"TURTLEGATE" Continues; Michael Bay Has An Ally In LEONARDO Voice Actor

"TURTLEGATE" Continues; Michael Bay Has An Ally In LEONARDO Voice Actor

Yesterday we heard from Robbie Rist, who was not best pleased about Bay's "alien" comments regarding the TMNT reboot. But the director might have some backing from someone else involved with the original movie..

By MarkCassidy - Mar 21, 2012 06:03 AM EST
Source: TMZ

Who would have thought such uproar could be caused by the rebooting of an old cartoon series? Well, if there is one thing all of this has proven it's that the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles still have a very active, and very loyal fanbase. A fanbase not too happy with a certain Mr Michael Bay right now. At a recent press event the director/producer revealed that the MUTANT turtles would be retooled to have an alien origin in the 2013 reboot of the franchise. Many (most?) felt this to be a step too far in reinventing the story. One of those people was the man who voiced Michaelangelo in the first TMNT movie. Yesterday we posted his - admittedly ridiculous - rape and sodomy analogies. But just in case you missed the update to that article, here is Bay's response to the fans..



"Fans need to take a breath, and chill. They have not read the script. Our team is working closely with one of the original creators of Ninja Turtles to help expand and give a more complex back story. Relax, we are including everything that made you become fans in the first place. We are just building a richer world."


This only antagonized a lot of people even further, as Bay isn't exactly well liked in the fan community as it is. But it seems he might have at least one backer in another actor from that first Turtles flick, the man who provided the voice for the blue masked leader of the team, Leonardo. Brian Tochi said the following to TMZ..

"If Michael Bay wants to do a different take on the turtles origin story ... Mazel Tov!"


Apparently April O'Neil herself, Judith Hoag is also behind the new take on things, telling TMZ she was excited. We await comments by Raphael and Donatello! Seriously though, as much as this seems to be turning into a bit of a three ring circus, the fans' anger is very real. Increased pressure and exposure could lead to perhaps a few more details or have Bay elaborate on what he said. Have you guys "chilled" since yesterday? Or are you still baying for blood?









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imnotahero
imnotahero - 3/21/2012, 6:44 AM
The alien thing isn't the reason why i'm mad about Michael Bays TMNT movie. I'm upset that Michael Bay is making another film and no international peace keeping organization has stepped in to stop him from committing another crime against humanity.
StrangerX
StrangerX - 3/21/2012, 6:48 AM
Whatever dude!!!
WolvieCBM
WolvieCBM - 3/21/2012, 7:01 AM
imnotahero: Bay is not directing this film.
connorblaze
connorblaze - 3/21/2012, 7:06 AM
Oh whoop-de-freakin-doo. Its a movie about talking turtles that are ninjas. Really? I don't get it, I'm afriad. Can't believe anyone would kick up a fuss about where a talking turtle COMES FROM.
MarkCassidy
MarkCassidy - 3/21/2012, 7:07 AM
No, that would be Jonathan Liebesman..a little Bay in the making perhaps.
imnotahero
imnotahero - 3/21/2012, 7:09 AM
@wolvie - He's a producer, which can be just as bad.
MarkCassidy
MarkCassidy - 3/21/2012, 7:10 AM
Tea, exact quote was: "These turtles are from an alien race, and they are going to be tough, edgy, funny and completely loveable"
HavocPrime
HavocPrime - 3/21/2012, 7:12 AM
Lols Turtlegate, brilliant title.

AlexDeLarge87
AlexDeLarge87 - 3/21/2012, 7:14 AM
[frick]ing depressing :(
darthbobtarkas
darthbobtarkas - 3/21/2012, 7:15 AM
I wouldn't mind if there was something mystical behind the Turtles' origins, but making them aliens is totally against the theme. The only reason TMNT succeeded was because of that 'N', the NINJA bit, and making them Alien Ninjas just makes the concept loonier.
Micheal Bay is not making the concept make more sense, he is making it just more senseless. And Jon Liebesman is the director. It's a given he will [frick] it up.
ralfinader
ralfinader - 3/21/2012, 7:15 AM
'Turtlegate', lol.

...continues rubbing ass on floor over the butchery coming the Munster's way.
valeriesghost
valeriesghost - 3/21/2012, 7:15 AM
but i like rubbing my ass on the floor!



anyways, michael bay can go to hell.
Greengo
Greengo - 3/21/2012, 7:17 AM
Shit just got real errrrrr
darthbobtarkas
darthbobtarkas - 3/21/2012, 7:17 AM
Can someone help me get #MichealBayMustDie trending on twitter?
MarkCassidy
MarkCassidy - 3/21/2012, 7:17 AM
I dunno, sounds like they will just be aliens to me..but there is room for interpretation. Like I said in the last article, if it wasn't Bay I'd be more inclined to wait until I heard more but since he's a hack, a dumbass and told people to chill and relax yesterday..[frick] him! I hope he just misspoke and totally fracked up. There are probably a team of guys behind the movie tearing their hair out saying ..

