LEGO TMNT: The Movie

LEGO TMNT: The Movie would be a 2023 American animated action comedy-drama fantasy film directed by Chris McKay, and based on both the LEGO Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles toy line, and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchise created by Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird. Eastman and McKay would write the film's screenplay alongside Brandon Auman and John Shirley, who previously served as writers for the 2012 TMNT TV series. Eastman and Auman would also serve as executive-producers alongside Laird, Allison Abate, Matthew Aston, and 2012 series co-creator Ciro Nieli, The film would star the voices of Michael Sinterniklaas, Sean Astin, Rob Paulsen, Wayne Grayson, Darren Dunstan, Mae Whitman, Kelly Hu, Kevin Michael Richardson, and Pat Fraley, all reprising their roles from previous TMNT media.
Plans for an animated film based on the discontinued LEGO Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles toy line would be first revealed in late 2020, with McKay, who previously directed The Lego Batman Movie being set to write and direct the film, with the rest of the cast and writers joining the project during early 2021. The film would draw elements from the first three TMNT animated series for its plot and characterizations. The screenwriter would consult with therapists in order to feature an accurate representation of Survivor's Guilt in the film. LEGO would ressurect the toy line in order to promote the film
LEGO TMNT: The Movie would be released on February 12, 2023, and would become a critical and financial success. The film would earn 623 million dollars over a budget of 100 million dollars, becoming the hightest-grossing TMNT film. The film would be praised by critics for its screenplay, voice acting, emotional story, humor, animation, and use of multiple elements from the franchise, with many critics praisig it as the best TMNT film.
== Synopsis ==
New York's best pizza-loving ninja heroes are back on the silver screen! After the Turtles lose in battle their dear sensei and adoptive father, Splinter, Leonardo must leave the role of leader behind and become his family's new master. However, while he is trained physically and mentally enough to earn the role, Leo's mind is not fine enough to become a master, being plaged by guilt over his father's death. However, when Krang and Shredder reveal their plan to transport the Earth to Dimension X, Leonardo must accept his family's help and overcome his guilt in order to become the sensei the world needs him to be.
== Voice cast ==
* Michael Sinterniklaas as Leonardo:A mutant antropomorphic turtle and the oldest of the Turtles, who becomes the team's sensei following Splinter's death, an event that left him with deep guilt and regret. Sinterniklaas would reprise his role from the 2003 TV series. According to director Chris McKay, Sinterniklaas would record his lines separately from the rest of the cast "in order to boost his performance as this lonely and rude version of Leo".
* Sean Astin as Raphael, a mutant antropomorphic turtle and the hot-headed second oldest of the Turtles, who resents Leonardo due to him being named the leader of the team. Astin would reprise his role from the 2012 TV series
* Rob Paulsen as Donatello, a mutant antropomorphic turtle and the third oldest of the turtles, who is a technological genius and the smartes of his family. Paulson would reprise his role from the 2012 TV series.
** Paulsen would also voice Metalhead, Donatello's turtle-like robotic assistant.
* Wayne Grayson as Michalangenlo, a mutant antropomorphic turtle and the youngest of the turtles, who is the childish member of the team and has an obsesion with pizza. Grayson would reprise his role from the 2003 TV series. According to co-producer Dan Lin, Grayson would improvise several of his lines "to help give infuse the character with a sense of dumb fun and unpredictability". Lin would also state that the film's potrayal of the character would "have "the culture-loving and language-expert sides from the otiginal comics, but in a way that is still very much like the usual Mikey we are all used to".
* Darren Dunstan as Splinter, a mutant antropomorphic rat and the sensei and adoptive father of the turtles, as well as Karai's biological father, who is killed-in-action in an explosion. Dunstan would reprise his role from the 2003 TV series
* Mae Whitman as April O'Neil, a human teenager who is the Turtles' only human friend, as well as their closest friend and Donatello's love interest. Whitman would reprise her role from the 2012 TV series.
