| Batman vs. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles | |
|---|---|
 Official DVD cover | |
| Directed by | Jake Castorena |
| Written by | Marly Halpern-Graser |
| Based on | Characters fromDC Characters fromNickelodeon |
| Produced by | Ben Jones |
| Starring | |
| Edited by |
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| Music by | Kevin Riepl |
Production companies | |
| Distributed by | Warner Bros. Home Entertainment |
Release dates |
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Running time | 87 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Batman vs. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is a 2019 American animatedsuperhero film directed by Jake Castorena and written by Marly Halpern-Graser. Inspired by theDC Comics andIDW Publishing comic bookminiseriesBatman/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles byJames Tynion IV andFreddie Williams II, the story focuses onBatman,Robin, andBatgirl teaming up with theTeenage Mutant Ninja Turtles in order to saveGotham City from chaos at the hands of bothShredder andRa's al Ghul. The film features the voices ofTroy Baker,Eric Bauza,Darren Criss,Kyle Mooney, andBaron Vaughn.
In February 2019, it was announced that an animated adaptation of the comic book miniseriesBatman/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles was in development, as a collaboration betweenWarner Bros. Animation,DC Entertainment, andNickelodeon. The interdimensional aspect of the original comic story was omitted, in reverence to past superhero crossovers that establish both properties involved as existing in the same reality, with the additional goal of simplifying the story.
Batman vs. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles was produced for the direct-to-video market, and was released on both Blu-ray andDigital HD on June 4, 2019. It received positive reviews and grossed over $3.3 million from home video sales.
This is one of the posthumous releases for longtime DC producerBenjamin Melniker, who died just over a year before its release.[2][3][4]
While touring Powers Industrial,Barbara Gordon witnesses a power generator being stolen by theFoot Clan and also spots four creatures during the robbery that she refers to asmetahumans. She reports this back to Batman, who decides that if the culprits want high tech, he will set a trap with it. The Foot Clan then attacksWayne Enterprises to steal an experimentalcloud seeder machine, but are ambushed byBatman, who fends off the Foot and their leader,Shredder. Meanwhile, it is revealed that the four metahumans Batgirl sighted are actually theTeenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, currently tracking Shredder's actions to Gotham City, having learned he has allied with an unknown party. After defending Wayne Enterprises from thePenguin, the Turtles encounter and fight Batman, as each side believes the other is the enemy. Batman is able to overpower the Turtles, who then retreat.
Donatello researches Batman and his sighted locations, and uses this information to figure out the location of theBatcave. After a brief scuffle withRobin, Batman and Batgirl arrive, and the Turtles introduce themselves and explain their reason for coming to Gotham. The two groups agree to work together against their common enemies, and Robin reveals that Shredder and the Foot Clan are working withRa's al Ghul and theLeague of Assassins. Shredder and Ra's meet and strike a bargain: Ra's will give Shredder access to the Lazarus Pit to become immortal, in exchange for Shredder building a machine that will spray the Techno Cosmic Research Institute (TCRI) mutagen over Gotham, transforming the citizens into monstrous mutants that will destroy the city. With Shredder's failure to steal the cloud seeder, Ra's hires the Penguin to intercept it, while he and Shredder go toArkham Asylum and release theJoker. The two trade Joker a vial of the TCRI mutagen for the Joker Venom formula, which combined with the mutagen will drive the mutated insane, and Joker uses the mutagen on Arkham's inmates.
The Bat-Family and the Turtles are alerted about an alarm at Arkham byCommissioner Gordon and investigate. After fighting their way through various mutated members ofBatman's rogues gallery, they confrontHarley Quinn and Joker, mutated into aspotted hyena and aking cobra. Joker injects Batman with a mixture of Joker venom and mutagen, transforming him into a mutantvampire bat who attacks the others in a frenzy, throwing Two-Face out a window. The heroes are able to inject Batman with an anti-mutagen and restore him, and subdue Harley and Joker. Batgirl learns about the cloud seeder's theft by Penguin, and they realize the incident at Arkham was a distraction. Aware that Shredder and Ra's will be using Joker venom, they deduce they will be atAce Chemicals to create it.
