At a recent media event the notorious director said the following in relation to the planned Turtles reboot in 2013 - "These turtles are from an alien race, and they are going to be tough, edgy, funny and completely loveable". This was met with outrage from fans, and clearly voice actor Robbie Rist, the man responsible for Michelangelo's distinctive surfer dude voice in the first live action Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie, is as pissed off as the rest of us.
Here are a few lines from a letter Rist penned to Bay along with a quote for TMZ..
"You probably don't know me but I did some voice work on the first set of movies that you are starting to talk about sodomizing."
Rist added, "I know believing in mutated talking turtles is kinda silly to begin with but am I supposed to be led to believe there are ninjas from another planet? The rape of our childhood memories continues ... "
Still, Rist tells TMZ ... "Everything I have said here could be off base and wrong ... He has made WAY more money at this than I have."
Umm, yeah I'd stick to your guns there mate. He's made more money that most people, doesn't mean he's not a complete hack - according to some at least! Seriously though, Rist might be going a bit overboard with the rape and sodomy stuff but there is no doubt that this decision amounts to nothing more than a brain fart. I'm all for changes from time to time but these are the Teenage MUTANT Ninja Turtles, the clue to their origin is right there in the name. It's going to be very interesting to see what Bay and co can do - if anything - to appease the fanbase after this.
Here is an
UPDATE from Bay himself which was posted on his
Shoot For The Edit message boards..
"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."
Hear that guys? The director of
Pearl Harbor wants you to chill dammit! He's got this.
About The Author:
Mark Cassidy is a writer, photographer, amateur filmmaker, and Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic from Dublin, Ireland.