07-26-2015, 09:39 AM | #1 |
Emperor
Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: Stockholm
Posts: 9,487
|
Replacement characters for April?
So it seems that the topic of wheter or not April is interesting or really important enough to appear as the human friend of the Turtles in every iteration. An argument brought up is that franchises where the human characters are not really as important as the non-humans around them, the prime example of that being Transformers. Now when it comes to Transformers iterations we tend to get the same robot characters but new human characters every time, the human sidekicks could easily have been Spike, Carly and Chip from the G1 cartoon most of the time but what we have now are about twenty different sidekick characters in Transformers.
And it appears that some people feel the same, now I don't really agree with them but I see where they are coming from. If the April from the Nickelodeon series was called Jenny or something instead, would you really think that she was originally intended to be April? Maybe out of tradition you would think that but then she does deviate from how April is typically potrayed. Hell, even the April in the Fred Wolf cartoon is remarkably different from the one we see in the Mirage comics. There has even been attempts to replace, such as in the case with Cody. So what do you think? Could April be replaced by another character? |
07-26-2015, 10:01 AM | #2 | |
Overlord
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Sweden
Posts: 10,169
|
Quote:
|
|
07-26-2015, 10:21 AM | #3 | ||
PerfectlyTunedFightEngine
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: The Upsidedown
Posts: 7,926
|
It's not April, it's the writing. Changing her name isn't going to change the writing. Making her a dude only further reinforces the problem that the writers have an issue with compelling female characters.
__________________
------------------------------------------------------ Quote:
Quote:
|
||
07-26-2015, 11:00 AM | #4 |
Overlord
Join Date: Dec 2004
Posts: 41,112
|
There's nobody else they could use. IDW is trying with Angel and I guess that's the closest we'll see to a female replacement for April.
|
07-26-2015, 11:05 AM | #5 | |
Emperor
Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: Stockholm
Posts: 9,487
|
Quote:
|
|
07-26-2015, 11:17 AM | #6 |
Overlord
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Sweden
Posts: 10,169
|
|
07-26-2015, 01:19 PM | #7 |
Emperor
Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: Stockholm
Posts: 9,487
|
Well, yeah he did, I was pretty sure that's what you meant. What I was pointing was that the cartoon seems like a rather loose adaptation, like I don't remember any plots from the books making it into the cartoon and the characters don't seem to behave much their book counterparts.
|
07-26-2015, 01:48 PM | #8 |
Mad Scientist
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: Cambridge, UK
Posts: 1,190
|
April as a concept is a good idea. As a character she is strong, determined, caring and warm. As a function she provides a link between the turtles and the wider world with which they have limited access and experience.
HOWEVER.... It seems that once she is established in a universe, the writers don't know what to do with her to keep her engaging. She falls into whatever neat category has been established for her. For example, in the OT it was: blindly pursues a news story, gets herself into trouble and in need of rescue; in Nick it is: has special powers and a backstory that is more unbelievable than the mutant turtles she is friends with; in the second film it is: gatherer of information and deliverer of messages. I could go on. A human link is essential. What's the point of mutant turtles if there is no frame of reference to "normal"? - a point the Nick writers seem to be missing. The turtles could be part of a universe of humanoid animals, but then... they are just ordinary parts of their own ordinary world. They would no longer be so special. So basically I love the idea of April, but have only seen her written well for very brief moments.
__________________
2k3 Don: That's not a trans-dimensional portal stick. That's... a flashlight! OT Don: It was a flashlight, but with a little rewiring and a lot more positive thinking, it'll soon be a trans-dimensional portal stick. Now hand me that hammer. 2k3 Don: This is a wrench. |
07-26-2015, 02:00 PM | #9 | |
Overlord
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Sweden
Posts: 10,169
|
Quote:
I always wondered why Isabelle was abscent, but she isn't even in much live-action universes (despite being born in Självklart, Sune from 1986). From Sune to TMNT (actually, they were both created in 1983, Sune in mid-year, TMNT in November), I'm not a fan of 2012 schoolgoril April. April shall be the turtles' strongest link to human so she needs to have some education and a work where she can give them information (like computer company employee, reporter or scientist). Last edited by Original TMNT Cartoon Fan; 07-27-2015 at 04:53 AM. |
|
08-12-2015, 06:29 PM | #10 |
Overlord
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: Between yesterday and tomorrow!
