Will Kids be Confused by the Characters in the New Movie

[TMNTChris1980]

When I was talking to my nephew (16) about the new movie (which he wants to see), I told him I wasn't too excited about the cast. When he asked who I didn't like and I was naming off the characters, he had no idea what characters I was talking about. When I explained that "...that was April's boss at channel 6" or "...that's April's camera man", he said "I thought April was Baxter's assistant". I realized his Turtles are the 2k3 Turtles.

Since the new movie is featuring several Fred Wolf characters (Vernon, Burne), April is a reporter, Shredder's not Asian, and the Turtles are huge. Will kids be confused by this movie?

Will this movie confuse the Hell out of teenage kids who grew up on the 2k3 Turtles, and adolescent kids who grew up on the current TMNT?

Will that hurt this movie's success?

[Candy Kappa]

Doubtful, as Transformers too have several continuities.

[go_ninja84]

i just noticed Shredders name is Eric Sachs? what ever happened to Oroku Saki? i think its gonna affect the long time fans who grew up on the older show/movies most
and wheres Casey Jones?

[TheSkeletonMan939]

i just noticed Shredders name is Eric Sachs? what ever happened to Oroku Saki? i think its gonna affect the long time fans who grew up on the older show/movies most

They have some white guy playing Shredder, because Michael Bay loves ruining traditions of franchises. And even Bay realized it'd be weird to have a white man named Oroku, so he sat down for two seconds and came up with a replacement name: Erich Sachs.

So yeah, unless you know that backstory, you'll probably sit through the whole movie wondering, "Where's Oroku Saki?"

[graphic_content]

Will multiple continuities be confusing for kids? Yes.

Does it really matter? Nope. Not one bit. This wouldn't be the first franchise that had multiple continuities running simultaneously.

And honestly, all that matters is that the Turtles are front and center for each one, IMO.

[snake]

Nope, I know how to separate continuity and I'm 12.

[chrisdude]

It didn't confuse me when it happened to me. Plus, now more than ever, kids are seeing EVERYTHING in both cartoons and movies.

[Vicky82]

I saw this on Twitter and thought it was cute.


Lucas Pancake ‏@pancakeman99 · 11m
So I asked my niece what her fav part of how to train ur Dagon was and she said the TMNT previews

[IndigoErth]

It's ok kids, it's just yet another parallel TMNT universe, it's not supposed to make sense... I guess.

[pdizzle]

Ill put it like this, and ive stated this before.....like in the 90s the first movie confused the cartoon fans, the second movie confused the comic book fans, and the third movie.....well the third movie just confused the hell out of everybody...:ohwell:
anyway this movie will probobly be no different then the original 90s movie since its a new take on the franchise but just like the 90s it wont matter and will be accepted for what it is :D

[TMNTChris1980]

Ill put it like this, and ive stated this before.....like in the 90s the first movie confused the cartoon fans, the second movie confused the comic book fans, and the third movie.....well the third movie just confused the hell out of everybody...:ohwell:
anyway this movie will probobly be no different then the original 90s movie since its a new take on the franchise but just like the 90s it wont matter and will be accepted for what it is :D

The first movie was very close to the original toon. April was a reporter, the Shredder story was only modified slightly to be more adult (Mirage style).

[pdizzle]

The first movie was very close to the original toon. April was a reporter, the Shredder story was only modified slightly to be more adult (Mirage style).

I just remember tmnt 1 being the first movie I ever seen in theaters and maybe it was because I was so young but I do remember wondering why the lack of characters such as krang, bebop, rocksteady, vern, irma, and burns and why it was channel 3 and not six..and the fact that splinter had always been a rat and not human, and foot being peop.e and not robots......small things I know...just saying for me I was a little confused on what was going on in the movie but it never made a difference for me cuz it was still turtles and loved every moment of it....I guess I thought anyone who wasnt introduced to the comics back then, like me, felt thesame way.....:ohwell: guees it was just me...:D

[IndigoErth]

....small things I know...just saying for me I was a little confused on what was going on in the movie but it never made a difference for me cuz it was still turtles and loved every moment of it....I guess I thought anyone who wasnt introduced to the comics back then, like me, felt thesame way.....:ohwell: guees it was just me...:D
Nah, not just you. Was a bit confused myself. But it was the Turtles which, at that age, was all that mattered to me. lol

Granted I also thought the third movie was awesome back then, though nowadays, after not seeing it again in the last 20 years, I just keep reading how horrible it was. :-? Maybe I should go back and check. lol Suppose my kid-grade overboard level of fandome back then had me a bit blind because it's TMNT. Which.. I'll be honest, comes to mind sometimes lately depending on how overeager someone may come across about this new one, buuuut I'll leave that up to others to decide if they like it or not.

