New York, NY (August 12, 2003) - 4Kids Entertainment Home Video, Inc., the home video unit of 4Kids Entertainment, Inc., in association with FUNimation, will release the first two volumes of the all-new TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES home video series on September 2, 2003.
Volume I: Attack of the Mousers and Volume 2: Meet Casey Jones, each featuring three action-packed episodes from the all-new TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES animated television series airing on 4Kids Entertainment's FOX BOX, will be available at retail and at www.4KidsHomeVideo.com in both DVD and VHS formats.
Debuting February 2003 on the FOX BOX, the all-new series features the same cool characters, stunning ninja action and irreverent humor that sparked TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES mania more than a dozen years ago, but updated and enhanced with an edgier, tougher look and feel.
Now, after returning to network television with all-new adventures, amazing new allies and treacherous new foes, the TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES are ready to raise shell at video stores.
The TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES history is well known: One day in New York City, a mysterious canister - with the letters TCRI emblazoned across it - falls off a strange truck, just as a young boy is exiting a pet store carrying a bowl that contains four newly purchased baby turtles. The strange canister strikes and shatters the bowl - and the canister and turtles spill into the sewer. The canister breaks open, covering the turtle babies in globs of green muck. As they bathe in the ooze, the turtles are found by a kind and highly intelligent rat, Master Splinter, who scoops them up and takes them under his care. Splinter soon realizes that the green ooze is rapidly mutating both his charges and himself! Until recently, Splinter, had been the cherished pet of a benevolent and gifted ninja master, and he learned the ninja arts by watching intently as his master practiced and perfected his ninjutsu skills. As the turtles grow, Splinter uses his knowledge to become the turtle's caretaker and sensei, training them in the powerful ways of the ninja.
VOLUME 1: Attack of the Mousers
Episode 1: Things Change
In their underground lair deep beneath the city streets, in the middle of an intense training session, the Turtles and Master Splinter are suddenly attacked by a horde of Mouser robots! These mechanical menaces chomp through everything: Stone, steel ... Turtles! In the course of the battle, the Mousers cause the roof of the Turtles' sewer-lair to cave in, separating our heroes from their beloved master. Now the Turtles must abandon their home of 15 years and find their missing master. But on the way, they have to deal with collapsed sewer tunnels, the Purple Dragon street gang and a small army of mysterious, highly trained Ninjas! What the shell is going on around here? Can't a TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLE just have a normal life? Uhmm ... no!
Episode 2: A Better Mousetrap
The Turtles discover the source of the Mouser robots that trashed their old lair: Dr. Baxter Stockman - a noted technological genius/inventor, who tries to pass off the Mousers as a means to eradicate the city's rat problem. Donatello gets one of the broken Mousers working and the Turtles chase it through the sewers. Meanwhile, Stockman's lab assistant, April O'Neil, uncovers a secret subterranean facility where hundreds of Mousers are being manufactured and stored for some nefarious purpose. Stockman catches April and turns his Mousers on her. April escapes to the sewers, where the Turtles, who battle the Mousers, rescue her. But once April gets a clear look at her four saviors, she faints!
Episode 3: Attack of the Mousers
When April O'Neil wakes up in the Turtles' lair, she has major trouble dealing with the reality of four giant talking Turtles and a Zen-master rat, but she calms down when she hears the official origin of the TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES! They trade info and realize their common enemy is Baxter Stockman and his army of robotic Mousers - and there's only one word for their response: Mouser Mashin' Mayhem! Well, three words, actually.
DVD extras:
- Leonardo's bio and photo gallery
- TMNT News Fakes - See the hilarious pre-launch campaign, which aired on the FOX BOX
- Behind the Turtles: Interview with Peter Laird - Part 1 of a four-part, in-depth conversation with the Turtles co-creator
- Behind the Turtles: The Anamatic Process - View the creation of a scene from storyboard to broadcast
- A sneak peek at the Konami video game
- Preview of Playmates Toys
VOLUME 2: Meet Casey Jones
Episode 4: Meet Casey Jones
Raphael feels a little cooped up underground with only his brothers and Master Splinter. When Raphael almost clobbers Michelangelo in some brotherly sparring, it's pretty apparent that Raphael needs to get out and let off a little steam. But, when he meets up with Casey Jones, a vigilante erring a little to the right of justice, Raphael must face the reality of his own hothead ways. Luckily, the two hotheads learn to work together when they find themselves in a Purple Dragons' trap set for Casey in the dark, desolate wilds of Central Park.
Episode 5: Nano
When a scientist accidentally unleashes a super-powered Nanotech monster with a childlike mind, it adopts a small-time con artist as its father figure - and the mayhem begins! Their crime spree targets April's new antique shop, and the Turtles come to her rescue. But how do you stop something that rebuilds itself as fast as you bash it apart? It's a question the Turtles better answer fast, 'cause the Nano-matic slices, it dices and it purees turtle soup in seconds!
Episode 6: Darkness on the Edge of Town
The Turtles, investigating a strange blackout, discover the Foot Ninja stealing a Japanese ceremonial sword from the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The sword turns out to have incredible powers - able to create powerful vibrating shockwaves. Investigating another blackout, the Turtles discover the Foot has hooked up the sword to a high-tech cannon apparatus for some nefarious purpose. The Turtles battle more Foot Ninja, but now they must shut down the vibrating cannon, which threatens to topple a good chunk of lower Manhattan ...
DVD extras:
- Raphael's bio and photo gallery
- TMNT News Fakes: See the hilarious pre-launch campaign, which aired on FOX BOX
- Behind the Turtles: Interview with Peter Laird - Park 1 of a four-part, in-depth conversation with the Turtles co-creator
- Behind the Turtles: The Anamatic Process -View the creation of a scene from storyboard to broadcast
- A sneak peek at the Konami video game
- Preview of Playmates Toys
TITLES:
Volume 1: Attack of the Mousers
Volume 2: Meet Casey Jones
RUNNING TIME: Approximately 60 minutes each
RATING: Not rated
SRP VHS: $12.95
SRP DVD: $16.95
PRE-BOOK: July 29, 2003
STREET DATE: September 2, 2003
About 4Kids Entertainment
Headquartered in New York City with international offices in London, 4Kids Entertainment, Inc. (NYSE: KDE) is a global provider of children's entertainment and merchandise licensing. 4Kids, through its wholly owned subsidiaries, provides domestic and international merchandise licensing; television, film, music and home video production and distribution; media planning and buying; product development; and Web site development. For further information, please visit the company's Web site at www.4KidsEntertainment.com.
This press release contains forward-looking statements. Due to the fact that 4Kids Entertainment, Inc., faces competition from toy companies, television networks, motion picture studios and other licensing companies, and the uncertainty of public response to the Company's properties, actual results or outcomes may differ materially from any such forward-looking statements.
