*SPOILER* "Things Change" *SPOILER* 4Kids S1

[Michaelangelo]

This episode is  "Things Change", can be found on the Season 1 part 1, Disk 1 DVD set, "In the Beginning" DVD, "Michelangelo's Christmas Rescue" and on DVD and VHS "Attack of the Mousers":

Original Air Date: February 8, 2003

Written by: Michael Ryan Supervising Producer: Lloyd Goldfine Producers: Gary Richardson, Frederick U. Fierst, Al Kahn, Norman Grossfeld, Thomas Kenney Supervising Director: Chuck Patton Story Editor: Lloyd Goldfine Character Designer: Adrian Barrios Story Board Artist: Dave Simons (will add others as I learn who all worked on it) Cast Michelangelo: Wayne Grayson Donatello: Sam Regal Raphael: Frank Frankson/John Campbell Leonardo: Michael Sinterniklaas Splinter: Darren Dunstan Saki: Scottie Ray

In the 4Kids Show we will be posting spoilers about the show. From our favourite scenes, to what happened to what characters and what mistakes did you catch in the show? So if you're not one for spoilers and have not seen this one yet, don't read it.

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Hey everyone, durning the repeat time we can do reviews of episoides that aired before the TMNT-L forum was brought together.  So this is the beginning of past reviews.

This is the first episoide and I really must say I was holding my breath waiting for this to air.  With all the promotions for it, Fox Box had me sitting on the edge of my seat.  And they did not disappoint me.

For those who have not seen this episoide and are reading this, this story was about the Turtles lair being destroied by Mousers and they're split up from Splinter.  Their only way back to Splinter is going top side and find another sewer entrance to go down at.  Though while top side, they get into their first battle with the Purple Dragons as well as their first battle with the Foot Clan.   Once they find Splinter they get their new home.

I was really impressed with the tone of this episoide, I believe that week alone I watched it over 20 times.  Just out of the thrill having a new show to be able to enjoy.   I believe my favorite part was seeing the Shredder not dressed up like the Shredder, but just as Saki.  

What are your thoughts on this episoide?

[Raphael]

This episode, aside from being the first ep of the new series and setting the tone for things to come was enjoyable to many of us from sort of an inside joke point of view.  I remember posts being made back and forth, keeping track of things that could be seen as either inside jokes or humourous points of view...

- The introduction of Officers Laird & Eastman. How many of us didn't LOL when we first saw them?
- The use of the term "bapping". Those of you who have never frequented #TMNT on Dalnet (or been on TMNT-L in its various incarnations over the years) might not understand the significance of this one, but "bapping" is a major part of a certain someone's (who might be posting this message) online life. Over the following episodes, it was great to see bapping happening with regular frequency. (not that I think it was used because of us online, it's just funny to see)

I know there were more, these are just the two that immediately spring to mind.

It was also great to see the new direction the turtles were going in...things seemed (here's that word...) darker, more serious, less "Cowabunga, let's get some weird pizza and make Shredder look like the idiot he is, dude". Not to say there wasn't humour ("Cowabu...aaaah...not funny, Raph!" "Oh yes, it is"), it was just less slapstick.

Personally, I welcomed the new show and it has yet to disappoint.  Now, to quote a previous post... "So, talk".

[OnnaRaphael]

I started watching TMNT when it originally began to rerun on Cartoon Network so like a lot of people this was my first episode but I was seeing it way after everyone else.  

For some reason (and this is a crappy thing to say but hey, at least I'm admitting it right?) I was rejecting this new show at first.  I don't know why, I think it's because I keep seeing them reviving things I'd loved and turning them into crap.  I mean WHAT is with them changing the colors of some of the Care Bears?  That's not right!!!  But yeah, I was so sure I wasn't going to like this show despite what all my friends at the Gaia TMNT Guild said and thankfully I was very wrong.  I couldn't argue after the first episode, I loved it.  

