Is April a peer or a mother figure to the Turtles?

[Spike Spiegel]

I was thinking about the family dynamic of TMNT across the incarnations and this thought crossed my mind.

I think in Mirage/the 2003 show/the 1990s movies especially, it's a little of both. But if they met, say, Casey first, or they never met her at all, would the story and relationship dynamics be all that different?

They're starting their lives as she is starting her career, so they can be seen as peers in that way. But at the same time, she is technically older than them.

[FredWolfLeonardo]

I always saw her as a peer or even as a sort of mentor figure since she is older and often less immature than them.

I can't see her as a mother figure though, since the turtles have hit on her quite alot :lol:

[plastroncafe]

I never really saw her as motherly, more along the lines of either a peer or a sibling.

[FredWolfLeonardo]

The only time I saw her as motherly in the old cartoon is when the turtles were transformed into babies.

[CyberCubed]

Even though the Turtles are meant to be teenagers and April's age ranged from early 20's to 30's prior to Nick, she never really felt much older than them because the Turtles all acted like adults.

The Nick series is the first time the Turtles felt like actual 15 year olds, but April was de-aged too to make her their sibling as well so once again she felt the same age as them.

In the original cartoon April is 28, she's like double the age of the Turtles but it doesn't feel like it. Same for Mirage.

[Powder]

She's all of it, a mother, sister, friend, peer, team-mate, just depends on the circumstance or iteration.

[PApagreg]

^This, it just depends on the incarnations and what the writers decide.

[CylonsKlingonsDaleksOhMy]

Big sister.

[Prowler]

She's all of it, a mother, sister, friend, peer, team-mate, just depends on the circumstance or iteration.
Pretty much this.

In the earlier episodes of the FW series she was a borderline mother, telling them how to act in public and such. It was funny :lol:

[Andrew NDB]

I like to think she started as a "Big Sister" then became more of a peer as the years rolled by.

[DestronMirage22]

I always saw her as a sort of big sister to the Turtles.
At least in most incarnations.
Particularly Mirage (#62 I believe) when Splinter refers to her as “daughter”.

[Utrommaniac]

The only time I saw her as motherly in the old cartoon is when the turtles were transformed into babies.

And even then, they referred to her as an aunt.

[sdp]

As a kid April looked like my Mother, she was this way older girl, I associated her in the same age group as Thompson and Vernon, I probably thought she was in the "mother" age even if she wasn't married if that makes any sense.

As a kid anyone who isn't a kid or a teenager feel like really old, so I always associated April as someone really old but I guess it would've meant around in her 30s.

This is also why I found it so weird when I saw the internet having this fetish for OT April when I got online, to me when I was an early teen I associated that towards "milf" category and found it odd.

[Prowler]

As a kid April looked like my Mother, she was this way older girl, I associated her in the same age group as Thompson and Vernon, I probably thought she was in the "mother" age even if she wasn't married if that makes any sense.

As a kid anyone who isn't a kid or a teenager feel like really old, so I always associated April as someone really old but I guess it would've meant around in her 30s.

This is also why I found it so weird when I saw the internet having this fetish for OT April when I got online, to me when I was an early teen I associated that towards "milf" category and found it odd.
Wasn't April like 26-30 in the FW series? Burne was defo older than her, and I think Vernon was also older. he sure looked older than her.

Ofc to a little kid, someone aged 26-30 looks "old", but I never saw April as a "mother" per se. More like an older sister or so to the Turtles. Also, they kept saving her life. It's not like she was taking care of them, so she didn't give me much of a parent vibe except when she was scolding them for their behaviour in public in some of the earlier episodes.

Ofc when I was a little kid, FW April wasn't attractive to me. I wasn't attracted to women at the time yet.

[Shark_Blade]

^OT April was 24.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/April_O%27Neil

[DarkFell]

Most of the April O'Neal's from the comics to the OT, have her set as being a close friend for the Turtles.

2K12 April (as I see her in terms of age), seems to be more a peer for the Turtles.

