TV News: 4KIDS ENTERTAINMENT AND MIRAGE STUDIOS’ “TURTLES FOREVER,” ALL-FAMILY SPECIAL EVENT INCORPORATING TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES® STYLES THAT S

4Kids Entertainment (NYSE:KDE) will be introducing the eagerly anticipated 90-minute all-family special event that captures the unique historical look, irreverence and panache of Mirage Studio’s popular Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles®, when “Turtles Forever” makes its debut at next month’s MIPCOM 2009 market in Cannes, France.


This remarkable animated special incorporates the three distinctive versions of the Turtles as they appeared in their original iterations: 1984 black and white comic book; late 1980’s/early 1990’s animated TV series; and their current animated series.

Working closely with Mirage Studios on capturing this distinctive multi-world interaction was writer/supervising producer/director Lloyd Goldfine, who’s worked closely with Turtles’ co-creator Peter Laird since 2003 when 4Kids Entertainment re-launched the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles in the first of seven seasons of animated TMNT television adventures.

“This is one of the most ambitious and creative presentations of the Turtles ever,” said Brian Lacey, Executive Vice President, 4Kids Entertainment, who will be leading the sales effort for the film at MIPCOM. “It’s an all-family viewing event thanks to the enormous popularity the Turtles have earned over their first 25 years. This property truly bridges two generations, appealing to the original Turtles fan base who’ve become the young parents of today, and to their children.”

The plot. When the gigantic and terrifying Technodrome (a giant mobile battle station from the original TMNT animated series) suddenly appears in the present-day Turtles world, carrying with it the original series Ninja Turtles, present-day Leonardo, Raphael, Donatello and Michelangelo find themselves with a huge mystery to solve and four crazy Turtles to babysit… a serious case of culture shell-shock. But the two Turtle crews soon realize that this inter-dimensional incursion has caused more than just a surprise visit, as the accident that brought the ‘80’s Turtles to the present has also unleashed the ’80’s villains Shredder and Krang into their world. These two bumbling troublemakers end up freeing the much meaner and nastier contemporary version of the Shredder from his asteroid prison. And once this Shredder learns of the dimension-spanning powers of the Technodrome, he sets out to destroy all the versions of the Ninja Turtles throughout the multiverse. Can the Turtles of the past and the Turtles of the present stop annoying each other long enough to stop all of time and space from unraveling? It’s a ninja tag-team extraordinaire across multiple dimensions, full of twists, turns, and more Ninja Turtles than you’ve ever seen anywhere before.

The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles made their public premiere in May 1984 in a comic book published and distributed by Mirage Studios. A hugely successful TV series quickly followed in 1987, along with a record setting licensing program and three successful theatrical films. In 2003, the Turtles were re-introduced to a new generation through a fresh, new animated TV series, a computer- animated theatrical movie and new merchandising program. This 25th “Shell-ebration” year of TMNT has been providing fun and interactive new opportunities to the original fan base and the next generation of admirers of this evergreen property.