Fast Forward product observations

[Raphael_]

So, after having watched all the 2K3 series and Fast Forward, my thoughts are that it needed to happen to keep audiences interested. The original cartoon never did anything like this and began stagnating in about 1992.

I've noticed that many people seem to complain that Fast Forward is too kiddie oriented. I would not entirely agree with that sentiment for several reasons, most of which are in regard to the character of Cody being somewhat downplayed on a general scale. There seemed to be some kind of sentiment early on to make him a ninja-in-training, but then a shift was made to putting him in the exo-suit. When this sort of character would appear in a series, at least years ago, it was almost always the cartoon equivalent of a show "jumping the shark", as the way the character was portrayed was to let the child viewer live vicariously through the youth character onscreen (see Zack from season 2 of the original), usually a last ditch effort to continue to pull in viewers. Luckily in the case with Zack, this was thrown in during the initial TMNT boom, and didn't do any damage.

Another thing that may sort-of bother adult viewers is that there seems to be less focus on the character-versus-himself and character-versus-environment battles. What I mean by this is, this future is one that favors the TMNT, and as a result the turtles are left more to be themselves and focus on exploration and character-to-character conflict.

In other words, the product has been refreshed sensibly and still on a general scale provides for both the child and adult markets, the largely adult humor is still intact, as are the character personalities. Everything is still well explained, and the quality in storytelling is still there. I am continually impressed at the way loose ends are tied up in this series, including ones I didn't even think of.

Just be glad we didn't get the writers of Pirates of the Caribbean 3 for this one. Be very glad.