- Rainbow Studios/Mirage Studios If you've been following all the Turtle developments, you'll know that several stills have surfaced showing the CGI Turtles. These stills were taken from test footage done by Mirage and Rainbow Studios (the creators of the Starship Troopers CG series). That promotional footage had little to do with the newly announced film, although we can assume that's how the Turtles might look on the big screen. It was actually created to "shop around" the idea of a CG Turtles TV series to networks.
The CG TV series idea has been scrapped, but don't let that get you down. The Turtles will be back in traditional 2-D animation first. The new animated series will air on Saturday morning, and will reportedly bring a new look and feel to the property, similar to what Batman Beyond did for Batman. The series could launch as early as September of next year.
That's not all! The Ninja Turtles are also coming to your favorite gaming console. PlayStation 2, Xbox, Gamecube, and Gameboy Advance titles are all planned for a 2002-2003 release window.
Director Steve Barron told THR, "The Ninja Turtles miniseries that Hallmark and I are developing will be a darker, more streetwise view of the characters. Taking its tone from the original comics, it will be an atmospheric and spectacular reinvention of the franchise using today's CGI technology to leap into the 21st century."
Regarding the CG feature film, John Woo's partner at Digital Rim, Terrence Chang, says he expects it to be in theaters within four years. "We had to wait for a while for the kids who enjoyed the original Turtles to grow up," Chang says. "We need to reinvent the Turtles. We'd like the film to appeal to all ages, like Shrek, but by using CGI, we'll be able to retain a different feel than the original live-action films and be more faithful to the source material." Chang says the film will feature "PG-rated versions of Woo's trademark action." Cowabunga dude! I'm there.
