Turtle Power II: The Documentary

[Ramboraph4life aka Matt]

I know I'll get most people pissed about this, even when it's not my intention. I'm just blunt...for better or worse. It's why I rarely post on any parts of htis forum anymore. This is just from the 'other perspective'.

It wasn't about 'not pleasing everybody'. And it seems 99% of the people who say it enjoyed it (I was part of the 1%). It's just that to some of us, it's about building something up for 5 or 6 years with repeated postings about 'this' and 'that' onto the forum...and I very much doubt that most of them (including the 99% of the people who did enjoy the doc) thought it was going to be something that was just 'mainly for casual fans'.

And when you do 5 or 6 years of teases (whether by seeing the 'not as much as you think, but deleted scenes from the 1990 movie' or 'interviewing this guy and that guy' which never got featured) and build-up...a bare bones 80 minute DVD where at least 70% of the history is missing, certain folks are in it as long as a hiccup (Rob Paulsen, for example, or Ernie Reyes Jr.) while others are confusingly not even thought up in an attempt to interview (Voice Actors for the Turtles in the 1990 movie) is not what some (I can't speak for all) people thought it was going to be.

And yes, I still remember the Private PM we shared with each other. I get that you guys were, at the end of it, rushed.

The more I think about it, it just seems you guys got fu*cked over with no lube by the studio releasing it...Paramount didn't want to give you guys the help, no money, no thought process by higher ups to 'do it justice' but just release it quick enough for the release of the 2014 flick...hell, Paramount ultimately just put it for free on Youtube on their Paramount Vault (not even making people pay for it to rent it, just releasing it for free). It just shows that Paramount doesn't care.

Which is more than likely the 'want of crowdfunding' to produce it.

Speaking for the 1% who didn't care for it, they would go 'if this was a definitive history of the characters, which was the title of it...then why is there a Part 2?'

Despite what other people on the forums/comments will say in the future (I can see it coming), it's nothing personal. Isaac's always been nice.

I just don't see the whole 'extended/full/uber-decked version/sequel/whatever it is' after the previous '5-6 year wait of disappointment'...people can call me cynical, or an ass, or whatever people want to say...

But it felt like I was fooled the first time. And the 1% just don't care to be fooled again. That's pretty much it. Anyway, good luck and take care.

[d_osborn]

Originally Posted by Ramboraph4life aka Matt

Speaking for the 1% who didn't care for it, they would go 'if this was a definitive history of the characters, which was the title of it...then why is there a Part 2?'

There's really no way to properly cover the entire franchise history in a single 90-minute doc. I felt the doc crew did a great job covering the areas they did. Nothing really felt super rushed. There was a lot of new stuff for the hardcore fans to chew through. No complaints here.

I'm sure they could've slapped together a four-hour doc with a rough, bare-bones edit. Quality, not quantity. Multiple volumes is the way to go. The production values were awesome in the first doc-- it looked REALLY cool. That stuff takes time and money. I'm looking forward to seeing what they do next.

[Canadian Turtle]

Thanks guys, and Matt, as much as we don't see eye to eye I appreciate your feedback and you've always respected us, so no hard feelings here. I thank you for your honesty.

Ultimately you are both right, it is very expensive to produce this and we didn't get any help in that regard. Just to follow up on one point in particular the deleted scenes that exist are 1) not many, there really isn't much that was cut from the 1990 film, and I only have about 60% of the films dailies to pull from, the alleged VHS of the directors cut never surfaced. 2) The cost per minute to release that content is staggering, so we could really only afford to put out as much as we did. I wish we could have shared more.

[Vegita-San]

Originally Posted by Ramboraph4life aka Matt

I know I'll get most people pissed about this, even when it's not my intention. I'm just blunt...for better or worse. It's why I rarely post on any parts of htis forum anymore. This is just from the 'other perspective'.

It wasn't about 'not pleasing everybody'. And it seems 99% of the people who say it enjoyed it (I was part of the 1%). It's just that to some of us, it's about building something up for 5 or 6 years with repeated postings about 'this' and 'that' onto the forum...and I very much doubt that most of them (including the 99% of the people who did enjoy the doc) thought it was going to be something that was just 'mainly for casual fans'.

And when you do 5 or 6 years of teases (whether by seeing the 'not as much as you think, but deleted scenes from the 1990 movie' or 'interviewing this guy and that guy' which never got featured) and build-up...a bare bones 80 minute DVD where at least 70% of the history is missing, certain folks are in it as long as a hiccup (Rob Paulsen, for example, or Ernie Reyes Jr.) while others are confusingly not even thought up in an attempt to interview (Voice Actors for the Turtles in the 1990 movie) is not what some (I can't speak for all) people thought it was going to be.

This is pretty much how ifelt.

I remember SUCH a big build up to the 80s cast reunion... and then it was in the film for, what, barely a minute? and I don't even think they let everyone talk.

While i have no doubt paramount cares little to put ANY Effort into TMNT these days, as those new movies proved..

it IS a case of fool me once...

[sgtfbomb]

Originally Posted by Vegita-San

I remember SUCH a big build up to the 80s cast reunion... and then it was in the film for, what, barely a minute? and I don't even think they let everyone talk.
.

This is what I meant by the passerby effect and is the exact area I think of when I think it could have used more. I wasn't talking about running time -- in fact, I even said that in my second post.

The success of those horror documentaries was not the length. It was how they chose to cover what they did. Equally. If something was mentioned, it wasn't dropped in the next moment. It was discussed. The length of the 1492 documentaries comes from the fact thatchy chose to cover the entirety of those franchises.

So, when I mention those documentaries, I mean to reference how un-superficial they were.