[Prowler]

^OT April was 24.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/April_O%27Neil

I clearly recall her saying in the Leatherhead debut episode(the one with the youth fountain/lake" that she was 26. Strange. Where did 24 come from? Regardless... a bit odd that I'm now older than her. :teek:

[Andrew NDB]

Palladium's "TMNT & Other Strangeness" sourcebook (I just peeked at it) that was endorsed by Mirage and has Kevin and Peter's fingers all over it places her at age 27 in TMNT Vol. 1, #1. Sounds about right to me.

[***First of Two Latin Kings***]

Hoag was 22 when she played her in the first movie but seemed much older.

Even in the Nick show, she seems weirdly more adult then them, but it could just be the contrast with Casey.

[ABrown]

Hoag was 22 when she played her in the first movie but seemed much older.

WOW, I had absolutely no idea that Hoag was that young when the original movie came out. She definitely looked older.

[Original TMNT Cartoon Fan]

In the original cartoon April is 28, she's like double the age of the Turtles but it doesn't feel like it. Same for Mirage.

She's 28 during season 3.

[sdp]

Hoag was 22 in the original movie? That mean Megan Fox was like 6 years older when she played April and yet looks younger. Wow.

I've noticed this a lot in older tv shows and movies, I guess fashion plays a large part in how people look as well.

https://tangosthoughts.files.wordpress.com/2014/08/tmnt-april.jpg
https://img.cinemablend.com/cb/3/0/5/2/5/c/30525c928426c363e1782e149d91c0894802574fe94d3ccc0e 436a9fb652fae3.jpg
http://cdn04.cdn.justjared.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/meg-judith/megan-fox-judith-hoag-tmnt-2-set-04.jpg

[Original TMNT Cartoon Fan]

It's more about styling faces now.

[plastroncafe]

Fashion, make-up, and how our culture views women in general.

I mean, Marisa Tomei (53) is older in Homecoming than Rue McClanahan (51) was when she started on the Golden Girls.

[sdp]

https://typeset-beta.imgix.net/elite-daily/2017/07/21153144/marisa-tomei-spiderman-premiere.jpg
https://i.pinimg.com/736x/bf/42/5e/bf425e29430581ac9039d89fe775e88b--the-golden-girls-season-.jpg

Some people also age better, but I think besides those points in general people age slower nowadays because of who knows why. As a kid April in TMNT looked like my mother but as a kid you feel everyone is older than they are but looking back I still feel weird, some girls who are like 18 look like in their late 20s in older movies.

With these two pictures I think it's only fashion, season 1 GG girl doesn't seem that much older besides the picture looking old and the fashion. But Hoag as April she already has a very adult looking face while Megan can still pass off as her face looks a bit younger.

[CyberCubed]

The realization that I'm now older than April was in most of the cartoons and movies is staggering. People are right, anyone who watched the original cartoon as a kid saw April as this "older woman."

Now the fact that most of us are older than April is...staggering. I never thought it'd come to this. You basically come to the realization that you're now older than all the famous actors were when they were first cast in popular movies.

[Coola Yagami]

Back then April was 28 and way older than me. Now I'd look like some old guy dating a much younger woman. If I looked my age that is

[Andrew NDB]

Can't say that I've ever sexualized or looked at April in any sort of "Wow, she's hot!" or "Wow, she's super attractive!" way. In any universe.

I do think, however, that 99.99999% of the dudes throwing salt at Megan Fox would fast become a ball of putty if she walked by them IRL and they thought they had a shot with her.

[Powder]

Back then April was 28 and way older than me. Now I'd look like some old guy dating a much younger woman. If I looked my age that is

Why is it that the first thing which comes to mind is you being in a relationship with her???

[Prowler]

Can't say that I've ever sexualized or looked at April in any sort of "Wow, she's hot!" or "Wow, she's super attractive!" way. In any universe.

I do think, however, that 99.99999% of the dudes throwing salt at Megan Fox would fast become a ball of putty if she walked by them IRL and they thought they had a shot with her.
Ofc they would. I mean, she's a famous rich woman and considered good looking my many. That would be a golden opportunity of a lifetime for most men in the world.

