TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES (1990) - Cowabunga Dudes!

In Episode 48 of Secret Level, Joey and Billy talk about the radical and adventurous 1990 live-action adaptation of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles! This was one of those movies that we loved watching when we were kids and watching it on the big screen for the first time since it first came out was an absolute blast! We had to go into an in-depth discussion about the film, highlighting its cultural significance, production trivia, deleted scenes, and the comedic elements infused within the conversation. Joey and Billy reflect on their nostalgia for the movie, sharing favorite lines, memorable fight scenes, and intricate details about its creation, and as always we have fun providing our own fun commentary. We hope you enjoy the show!

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Transcript

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Fine, Billy, fine. I will tell Everyone, this story, since you've been, like, begging me to tell it for forever. Finally, dude. I've been waiting too long for this. I know you have. I know. So, several years ago, Billy and I were kind of, like, on this scavenger hunt. They have these scavenger hunts where you can, uh, win money. And we thought, hey, it'd be fun to, like, do this thing, right? So we sign up. We get on board, Billy borrows his car from his uncle, and we're off to the races. Billy's face is like, oh crap, here we go. Here we go. He can't stop this train now. No, no he can't. So Billy's driving, and we're out driving around town. We're trying to find This, there's this garage that we're supposed to find that has this clue in it, k? And we are driving down this super steep hill. And this is like an old Oldsmobile car that we're in. Like 1970 Oldsmobile for some reason. I don't know why Billy wanted to borrow the car from his uncle, but that's what we did. was necessary. Okay. Yeah. So, as we're driving down this hill, Billy sees this garage open and without thinking he jumps out of the car, doesn't even like put the car in park. He jumps out to run into the garage and the car is still rolling down the hill. And so I'm like jumping in the driver's seat trying to like figure this out because I've never driven one of these cars before. It's got one of, you know, the handles up by the steering wheel and all that stuff, right? And the car rolls down the hill. Dad, I can't, I'm not able to stop it in time before I slam on the brakes and it ends up plowing into the side of a food truck at the end of the street. Now, no one's in the food truck, there's a house next to it, and there's like a party going on in the backyard, whatever. And I'm freaking out. I'm like, Oh my gosh, Billy's gone. I just ran into this food truck and I'm like, I don't know what to do right now. I'm thinking like, do I go knock on the door or whatever? But I pull out, pull to the side of the road down the street a little bit. And as I look, Billy is like running back down to the car and like around the corner and we're, there's like, Houses on all of these corners and so he sees another garage and he goes running in it and I'm like what the Billy's just running in random people's garages And he's scrummaging through There's stuff looking for this clue that we were supposed to get. So, okay, I'm kind of like waiting outside of the car just seeing who comes out of the house. I'm just kind of like eyeing the food truck, whatever. And this, uh, lucha libre wrestler comes out of the house followed by a bunch of kids and they're following him to the food truck. I guess he's the owner of the food truck, right? And so I'm sitting there, I'm like, okay, this is so strange. And he sees like the damage to his food truck and he's clearly pissed off. And I'm like, I'm not going over there right now. I'm going to wait for Billy before I do this thing. So I kind of like, like go and like around the corner and just kind of like chill out until I see Billy coming out of the garage. Billy's gone a long time. And so I'm just kind of sitting there waiting things out and I'm like forget it I'm just gonna go over and talk to this guy. And so as I'm go around the corner I'm walking toward the food truck. This is like maybe a couple hours later None of the kids are there. But as I'm walking toward I hear this guy screaming over by the food truck and As I get closer, I notice that The wrestler guy is beating the living hell out of somebody with a boat anchor, just swinging it over and over again and just beating him up. And I'm like, there's no way I'm going over there now. It, there's, I'm, I'm not going to die over, over this. I will, I will call insurance. I will do whatever it takes. But this guy is beating another guy with this anchor and it was, A horrifying, horrifying scene to see. So I go running up the hill and like, as I'm running back up this hill, Billy comes running up behind me and he's like, I found it. I found the clue. And I'm like, did you not see what just happened? That was all. Like, side story, I needed to complete my task. Okay? And, we're kind of just like, man, I don't know what to do now, like, do, like, I, I'm kind of scared to go back down to get the car that we left down on the street that the, you know, guy clearly has visual of, right? But, uh, since the guy may have seen me, he didn't see Billy. So Billy's like, I'll go get it. And so Billy goes down, he grabs the car. No, no, no problems. But when he goes down there, everything's like the guys, both everyone's gone. There's probably just a bunch of blood wherever he was beating the guy. But Billy comes up and we're standing on the top of this hill where all these homes are. And we're kind of just like, what the crap just happened? And as we're staring off into the distance, Like just kind of talking, looking at the horizon or whatever guy in like this really nice gray suit, red tie. He's got like a Derby hat on and he's just walking up the hill and he's saying to himself, May, May, May. It's so I say as he kind of walks closer to us day and Billy goes, say, And the guy stops and looks at us, like, like, confused. And I said, Ray? And so we start rhyming words with this guy and he is so impressed with us that we are able to rhyme words with May. And he's just like, how do you do that? And that's the end of that story. Well, the moral of the story is, is if you don't want people running into your garage to find, um, Items. Don't leave a garage open. Dude, they were all open. Every single garage was open on this street. And I went into every single one of them. Every garage. And I have no idea. We never went to the, uh, the house where the Lucha Libre came out of. Uh, we just kind of left it at that because obviously we didn't want to die, so. Yeah, no one wants to get beat by an anchor. That's just the way it is. Rule number one. Yes. So yeah. All right. Um, now that everybody knows our deepest darkest secret Let's talk about one of the best days of our life Billy. This was a dream. I had about two weeks ago And I had that I was like That's it. That's the story I'm telling on the next podcast. Okay. I mean, I love the scavenger hunt idea. That was awesome. Your dreams are fun. That is like, what? Yeah, I couldn't look at you while you were telling the story, or I would have laughed the whole time and ruined the vibe. But I needed to see where it was going. It was awesome. Yeah, okay. Alright, ready? I'm ready. I'm pumped. Okay. Uh, So yeah, I'm excited to get into this one. I'm excited. before we go on, I am Joey Parr, the host of Secret Level. And joining me as always is the Lovable, Laughable, Luchalibre, Billy, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep. Yeah, I'm here. I'm excited. Let's do this. Dude, yes, I'm really excited about this. Okay. So, uh, maybe about a month ago, Billy and I had the opportunity to go over to Quentin Tarantino's theater, the new Beverly cinema, where we watched the 1990 classic Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles on the big screen, 35 millimeter print in a theater full of fans. And it was awesome. It was amazing. I haven't seen this movie on the big screen since 1990. Yeah, it's been a while. And I think when it came out in theaters, I probably only saw it once or twice. I, I would say once. I saw it once. I, yeah, I don't remember. I obviously definitely saw it once. But, uh, then I watched it on VHS all the time. And, uh, then I saw it on the big screen again. And it was a lot of fun. And we were like, Hey! Hey! Our next podcast should be Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Absolutely. The classic live action movie that was awesome and radical and pizza licious. It was. Uh, it was one of the VHS tapes that I watched the most after it came out. I'm sure it was. It was great. But, to see it on, just to see it in a theater with a whole bunch of fans was different. