What makes a character?

There was a thread on the forums I visit talking about how there is a piece of concept art showing April blond for the new show. It went on to say that this would destroy her character and make her someone completely different. Now when I read this it made no sense to me at all. I mean does a simple thing as hair color make the character who they are or is it something deeper? I'm still waiting to see a decent answer to this in the thread, but sense I have a blog I thought I'd just really take a look at it and post what I think.

The post that started me thinking about this is:

 "As people who have seen the very early concept art know, April is depicted as being blonde. Thankfully, her hair color was changed to the more usual orange/red color that April is usually depicted with.

I have to say that making April into a 16 year old girl AND making her blonde would have made her seem too much like an entirely different character.

For some reason the fact that she's a redhead makes her feel more like April, as in all universes outside of Mirage she has reddish hair to various degrees." - Cybercubed

Okay so the original post seems harmless enough except that there isn't one things but two that people seem to have a problem with. The fact that they thought of making her blond, and the fact she is 16 in this version. What the thread seemed to be asking, at least to me, was when does the character stop being the character and become something new?

Well lets first address who April is and why she is important in the TMNT universe. April O'neil in every incarnation is one of the Turtles very first human friends. She is the link to the outside world that they can never fully be part of. Also she is the motherly figure to them. Trying to protect them as best she can from the world around them. Oh and she has an antique shop. Now that is the same over all the different versions thus far. 

What is different in each version? In the Mirage comics, 4kids show, and IDW she worked for Baxter Stockmen as a lab assistant at first. Where in the Fred Wolf cartoon and the movies she was a news reporter. In the Nick show she will be 16 and in high school, past that we don't have a lot about her yet. Mirage, 4kids, and the movies she learns to fight to be able to either take part in adventures or to defend her self. FW she is the damsel in distress. Mirage and the movies she is brunette, FW an amber color, 4kids and IDW pure red.

So to start off right there, her hair has been different colors in different versions. There is no set color for her hair. And as stated in the last paragraph it depends on what version you are looking at what she does for a living. Also in the movies she seems to be in her late 20s to early 30s. Mirage she is about mid 20s, 4kids and IDW early 20s, and Nick of course she is 16. So even then her age has fluctuated. Granted those this is the biggest fluctuation.

The point of pointing all this out was to get people to think about the character across all platforms and see her in a broader light. While there are some key factors in her personality, there are also things that have changed depending on incarnation. 

Does the fact she is 16 bother me? At first a little I'll be honest. To me it was taking her from being a "parent" figure and making her one of the guys. Then I realized that 4kids had done that too. They tried to make her one of the team by using her tech suaveness and having Splinter teach her the ninja arts. Once I realized that making her part of the group had been done before I could kind of dig where they were trying to go with making her younger.

Now the hair thing? That I can honestly say I could care less about. As long as they have the key things about April that have been in every universe then that is all that matters. Her being their link to the outside world, her trying to protect them in her own way from it, and being their friend regardless of them being different are what is important. Hell she could be bald for all I care.

I guess what I'm getting at it doesn't matter if some changes are made to a character as long as the heart of the character is there. After all I don't want to see the same thing over and over. If I have a favorite version I read or watch it still. DVDs and comics are great for repeat viewings. Sometimes you have to embrace change. As Splinter has said in almost all versions of TMNT, "The only constant is change."

TMNT have been placed on ToysRus "hot list"

The last time TMNT made anyones hot toy list was in the early 90s, and even then it was starting to fall from grace. Even though we saw a new cartoon in 2003 the merchandise never seemed to pick up momentum. But that looks to have changed this coming year. With Nick's power behind it it might truly be the second coming of TMNT.

For those of you who want to see what other toys made ToysRus top 15 hot toy list you can find the link here.

TMNT vs Godzilla in 2014

May 16, 2014 was the day the Ninja Turtles movie was pushed back to from Christmas of 2013. Now if this was because of the script that Bay is saying wasn't the real script or other reasons, it was the script, who knows. Now though another anxiously awaited franchise has put its claim to that day. Legendary Pictures is now looking at releasing the new Godzilla movie the same day.

Will Ninja Turtles back down or hold its ground? No statement has been issued yet about it, but it will be interesting to see. While Ninja Turtles will probably appeal more to children and families Godzilla will relate more to adults and teens. Yet there is that crossover bunch, the 20-40 somethings that grew up with the original Turtle craze in the 80s. These are the parents of todays children.

With tickets costing what they do and going to the theater not being nearly what it was it is going to mean people are going to have to choose. I am a fan of both TMNT and Godzilla. However I know that I'm more of a TMNT fan. Yet I want to see both of these films do well, spawning many sequels to come. It may be one of those rare times where I do a movie marathon day and see both.

Our first Art Contest

Being inspired by a thread at the forums I frequent I thought we would do our very own redesign contest here. So here is to announcing our first challenge. The character that will be the first redesign is going to be a simple one I think. We are going to start with the Rat King.  You'll have tell October 27th to submit your drawings, photos, paintings, or whatever else you might like to do.

Here is a link to his Wiki page and another to his TMNTpedia page.

Here are some pictures for reference. Tried to get a picture from all his different versions.

Feel free to take your design any way your heart leads. Go crazy and have fun.

Fugitiod Redesign

Over on TheTechnodrome.com forums there is currently a contest for redesigning the Fugitiod. I haven't taken part in the last couple contest because I just haven't had time. However I saw this one and it sounded like fun. So I've done two sketches so far, and then redrew them on the computer with some color. Neither one is brilliant but they were both fun to do. So here they are for my readers to see. I'll probably be posting more of my art on here soon. Plan on having a review up of the mutating Tokka later today.

    

TMNT Motion Comic Volume 1 Issue 1

Back on February 4th of 2011 a member of TheTechnodrome forums had the idea to do a motion comic of the first issue that launched the TMNT, now close to a year and a half later it is done. This group came together recording their parts and sending them in. Other members did the motion work, the video work, sound work. It was truly a labor of love. All done for no profit, just because they loved this franchise. Here is the labor of the work. I hope you enjoy, I know I did.

New Behind the Scenes Video

Here is a little behind the scene look at what is coming. Have to say that it just keeps looking better and better. It sounds like these guys actually care and are trying to make the best show possible. Kind of digging that Shredder is making a mutant army of his own, though I would have like to see Fishface or Dogpound over Spiderbite.