I'll finish up now with Part Two, which while lengthy, pretty much just covers the voice-over aspect of the film.
Again I won’t comment much on the 2003 show as that’s all old news here (though I will applaud each and every one of them for their performances, especially that of Scottie Ray’s Shredder, who sounds downright heartless) and will instead talk about the voice replacements for the old toon and the cast for the comics. Sadly, you read right - due to union issues (and, I suspect, to the fact that the old show is owned by an entirely different company) they were unable to get the actors back for the old TMNT, Shredder, Krang, Rocksteady, Bebop, Splinter, or April. Instead, they had to use their in-house crew and/or hire new people to sounds as close as they could to the old show’s performers. Doing so, they got a cast that was pretty hit-or-miss for the most part.
Starting with the Turtles themselves, Dan Green (better known as Yugi Moto to most fans) was cast as 80s Leonardo. He is definitely no Cam Clarke, nor does he sound it, which is why he seems to be the voice most people have complained about online. To me he’s only my third least favorite replacement though, as he at least tries hard to sound right, as you can tell and it really does fit at times if nothing else. Moving on to Johnny Castro as 80s Michelangelo, we hit my second least favorite replacement. Now don’t get me wrong, Castro does a pretty good job of sounding like Townsend Coleman’s classic performance. That’s as far as it goes though - it sounds like a decent imitation rather than an actual impersonation, and it comes off incredibly stiff in the actual acting, so most of his lines are rather badly performed. Tony Salerno as 80s Donatello is arguably the best replacement, as he sounds almost exactly like the classic actor at times, and isn’t so tied to sounding like him that his acting is stifled either. Honestly, I could watch an episode of the old show and think of his performance and not be bothered a bit, so two thumbs up for him. Sebastian Arcelus picks up the mantle of 80s Raphael. He, like Salerno’s Donny, sounds an awful lot like the original voice, though not quite as closely. He sounds a lot better than the replacement voices used in the old show itself when the main actor wasn’t around, that’s for sure. His breaking-the-fourth-wall lines are hysterically done, but it does make one miss the original actor even more. Overall, he was satisfactory though.
Going on to 80s Shredder, we hit my most hated replacement with Load Williams. His voice just reeks of bad imitation of James Avery and Jim Cummings, both of which were the perfect voices for the classic Shredder when we knew and loved him. In fact, some of Load’s lines are so bad that I want to “kick a kitten” as it were. That’s not to say he’s not trying hard, it’s just that he is not a good pick for this IMO. Bradford Cameron’s Krang voice is pretty bad as well, but captures the essence of the old show’s voice well enough that it’s not quite as annoying. Though, his voice sounds oddly like Buster from Tiny Toons at the same time…which is a bit distracting, if you know voices like I do. Any voice of Krang’s is better than the voice used in the anime OVA ‘Legend of the Super Mutants’ though. Rocksteady and Bebop are both voiced by double-billers in the cast, Johnny Castro and Bradford Cameron. They don’t speak often enough to get a full feel for their performances, so it’s hard to judge them. Overall they act just like the characters should however, so it’s hard to criticize much without saying that Castro’s Rocksteady doesn’t sound like Clarke’s. Cameron’s Bebop does keep the snort though, which was a pleasant surprise. 80s April and Splinter both only have a handful of lines themselves, just barely enough to judge from really. These are arguably the best sound-alike’s if not the best acting like the old show’s cast as well. Rebecca Soler’s performance as April brings out both the newswoman desperate to get a scoop and the damsel in distress qualities of the character well, and does it sounding believable Dave Wills’ Splinter sounds more masterly than fatherly, which is how that version of the character should come off, and he sounds so wise that it’s hard to question if it’s not actually the classic actor after all.
And now onto the comics cast, which were easier and harder to nail at the same time I would think. On the one hand, they didn’t have to imitate or try to sound like anyone else’s performance, but on the other, they had to create from scratch a voice that would be acceptable to the hundreds of fans who have been waiting for years to hear what these versions of the characters would sound like. First off is Jason Griffith as Mirage Leonardo. He would be better known to anime and video game fans as the voice of Sonic in Sonic X and the games now, as well as the 4Kids actor behind Ussop in One Piece. You read right - the dreaded 4Kids One Piece actor for Ussop. Push all those past, bad performances from your mind though, because you are going to be blown away by just how…well, how badass he sounds as Leo. Some have already compared it to Dirty Harry’s voice, which I can only assume is a good comparison. All I know is his performance, mixed with lines taken verbatim from the comic itself, make this the most enjoyable of the voices to listen to in the comic cast.
The rest of the Mirage-verse characters don’t have near as many lines so it’s hard to comment on much besides the sound of the voice. Bradford Cameron pops up in the cast list once more as Mirage Michelangelo, and it’s definitely a unique voice here. It’s hard to find a word to describe it, other than snarky, but it definitely fits the character who, while goofy like all Mikey’s, is a lot more rough and ready for violence. Pete Capella steps into the shoes of Mirage Donatello, and is the most forgettable of the performances. It’s not that he sounds bad for Donny, but it’s not that he sounds good either. The performance is kind of just there, so it would have been nice to hear more of him to see what he could do with the role. For Mirage Raphael, we have veteran voice actor Sean Schemmel (who in addition to the well-known character of Goku from Dragon Ball Z, performed various smaller roles such as Nobody in the 2003 Turtles toon). After Mirage Leo and Mikey, Raph would be a hard character to follow up with vocally, but Schemmel delivers in spades, sounding just as fierce, violent, and sometimes bloodthirsty, as the angry one of the Turtles should sound in a more violent setting. The last of the Mirage-verse people is Shredder himself, who does show up albeit only for a few lines, which are performed by Dave Wills. I know the whole idea behind this Shredder appearing was to point out what a joke his involvement is compared to even the classic toon’s Shredder, but given the fact that he was still supposed to be a merciless assassin, they could have used a better voice here. He sounds a bit too throaty and guttural to be taken seriously, even for a throw-away villain.
And that brings this lengthy review to a close. I really can’t think of anything else to cover without going more overboard than I already have. If you missed the movie airing, the 3-part episode version airing has already started and will be over in 3 weeks. I’m sure it’s lurking online somewhere though, based on a commercial I saw, maybe even on the 4Kids site itself. Let’s just hope we get DVD news soon.
In the end, I give Turtles Forever a 9 out of 10. It is SO close to being perfect in my opinion, but what few glaring flaws it does have, I have to dock it a point for. If you’re a Turtles fan or were one growing up, this movie is for you. I’d like to thank 4Kids for giving us what is easily their best work ever, and I’d like to thank Eastman and Laird for creating such great characters 25 years ago. Go Green Machine!