TMNT Interview with Peter Laird (AGAIN!)

So, I should have posted this a few weeks ago, but honestly, it is so totally awesome that I interviewed Peter Laird, again!

Peter, I just have to say you rock.


City native sells rights to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

By Jennifer Huberdeau aka the Red Queen
North Adams Transcript

North Adams Transcript NORTH ADAMS -- After 25 years of chronicling the adventures of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, co-creator and city native Peter Laird has sold the franchise to Nickelodeon for a reported $60 million.

"I've known for a long time that at some point in my life I would sell the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles," Laird said in an e-mail interview on Tuesday. "I just wasn't sure when it would happen. But, as they say, in this case 'the stars lined up.'

"The idea of a sale of the [Turtles] property to a third party is not a new one. Kevin Eastman and I, while we were still partners, discussed it during the 1990s and actually came to the conclusion that if the right deal came our way, we would take it."

However, the pair passed on two offers and Laird eventually purchased Eastman's share of the business. He said the sale came completely "out of the blue," when Laird's Mirage Studio was approached with an offer.

As part of the deal, which was finalized last week, Viacom, the parent company of the popular children's station Nickelodeon and MTV, has purchased the global and intellectual rights from Mirage and television distributor 4Kids Entertainment. The popular Saturday morning cartoon will continue to be broadcast on the CW television network through 2010, while Laird retains the rights to publish 18 Teenage Mutant Ninja Comic books per year, through mainstream publishers. However, Mirage will no longer be able to publish trade paperbacks.

Laird, who co-created the popular Turtle characters -- Michaelangelo, Donatello, Raphael and Leonardo -- with Eastman in 1984, has been the sole owner of the franchise for nine years, producing the comics and overseeing the numerous cartoon, movie and toy lines from his company, Mirage Studios, in Northampton.

Laird said that while he will always have a relationship with the turtles, he never anticipated spending more than half his life with the franchise.

"Twenty-five years is a long time," he said. "It has worn me down. I am no longer that guy who carries his sketchbook around with him and draws in it every chance he gets. I really, really miss being that guy."

Laird stepped away from writing, toning and lettering the Turtle comic books about four years ago, in an attempt to reinvigorate himself. Work on the fourth volume of "Tales of the Turtles" has lagged -- something he hopes to correct.

"I have a conclusion planned out for that series, and at some point I want to get to it. Maybe this sale will help me get to that point," he said. "I am currently not sure when or if I will make use of that clause [allowing him to produce up to 18 comic books a year]. I don't know if I am retiring. I hope not!"

Laird and Eastman published a limited run of 3,000 copies of the first "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" comic book in 1985. Laird's parents were among their first backers, giving $40 toward the cause. No one expected the comic book and characters to generate so much attention.

"It's a very cool feeling to know that they've lasted this long," he said. "I originally thought we'd have trouble selling the 3,000 copies of that first issue we printed, and thought it likely that it would probably never be heard of again. Neither Kevin nor I remotely expected what would eventually happen."

With the fate of the turtles now in the hands of Nickelodeon -- which plans to launch a computer-generated cartoon in 2012 to coincide with the release of a live-action movie retelling of the Turtles' origins -- Laird said unlike some fans, he is excited to see what happens next.

"If you were to read some of the initial comments from some fans, you would think it was all 'gloom and doom,'" he said. "Bizarrely, some fans were actually saying this sale meant 'the end of the Turtles.' I just don't get that. I see the sale as a necessary step toward making the Turtles a perennial property."

He added, "I just didn't have the energy for it anymore, and the [franchise] really, truly needed a new owner. I will be honest -- I'm not sure if I will like everything that will be done with the Turtles now that I no longer own them, but I am very excited and curious to see what those changes will be."

While Laird has no immediate projects lined up, a 25th anniversary animated special, "Turtles Forever," was completed a few months back and is scheduled to air on television in November.

"I think it is a fitting tribute to 25 years of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and a lot of fun," he said.

Mirage Studios is expected to close its doors in December.

Things That Make Me Laugh: Firelight (SNL Twilight Parody)

Now I usually role my eyes when Twilight is parodied, because usually it centers around the crappy visual effects - sparkly vampires (OMG - Shut up already! We all know the movie had low-rent effects. They don't sparkle. They are supposed to look like they're made of diamond in the light! And yes, it's still lame, but move on)

Anyway, props to SNL for this fantastic paroday. I give you, "Firelight."

