles shares a comedic sensibility with the Nickelodeon DNA, with added layers of action and fantasy that have kept this property an evergreen favorite with multiple generations of audiences,” said Cyma Zarghami, President, Nickelodeon/MTVN Kids and Family Group. “We are extremely happy to have the opportunity to be able to focus on this property and creatively re-introduce it to a new generation of kids.”
“Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is a property that maintains a very passionate global fan base, is rich with opportunity for a tentpole movie, and is exactly the right property for us to work together with Nickelodeon,” said Adam Goodman, President, Paramount Pictures.

“Mirage has been the proud keeper of the Turtles’ brand since 1984, and in 2009 we celebrated their 25th anniversary with our legions of fans,” said Gary Richardson, CEO, Mirage Studios. “Nickelodeon is a powerhouse global brand, and we are confident that the company will be a wonderful steward for Leonardo, Raphael, Michelangelo, Donatello and all the other TMNT characters and take them in all kinds of exciting and new creative directions.”

“We enjoyed our eight-year partnership with Mirage during which 4Kids and Mirage re-launched the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchise for a new generation of kids around the world,” said Alfred Kahn, Chairman and CEO of 4Kids Entertainment, Inc. “We will also work with Mirage and Viacom so that our Turtles’ licensees can be assured of a seamless transition.”

Considered one of the most popular kids’ television programs of the 1980s, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is a classic, global property created in 1984 by Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird. It first debuted as a successful comic book series and then became a hit animated TV show, a live-action television series, and later spawned four blockbuster theatrical releases. The property also has translated into a significant consumer products business—with DVDs, video games, toys and more--that has generated billions of dollars at retail.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is based on four mutant turtles--trained in the art of Ninjitsu--who battle evil from the New York sewers. The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles animated television series--jointly produced by 4Kids Entertainment and Mirage Studios—will continue to air on “TheCW4Kids” Saturday morning programming block on The CW network through Aug. 31, 2010.

About Nickelodeon
Nickelodeon, now in its 30th year, is the number-one entertainment brand for kids. It has built a diverse, global business by putting kids first in everything it does. The company includes television programming and production in the United States and around the world, plus consumer products, online, recreation, books and feature films. Nickelodeon’s U.S. television network is seen in almost 100 million households and has been the number-one-rated basic cable network for 15 consecutive years. For more information or artwork, visithttp://www.nickpress.com. Nickelodeon and all related titles, characters and logos are trademarks of Viacom Inc. (NYSE: VIA, VIA.B).

About Mirage Studios
The Mirage Group is a group of companies, including Mirage Studios, Inc., located in Northampton, Massachusetts, that owned and managed the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles property from its creation in 1984 through 2009.

About 4Kids Entertainment
Master licensing agent for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, 4Kids Entertainment, Inc. (NYSE: KDE), is a global organization devoted to the creation, development, production, broadcasting, licensing and manufacturing of children’s entertainment products, with U.S. headquarters in New York City, regional offices for its trading card business in San Diego, California, and international offices in London and Hong Kong.
Cautionary Statement Concerning Forward-Looking Statements
This news release contains both historical and forward-looking statements. All statements that are not statements of historical fact are, or may be deemed to be, forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements reflect the Company’s current expectations concerning future results, objectives, plans and goals, and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that are difficult to predict and which may cause actual results, performance or achievements to differ. These risks, uncertainties and other factors include, among others: the worsening of current economic conditions generally, and in advertising and retail markets in particular; the public acceptance of the Company’s programs, motion pictures and games on the various platforms on which they are distributed; competition for audiences and distribution; technological developments and their effect in the Company’s markets and on consumer behavior; fluctuations in the Company’s results due to the timing, mix and availability of the Company’s motion pictures and games; changes in the Federal communications laws and regulations; the impact of piracy; other domestic and global economic, business, competitive and/or regulatory factors affecting the Company’s businesses generally; and other factors described in the Company’s news releases and filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its 2008 Annual Report on Form 10-K and reports on Form 10-Q and Form 8-K. The forward-looking statements included in this document are made only as of the date of this document, and the Company does not have any obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statements to reflect subsequent events or circumstances.
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Old 10-21-2009, 09:06 AM   #5
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And before people start complaining about Nick, they are the ones responsibles of making one of the greatest cartoons/universes of all time.



I'm confused, they acquired the entire property or just the license?
I posted my opinions on the general board thread.
http://forums.thetechnodrome.com/sho...ewpost&t=28730



Thanks for your time btw TMNT4Kids, if you could ever post about your experience with working on TMNT now that 4Kids doesn't have the license maybe you can share a few stories, but maybe not since you do still work for them.
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Old 10-21-2009, 09:13 AM   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by sdp View Post
http://www.bleedingcool.com/2009/10/...ndred-million/

edit: nevermind, the original poster at neogaf worded his title and post as Nickelodeon BUYS TMNT as well as the article I linked, but it seems they just acquired the rights, so in this case I'm all for it, this is great news, nothing bad about it. 4Kids did a great job but I don't think they would have done anything else with the property of that type anymore and would only get more dumb down versions. Now we'll trully get a new take for the new CGi show. Funny I was going to make a thread for a new CGi tv show for a few months now but never quite posted it
Thy acquired the "Intellectual Property" rights which means they own the TMNT lock, stock, and barrel. Also note that the articles list Mirage as being around until 2009...

