THE MOVIE PAGES presents SARAH MICHELLE GELLAR in TMNT TMNT.htm

What Do The Critics Say?

"These characters don't feel like the turtles of old; there's not enough excitement to reinvent the franchise, and just barely enough to revive it."
Elizabeth Weitzman NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
"TMNT is as good a movie about teenage mutant ninja turtles as there can possibly be."
Eric D. Snider ERICDSNIDER.COM
"There are endless scenes in which the turtles sit around discussing their feelings. All the talk of anger management and sibling rivalry is sure to test the attention spans of viewers in every age group."
Lisa Rose NEWARK STAR-LEDGER
"The Turtles themselves are still a treat and they overcome many of the story's deficiencies."
Jeffrey Westhoff NORTHWEST HERALD
"Younger viewers might be able to make sense its overly-complex plot - but I fear that everyone else, alas, will soon be suffering from a case of shell shock."
Neil Smith THELONDONPAPER

"The animated fight scenes are both beautiful and realistic. You forget you're watching a computer-animated feature. In a film about ninja turtles, you couldn't really ask for anything more. Other than perhaps a sequel, that is."
Misha Davenport CHICAGO SUN-TIMES
"It’s not exactly Renaissance art, but it is an honourable attempt to revive the turtle-tastic franchise."
Nigel Floyd TIME OUT
"The long-delayed return of our Heroes in a Half Shell is big on style but low in substance."
Josh Hurst CHRISTIANITY TODAY
"Clunker that's too violent for younger children, too silly for older kids and too lame for words."
Alex Markerson E! ONLINE
"Leave your memories of the old version of TMNT at home or you just might be dissatisfied too."
Vince Koehler ENTERTAINMENT SPECTRUM

The Inside Story There's always what seems a plausible reason behind either making a sequel or reviving a franchise that was was highly successful. In the case of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (named after the Renaissance masters: Leonardo Da Vinci, Donato di Niccolò di Betto Bardi, Raffaello Sanzio and Michelangelo Buonarroti), no one could ever deny that it wasn't a successful franchise. Created in 1984 by Peter Laird and Kevin Eastman, the original black and white comic book, of which only three thousand copies were printed, sold out straightaway. Published by Mirage Studios in 1984, the concept arose from a comical sketch by Kevin Eastman during a casual evening of brainstorming with his friend Peter Laird. Using money from a tax refund together with a loan from Eastman's uncle, the young artists self-published a single issue comic intended to parody four of the most popular comics of the early 1980s: Marvel Comics' Daredevil and New Mutants, Dave Sim's Cerebus and Frank Miller's Ronin. Within a year, Laird and Eastman were approached with a toy license from Playmates Toys Inc, which was followed by a cartoon television series and three live-action feature films over the course of nine years. The live-action films, released in the early 1990s, provided a brand-new "TMNT" experience for audiences around the world with state of the art animatronics and expert martial arts choreography. President and CEO of Imagi USA Thomas K Gray the architect of the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles film franchise trilogy which collectively earned more than $US 256 million domestically provided the answer to why the 'turtles' are back on the bigscreen again. "We wanted to take the Turtles to another level in film and do something we hadn’t done before," the TMNT producer said. "For more than 20 years, they have been one of the most popular toys sold in several parts of the U.S. as well as Europe, Australia and in some Asian-Pacific countries. With the syndicated cartoon series doing great, and the comic book enjoying cult status, we wanted to give the fans something new." Now that may sound alright in theory, but if they wanted to do make another film, they first had to convince the creators to grant them the rights to bring their heroic, sewer-dwelling bipeds back to the big screen. "I was nervous, because Peter didn’t really know me, and everybody from the company was waiting for an answer," producer H Galen Walker recalled. "So there we were, walking along, and as I was about to ask the big question, he puts his hand across my chest to stop me and says, 'turtle'. I looked down, and saw this little turtle crossing our path!" But, in spite of witnessing such serendipity, Walker didn’t know that he had Laird’s formal blessing until, he recalls, "I was on the airplane flying back, and I opened the book that Peter autographed for me." There on the first page of the book was a message from from Peter Laird, "Let’s make a movie, dude." That's where up and coming animation filmmaker and soon to be "TMNT" director Kevin Munroe came in. "Kevin came in and designed a great trailer for us," says Gray.

"It was obvious that he loved the Turtles and we really liked his ideas," says Gray, adding, "It turned out to be a beautiful fit." Now the hard work started. It would take twenty eight months to complete the production of the film. Production was undertaken in two very different locations: Sherman Oaks in sunny Southern California and on the other side of the Pacific Ocean in Hong Kong. More than three hundred artists were employed in Hong Kong and nearly seventy artists in Los Angeles. But what about the time difference? That was overcome thanks to advanced video teleconferencing and high-speed point to point data transfers. Munroe says, "It felt like the Hong Kong office was just a click away. Also, because of the time difference, we could work around the clock. When it’s five in the afternoon in LA, it’s nine in the morning in Hong Kong, so we could teleconference at the end of our day, while they were just starting theirs." Producer H Galen Walker notes, "Having a 24 hour production schedule allowed us to move faster. But, you know, not everyone in LA got to go home at the end of the day, since there would be issues from Hong Kong that needed to be addressed during their working hours, also known as our middle of the night. It was extremely taxing, but Kevin and the team handled it wonderfully, and the animators in Hong Kong were amazing." But not when it came to understanding the 'language' Munroe used. They were given a crash course in 'Americanisms'. How come? "Kevin speaks with a lot of slang, so it took a few meetings for them to accept that when Kevin said ‘cool,’ he wasn’t referring to temperature," producer Paul Wang notes. What did he mean then? "It’s approved", says Wang. The storyline for the new film "TMNT" starts with the turtles no longer a team. "We didn’t want to go back and remake the original, so we decided to start a new chapter in the Turtles’ lives. We wanted to focus on each of the Turtles more by emphasizing their family relationship and how it’s evolved since the last time we saw them. Splinter has sent Leonardo away on a worldwide training mission; and he has become even more protective of the remaining Turtles by discouraging them from fighting crime without Leonardo," Munroe revealed. "Splinter’s biggest concern is the unity of their family. When Leonardo comes home from training, we see Raphael showing a little resentment towards Leo, kind of like a kid who’s envious of his brother who went to college while he stayed at home to work in the family business," Munroe observes. "We continued the storyline that 'The Shredder' has been defeated and, as a result, the Turtles’ other nemeses, Karai and the Foot Clan, have basically become muscle for hire, acting as a private army for anybody who’s willing to pay the price." In "TMNT" the person willing to pay the price is Maximillian J Winters voiced by Patrick Stewart. "Max is not what he seems,"says Stewart. "He may look like a healthy, vigorous and modern individual, but, as his character unfolds, we see why he is such an anomaly in today’s world." Sarah Michelle Gellar who palyed Karen Davis in "The Grudge" 1 & 2 and who voices April O'Neil in "TMNT" remembers "sitting at home, flipping through TV Guide when I saw a listing for a show called Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles."

She offers, "It’s a household name now, but when I first saw it, I thought it was the strangest combination of words." Gellar remembers laughing and thinking, "This is great, I am definitely watching this!" The work that went into creating the four "TMNT" may be overlooked unless you are watching carefully. Not an easy task with all the action that's going on. "We designed full-on muscle systems for the Turtles because they’re essentially wearing nothing but a sash and a half-shell," director Kevin Munroe explains. "We also gave them unique characteristics. For example, on Raphael, he actually has veins that pop out whenever he flexes, and Michelangelo has freckles. Not only is Splinter furry, but he wears a robe. So we fully rendered and animated the robe as well as his fur to show the effects of movement and outside elements." And the thirteen monsters? "A few of Max's monsters are based on those in popular folklore. We also created some monsters that are slightly off the beaten path like a little guy we jokingly dubbed 'The Jersey Devil Monster', which is a little crustacean-like creature who’s basically a freakishly strong koala bear with a bad temper," Munroe said. Providing the voices for the Turtles are veteran voice-over artists: James Arnold Taylor as Leonardo; Mikey Kelley as Michelangelo; Nolan North as Raphael; and Mitchell Whitfield as Donatello. Once again representing the wise father figure in the Turtle Lair is Master Splinter, voiced by the late (10/12/1933 - 21/7/2006) Oscar-nominated, Japanese-American actor Mako (who played The Wizard in Arnold Schwarzenegger's breakthrough cult film "Conan The Barbarian"). Karai, the de facto leader of the Foot Clan, is voiced by the martial arts-trained Chinese actress Ziyi Zhang, who first caught the world’s attention in Ang Lee’s "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon", and more recently received multiple award nominations for her leading role in Rob Marshall’s "Memoirs of a Geisha". Zang received an Independent Spirit Award for "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon", the Huabiao Film Award for "House Of Flying Daggers" and Golden Rooster Best Actress for "Purple Butterfly". The voice of enigmatic Maximillian J Winters, a very powerful multi-billionaire who lives in a monolithic tower and collects ancient artifacts from around the world is provided by Drama Desk and Olivier Award winning actor Patrick Stewart. Harvey, Wizard Fan and Eagle Award winner Kevin Smith is the voice of the Diner Cook. Emmy Award winner Sarah Michelle Gellar is the voice of April O'Neil. Chris Evans, who will next be seen in "Sunshine" and "Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer", is the voice behind the character Casey. "TMNT" is narrated by NAACP Best Actor Image Award, Emmy Award, Tony Award, Drama Desk Award, Outer Critics Circle Award and Theatre World Award winner Laurence Fishburne. Synopsis

