Michael Bay tells Ninja Turtles fans to chill!

The 47-year-old director-producer incited outrage among fans of the superhero franchise when he revealed at the Nickelodeon upfront presentation in New York last week that the pizza-loving, crime-fighting turtles would come from an "alien race" in a "Ninja Turtles" film he is producing. According to franchise lore, mysterious radioactive ooze transformed the turtles into superheroes who battle evildoers. "Fans need to take a breath and chill," Bay said in a statement posted on his site Monday night. "They have not read the script. Our team is working closely with one of the original creators of 'Ninja Turtles' to help expand and give a more complex back story. Relax, we are including everything that made you become fans in the first place. We are just building a richer world." Read More

Ninja Rap by Vanilla Ice, of course! Go Ninja, Go Ninja, Go!

• … that the name "Chet" appears in most of the early Mirage comics? It is typically used as the name of background stores, or graffiti. It can also be found in the Archie kickoff mini-series. It was said that it was the name of the boy who dropped the baby turtles into the sewer.
• …that the four actors playing the Turtles also had cameo appearances in the movie without their costumes?
• …that the three newswomen in the film are named after months: April, May, and June?
• …that the voice of The Shredder in the original cartoon series was that of James Avery, more commonly known for his role of "Uncle Phil" in The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air?
• ...Rob Paulsen (the first cartoon voice of Raphael in the 1987 series) also provides the voice for the Honda character "Mr. Opportunity"?
• ...late film editor Sally Menke (who worked on all films of Quentin Tarantino, including Kill Bill),Quentin Tarantino's film editor and "greatest and only collaborator" got her start editing the 1990 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles film?
• ...Successful Executive Producer Chuck Lorre ("The Big Bang Theory", "Two and a Half Men", "Dharma and Greg") got his start in television co-writing the revered 1987 animated series theme song. It is also of note that in the continuity of "Two and a Half Men", main character Charlie Harper is the writer of the 1987 theme song.
• The four turtles are named after legendary Italian sculptors and or artists such as Leonardo being named after Leonardo Da Vinci