At that point I knew very little about the comics and I certainly hadn't read any so I had always wanted to see a darker edgier TMNT, something a little closer to what we got to see in the movie.  I was so psyched to see Raph actually acting like a bad*** rather than just the sarcastic dork he was in the old cartoon.  PLEASE don't take that harshly, I loved the old cartoon, but they were such dorks!     I think that's the reason I like going back and watching it now.  (Hey I'm a dork, I'm proud of it!  And a geek... not so much a nerd though.)

I just thought it was great to see the turtles with four very distinct personalities, as opposed to the original cartoon where sure they were different but not greatly.  And it was very cool seeing kids getting to love what I'd grown up on in a newer version that rocked as opposed to... oh I don't know, color changing Care Bears and the short lived He-Man cartoon.  

[Ty-Chou]

Took me a while to get to this topic. It's been quite a while since I've seen the first episode (The date it originally aired) I hadn't watched it since then so it took me a while to find some time to sit down and watch it again.  But I finally did the other day so here goes:

When I first heard there was a new turtle cartoon, I didn't know what to think. Last time they tried to revive them was Next Mutation when I did not care for at all. I stopped watching that show really quick and it kind of dashed my dreams for anything good for the turtles in the future. So I really wasn't expecting much when I sat down and watched the new cartoon premire on Fox. When the theme song started to play, I was like "No, bad theme song! >.<" Though, these days, the theme song has grown on me, my first impression of it was none too high. However, the last bit of the lyrics "They're teenage brothers" did catch my attention.

In the old cartoon, you never thought of the turtles and Splinter as a family unit. It was almost like a school. Splinter was the teacher and they were the students. Splinter always referred to them as "My students" or "my pupils" never "my sons". So that did impress me. And an early scene of this episode is still one of my all time favorites:

Raphael: "Teacher's pet!"
Leonardo: "Ninja dropout!"
Don and Mike: "OOOOHHH!"

And sadly, I think that's the only time we see Don egging on a fight.  Especially with the scene afterwords which is a sad one for Don fans. The lair shakes and Don is all "An Earthquake in New York? Possible, but not likely." And he even steps forward as everyone else steps backward so he can deliver his intelligent (but not really THAT inteligent) line. And I smack my palm to my forehead. Way to stereotype Don right from the beginning and make his signature line one of the most boring ones in history.  I found out while at Anime Vegas that Sam Regal actually repeats that line before every recording session to keep Don "in character".

And a part of me dies inside.  Why did it have to be THAT line? Why couldn't he pick a line with more personality that wasn't so...blah. Thus, Don is pretty much a blah character in the show. He gets some good scenes now and again, but pretty much, he is stereotyped far worse than the other three. My heart weaps.

Anyway, back to episode one and good things about the show. Despite lack of personality on Don's part, I was still impressed with the show. I LOVED the part with Splinter trying to work the shell cell. (stupid name for a phone, but oh well) And thrughout the whole episode, I was constantly impressed with how the turtles actually acted like brothers to each other. Not friends, not students or fellow ninja--but SIBLINGS. They bugged each other and worried about each other and pressed each others buttons. It was awesome.  They don't even call each other by their full names. It's Leo, Raph, Mikey, and Don or Donnie. (I wonder which one Don preferrs).  But I thought that was SO cool! They did that in the movie, but I believe in the old cartoon they called each other by their full names.

Thinking back to the first time I saw that episode, that's what stuck in my mind most, the turtles and Splinter actually being portrayed as a real family. Also, I was surprised neither Apirl or their origin story showed up in the first ep. But I certainly knew I wanted to watch more. I wasn't able to catch everthing, but I watched what I could until it got to the "Notes from the Underground" episodes. I lost track of it after the second episode--Fox kept changing the time slot. And then, I didn't hear about it for a while and I thought it had been canceled. But not so, my friend assured me it was still on so I found it again as Exodus was airing. (Yes, I was away from it for a LONG time). And I loved Exodus so much I started buying the DVDs to play catch up on all that I missed.

Needless to say, I'm a bit bitter they haven't been releasing the episodes in order. it confuses me a bit. But I'm still loving this show and I'm sticking with it for as long as it runs. ^.^

[Michaelangelo]

Figured it wouldn't be right without Mirage's word, so I'm going to add their coverage of each episoide links here as well.  They have screen shots there as well, for anyone looking for any.  Remember if you have screne shots you'd wish to share you may share in this topic.  

