Half-Shell Heroes: Blast to the Past

Half-Shell Heroes: Blast to the Past

Half-Shell Heroes: Blast to the Past

Half-shell heroes is targeted at toddler to elementry school kids. With that in mind. I thought this was fantastic. My kids have watched this thousands of times. I was hoping there was more, but there aren't.

I have sat through this show three times in the last two days, my 3yr old son is sick, and wants nothing else on the TV. It is a simple and cheerful animation style, and relatively uncomplicated story- line, despite time-travel to the Cretacious. Similar to Kodomomuke anime,this one is clearly intended for kids. With no Splinter, no Shreodder, no April and no Casey, probably not best for the die-hard fans of the TMNT of my youth. Rocksteady and Bebop are more sympathetic characters than usually depicted. If separated from the previous interpretations of these characters, this is a charming little story about a team of turtles wielding Japanese weapons. These are not your mother's Ninja Turtles.

source: Half-Shell Heroes: Blast to the Past

Let's be clear - this is for young kids today, not for 80s kids. There are a few things that I find odd in this version but my 2 and 5 year old absolutely love it. And they are the target audience, not me. Even my 5 year old, who loves the original, recognizes that these turtles are little kids. When he wants to watch it, he actually calls it "baby turtles." Anyone looking for an accurate remake of the original is going to be very disappointed, this is a completely separate version. But if you go in expecting baby turtles you can enjoy it with your little kids.

"Half-Shell Heroes: Blast to the Past" is a 43.5-minute animated short that aired a couple days ago. Seth Green has certainly been among the most prolific animation filmmakers in the last 10 years, especially on television. However, I must say I never enjoyed his "Robot Chicken" stuff and his take on the Ninja Turtles is also something that does not appeal to me much. I like my Turtles big and with lots of muscle, but in this film, they look like teenage version of themselves. I really do not like the style. And I did not appreciate the story either. No Splinter, no April. Instead the quartet ends up in a world full of dinosaurs. They kept bringing in the occasional Shredder reference, like at the end, but it simply is not enough to cut the cake. Apart from Green, there is also Sean Astin (LotR) voicing one of the guys and most of the other voice actors will be familiar as well to those with a deeper interest in American television animation series of the 21st century. Still the voice talent is not enough if the other factors are so underwhelming. Not recommended and if they really pursue this with a series, I'll probably not watch.