Kevin Eastman has plenty of wild mutated animals to his name, but two names perhaps spur the greatest memory in a particular generation: Tokka and Rahzar. Introduced in 1991's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze, the fearsome duo has become somewhat iconic. Lesser-known than their film appearance, though, is their animated history -- a single episode of the classic Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles animated series, in which the two play supporting roles to a mutant hunter and a human/slug mutate.
However, that's not stopping toy manufacturer NECA from checking the box. Their TMNT cartoon line is already sprawling and includes some obscure figures, but no cut is quite as deep as Tokka and Rahzar. Speaking with CBR about the exclusive action figure reveal ahead of their pre-sale availability at Haulathon, TMNT co-creator Kevin Eastman spoke with us about the history of designing these characters, and where he'd like NECA's line to go next.
CBR: Kevin, I am holding the Tokka and Rahzar figures in my hands, and they are quickly becoming two of my favorite figures. It's well known that you designed the movie looks, but you also created the animated looks for the cartoon. What went into the design process for adapting these big-screen movie characters for animation?
Kevin Eastman: What was super fun, especially about the early days of transitioning a bunch of the black and white Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle characters, was that we had actually developed quite a few for the role-playing game. Characters like Bebop and Rocksteady were originally conceptualized as role-playing game characters, and we were looking to expand into more bad guys and more ferocious or more fearsome evildoers. I love the idea of a snapping turtle. They were one of my favorite turtles growing up, as they look like total dinosaurs. Mutating more characters that we were interested in using to expand the Turtle universe was the fun part of the playground that we got to work in, especially in the early days of the animated series and early movies.
The figures have that NECA look and feel to them that we've all come to know and love. How involved were you in the process of designing these figures?
Luckily for me, the awesome folks at NECA are so incredibly talented that I didn't have to do anything. Whether the creative team at NECA is adapting the hyper-realistic look of the first Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle movie characters into toys or jumping over to the playground of the animated Turtles and adapting that original animated look, they've got so much detail they incorporate. The passion, the attention to detail, the care they put into creating something that is not just a singular 2D thing is incredible. If you're a fan, you'll be able to enjoy the figure in 3D because when you do the full turnaround – background, side, top, everything – all the details, all those nuances, it's all there. As a fan and collector and a big geek, I adore their work bringing these things to life as figures.
Tokka and Rahzar only show up in one episode of the animated series (1993's season 7 episode "Dirk Savage: Mutant Hunter!"), and many people – myself included – probably weren't even aware they had appeared in the cartoon. What makes such deep-cut characters as this a good fit for the line?
I'm a completist, I guess. That's certainly my style of collecting when I tap into the vein of something that I really, really adore. Other toy companies have done a wonderful job of adapting many different aspects of the multiple Turtles universes into toys, but with the NECA line, you get to the point where you start looking for something more unique and original, or something that has not yet been done to add to the collection. Tokka and Rahzar are certainly that. Like you, I had forgotten they had appeared among the almost 300 episodes of the Turtles cartoon. Some of the awesome fans who know more about the Turtles universe than I do reminded me that they did appear in an episode. I'm like, 'Oh, wow. Thanks for letting me know so I don't look like a complete goofball.' It's been really fun finding the uniqueness of something lesser known or lesser produced out there to help build out the whole universe and the collection.
You said you're a completist when it comes to collecting, so what's the figure you most want to see come to the line next?
Well, on the one hand, there's too many, you know? On the other hand, it's getting to the point where you're looking into background characters. One of the first attempts at a girl Turtle was Mona Lisa, which has yet to be done. She's a character that's been added into the IDW comic book universe, but she's more of a lizard-like character, and that was another one of those that was only in one episode of the original. That stands out because Tom Waltz and I finally got to add a female Turtle to the IDW universe with Jennika, who appears just before #100. Now we're having fun with another female Turtle, Venus de Milo, from The Next Mutation, which I worked on in the mid-'90s. Bringing her in as a character was funny; when Tom and I seek different characters that might be interesting to bring into the Turtle universe, we have to go to Turtlepedia now! We look for obscure or background characters that haven't been brought in or even fully evolved, making them creatively fun to bring into that world and make them a bit further down the road.
You've been very involved in the creation of the NECA line. Can you give us a tease of what's coming down the line?
I think what's been fun about the entire NECA line is they started right back at square one with adapting the original Mirage Studios comic versions of the Turtles, with the color figures and the special edition black-and-white figures. Now they've gone through some of the video game influences, the animation influences and certainly the movie toys, which have just been outrageously, beautifully executed. I definitely want to see them continue digging deeper into the original Mirage Studios universe. I love seeing the uniqueness of those characters and how they were originally before being adapted into the cartoons or later series. Characters like Renet or some of the evil Shredders that we had. Even going back to the original character inspiration for Krang, which is the Utroms, these little squishy, alien things that look like little macaroons! I'm looking forward to seeing them tap more of that vein and do more of the original Mirage Turtles characters.
Source: Trendz OH
No comments:
Post a Comment