If an Original Cartoon movie was made at the time?

[FredWolfLeonardo]

What if sometime during the height of tmnt's popularity, it was it decided that an animated tmnt film set in the continuity of the Original Cartoon was to be released in theatres?

It would have an approximate 90 minute runtime, animation typical of a theatrical Disney release rather than a Saturday Morning cartoon, and have all of the major characters in it reprised by their original VAs (the turtles, chanel six crew and technodrome villains.

What do you think the film would've been like in terms of story and how well would it be recieved both at the box office and critically in this hypothetical scenario?

[Original TMNT Cartoon Fan]

Krang wanting to repower the Technodrome, and sending Shredder, Bebop and Rocksteady breaking into a power station in Japan. Following strange reports, Burne Thompson sends April, Irma and Vernon there to investigate.

Suspecting Shredder being behind, the turtles sneak into the aeroplaen's cargo hold.

[neatoman]

Uh... Well I don't think a "Disney budget" seems likely, it would probably look more like the Swan Princess. Secondly, since the rights to produce a movie remained with Mirage Studios rathern than Fred Wolf, I doubt Fred Wolf would be allowed to have any involvement. The sour relationship between the two companies is well documented. Then there's the matter of characters. Since Mirage Studios didn't really want characters like Bebop and Rocksteady to define the brand, I don't think it would use the "Technodrome Villains".

The closest thing I can imagine is that it would be an adaptation of less serious Mirage Studios stories, just with the aesthetic of the Fred Wolf show. Imagine the space arc, just with the show's character design.

Ignoring all that though, are you sure you didn't just make this thread because you like the idea of a hypothetical theatrical Fred Wolf movie theoretically doing well? And that you just want to read comments saying that it would have? I mean sure, financially maybe but if it was actually made by the same people who made the show, I don't think it would do well critically. Like at all. It would just be like the old GI Joe movie, relatively slick looking but narrative trash.

Go watch GI Joe the movie (1987), Transformers the Movie (1986) and My Little Pony the Movie (1986) to get an idea of what it would have been like.

[Original TMNT Cartoon Fan]

How to make an MWS series spacearc (pre-Dregg) interesting without Dimension X? It's not like the Lookroons could carry such a film.

[FredWolfLeonardo]

Ignoring all that though, are you sure you didn't just make this thread because you like the idea of a hypothetical theatrical Fred Wolf movie theoretically doing well? And that you just want to read comments saying that it would have? I mean sure, financially maybe but if it was actually made by the same people who made the show, I don't think it would do well critically. Like at all. It would just be like the old GI Joe movie, relatively slick looking but narrative trash.

Not really, I'm open to reading criticism as well. a FW tmnt theatrical movie of a Disney budget may have not been realistic due to Mirage having the rights to movie etc. etc., but this is a hypothetical situation, so I'm not focusing on whether it could've been done but how it would've gone down if it was done.

I was thinking that it would a little been better recieved than the 1990 film (due to people more likely to tolerate the concept and references in an animated rather than live action) but might've struggled at the Box Office due to the serious competition out there like the Little Mermaid and Beauty and The Beast. So I think it would've been overall modestly recieved, not a complete failure due to the popularity of the turtles but not a gamebreaking blockbuster either which would go as far as to be nominated for Best Picture like Beauty and the Beast.

[Original TMNT Cartoon Fan]

ittle Mermaid and Beauty and The Beast.

Those wouldn't have a chance marketing against the turtles back in 1990. It was a time when the TMNT were everywhere.

[FredWolfLeonardo]

Those wouldn't have a chance marketing against the turtles back in 1990. It was a time when the TMNT were everywhere.

Well, both of those films may have not had a cartoon and toys/merchandise like tmnt to back them up in terms of marketing but they were still box office giants, earning $211 and $425 million respectively.

[oldmanwinters]

Considering "Planet of the Turtleoids" was the closest we got to a "feature film" (not counting the pilot season), I expect an actual movie would have had a "Turtles in Space Theme." My preference would have been to use it to introduce the Fugitoid and the Triceratons to the Fred Wolf universe, but not be a strict Mirage adaptation, so keep characters like Splinter, April, Shredder and Krang prominent somehow.

[FredWolfLeonardo]

I expect an actual movie would have had a "Turtles in Space Theme."

I could also see a movie based on the Turtles in Time video games since it would not only have the turtles travel to various different locations, but also meet a whole bunch of new and colourful characters while still keeping Shredder as the ultimate main villain.

I mean, Planet of the Turtleoids had so many new characters yet it was all done in 44 minutes. A 90 minute feature length would not only need to introduce new characters, but explore the already existing ones more in depth.

[MsMarvelDuckie]

Considering "Planet of the Turtleoids" was the closest we got to a "feature film" (not counting the pilot season), I expect an actual movie would have had a "Turtles in Space Theme." My preference would have been to use it to introduce the Fugitoid and the Triceratons to the Fred Wolf universe, but not be a strict Mirage adaptation, so keep characters like Splinter, April, Shredder and Krang prominent somehow.

Didn't they already introduce Triceratons anyway? That episode with the mechanical dinosaurs.

[Original TMNT Cartoon Fan]

Didn't they already introduce Triceratons anyway? That episode with the mechanical dinosaurs.

They weren't introduced until season 7.

[ZariusTwo]

Go watch GI Joe the movie (1987), Transformers the Movie (1986) and My Little Pony the Movie (1986) to get an idea of what it would have been like.

