Will TMNT return to its roots like Batman did?
 

Tim Burton's Batman movie is credited for revitalizing the franchise and bringing it back to its early comic book roots. Do you think that something similar will happen to TMNT anytime soon?

In a standalone film or something, it's possible, but on a whole, no. The bulk of its profits are as a Nickelodeon cartoon, so that will likely remain the face of the property.

& I'm ok with that so long as there are at least semi-adult works that are free to exist alongside it.

Yep. It's never gonna happen. Lost cause.

Zero chance. I don't even have any hope whatsoever that anything as good as the 1990 film will ever exist again. Maaaaybe an animated straight-to-DVD/Netflix movie, but that still seems like a huge outside chance. To Nick, it makes zero business sense to spend any money or resources on a version of the brand that's not aimed at their target audience of anyone under 8. That's why even though some fans really hold out hope for such an animated project to one day exist, I don't see any chance. Why would Nick suddenly want to ask for money from 30-40 year olds when they're doing just fine ignoring them? Whatever they'd make back wouldn't justify the expense.

As anything other than a slightly more hip catch-all kiddie franchise like Thomas The Tank Engine, the brand is dead. That may be proven wrong one day, but not in this lifetime.

I think there will be a more adult-oriented movie eventually.

Making a more mature version of so-and-so is a “thing” in the entertainment industry. Especially for superheroes/comics.

Within reason obviously. It’s not gonna be some super gruesome or overly violent take. There’s no reason for that. I don’t think I’d want that either.

Under Nick there has barely been 2 cartoon series and 1 movie “series”. Not gonna count them as 2 since they were 1 version. Give it some time.

4 Kids is probably the closest thing. The New Line Cinema films are a mix of Mirage and Fred Wolf.

Some truth there, but I wouldn't say it's a completely lost cause. They are happy to take money from adults in the comic book market. Those old Mirage, and even IDW books aren't really aimed at kids or anyone under 8 years old. They know those are adults purchasing those books.

So yeah, comic books are small potatoes compared to the other forms of media they are concentrating on with TMNT, but the door is still slightly cracked open, in my eyes. If I didn't believe there is a chance that we may get some quality TMNT content in the future, not strictly aimed at children, then I probably wouldn't be here anymore.

I don’t think so.

Not sure. I could be wrong but didn't Burton's Batman introduce stuff stylistically that wasn't in the original comics like the Art Deco? I guess it depends how far back in roots you mean.

As for TMNT the only way I see them going completely back to the franchise roots is if they adapt the Mirage Volume 1 series for TV. That is doable.

I know there were a variety of 1930s and 40s influences outside of the comics, but as far back as the late 70s there was an initiative to make a Batman movie the way the creators originally envisioned the character, the opposite of the 60s version. That's what I meant by bringing it back to its roots.

It's not like Viacom is going to own TMNT as a property forever. It's going to hold on to it and milk it as long as it can, but eventually, they will end their license of it and sell it to someone else. Just because Viacom own's Nick doesn't mean that it markets to kids only. Paramount Pictures and is a fairly general audience company and they can produce a Netflix special.

For example a couple of years ago Paramount Animation did an animated film version of the Little Prince. This film was due to be released in theaters but was dropped due to budget cuts (and would have been ignored in theaters due to competing films *Cough* Star Wars *Cough*.) But it was picked and aired on NetFlix which actually turned out to be a better way for that film to gain an audience.

Viacom also owns companies like MTV and Comedy Central under their Global Entertainment Group. So it is still possible for them to sell TMNT as a franchise to someone like Netflix original, or Stars, or HBO.

I think they paid too much - and already have made too much - to ever get rid of it.

They've reimbursed more than their entire investment, by releasing products which most people acknowledge are spotty at best. They're hip to the game that their audience will swallow anything. Nick can keep this up forever.

I *guess* it's possible that the TMNT audience at large will, y'know, actually start ignoring the franchise when things coming out of it are simply not good, instead of blindly spending their money "Supporting the brand", which is asinine consumerist drivel, but I don't think so.

