Blast from the Past #647: February 2, 2005: Re: Turtles Gear

Subj: Re: Turtles Gear
Date: Wednesday, February 2, 2005 10:52:34 PM
From: Peter Laird
To:   Kevin Munroe

In a message dated 2/2/05 3:22:53 AM, Kevin Munroe writes:

<<Hey Peter,

As discussed, here are some early designs for updated Turtle gear. I really love
these, mainly because they character-motivated and it's another chance to drill
home character other than just movement and dialogue.

There are two parts of the gear here, in my view - the first is the
belt/holster portion, and the second is the wrist/foot/joint parts. The two
aren't necessarily part and parcel of the same package to me, and can be look
at as independent of one another.

It's still a little early for these, compared to other things you've been
looking at. But I figured we already had them sketched out, so wanted to get
your feedback. I'd love to at least dress Leo in some cool gear for the teaser
trailer. The rest can wait for production.

Things not to look at in these sketches - the turtle designs themselves and the
bandanas.

More to come...

Kevin>>


Kevin,

Thanks for sending the sketch. Although you say to not pay attention to the turtles designs themselves and the bandanas, I feel compelled to point out -- and maybe save us some time in the future -- that neither are a direction I want to go in.

Regarding the gear designs -- I'm not sure if I mentioned this in these exact terms during any of our conversations, but as a rule of thumb I'm not interested in any significant/substantial design changes in the regular (i.e. non-mission specific) gear the Turtles wear/use/carry. Over the last twenty years, we have established and kept pretty consistent (with the lamentable exception of the execrable "Next Mutation" live action TV show, about which no more will be said) the iconic "look" of the Turtles. It's pretty basic -- much like Superman's suit. And unlike, say, the X-Men costumes, which were I think rightly "butched up" when they were translated into movie costumes, the Turtles' basic look has already proven itself in animation and three live action movies. So I don't really see a compelling reason to "slick it up". Part of the "charm", if you will, of the Turtles' gear is that is has a kind of homemade quality to it, a slight funkiness... not super-slick like Batman or the X-Men.

That being said, I think there might be a way we can use SOME of what is in this drawing. Not the hand or feet things -- I don't like them. But perhaps some of the belts/straps/pouches could be used in certain key scenes, if the Turtles need them to carry specific stuff for a specific purpose. And one of the reasons I don't like the hand and feet things is that they look too much like the kind of padded gear martial arts students use while practicing to avoid hurting each other... but for that very reason, maybe we COULD use them for a training scene. Nah... as I just finished typing that, I realized that would be kind of wussy for the Turtles. But maybe April could use something like that. 

Also, color-wise, I don't think black/dark gray works for me. I like the brown -- it goes better with green.

Now this is not to say that I am averse to tweaking the regular gear that the Turtles have -- for example, I think I may have mentioned that I've never been 100% happy with the way Leo's scabbards and the belts/straps that hold them are designed. But any approvable changes would likely be pretty small.

-- Peter