Does anyone else prefer tmnt to be lighthearted?

[FredWolfLeonardo]

I've lately been seeing alot of threads where people are saying that tmnt should become more serious and dark like the days of mirage, and criticizing the influence that FW had on the franchise, such as all the frequent nods to the show in the Nick cartoon and all the influence on the Platinum Dunes' movies, especially OOTS.

However, am I the only one who likes the franchise better with a touch of lightheartedness? Don't get me wrong, I love the 2k3 show, the 1990 movie and the serious aspects of Nick/FW, but am i the only one who has enjoyed the more lighthearted aspects of tmnt far more than the dark and developed stuff?

I think there are so many of the dark/brooding type heroes these days like batman, that tmnt would be better off being positive and hopeful heroes, like superman once was known to be before Man of Steel made him a traumatized character. Maybe its just that I am a minority in liking optimistic/hopeful franchises more than the serious ones, or that I am old fashioned for not being much into the more cynical preferences in entertainment these days, but anyways.....

I find my favourite versions, FW an Nick, to have a good balance of seriousness and comedy as it is. So I am not against tmnt having serious elements, I just prefer it being balanced with both and I find FW and Nick to hit the mark the best. While I do think FW is slightly less serious than Nick, I find their tone overall very similar, and I think they both are reasonably balanced unlike alot of other stuff, not just tmnt related, which I find to be leaning a bit too muchd on the side of dark/serious.

What are your thoughts?

[Powder]

Maybe you're just misunderstanding. I don't think anyone wants "dark & serious" all the time, balance is best. It's just that things are usually a lot more like 70/30 than 50/50, which is irksome.

Besides, TMNT is not dark/brooding in the way that Batman is. It's supposed to be more in tune with how staggering this cruel life can be than just edgy for the sake of it.

But yeah, Mirage has tons of humor/gags, so even the purists aren't the kinda fan you seem to think they are.

[snake]

I just want the property to be taken more seriously. FW ruined the chances of that by a lot. A mix, like Powder said is ideal. IDW is a perfect balance and probably my favorite incarnation.

[TigerClaw]

I just want the property to be taken more seriously. FW ruined the chances of that by a lot. A mix, like Powder said is ideal. IDW is a perfect balance and probably my favorite incarnation.
IDW does have a perfect balance of FW and all incarnations of TMNT into one, the Nickelodeon series goes on it's own direction, which often results in some characters being in name only.

[IndigoErth]

Agree with others that it needs to be a mix. Having both sides only makes them better, more whole characters.

I mean, ever know anyone who is a rather joyless person? Those to whom everything is all business all the time, nothing is ever fun or funny to them, they fail to even share a laugh... (I know a manager like this.) Those sorts of people tend to suck. :trazz: The Turtles don't need that. Rather instead a bit of humor and joy scattered through their existence. Properly timed rather than inserted comedy that seems forced.

[ToTheNines]

I wish people would actually read the Mirage books...

[FredWolfLeonardo]

I guess what is balanced differs for each individual.

For example, I grew up watching Bollywood movies in a foreign country. Those movies in general, are alot more lighthearted than hollywood and even have musical sequences like a Disney films, while having the happily ever after endings. People in the Indian subcontinent didn't generally watch movies in order to relate to them, or learn something valuable, instead just preferring pure entertainment, while that same type of corniness/over-the top tone might be criticized here in the west.

Being used to lighthearted Bollywood cinema more than Hollywood, I guess FW seems more balanced to me while being too lighthearted for others, like those to whom IDW is the definitive version for having the best balance between lightheartedness and seriousness.

[IndigoErth]

Now you got me wondering what a Bollywood TMNT would be like. o.O :lol: Talk about a culture clash.

[Commenter 42]

Now you got me wondering what a Bollywood TMNT would be like. o.O :lol: Talk about a culture clash.

NO!!!!!!

Dear god no. TMNT and musical numbers don't mix.

[Huzzah]

Seriously, Mirage was more sci-fi than dark and broody. Pretty much the whole Frank Miller-esque-ness of the stuff was dropped after the first few issues until the City at War arc, which fell back on some of that.

Personally I want to see TMNT embrace the sci-fi stuff. Give me a movie with the Fugitoid and Triceratons and space wars, I'd be all in for that.

[IndigoErth]

NO!!!!!!

Dear god no. TMNT and musical numbers don't mix.
:tlol:

No?? Where is your sense of morbid curiosity! :P I just picture them standing there looking around saying:
"What the hell is this?"
"What dimension are we in?"
"Is this real life?"

No, I agree with you of course... I'm not really that out of my mind. lol But it's an amusingly absurd mental image. (I can't watch Bollywood stuff anyhow, the vocal tones hurt my ears.)

[Commenter 42]

:tlol:

No?? Where is your sense of morbid curiosity! :P I just picture them standing there looking around saying:
"What the hell is this?"
"What dimension are we in?"
"Is this real life?"

No, I agree with you of course... I'm not really that out of my mind. lol But it's an amusingly absurd mental image. (I can't watch Bollywood stuff anyhow, the vocal tones hurt my ears.)

Agree with all of it. The aesthetics hurt my eyes.

I get the intent, over the top, celebration of life, etc. BUT, damn if it doesn't get on my nerves.

