TMNT Films

Synopsis of TMNT #1

When a crime wave hits New York, a young reporter, April O'Neil, decides to investigate. Unfortunately, she becomes too involved, and has to be rescued by the mysterious Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. In return, she helps them find their sensei, Splinter, a mutated rat, who was kidnapped by The Shredder, leader of The Foot - a group of ninjas who were responsible for the crimes. Eventually, the TMNT, April and a delinquent fighter, Casey Jones, rescue Splinter, and defeat the Foot, thus ending the robberies.

Hey, Rewind that!

Mistakes and General Things Noticed about the Films

The game Donatello and Casey Jones are playing when they're mending the truck, is Alphabetical Insults.
For those of you that missed it, the insults went like this:
Zip Neck
Atomic Mouth
Barfaroni
Camel Breath
Dome Head*
Elf Lips*
Fungoid
Gack Face
Hose Brain

*Note: Donatello was called 'Dome Head', and Casey, 'Elf Lips'. Out of all the insults, these are the only ones that seem very apt :)

When Chief Sternes questions the foot member at the end, the name of the building he gives is very familiar: The East warehouse, at Lairdman Island. For those of you that don't know, this is a play on words of the TMNT creators' names, Kevin Eastman, and Peter Laird.

Casey Jones is chopping vegetables in the farmhouse kitchen with something that Leonardo might have been searching for: his kantana.

Although the turtle costumes used in the movie were very realsitic, there is one moment that defies nature. As Raphael is thrown through April's skylight, and lands, his shell and body actually compress, foam-like.

Either Raphael has a twin, or there was a very big mistake made when the turtles are sitting round April's table. At first, Donatello is sitting next to April, and then it cuts to Michaelangelo's impressions. Going back to April, Raphael is shown next to her, and then, he is shown looking into a fish tank at the other side of the room. The camera then goes back to the table, where Raphael is sitting next to April. Donatello is not seen at the table again.

In the scene where Raphael is fighting with The Foot on a roof-top, his sais are thrown over the side of the building, yet he is later seen with them. The solution? Either he has two pairs of sais, which would cause his anger at losing a sai earlier to be totally irrational, or Casey Jones picked them up before he arrived to help the turtles. Of course, it could just have been a mistake, too.

When the Splinter's flashback shows the turtles mutating and maturing, they have four paired sections of plastron (the chest-area), but throughout the movie, in adult form, they have three paired sections.

Synopsis of TMNT #2

Whilst the turtles are relaxing after their battles with The Foot, The Shredder is ressurected, and his only thought is of revenge. His method is to steal a newly discovered batch of mutagen, the chemical that mutated the turtles, and form his own, with the help of an imprissoned professer, Professer Perry. The turtles meet with Shredder's mutants, and in the process, rescue Perry. With his help, and their new friend, Keno's, they formulate an reverse-mutating chemical, and in a final confrontation, defeat The Shredder and his mutants.

Hey, Rewind That!

In the battle at the TGRI labratory, there is a soft crash mat, which the actors use to fall onto, left in the picture which has not been airbrushed out

After the turtles have returned from the first battle of the movie, Donnie pours a topping onto Mikey's pizza. Not unusual. What is unusual is that it's actually candy sprinkles. Submitted/corrected by Sabrina

At one point, when Prof. Perry states that the mutagen has produced some unpleasant mutations, Leo replies with
"Yeah, Tokka, Rhazar, and The Shredder."
He seems to be implying that the mutagen produced The Shredder. This could explain exactly how The Shredder was, in a way, brought back to life, after the ending of TMNT #1, when he would have been near to death:-
Shredder, in #2, is shown to be in a waste-ground. The mutagen was buried in a waste-ground. It could possibly have been the same place. So, if the mutagen can make objects extra powerful - and it can, from what can be seen at the end of #2 - then it could have strengthened Shredder as he was dying.
Note: It appears that what Professor Perry said was that one or two mutations had occured, implying that The Shredder may not have been one of them. Submitted/corrected by Sabrina

There's some nice attention to detail in TMNT #2. If you look at Raphael's shell, it has lacerations and grooves in it, seemingly from old battles. As none of the other turtles have this, it seems the wounds may be from TMNT #1, when Raph was thrown through the skylight.

Mikey seems to have suddenly acquired a few extra traits since the last film; he has started doing a cute little hop/skip when he walks sometimes, and also appears to have picked up a bit of a faux English accent. It's especially clear when he and Donny are talking to April on the telephone, and he tells Donny to "Give him the phone."

Now, I know the turtles were in a hurry when Keno turned up at April's apartment with an unexpected pizza, but wouldn't you think ninjas could hide better than they did? I mean, Donny (I think) hid behind a counter in an open-plan kitchen, and Leo simply ducked next to a cabinet!

Synopsis of TMNT #3

When April decides she needs a break from the turtles, she gets a vacation with a difference - and is transported backwards in time, with the aid of an antique sceptor. In her place arrives the son of a Japanese ruler, whose absense causes more warfare in an already divided Japan. The turtles quickly find a way to follow April, but unfortunately cannot return to present-day New-York due to the misplacing of the sceptor. Instead, they find themselves particiapting in several battles, and finally manage to put an end to the unrest, before eventually locating their means of time-travel and reinstating themselves in their home.

Hey, Rewind That!

Notice that when Mikey is trying on his flamboyant boxer-shorts before he leaves for Japan, there is a toy panda on his bed - presumably the one he *borrowed* in TMNT #1, from April's apartment

There's some rather skewed logic regarding the way the characters time travel (okay, there's a lot of illogical material with any time travel, but this is easy to figure out :P). Mikey puts on boxer shorts so the person arriving in his place isn't naked, and fair enough, when that person arrives, he is wearing boxer shorts. Yet the other three people who arrive are wearing underwear, when the other turtles obviously weren't wearing any. So, either Mikey's *partner* should be wearing underwear under his shorts, or the others should be naked. But, I suppose this is a kids' film...

I'm just going to pause the nit-picking here, because I want to put my opinion forward on the above subject (I've tried not to put too much opinion in here so far). It's strange, but it seems as though people will accept, maybe even believe, incredibly fantastic stories and characters, as with the TMNT, yet will be irritated by something that is unrealistic regarding real life. Not clear? Okay, an example: a mutant is standing in a kitchen, accompnied by talking appliances. He/she puts a steak in the oven. Next second, it's ready. Now I bet many viwers seeing this would immediately comp-ain that this could not happen. Don't believe me? Look at all the nitpicks people point out, and see if they're about everyday situations in the midst of fantasy.

Watch Leo's hand when April is about to be transported through time: he's doing a weird sort of clenching thang with it.

If there are any things I may have missed, please e-mail me here to point it out.