Interview with Peter Laird on the new movie/trailer - read first post

[NinjaPug]

Important: This new thread was closed and cleaned due to being so full of bickering. Discussion and debate is fine, but any and all fighting/insulting will result in Severe discipline. I and the staff will not allow the forum to get in such a poor state again. You have been warned.

Some good stuff in here.

http://www.comicbookmovie.com/fansit.../news/?a=97678

[TrickOrTreater]

Oh f*ck yeah. I've been waiting to hear his thoughts on this thing.

EDIT: I agree with him pretty much through and through, he seems a lot more tempered though which is totally his prerogative. Feels like he's being very professional and giving his honest opinion as softly as he can.

[Jester]

Nice....I assume.

I haven't read it yet...

But I've often wondered, "What does Pete think about this stuff?"

Time to read. Thanks.

[The Boston Ninja Turtle]

I love Laird, normally i dont agree with him 100% but this time i do, he touched base on everything i feel

[TigerClaw]

Originally Posted by NinjaPug

Some good stuff in here.

http://www.comicbookmovie.com/fansit.../news/?a=97678

Here's the part that seems to most interesting.

CBM: What was your first reaction to the new Turtles?
PETER LAIRD: I was impressed with what I saw of the production values -- if nothing else, it looks like the new TMNT movie will have a lot of stuff going on and looking good (that toppling tower, for example) -- but the changes to the basic design of the Turtles seemed to me to fall into the "fixing what is not broken" category. It's altogether possible that, in the context of this new movie, these designs will work well and not seem so odd, but I still point to what Jim Henson's "Creature Shop" team did with their rendering of the Turtles in rubber and paint as the best translation (in live action, anyway) of the Turtles as Kevin Eastman and I created them.

That being said, so far I have only seen this short trailer with just a few brief glimpses of the Turtles. My opinion could change. One thing that comes to mind if how cool it would be if someone did CGI versions of those same Henson designs, with all the incredible flexibility and seamless action potential available with today's CGI.

[Warhorse]

Originally Posted by NinjaPug

Some good stuff in here.

http://www.comicbookmovie.com/fansit.../news/?a=97678

He's voicing my concerns. I'm open to everything but the faces! What he said was what they should have done, just take the Jim Henson suits and twirk them with CGI so they can finally have the movement they need.

[MajorViolence]

He expressed virtually the same concerns I have.

[Technogeek29]

The only thing I could disagree about is the Turtles having nostrils. Not like in the movie where it pretty much is a humanoid nose. But more like Out of the shadows were is more of a snout then anything. Giving them varying body heights was fine as it took away from the qaudruplet look the Mirahe and OT had. But I wish one universe woulld utlized the Uni Head band look again, it doesn't have to be all red.

[TigerClaw]

here are some other parts of the interview.

CBM: Another thing I found odd, but a predictable change, is that Shredder says, "Heroes are created." This seems to imply that the Turtles are not products of an accident. Hollywood hasn't seemed to embrace things just happening by accident. Everything has to be connected these days. Are you okay with that possible change?

PETER LAIRD: As you know, in our original conception of the TMNT, the Turtles' existence as mutated beings WAS the result of an accident… or several accidents, if you count

-- TCRI canister jolted out of truck
-- canister bouncing off head of young guy saving old man from getting run over by truck
-- canister on new trajectory now hitting and smashing open glass container with the pre-mutated turtles in it
-- canister and turtles falling into manhole together
-- turtles crawling around in ooze from canister
-- Splinter (in pre-mutated form) observing all of this, and then getting into the ooze himself as he gathers up the turtles.

I have always found that accidental, somewhat random series of events culminating in the creation of the TMNT to be a significant part of the charm of the story. Somehow, retconning it to make their origin the result of deliberate action seems like a mistake. However, perhaps the writers have found a clever way to make this seems more palatable. We'll have to watch the movie to find out.

CBM: A Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles fan (via Reddit) gave the newly-designed Mikey and Leo a bit of digital plastic surgery. What do you think of them?

PETER LAIRD: It's interesting, and well done, and I think it points up one of the big problems (for me, anyway) with the new look created for the upcoming movie -- with those noses and very expressive lips, their faces look too human. Perhaps it is just my own personal preference, but the "noseless beak" look for the Turtles which Kevin and I used in all of our comics, and in pretty much all of the licensed material during the Mirage days (and which was really there from the very beginning, when Kevin drew that first "ninja turtle") is, in my opinion, a great way to immediately show that these guys are not human -- they're mutated reptiles. Creatures.