As I understand it, the announced/completed Tales will still be released in 2010, but then that'll be it for Mirage.
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Old 10-21-2009, 09:14 AM   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by sdp View Post
I'm confused, they acquired the entire property or just the license?
I posted my opinions on the general board thread.
http://forums.thetechnodrome.com/sho...ewpost&t=28730



Thanks for your time btw TMNT4Kids, if you could ever post about your experience with working on TMNT now that 4Kids doesn't have the license maybe you can share a few stories, but maybe not since you do still work for them.
Sorry my mistake on the Topic heading (if a mod wants to change it that would be great). The title should simply be "Nickelodeon Aquires TMNT".

They bought the entire property from Mirage/4Kids.
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Old 10-21-2009, 09:16 AM   #8
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After reading it again this is what I understand, They didn't acquire Mirage or TMNT, Meaning Mirage still owns TMNT and it's characters but Nick owns the merchandising and branding rights.

When Disney bought Marvel it outright said they bought Marvel and all its characters which it does not mention here
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Old 10-21-2009, 09:16 AM   #9
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Yes, Nickelodeon owns it outright. Mirage and 4Kids will not be working with the TMNT property in the future.
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Old 10-21-2009, 09:17 AM   #10
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Trust me. Nick owns it all.
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Old 10-21-2009, 09:18 AM   #11
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Oh alright, it wasn't just you some links also refer to Nick getting the license while other sources actually said "bought" so I was confused.

Thanks for clearing things up.
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Old 10-21-2009, 09:20 AM   #12
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Wowow, this is some news indeed. Will these mean that Nick could release BttS and Turtles Forever on DVD. I mean is Nick also the distributor Mirage was looking for all this time??
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Old 10-21-2009, 09:24 AM   #13
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I have mixed opinions, for one we might never see a cartoon like the 2k3 show, but who knows Avatar is one of the best shows made, I prefer it over the 2k3 show. It also means we'll never see a "comic roots" adaptation. But then again, that was mostly the fans expecting something that was NEVER going to happen anyways if Mirage owned TMNT.


Anyways the only thing Nick doesn't own is the original toon since I believe Fred Wolf films does.
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Old 10-21-2009, 09:26 AM   #14
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Quote:
Originally Posted by JAkeBlack View Post
Thy acquired the "Intellectual Property" rights which means they own the TMNT lock, stock, and barrel. Also note that the articles list Mirage as being around until 2009...

As I understand it, the announced/completed Tales will still be released in 2010, but then that'll be it for Mirage.
There is always the ability to allow the Mirage comics to continue as the comic industry in the shape that it is in, is not a priority by any means for the new owners.

That being said the future state of the books aren't looking to good now regardless. The downside to a company like this owning the franchise is once the money isn't anywhere close to their liking, the TMNT are dead. With Laird he even admitted he was continuing on with the series for the fans.
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Old 10-21-2009, 09:28 AM   #15
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Raph View Post
Wowow, this is some news indeed. Will these mean that Nick could release BttS and Turtles Forever on DVD. I mean is Nick also the distributor Mirage was looking for all this time??
This is great news in my opinion... I wonder what this means still for some of the slated releases... I am really excited about this now...



edit*** I wonder if we can get the OT on Nick at Nite
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Old 10-21-2009, 09:31 AM   #16
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So TMNT4Kids, does this mean we will never see a distribution deal to get Turtles Forever and the rest of the season sets out on DVD?

Or can Nick actually help you guys in getting the rest of the show and the movie on DVD?

Thanks for any insite... I honestly didn't see something like this coming.

EDIT: Actually, can you also clarify that the Turtles Forever movie will still air on TV next month?
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Old 10-21-2009, 09:31 AM   #17
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This is great news in my opinion... I wonder what this means still for some of the slated releases... I am really excited about this now...



edit*** I wonder if we can get the OT on Nick at Nite
This isn't great news at all. It will be I guess in a year or so when they potentially unroll their plan for the franchise. For fans of the comic books and fans interested in the longevity of the entire franchise this is not great news.
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Old 10-21-2009, 09:41 AM   #18
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Fans of the comic book aren't that many, the sales of V.4 and tales account to that, not to mention comic books is a dying medium even the big two Marvel/DC don't sell that many comics.

And no this good news in the longevity of the franchise, theres no way Viacom is going to go down, and they didn't just buy the property to sit on it. Mirage could have easily gone bankrupt while not so much for Viacom. Also we didn't know when the series would get a new tv show or anything, now we're getting one in 2012.

I know someone like Roseangelo will say this is the death of the franchise but they have been "hating" on pretty much whatever TMNT related is not up to their personal expectations. This deal has pros and cons and it is not the death of the franchise, in fact TMNT could be bigger than its ever been in recent years.


This is also good news for potential Venus fans
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Old 10-21-2009, 09:44 AM   #19
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No it isnt if Mirage loses TMNT to Nick in 2012. Nick could do whatever they want, and that can turn out bad for true fans.

I love the comics and I was really happy seeying the first 4 seasons of 2K3 being so true to them, but its all a big ??? to see what Nick will do with the franchise.

It could of course turn out well, but we'll just have to see.
As long as Nick doesnt return Venus into the franchise I'm open to it before I start judging
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Old 10-21-2009, 09:45 AM   #20
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Whoa!!
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