And, constructively, I think the biggest factor was the choice to cover the Shells rock tour. Don't get me wrong, I am intrigued by that and I am glad you guys covered it. But that to me is something that belongs in the "Ultimate Fan Edition" mentioned earlier. I feel like that screen time could have gone to the meat and potatoes, the trio of major topics: the original comic, the cartoon, and the original movie.

[Canadian Turtle]

Originally Posted by sgtfbomb

And, constructively, I think the biggest factor was the choice to cover the Shells rock tour. Don't get me wrong, I am intrigued by that and I am glad you guys covered it. But that to me is something that belongs in the "Ultimate Fan Edition" mentioned earlier. I feel like that screen time could have gone to the meat and potatoes, the trio of major topics: the original comic, the cartoon, and the original movie.

You make a really good point. I think we would have had more room for details on specific topics if we had of not included certain things like the live tour, and like you say that section wasn't for you and you would have preferred more of something else. At the same time someone else might really enjoy that content about the live tour and want more of that. It is a tough choice to try and make everyone happy and include as much as we can in the space that was dictated to us. We were informed that we had to make it a very specific length.

We did capture a ton of footage from the voice cast reunion, and I did enthusiastically talk about it after it happened. It was hard to remove as much as we did, and as much as it is something we all love, we could only fit so much in. This is why a bonus feature where we release all of that content edited as a stand alone piece would be really cool, along with as much of the other content as we can include without having to pay through the nose.

[pferreira]

Originally Posted by Canadian Turtle

We did capture a ton of footage from the voice cast reunion, and I did enthusiastically talk about it after it happened. It was hard to remove as much as we did, and as much as it is something we all love, we could only fit so much in.

I have to say I was horrified in one of your previous posts where you said the theme song was so expensive you had to still pay a large amount to re-record it. It's not your fault at all, you have to put up with licencing clips and music but it's cases like this where I find it incredibly sad Paramount, Nick or another company can't put up money to help you with those problems. I remember watching a documentary on Space Precinct and they weren't able to use any clips from the series because the cost exceeded their budget. It's crazy using clips costs so much.

[sgtfbomb]

Originally Posted by pferreira

I have to say I was horrified in one of your previous posts where you said the theme song was so expensive you had to still pay a large amount to re-record it. It's not your fault at all, you have to put up with licencing clips and music but it's cases like this where I find it incredibly sad Paramount, Nick or another company can't put up money to help you with those problems. I remember watching a documentary on Space Precinct and they weren't able to use any clips from the series because the cost exceeded their budget. It's crazy using clips costs so much.

Royalties and legal issues. There is a phrase for that, however I can't say it here. But I can say the first word is "Cluster."

[d_osborn]

Originally Posted by sgtfbomb

There is a phrase for that, however I can't say it here. But I can say the first word is "Cluster."

Coming from a user that goes by sgtfbomb! Always thought it was a fun username.

[slaysghosts]

I bought turtle power day 1.

I have not read all 9 pages of this thread.

I did follow the huge build up to the release. I appreciate the endless and continuos effort going into it.

In hindsight, my opinion and thoughts are this:

You and your crew did too much work in too many areas to ever please one tmnt crowd, group, or fanbase in it's entirety without being able to release these in volumes by category/mediums.
ie.
volume one conception/comic
volume two cartoon
volume three barron movie
ect ect

or something of the like.

I say that b/c you did do the work to please these fanbases in their entirety. Either way, godspeed with where this is and can go. Again, you and your crew did more than anyone else before you, thank you...we just want to see so much more.

[Venom]

"Turtle Power" really would make for an awesome 8 or 10-part documentary miniseries on Netflix!

Nearly a decade or so spent accumulating stories and history, and tons more of us out there that will willingly share our hidden collections and such, would make for a fantastic series to watch!

[MathUser]

I got the first one on ppv when it came out. I wish one of the movie channels would buy the rights to it like they did the superman lives and atari landfill docs.

[mikezilla2]

so ah when is part two ment to hit and thro what platform ?

cant relly think of anything to cover atm but maybe things we simply dont know or little kown facts like the OVA that never came out in english .......

[dragonside]

all i gotta say is keep it up guys. I think it would be awesome to see some of the lesser known things in the franchise in addition to celebrating what a lot of people grew up with.

[AquaParade]

I was just rereading the comics journal interview with Kevin Easthan, where he goes over the early days of Mirage Studios, the writers and artists they worked with, and trying to get a handle on running Mirage during such a crazy period.

Absolutely fascinating and I would love it if volume 2 was able to focus more on this. Interviews with the whole Mirage Crew would be as definitive as it gets.

[Canadian Turtle]

Hello everyone, sorry for the long silence. We are hitting the road again this month to wrap up our Masters of the Universe documentary AND capture more stuff for Turtle Power Volume II. We are shifting focus to the TPVol2 doc now that Power the Grayskull is through the first round of editing and will likely be hitting the airways later this year. Thanks for sticking with us for so many years, we are very excited to share more content with you all! Stay tuned!!

[ToTheNines]

Good to hear! So 2018 is probably looking like a best case scenario for a release date?

[DestronMirage22]

Can't wait! I really enjoyed the 1st one.

[Canadian Turtle]

Originally Posted by ToTheNines

Good to hear! So 2018 is probably looking like a best case scenario for a release date?

To be honest we are aiming for this year, but you're not wrong in your assumption, it can take a long time to put these together. We are getting faster at it though

[ToTheNines]

Originally Posted by Canadian Turtle

To be honest we are aiming for this year, but you're not wrong in your assumption, it can take a long time to put these together. We are getting faster at it though

Cool man, the sooner the better! I'll be the first donor once y'all get that kickstarter running if it helps expedite this baby.