Tuesday, April 2, 2013

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, version 2012

Okay, so here's the deal with Ninja Turtles and myself.

I FREAKING LOVE THE NINJA TURTLES. I remember waking up at 4 AM when I was no older than five, just so I could watch the various Ninja Turtle Marathons that would be on the TV. I distinctly remember being so excited to see whatever shenanigans they'd get up to, whether it be to fight the Kraang to set out to foil the plans of the Shredder... whatever they were, I was completely on board with everything they did. My father used to bring home Cowabunga Icees to myself and my siblings (during the time that the Icee Corp. still existed and the limited edition flavor was around), and I used to devour those things like they were ambrosia straight from Mount Olympus.

Of course, things happen as you get older. The show got put onto hours that I was at school, and of course waking up at 4 AM lost it's charm after a while. Nevertheless, I still enjoyed it whenever I could, and it stayed with me as an integral part of my childhood. However, by the time that the 2003 series came out, I was pretty disenchanted with revival/modern cartoons. With Dora the Explorer and things like Spongebob Squarepants around, I was pretty sure that whatever came of it would be much less than I wanted. However misinformed this view was, at the ripe old age of 13, I was convinced that there was no way that my personal opinion was anything but brilliantly formulated and based off of years of experience.

Naturally as I got older, this changed. However, by the time that I would have been open to watching the 2003 TMNT series, it was already over, and while I was sure that it was of good quality, I had lost interest in the franchise. I still loved and supported it, but it was at the point where there were different things that held my attention. Besides, the 2003 series wasn't the 1987 series that I had grown up with. It lacked whatever it was that made me love the first cartoons.

Fast forward to 2012. Recently graduated from college and job hunting, I begin to look for other things with which I may occupy my time. After a while, I began to wonder if, after the previous series, TMNT had died. I didn't think so, but I wanted to make sure. So I found out about the supposed movie that is apparently still in development, and was interested enough to do some more research.

THAT was when I discovered the new cartoon series. I was instantly intrigued. It hadn't started yet- I could maybe be there to see it from the beginning, which was always a good thing when it came to TV shows in my book. And then I saw the cast. Sean Austin?! Greg Cipes?! Clancy Brown?! Rob Paulson?! There was absolutely no way in hell that I was going to miss a show in which some of my favorite voice actors all stared in (I knew that the other people had to be good, but since I was mostly familiar with these people, these were the ones that I got really excited about)! I knew nothing about the show, but I knew enough to know that if all of these guys were in on it, it had to be good. Boy, oh, boy, was I right.


Oh, my Lord, I love this show. I completely and utterly adore it. I admit, I had my reservations when I first turned on the show, but it did not disappoint in any way. In fact, it surpassed my expectations. I literally sat in my spot on the sofa bouncing in anticipation and squealing with delight as I watched it. I loved the voice acting, the animation, and the humor. It had the perfect blend of innocent joking mixed with things that an adult could appreciate. And I adore the development that they've done with the characters. For the most part. I have some issues with what they did with April. Not her age, mostly with her design.

So in case you couldn't tell, Ninja Turtle reviews are probably going to be on the board for the next few posts. I need to proclaim my love for all the characters individually. Probably I'll start as soon as I finish this post, because I can't wait to start.

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