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Because. Everybody except for this one girl that was sitting in front of us, all the jokes hit. Everybody was like weighted with bated breath for certain things. Yeah. Yeah, and then this one Just go why is everybody laughing? We're like just shut up Just let us enjoy this But see that was one of the most amazing double features that I've ever been to well Double feature. We didn't tell them what the second film was. I know, I'm excited. Which will be the next podcast. Yes. We're gonna get a little bit more into that next time, but the just the whole night was fantastic. Yes, it was it was fun It was fun to see it on the big screen So yes, we're gonna talk about it because this movie kind of had like a huge profound impact on Fans like growing up pop culture All of that stuff. I mean, over 30 years later, the film remains like this beloved classic and continues to resonate with fans and audiences and just when you're watching this movie again, when I was in the theater, Billy and I were like, kind of like taken back to being like 10 years old again, watching this movie. Just the nostalgia and the warmth that we felt as we watched it was amazing. It just, it was overwhelming. It was like a warm blanket. It was. And it was nice to see other people other than just Joey and I truly appreciate what this was. Yeah, and what I loved about it, And the movie was directed by, uh, Steve Barron and what I loved about it is it does a great job of balancing humor, playful banter, you also get this darker, gritty tone of it. Like, this was like, like a gritty movie. Rewatching it again all these years later, I'm like, man, it was really true to the comics. Like, how they, how, how like, Grounded and gritty they were, you know, and that's what I loved about those original comics and this movie Well light hearted and featured the pizza loving antics from our favorite characters It it still just like there were heavy emotional moments and it's the movie was just a great balance of Of every, all of that stuff. Great storytelling, screen, the script was solid, like, this was great. And what, in doing this research, one thing that I realized all these years later is this Was an independent film. Yeah, I had no idea, man. Yeah, I was like, whoa, this was not a studio project and no wonder it worked, you know? Absolutely, I don't think if there was a big studio's hand in it, I don't think it would have done as well. Like, You could tell because the costumes used by the turtles in this, so amazing. Yeah. And so good, they've never been able to duplicate that. Not, no, even when you watch the sequel and the third film, it's like the costumes just get cheaper and cheaper as they made these movies. And you're just like, man, this first one just nailed it. Perfectly. it's interesting because Paramount Pictures, who owns, the property, they are doing an R rated version of The Last Ronin. Which is, oh man, if you have not read that comic, you need to get into it. Which is so cool, but at the same time, I'm worried, because while they want to do it R rated, and they want to, like, do it, will they? Actually get the story right, you know? They recently released that Transformers trailer for the upcoming animated movie, and I'm like, ugh. Yeah. And I'm like, don't do that with Turtles. Like, don't do that with, don't do that with the last Ronin. the, the last Ninja Turtles movie that was released, the animated one, was a lot of fun. I actually enjoyed it. It was. It, it, it was a lot like the original, uh, animated series. Yeah, yeah. It made me happy. Yeah. But, I was talking to one of my buddies about it, and I'm like, Wouldn't it be awesome if they did it live action Mm hmm. The way that the original Ninja Turtles movie was done? Yeah. The last Ronin in that style. It would be great. You know? It feels like it kind of needs to be like that. Because the tone matches it. Mm hmm. The tone of the original film match, would match the tone. Of this, of this story. I think it would work really cool. But anyway, getting off subject. Yeah, no, no. We could talk about that in a whole episode on its own. Just what the last Ronin will be. But we need to talk about this first to set up what that could be. Yeah. And, but anyway, I mean, that movie was made in a time when CGI just didn't exist. And so costumes, were just. Amazing. The practical effects on it were The practical effects were perfect. Like, everything just worked so well. And the characters are brought to life perfectly. I love the characters. I love their personalities, their styles. It just worked for the film. The actors who portrayed them. And what impressed me the most this time, because I think I never, I don't think I ever thought about it before, but can you imagine having to do all of that stunt work in those costumes? Dude, the costumes must have been freaking amazing for the, for them to pull off those fight sequences. Like, holy cow. I mean, we get into like those things as we'll go on and talk about it's just that, that was the most impressive. Yeah. When you watch it on screen, you're like, dude, Dang, and I know sometimes, like, you see that their costumes, like, the neck, you'll see a slit in the neck, or, or, uh, the mouth within the mouth. Yeah. Um. But, at the time when you're watching the movie, you're not looking at that. No, you're not. You just, you just see turtles. It's not until years later, with the, you know, the internet points all this stuff out, so. Right. but yeah, like, it's, it's, it's It's such a fun movie and the film like just does a great like just rewatching again The film just captures the essence of our childhood like we were ninja turtle fans growing up you know even before the cartoons because Like, I read the comics, I know Billy read the comics, and so it was like, This movie was just, I just loved the nostalgia aspect of it. Watch, re watching it again, and seeing those heroes on the big screen was just so much fun. And it moved me! It was really like, Inspiring that like, man, they used to make great movies, didn't they? Right! And so, here's the thing. A lot of us know that the whole point of a movie is suspension of disbelief. Like, you're going into it, and you believe that this world really exists. And for me, this is one of my top suspension of disbelief movies ever. Because I get so into it. And when it's over, I'm so bummed. Because I was like, man, that was great. Like, you actually expect to see these, You know, news articles about turtles in the street and stuff like that. Like it looked and felt real. And that was fantastic. Yeah, and it's just kind of like a reminder of simpler times with movies. Right. this was made before superhero movies dominated. You know, before comic book movies dominated the box office. There weren't any high budget effects, There weren't any crazy, over the top, complex narratives of mashing crossovers and characters from different things together. It was just a very simple, straightforward, good, solid story. And why can't Hollywood do that anymore? Ugh. It's because everybody wants to get their hands in it and it gets all muddled. At the same time, it laid the groundwork for all that stuff. It did. Being in the 90s, being one of the first great comic book movies made, yeah. It laid the groundwork for what we're seeing now. But it's also, over the years, it's just lost its process. It's hard, really. It's just really, like, a lot of people probably don't know, and we've blown your minds with this, that it originally was a comic book. This is one of the original comic book blockbusters. Yeah. In history. I mean, you had Superman, and that was fantastic. Christopher Reeves will always be Superman. Yeah, I feel old. But, yeah, no, seriously, like, we I don't think there's another comic book movie that I've ever, like, taken to heart so well. Yeah, yeah. As a kid, I mean, I mean, don't get me wrong. Yes, Superman, perfect movie. Superman the movie is another perfect movie. but Ninja Turtles kind of takes it to a new level with this. I mean, we're talking about Ninja Turtles here, guys. You know, there's a super strong, powerful guy in tights compared to turtles dressed up like ninjas. Oh, man. You just had to be there, I don't know. I'm with you. I mean, the movie kind of just embodies joy, creativity. it was daring for its time. It was different. It was unique for a film. You know? And it ended up just being a timeless classic. It did. Like, I could watch it at any time. It, we have movies that we can just stop. If it's, no matter where it's at in the movie, we'll stop and watch the rest of it because you just have to. Yeah. And this is one of those movies. Yep. So, interesting though. This is the highest grossing, this was the highest grossing independent film. Mm hmm. Until the Blair Witch Project came out in 1999. So there was a good nine years between Ninja Turtles and the Blair Witch Project. Which is also a fantastic movie, and we'll talk about that later. Yeah, it had 135 million domestically at the box office, and 66 million in the foreign box office. Which is, I mean, that's impressive! Yeah, for back, for 1990, did it make 200 million? Yeah. Back in the day? A hundred million was considered a blockbuster hit. Yes. A hundred. Now, now, you, for it to be considered A blockbuster hit, you have to clear 400 million. It's a different time. I remember, yeah, it's just a different time. But, if you look at it, if they released the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles in all theaters throughout the world, it would top that no problem, because you and I barely got into that movie. People were waiting outside, hoping that there was an extra ticket to go in and see it. Because so many people want to see it in the theater again. Yeah. kind of want to talk about the director for a minute. Yep. he directed several episodes of The Storyteller for Jim