* Kelly Hu as Karai:A mutant human/snake hybrid and Splinter's biological daughter, who serves as Leonardo's confidant, and who tries to help Leonardo to overcome his guilt over their father's death. Hu would reprise her role from the 2012 TV series. According to director Chris McKay, Karai's relationship with the Turtles from the 2012 series would be kept because the filmmakers felt they needed "someone really close" to Leoardo to serve as his confidante and conscience, a description McKsy would feel "fits with Karai more than even April". According to Brandon Auman, Karai's story from the 2012 series wouldn't be changed for the film, as the filmmakers felt "her story was losely connected to the Kraang story enough that that part can easily be removed". According to Hu, Karai would learn to "have a more delicate touch and be more aware of what others feel" througth the film, an arc she would feel "really connects with the PTSD themes in the film".
* Kevin Michael Richardson as The Shredder:The leader of the Foot Clan and the Turtles' archenemy, who aims to take over the world alongside Krang. Michael Richardson would reprise his role from the 2012 TV series. Michael Richardson would describe the film's characterization of Shredder as "a combo" of the 1987 and 2012 versions, stating that "he's a very threating fighter, but also gets a lot of funny moments".
* Pat Fraley as Krang:A brain-like creature and a warlord from Dimension X who plots to use his war ship, the Technodrome, to take over the world alongside the Shredder. Fraley would reprise his role from the 1987 and 2012 TV series. Fraley would describe Krang and Shredder's relationship as "something among the lines of The Odd Couple", explaining that "they both need each other, but they don't tolerate each other".
* J.B. Smoove and Fred Tatasciore as Bebop and Rocksteady, an antropomorphic mutant rhinoceros and warthog duo who work as Shredder's allies. Smoove and Tatasciore would reprise their roles from the 2012 TV series.
* Clancy Brown and Christian Lanz as Razhar and Fishface, an antropomorphic mutant wolf and fish duo who work as Shredder's allies. Brow and Lanz would reprise their roles from the 2012 TV series. Director Chris McKay would describe them as "the polar opposites" to Bebop and Rocksteady.
* Phil LaMarr as Baxter Stockman, an antropomorphic mutant fly and a mad scientist who works as Shredder and Krang's personal scientist and inventor. LaMarr would reprise his role from the 2012 TV series.
* Eric Bauza as Tiger Claw, an antropomorphic mutant tiger and an assasin who is Shredder's second-in-command. Bauza would reprise his role from the 2012 TV series.
== Music ==
Hans Zimmer would compose the film's score. Zimmer would draw inspirations from John Du Prez's score for the first three TMNT movies, througth he would "still aim for something more of [his] style". Zimmer would create a theme for the Turtles "that really showcases their bond and brotherhood", while his theme for Leonardo would be "more sad, lonely, tragic, but slowly becoming more positive" in order to reflect the character's arc in the film. According to Zimmer, Leonardo, Karai and Splinter's themes would feature traditional Japanese elements. Similar to his score for Disney's The Lion King (1994), Zimmer would use Japanese chants and vocals for the score.
Additionally, the film would use the songs "Ninja Rap" and "Awesome (You Are My Hero) from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze, as well as the songs "This Is What We Do" from the original 1990 film, and a cover of the theme song of the 1987 series by Panic! At the Disco. Partners in Kryme would re-write and perform an end-credits version of their song "Turtle Power", from the 1990 film, as the song's lyrics folow very closely the narrative of that film, which would force the producers to hire them in order to write a new version of the song. During an interview, producer Phil Lord would say that "if a song neither was created nor was featured in TMNT media, then its not [in the movie]".
Beyoncé would perform a new song for the film, titled "Free", written by lya Salmanzadeh, Labrinth and Beyoncé. Labirinth would say that the song was "written with the spirit of 'Spirit' from The Lion King and the themes of the movie". According to director Chris McKay, the filmmakers would originally plan to use an existing TMNT-related song, but they felt "none had the feel and spirit needed for the scene", so they would instead hire Beyoncé to write a new song as the felt that "her song for The Lion King, 'Spirit', fitted better than any of our options, so [they would] choose to hire her to do something like that". In January 27, 2023, "Free" would be released as a single.
