While Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles started off as a dark comic book to pay tribute to Frank Miller and his iconic Daredevil run, the series truly exploded as an animated show and successful toy line that became like catnip for children around the world. Naturally, a live-action movie was the next logical step in the quest for Turtlemania running wild, brother. However, the story of how the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1990) movie came to be is still one of the most fascinating Hollywood tales of all time. It certainly wasn’t a party filled with pizza and Vanilla Ice tunes.
10. Howard the Duck Almost Ruined It
Nowadays, you can’t run away from comic book movies. Whether people are fighting about the Snyder Cut or Film Twitter shilling for Lord Feige’s approval, these pesky heroes are everywhere you look. In the late ‘80s, though, things were much different. Especially after the failures of Howard the Duck and Superman 4: The Quest for Peace. Basically, comic book properties were seen as kryptonite for the box office, and no one wanted to take a risk on them, fearing millions of dollars being lost when they could’ve just handed them to Schwarzenegger or Stallone for an easy hit.
Despite the Turtles dominating the toy market and kids’ TV, every major studio turned down the project. Producer Kim Dawson said that Showtime’s executive vice president of programming and marketing asked her if she was out of her mind when she told him about it. The worst part is that Fox eventually agreed to distribute the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1990) movie before pulling out 10 days before production was meant to start! Sheesh, now that’s definitely not cowabunga! Fortunately, the then-small and independent New Line Cinema agreed to release it, and it proved to be a wise business decision…
9. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Became the Highest-Grossing Independent Film of All Time
If there’s one thing that the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1990) movie taught us, it’s that Hollywood has no idea what the general audience wants – and it still doesn’t. After every studio said nah, fam, New Line Cinema laughed all the way to the bank as its gamble paid off in a big way. Get this: The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1990) movie made $202 million from a measly $13.5 million budget. Now that’s a whole lot of pizzas that you could buy for everyone. Every day. For a year or two. Of course, you would need to add pineapple to make it tastier…
Thanks to this unprecedented haul at the box office, the Ninja Turtles earned the distinction of being the highest-grossing independent film of all time. That’s until the snotty-nosed Blair Witch Project took the title in 1999, but still, we’d rather remember the Turtles because at least their heads looked more frightening than anything from that shaky cam abomination…
8. The Raphael Actor Was Claustrophobic
Look, those Turtle costumes didn’t look comfortable at all. And they weren’t. The actors were constantly dehydrated and felt exhausted lugging around those gigantic heads. Probably how Bruno Fernandes feels playing for Manchester United. For Josh Pais, who played Raphael, it was even worse, because he suffered from claustrophobia. Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, Josh admitted the intense relationship between him and the suit, saying: “They’d yell ‘cut,’ and maybe one of the Turtle’s heads wasn’t working, so then it could be an hour to fix it and get it up again. From morning to lunch break, we would each lose at least 5 pounds.”
Considering how angry Raphael was in the movie, maybe Josh was doing some kind of method acting here. Getting himself into the right mindframe or mood, you know. At least he didn’t send any dead rats to his co-stars. Mind you, that wouldn’t have gone down too well with *whisper* Splinter being his dad.
7. Steve Barron Didn’t Complete the Movie
You think studios taking away cuts from directors is a modern phenomenon? Guess again! The suits have been destroying creativity since the dawn of time. Hell, poor Steve Barron wasn’t even allowed to see the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1990) movie because the producers feared it would be too dark for the younger audience. This was confirmed by Josh Pais on the podcast I Was There Too. No one really knows how different the director’s cut would’ve been, but it’s likely that it would be more like the comics than the cartoon – and that’s probably what sent the producers’ bowels into a spasm and had them reaching for the scissors.
Is it too late to start a Release the Barron Cut movement now?
6. Corey Feldman Was, Well, Corey Feldman On Set
Getting Corey Feldman to voice Donatello was a huge coup for the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1990) movie. After all, he was still at the peak of his popularity and brought some serious star power into the mix. Well, Corey wasn’t exactly on his best behaviour then, bringing diva tendencies to the production and rubbing up people the wrong way. Basically, he was every story you read about him in the ‘80s.