Posts: 14,959
|
Although April has always played an important role in every origin story of the TMNT as their first (for all practical purposes despite later retcons) contact with the human world, I am surprised no other version has yet to replace her with a reasonable facsimile named George or Liz or whatever. Despite her being the key character for introducing the Turtles to the human world in the Mirage, Fred Wolf, live-action film trilogy, 4Kids, Nick, IDW, and Platinum Dunes universes, most continuities rarely have a good handle on what to do with her "normal" character mold soon after the introduction period. In an attempt to overcompensate and make her "relevant" again, the various incarnations have a tendency to resort to some really weird ideas like writing her as an overnight success-story ninja and Olympic level gymnast (Imagi, 4Kids and to a lesser extent Archie and Mirage) or else revealing she's really not so normal (Nick or Mirage).
I really like her character, but folks have real trouble figuring out what to do with her. Heck, in the context of films, she's of the few female fictional reporters who apparently doesn't sleep with her sources or co-workers! Surprisingly, the Plantinum Dunes film decided to give her character more focus than any other incarnation (to a fault, of course), the opposite of what I would have expected for a summer action film aimed toward children. And April, despite all her generic-ness has historically broken the mold when it comes to female action figures in toy lines marketed towards boys. April probably has more toy variants than some of the bigger name female super heroes of Marvel & DC fame. Maybe someday, the cartoon and comic book writers will figure out how to fully realize her potential as a character. Or maybe someday we'll just have a TMNT universe in which George and Lizzy are new best buds of the Ninja Turtles.
__________________
Experience the TMNT Fan Commentaries! Check out my TMNT fan comic, "Nothing to Fear"! View my sketch work! I'm selling some of my hard-to-find TMNT items! |
08-14-2015, 11:49 AM | #11 |
Overlord
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Sweden
Posts: 10,169
|
I always wonder why she isn't in Next Mutation?
|
08-14-2015, 12:28 PM | #12 |
Overlord
Join Date: Dec 2004
Posts: 41,112
|
|
08-14-2015, 01:06 PM | #13 |
Mad Scientist
Join Date: Dec 2013
Posts: 1,100
|
She and Casey were planned to be in a season 2, with the return of Shredder. But the show was long dead at this point. As well as the death of a family member
__________________
|
08-14-2015, 03:39 PM | #14 |
Mad Scientist
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: Independence, Louisiana
Posts: 1,124
|
I like April in small amounts, I don't think she needs to be fudged into every episode. I honestly hate the Nick version, but then again I hate April and Casey as teens. April is great as college aged, with sparing appearance, I prefer Casey as an adult (not an April/Casey fan), if yo want a peer for the Turtles, why not introduce Shadow? The idea of middle aged, single parent Casey would be an interesting angle, plus I could just imagine hearing Splinter and Casey discussing parenting methods.
|
08-14-2015, 03:58 PM | #15 |
The Agenda of Existing
Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: Vikingland
Posts: 14,596
|
I don't know when Saban decided to canceled NM, but it didn't get nixed for bad views. It was a very popular show, and was sacrificed for furthering Power Rangers.
|
08-14-2015, 04:13 PM | #16 |
Overlord
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Sweden
Posts: 10,169
|
|
08-14-2015, 05:30 PM | #17 | |
Overlord
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: Between yesterday and tomorrow!
Posts: 14,959
|
Quote:
I didn't understand that last part, but the reference is pretty ominous.
__________________
Experience the TMNT Fan Commentaries! Check out my TMNT fan comic, "Nothing to Fear"! View my sketch work! I'm selling some of my hard-to-find TMNT items! |
|
08-14-2015, 06:05 PM | #18 |
Emperor
Join Date: Mar 2007
Posts: 7,902
|
No one can replace April, she's essential!
|
08-15-2015, 05:20 AM | #19 |
Overlord
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Sweden
Posts: 10,169
|
|
08-15-2015, 06:40 AM | #20 |
Foot Soldier
Join Date: Apr 2015
Location: Albuquerque, NM
Posts: 144
|
One trick all of the various Turtle incarnations have missed almost entirely is that it would be a LONG time until the Turtles would encounter a human who would react to them the way April or Casey do.
Most of humanity would find them repulsive, scary, alien and would want them locked in cages, paraded on TV, used for experiments or even killed. In reality, the Turtles would have had to kill pretty much all humans who happened to see them, because they couldn't afford to have someone blabbering about mutant aliens in the sewers. Next thing you know, there's cops, National Guard, Marines, Homeland Security and whatnot on their tail. |
Tags |
april o'neil |
|
|