Christmas In July Special - We Wish You A Turtle Christmas (1994)

Welcome to my second Christmas in July special. Last year, we covered the infamous Power Rangers Christmas Special, now we're gonna dive further into the rabbit hole with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. But first, here's a history lesson about the Ninja Turtles franchise.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles began life as a series of comic books created by Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird. The comics were meant to be parodies of popular comics at the time, including Daredevil. In 1987, in an attempt to sell action figures, the comics were transformed into the popular animated series that many children grew up with back in the late 80's and early 90's. I've actually watched a few episodes and the 1990 live action movie and I actually found them entertaining in their own right. They may be juvenile and silly but they were fun to watch.

By the early 90's, interest in the Ninja Turtles were slowly declining. Kids at the time were moving on to other superhero shows like Batman The Animated Series and Power Rangers, and the sequels to the 1990 movie made less money. Yet somehow, some children's entertainment company decided to make a rushed and lazy live action direct to video Christmas special and dumped the project to video stores in late 1994 because that's somehow gonna give the Turtles a new audience. Let's see what went wrong, shall we?

The basic premise of the special is that the Turtles forgot to give their sewer rat mentor named Splinter a Christmas gift, so they they have to go Christmas shopping across New York City to find Christmas gifts and singing and dancing ensue. No crime fighting, no diabolical super villains coming with evil plans to take over the city, just terrible renditions of classic Christmas songs.

The Turtles costumes are terrible and I'm not being picky because the first two films have excellent animatronics and costumes from Jim Henson's Creature Shop. But the costumes here are just lazy. You can see gaps where the neck meets the head, and the shells wobble sometimes. The lip syncing is just as bad and the facial expressions are just plain creepy.

There's also a lot of times of the director wasn't really paying any attention. In the scene when the Turtles are recapping the Christmas gifts, one of the Turtles is holding 5 yellow yo-yos yet you can hear a voice saying 6 yo-yos.

The songs are weak. In addition of terrible renditions of classic Christmas songs, you also get songs that do nothing but pad the running time like "Gotta Get a Gift for Splinter" or "Wrap Rap." Also, aren't the Turtles secretive warriors? Why are the people in New York City not freaking out when 4 human sized turtles are walking around in plain sight?

Last but not least, the terrible voice acting. The Turtles often speak in in surfer lingo yet at one point, one of the turtles suddenly has a Jamaican during their version of Deck the Halls. As for Splinter's voice, anyone can do a better Splinter impression than this voice actor.

We Wish You A Turtle Christmas is one of the worst holiday specials that has ever walked the planet. Everything about this "special" is wrong. The poor production values, the music, the premise, the plot, even the title. It's all terrible. If you're a Ninja Turtles fan, don't even bother seeing this special and avoid it at all costs. If you're not, this will not change your mind. It shouldn't be made at all.

RATING: 0/4

Top 5 Animation Production Nightmares

You think making an animated film is easy? Think again! Here is a top 5 list of animation's biggest production nightmares. This list discusses topics such as studio interference, personality clashes, out of control budgets, health issues, and technical difficulties with the animation process.

5. Toy Story (1995)

What went wrong: Toy Story was the first animated film made entirely by computers, made Pixar into a household name, and was a landmark in both animation and the cinema. But ideas from then-Disney executive Jeffery Katzenberg almost ended production. He wanted to add more edge to the project, so director John Lasseter and his team were forced to add darker elements, such as Woody being a self-entitled jerk. When a test screening made of edited storyboards drawings was shown to Disney executives in November 1993, they were displeased because the film turned out to be a mean spirited dark comedy. Disney was close to cancelling the project but Lasseter and his team of writers begged for another chance. After Lasseter fixed the film, Disney was impressed and production was back on track.

4. Cool World (1992)

What went wrong: Ralph Bakshi's nonsensical 1992 live action/animation hybrid, Cool World was a mess from the beginning. Originally, the film was supposed to be a horror film about a woman who is half human, half cartoon, who plans revenge on her cartoonist father for abandoning her and her mother. Producer Frank Mancuso Jr, who produced some of the Friday the 13th films, was growing tired of the horror genre and hired Micheal Grais and Mark Victor to rewrite the screenplay without Bakshi's permission. When Bakshi got wind of this, he punched Mancuso in the mouth and threatened to quit but Paramount forced him to finish the job or suffer legal consequences. Kim Basinger, who plays a role that was meant for Drew Barrymore, requested the film to be toned down so she can show the film to sick children, hence why the film changed from horror to comedy. The animators weren't given a script, so they had to improvise and create random scene son their own. The final product was released on July 10, 1992 and it bombed big time.

3. Toy Story 2 (1999)

What went wrong: After the success of the first Toy Story film, Disney and Pixar decided to make a continuation of the groundbreaking classic. Unfortunately, much like the first film, it almost wasn't made. It was originally planned as a direct to video sequel, but due to it's promising story and ideas, it was upgraded to a theatrical release. The plot was redone in one weekend and the film had to be completed in nine months, which caused inherent problems. The animators suffered carpal tunnel syndrome and repetitive strain injuries. The production schedule was so nightmarish, that one animator forgot to drop his child off at day care and left him at his car. Yikes!

2. Quest for Camelot (1998)

What went wrong: Back when Disney was back on track in the 90's, other Hollywood studios were trying to cash in with what they have to offer and Warner Bros. 1998 bomb Quest for Camelot proved to be an answer. The original plan for the film was to create a more mature, and dark adaptation of Vera Chapman's The King's Damosel, which could possibly be a PG-13 style animated film. Unfortunately, Warner Bros forced the animators and writers to turn the project into a Disney-esqe musical to compete with the legendary studio. The animators knew that the powers that be at WB didn't care much for animation and were not happy with the finished product.

1. Foodfight (2012)

What went wrong: Foodfight was widely considered by critics and animation fans as one of the worst animated films of all time. So it's really no surprise that the film had a very doomed history.
The movie started production in 2002, with a planned Christmas 2003 release. But before the film could see the light of day, the computer hard drives were stolen. This led to a decade of missed deadlines, animation being reworked, and distribution problems. The film was finally unleashed in 2012 and was scorned by the animation community ever since.