For one, he was always late and kept everyone waiting for him to record his lines. Two, he just wasn’t very nice to his co-stars. Leif Tilden who did the actual costume work for Donnie told a story of how he went up to Corey at the premiere and introduced himself. He said that Corey totally dismissed him and didn’t want to acknowledge his existence, choosing instead to tell the kids in attendance that his drug arrest was total nonsense and he was innocent. And three, he complained about only receiving $1500 for the part, feeling like he received a raw deal from the studio.
Hmm… Always knew there was a reason that Corey Haim was our favourite Corey.
5. Eastman Loved the Director’s Vision
Naturally, Eastman and Laird were apprehensive about the live-action film. Even though their franchise was still relatively young, they’d heard some super stupid ideas from all charlatans throughout the years. However, their fears were allayed after meeting director Steve Barron. Eastman told The Hollywood Reporter: “He came in and had gone through the comic books, and picked out scenes from [issue] number one or number 10 and said, ‘Here’s the movie.’ Steve Barron was such a fan of the comic book series, and he was aware of the animated series. He said, ‘We need to make a hybrid.’”
For Eastman, Steve’s direction made total sense. And he was even more excited to see the film pull scenes straight out of the comics. Unfortunately, the studio had other plans…
4. Robin Williams Geeked Out When He Found Out About It
To this day, the loss of Robin Willaim still hurts. He had a passion for film quite like no one else. And as it turns out, he was also a huge fan of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. When he found out that his Cadillac Man co-star Judith Hoag was filming the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1990) movie, he got so excited and couldn’t believe it was happening. It was the seal of approval that Judith needed to take the movie seriously, because as she revealed, she had been hesitant about the part until then. In fact, she actually thought it was a horror film. Well, if you have four turtles and a rat living in a sewer, it does sound awfully suspicious or like some kind of meme.
3. Judith Hoag Hated April’s Yellow Jumpsuit
In the animated show, April O’Neil wore a yellow jumpsuit. And it looked like she had gone wild at a sale, since that’s the only thing she wore in the cartoon. That or she didn’t like to wash her clothes often. In the movie, the director wanted to pay tribute to the character by having Judith Hoag wear a similar outfit. The actress wasn’t a fan of it, though, and it was quickly axed from the production. Also, Judith wasn’t a big fan of the perm either. She hated her hair and felt like it belonged on Steven Tyler instead. Well, she didn’t say that last part, but we imagine him loving a good perm even now.
2. Sally Menke Was Fired
When you think of Sally, you instantly remember her outstanding work as a collaborator and editor on Quentin Tarantino’s movies. She did a remarkable job piecing together such intricate stories and bringing cohesion to Tarantino’s wacky ideas. The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1990) movie was actually her second feature film job. And as the story goes, she worked incredibly well with the director and produced a cut of the film they were both happy with. However, the production company Golden Harvest didn’t love her editing and showed her the door, along with Steve Barron. Sigh. Remember what we said about suits earlier? Golden Harvest’s loss was Tarantino’s gain, really, as she carved out a phenomenal reputation in Hollywood before her tragic passing in 2010.
1. Sam Rockwell Makes An Appearance
Nowadays, you may know him as an Oscar winner and the man who was completely wasted by the MCU, but Sam Rockwell also had to carve out a career in Hollywood for decades. And Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles was actually his third feature film. But he wasn’t Casey Jones, nor some other main role. Instead, he was listed as Head Thug in the movie. Well, we all gotta start somewhere, right?
Even so, you could just tell that Sam oozes coolness in the part. He had all that ‘80s bad attitude and style, except for the mandatory moon bag. If he’d worn that, he’d definitely be cooler than the Shredder or those other loser kids he led.
RELATED: Zack Snyder Should Direct The TMNT: The Last Ronin Movie
So, tell us, are there any other interesting facts that you know about the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1990) movie? Hit us up in the comments down below and let us know.