Henson. Great show. Back in the 80s. Yep. And Golden Harvest was the production company behind the movie and they knew that a live action TMNT movie would require extensive use of animatronics. And so the reason why Baron got the job is because he had the experience in that field to be able to make that work. yeah, because it's not easy to have to work around puppets, uh, the, the, um, animatronics of Master Splinter. You have to be able to. Film it just the right way, so it takes out any wires or anything that, you know, you have to be, aware and cognizant of those things happening while you're trying to make a good shot. Yeah. So, he did a great job. Yeah. It's, it, this, this movie kind of had an interesting road to production as well, or into development. So, I can't wait to see it. The first pitch that Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird got for a Ninja Turtles movie was from Roger Corman. Oh. New World Pictures. Yep. The idea for that pitch was that the Turtles would be played by four comedians who were popular at the time. Boo. Billy Crystal, Bobcat Goldwaith, Sam Kinison, and Gallagher. Yeah. Um, I respect what they're trying to do, but I don't think it would have worked. It's not over yet, Billy. Oh, no. The actors would have been dressed in turtle shells, and they would have, they would have had their arms and legs painted green. This is just getting better and better. We're not over yet. Ha ha, fantastic. One of the other ideas they had was, uh, they wanted to kind of go into some R rated territory. And at one point, there was a scene that included partially nude nuns on roller skates fighting the Ninja Turtles. Wow, now I'm disappointed we didn't get that. No way, dude. What? That's horrible. Oh, man, they had some bangers back then, didn't they? They had some great ideas. Hey, Hollywood's still crapping out those kind of ideas, so Right. Dude. It just didn't happen in the 80s and the 90s. Hollywood's still pumping out some pretty good stinkers. Yeah, I'm, I'm good with not having that in my life. When Barron came on board though, one of the first meetings he had with Kevin Eastman and, and, uh, Peter Laird, the, the, that, that initial story meeting they had going through the comics, Barron told them that the movie was right there, in the comics. He's like, they're right here. To which the co creator is like, Yeah, of course they are. Let's do that. Let's make a movie that we've kind of have here. You know, we've laid out the story. And it makes complete sense. Hey, here's the blueprint to the movie. Let's use it. Which again, Hollywood doesn't do that either. They're like, Oh, we got this idea. From a book, or a comic, or anywhere else, but let's just throw the source material away, use the title, and then create something we think fits best. Better. Yeah. Fits that mold. So what, what we think the audience is really gonna like. Hmm. Because I went to Harvard and Yale and got a business degree, so I know what's best. Wow. Yeah. I'm glad they did what they did. Yes. One of the early ideas that was pitched at the time Uhhuh, is it would've been kind of a similar approach to who framed Roger Rabbit in which the actors would be interacting with animated versions of the turtles. Yes. This was considered. Uh, but, considered, obviously it didn't happen and the idea was quickly scrapped in favor of pursuing performances in turtle costumes that would Henson's Creature Shop. Yes. Which, they did, like we said before, they did a phenomenal job. Yes. filming on the movie started in July 1989, which was two weeks after the theatrical release of Batman, Tim Burton's movie. Mm hmm. And two months were allocated for filming, and the production came together much faster than a typical Henson project. Well, yeah, I mean, you look at things like Dark Crystal and, uh, Labyrinth, and those were just elaborate puppet sets. This, just, you just had to have the costumes, and there you go. Yeah. The original opening of the film contained the turtle's giant shells mysteriously emerging from the river at night before engaging on a long, complicated tracking shot through the city. But budget constraints caused this to be replaced by the scenes of the Foot Gang committing acts of theft during daylight. The shells emerging from the water shot did make it. Briefly into the trailer for the film, and the scene in which the turtles attack the teens mugging April with the light being knocked out was a result of the production not having the time to choreograph another fight sequence. I mean, but this is the thing. We found that budgetary constraints actually make some of the most amazing scenes. Yes, Billy said it because it's true because when The lights go out and you just hear this And like the swishing of karate going on and stuff and the Beating and the banging your imagination is like popping off all over the place. And that's what makes movies fun is it's okay to not show everything. This is like the same thing that happened with Spielberg's Jaws. Oh, we didn't have the budget to be able to show jaws throughout the whole movie. Make it, you know, so let's hide the shark, but it worked. That's why the movie was so good. That's why it's such a classic. And so, yes, I. I agree, again, with Billy on that. Well, and the thing is, is that all of us had our own preconceived notions of what each turtle could do. So, when the lights go out, you, your imagination goes wild. You could be like, well, I know Donny's gonna do this, and Michelangelo's gonna do that. And it's, you don't need the shot. Like, you don't need the fight. But, I loved it. I loved the whole, that whole opening sequence was a lot of fun. Ton of fun. Yeah. It was great. Uh, and when you finally did see the turtles fight, like, it worked! Like, they were cool fight sequences! And obviously, pfft, we wanted to see more of that. Ha ha ha ha, exactly. Cause it was fun, it was fun watching the turtles fight. you know who wasn't a big fan of the turtles fighting? Jim Henson. Really? Oh yeah. He, he was upset about the level of violence in the finished movie. What did he think he was getting into? I, I don't know. And while he says he was proud to have helped advance the art of animatronics and these, you know, with the costumes and stuff, he viewed the violence as an, I quote, excessive, pointless, and not his style. However, as Steve Barron had directed a pilot episode of the storyteller, which set the tone for the entire series, Henson agreed to do it as sort of a favor to Barron. Well, I'm glad it worked out. I'm glad it worked out too. But it is interesting that he had a I mean, I could see Henson Henson was like a pacifist. Guy didn't look like he had a violent bone in his body. Right. So, it makes sense. I can understand where he's coming from. At the same time, man, we sure loved it as kids. Yeah, we sure did. Yeah, absolutely. The violence was what it was all about. Yes. Henson talked about the designs of the costumes, saying that the creatures were the most advanced that he had ever worked on, that he'd ever worked with. The creatures were first made out of fiberglass and then remolded out of clay. They were produced as molds to cast the whole body in foam rubber latex. And the work at the shop was completed in only 18 weeks. They slapped those costumes together. Those great looking costumes. Right. 18 weeks. That's pretty good. It, it, the best part about it is, is they had to get, not only have like the facial features do what they needed to do, but also be able to be flexible enough to do the stunts that were necessary. So, man, 18 weeks, that's Speaking of the facial features of the turtles, Uh huh. the motors that were built into each turtle head Mm hmm. to create those facial expressions were packed very tightly into a very uncomfortable And it's very uncomfortable for the performers in the suit. Like, they had to really, like, get that stuff. make it work, but it wasn't easy. And for that, the costumes needed to weigh about, uh, well, each of the costumes had about 60 pounds of animatronic equipment in that head. Wow, in the head alone. In the head alone. Ugh. Yeah. That's where they were all at. Yeah, they had to be, but no thank you. But, but the way they moved and fought and all that stuff, like, wow. Wow. Like, impressive. Most impressive. Oh, man. some of the animatronic heads were later recycled and repurposed as heads for lead characters in the, children's television series, The Morbegs. Yeah. Have you heard of this? Nope. It's like a Irish TV series. Yeah, no. I, yeah. So, Comparing head shots from both productions, the moorbags clearly share the same head skull shape as the turtles, but now with brightly colored fur instead of smooth turtle skin. Man, that's too bad. It's, it is too bad that they like, you know. Destroyed. They didn't, they didn't keep them. Classic costumes, yeah, it's, ugh. I guess they just wanted to get as much money as they could out of the, whatever they, they put into making that movie. Yeah. So let's repurpose them. Ugh, gross. I hate it. lot of the interior scenes were shot at a, uh, near an airport in Wellington. Mm hmm. And this presented some problems because the turtle performers radio controlled animatronic heads would receive signals. From the control tower of the airplanes, causing their facial expressions to go into involuntary spasms. Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha. Nice. I want to see if they have any video of that actually. We've got a plane coming in from, uh, the southeast, southwest, blah blah blah, blah blah blah. Turtle heads just start going off. It's kind of funny. Oh, man, yes. I love it. Uh, Alright. Baron and head puppeteer Brian Henson both admitted the film would not be made today because the ninja turtle suits and masks were so hot for the performers and stuntmen to wear ah, dude, they had to be so hot, man. That sucks. But I think they would be they say they wouldn't not be made today, but I think they can with the Technology we do have today. Mm hmm. I think they could make the suits work even better That's why I'm that's why I'm you know, hopeful hopeful of the last Ronin using practical suits Yeah, that would be great Like really good well made practical suits like the ones from the original movie because They could pull it off a lot better now. I think right. Absolutely. The technology has changed so much. It would make sense for the flashback scenes in the film, you know those cute little flashback scenes Oh, yeah, little Ninja Turtle babies and you know learning how to do karate Splinter doing karate in his cage. Yep. Yep. Yep Love those scenes. Yep The director said he was going for a retro look, and decided that these scenes would be shot on Super 8 film. Yeah. Do you, Yeah, the, the Splinter practicing in his cage has always been a core memory for me. When I see some people doing karate in a karate class, I'm like, where's the, where's the rat practicing with them? I loved his voice in it. Yeah. I love Splinter's voice. I like how he talked. It was calming. And it was soothing. He had this soothing voice. Even when he was mad. It's like, oh man, I wish my dad would yell at me like that. Little, little crazy trivia for you. The original voice of Elmo did Master Splinter's voice. Yeah, boy. Isn't that weird? It is weird. I don't know, I mean, it's interesting but kind of uncomfortable at the same time. Uh, oh, this is the last theatrical movie that Jim Henson was associated with before he passed away. About a month and a half after the film's release. That's crazy to think about. Mm hmm. It is. Yeah. But it, I know this sounds weird, but it still seems like a recent passing, even though It does! You know what I mean? They just released that Jim Henson documentary, and I don't know if I'm ready, man. And it's interesting, because I'm like, man, yeah, it's still like, it doesn't seem like it was that long ago that he died, but it was a long, long time ago. It truly was, yeah, but What does that say about him, as a, Artist, creator. That his, uh, impact on the world was a lot bigger than anyone has ever noticed. Right? Yeah. Yeah. Anyway, we've talked about the budget a lot. That's crazy. We never really said what the budget actually is, so might as well tell you. The budget for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles was 13 million dollars. Yeah. That's one third of the cost of what Batman, Batman's budget was. Mhmm. The studio had to spend money carefully. But they did a lot with it. There was a lot done with that. Many of the major studios such as the Walt Disney Company Columbia Pictures MGM, Orion Pictures Paramount Pictures 20th Century Fox Who actually later distributed the two sequels that were not? That's good. And Warner Brothers, turned down, initially turned down the film for distribution. So after the movie was made, they were looking for a studio to release in theaters. They all turned it down. Like that's, that just seems insane to me. It just is bonkers. The reason why is apparently they were worried that despite the popularity of the cartoon and the toy line, the film could potentially be a box office disappointment like Masters of the Universe. Which was released a couple years prior. That is not, there's no comparison though. There's no comparison, and that's the thing. They got to watch the movie. They got to compare the two. There's a good movie. Right. And there's a bad movie. Dude. It's a lovably bad movie. Master's Universe is a lovable It was a lovable bad movie. Bad movie, absolutely. But I mean, look, you get to see the emergence of a future Academy Award winning Sam Rockwell. Yes! Sam Rockwell, yes, Sam Rockwell was in the movie. Thank you for reminding me of that, yes. So funny. That is funny, but I mean like, Seriously, man, it was, if a movie starts off with the line, Major League Butt Kicking is back in town, you've got solid gold right there, buddy. Dude, obviously Hollywood didn't know their audience. Hollywood still doesn't know their audience. That's just so crazy to me. It's like they've learned nothing. Hollywood has learned nothing. Yeah. Haven't they noticed that? Most people are, in fact, Hollywood is getting worse. Yeah. The people are going to go see more independent films because they have a lot more heart and a lot more feeling to'em. I wouldn't even say that. They're just seeing stupid movies now, Billy. That's stupid. So yeah, they're just seeing, they're just making stupid movies. Oh, the watchers. The watchers. That was the worst. Godzilla X, Godzilla Kong movies. I just can't do it. You know what the best part about the Godzilla movies is, is that my kids prefer minus one. Of course they do because your kids have taste. Yeah, they tried to watch the other Kong movies. Your kids are smart. But yeah, well, that's a whole other thing. We'll talk about that soon. Maybe. I don't know. Who knows. Anyway, New Line Cinema is the, uh, studio that ended up taking a chance on the Ninja Turtles. Thankfully. And They won! They did. They won! The box office. They, they, they won the day. Everyone was happy. I mean, at that time, New Line Cinema was known for distributing more low budget B movies. Mm hmm. Um, it wasn't really until Lord of the Rings came along that they kind of took things to a whole new level. Right. But, uh, but yeah, it was, uh, I'm glad they came along and that they saw that they had something. Like, they saw, like, you know what? These guys made a great movie. Good film and we think that, audiences or audiences are gonna dig it. See that's what I don't get.'cause I mean, based on the content alone, just the name Teenage Mu Nja Turtles, at least the first few weeks are gonna be, you know, sell out weeks. Yeah. All these studios could have made a good amount of money off of it, but Newlen was the only one brave enough to take it on. Yeah. And then obviously after Rick succeeded. 20th Century Fox came in and was like, yeah, Ninja Turtles, let's make the sequels. And then what happened? What happened Billy when they made those sequels? It went to poop. Exactly. And then, Paramount ended up picking them up or Nickelodeon has the rights to it and all that stuff. So right. All these studios that turned, turned, initially had no faith in the Ninja Turtles are now like, Hey, yeah, Ninja Turtles. Great, I was behind it the whole time. Yeah, exactly. You lose, sir! Good day, sir! I wish more people knew that. I say it all the time. Uh, the actors who physically portrayed the turtles also had cameo roles in the film. Josh Pius, who plays Raphael, plays a passenger in the back of a taxi cab right after Raphael hops on the cab's hood. Sisti, who plays Michelangelo, plays the pizza delivery man, who delivers the pizza to the turtle sewer. Tilden, who played Donatello, plays the foot massager that meets April in the subway station. And Dave Foreman, who plays Leonardo, plays a guitar. Gang member in the warehouse during Casey's fight with Tetsu. I love Casey Jones in this movie by the way. Yes. He was my hero. He was, dude. Oh my good gravy, so. Which might be, I don't know if that's, what's that saying about me because of the way he treated April. Yeah, I didn't really realize until this last viewing, but yeah. As a kid though, I was like, Casey Jones, hockey stick, hockey mask, cricket bat, beating the shit out of people, yeah! Casey Jones! See, and that's, okay, so that's kind of like, Casey Jones is like the low rent Batman. Um, he has no, you know, superpowers. That's the best! That's the best explanation of Casey Jones I've ever heard. He is the low budget Batman. He is. Like, he's got his gadgets, but it just happened to be, um, sports equipment. But, uh, Elias Koteas, who plays Casey Jones, like, you would look at him before that and you're like, Nah, there's no way, but he, he took that to the bank, man. But yeah, he was kind of rude to April. April took a lot of punishment in that movie. Man, it's so weird that April fell for him. Right? Right? He's such an ass. Judith Hogue, who plays April O'Neil, is fantastic in this role. Yeah. I was absolutely in love with her as a kid. I was like, oh, she's so hot. But I think it was more because she was April O'Neil than anything. You know what I mean? But, yeah. It was weird that they had this love connection. I was like, what are you talking about? Yeah. That, yeah, that's funny though, yeah, it was weird watching it again being like, man, Casey Jones. That guy, like, always, like, trying to put her in her place, you know what I mean? Like, as a woman? Like, oh, my gosh. Yeah, I was, it's a little embarrassing to think that, yeah, that was somebody I looked up to for a while, and now you're like, oh. Oh. You just didn't notice it. You don't notice that stuff as kids. Well, because as a kid, you're not You're not paying attention to that. You're not tracking that kind of behavior. It's