Category: Cartoons

First Review for the Blu-ray TMNT Movie Collection at Blu-ray.com.

TMNT Blu-Ray Collection Box Art
Blu-ray.coms full review for the Collection
TMNT 1 Blu-ray image
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Rating: 3/5

The first entry in the Turtles series features a respectable 1080p/VC-1 transfer that, despite several technical issues, should please fans looking to disregard their aging VHS and DVD copies of the film. Colors are a bit muted and nighttime sequences are plagued with inconsistent contrast and poorly resolved blacks, but I doubt Warner could have done much more with the original print without investing in a Blade Runner-esque restoration. Thankfully, detail is impressive (particularly when it comes to Jim Henson’s creature costumes), dirt and scratches have been significantly reduced, and noise has been kept to a minimum. On the flipside, the film’s grainfield (while present) has been quashed, and heavy-handed artificial sharpening has been applied to counteract the effects. More distressingly, artifacting, banding, and aliasing pop up from time to time, undermining the overall integrity of the image. Even so, I didn’t expect Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles to look quite this good. I imagine anyone approaching this release with reasonable expectations will be satisfied with Warner’s efforts.

There has been some discussion among fans about the crappy cardboard packaging, but fear not a member of their message forum has come to our rescue.

TMNT 2 Blu-ray image

Final Words on the set: While hardcore turtles’ fans have probably already placed their pre-orders, frugal Blu-ray adopters will face a more difficult choice. Not only is the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Collection a bit pricey, its live-action entries are saddled with problematic video transfers and its supplemental package is a joke. Moreover, the set itself will continue to be a source of contention for many; it may have been designed to look like a cheap pizza box, but… well, it looks like a cheap pizza box. Not exactly the sort of thing collectors will be eager to display on their shelves. Still, any TMNT fanatic (especially those with a printer who’ve downloaded our own madridista8700’s impressive custom covers) will find their expectations have been surpassed. Weigh your options carefully, but proceed with confidence. The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Collection is a solid release worth some consideration.

Download the Custom Covers here- TMNT  Blu-ray Custom Covers
New Blu-ray slip cases can be found here- Sleeve Town

Trust me when I say they look Amazing. When you see them it will make you want to yell COWABUNGA!!!!

Fresh From The Rumor Mill: 4Kids Entertainment For Sale?

4kidstvlg

For the record, this is still totally rumor status.

4Kids Entertainment (NYSE: KDE), the NYC-based kids entertainment media firm, has put itself up for sale, paidContent has learned. The company is going through a selective bidding process, and speaking to a few interested parties, according to a source familiar with the situation. 4Kids, founded in 1970 as Leisure Concepts Inc, is one of the larger owners, licensees and distributors of children’s TV in U.S., and is known for brands such as the Pokémon and Yu-Gi-Oh! Japanese anime franchises, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and Cabbage Patch Kids. It also has a kids trading cards business, which is HQed in San Diego, and owns a stake in TC Digital, the operator of the popular Chaotic trading card games and the website.

Until late last year it also ran two programming blocks on TV: the CW4Kids on The CW and 4Kids TV on FOX stations, but the latter ended in December. Since then, it has started an online site 4Kids.TV, where it streams full episodes of its shows. In 2006, 4Kids and Microsoft signed a deal to license children’s video games for the Xbox 360. (More about the company on Wikipedia.)

The company went through a 15 percent staff reduction last year to cut costs. Its stock price has been steadily declining for the last year or so, and has a market cap of less than $25 million now. Its revenues dropped to $10.5 million for Q109, compared to $15 million in Q108. With heavy competition from the likes of Disney, Turner and Nickelodeon, and the loss of Fox’s contract, the going has been tough for the company, and as PE and strategic players who value content libraries have been looking at the landscape, this might be as best a time as any for the company to sell, the thinking goes. Company’s response: “We don’t comment on rumors or speculation.”

Click the Pic for a Direct Link to the Article. Thanks to Hudemx of the technodrome for th heads up.

Warner Bros Updates their DVD Site for the TMNT Movie Collection and Updates for 80s Cartoon Season 8 and Complete Season 7 Set News.

