Does Viacom own the OT?

*sdp* · 03-17-2014, 12:53 AM

Slight Wormquake Spoilers ahead:

We've discussed this a few times before but after watching Wormquake I think it deserves it's own topic. So from what I've browsed on the internet over the years what I understand but might not be necessarily 100% true is that Mirage owned all the designs and almost all if not all characters of the OT. They do not own the actual show and Fredwolf can do what they want with it and they've given the license to Lionsgate for DVD. This was explained even in the old official site about how they could only have synopsis but no pictures of the OT and yet we had the OT turtles in Turtles Forever. However I do remember that there's a piece of "OT" art that is used a lot that is not true OT art, I remember Roseangelo commenting on this once and someone posted maybe this was done to not infringe on the OT designs implying maybe there might've been some legal dispute they preferred to avoid. We also knew that Mirage didn't own the classic theme song.

After Viacom bought the turtles I remember reading an interview about buying the OT I think and they mentioned they were looking at the possibilities or something like that. Now the new show clearly uses a remix of the OT theme song, meaning they licensed or bought the rights for it. Seeing the Michelangelo's OT face didn't mean anything because as said Mirage did own the OT designs. The ending of Wormquake/Manhattan Project clearly had new animation so it doesn't count, however the easter egg of looking through the portal didn't look like the ending, it looked very faithful to the OT and I don't know if it's been discussed but is it a scene from an actual episode with Casey Jones? Seems like it could be. There are only a few Casey Jones episodes so it shouldn't be that hard to check.

*CyberCubed* · 03-17-2014, 01:07 AM

It's the same deal as Mirage, they own the characters, designs and can use the voices.

However they don't actually own the episodes or the actual show, that's still in the hands of Lionsgate. If Viacom owned the original series you can bet they'd either release new DVD sets of it and air it on Nicktoons or something.

*BubblyShell22* · 03-17-2014, 08:29 AM

As stated, since Nick now owns the rights to TMNT, they can pretty much do what they want. They were able to use the OT designs and bring back the original voice actors.

*sdp* · 03-17-2014, 11:24 AM

I know I mention that in my post, however the original theme song was not owned by Mirage and I was asking about the scene with OT Casey/April, that didn't seem flash animated like the ending and it seemed straight out of the OT.

*CyberCubed* · 03-17-2014, 11:44 AM

The scene in the Nick episodes was all new. Casey was only in 5 episodes of the OT, one of those being a Season 8 episode...so there would only be 4 episodes with Casey and the old Season 1-7 designs.

And the 4 episodes Casey is in pre-Season 8 don't have a scene like that.

03-17-2014, 12:53 AM	#1
sdp Detoxed Member Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Tokio, Italy Posts: 11,221	Does Viacom own the OT? Slight Wormquake Spoilers ahead: We've discussed this a few times before but after watching Wormquake I think it deserves it's own topic. So from what I've browsed on the internet over the years what I understand but might not be necessarily 100% true is that Mirage owned all the designs and almost all if not all characters of the OT. They do not own the actual show and Fredwolf can do what they want with it and they've given the license to Lionsgate for DVD. This was explained even in the old official site about how they could only have synopsis but no pictures of the OT and yet we had the OT turtles in Turtles Forever. However I do remember that there's a piece of "OT" art that is used a lot that is not true OT art, I remember Roseangelo commenting on this once and someone posted maybe this was done to not infringe on the OT designs implying maybe there might've been some legal dispute they preferred to avoid. We also knew that Mirage didn't own the classic theme song. After Viacom bought the turtles I remember reading an interview about buying the OT I think and they mentioned they were looking at the possibilities or something like that. Now the new show clearly uses a remix of the OT theme song, meaning they licensed or bought the rights for it. Seeing the Michelangelo's OT face didn't mean anything because as said Mirage did own the OT designs. The ending of Wormquake/Manhattan Project clearly had new animation so it doesn't count, however the easter egg of looking through the portal didn't look like the ending, it looked very faithful to the OT and I don't know if it's been discussed but is it a scene from an actual episode with Casey Jones? Seems like it could be. There are only a few Casey Jones episodes so it shouldn't be that hard to check. __________________ *Trapt* *urself Page MiscRave!!!* Click to join The Drome Discord server

03-17-2014, 08:29 AM	#3
BubblyShell22 Leo-holic Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Indiana Posts: 16,912	As stated, since Nick now owns the rights to TMNT, they can pretty much do what they want. They were able to use the OT designs and bring back the original voice actors. __________________ "A warrior who never fails, never learns."-The Ancient One. "Embrace your inner a**holiness."-Mr. Anderson.

03-17-2014, 11:24 AM	#4
sdp Detoxed Member Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Tokio, Italy Posts: 11,221	I know I mention that in my post, however the original theme song was not owned by Mirage and I was asking about the scene with OT Casey/April, that didn't seem flash animated like the ending and it seemed straight out of the OT. __________________ *Trapt* *urself Page MiscRave!!!* Click to join The Drome Discord server

03-17-2014, 01:07 AM	#2
CyberCubed Overlord Join Date: Dec 2004 Posts: 43,880	It's the same deal as Mirage, they own the characters, designs and can use the voices. However they don't actually own the episodes or the actual show, that's still in the hands of Lionsgate. If Viacom owned the original series you can bet they'd either release new DVD sets of it and air it on Nicktoons or something.

03-17-2014, 11:44 AM	#5
CyberCubed Overlord Join Date: Dec 2004 Posts: 43,880	The scene in the Nick episodes was all new. Casey was only in 5 episodes of the OT, one of those being a Season 8 episode...so there would only be 4 episodes with Casey and the old Season 1-7 designs. And the 4 episodes Casey is in pre-Season 8 don't have a scene like that.