Retro Rewind: Sweet Valley Twins

Before Blair and Serena ruled the upper East Side, and Jessica made avaunt guard movies in Brooklyn while lusting over Dan, there was the Wakefield twins. Born and raised in sunny California, Jessica Wakefield vied for power and attention among the likes of Lila Fowler, while her twin sister, Elizabeth, penned diary entries that would make the Bronte sisters jealous.
The first time I met the Wakefield twins, I was in the fourth grade. Jessica and Elizabeth were a little older than me, sixth-graders I believe, sun-kissed blonds with blue-green eyes who lived in a split-level ranch and had a group of fabulous friends.
I was too young at the time to understand the simple nuances of the books - such as the Unicorn Club wearing the color purple - a sign of royalty - or Jessica and Elizabeth being mirror images - the representation the good and bad sides of a single person. I wouldn't know what a "queen bee" was for years or pretend to understand the subtleties of a clique. I didn't appreciate the simple power struggle of leadership between Lila and Jessica.
All I knew was I loved to read about Jessica and Elizabeth. Like most, I started out a huge fan of Elizabeth, who is cast aside by her twin in the very first book. But after a while, I found Jessica to be a little more fascinating and the more real of the two -- Jessica was sloppy, had a messy room, gossiped and talked about boys. She skipped out on homework and wore make-up. By fifth grade, my four-pack of friends were divided - you either liked Elizabeth or Jessica.
By the time I was in sixth grade, I discovered the twins had already made it big in high school, as I devoured every book I could get my hands on I followed Jessica's crazy schemes to steal other girl's boyfriends and dreamed of having Elizabeth's iron-clad relationship with Todd. I also had a special place for Lila -- I special ordered "Lila's Story" at our small town book shop.
By the time I was in high school, my book shelves were still crammed with volumes of SWH and collections of SVT, the BabySitter's Club, Sleep Over Friends, The Secret of the Unicorn Queen and other various books. I remember clearing out the shelves to make room for my dog-eared classics like Animal Farm and 1984, looking woeful as the collections were packed in boxes and hauled off to a discount bookseller in the neighboring town.
In college, I would shake my head as I flipped past the television show with my remote, thinking of how those two girls didn't look anything like my imagined versions of Jessica and Elizabeth. After a time, the sisters would become a quaint memory.
Then a few months ago, I read a strange tidbit about Diablo Cody and the twins. Rumor had it she'd landed the deal to pen the movie and women around the country were sounding off about her connection. Too many are worried she'll dress it up in pop culture lingo, piling it down with "Juno-esque" references. But not me -- I'm a huge fan of Diablo Cody (go search for my tribute rant if you're not familiar).
But once again the twins faded into memory, until a few weeks ago, while rummaging through a yard-sale stack of children's books, I found Sweet Valley Twins no. 1 and 2. There they were in matching white-stripped sweaters, Jessica with a sloppy pony tail and untucked shirt. On the next cover, the pair in black leotards and white tights - Elizabeth poised in perfect form, while Jessica pouts and folds her arms. I immediately tucked my treasure under my arm - two books for 50 cents. Not for me, but my 9-year-old daughter.
I worried if she'd like them. I fretted. What if she didn't? Some girls I knew only read the Babysitter's Club. What if she was one? The next day, she emerged from her room to ask if I had any more.
With luck, the next weekend we were out for an end-of-the-season tag sale look, only to find a stack of 30 books tied delicately with twine. $5 for all -a few missing but a solid find. As my daughter parted with her crisp $5 bill, my eyes locked with seller's for a brief moment.
"I loved those books as a kid," she said.
"I couldn't get enough," I replied, smiling as if belonging to some long-forgotten club. "I had them all. Sweet Valley High too. Well at least up til I stopped reading them."
"They're addictive," the woman said. "They're like crack. Just like Twilight."
Another smile passed between us, as it suddenly all made sense.
I, too, have read the Twilight series - reading in a fit of frenzy. I hadn't understood it until that moment - the books aren't works of art, just easily-readable fiction - a good beach read. What I couldn't comprehend was why myself and so many other women my age have begun to devour book after book of "young adult fiction" - aimed at teens and tweens. But then it hit me. This was the literature we had grown up with - books that didn't ask anything of us. Books that let us leave our mundane lives behind for a while, if only to hang out in a split-level ranch is sunny Sweet Valley for a while.