...why did this thread become about which April is hotter?

[ABrown]

Can't say that I've ever sexualized or looked at April in any sort of "Wow, she's hot!" or "Wow, she's super attractive!" way. In any universe.

I do think, however, that 99.99999% of the dudes throwing salt at Megan Fox would fast become a ball of putty if she walked by them IRL and they thought they had a shot with her.

The hell with Megan Fox. I'll take Paige Turco NOW over Megan Fox.

[Shiro Kame]

I often see her as an older sister, especially the 2003 version.

[Tetsu Deinonychus]

Can't say that I've ever sexualized or looked at April in any sort of "Wow, she's hot!" or "Wow, she's super attractive!" way. In any universe.
Yeah, I'm more of a Karai man.

I do think, however, that 99.99999% of the dudes throwing salt at Megan Fox would fast become a ball of putty if she walked by them IRL and they thought they had a shot with her.

You can go ahead and put me in the 0.00001% who wouldn't then (unless she turned out to be a really cool person in real life, but I have no idea what she's like off-screen). I don't really see her appeal as an actress or as a "sex symbol".

Anyway, I think "Cool big sis" (or at most "cool aunt") represents April's relationship with the Turtles in most incarnations, with the exceptions being the 1990s movies and the Nick show where she's much more of a peer.

[plastroncafe]

You can go ahead and put me in the 0.00001% who wouldn't then (unless she turned out to be a really cool person in real life, but I have no idea what she's like off-screen). I don't really see her appeal as an actress or as a "sex symbol".


I'll take your spot.
Don't worry.

[Tetsu Deinonychus]

:lol: Have fun. lol

[Spike Spiegel]

You can go ahead and put me in the 0.00001% who wouldn't then (unless she turned out to be a really cool person in real life, but I have no idea what she's like off-screen). I don't really see her appeal as an actress or as a "sex symbol".


She was actually okay in the PD films, especially OOTS...certainly an improvement over what she did back with the first Transformers.

I think she'd do all right with better material as April in a different franchise--or at least as well as Paige Turco in the original sequel films.

As for her looks, well...she clearly has excellent discernment in choosing her plastic surgery procedures.

[Andrew NDB]

As for her looks, well...she clearly has excellent discernment in choosing her plastic surgery procedures.

She's denied having any. I'm looking at these "Look at all the plastic surgeries Megan Fox has done over the years!" clickbait articles with comparison pictures and it all seems a bit bullsh*t.

[Spike Spiegel]

She's denied having any. I'm looking at these "Look at all the plastic surgeries Megan Fox has done over the years!" clickbait articles with comparison pictures and it all seems a bit bullsh*t.

If a person's cheekbones and lips get fuller and more plump as they age, and they go from a egg shaped face to having the jawline of Olivia Wilde, there must be something going on.

It's just like when CrossFitters and bodybuilders deny using PEDs. Given the opportunity and means to do so, people can and will attempt to improve themselves in the ways they see fit. If they aren't hurting anyone else, I don't see why they should feel ashamed or try to deny it.

[Prowler]

Most actors and actresses get plastic surgery. Tbh you cant' really blame them. If you were as rich as they are and worked for an industry that valued looks a lot(especially a woman's), you'd probably do the same or at the veyr least consider doing it.

Look at Tom Cruise. He is what now? 50 years old? ...and he look like a 28-30 year old man. :lol:

[Katie]

Shatner is my poster boy for “you had to have work done”. Dude is like 90.


Always considered April a peer. Any sibling, mother, or love interest relationship was too weird for me for the turtles.

[pferreira]

I always saw April as someone to hang out with. Never saw her as a mother to them.

I do think, however, that 99.99999% of the dudes throwing salt at Megan Fox would fast become a ball of putty if she walked by them IRL and they thought they had a shot with her.I'm glad then to be part of that 0.000001%. ;)

[Spike Spiegel]

Always considered April a peer. Any sibling, mother, or love interest relationship was too weird for me for the turtles.

