2018: Are you glad that Nickelodeon bought the TMNT 9 years ago?

[Andrew NDB]

It's been 9 years since Laird accepted Viacom/Nickelodeon's offer to buy all of the rights to TMNT for 60 million dollars and... that was that, as they say.

What say you, now?

[CylonsKlingonsDaleksOhMy]

Honestly?

I don't believe Laird was ever going to do anymore TMNT regardless. And Tales Volume 2 was too busy exploring weird one-off stories of little to no consequence.

So I wasn't going to get anymore Mirage TMNT regardless of whether or not Nick bought it.

So... trading two crummy kids cartoons (and counting) and two insultingly bad movies for some cool toys for my kids and one great (though Nick-regulated) comic series?

Yeah. I guess I am glad.

[newfan]

Should this thread wait until tomorrow? Or when the show starts...

I can see that for a lot of you the answer will be no but I am going to be an irritating newbie on the other hand and say yes because of 2012. I didn't like how they treated it with airing near the end and I don't know how much I care whether I like the new show or not..

Noticing the post above, also yes, brought so much joy to one my children.

[Andrew NDB]

I would even venture that the 2012 cartoon is the most entertaining TMNT cartoon ever made... but there's no way the pros outweigh the long-term cons on this. It's not even close.

[Vegita-San]

at this point, no.

I feel they dropped the ball.

IDW is the only good thing gotten out of the sale so far.

Nick 2K12 was VERY hit and miss in quality and enjoy ability, even if all the elements where there for an awesome series.

and i get the strong feeling this new series won't be for me either.

[CylonsKlingonsDaleksOhMy]

Originally Posted by Andrew NDB

I would even venture that the 2012 cartoon is the most entertaining TMNT cartoon ever made... but there's no way the pros outweigh the long-term cons on this. It's not even close.

But what's the pro? More Mirage? Because that wasn't happening.

Is the pro not diluting/diminishing the brand? Well, that already happened, too.

I don't see what the pro of not selling was by this point. TMNT was already stuck with the mainstream kiddie "Scarlet A" hung around its neck. And Mirage was already dead.

So... did we miss out on a competent TMNT movie? Yeah. But is that Nick's fault or Bay/PD's fault?

[Andrew NDB]

Pros?

#1)A human heart -- one of the actual creators -- at the center of things, with full veto power over any and all sh**ty stuff. Quality control, let's call it, and the absence of being part of a megacorp.

#2) If not any immediate or burning creation of such, at least the possibility of quality, non-cartoon pandering TMNT movies.

#3) A likelihood that Laird would have continued chugging along on Volume 4 (I think even just him knowing there is the kind of TMNT stuff out there that there is gets to him) to its end, and probably kept Tales of the TMNT afloat, too. A possibility of a "OK, now it's your turn" of letting others loose on a Volume 5 later on.

Movies? There was always and would always be movie deals being brought to Peter and Gary Richardson's attention. And we more than likely would have gotten to see that Fusco "Batman Begins-like" script brought to life with full on grit. Instead we got TMNT 2014 and OotS, put on by focus groups and bean counters being bossed around by Michael Bay.

And a lot of people act like the 4Kids show would have been his one and only attempt at a new cartoon. Of course there'd be other deals for new cartoons on the table. Only difference? Laird would be around to smack them around and make them not have it be crap, or be a regurgitation of Fred Wolf that's a regurgitation of Fred Wolf that's a regurgitation of Fred Wolf. He would shut that sh** right down.

[plastroncafe]

Yes.
While the sale blindsided me in a way I really wasn't expecting, I'm glad it happened.

First off Peter was miserable, now he's hopefully less miserable.
Secondly, handing control of the characters to someone else creates and opens a door for different interpretations. I'm still really interested in those interpretations, and yes...even the ones I don't think work so well.

Change is the only constant.

[Andrew NDB]

[plastroncafe]

* Unless they're my own. - PL....probably.

[CylonsKlingonsDaleksOhMy]

Originally Posted by Andrew NDB

http://www.highlander-community.com/lairdnegan.jpg

I love it.

But let he who is without sin cast the first stone...

[AquaParade]

It's really tough to answer. With hindsight, I'd say it wasn't "worth it" for me as a fan. I would have rather taken a limited chance on there being future TMNT material under Peter's ownership, than what we got.