so funny. You're more into the action sequence and, man, they made that mask look really cool. Because I've never seen anybody with a hockey mask like that. That thing was pretty badass. Yeah. And then they copied it for frickin Gladiator. Just took a couple pieces off of it. Yep. Yep. But yeah. So good. Uh, the guy who played Raphael, uh, Josh Pius, he, it was his idea to give Raphael the Brooklyn accent. Mm hmm. Kind of liked it. Um, he is the only actor who physically portrays his character and also voices his character. All the other Turtles were portrayed by him. By, uh, different actors. Body actors, voice actors, separate. So. Wow. Yeah. Good for him. So he was, he was the only one. That had to have been tough. He suffered from claustrophobia. Yeah. Which made wearing that suit really rough. I'm sure. Really rough for him. He, uh, in an interview with, the Hollywood Reporter, he said, It was an intense relationship between me and the suit. We would suit up from toe, up to neck. Then the head would go on. Then they would glue the head to the body so that it was seamless. Then you were in there. I wonder if he had to be in there the whole time that Raph was in that bathtub. He must have, right? He must have. Like, man. They put him in the most uncomfortable positions in that bathtub. I know. That was horrible. I didn't realize that until we watched it this time. Talking about that, the director said, He had this thing where it'd get to the point where he was in there too long, And he had to get out, and that head had to come off. So, he could only spend so much time in the suit before he went mad. Which is wild. Pius went on to say, While we were shooting, it was never a problem. But then they'd yell, cut! And maybe one of the turtle's heads wasn't working. So then it could be an hour, up to an hour to fix it, and get it up and running again. We would just freak out, and you would hear one of us go, Oh! Take the head off! Effing take the head off! Take it off! Ha ha ha ha ha. I didn't even think about that, man. How many times they had to fix those things. Yeah, well, that's the other problem, right? Like, they're animatronic. They had, they were breaking down. Crazy. That's crazy. While the movie takes place in New York City, most of the film was shot in North Carolina. Which is interesting, because, I mean, I've never been to North Carolina, so, does it look like New York, Bill? Have you ever been? I've been, and not really, but I'm sure there was some kind of tax break or something by filming there. It had to be hot, because any time I've been there, it's so muggy. They actually, they actually do say that. They make a point of saying, imagine that the costumes, Since they were shot in North Carolina, so it's easy to imagine that the costumes were extremely hot. The suit issue combined with the long filming days meant their concerns for health meant the most. There were concerns for the health of the actors. So a cooling system and a mouth were installed in the shell. There's one in the shell, uh, the cooling system, and then the mouth, may have been for the animatronics. But, I mean, they had to breathe, they had to put a mouth in the freaking costume, right? Yes, absolutely. Ugh, I don't know, but they say even, even with the mouth hole and the cooling system, the costume overheated quickly. Most of the time, the actors in this suit could only do two takes before having to take the head off. Pius said, from morning to lunch break, we would each lose about five pounds. Oh, I get it. They had to be sopping in sweat. Yeah, the humidity in North Carolina is outrageous. Yeah, it said that in the end, all four actors lost about 20 pounds during the shoot. I mean, they had to keep feeding themselves, right? So they didn't waste away to nothing considering their weight and the intricacies, the costumes had to be durable. Well, of course. The costumes needed constant fixing. Entire limbs had to be replaced quite frequently. Wow. Even, yeah, right? As even the actor's sweat broke down the rubber. Well, I mean, that's the result of 18 weeks to put these costumes together, but still. Dude, could you imagine the sweat in those things? Like, they must have been sweating profusely. Absolutely. Like, all day long, just sweating. Just sweat, puddles of sweat in the costume. I Whew, that's rough. Yeah, I'm not down. Crazy. Uh, Corey Feldman played the voice of Michelangelo. He was like a big actor in the eighties. And, and that's what got me. I was like, wow, this must be a big budget film. They've got Corey Feldman because you, you know, he is very familiar voice. You can't absolutely mistake Corey Feldman's voice. You know how much he made? He probably took up half the budget, don't you think? He was offered 1, 500 to do the voice work. What? 1, 500. To do the voice work for the film. Okay. He accepted the offer, believing the producers who told him that this was only a small, low budget, independent film, hoping it would have m Moderate success on VHS, if they were lucky. So the producers pitched him on a very low budget film. Hopefully we'll make some money. Please just do it for 1, 500. So he did it. But the movie ended up making hundreds of millions of dollars. Well, I mean As you might imagine, Feldman was probably a little pissed. Yeah, but my kids recognize his voice in it. He On Feldman's part, he should've Had it put in the contract that he gets points on the back end, right? Right. I'm surprised that he didn't like, okay, cool I'll do it for 15 up front, but if it makes money, I want this much on the back end Yeah, but in the end it worked out really well. I just because like I was saying my kids watch they watch Stand By Me, they watch The Goonies all the time. I mean, it works out for the audience. Yeah. Yeah. I'm just saying it needed, didn't really work out that well for Feldman. No, I mean, I think, I mean, cause that was the time that like his career kind of started going down, right? Which is unfortunate because he was. Set up for the next big thing. He was supposed to be the next big thing, dude You know, it's interesting when I whenever I see Corey Feldman doing his band stuff It makes me I'm glad he's having fun Like I when I was a kid as a huge Corey Feldman But he did so many Great movies. Stand By Me, um, The Goonies, License to Drive. Right. All these fantastic character, he could have had this amazing career as an adult. Yeah. Like, he could have blown up as an adult actor. But Hollywood broke him, man. Yeah, Hollywood broke him! And that's so messed up. It makes me so sad. Yeah. What happened to that guy. And it's not his fault. Like, you think, like, oh, he made bad decisions. No. That's part of it. But the situations he was put into, sometimes, there's, there's You're, you're not put in a position where you get to make a decision. Right. And that's, that's that's what happened to, that's what happened to him. And, man, it makes me sad. Because he was on such a great path. Right. You know? And, anyway. I'm kind of getting sidetracked on Corey Feldman. But, but I mean, it's, it, you're, everything you're saying is true. He was, he was the, supposed to be the biggest thing. I, I, I wish we could see the alternate universe where Feldman Became, like, went on the path of becoming a big ti like, continued his status of growing in the industry. Right. Instead of being ostracized from the industry and, you know, being regulated to what he's doing now, you know? I don't know. I don't know. Just one of those things. Just thinking out loud. I support you. Yeah. Uh, the voice of Leonardo was Brian Tachi. Robbie Wrist was the voice of Michelangelo. And they are the only actors who appeared in all three live action Ninja Turtle movies. Crazy. Actor and martial artist Ernie Reyes Jr. was brought in to replace injured Hong Kong stuntman who had initially performed on his telostunts. Reyes said the suit got so hot during filming that he had to drink a gallon of water a day just to keep hydrated. Yeah. I mean, you know, if we're all trying to be healthy anyway, we should all just be drinking a gallon a day. Right. As is. But do we do that? He should be drinking two gallons of water while he was in the suit. April O'Neil, some of the other actresses who were considered for the role. We're Marissa Tomei, Sandra Bullock, Nicole Kidman, Melanie Griffith, Sean Young, Lorraine Bracco, Winona Ryder, and Brooke Shields. And Jennifer Beals. That's a lot of big names. A lot of big names, but there's no way with the budget they had they were going to get any of those. Right. Any of them. I mean, I think the only one they had a shot at was Sandra Bullock because she wasn't unknown at that time. Yes. But I don't see her playing April O'Neil anyway. Yes. Yes. Uh, actors who were up for the role of Casey Jones. Mm hmm. Johnny Depp, Keanu Reeves, Christian Slater, Lou Diamond Phillips, Emilio Estevez, Kiefer Sutherland, Jason Patrick, Brian Austin Green, Alex Winter, Gary Daniels, and River Phoenix. So, majority of the cast of Young Guns. The majority of the cast of Wowzers! Wow! Amazing. I guess at the time though, yeah, right? They were the hot young stars at the time. Absolutely. Interesting. Out of those actors, who can you see in the role? Um. I can see Jason Patrick. I could see Kiefer Sutherland. The only one I really want in that role though is Alex Winter. I mean, just, I think he would be good. River Phoenix would actually be