TMNT (abbreviated from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles) is a 2007 animated superhero film written and directed by Kevin Munroe in his feature directorial debut and based on the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles characters. The first animated film in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles film series, it features the voices of Chris Evans, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Mako, Kevin Smith, Patrick Stewart, and Ziyi Zhang with narration by Laurence Fishburne. In the film, after having grown apart following the final defeat of their arch-enemy, the Shredder, the four Turtles — Leonardo, Raphael, Donatello, and Michelangelo (voiced respectively by James Arnold Taylor, Nolan North, Mitchell Whitfield, and Mikey Kelley) — are set to reunite and overcome their faults to save the world from evil ancient creatures.
Development and pre-production for TMNT began in June 2005 at Imagi's Los Angeles facility and the animation was produced in Hong Kong, followed by post-production in Hollywood. Munroe chose to produce the film in CGI animation as opposed to live-action like the prior Turtles films, in an effort to make it easier for audiences to suspend their disbelief. When writing the film, Munroe wanted to divert away from the lighthearted elements of the franchise and put a heavier emphasis on the darker tone of the original comics. The animators that worked on the fight sequences were inspired by Hong Kong action films.
TMNT premiered at the Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Los Angeles on March 17, 2007, and was released theatrically in the United States on March 23, by Warner Bros. Pictures. It was released in Hong Kong on March 29 by Golden Scene, and internationally distributed by The Weinstein Company. The film received mixed reviews from critics, but was a small commercial success, grossing $95.8 million worldwide against a $34 million production budget. Planned sequels were cancelled after Nickelodeon acquired the franchise in 2009, rebooting the film series with a live-action film in 2014.
Plot
In ancient times, an aztec warlord named Yaotl opens a portal into a parallel universe that grants him immortality and petrifies his four generals: Aguila, Gato, Serpiente, and Mono. The portal also releases thirteen immortal monsters that kill his army and enemies while becoming famous mythical monsters as centuries pass. However, many believed that Yaotl's story was a myth.
In the present, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles have grown apart after defeating the Shredder. For training, Master Splinter sends Leonardo to Central America, where he becomes the protector of a village, to which the villagers refer to him as the "Ghost of the Jungle". Donatello works as an IT specialist, Michelangelo works as a birthday party entertainer named "Cowabunga Carl", and Raphael continues to fight crime as a masked vigilante called "Nightwatcher", which he keeps a secret. The Turtles' old friend April O'Neil now operates a shipping company that acquires relics for collectors, assisted by her boyfriend, Casey Jones.
After traveling to Central America, April tells Leo that his brothers have drifted apart. She then returns to New York City with a statue for wealthy tycoon Max Winters, who hires Shredder's former second-in-command, Karai and the Foot Clan to search the city for the thirteen monsters. Casey figures out about Raph's double identity and joins him in hunting criminals, while Winters, who is actually Yaotl, reanimates his generals using technology created by his company.
Leo returns to the Turtles' lair, where Splinter forbids crime-fighting until they can work as a team. During training, they disobey Splinter and engage Bigfoot, one of the monsters, who is ultimately captured by the Foot Clan and Yaotl's generals. Splinter scolds the Turtles the next day for their disobedience as the Foot and generals capture more monsters. Later, Raph and Casey encounter the Vampire Succubor, but they are spotted during its capture, and Raph is knocked unconscious after escaping. Casey and April care for him and alert the others, leading to the discovery of Yaotl's identity. Revived, Raph urges action, but Leo insists on Splinter's permission. Frustrated, Raph decides to investigate alone.
Donnie learns the next portal will open at Winters' tower, and Splinter urges Leo to find Raph. Yaotl reveals his plan to break the curse and restore his generals to humanity, unaware that they are plotting to betray him and remain immortal, feeling that Yaotl has grown too soft. As the Nightwatcher, Raph defeats the Jersey Devil in a diner, but Leo pursues him and finds out about his identity. Raph overwhelms Leo in battle, but he flees in shame upon nearly killing him. The generals, having already captured the Jersey Devil, then capture Leo to replace the thirteenth monster, prompting Raph to rally his allies to rescue him. As the portal opens, Yaotl discovers his generals' betrayal upon realizing that they only captured twelve monsters, as Splinter, the Turtles, Casey, and April fight through the Foot Clan to reach the tower and uncover his true intentions.
Refusing to betray Yaotl, Karai and the Foot Clan join forces with April and Casey to locate the final monster, the Sea Monster, while the Turtles battle the generals and Splinter and Yaotl fend off monsters emerging from the portal. April, Casey, and Karai bring the Sea Monster to the tower, where it collides with the generals. Yaotl saves the Turtles, while the generals are dragged into the portal and turned human before it closes. Karai warns the Turtles to savor their victory, hinting at the Shredder's return, before she and the Foot Clan leave. Now mortal, Yaotl thanks the team and fades into the afterlife, and his helmet joins Splinter's trophy collection alongside Raph's Nightwatcher helmet and Mikey's Cowabunga Carl mask. Returning to their roles as New York's protectors, Raph reaffirms that the Turtles will always be brothers.