[bone]

I don't think it will confuse most teenage viewers, even if they grew up on the 2k3 series they're most likely aware of the other continuities, especially the OT and movies. Even if viewers don't know the exact details, e.g. the people April works with as a reporter, it probably won't hurt the movie's success

[pennydreadful]

Granted I also thought the third movie was awesome back then, though nowadays, after not seeing it again in the last 20 years, I just keep reading how horrible it was. :-? Maybe I should go back and check. lol Suppose my kid-grade overboard level of fandome back then had me a bit blind because it's TMNT. Which.. I'll be honest, comes to mind sometimes lately depending on how overeager someone may come across about this new one, buuuut I'll leave that up to others to decide if they like it or not.

You should go back and watch it - myself, I still enjoy it. I consider stuff like it and Next Mutation to be like a comfy pair of trackpants - sure, it's daggy to wear 'em in public, but it's familiar and comforting and feels good on days when you just don't want to have to think about things. :)

[Coola Yagami]

It wasn't THAT close in tone. The tmnt were goofy as hell and the only fights they took 100% seriously without wisecracks and slapstick was the Raph beatdown and the fight with shredder. It was still pretty much the cartoon turtles (with an angrier Raphael) following the mirage story.

As a kid I just figured the changes were because they couldn't afford the effects to make krang and robot foot soldiers.

[beeshaw]

Why would it 'confuse' anyone? My son is 3 and has watched the Nick toon religiously, all 3 live action movies, TMNT and has watched (and re-watched, and re-watched) the 2014 Ninja Turtles trailer. He knows they are all different. It doesn't confuse him one bit.

And he can't wait to get his hands on a 'new Movie Donnie'.

[Zulithe]

movie versions of characters/stories/settings are very frequently intentionally made different from the source material they are adapted from. i think even younger kids catch on to this fast... it's just one of those things you learn to understand if you watch a lot of shows and movies. very common. so, i don't think it will be very confusing.

[Ninjinister]

They have some white guy playing Shredder, because Michael Bay loves ruining traditions of franchises. And even Bay realized it'd be weird to have a white man named Oroku, so he sat down for two seconds and came up with a replacement name: Erich Sachs.


Because Bay wrote the script. Right? Right? :roll:

[pennydreadful]

Because Bay wrote the script. Right? Right? :roll:

Please, everyone knows Bay can't write. His manly fingers are too xtreme to hold a pencil, and the pen has not yet been built that could adequately convey the awesomeness of his thoughts. :P

j/k

[Shark_Blade]

Kids are not entirely stupid. I'm not worried.

[alpaca witch]

Like someone mentioned above, if you know about TMNT, even if it's just from the 2k3 or nick series, you most likely know there's different interpretations and all that. Heck, with all the random OT based merchandise floating around these days you'd be hard pressed NOT to know about the different incarnations.
I think kids won't mind at all really, if it's turtles that's all that matters. I remember when I saw the first film as a kid, all I knew of TMNT was from the OT and toyline but I still enjoyed the heck out of it. I think my exact thoughts were something like "huh, must be a different story for the turtles... cool!" and that was the end of that haha.

[pennydreadful]

I feel that I ought to clarify that any jokes I make about Bay are all meant in good fun - I'd never hang crap on anyone for enjoying his movies. I own the director's cut of Showgirls - my moral high ground is more of a moral mud-heap.

Just in case anyone was offended by my last comment. :)

[DevilSpooky]

Most kids just won't care, but some are too stupid to understand that there are different versions, I saw a kid once saying they ruined the movie because they made April a grown up...

And when I was a kid I was upset that they made Splinter and Yoshi different characters, so yeah, I was once one of those stupid kids :P

[Warhorse]

Kids probably won't care about April's boss and Vernon, but at the same time, it could be a bad thing. The kids just might get bored because of the people they could care less about.

[Bry]

i just noticed Shredders name is Eric Sachs? what ever happened to Oroku Saki?

Hey, this is a Hollywood movie about ninjas, so of course every single major character has to be played by a white American.

Because Bay wrote the script. Right? Right? :roll:

And screenwriters don't answer to producers. Right? Right? :trazz:

To answer the thread question: Maybe! But kids are more adaptable to this kinda stuff than they get credit for. Though I am a bit confused why they emulated the '87 cartoon so much, though... to the point that Vernon Fenwick is a major character and the much more well-known Casey Jones is nowhere to be found. April also hasn't been regularly portrayed as a reporter since, what, 1996? Are the current crop of kid fans really that familiar with that take on the character? Seems like that was a decision made strictly with the nostalgic 20/30-somethings in mind.

