Jeremy Howard Talks Donatello's Relationship with April O'Neil, "TMNT 2" Expectations

[CBR News]

The "TMNT" actor opens up about bringing Donatello to life, the 2016 sequel and the importance the Turtles had on his childhood.


Full article here.

[spacegoatpurrp]

This next movie needs way less April and more TMNT. Thats like one of the main things ppl had a problem with in the first one.

[Rogue Star]

This next movie needs way less April and more TMNT. Thats like one of the main things ppl had a problem with in the first one.

YES! It was more like "April O'Neil and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles."

I also don't need someone to remind me of how attractive she is almost every time she's in a shot.

[Dank]

When did Don have a crush on April in the comics?

[master of read]

When did Don have a crush on April in the comics?

none to my knowledge.

[LittleHeartRecords]

When did Don have a crush on April in the comics?

It's a HUGE part of the new show. I'm assuming that's why it came up, but was surprised it wasn't made clearer.

[Dank]

I'm aware of the show, but he makes it sound like it originated in the comics.

[Orbus]

I'm aware of the show, but he makes it sound like it originated in the comics.

The question emphasizes that it's the animated series in which Don has a huge crush on April and the '03 series where he had feelings for her albeit played understated but Howard's response seems to conflate it with the comics.

It's not that surprising. Will Arnett often emphasized that his character was from the original comics and that he was Casey Jones' cousin. Back when William Fichnter was still the Shredder he was aware his character was an original one but seemed to be under the impression it was deeply rooted in the franchise that anyone could be Shredder. Obviously they were misled by the creators of the movie.

During the promotional process anyone involved who could believably be passed off as a fan falling over themselves to say what huge fans they were who watched all the shows and read the comics though getting details wrong - not even small things but some things that even a casual fan would know. It's pretty clear Leibesman, Form and co did little more than skim through stuff as research.

(The only person involved that actually bothered to learn anything about the franchise was Tohoru Masamune who would like the full Mirage origin for Shredder - good luck with that pal. They didn't even give him bis name)

Honestly I don't think there's much scope for improvement with a sequel. It's generally agreed the biggest in a multitude of problems was the lack of screentime and development of the turtles, something a few of the actors have said themselves includong Howard here. Surely that's unlikely to change, I doubt the sequel will have a big increase in the budget and any extra money will go to animating two extra motion captured characters in Bebop and Rocksteady and presumebly a decent name for Casey Jones. The talk of hiring Dave Green, someone known for working on a tight budget would suggest there's less wiggle room than there was with the 2014 movie where they managed to extend their budget far more than the reported 125 million.