The pizza-mad Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles were a sensation of cheesy thrills (mozzarella of course) for kids TV in the 80s and 90s, but as olive-hued warriors in TMNT: The Movie, they failed to make a mark. Despite writer/director Kevin Munroe's "impressively cinematic" approach, most critics felt this animated caper took itself too seriously, and that lack of enthusiasm translated to poor box office action.

Turtle Whacks

Deleted scenes make up the bulk of the extras menu and are presented in varying stages of production. There's an extended opening that uses comic-book visuals to fill in the gaps between the last movie (1990) and this one, plus an alternative ending that sees Casey (voiced by Chris Evans) take centre stage. In his commentary, Munroe explains that it was difficult trying to keep the balance between Casey's story and the Turtles' adventures. That would also explain why he cut a fully animated scene of domestic tension between Casey and April (Sarah Michelle Gellar).

A rough montage of storyboards depicts the Turtles playing a game of "ninja tag" on the city rooftops and there's a storyboard-to-final-scene comparison of their face-off with the invading monsters. Munroe explains that he worked out the Turtles' moves using previsualisation (scenes made solely on computer). That test footage, which is basically raw, first-stage animation of Leonardo (James Arnold Taylor) and Raphael (Nolan North) tearing bits off each other, was used as a tool to pitch to studio executives.

Green Screen

A 5-minute featurette on the process of animation is unsurprisingly basic, but encourages us to be impressed by the spectacle of "pumping muscles, veins, spots and freckles" that had the techno geeks poring over their PCs. Of course the likes of Chris Evans, Sarah Michelle Gellar and Laurence Fishburne have their chance to shine as well. A featurette on the 'voice talent' also hears from Patrick Stewart, who explains that he signed up for the film because the Turtles "do have a certain charm." Hmm. Could it be their smooth, shiny-topped looks?

Despite some nervous umming and erring, Munroe talks us through the main feature with an obvious passion for the story. He's adamant that he did not want to "dumb it down" for those who aren't familiar with the comic-book mythology. Still, he goes on to say that he did expand on the original source material, for instance, fleshing out the character of April to give her some smarts (as well as tight shorts). Altogether he offers some fair insights into the story, but this DVD isn't likely to appeal to anyone who isn't already a diehard TMNT fan.

EXTRA FEATURES

TMNT: The Movie DVD is released on Monday 22nd October 2007.