Raiders of The Lost Media - Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles IV: The Next Mutation

 

Man, it's been quite awhile since I made one of these. Anyhow, with me finishing up the original TMNT movie franchise, it's time I tell you the story of what would've been the fourth flick in that series.

Part One - What is Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles IV: The Next Mutation?

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Next Mutation (or sometimes referred to as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles IV: The Foot Walks Again) was a movie that was meant to be a follow up to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III, before sadly being shelved.

Part Two - The Story

Not much is known about the story expect for a couple of details. The biggest one being that both the turtles and Splinter would've gone through a secondary mutation, which would've given them new abilities. Shredder would've also gone through a mutation all while trying to rebuilt his Foot clan.

Other details for the plot contains adding a fifth turtle to the mix, with his name being Kirby (named after legendary comic book artist Jack Kirby). As of writing this, it hasn't been revealed if Kirby was meant to be an ally or a new enemy. Another detail is the story would've had a darker tone compared to the two previous installments. A Playmates catalogue also hinted at a possible post-apocalyptic dimension, which would explain characters such as "Kasey" and "Evil April".

Part Three - Production History

Somewhere in 1994, the creators of TMNT themselves [Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird] were contacted by the studio to come with potential ideas for a fourth movie. The duo began to conceptualize on the story, which would lead to the mutation plot.

The only other detail that came from the previously mentioned Playmates advertisement, other than saying how they were gonna do your typical merchandise campaign, was that the movie would've been released during the 1996 holiday season.

Part Four - Cancelation

After many years in development hell, the movie was canceled, without given a reason as to why.

Two popular (and very reasonable) theories are, the movie was canceled because of the absolute disastrous critical and financial reception from the third movie. While the second theory states the movie was canceled because it would've been too expensive to produce new costumes and props for newly mutated turtles, especially since the filmmakers wouldn't have had help from Jim Henson's Creature Shop, after they left the franchise when the second movie was released.

Part Five - The Turtles and Splinter's New Forms

Before I go into other details about what remains, I want to tell you about the new powers for the Turtles and Splinter, since that was heavily focused on.

First up is Splinter, he's secondary mutation would've seen him take a more monstrous appearance, he also would've gotten bigger, and was described as a "super rat".

Then we have my favorite ninja turtle, Raphael. As you can see, much like Splinter, his mutation is more monstrous. Which gave sharp claws on his hands and feet, along with sharp teeth as well. And his torso now has a skull look to it, which I really like. Kinda gives off a Punisher vibe.

Now we move on to my second favorite, Michaelangelo. At first glance it seems the only change he went through was his fashion sense, but I think that's kind of the point. Because his mutation would've allowed him to change into a more human-like appearance. So the street clothes make sense.

Next up is Leonardo. Again it doesn't seem like he's changed at all, but again they [Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird] weren't going for anything crazy like they did with Splinter and Raph. He's mutation would've allowed him to morph his skin into something resembling chrome and would've been impenetrable.

Lastly we have Donatello. Not only did they give him something that looks like it resembles military gear, but he's secondary mutation would've given him telepathic powers, but in doing so it would've given him poor eyesight, which explains why his goggles also have a glasses appearance to them.

Part Six - Scripts and Concept Art

On May 11th, 2012, an online auction was held, one of the items were three scripts for the movie. To this day, none of them have been released to the public.

There's a lot more concept art then what I'm showing, I just didn't put it on because I wanted to focus on stuff I previously wrote. But if you're curious, ComicAlliance has a lot for you to view.

Part Seven - Possible Tributes?

While the movie was never made, some bits and pieces were spread out in the other parts of the TMNT franchise. Whether theses were intentionally or not is up for debate.

Firstly, the less than stellar (and I'm being nice when I say that) Ninja Turtles live-action TV series, uses the movie's subtitle.

In the ninth season of the 1987's animated series, in episode four titled 'The New Mutation', the turtles go through a mutation and all of their appearances look to be very close to Raphael's.

Lastly and I could be wrong here, but in the 2014 reboot movie series, Donnie in those movies is sporting glasses and is wearing some tech, which does kinda makes him look similar to the Donnie in the Next Mutation.

Well guys, I hope you enjoyed that. Please come back on Thursday, May 18th, for my review of the 2007's animated movie, TMNT. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day.