The 2012 series has grown on me recently, but the "Apritello" thing still creeps me out.

[CyberCubed]

It doesn't really go anywhere, and it makes sense one of the Turtles would be attracted to April. They've been doing this since the first movie.

[plastroncafe]

The 2012 series has grown on me recently, but the "Apritello" thing still creeps me out.

I don't know that it would bother me nearly so much if Don wasn't such a Nice Guy about it.

[FredWolfLeonardo]

Singling out Donnie as having a crush on April in the Nick show bothered me for some reason. I'm not against the idea per se, but the way it was handled in this show.

In the other versions, it felt like all the turtles hit on her occassionally and/or found her attractive but never felt like anything more than lighthearted fun that both the turtles and april were aware of.

Here, it felt more stalker-ish from Donnie's side and not really funny except for the first few times. If they really wanted to make this part of the show so prominent as it was, I would've preferred it if Casey and April got together and Donnie learns to accept it instead of playing it for laughs.

It would've made for some good character development for both Donatello and Casey Jones, especially the latter who got way too flanderized as the show went on. A shame since I thought Nick Casey Jones had a great design, voice talent and potential.

[Spike Spiegel]

I don't know that it would bother me nearly so much if Don wasn't such a Nice Guy about it.

Yeah, I always figured someone with Donatello's traits and personality would be an aloof schizoid asshole if he was in love with someone...attempting to compartmentalize his feelings and understand them at the same time.

[bwwd]

Im watching all wolf episodes now and she was just plain old damsel in distress for turtles, she tried some nagging or complimenting that they cleaned up their sewer lair etc to put herself in some mother-like spot (clean up your room son !)but then got kidnapped many times and had to be saved, very irresponsible and was jealous when others got her job which often resulted in her getting in trouble.Overall i dont remember her saving turtles physically in any episode so she cant be motherlike figure. Kids dont save their parents cause its just being very bad parent , its opposite - parents take care of their children and save them from trouble.I understand that she had to be written this way so turtles have something to do , in original mirage issues it wasnt like that.They had to dumb it down for kids and apply "damsel in distress" plot quite a lot.Which is sad because it teaches that woman can be irresponsible and men are always expected to help her and if they dont - theyre bad human beings.That April is never going to learn.

[Wesley]

I saw April as a big sister figure in the 2003 series and Fred Wolf toon. Never saw her as a mentor or mother figure, tbh.

[Original TMNT Cartoon Fan]

I always liked April's driving skills in the original series.

[cammy85]

I thought it was pretty cool when April firmly told them she hoped they learned their lesson in "Beneath The Streets" when they took the night off and Splinter almost died from a reverse med-Laser blast.

[Original TMNT Cartoon Fan]

I thought it was pretty cool when April firmly told them she hoped they learned their lesson in "Beneath The Streets" when they took the night off and Splinter almost died from a reverse med-Laser blast.

"Beneath These Streets" and "Turtles on Trial" are among the best season 3 episodes, together with the "Big Trilogy".

[cammy85]

Amen to that!!! I love The Maltese Hamster and Enter The Rat King as well!!

[Prowler]

The Maltese Hamster is a very underrated episode. I liked it when I was a kid and I was afraid the Turtles wouldn't make it. All of them got caught except for Donatello. hell, even Splinter got captured. And a wall fell n Donatello. They thought he had died iirc.

[Original TMNT Cartoon Fan]

The Maltese Hamster is a very underrated episode. I liked it when I was a kid and I was afraid the Turtles wouldn't make it. All of them got caught except for Donatello. hell, even Splinter got captured. And a wall fell n Donatello. They thought he had died iirc.

It, together with "Big Cufflink Caper", paid a great tribute to 1930's gangster films.

[ZariusTwo]

The Maltese Hamster is a very underrated episode. I liked it when I was a kid and I was afraid the Turtles wouldn't make it. All of them got caught except for Donatello. hell, even Splinter got captured. And a wall fell n Donatello. They thought he had died iirc.

Plus it has the infamous "men's underwear" setting on the magnet:lol: