I’m pretty thrilled to be able to say that there’s a great new Ninja Turtles film that will definitely appeal to both hardcore and casual fans. No, not the disappointing Platinum Dunes reboot. I’m talking about the well-crafted, thoroughly researched documentary Turtle Power: The Definitive History of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
The film is a fairly comprehensive look at the Ninja Turtles franchise across different media: comics, TV, films, and merchandise. The filmmakers definitely went into this with the goal of finding the story behind the scenes and crafting a meaningful film, and we get a very clear idea that this is a true piece of deep-cut, investigative journalism and not just a gimmick to shake fans down for a few bucks.
As a “hardcore fan” who is knowledgeable about the Turtles and their creators in general, I’m not exactly easy to impress. Many interviews and videos or featurettes over the years have just felt like fluff because I’ve heard it all before. These are generally aimed at the biggest cross section and lowest common denominator of fans (which usually includes the under-10 crowd), rather than any kind of serious or academic discussion of a highly imaginative intellectual property that became a licensing giant.
Many factors help make this documentary something special. The most readily obvious is that the filmmakers went to great lengths to secure as many interviews as possible, and not just the obvious ones. Some of the many interviewees include folks from: Mirage Studios, Surge Licensing, Playmates, Golden Harvest, Fred Wolf Films, Jim Henson’s Creature Shop, and even TMNT fan sites.
With dedication to the subject and so many interviewees to draw from (over 220 hours of footage), the film manages to be successful in bringing new facts and stories to life that even the most dedicated fans may not be aware of, like the full story of how Eastman and Laird first met (including an introductory letter Kevin wrote to Peter), the bizarre “Bus-kicking Turtles” origin thread, and great tidbits like which Kurt Russell character inspired Casey Jones, and which Turtles’ personalities were loosely based on Kevin and Peter. Additionally, the film features many vintage videos, home movies, and behind-the scenes materials – no doubt culled from the private collections of the various folks that the filmmakers encountered. One of the best such moments is a candid home video of the Mirage Crew celebrating when the Turtles’ first animated show got picked up.
Speaking of the animated show, there’s a great segment featuring a reunion of pretty much the entire voice cast of the original cartoon. It’s a lot of fun to see the actors voicing their characters, and I was both tremendously excited and also profoundly saddened to see that this reunion included James Avery, the voice of Shredder, who died at the end of 2013.
A recurring theme that defines the film is the strange and fragile chain of events that made the Turtles the huge property they eventually became. The lightning-in-a-bottle stuff, and the unsung heroes who helped make it happen. Many fans know of Kevin’s uncle who gave the fledgling creators their startup capital, but they may not know about guys like Mark Freedman of Surge Licensing, Richard Sallis at Playmates Toys, and screenwriter Bobby Herbeck – people who believed in the Turtles and took great personal and professional risk to pitch and promote them into an animated cartoon, action figures, and live action motion picture.
The film highlights these special contributions to the Ninja Turtles’ legacy, and culminates sweetly with the reunion of Eastman and Laird after two decades of personal and professional separation.
THE PACKAGE
Turtle Power arrives on DVD August 12 from Paramount (no Blu-Ray has been announced, and such a release seems unlikely), and is also available on VOD. The disc contains just the film; no special features.
While I have nothing but praise for the film, I find the DVD a bit lacking. With such a wealth of interviews and footage to draw from, it would’ve been so great if some of it had found its way onto the disc. The good news is that FauxPop has released some of this online in their video blogs.
And hey, full disclosure – the DVD’s back cover art and menu design use Comic Sans, which is a crime that no design professional should still be guilty of in 2014. Obviously not a major problem, but come on.
OK, so clearly I’m nitpicking. It’s hard to find fault with this amazing film, and in case it wasn’t clear, if you’re a Turtles fan, just buy this DVD. It’s terrific.
Tomorrow we’ll be posting a companion piece to this article, my interview with writer/director Randall Lobb. This is a fun, informative conversation with a very intelligent filmmaker that you won’t want to miss!
A/V Out.
Get it at Amazon:
TURTLE POWER: The Definitive History Of The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles – [DVD]