Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2014)/Trivia

* Casting for Foot Clan roles were held when the Ninja Turtles 25th Anniversary Shell-Ebration stopped at Los Angeles. The people being casted were ordinary people on the street.
* The filmmakers chose Weta Digital to do the VFX based on their work on Rise of the Planet of the Apes.
* The filmmakers cite the martial arts films Fist of Legend and The Raid: Redemption as an influence on the action.
* The release date of the film was changed to 2014, to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the original comic book series, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles saga.
* One of Michael Bay's earlier films, Armageddon, featured a brief appearance by Judith Hoag, who played April O'Neil in "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles".
* Brett Ratner had been in talks to direct prior to Jonathan Liebesman being hired.
* Jane Levy, Anna Kendrick, and Elizabeth Olsen tested for the part of April O'Neil.
* April is seen to wear a yellow jacket. This pays homage to her appearance in "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles", where she prominently had on a yellow jumpsuit.
* Ernie Reyes Jr., who starred in "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze" (and acted as a stunt double for Donatello in 1990 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles), pitched a stunt video to Michael Bay so that he could be martial arts consultant on this film.
* For the first time in the franchise the Turtles' shells are bulletproof.
* Michelangelo hits on April, much like the first two live-action films.
* The Turtles and Splinter were created inside a laboratory, much like in the IDW comics. Furthermore, the concept of the mutagen having almost limitless curative effects seems to be from those comics as well.
* This time the Foot Soldiers use guns as their primary weapons, much like the Foot Soldiers from the 1987 TV series and their laser blasters.
* The Turtle Assault Van's horn is the beginning of the 1987 series theme song.
* When Splinter is telling April about how he raised the turtles there's a scene in his flashback where Leonardo appears slicing pizza in the air for his family and one of the pieces hits Splinter in the head is a reference to the 1990 film, where the same thing happens.
* Eric Sacks says they considered using rabbits instead of Turtles for the Mutagen experiences, it can be interpreted as a reference to either Usagi Yojimbo or The Tortoise and the Hare tale.
* The movie begins with a black and white comic book style montage as a reference to the original Mirage comics, but it gets a few colors making it look similar to the 2012 TV series' flashbacks.
* Splinter and the Turtles were laboratory experiments, much like in the IDW comics origin story.
* The younger version of April says the mutagen came from outer space as a hint to the Utroms.
* April was the one who introduced pizza to the Turtles.
* The scene where Raphael is walking disguised on the streets with April was cut off the final version, but it was a reference to the way the Turtles used to disguise themselves in the Mirage comics, 1987 series, Archie's comics, 1990 film and 2003 TV series.
* Michelangelo mentions a "Hip Hop Christmas Album" as a reference to the We Wish You a Turtle Christmas special.
* At the end of the movie Michelangelo sings "Happy Together" to April, a song by a band called "The Turtles".
* Vern refers to the Turtles as "heroes in a half shell", which's a reference to the 1987 TV series theme song.
* The "Cat Playing Keyboard with Chopsticks" video was based on a real internet hit video known as The Keyboard Cat.
* This film marks the first appearances of Vern Fenwick, Karai, and Baxter Stockman in a live action theatrical film.
* During one of April's video tape reviews one of the turtles' tanks is labeled "Michaelangelo" a nod to the Turtle's name original spelling in the Mirage Comics.
* Donatello's glasses have tortoise shell frames.
* When April calls Vern, the song playing in Vern's apartment is "Careless Whisper" by Wham!.
* In the film, Donatello stated that a pizza with 99 different types of cheese would be impossible. Johnny di Francesco, an Australian pizza maker and owner of the 400 Gradi pizzeria, took the challenge and created a 99 cheese pizza after the film.
* The Japanese spoken by the Shredder during his sparring scene with the Foot is 「はじめ！」, "Hajime!", 「かったるい 。」, "Kattarui.", 「 負けて当然だ。」, "Makete tōzen da.",「お前はその訓練してはずだ。」, "Omae wa sono kuren shite hazu da."
** The Japanese spoken by the Shredder to Sacks is「なぜここにいるですよ？」, "Naze koko ni iru desu yo?",「フットだのパワー無限大になりお前は大金を手にする。」, "Futto da no pawā mugendai ni nari omae wa taikin o te ni suru.", 「探せ。」, "Sagase.",「晩飯はタートルスープでな。」, "Banmeshi wa tātoru sūpu de na."
Category:Trivia facts