Voice cast
James Arnold Taylor as Leonardo, the leader of the group, who has been training away in Central America and defends a village as the "Ghost of the Jungle". Nolan North as Raphael, the hot-headed brother, who has been secretly operating as the vigilante Nightwatcher. Mitchell Whitfield as Donatello, the genius brother, who has been operating as an IT tech support. Mikey Kelley as Michelangelo, the light-hearted and carefree brother, who has been operating as a birthday entertainer, "Cowabunga Carl". Sarah Michelle Gellar as April O'Neil: a young, virtuous archaeologist and friend of the Turtles owning a shipping company. Chris Evans as Casey Jones, April's boyfriend and a friend of the turtles who still engages in crime-fighting. Mako Iwamatsu and Greg Baldwin as Splinter, a mutant rat who is the turtles' father and sensei. Patrick Stewart as Max Winters, a businessman who is really the immortal warlord Yaotl, who desires to be mortal again and to make amends for his past errors. Ziyi Zhang as Karai, the Shredder's former second-in-command and the new leader of the Foot Clan. Kevin Michael Richardson as General Aguila, the leader of Yaotl's four generals; his name is Spanish for "eagle". Fred Tatasciore as General Gato, one of Yaotl's four generals; his name is Spanish for "cat". Paula Mattioli as General Serpiente, one of Yaotl's four generals; her name is Spanish for "snake". John DiMaggio as Colonel Santino, a South American bandit group leader who has been extorting protection money from the local villagers. Kevin Smith as an unnamed cook at a diner where Nightwatcher fights the Jersey Devil. Laurence Fishburne as the Narrator.
Production Development Following the box office failure of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III (1993) and the cancellation of a fourth installment, New Line Cinema concluded the film series abruptly which led them not to release another TMNT film. In 2000, an animated Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles film was first announced, with John Woo supposedly directing, but the project languished in development hell, and Woo ultimately moved on to other projects. TMNT, executive produced by the characters' co-creator Peter Laird, departs from the previous films' live action style and is the first CG animated film in the series. Writer/director Kevin Munroe said that he wanted to do total CGI instead of live action and CGI turtles because it would be easier for the audience to "suspend disbelief for such an offbeat story" as there would be no break in the reality between CGI and live action. Producer Tom Gray explained that the decision to depart from the live action series was due to escalating budgets for the three films, and with each film making less than its predecessor, a CGI film became a reality. For example, the first film made $135.2 million on a budget of $13.5 million, and the third made $44 million on a budget of $21 million. Orange Sky Golden Harvest's rights to the franchise had expired, and Gray said the question arose there over a CGI TMNT film in 2004.
Writing Munroe stated in terms of the story line that ideas were floated as extreme as the Turtles being in space, but eventually it just came back to New York City, and the theme of the family that had fallen apart. When developing the screenplay, Munroe wanted to take on a less lighthearted tone or "less Cowabunga" and place an emphasis on dark elements as shown in the original comics to appeal to the mature audience: "I had a very specific tone because mixing that sort of action and comedy is a very specific thing. Most people were just coming and wanting to make it too funny. I think that version of the movie could do really well, but we wanted to do something where it sort of pushes the envelope a little bit more and says that animation is more than just comedic animals bumping into each other and farting!"
Munroe said that in design and in the rendering of the animation, he was after the feel of a comic book. Karai was one of Munroe's favorite characters from the comics and he "was the one who really pushed for Karai" to appear in the film.Davis, Erik. (March 23, 2007) Interview: 'TMNT' Director Kevin Munroe – The Moviefone Blog . Blog.moviefone.com. Retrieved November 29, 2011. TMNT co-creator Peter Laird stated it takes place in its own universe separate from the previous films, but director Munroe says the film exists in the same continuity as the other films, which was supported by the memento wall at the end of the film.
Animation Development and pre-production for TMNT began in June 2005 at Imagi's Los Angeles facility and the CGI animation was produced in Hong Kong, followed by post-production in Hollywood. In designing the New York backdrop, art director/concept artist Simon Murton stylized the familiar Manhattan skyline and urban landscapes: "We began with cinematic cues from certain black-and-white films from the 1940s and '50s. I really wanted to push the lighting and the environments to create the look and feel of an alternate reality".
The animators that worked on the fight sequences were inspired by Hong Kong action films. Animation director Kim Ooi explains said that because of CGI they were able to "push and stylize beyond the limits of live action." Imagi used Autodesk Maya with Pixar's RenderMan for the production pipeline's back-end.'TMNT': The Turtles More Animated in CG
Casting
TMNT would be Mako Iwamatsu's final acting role. Mako was announced as the voice of Splinter at San Diego Comic-Con on July 20, 2006. He then died the next day, aged 72. A dedication to Mako appears at the end of the film's credits. Although Mako is the only actor credited in the role, Greg Baldwin performs a substantial portion of Splinter's dialogue in the finished film; Baldwin had already mimicked Mako's voice when he took up the late actor's role as Iroh in the concurrently-produced animated series Avatar: The Last Airbender, and used this precedent to successfully lobby to join the cast of TMNT as Splinter following Mako's death.