== Reception ==
On Rotten Tomatoes, the film would have an approval rating of 89% based on 234 reviews, with an average score of 7.9/10. The website's consensus would read: "Emotionally touching, wonderfully animated, and with high-quality vocal performances, Lego TMNT: The Movie is a movie that combines perfectly the franchise's humor and emotion, finally giving fans the movie that this franchise deserves". On Metcritic, the film would have a weighted rating of 77 out of 100 based on 45 reviews, indicating "generally positive reviews". The film would be the hightest-rated TMNT film on both websites.
== Trivia ==
* The film would be the fifth animated film based on the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchise, after TMNT (2007), Turtles Forever (2009), Batman vs. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2019), and an upcoming Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles film.
**This would also be the second animated TMNT film to be released threatically, after TMNT.
* The film would mark the first time TMNT creator Kevin Eastman worked on a TMNT movie.
* According to director Chris McKay, the most of the cast would record their voices together "to further get their characters' chemistry right".
* The film would mark the third time a TMNT media to feature Splinter dying, after the Mirage comics and the 2012 TV series. It would also mark the first TMNT film in which Splinter dies.
* The film would be the first TMNT reboot film that dosen't focus on Leonardo and Raphael's sibling rivalry.
=== References to other TMNT media ===
* The scene in which a LEGO minifigure version of Michael Bay is rolled over by a truck would be an allusion to the negative reception of the TMNT films he produced.
**Aditionally, the truck would resemble Optimus Prime's vehicle form, referencing the negative reception of the Bay-directed Transformers films.
* The scene in which a Time Scepter in a museum is the only exhibition destroyed, to the joy of a group of kids, would be a reference to the negative reception of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III, which featured the Time Scepter.
* The film would mark the first time the concept of the "Spiritual Avatar", from the 2003 series' "Ninja Tribunal" arc, appears in a TMNT film.
* At one point in the film, Splinter's ghost would appear to Leonardo througth a campfire in April's farm during the night, similar to the 1990 film and the 2012 TV series episode "Vision Quest".
*In one scene, Karai and Michaelangelo would find Leonardo punching a punch bag until he sends it flying away, a reference to a deleted scene from the 1990 film
* During the film's climax, Karai and Leonardo would face a Foot Ninja squadron lead by Baxter Stockman on a construction building, referencing the first level of the SNES video game Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles IV: Turtles in Time.
* The film's opening sequence would be strongly based on the Mirage comics What Goes Around.... Comes Around! and Silent Partner, througth with Splinter and Karai taking Leonardo and Casey Jones's places, respectively.
* During the party scene at the star of the movie, Michelangelo would steal all the pizza slices, to which he would comment that "what happened is ninja pizza: pizza that vanishes quickly without a trace", a reference to a similar line he spoke in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze.
** Also during the scene, while playing with Donatello's new teletporter devise, Michelangelo ends up accidentally causing a pizz slice to land on Raphael's head, which would be a reference to a similar scene from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1990), and its 2014 reboot.
* During a fight sequence in the film, Karai would use her snake abilities to kock-out several Foot Clan members, to which she would comment "Thank god i didn't became a turtle", a subtle allusion to Venus de Milo, a female turtle introduced in the infamous live-action series Ninja Turtles: The Next Mutation.
* During a fight against Shredderand his forces, Michalangelo would try to attack Shredder, while commenting to him "Cowabunga Shredhead", a reference to the title of an episode of the 1987s TV series.
* While thinking about a plan to take over the world, Krang would suggest several ideas to Shredder, including recruiting runaway teenagers, bring in an army of savage monsters from another dimension, and releasing a toxin to New York City and trick people into taking the mutagen by solding it as a cure, only for Shredder to dismiss them all. The three plots suggested by Krang would be clear references to the original 1990 film, TMNT, and the 2014 reboot.