TF The Movie is a cult classic these days and is actually the most coherent and accessible out of the three you listed. Critics are allergic to it, but it's embraced by the fans. GI Joe is divisive and virtually all of MLP G1 is trash let alone the movie.

[neatoman]

TF The Movie is a cult classic these days and is actually the most coherent and accessible out of the three you listed. Critics are allergic to it, but it's embraced by the fans. GI Joe is divisive and virtually all of MLP G1 is trash let alone the movie.

When it comes to Transformers the Movie, technically... Yes? It's worth noting however, that much of what happens in it was only given retroactive context. Even you had watched the first two seasons of the show, you still wouldn't have context for what the Matrix or Unicron are, nor does the movie really provide any.

Even assuming you skipped ahead to later TF material, the movie is still pretty weird plotted and things just kind of happen. The art design is pretty cool though, and the higher quality Toei style really brings an edge. It's total garbage if I'm honest, but at least it's visually interesting garbage that I like watching. A bit of a guilty pleasure.

[ABrown]

As long as I've known a friend of my mine, going back to the mid 90's, he's always insisted that there was an animated TMNT movie. I still to this day don't know for the life of me what he thinks the animated movie was.

I think if there had been an animated movie at the height of the original cartoon's popularity, it would've most likely been direct to video, and not in theaters.

[FredWolfLeonardo]

As long as I've known a friend of my mine, going back to the mid 90's, he's always insisted that there was an animated TMNT movie. I still to this day don't know for the life of me what he thinks the animated movie was.

I think if there had been an animated movie at the height of the original cartoon's popularity, it would've most likely been direct to video, and not in theaters.

Maybe he's referring to the Epic Begins or Planet of the Turtleoids?

[pferreira]

Secondly, since the rights to produce a movie remained with Mirage Studios rathern than Fred Wolf, I doubt Fred Wolf would be allowed to have any involvement. The sour relationship between the two companies is well documented. As far as I'm aware the OP was asking what a FW animated film would have looked like at the time. It would have been Fred Wolf Films, not Mirage producing it.

Personally it would have done okay but not great great. Probably would have done as well as the Transformers movie.

It's total garbage if I'm honest, but at least it's visually interesting garbage that I like watching. A bit of a guilty pleasure.Neatoman makes the kinds of comments that make me want to start boxing and not of the cardboard kind! :x

[Original TMNT Cartoon Fan]

As long as I've known a friend of my mine, going back to the mid 90's, he's always insisted that there was an animated TMNT movie. I still to this day don't know for the life of me what he thinks the animated movie was.

I think if there had been an animated movie at the height of the original cartoon's popularity, it would've most likely been direct to video, and not in theaters.

Do you remember as a child (usually when you're about 6-7 years old), there was often someone in your age at Kindergarten or school who used to lie a lot (harmless). At the schoolyard, you would hear:

"-I have Hyper Nintendo, I have played Zelda III, and there's even a Colour Game Boy), and I've watched a TMNT live-action film with Krang. (before those things existed).

[pferreira]

"-I have Hyper Nintendo, I have played Zelda III, and there's even a Colour Game Boy), and I've watched a TMNT live-action film with Krang. (before those things existed).It's memories playing tricks on people. There are people today who genuinely believe the 80s Dungeons and Dragons cartoon had an origin episode. The creator of the show has actually told fans numerous times this isn't the case but they don't believe him and say he doesn't know what he's talking about even though he'd be the first person to know this info!

The only origin story for D&D was the intro. I'm all for the Mandela Effect conspiracy but in a pretty solid case like this it's pretty obvious it's the guy who worked on the show that is right.

[Coola Yagami]

Idk the closest thing the turtles ever got to 'The Movie' were the movies released around that time, even though they weren't tied to the cartoons. The OT had the 90s movies, 2K3 had TMNT 2007 and the Nick show had the Bay Turtles. Turtles Forever didn't even get a true theatrical release.

I wonder what they could have done back then in terms of a movie, but that slot was kinda taken by the live action one.

[pferreira]

I wonder what they could have done back then in terms of a movie, but that slot was kinda taken by the live action one.More than likely a slightly higher budgeted Planet of the Turtleoids with a limited cinema release.

[Original TMNT Cartoon Fan]

I guess MWS Studios made the money they wanted on the series and its merchandise, no need for an animated film too.

[pferreira]

I guess MWS Studios made the money they wanted on the series and its merchandise, no need for an animated film too.With the possibilities at the time of doing live action movies they probably felt they didn't need to plus they did TV movies in the form of Planet of the Turtleoids anyway.

[FredWolfLeonardo]

With the possibilities at the time of doing live action movies they probably felt they didn't need to plus they did TV movies in the form of Planet of the Turtleoids anyway.

Its funny though, how there was quite alot of demand for Original Cartoon characters/elements to be incorporated into the movies back then. Everyone was asking where Krang, Bebop and Rocksteady were during the 1st film, and when SOTO came out, everyone started calling Tokka and Razhar as B&R :lol:

[pferreira]

Its funny though, how there was quite alot of demand for Original Cartoon characters/elements to be incorporated into the movies back then. Everyone was asking where Krang, Bebop and Rocksteady were during the 1st film, and when SOTO came out, everyone started calling Tokka and Razhar as B&R :lol:That is because FW had nothing to do with the movies. Eastman and Laird had more control for the movies. They didn't want Bebop and Rocksteady for the sequel so they created new characters to take their place.