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| Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Credits | |
| Title: | Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles |
| Director: | Steve Barron |
| Writers: | Bobby Herbeck Todd W. Langen |
| Producers: | David Chan; Raymond Chow; Graham Cottle; Kim Dawson; Simon Fields |
| Composer: | John Du Prez |
| Cinematography: | John Fenner |
| Editors: | William D. Gordean Sally Menke James R. Symons |
| Production | |
| Distributed by: | New Line Cinema |
| Released: | March 30th, 1990 |
| Rating: | PG |
| Running time: | 93 min. |
| Country: | USA |
| Language: | English |
| Budget: | $13,500,000 |
| Gross: | $135,265,915 (US) [1] $201,965,915 (Worldwide) [1] |
| Navigation | |
| Previous: | — |
| Next: | Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze |
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is an American independent film of the action and superhero fantasy genres. It is based on the popular comic book series created by Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird. The film was directed by Steve Barron with a screenplay written by Todd W. Langen and Bobby Herbeck, based on a story treatment by Herbeck. It was released through New Line Cinema and premiered in the United States on March 30th, 1990.
Regarding its "human" cast, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles stars Judith Hoag as gutsy investigative journalist and broadcaster April O'Neil as well as Elias Koteas as the masked vigilante Casey Jones. Other non-reptilian cast members one can expect to find in this film is James Saito in the dual role of Oroko Saki and uber-baddie, the Shredder, Toshishiro Obata as ninja clan master, Tatsu, Michael Turney as Danny Pennington and Jay Patterson as Charles Pennington.
As the men behind-the-shells, we begin with David Forman, who plays both Leonardo as well as one of the Foot gang members. He is voiced by Brian Tochi. Donatello is played by Leif Tilden, who likewise plays a gang member as well. The voice talent behind this particular turtle is '80s teen icon Corey Feldman. For Michelangelo, we have Michelan Sisti, who also doubles as the pizza delivery guy. Michelangelo is voiced by Robbie Rist. Lastly, there is Raphael, who is voiced by actor Josh Pais. Pais also plays a passenger in a taxicab in the film. For the character of Splinter, the part is played by an animatronic puppet, but vocalized by actor Kevin Clash.
Plot[]
Cast[]
Live-action cast[]
| Actor | Role |
|---|---|
| Judith Hoag | April O'Neil |
| Elias Koteas | Casey Jones |
| Josh Pais | Passenger in cab |
| David Forman | Leonardo/Gang member |
| Leif Tilden | Donatello/Foot messenger |
| Michelan Sisti | Michaelangelo/Pizza man |
| James Saito | The Shredder/Oroko Saki |
| Sam Rockwell | Head thug |
| Toshishiro Obata | Tatsu |
| Michael Turney | Danny Pennington |
| Jay Patterson | Charles Pennington |
| Raymond Serra | Chief Sterns |
| Kitty Fitzgibbon | June |
| Louis Cantarini | Cab driver |
| Joe D'Onofrio | Movie hoodlum #1 |
| John D. Ward | Movie hoodlum #2 |
| Ju Yu | Shinsho |
| Cassandra Ward-Freeman | Charles' secretary |
| Mark Jeffrey Miller | Technician |
| John Rogers | New recruit |
| Tae Pak | Talkative Foot #1 |
| Kenn Troum | Talkative Foot #2 |
| Robert Haskell | Tall teen |
| Joshua Bo Lozoff | Beaten teen |
| Winston Hemingway | Police officer #1 |
| Joe Inscoe | Police officer #2 |
| Curtis Bush | Foot soldier |
Voice cast[]
| Actor | Role |
|---|---|
| Josh Pais | Raphael |
| Brian Tochi | Leonardo |
| Robbie Rist | Michaelangelo |
| Corey Feldman | Donatello |
| Kevin Clash | Splinter |
| David McCharen | The Shredder |
| Michael McConnohie | Tatsu |
Notes & Trivia[]
- "TMNT 1990" serves as a shortcut to this page. This is for the benefit of visitors and editors who wish to return to this page without typing out the full title in the search engine.
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is based on the popular Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comic book series by Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird, which began publication by Mirage Studios in 1984. The comedic tone of the movie however, actually takes its cues from the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cartoon series by Murakami Wolf Swenson and Fred Wolf Films, which aired for ten seasons from 1987 to 1996.
- Production on Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles began on July 10th, 1989. Principal photography concluded on September 9th, 1989. The movie was shot at North Carolina Film Studios in Wilmington, North Carolina, and Screen Gems Studios, also in Wilmington. On-location shoots were filmed in New York City, New York. [1][2]
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles was released on DVD in Region 1 format by New Line Home Video on February 24th, 1998. The DVD included an interactive "Sewer Maze" game. The movie was also included on a "4-Film Favorites" collection along with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III, and TMNT. The collection was produced by Warner Home Video and released on September 7th, 2010. The four films were also packaged as a 25th Anniversary Blu-ray collection, which was released by Warner Home Video on August 11th, 2009. [3][4][5]
- Actor John Ward is credited as John D. Ward in this film.
- Actor Kenn Scott is credited as Kenn Troum in this film.
- Actor Josh Lozoff is credited as Joshua Bo Lozoff in this film.
- The backstory of Splinter, Shredder, and the Turtles, as presented in this film, is actually quite faithful to the original Eastman & Laird comic book stories. The origin of the Turtles was first presented in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #1.
- April O'Neil first appeared in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #2 in October, 1984. She is a mainstay character in the franchise, and is often romantically associated with Casey Jones.
- Casey Jones first appeared in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Raphael #1, which was a micro-series published in April, 1985. The comic version of Casey Jones maintained the same motif as the movie version, but was much more violent and emotionally disturbed.
Taglines[]
Taglines and marketing slogans for this film include:
- "Heroes in a half shell!"
- "Hey dude, this is NO cartoon".
- "Lean, green and on the screen".
- "This ain't no cartoon".
- "They're mean, green and on the screen".
Recommendations[]
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Vol. 1
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Vol. 2
- Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
See also[]
External Links[]
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 IMDB; Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1990); Box office & business
- ↑ IMDB; Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1990); Filming locations.
- ↑ Amazon.com; Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1990); DVD.
- ↑ Amazon.com; 4-Film Favorites, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles collection.
- ↑ Amazon.com; Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles; 25th Anniversary Collection; Blu-ray.
Keywords[]
1980s | Central Park | Crime boss | Gangster | Manhattan | New York | New York City | Ninja | Pizza | Superhero | Thug | Turtles