"Dammit Bay, we said they will FIGHT an alien race..FIGHT!"
uvsk420
uvsk420 - 3/21/2012, 7:18 AM


uvsk420
uvsk420 - 3/21/2012, 7:19 AM


darthbobtarkas
darthbobtarkas - 3/21/2012, 7:19 AM
Make that #MichaelBayMustDie

@TheSharkKnight : Urm... Nolan IS a Batman fan. He's read a lot of the comicbooks, and he respects the mythology. You can't expect a person to make a literal translation of a superhero comic from page to screen, otherwise you'll end up with something like Batman Forever.
Loki666
Loki666 - 3/21/2012, 7:22 AM
I like the way you think Tea. If the mutagen were to be alien in origin it wouldn't be so bad. The scientists make contact with Krang's species or something, and the secret of the ooze is given to them. Otherwise this could really suck. The scientist in the Secret of the ooze was originally going to be revealed to be an alien in disguise, one of Krang's species, but they thought it would make things too complicated. Not joking, that would have made the second movie cooler imho.

"In Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze, there was a scene where Dr. Jordan Perry was revealed to be a Utrom. The scene was deleted because the studio feared the Utrom would be mistaken for Krang. Krang himself makes a non-speaking cameo appearance when Perry puts the canistar of ooze in the holder, the Utrom is on the trianglular pyramid on the right hand corner of the screen."

http://tmnt.wikia.com/wiki/Krang
AlexDeLarge87
AlexDeLarge87 - 3/21/2012, 7:23 AM
NinjaCarm@ Believe me i hope thats true.
DoodPool
DoodPool - 3/21/2012, 7:25 AM
Am i suppose to rally behind bays decision because one of the guys who voiced the turtles "leaders" must have got a big fat explosion filled check signed M. Bay?
TheBurnSays
TheBurnSays - 3/21/2012, 7:26 AM
Okay, so the TURTLES are from another planet or dimension where there are: turtles, ninjas, english language, rats that teach the samourai way... yeah right! There's your "richer" world people.
Loki666
Loki666 - 3/21/2012, 7:27 AM
With the rumors about Triceratons I think they could be tying it all together, and hopefully we see some scientists creating Bebop and Rocksteady this time too.
AlexDeLarge87
AlexDeLarge87 - 3/21/2012, 7:29 AM
tea@ Aaah boobs! How refreshing they are! ;)
MarkCassidy
MarkCassidy - 3/21/2012, 7:31 AM
Hey if something like that was the case then I'd be fine with it, but because he didn't clarify or expand when he released his little chill out message, I'm thinking what he said and what will be won't differ too much. The Turtles are from an alien race..the Turtles are aliens. We'll see though.
AlexDeLarge87
AlexDeLarge87 - 3/21/2012, 7:31 AM
tea@ Yeah the ooze definitely has alien origin but the Turtles are just Turtles form earth. :)
AlexDeLarge87
AlexDeLarge87 - 3/21/2012, 7:31 AM
from
Gigacrusher45
Gigacrusher45 - 3/21/2012, 7:31 AM
It's really stupid of Bay to basically announce the movie as " We're going to change the origins of the characters". Then being surprised by the back lash. I don't see how it will make sense and stay related to what the Turtles have always been. Does this mean Splinter is an alien too? In that case his back story and relation to Shredder will change.

The fact that the Turtles grew up in New York City is a big part of their personality. How can that make sense if they're aliens?

It's like pitching the idea of Transformers as " They aren't going to transform".
StrangerX
StrangerX - 3/21/2012, 7:33 AM
2knight3000-that would be a much better idea than the turtles themselves, because it would also explain why Splinter would be transformed as well.
MichSam007
MichSam007 - 3/21/2012, 7:36 AM
http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/say-no-to-alien-tmnts/
Gigacrusher45
Gigacrusher45 - 3/21/2012, 7:36 AM
Why can't we have a sequel to the CG TMNT movie from a few years ago? Yeah the plot was a little weird but the Turtles themselves and the issues they had were a great thing to watch. The conflict and fight between Raph and Leo was great. It was a good movie and stuck with how the Turtles should be. We need a sequel to that.

This sounds like Dragon Ball Evolution where they said stuff like " We're changing it to evolve it therefore think we're making it better" and guess what? They changed story points from the original story and the movie sucked.
AlexDeLarge87
AlexDeLarge87 - 3/21/2012, 7:37 AM
Ooze/mutagen comes from aliens known as Utroms. Krang is based on them in appearance.
ThatOneDude
ThatOneDude - 3/21/2012, 7:38 AM
Screw Bay... I don't get how he's still getting work
AlexDeLarge87
AlexDeLarge87 - 3/21/2012, 7:41 AM
tea@ nice!:P
Darkie
Darkie - 3/21/2012, 7:41 AM
All I know is first Bay screwed with the Transformers. he may have put them on the map again, but thats like having people praise a reprint of the Mona Lisa, that was done by the creater of the Simpsons. Yeah it will be comical, and yeah it will be interesting, but its not the original, its an affront to the original artist, and it just plain mocks what it was about in the first place.

Now Bay is at it again with theTurtles. I ave no doubt that if he wanted to pay HOMAGE to the original story line he could whip out a full on, testosterone flooding film. but instead he has to screw with the origins, play with the characters.... I mean lets face it. Teenage. How old will the turtles be? Mutant. not aliens, not unknown race.... mutated. Ninja. This might be the one area bay would know something about unless he has to get his explosions in there. I have yet to hear of ninjas running around with C-4 packs instead of throwing stars... And lastely - Turtles. Not clones, not aliens, not cockroaches.... turtles. So out of that, 4 words, and a rather simple concept. And since there has been a baseline of the origin, hard to screw up. I dont want to see Splinter as a cockatoo, or Mikey as a gopher.

So to YOU Mr bay I say this "Quit screwing around with our Childhood and try getting it right!"
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