Last night I experienced one of the coolest things. I got to see a movie that sits comfortably at number 2 in my favorite films top 5. The original 1990 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Now, it is true that this film is nothing amazing in the over all scheme of cinematic history, BUT it has its following. And that following was present at the Tribeca Drive-In. When Katie and I showed up, there were 1,000+ chairs set out and I was amazed that by the time the film began, all of them were filled (some even sitting on the floor, or steps to the the buildings surrounding the screen). It was insane!
This was also tied into the on going celebration of the 25th anniversary of TMNT. I had no idea they were going to do all this. There were guys in turtle suits, a karate class that was doing demonstrations (I saw a guy lose track of a bo staff and almost take out an audience member- Lawsuit!!), they gave away free pizza (good), popcorn (ok), snapple (sponsor), comics (fun) and turtle masks. We set the record for the highest number of people wearing Ninja Turtles masks at one gathering (which I’ve gotta say, Guinness doesn’t seem to be very picky as to what should be considered a world record). One of the things I did expect and was looking forward to was there: A life size version of the Turtles Party Wagon. A toy I played with hours on end and watched in numerous cartoon episodes. I was able to walk through it and view all the different photos and memorbilia of the turtles history everywhere from the movies to cartoons and even the ‘Coming Out of Their Shells Tour’ (if you haven’t seen this, youtube it… it’s hilarious… if a franchise can ‘jump the shark’, this is it). I was a very happy Fanboy.
Speaking of fanboys, I totally stood behind this girl while waiting to go into the Party Wagon. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fCs9PFYHTe8 A member of the press started to interview her and Katie pointed out that she was the MTV Fan. Been awhile since that clip aired and glad to see she’s still at it! She told the news guy that she was going to follow the Wagon’s tour all the way to San Diego Comicon.
The MTV Obsessed Fan wasn’t the only celeb we saw. There were special guests to introduce the film, co-creator Kevin Eastman, director Steve Barron, Ernie Reyes Jr. who played Keno in the second film, and the producers of the animated film and upcoming live action film set for 2011 (dear god I hope they do this right… the producers mentioned using the same technology they’re using on Where the Wild Things Are, mixing practical suits with facial cg, which looks awesome). Corey Feldman was no where to be found…
But nothing really came close to the experience of actually watching the film on the big screen with a group filled with fans just like me. Everyone cheered for the good guys, booed at the bad guys, laughed at the jokes as well as heckle the cheesy moments. Now normally heckling would be annoying, but since everyone was there to enjoy this movie, the heckles were only at moments that did deserve them. We were united as one! A single pizza eating, ninja crowd, pumping their fists in the air with Turtle Power!
One of my earliest memories of childhood, was being in Philadelphia, and for my 5th Birthday, my parents taking a group of me and my friends to see the first Ninja Turtles movie. They had give aways during an intermission, a guy in a turtle suit, and it was one of the coolest birthday parties I had as a kid. Needless to say it was really surreal to find myself at a similar event 19yrs later.
If you ever have a chance to see one of your favorite movies with a large group of fans of said movie, DO IT! No matter what. That is how all movies should be seen.
Here’s another clip for ol’ times sake.