Of course, I could be wrong about the new design -- maybe in the context of the movie, it will work fine. From what I have seen so far, it is an excellent example of state-of-the-art character CGI. Perhaps it will become more popular than the noseless style which was used for the first twenty-five years. I guess we'll have to wait and see.

PETER LAIRD: I do have to make one further comment about it, though. When I watched that trailer for the first time, and came to that bit near the end where Michelangelo takes off his bandana, revealing his full face to April, complete with human-looking nose, I immediately flashed back to the early days, back in 1984 or 1985 when we were living in Sharon, CT and just beginning to take steps into the world of licensing the TMNT. It was during that time that we received a letter from a small movie company -- I think it was New World -- offering us a deal to do a live-action TMNT movie, wherein they suggested that the way to go was to choose some (at that point in time) "hot" young comedians, dress them up in Turtle costumes, but leave their faces bare… except for a layer of green paint, so their zany comic expressions could be easily visible.

As you probably know, we turned that one down. Remember, this was well before the first animated TMNT series was even a glimmer in anyone's eye. It's intriguing to contemplate what the history of the TMNT might have been had we accepted that first live-action movie offer.

[Shark_Blade]

Great interview. I always like and prefer Laird's critical look on things in TMNT, much more than Eastman. I might not agree on everything he said but he's pretty detail oriented and it's always fascinating to read.

[chrisdude]

At least he's willing to see it. He's got a more open mind than a lot of people here.

[HeroTurtlesFan]

Originally Posted by chrisdude

At least he's willing to see it. He's got a more open mind than a lot of people here.

THIS.

There are about 5-6 "vocal minority" posters here who could really take a leaf out of Laird's book here... he emphasises that he just doesn't know enough from the trailer to make definitive conclusions, but likes the potential of a lot of it.

For Laird... this is very reasoned with some very open-minded answers. I am impressed - what's happened to the real Peter Laird?!?

[massakre]

I respect the heck outta this guy.. Although I'm actually a fan of the new Turtle's look and the overall trailer, I respect that he gave his opinion professionally and gave details and a rhyme/reason behind why he feels the way he does, positive or negative, about this new rendition.

[Bry]

Originally Posted by chrisdude

At least he's willing to see it. He's got a more open mind than a lot of people here.

Hey, not all of us are rich and retired. I might go see it too if I had time to burn on probably-bad movies.

It was a smart interview, though. Laird tends to be pretty thoughtful and critical about this stuff, but also fair, and he raises a lot of very valid concerns that I share while being very diplomatic. I'll be curious to see if he has a follow-up after the movie's been released.

I especially like how he points out Hollywood's recent aversion to any superhero origin being accidental. I'm getting really tired of that myself. Not everything has to the result of a deliberate plan or a "destiny". Especially the TMNT. Not feeling that at all.

I'm surprised the interviewer didn't ask about the Shredder's ethnicity swap, though Laird touched on it a bit (and very specifically brought up Oroku Saki's name).

[Eiko]

Nice to finally see what Peter thinks about it. Very interesting.

[Sewer Sirens Podcast]

Glad he's staying open to the movie, and isn't automatically hating on it for being different than previous iterations. Even though he has every right to do so. He could complain about how these turtles are so drastically different than HIS turtles, but he doesn't. He's willing to go see it and speak respectively of it, even though he has nothing to lose.

[MajorViolence]

Originally Posted by Sewer Sirens Podcast

Glad he's staying open to the movie, and isn't automatically hating on it for being different than previous iterations. Even though he has every right to do so. He could complain about how these turtles are so drastically different than HIS turtles, but he doesn't. He's willing to go see it and speak respectively of it, even though he has nothing to lose.

Well he did complain about it, he was just careful to point out that even though he doesn't like them, it's possible that in context of the actual film it could work.

[swing_kinker]

His diplomacy surely comes from the fact he has very little material to judge from.

[Huzzah]

^Which is a very valid point. In context, many of the complaints may be rectified. Then again, it could be change for the sake of change. As long as it still feels like a Ninja Turtle movie when I leave the theater, I'll be satiated.

Then again it could be terrible, and if it is, I'll be willing to admit it.

[Sewer Sirens Podcast]

Originally Posted by MajorViolence

Well he did complain about it, he was just careful to point out that even though he doesn't like them, it's possible that in context of the actual film it could work.

I meant more whine about and bash the film. But he was very professional about everything. And I wouldn't exactly say he COMPLAINED about the film. He just stated his opinion and what he thought they could've done better.