I'm one of those that can't stand hearing somebody chewing their food... I have a thing about certain sounds.

xN8PG_geu3o

[FredWolfLeonardo]

:tlol:

No?? Where is your sense of morbid curiosity! :P I just picture them standing there looking around saying:
"What the hell is this?"
"What dimension are we in?"
"Is this real life?"

No, I agree with you of course... I'm not really that out of my mind. lol But it's an amusingly absurd mental image. (I can't watch Bollywood stuff anyhow, the vocal tones hurt my ears.)

What would be better, a Micheal Bay directed tmnt 3 or a tmnt Bollywood edition?

[Commenter 42]

What are we playing, would you rather?

Bay or Bollywood, Hillarity or Drumph, shot or stabbed.

Can we stop? please?

[TMNT_Guy]

Like others have said, I prefer TMNT when it's a mix between serious and light. My favorite adaptation to date is the first movie that successfully combined dark elements from the Mirage comics and lighthearted elements from the old cartoon.

Out of all three TMNT cartoons, the Notes from the Underground three parter is still my favorite episode. It's got dark elements and implications, yet Mikey is hilarious in these episodes: "There are just some things that, man was never meant to tamper with."

But at the end of the day, it all comes down to how its written. Forced drama can be just as bad as forced comedy and vise versa. The great thing about TMNT is that it can dip into any tone it wants to, so long as the writing supports it.

"Life at best is bittersweet."

[Wesley]

I prefer tmnt to have a good balance between being lighthearted and serious. I think the 2003 series and tmnt 2007 film did a great job at doing that with a good mix of action, drama and comic relief. I also thought seasons 1 and 8 of the 1987 cartoon did this well too.

I'm not a fan of the dark/brooding superheroes either in recent films such as The Dark Knight. I prefer the way they're protrayed in older films like Batman 1989 and Spiderman 2.

[Mew]

The 2003 series is a nice mix, well it was before Fast Forward. :/

[ZariusTwo]

4Kids got the tone right for a bit with some of it's Mirage adaptations, but that show went down it's own path very quickly.

[plastroncafe]

There's lighthearted, and then there's inept.
The former is great, especially when dealing with characters like Michaelangelo. The latter...is never good. ESPECIALLY when dealing with characters like Michaelangelo.

[pferreira]

There's lighthearted, and then there's inept.
The former is great, especially when dealing with characters like Michaelangelo. The latter...is never good. ESPECIALLY when dealing with characters like Michaelangelo.Yeah I mean humour is necessary but it needs the right type of humour. I really didn't find any of the humour in the 2003 series funny at all. The FW show got the humour right more times than some people care to admit but the show suffered from not having more intricate storytelling. If you can do good storytelling and humour you've got a perfect show.

[ABrown]

As long as said version of TMNT is entertaining, it doesn't matter to me if it's lighter or darker in tone.

[ZacksSoUgly]

I agree with anyone who mentioned the word "balanced". That's an important aspect to me that some iterations do well and others don't. My favorite TMNT incarnations are the 1990 movie, the Nick show, and the IDW comics. The four brothers (when written/performed well) have different personalities with strengths and weaknesses of their own that naturally create balance.

[Panda_Kahn_fan]

I see a mix of light and dark, like IDW is doing right now. But I really think TMNT would benefit from a dark incarnation aimed at the mirage fans, and an OT version for the lighthearted turtle fans. As I said in another thread, I'd love to see an ongoing comic, or cartoon DTV, or some kind of media based on the OT, but one that picks up right after the original 5 part miniseries, ignores what comes after, and continues from there.

[ProactiveMan]

The Mirage books were light hearted, just not in the same way as FW or Nick. People talk about them as though they were all like the first issue, but if you go back and read them, there is a lot of pulpy adventure and humour in those stories.

Personally I don’t mind goofing around as long as there is enough dramatic tension to keep the stories interesting.

[Krutch]

Maybe because we've been conditioned to seeing them in different extremes growing up, as well as any universe existing around the "out there" premise of Ninja Turtles alone, I can take TMNT in just about any and every blend of goofy, lighthearted, dark, gritty, bloody, rainbows kinda tone you want, so long as the writings competent. I've said it before, and I'm not trying to start a war in this thread, but the only TMNT I can't actually enjoy is the first PD TMNT movie. The second I can handle, since it figured out what it wanted to be, but that first one just left me cold.

I think whats great about the TMNT property is because the premise of walking, talking turtles who were trained in ninja by a mutant rat is already so far removed from reality, that if you're willing to buy into that, you're ready for anything else it could throw at you. And because of this, you're able to go into the different extremes of tones successfully.

Personally, as its been said a few times now, I like a nice equal blend. 2k3 series is probably my favourite incarnation(pre-flash forward) and the IDW comics are up there as well. I love the Mirage storylines but I find the dialogue and characterizations of each turtle pretty flat. I love it, but I can recognize it.

[Yabuturtle]

Whenever I hear Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, I don't really think of super violent ninjas bent on revenge that embraces a dark and gritty story, I think of them as sort of like super heroes that are bad ass but with a few silly light hearted stuff in the mix. I think the 1990 TMNT movie or the 2003 version is the best representation. Not too kiddie and silly and not too overly dark and gritty. A perfect balance. Not that I don't like the other versions, I like the 1987, 2003 and 2012 versions, too.

[MikeyMike]

I think it should be a bit of both lighthearted and dark.