Warner Bros. has updated their site for the DVD and Blu-Ray Turtles sets coming out 08/11/09. The updates include a new trailer for the collection with narration by Mikey Kelley, and a sneak peak at what is included inside each set.

Warner Bros TMNT DVD Site Update

TMNT 80s Season 8 Box Art
Tvshowsondvd.com has posted the box art for the Complete Season 8 DVD set and has new info for a Complete Season 7 set.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles -Retailers Tell Us to Expect a ‘Complete’ Season 7 Set in November

4-disc package coming from Lionsgate in time for the holiday shopping season
Posted by David Lambert
7/21/2009

This past May 12th saw the DVD release of the 7th season of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the classic animated series from the ’80s. But in order to buy it, fans had to pick up four different releases, as the episodes were split up among 4 different single-disc “slices” (that included a pack-in toy, each with a different Turtle from among the group). A number of fans objected to this, and decided to hold off and hope Lionsgate would release the four DVDs all together at some point.

Our retail contacts have informed us that such a day is coming, and sooner than some fans probably thought! The studio is tentatively planning on a November 3rd release date for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles – Season 7 as a “complete” 4-DVD season set. No other details are available yet, and that includes no pricing or package art. But it’s logical to assume that this will be the same four discs as were previously sold separately, just re-wrapped inside of a single package.

As weird as it may seem, don’t forget that this release will be happeing AFTER Lionsgate’s September 1st release of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles – Season 8 on DVD (which is a MUCH shorter season, in episode count). That’s a title we DO have package art for, so we’ll remind you of it with the picture below. Stay tuned for updates about the Complete Season 7 set, and we’ll bring them to you just as soon as we can!

OH MY GOD!!!!

Rob Paulsen

Stephan, I must tell you how much I LOVE YOU MAN!!! I just got off the phone with one of my all time, life long idols ROB PAULSEN!! He’s such an awesome guy. Very genial and willing to take time out of his busy schedule to chat with a fan of his work.

When Stephan told me that he’d ask Rob to call, at first I was skeptical (didn’t stop me from coming up with a list of questions, which incidentally went straight out of my brain when I was actually on the phone with him.)

We talked about his career and other voice over artist, like Maurice LaMarche, Tress MacNeille, and fellow Turtles cast mate Pat Fraley. I asked how he got his start and he told me he started on stage, then on the screen in some cheesy films, like the infamous Stewardess School and then branched out into animation in the 80’s with GI Joe, Transformers, and of course our very own Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. 

I then of course asked the toughest question that I could come up with…”Which is your favorite character?” Though he did say it was like asking which of his children he loved the most, he did say that Pinky would probably win, since it was the role that helped cement him in the industry, and even won him his Emmy.

We even discussed his small roles in the Thumb! films by Steve Oedekerk (which required having his head strapped into a medieval style torture device) and Elvira’s Haunted Hills (a film I owned even before I realized he was in it, now I could never get rid of it.) All in all it was an exciting and informative 30 minutes.

So Stephan thank you, and Rob, THANK YOU! You took the time out of your probably very busy schedule to chat with a flighty fan for his birthday. I couldn’t ask for a better gift. Thank you both soooo much. Crap! I forgot to ask him how he would answer the ultimate question: Are you pondering what I’m pondering? (that and some thing about that TMNT 25th DTV movie doo-dad.)

CEREAL GEEK 5 .. DUE SOON !!

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“After many, many months I can finally present the cover to issue FIVE of cereal:geek – This issue will cover the topic of how cartoons and comics were closely linked during the eighties – With that in mind take a careful look at the composition of the cover… ( including TMNT  ~ t )

The magazine will go to the printers in the next two weeks and be on sale soon thereafter – Issue SIX will hopefully follow a month or two later as it is pretty much complete. And just to remind you issues one, two, three and four are still available, as well as the PDF special.

UK customers – Visit the **cereal:geek website and purchase the magazine – or purchase it from Orbital Comics in London
OVERSEAS customers – Please purchase the magazine from ***Graham Crackers Comics ”

— James Eatock, CG  editor ..publisher and Toon busta