pretty good in that role. Because it was so outside of what he did. Yeah, yeah. Ah man, so they're all great actors. So it would be interesting to see, um, well, Brian Austin Green. Yeah. Yeah. Who cares? Sorry, Brian. Well, he was too young at the time, man. I mean, it wouldn't have made sense. Yeah. Then you would have had April making out with a teenager, and that's no good. Yeah. Uh, in the comics and cartoons, the turtles were only about three to four feet tall. However, for obvious costume reasons, the turtles are the same height as April, Casey, Shredder, blah, blah, blah. Right. Makes sense. Yeah, absolutely. We can, we can get past that. Mm hmm. But we can't get past, well, we can't get past it because Hugh Jackman has been good as Wolverine for so long. Right. But, when Marvel is rebooting this thing, man, I just, I would love to see short Wolverine. Yeah. Like, from the comics. I'm a short guy, and so, reading the Wolverine comic, and seeing Wolverine was like, what, he was only 5'2 in the comics? Yep. I'm like, yeah, like, a short badass hero, like, that's, that seems awesome to me. Like, that is something I would love to see in live action. I would love to see, uh, 5'2 Wolverine brought to life in a movie. Yeah, I mean, I, I know this sounds weird, but I was so, um, okay with, like, they're talking about people the size of Daniel Radcliffe, of course you couldn't get as buff as Wolverine. Yeah. But the height wise, yeah, that's good with me. Um, Now let's go shorter than Daniel Radcliffe, gotta go shorter. I mean, we're talking, I wanna see 5'2 Billy. How many actors do you know that are 5'2 I would watch a movie where Kevin Hart was Wolverine. Hell yeah. Make that happen. Do that. Yolk him out, give him the hairdo. Yep, I'm all there. alright, here we go. Moving on. Moving on from Wolverine, back on to Turtles. Kevin Hart for Wolverine. Dilly really likes that idea. I do, I love it. Michelangelo speaks only once during the entire farmhouse sequence in the film. Yeah, okay, I'm glad we're touching on this because I didn't notice it till this time. Okay. That he just stopped. He was like, nope, I'm, he was gearing up for battle. You know what, and what's interesting about this, Uh huh. What, what is, it, oh, hold on, I'll get back to what's interesting about this. Yeah, we'll get back to that. Just, just a sec, let me just finish this thought. Okay. This is because in the original script, Michelangelo was supposed to go through a marked change in the character due to Splinter's abduction. Right. Becoming less of a wise cracking comic relief and more vengeful and dark. This character arc was dropped after the filmmakers felt that the farmhouse sequence was dragging on too long. But evidence of it can still be seen in the final cut of the film. For instance, when one of the turtles is on top of the barn, Shouting Splinter's name, it's clear to see that he's holding Michelangelo's nunchucks instead of Raphael's size. So, I love this because it's where everything goes. And this is why! When they do The Last Ronin, it would make sense. It would make sense to carry that story on from this movie. Like, they are set in the same universe, you know what I mean? Yep, that's exactly, and that's the thing too, is that because you and I have both read the, the, the comics of The Last Ronin, I was like, yep, there's the first signs of it, he's, he has a dark freakout side. And I wish they would've, another, I mean, movie's good, but man, I wish they would've kept that in the, kept that in the movie. Yeah. Cause now it, it plays more to what's happening currently. Yes. Yeah. It's that first initial shift of Michelangelo. Yep. Yeah. He's, he still does his wisecracking afterwards, but it's not the same. Like he's like, he can be broken and it just makes him stronger. Yeah. I love it. Ah, yeah. I'm glad we talked about that. the director initially wanted to replicate April O'Neil's jumpsuit look from the early comics into the movie. And it was going to kind of more resemble what we saw in the cartoon. Right. But, the actress found the jumpsuit absolutely horrifying. And the idea was cut. I get it though. So she, instead she wears the yellow raincoat jacket in the beginning as a homage to the yellow jumpsuit. It's fine. She doesn't need a yellow jumpsuit. Even as a kid, I was like, ah, who cares? You don't need a yellow jumpsuit. I didn't even give it a second thought. It was never an issue. Yeah, exactly. And now, a word from our sponsor. G'day all you adrenaline junkies and marsupial enthusiasts! Are you ready for a wacky ride into the zaniest adventure ever? Then bounce over to Billy Bob's Battle Kangaroo Farm! It's the only place where you can watch or join the marsupial madness! And the battles are downright kanga razy! That's right, folks, why settle for normal when you can experience the extraordinary? At Billy Bob's, our kangaroos don't just jump. Jump! They jab! Come see our boxing ruse! Duke it out in the ring! Gloves on! No pouches pulled! Who will be the champ of the hop? Only one way to find out! Imagine a place where kangaroos don't just jump! They judo chop! 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Billy Bob's is what fun's all about! I'm so sorry dude, I had to laugh a couple of times. It's all good. It's fantastic. Oh wait, hold on. See you in the ring, if you dare! I The scene where Raphael exits the movie theater was originally going to be different. Okay. He would have commented, cool car, stupid costume, as a reference to Batman, which was in theaters during the filming of this movie. So that was a little thing. Yeah. It would have just been too much. I get it. Yeah. It needed to be cut. The Foot Clan is obviously a parody of The Hand, a clan of ninjas from the Daredevil comics from Marvel. Yes. Look, you can't not deny the influence that Daredevil had on the Ninja Turtles. You just can't. Yeah, absolutely. Deal with it. Yeah. So deal with it. Ha, ha, ha. Pizza Hut engaged in a 20 million marketing campaign tied to the film, despite the fact that Domino's Pizza was used as product placement in the film itself. Yes! What the heck? So funny, right? Yeah. Items included advertising in print, radio, and television, and several rebate coupons. But hey, Pizza Hut saw, saw that they could, uh, jump on the bandwagon. Kind of funny how that turned out. Domino's is in the movie. Pizza Hut sponsored it. I, yep, I had no idea that was going on. I thought for sure it was a Domino's thing because they're in the movie. Okay, let me ask you this, Billy. Yes. I read that in the beginning sewer scene, a Domino's Noid toy can be seen in the water. Have you spotted this? No, and I, uh, am gonna go check it out after we're done with this. Cause I have not spotted it. I don't know where to look. We'll have to put it up on the, on the So, if you can find it, let me know. Yeah, we're gonna go look. interesting story about the director. Okay. According to, Raphael actor Josh Pais on the podcast, I was there too. Baron, the director, was fired near the end of production as the producers thought the film would become too dark. It's uncertain how different the film would have been if he had final cut. Interesting, right? Yeah. Yeah. That's, that's, but I mean, it needed to be dark. That was what made it what it is. I, but dude, people. People suck. The movie turned out great, but I am curious to know how the film would have turned out had he had the final cut. I bet it would have been even better, though. Yeah, and who fired him? Doesn't say. Doesn't He doesn't say. So Well, I quit. to help disguise how cumbersome and slow the turtles costumes were in the fight sequences, the dialogue scenes were shot at 23 frames per second, so that they would, uh, they would be able to be played at the normal speed of 24 frames per second, so they appeared to be sharper, like speaking faster. for the same reason, the fight scenes were shot at 22 or 23 frames per second as well. Okay. That helped that. I think the only time you can really tell it is when Michelangelo is doing his, uh, nunchuck scene. Where he's standing there in the apartment with all the foot around. That's the only time it feels like it was slightly sped up, but that was it. Yeah. You didn't notice anywhere else. Exactly. Robin Williams was a big fan of the Ninja Turtles franchise. Oh, nice. He was also working with Judith Hoag at the time on the film Cadillac Man. And so to help her prepare for the role, he let her go through his comic collection and pick out some comics to read. Ninja Turtle Comics. That's a high honor. Yeah, right. It's awesome. Yeah, I miss Robin Williams Me too, man. It's just sad. I know That's why I'm having a hard time getting ready for that Christopher Reeves documentary to see them both. Oh, dude. I already saw it, man Oh, oh gosh, it's just break me and that movie isn't it's gonna you watch That new Superman documentary, you're, it's going to break you. 100%. You will walk out, uh, absolute teary eyed mess. Promise. From Joey Parr. Yeah. I'm taking that to the bank. when Raphael got knocked into the trash can by Casey Jones, the face and the animatronics inside the head caved in and broke the stuntman's nose. Snap. Yes. As Raf gets up from the trash can, he can be seen grabbing his nose area before the shot cuts. Raf's original stuntman is replaced by one of the Foot Soldiers stuntmen named Ken Scott. Ken did a lot of the major scenes as a Foot