[pennydreadful]

Hey, this is a Hollywood movie about ninjas, so of course every single major character has to be played by a white American.

Well DUH, it's a Turtles movie, and everyone knows that only straight white men like comic book movies! How can you possibly expect a cinema full of straight white men to relate to characters who are not also straight white men? :P

I joke, I joke...

Seriously, I think kids managed to sit through the Star Wars prequels and still enjoy them... whether or not they're confused, I don't think it'll impact their enjoyment regardless.

[The-Shredder]

I got a little confused when Bebop, Rocksteady, the Technodrome, etc. were nowhere to be found in the 4Kids series when it first started, but then I quickly realized it was a different take on TMNT and got over it. Similar experience with the 1990 movie. I don't understand why people are making such a big deal out of this.

[Technogeek29]

Watched the first movie and was ok, didn't confuse until I saw Secret of the Ooze then I asked where was Krang and Bebop and Rocksteady. Afterwards I watched 2k3 with no problems and some how I could tell it was different from the OT so I never questioned the absence of characters.

[Gimme_Three]

One thing that confused the hell out of me as a kid was when donny said. "do you like penicillin on your pizza".. I was like what the **** does that mean.. lol

[trikuza]

I got a little confused when Bebop, Rocksteady, the Technodrome, etc. were nowhere to be found in the 4Kids series when it first started, but then I quickly realized it was a different take on TMNT and got over it. Similar experience with the 1990 movie. I don't understand why people are making such a big deal out of this.

it took me a while to get used to the 4kids new designs. But i was just happy they finally came back. Wasnt expecting that..

[HotNunchuckFury]

I could imagine some kids being confused by the 1990 film as prior to watching that they would of had only a single reference point from the 80's cartoon turtles. But nowadays there are so many different versions that they're probably used to it. My son is 5 and over the past year has watched the 3 different cartoons, 2 of the live action films and the TMNT film and it doesn't seem to be a problem for him. Although when we watched Turtles Forever he did have a few questions (e.g. "Who are the black and white turtles?"), which is when I explained to him about how it all started with the comics and what Shredder was trying to achieve. At the end of the day he just wants to see the turtles doing their ninja thing with a bit of humour thrown in, the rest isn't really that important.

[Gokhan]

When I was talking to my nephew (16) about the new movie (which he wants to see), I told him I wasn't too excited about the cast. When he asked who I didn't like and I was naming off the characters, he had no idea what characters I was talking about. When I explained that "...that was April's boss at channel 6" or "...that's April's camera man", he said "I thought April was Baxter's assistant". I realized his Turtles are the 2k3 Turtles.

Since the new movie is featuring several Fred Wolf characters (Vernon, Burne), April is a reporter, Shredder's not Asian, and the Turtles are huge. Will kids be confused by this movie?

Will this movie confuse the Hell out of teenage kids who grew up on the 2k3 Turtles, and adolescent kids who grew up on the current TMNT?

Will that hurt this movie's success?

well 2 be honest he is actually in tune with the original story..kids who grew up on the 2k3 series..an actually liked the show I'm sure have done some background check in 2 tmnt history by now.

I'm 28 an I grew up on the original TV show so I'm use 2 her being a newscaster but I'm just as comfortable knowing she was originally Baxter's assistant

[JTH]

Define "kids" because I believe kid "kids" like 4-6 years old will be confused to what this movie is supposed to be, and the bad part of that is most of them will want their parents to take to the movie because it's Turtles, and not knowing til afterwards that this movie isn't going to have jack squat to do with the Nick show.

[jestermon]

We didn't seem to in to old movie they changed several things.

The Japanese thing is obviously not happening I think people need to get over it, most of the Japanese people in the original movies were California born or Chinese anyways they didn't go get real ninja masters for the movie.

If it's like the Transformers movies it might not be made for die hard fans but it will pump tons of money into the franchise.

[chrisdude]

Y'all really don't give kids much credit. Not only are they smart enough to recognize different timelines (All these Marvel and DC movie characters have cartoons, too. And superhero cartoons get rebooted every year), but they surely keep a more open mind than we do.

[Powder]

When I was a kid, there were 2 different comics, films, an animated series, toyline, games, and they were all clearly unique to one another. Never confused me. Generations change & all but I imagine they'll have no problem. They're being raised on 30 years of history so there's like 4 times as many versions of them now. I'm sure they're well aware of a few, if only the OT & original films, as their retro merch is spammed in most stores.