At Ace Chemicals, the Bat-family and the Turtles fight through the Foot Clan and the League of Assassins with theBatmobile and the Turtle Van. While Batman fights Shredder andLeonardo engages Ra's, Donatello andMichelangelo sabotage the cloud seeder as it launches. Leonardo subdues Ra's, and Batman is able to defeat Shredder with a distraction fromRaphael. The cloud seeder crashes into the facility and explodes, knocking Shredder into a vat of Joker venom and destroying Ace Chemicals. At the Batcave, the Turtles prepare to return to New York until Batman reveals a surprise pizza party to celebrate their victory. In apost-credits scene, Shredder emerges from the rubble of Ace Chemicals, now possessing a Joker-like appearance and laughing maniacally.
In February 2019, it was announced that an animated adaptation of the miniseriesBatman/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles was in development, as a collaboration betweenWarner Bros. Animation andNickelodeon.[5] In May 2019, Jake Casterona was announced to be directing from a screenplay by Marly Halpern-Graser, with Ben Jones producing; Jones previously worked on bothBatman: The Brave and the Bold (2008–11) andTeenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2012-17).[6]
Early during production, Jones wanted to omit the interdimensional aspect of the original comics, due to both his love for crossovers such asSuperman vs. Spider-Man that established both properties as existing in the same reality, as well as simplifying the story.[7] Due to this, Halpern-Graser sought to instead stay faithful to the comic's tone and structure while incorporating these changes to the story, with multiple lines and panels being adapted verbatim to the film.[7] Regarding the portrayals of Batman and the Turtles, Casterona wanted to contrast them by portraying Batman as more serious and the Turtles being more lighthearted and fun-loving. However, he wanted to avoid portraying them in a goofy light similar to the1980s series, so he and the crew instead drew inspiration from the1990 film and how it portrayed the Turtles in a lighthearted manner while still being serious in tone.[7] Producer Ben Jones and screenwriter Mary Halpern-Graser expressed interest in a sequel that centers on Batman interacting with elements from theTurtles franchise, expressing particular interest in featuring characters such asKrang andBebop and Rocksteady.[7]
The initial announcement revealedTroy Baker would reprise his roles as bothBatman and theJoker from previous DC properties, making Baker the first actor to portray both characters in the same property. The film featuresDarren Criss,Eric Bauza,Kyle Mooney andBaron Vaughn as the four Turtles:Raphael,Leonardo,Michelangelo andDonatello.Rachel Bloom voicesBatgirl andCas Anvar voicesRa's al Ghul. In addition,Tom Kenny,John DiMaggio,Carlos Alazraqui andTara Strong reprise their roles as thePenguin,Mr. Freeze,Bane,Harley Quinn andPoison Ivy from various DC properties.[5] Other key cast members of the film were revealed a month later, which consists ofBen Giroux asRobin,Andrew Kishino as theShredder,Keith Ferguson asBaxter Stockman andTwo-Face,Brian George reprising his role asAlfred Pennyworth fromBatman: The Killing Joke, andJim Meskimen asCommissioner James Gordon and theScarecrow.[6] Voice recording had begun by the time the film was announced.[5] Both Warner and Nickelodeon were involved in the casting process, while Gene Vassilaros serves as casting director, after working on that role in previous animatedTurtles media.[7] According to producer Ben Jones, Nickelodeon executives mandated for none of the cast members from the then-current seriesRise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles to be brought back to reprise their roles.[7]
The first trailer was released on March 12, 2019.[6] The film had its world premiere atWonderCon Anaheim 2019 on March 31.[8] The film was later released to Digital on May 14, and onUltra HD Blu-ray andBlu-ray on June 4, 2019.[9] The film earned around $609,000 from domestic DVD sales and $2.7 million from domestic Blu-ray sales, bringing its total domestic home video earnings to $3.3 million.[10]
Batman vs. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles was released to positive reviews. Based on 14 reviews collected onRotten Tomatoes, the film has anapproval rating of 100% with an average rating of a 7.5/10.[11]
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