Soldier, including the nunchuck face off against Michelangelo. Yay o. But it is kind of funny, though. You're in a costume, You fall in the trash and you break your nose. Your instinct is to like, put your hand up to your face. Face, yeah. But you're like, you're wearing a big ol freakin There's nothing you can do to like, help. Grab your real face. Right, exactly. That's the closest you can get. But it's just funny that that is the first reaction that you're gonna get. Shredder and the Foot Clan's hideout were filmed in an abandoned cement factory called the Ideal Cement Factory outside of Wilmington, North Carolina, in Castlehain. This location was also used as the set for, uh, Dino Hatton in Super Mario Bros. 1993, and Top Dollars Nightclub in The Crow, 1994. That's a good set. Yeah. I like it. I can't wait to talk about Super Mario Brothers one day. I know. That might be a two parter right there. Because every time we talk about it, it's crap. It'd take us a week to get through the movie. The dinosaur song from it gets stuck in my head to this day, but we'll talk about that. So stupid. Okay. In the script and novelization, the young boy that Tassuo attacks was to die from the beating. The sounds of the boy breathing and others saying he would be alright were added at the last minute after the movie ratings board objected to the scene. But, in the French version of the movie, Shinso does die. Yeah. It just Yeah. Yeah, I mean I think it would have, I mean, it was already a dark film as it is, but I think that would have like solidified that these boys are in a cult. Oh, like at any moment they could be killed. I think that would have actually intensified, you know, the boy's willingness to fight back. They were in a cult. A hundred percent. They were. A hundred percent. I know, I started a cult once. I know how easy it is the night time is the right time. The night time is the right time. Ugh, okay. No, I really didn't start a cult. So, hopefully that rumor doesn't spread online. I'm gonna get cancelled. I already started. Okay, keep going. Okay, Judith Hoag was not asked to reprise her roles as April in the film's sequel. Due to her own, and I quote, personal, character. Complaining, particularly about the six day shooting schedule and the amount of violence in the movie. She thinks she was signing up for it. What a butt. Alright, so, here's a stupid little tidbit for you that, that, uh, we don't really find that interesting, but I'm going to throw it out there anyway, just because we're here. All three newswomen seen or mentioned in the film are named after a month. April, May, and June. Perfect. Yay! That's the only thing I cared about in the movie. So, according to Brian Henson, and we know, we already know this, that Steve, that Steve Barron, the director, was not part of the post production process, but he says, uh, the film was finishing in post production largely without the director, Or the editor, Salon Manky, who later edited many films by Quentin Tarantino. She was removed as production company Golden Harvest did not like her work. She is fantastic. I know. People are crazy. People are crazy. She's, she's a genius. She did almost all of Quentin Tarantino's films, and they're amazing. It just shows you what the executive team at Golden Harvest knew. They know nothing. I mean, they produced a great Ninja Turtle movies. Don't get me wrong, but You know. Yeah, they fire the wrong people. Yeah, true. Toward the end of the movie, one of the street punks played by Sam Rockwell tells the police chief to check out the East warehouse over on Lairdman Island. The creators of Ninja Turtles were Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird. However, the original script stated that the warehouse was on the corner of Lairdman and East. Also a play on the creator's names. So, just so you know, just thought I'd Throw that out there. In the original trailer, there was a shot of the turtles rising up from what looked like a swamp. The shot was cut from the final release, but is part of a longer scene that was later used near the end of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2, The Secret of the Ooze. Go ninja, go ninja, go. All of the T-shirts worn by Danny in the movie, which by the way, Danny was such a little prick. Oh gosh. I hate Danny. I can't stand Danny. And then at the end, oh, dad, I love you. I, yeah. Get outta here with that fake love. We're done with you, Danny. Uh, all of the T-shirts he wear, he is have a picture of the Sex Pistols basis. Poor Sid, had to be represented by that. I know. Ugh. Now Sid will forever be known as the guy who steered Danny in the wrong direction in life. That's sad. Oh man. In the Foot Clan Warehouse, the boxes in the foreground near half pipe read Mirage. This is a reference to Mirage Comics, the comic book company that originally published the Ninja Turtles comic. The scene where We first visit the foot soldier hideout. One of the kids is smoking a cigar and playing billiards in the same angle and fashion as the children on Pleasure Island from the animated film Pinocchio. Yes. It's not hard to see that connection. No, not at all. As a kid, you might not see it, but if you've seen Pinocchio and you see this movie, yes, that is what's happening here. Do you think the donkey from Shrek is one of the kids from Pleasure Island? That'd be funny. I like it. I think so. Alright. In the UK and Ireland, due to legacy issues with earlier depictions of ninjas and martial arts, the 1987 television animation series, which was being shown in children's programs, was repackaged as Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles. With episodes edited, title graphics changed, and the theme song lyrics revised to replace ninja with hero. Note. The merchandise and all related products were amended accordingly also. Through the UK version, though the UK version of this film went through edits and cropping, particularly in the use of nunchucks. It was Nonetheless, released in cinemas and on home video with the Ninja title intact, possibly to differentiate between the film and the cartoon and to emphasize its darker tone and PG rating. What is the problem with ninjas and martial arts in the UK and Ireland, Billy? We should have done more research on that. I had no idea until I started reading up on this that they had an issue with ninjas and martial arts. Yeah. Yeah. Well, I mean. At least they helped him out and fixed it for him because man, but this is something that we're gonna have to look into. Yeah. Maybe we can do an episode on it. Maybe we can, maybe we can. Yep. Uh, there are numerous deleted scenes in the movie, that give the four turtles more character development and expand on April and Casey's romance, and would put later scenes into different, into a different context. So Casey Jones would have been introduced much earlier watching the news report of the crime wave before getting his hockey mask. The, uh, sticker book for the movie features scenes that were cut, including Raphael's fight with Casey leading into an alley, and April leaving the burning apartment, followed by Leonardo carrying Raphael. Another one is Shredder sparring with the Foot Clan and mopping up the floor with them without even standing up. This is especially notable as this is an actual ninja tactic called Fudoza, or Immovable Seat, and he used actual ninja techniques for the scene. I would have liked to see that. Yes, that would have been great. Another one, April and Casey's reaction to Mikey's turtle wax joke was originally one Of relief after he goes through a severe depression where he destroys a punching bag and part of the barns wall Again would have loved to see that wish we could have seen that that would have been great exhausted training sequence where Leo proves a point by turning his mask around and fighting blind, followed by the other turtles taking turns doing the same. The scene rather famously has Donatello sporting a straw hat. That would have been cool to see! Cool as shit. Why don't we have that? I don't know various scenes of the turtles training on their own or in pairs trying to master their technique Their technique leo shows them earlier some of april and casey scenes involve him trying to help her with the Stuck truck door while she declines and eats exits on the driver's side. Another leads into the scene of the two of them talking on the porch, on the porch swing, where the night before she shows him her drawings of the turtles, but tries to hide the one that she did of him in a beanie. They both share a laugh over it. Would have been a sweet little moment. Yeah. Uh, Game of Ninja Hot Potato, where the turtles toss around an apple, and the holder has to defend against the other three while taking a bite out of it. It makes the later scene where Raph finishes off an apple after defeating A squad of foot ninjas, a callback. Ah, that makes sense now. Doesn't it? Yes, it absolutely does. Why are we missing out on this? I, man, had director Steve Barron and editor Sally Manky had their way, the film would have adapted the original comic story that featured Oroku Nagi. Verbatim, this plot line. Found it's way into the novelization and the comic adaptation of the film giving them the distinction of being the only TMNT adaptations that adapt the original origin story word for word. See this is, uh, if they weren't fired we'd be in a better place. I know, I know. It's still