Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles' New Leonardo Is a Jackass

[MovieBob]

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles' New Leonardo Is a Jackass

The first teaser for the new Michael Bay produced, Jonathan Liebesman directed TMNT feature debuted last week to mixed reactions, but without much in the way of speaking from anybody but William Fichtner (Erich Sachs/The Shredder.) Apparently, that's because they aren't done casting voices for the entirely-CGI main characters.

But they're getting closer. Deadline Hollywood reports [http://www.deadline.com/2014/04/johnny-knoxville-tony-shalhoub-lend-voices-to-teenage-mutant-ninja-turtles/] that onetime Jackass leader Johnny Knoxville (most recently seen under several pounds of Academy Award-nominated makeup in Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa) will voice the Turtle's field-leader Leonardo; while Monk star Tony Shalhoub (who worked with Bay in Pain & Gain) has been tapped for Splinter, their rat sensei and surrogate father.

The move is somewhat unexpected, as the characters were created using motion-capture and facial-capture technology; meaning that Knoxville and Shalhoub will effectively be "dubbing" characters whose vocals and corresponding mouth movements have already been recorded and animated.

Source: Deadline [http://www.deadline.com/2014/04/johnny-knoxville-tony-shalhoub-lend-voices-to-teenage-mutant-ninja-turtles/]

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[Diablo1099_v1legacy]

...Seriously?...Leonardo VA is fucking Johnny Knoxville!?
While I enjoy his work, I figured he'd be the last person to voice the "Straight Man" of the group...
...
Leonardo is the smart one, right? I only really remember Raphael and Michelangelo's characters '

 

[Rad Party God]

...Seriously?...Leonardo VA is fucking Johnny Knoxville!?
While I enjoy his work, I figured he'd be the last person to voice the "Straight Man" of the group...
...
Leonardo is the smart one, right? I only really remember Raphael and Michelangelo's characters '

Donatello is the smart one, Leo is the leader.

OT: I... don't know how to think of this :/
I mean, I already expect this to suck, adding more turd to the shit maelstorm, but on the other hand, I'm curious to see how Knoxville handles the role, if that's even possible.

 

[Kmadden2004]

So... what's the point in hiring actors to provide performance capture for these roles, if all they're going to do is just dub over them?

Were the original performances really bad, or is this just stunt casting to get headlines now?

 

[archabaddon]

Was this always the intent, or did the original actors just get credit snubbed?

 

[marioandsonic]

Well, to be fair, the original TMNT movies has different people in the costumes than the ones doing the voices.

...but seriously? Johnny Knoxville? Really?!

 

[SilverStuddedSquirre]

Hey, what could make this movie better? Bad Dubbing! While I agree Knoxville seems far better suited to Raph or Mikey, his Inclusion is not the news, the dubbing is. The decision to use Terrible Technology from 60 years ago to dub over Modern Motion captured CGI is the second stupidest thing I have heard today. (Fedora's meaning you are a Bad Man who Hates Women takes the cake for the Day, if not the Month)

So Michael Bay, after the Black Face Robot debacle of TF3, your Genius plan in TMNT is Japanese Dubbing? Save yourself the Time and just put your KKK outfit on. Just don't forget the Fedora, remember, you have to insult EVERYBODY.

 

[dragongit]

So... what's the point in hiring actors to provide performance capture for these roles, if all they're going to do is just dub over them?

Were the original performances really bad, or is this just stunt casting to get headlines now?

Hiring physical actors and voice actors isn't a new thing. It's how the original TMNT movies were if I recall correctly. It wasn't exactly James Eral Jones in that Darth Vader suit either. It would make more sense to hire proper actors to also provide the voices and body language, but I suppose they were more focused on hiring stuntmen and adding voices in post.

 

[Trucken]

OK, don't get me wrong, I really like Johnny Knoxville. I liked him in Jackass, I've enjoyed most of his movies, but him playing Leonardo? I guess he could tone it down and perform as a more dull-sounding Leonardo, but he really should have been the one to play Michelangelo. Heck, his laugh alone would have been perfect for Mikey.

Speaking of Michelangelo, isn't it Donald Faison (Turk from Scrubs) that does the voice in the trailer? It sure sounds like him.

 

[Ldude893]

To quote Doug Walker of TGWTGs, TMNT was dead-on-arrival the moment Michael Bay's name was attached to it. At this point, we're just looking at how spectacularly Michael Bay can trash this new franchise, and honestly I'm cracking up. Celebrity actor Johnny Knoxville from Jackass as Leonardo? Human-like noses on the turtles? Shredder played by a non-Asian wearing a suit with more blades than Sauron's armor magnetized next to a knife shop?
Tell me how this is not going to be the most awesomely terrible/terribly awesome movie this summer.

 

[el_emmens]

*nervous chuckling*

 

[VaporWare]

There's a kind of perverse brilliance here. It /looks/ like it'll either work fantastically or fail fantastically, and either way be worth seeing.

That won't actually stop it from being a mediocritized gleemix of pop culture history if that's what it's going to be, but it might help save it from total box office catastrophe.

 

[Baresark]

Eh, maybe it'll be good. I certainly don't have an ill opinion of the endeavor based on Johnny Knoxville.

 

[Sniper Team 4]

What is the reasoning behind this? I'm curious. Usually the animation is based off of the voice actors' habits to make the character blend better. This doesn't make a lot of sense, as now the voice actor is going to have to fit the role. I mean, it's done all the time in anime, but the range there isn't as high as a full movie with live-action and CGI.

 

[LazyAza]

What a strange choice, I mean Leonardo is suppose to be the "serious" guy out of the group and Knoxville is the complete opposite of that. >_>

 

[Saltyk]

Okay, while the trailer was met with a resounding, "Meh" from me, this does not encourage me. Not because of them dubbing the voices in post. Not even because it's Johnny Knoxville plying Leonardo of all people, though I really can't see it.

No, what gets me is that they have come this far, obviously filmed a good bit, have a trailer and still haven't cast the Turtle's voices. How? I just don't see it.

Who knows? Maybe Johnny Knoxville will pull an Alec Baldwin in Rise of the Guardians and you won't even realize it is him voicing Leo. Still seems so odd to cast him as the "Straight Man" of the group. Leo is the biggest stick in the mud of the group. Even Donatello tends to have more humor to him than Leonardo.

 

[SilverStuddedSquirre]

This also represents a MASSIVE missed opportunity: I could get behind Knoxville as Casey Jones. Might even save the movie.

 

[Andy of Comix Inc]

Tony Shalhoub is tapped for Splinter. Okay. Coo-

Wait no hold on WHAT??

 

[AldUK]

The more I read about this film, the more interested I am to see it. Not because I think it'll be good, but because this is one train-wreck I don't want to miss.

It's a real shame though, TMNT was my favourite cartoon as a kid, I had all the video tapes n' everything. I still remind my dad about the time I asked for a Raph action figure and he got me the green power ranger. (I hated power rangers.)

 

[josemlopes]

His voice could actually work well for Raphael. Leonardo though, no fucking way, he is the leader of the team.