Turtles Forever/Headscratchers

• Turtles Forever: aren't the '87 Turtles supposed to have distinct personalities? I mean, what happened to "Leonardo leads, Donatello does machines/Raphael is cool but crude, Michelangelo is a party dude"?
  • Well the 2003 turtles followed the same formula, but the movie emphasized how the 2k3 turtles were grittier and more...realistic shall we say (yes, this troper knows they're giant talking turtles!) compared to the '87 counterparts. There's also the fact that the 2k3 turtles seemed to be the main characters of the show with the other turtle variations as guests (most likely because the 2k3 series was what was being run). Given all of that, the movie's creators seemed to just go with "'87 turtles are all goofy and cartoonish, keep using what we have for the 2k3 turtles".
  • They may have had different quirks, but their personalities in the original cartoon always had a fair amount of overlap. Think back to the five-episode pilot (which is apparently where the Turtles Forever producers got most of their cues from)--it had plenty of scenes where the turtles acted "goofy and cartoonish" (their scene at the pizza parlor, the scene at April's appartment). Now,this doesn't mean that the movie couldn't have done a better job of making them distinct--'88 Leo, in particular, got shafted by the fact that '03 turtles were calling the shots--but given the time constraints, I think the movie generally did an excellent job of portraying them.
  • The Character Exaggeration of the '87 Turtles really bugged me too. Sure they threw the old series a bone every now and then, but to me it seemed like most of the time the '87 turtles were only there to be made fun of, so everyone could see how much more "awesome" the 2003 series apparently is. I did enjoy seeing the original turtles from the comics wipe the smug looks off the 2003 turtles faces though.
    • The thing about TF is that it's written by the 2K3 show's writers, and I'm guessing that they were trying to be as respectful as they could while working with their own Turtles, who they know better. The writers weren't being disparaging toward the '87 show; at its worst it felt like Affectionate Parody more than anything, and I honestly assume they were taking the older show's Flanderization to its logical extreme^[1]. It's worth noting that I'm a HUGE fan of the older show and never watched the 2K3 show (the idea of an alien Shredder was too weird for me), and I STILL enjoyed the '87 Turtles' roles in TF--in truth, it made me remember how much fun the older show was.
• What was so stupid about the exploding throwing stars? Batman has exploding batarangs.
  • Possibly the fact that they were built in an alternate dimension in a sewer. They could be unstable. Drop one and boom.
    • I was under the impression that it wasn't the invention itself, but the fact that they went out of their way to get something that Don (either of them, since upgraded throwing stars have played a part in the 2003 series, as well) could have constructed in less time than traveling between dimensions took. Heck, it would've taken less time than just putting together the "Transdimensional portal stick", if the way those two were working together was anything indication.
• Shouldn't the Mirage Turtles screaming "SHREDDER!" at the Technodrome have clued in Ch'rell that something's up? How would they know he was the one in that thing?
  • For all the talk that the 2K3 Shredder is the most competent Shredder, it's actually pretty consistent with Ch'rell's established personality that he wouldn't question a minor detail like that -- not when he has more important things on his mind, like boasting to the Mirage-Turtles about his status as the One True Shredder.
• Why did they abandon the Party Wagon when they were running from the white void? Couldn't they have gone faster in it?
  • Well, they don't know what the void is at that point. They're driving along, and then the void comes up in front of them, so they stop the Party Wagon in order to get out and take a closer look. By the time they've finished the expository dialogue, the void is already starting to erase the Party Wagon.
• Why did April and Casey just stop and let themselves be erased by the white void?
  • April and Casey clearly aren't as fast as the Turtles, so they lagged behind. April was overtaken by the void; she didn't actually stop running before she was surrounded by it and realized that she was in the middle of being erased. Casey stopped because he heard April's cry of terror behind him and looked like he wanted to rush up to her to save her. If you watch the scene, you'll see that Raphael stops too when Casey vanishes, but Leonardo makes him continue running.
• Okay, if the Technodrome has alledgedly been driving around the Mirage version of New York and destroying buildings all night, why are the Mirage Turtles wasting their time messing about on the rooftops and trying to kill their counterparts instead of trying to do something about it?
  • Because the original Mirage Turtles are not actually heroes. They are psychotic anti-heroes who just happen to horribly butcher criminals. Being selfless and heroic is not in their nature.
    • Still, they're smart enough that they know that, if something is killing everything else, they'll die as well. They're not above heroism if for pragmatic/selfish reasons.
• The 2003 Turtles designs. Can I say "Ew?" I'm a fan of that series more then the 80s one, but their designs in this special put me off toward the others. Plus their personalities.. What happened? From what I recall of the 2003 series, they were different and less Flanderized.
  • I may not have much to say about their personalities, but their designs were just fine, they were the designs from Back To The Sewer, but got rid of the visible eyes... There's not much that's different.
    • I skipped that series aside from an episode so that may be why it's odd. But if that's their design then... Ew.
• Is it me or are the original Turtles flanderized too? From what I've read in the comics it wasn't half as dark and depressing; that'd be pretty boring anyway.
  • Except that this is the Mirage Turtles from their first issue, where they were basically a parody of Frank Miller-type grim-n-gritty action.
• What role do the Turtles have to the integrity of reality, exactly? Their cosmic connection to the fabric of existence seems to weigh pretty heavily, though for no discernible reason. They're silent protectors of New York City, but also the linchpin in holding together all that is and ever will be?
  • It's all meta. The universe the Turtles inhabit is the world of cartoons, comic books and video games. None of the franchise would exist if the original comic hadn't been created. Hence, destroying it destroys the Turtle-multiverse.

1. ↑ That is, the Flanderization that would have taken place if not for the Red Sky seasons, which were rightfully ignored anyway