Animation Guild | We are 839 Digital Magazine
Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/1153535
The Turtle Tank bursts out from the sewers, vaults over the freeway only to find itself swarmed by origami foot soldiers. At the center of the action is Raph duking it out with a lieutenant. 30 frenetic seconds later, after the series card announces the Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, you may find yourself gasping for breath. This isn't your dad's "TMNT" The series intro is a feat of action sequence craftsmanship. On this roller coaster ride, blink at your peril. "There's a lot going on. That's actually the intent. We left it busy," says Ant Ward who co- created Rise with Andy Suriano. "We left it with lots of Easter eggs, lots of little things happening. It encourages people to go back and review it." Each of our four half-shelled heroes gets several action-y moments. We see Donnie's cool machines, Mikey's skateboarding prowess, Raph's "awesomenistic" space-clearing capabilities and Leo's… clumsiness. A few beats after he takes a tumble across the dash of the turtle tank, Leo careens by on a shell raiser and gives a fallen villain a wedgie. Later we glimpse a rogue's gallery of the villains the turtles will be facing including Meat Sweats and Big Mama. Raph blows them away. "It's very character-specific," says Suriano. "We're throwing the gauntlet out that hey this is Ninja Turtles but this is a new take on it." Scenes from Rise of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles opening sequence; (below) writer/ producer Ant Ward. intro On this roller coaster lot going on. That's actually the left it busy," says Ant Ward who co- with Andy Suriano. "We left it with Easter eggs, lots of little of little of things happening. encourages people to go back and review it." our four half-shelled heroes gets action-y moments. We see Donnie's machines, Mikey's skateboarding prowess, "awesomenistic" space-clearing capabilities and Leo's… clumsiness. A few beats he takes a tumble across the dash of the of the of turtle tank, Leo careens by on a shell raiser and gives a fallen villain a wedgie. Later we glimpse rogue's gallery of the of the of villains the turtles will facing including Meat Sweats and Big Mama. Raph blows them away. "It's very character-specific," says Suriano. "We're throwing the gauntlet out that hey this is Ninja Turtles but this is a new take on it." THE "RISE" INTRO: A C L O S E R L O O K 28 KEYFRAME Images courtesy of Nickeodeon F E AT U R E