People would have to stop buying TMNT products for Nick to ever get rid of it, and the BayTurtles movies, if nothing else, proved that this fanbase really will buy anything with a green sticker on it. Those movies are so bad that a "Special Feature" on the Blu-ray is, the box comes to life and farts in your mouth while you're sleeping, and TMNT fans still spent money on them.

That tells me that Nick's "reign" over TMNT is safe. And trying to shuffle any of it into one of the more "grown-up" Viacom networks is certainly a possibility, but highly unlikely, as it would "split and confuse the audience". Remember, corporations assume everyone is an idiot; having two completely different TMNT shows or movies or whatever would be more than their audience could wrap their heads around. And if one of the youngsters somehow saw the more grown-up TMNT show, you might get angry Soccer Mom letters, and we know how well that goes over.

They're just gonna bang the same drum for the next few decades. I mean, I get it; people apparently like the beat. I don't, but it seems to work for some people. The question being, "Could TMNT ever go back to a more serious property?", though, I say: Nick has far too much invested in doing the complete OPPOSITE of that, they'd never take the risk, and it's far too valuable a property to ever let it go. Even if the popularity hits a lull, they're fine; that's probably just what they're saving a DVD release of the 2003 show for, the next dry spell. Kill some time and maintain goodwill until they can make a new show that gets people's attention. Rinse and Repeat.

I mean, sure, anything's possible. I just can't see it happening in my lifetime. And I also don't know who'd actually do a good job with TMNT in the first place. Probably no one, if we're being honest. I can't see any of the companies who could afford to buy the brand, ever actually doing anything too different from what we're already getting. Not in the "It's For Kids" way; like if they became a Marvel or DC property I definitely think they'd be presented in a PG-13 kinda way, but it'd still be a watered-down mish-mash of all the previous TMNT stuff that felt like it was written in a boardroom. And it may be exciting but it would all still feel very sterile and corporate, in a very noticeable way. Just like now.

I think it's kind of in a hole too deep to get out of, at this point.

Not necessarily. Didn't the second movie actually lose money?

Okay I understand now although I'm not sure the 1989 movie was totally like old Batman at least in style. As I said I could be wrong. :)

"Lose" is a bit difficult to determine, but it probably did. What we do know is that a movie needs to make at least twice it's production budget to be considered successful, which it failed to do.

Good post by Leo, but I was also going to echo the fact that the second Platinum Dunes film made less than the first, which is a clear sign that fans aren't taking another bite of the ****** cake. Platinum Dunes saw the results and expressed a bit of confusion/sadness when interviewed.

And maybe someone can fill me in on "Rise of the TMNT", because I've never been more out of the loop on a TMNT product than this one, but I feel like it's actually gotten more backlash than usual, as far as TMNT cartoons go. I could be wrong, but maybe someone else can chime in.

And it's also worth mentioning that Nick had to approve of IDW republishing the Image TMNT series. It shows a willingness to throw the older fans a bone, if nothing else. It goes against the thought that they want to purify TMNT into a restricted territory of kiddie-material. I think it shows a willingness to dip their feet in and check the temperature on content for older fans.

There is also the changing of times. Today's generation has held onto our favorite childhood heroes and characters like never before. Marvel and DC are making billions off of adults, with their cartoonish characters. Everyone is watching and many are sure to follow the trend.

This actually gives a degree of hope, especially with GOTG, BH6, and even characters who were considered jokes like Ant-Man.

I hope so too. It would be awesome again to see another live action movie, something more serious this time. I know complained before ( sometimes a bit to much, I'll be honest) about TMNT being reduced to kiddy fare, but I think it was because I wanted regular people to see the dark and gritty stuff that it was originally known for, the stuff that makes an audience go, 'Hey yeah, I wanna see that!'

I've only seen clips and it didn't look very promising. It's essentially Nick without any restraint. It reminds me of the types of shows Nick and Cartoon Network used to put out in the 90s like Johnny Bravo. I guess they wanted to distance themselves from the previous CG iteration but in doing so came up with something that is far removed from any version of TMNT. The designs I know aren't the only thing people dislike about the new series.