a great movie. It is. Don't get me wrong. Yeah. But would have been nice to see some of that stuff. Yes. But yes, it would have given the movie a bit more context. I think things would have flowed even better. But who knows? What do I know? I'm just, I just talk on a podcast. Right. I just talk, talk to podcasts and watch movies. I know what I like though. I know what I like. And that would have been one of the things you liked. Yes. In the movie Michelangelo hates anchovies on pizza, but in the cartoon he likes anchovies on pizza. Make up your mind. Yeah. Michelangelo. I think just, yeah. I have nothing to say on that. In the original ending of the movie, after the Ninja Turtles have defeated the shredder and they are celebrating on the rooftop, a scene was to follow where April and Danny go into a comic book publisher to pitch an idea of walking. talking the turtles. The publisher rejects the idea thinking the idea is too far fetched. All the while, unknown to him, the turtles are watching through the building window. Michelangelo seems to fall, but it's revealed he's hanging on the ledge, commenting on what he just heard. The clip can be seen online featuring the voices of the on set performers for the turtles before their voices are heard. We're dubbed for the final cut. Have you watched this, by the way? I have not. Have you? It's silly, and I'm okay that they, this is a, all the other deleted things love to see it, but that, yeah, didn't need to see it. That could, I'm okay with that being cut out. Absolutely. You're good. As long as you're okay with it, I'm okay with it. Casey Jones never addresses April O'Neil by name at any point in the film, despite the fact that they fall in love. He also never mentions 3 either. So Yeah, it's it's like one of those Seinfeld episodes that Seinfeld episode where I'm pretty sure he forgot April's name I just never wanted right never wanted to like be like, what's your name again? Yeah, bring it up Yeah, no I noticed that this time when we were watching, I was like, he never addresses her by her name, like, does she, I don't think he even knows it. Yeah, I know. There you go. Uh, going back to something I mentioned earlier about, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Daredevil. Yes. The comic, obviously. Parodies many elements of Daredevil. The ooze that gave the Turtles their power is similar to the toxic waste that takes Matt Murdock's sight, and is, in fact, meant to be from the same incident. Murdock is not identified by name, only because of copyright issues. The Turtles mentor is named Splinter, while Daredevil's is named Stick. Stick. Yep. Daredevil first fights a crime ring called The Hand, while the Turtles Battle the Foot. Judith Hoag later appeared in Armageddon with Ben Affleck and Michael Clark Duncan who appeared together in Daredevil. Yeah. So, you know, I'm gonna throw that in there. I'm throwing the connection in there just because. You have to. One of the writers of the film, Bobby Herbeck, wrote Casey Jones to have a cricket bat after attending a cricket game with director Steve Barron. The cricket bat was not in the original, uh, Raphael No. 1 comic. Okay. Well, it was a funny scene. You gotta know what a crumpet is to understand cricket. We're going to talk about the Sid Vicious t shirts again real quick. Okay. the director wanted the film to have a punk rock soundtrack. Uh huh. And the reason why Danny was wearing Sid Vicious t shirts, because, uh, he wanted, uh, This, to have like this punk rock flair to it. But the producers wanted something a bit more commercially friendly, which is why we got a soundtrack that included MC Hammer songs like Turtle Power. You know? Yeah, I would have preferred the punk. I was, I'm a punk rock guy. So, I think punk rock would have definitely made Ninja Turtles even a better movie. I think so. I'm just gonna say it. Say it there. let's see. Okay, here's a fun little thing. Okay. The character of Danny only appears in this movie. He is never seen again or heard from in any other variant of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle history. What do you think happened to Danny? Do you think he ended up in jail? He's dead. I think he ended up in ja I think he ended up, uh, really screwin up. Screwin up his life. Killin his dad. Dang, Billy went like super dark right there. Yep, yep. Maybe we'll find maybe we'll find out in the, um, in, uh, The last Ronin movie. They bring him back! I love it. Let's bring him back. And then Michelangelo will kick his butt. That'd be funny. During the battle with Shredder, fans often mistakenly claim that Leonardo is the only turtle to successfully land a strike when he hits Shredder on his arm with his sword. However, if you pay attention during the same battle, Raphael actually lands a successful kick to Shredder's ribs. The sound effect is present. So this isn't a mistake on the actor's part. So then there you go. They really did have a rough time fighting Shredder though, let's be honest. Oh, they absolutely did. He was rough. He was, he was rough and tough. Anyway, that's, that's it guys. That's what we've got for Ninja Turtles. I love it. I love the movie. I hope everybody had fun listening to this because I had fun watching and making this one. Yeah, it was great. Yeah, this was, this was a fun one to revisit. If you haven't seen Ninja Turtles in a while, go If you haven't seen it on the big screen, hopefully one day it will be released on the big screen again for you all to watch, because it's a good movie to check out. It was, it was so much cooler to see it on the big screen than on my screen. I mean, whether you're revisiting the film or discovering it for the first time, which I doubt for many of you, the adventures of these iconic characters remains an entertaining experience. Experience. An entertaining and exciting experience, proving that sometimes nostalgia is just as thrilling as when you first experienced it. Ooh, I like that. Yeah. Wow, you got deep there. I did. I did. Oh, man. Well, speaking of nostalgia, do you have a favorite line or a favorite quote from this movie? Man, I do. It came from this last viewing, and I never picked up on it before. Okay, share it. Okay, it's when Michelangelo and Donatello are watching the tortoise and the hare on the TV, Michelangelo is yelling at the top of his lungs at the tortoise in the show. He's yelling, go move it. Will you? You're letting him blow right by you. Can you believe this guy? Come on, don't, ninja kick the damn rabbit. Do something. Ninja kick the damn rabbit. Yep, that was it. That was the part. Ninja kick the damn rabbit. I was like, oh, I never picked up on that before, but yeah, that's funny. That, yeah, that's a good, that's a good one. I do like that. Ninja kick the damn rabbit. I like their banter while they're fighting. I I like what's going on there, but one of the Lines that I just enjoy is when, uh, Ezra Fiser, it's a good thing these guys aren't lumberjacks. No joke. The only thing safe in the woods would be the trees. Yes, it's always Donnie and Michelangelo that are coming up with the best stuff. Yeah. I love their, yeah, their, their banter is a lot of fun. So, That's where, that, and um, I, I love the scene, my brothers and I, when we were, we used to watch this movie all the time, over and over and over again, we always couldn't wait to get to the part where Casey Jones is, he confronts Tetsuo. And they keep grunts and he goes, and Casey Jones gets all like, like beefed up and he's like, ah, ah, like tries to grunt louder. Yep. Always makes me laugh because he's just like, I'm going to grunt louder than you do. Well, he's, he's gotta be better than him at everything. And so that, uh, that's probably one of my favorite. My favorite part. It was always the part where I was like, I can't wait to get to that part in the movie. He has to get it back. But anyway, thank you everybody for joining us, on our podcast. Thanks for listening to us. Talk about Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the 1990 live action movie. Always follow us on Facebook and Twitter. Our handle is at GT secret level. yeah. We hope y'all have a great day, whatever you're doing. Yeah, please. And, we'll get another podcast out to you. Sometime. Well, we gotta talk about the double feature of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and the next movie. Well, yeah. Yeah. The next movie, yeah. We'll get that hopefully sooner rather than later. Right. Guys, life. That's all I can say is life. Life, yeah. Life. I wish I could pump these out faster, but, uh, I, you know, so many obligations. Yeah. So when we get the free time to do this, we're doing it, but hopefully things will calm down. But in the meantime, thank you for listening. We appreciate it. Yay! And, as always, good journey. Good journey. Then box, steady, Freddy steady, join the fight, and feel the delight, it's a kangaroo battle, what a sight, jump in the ring and do your thing, dance and swing with the kangaroo wing, left hook, right jab funds what we're selling, laugh so hard your belly be swelling, so don't delay. Come today, at Billy Bob's, you'll surely stay. Hop on down to our fun packed farm, where you can battle roos, it's a charm. Billy Bob's, oh Billy Bob's, where the roos are in a romp. Fight the pouch, not a grump. Make your holiday a stomp. Nice. I did not see that coming. I love it. Good night everybody. Perfect. Oh my gosh.