"Things Change" at NinjaTurtles.com

[Michaelangelo]

Made this topic into a poll, so people can rate it at the star they think this episode deserves.    Will be doing each episode like this, one at a time.

Also added another DVD which it can be found on.

[BubblyShell22]

Funnily enough, this wasn't the first Turtles episode I saw. I saw this one a little later and really liked it. I loved that Splinter acted like a father and called them, "My sons." In the old toon, he kept calling them, "My Turtles." That doesn't have the same tone at all. Anyway, I loved the banter between the brothers, and the fight scenes were awesome. I loved them a lot. This show is awesome, and I enjoyed watching this episode. It introduces us to the characters in a way that isn't boring, which is a good thing. I was glad that the origin story came later, since most of us know of it anyway. Great ep! Five stars for me!

[Michaelangelo]

Adding credits to the first post of the topics.  As we get info on who worked on it, they'll be added.  Hopefully to every episode.  Including Cast Credits.

[Michaelangelo]

Mirage episode information - With ninjaturtles.com getting a make over soon and us not knowing what is going to be there, I am going to copy the text here to keep it safe for those who want to read what Mirage put on the site.  Doing this for each of the episodes.

“Things Change”
Written by: Michael Ryan

Original Air Date: February 8, 2003

Supervising Producer: Lloyd Goldfine
Producers: Gary Richardson, Frederick U. Fierst, Al Kahn, Norman Grossfeld, Thomas Kenney
Supervising Director: Chuck Patton
Story Editor: Lloyd Goldfine

MAJOR CHARACTERS:
Donatello (Sam Regal)
Leonardo (Michael Sinterniklaas)
Michelangelo (Wayne Grayson )
Raphael (Frank Frankson)
Splinter (Darren Dunstan)
Saki (Scottie Ray)

SECONDARY CHARACTERS:
Purple Dragon Gang Members
Foot Soldiers
Two Cops

MAIN LOCATIONS, VEHICLES AND ACCESSORIES:
Old Lair
Sewer Tunnels
City Streets and Rooftops
Purple Dragon Warehouse
Saki’s Rooftop Palace
New Lair
Mousers
Armored Truck (pre-mods)
Shell-Cell

Synopsis:

Leo intro voiceover: "The Purple Dragon gang has us trapped in a dead-end alley. The only way out... is through them." (This basic scene repeats itself later in the main action).

The TMNT are enduring another one of Splinter’s training sessions in the old lair. All is going as usual until the lair starts to shake and crumble. Suddenly, a horde of Mousers burst through a wall. A big battle ensues between the mechanical menaces and our heroes. Just when it looks like the Turtles have defeated the Mousers, there is a cave-in in the lair that separates the TMNT from Master Splinter.

The Turtles communicate with Splinter via Shell-Cell, and agree to rendezvous in another part of the sewer system. On the way to the rendezvous point, the TMNT are forced to go above ground, and in so doing interrupt a Purple Dragon robbery. During the course of this side adventure, Raph manages to get locked inside the Dragon’s Armored Truck. The rest of the guys can only watch and follow as Raphael gets hauled off with the loot.

By taking rooftop shortcuts the other three Turtles are able to see where the truck stops to unload. The ninjas drop down, dispatch a couple of Dragons and free Raph. But, just as they are about to make their exit, the TMNT are surrounded by a number of Dragons and Foot Soldiers. A battle royal occurs in the alley outside the Dragon warehouse. The Turtles do just fine, but the bad guy reinforcements just keep coming. Therefore, the mutants decide to "borrow" the armored truck and get the shell out of there.

After ditching the truck in an abandoned sewer tunnel, the TMNT finally rendezvous with Splinter, who has a discovery to share with them. The Sensei has stumbled across an old abandoned chamber in the sewer system, and has decided this will be their new home and HQ. After inspecting the cavernous space, the Turtles couldn’t agree more, and we leave them as they are beginning to make things tidy for living.