I think Nickelodeon has done a pretty darn good job, at what they do, with TMNT. When I first heard they had purchased the license, I had a different idea of where they were going to take the franchise, but the 2012 show was surprisingly tasteful and respectful to the source material and they have somewhat tried to throw older fans a bone with the IDW comic. So good on them.

That said, at the end of the day, I would trade the last 9 years of TMNT media for just a small shot at that Fusco script being turned into a movie or whatever rare projects may have come down the pipeline from Mirage.
For all we know, it could have been a temporary dry spell that would just be ending today, as Peter announces his and Kevin's return to TMNT. Vol 5 #1-12 limited series.

But it could have been worse.

[PApagreg]

I'm neutral about it, I think while I don't like a lot of TMNT media post Nickelodeon purchase it has given TMNT more spotlight compared to the 2k3 version which is good.

[Candy Kappa]

The 2012 is my favorite animated TMNT so yeah I'm glad that Viacom bought the franchise

[neatoman]

Well... The Mirage Studios comics finally got a series of reprints that were easy to get a hold of when IDW got the comics license, and the IDW series itself is arguably one of the best things to come out of the franchise. So there is that.

As for anything else, that's a bit weirder. Like I don't hate the (I might as well add this word; first) Nickelodeon cartoon by any means, I just wouldn't care if I never got to watch it again, it's just not that impressive or memorable. They're about to launch another show less than a year after it ended, and it's probably going to have roughly the same quality and serve the same purpose, after that there's probably going to be yet another one the year after that ends. So who really cares when when they just have a planned reboot cycle and really only want to sell toys? The video games were pretty lame under Activision. Then there's the "Bayturtles", like what the hell?

No seriously, what the hell was up with the Platinum Dunes productions? The first one was a typical bad summer movie, made worse slapdash reshoots. The second one just pissed me off, like they intentionally made it awful the second time, even tried to top the awfulness. Why would you do that?

Anyway, I don't think it was necessarily a mistake to sell TMNT, it had already become a corporate cashcow by the point he sold it. All Laird really did before was to prevent the Fred Wolf cartoon from being more influential, which isn't really a bad thing, it at least made Fred Wolf nostalgia a less useful tool than what Viacom thought it would be. Had a movie like OotS been made around 2000-2007, when the target audience would been about 18-25, it might have been successful. Instead it was made when they were in their mid-30s, too late for most of them to still care, and anyone who grew up on anything but the Fred Wolf cartoon won't give a **** about Bebop and Rocksteady at all. So Viacom will probably learn that the franchise needs quality rather than rely on what they believe to be recognisable elements.

And of course it would only be a matter of time for a corporation to take full control anyway, might as well happen on somewhat respectful terms.

[IndigoErth]

Eh... 50/50. Being in that first Nick generation, I always liked them and I'm glad they wanted to pick up TMNT and keep it going. (Even if they largely saw dollar signs...) 2012 was a great, really well made show. At this point is that kind of show what I'm yearning to see? No, not really. But it itself was enjoyable.

However... I will reserve real judgement until we see what this next thing is. Already with what we know of it they're making me lean toward no now, which is a shame, and would take a 2003 caliber show out of them later to change that if it stays that way.

[Andrew NDB]

Originally Posted by neatoman

Well... The Mirage Studios comics finally got a series of reprints that were easy to get a hold of when IDW got the comics license, and the IDW series itself is arguably one of the best things to come out of the franchise. So there is that.

That would have happened anyway, and actually more cost-efficiently. Dark Horse and Mike Richardson was already angling around Peter at the time of the sale, looking to put out omnibuses of... everything, and split the profits with Mirage 50/50. Probably would have gone through if there was no sale to Viacom/Nick.

[TurtleTitan97]

We got the 2k12 cartoon and the IDW comics out of the deal. So yeah, I'm glad.

[dragonside]

i think they saved TMNT from becoming an obscure IP that may have been lost in time.

[sdp]

Nope.


Now Nick hasn't been horrible but far from amazing either. Viacom is too big to care about TMNT, they just care about investment so in general it's in worse hands no matter how "awful" it may have gotten with Mirage.