After the defeat of their old arch nemesis, 'The Shredder', the Turtles have grown apart as a family. Leonardo has been sent away to discover and learn the qualities of leadership. Struggling to keep them together, their rat sensei, Splinter, becomes worried when strange things begin to brew in New York City. Tech-industrialist Maximillian J Winters is raising up an army of ancient monsters, and only one super-ninja fighting team can stop them: Leonardo, Michelangelo, Donatello and Raphael! With the help of old allies April O’Neil and Casey Jones, the Turtles are in for the fight of their lives as they once again must face the mysterious Foot Clan, who have put their own ninja skills behind Winters’ endeavors.

The Verdict "It takes a little while, about the second act, before you really warm to the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, but let's face reality, unless you are a little tacker or, a really dedicated "TMNT" fan, they are a little dated. Time has moved on since the "TMNT" were just about every TV watching kids hero, yet, somehow by the end of "TMNT" I found myself rather liking their latest bigscreen outing. Won't be everyones cuppa tea, but I get the feeling they are about to win over a new generation of fans. Let's hope if there's a sequel waiting in the wings they give it a lot more turtle heart. 3 STARS." Cast & Crew Bytes "TMNT" stars .......
Chris Evans ["Cellular", "Fantastic 4" and "Sunshine"]; Sarah Michelle Gellar ["Simply Irresistible", "Cruel Intentions", Scooby-Doo 1 & 2", "The Grudge" and "The Grudge 2"]; James Arnold Taylor ["A Detective Story", "Kid's Story" and "The Animatrix: A Detective Story"]; Mitchell Whitfield ["My Cousin Vinnie", "Sgt Bilko", "Amy's Orgasm" and "The Memory Thief"]; Mikey Kelley ["Julius and Friends: Yeti, Set, Go", "Undiscovered" and "Roll Bounce"]; Nolan North ["The Wild", "Cars" and "Deja Vu"]; Patrick Stewart ["Little Lord Fauntleroy", "Star Trek Nemesis", "X-Men", "X-Men 2" and "X-Men: The Last Stand"]; Ziyi Zhang ["Rush Hour 2", "Hero", "House of Flying Daggers" and "Memoirs of a Geisha"] and Mako ["Conan the Destroyer", "Pearl Harbor", "Bulletproof Monk" and "Memoirs of a Geisha"] as Master Splinter.
"TMNT" was .......
directed by Kevin Munroe ["TMNT"]; screenplay by Kevin Munroe ["TMNT"]; production design by Simon Murton ["Space Truckers"]; edited by John Damien Ryan ["Seven's Eleven"]; director of photography by Steve Lumley ["TMNT"]; original music by Klaus Badelt ["K-19: The Widowmaker", "Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl", "16 Blocks" and "Poseidon"]; produced by Thomas K Gray ["Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles", "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze" and "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III"], H Galen Walker ["TMNT"] and Paul Wang ["TMNT"]. Who's Who?

James Arnold Taylor
Mitchell Whitfield
Mikey Kelley
Nolan North
Chris Evans
Sarah Michelle Gellar
Mako
Kevin Smith
Patrick Stewart
Laurence Fishburne
Ziyi Zhang
John Di Maggio
Paula Mattioli
Kevin Michael Richardson
Fred Tatasciore

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Leonardo
Donatello
Michelangelo
Raphael/Nightwatcher
Casey Jones
April O'Neil
Master Splinter
Diner
Max Winters
Narrator
Karai
Colonel Santino
General Serpiente
General Aquila
General Gato