Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze

Film
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze
Release date:	March 22, 1991
Gross:	$78,656,813
Budget:	$25,000,000
Director:	Michael Pressman
Starring:	Paige Turco, Mark Caso, Michelan Sisti, Leif Tilden, Kenn Troum
Music by:	John Du Prez

The Turtles in the second film.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze was made in 1991 and is commonly abbreviated to TMNT II. It is the second Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles film, being the direct sequel to the 1990 film, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. The Secret of the Ooze was then followed by a third film in 1993, and a fourth film (TMNT) in 2007. Jim Henson's creature shop also created the Turtles and Splinter for the film. Henson himself did not work on the film because he passed away shortly after the first film was released. This movie is distributed by New Line Cinema. Outside the United States, it is internationally distributed by 20th Century Fox.

The film follows the further adventures of the four Turtles: Leonardo, Donatello, Michaelangelo, Raphael and Splinter. Roughly resuming from the events of the last film, the villain, Shredder, returns to take back command of the Foot Clan, and work towards getting revenge on the Turtles. When he learns the secret behind the Turtles's mutation, he becomes more dangerous than ever. The film sheds some light on the origins of Splinter and the Turtles, as well as introduces two new villains: Tokka and Rahzar. Unlike the first film, this one rarely showed the use of the Turtles' weapons. They instead fight bare-fisted for much of the film as part of an attempt to tone down the violence of the previous movie.

When the film was released on March 22, 1991, it received mixed reviews from critics. It departed from the darker feelings of the original film in favor of a more light-hearted feel. Nevertheless the film was still very popular, and it was the 13th highest grossing movie worldwide in 1991.

Plot

The Turtles have been forced to move in with April O'Neil because the Foot Clan has discovered their sewer lair. While searching for a new home, they happen upon a pizza boy named Keno fig

hting off a bunch of robbers. The Turtles help him and take the pizza he was going to deliver to April's that they had ordered (leaving the money for it behind). Elsewhere, April has returned to her apartment building and is questioned by her neighbors about the loud exercising she does (which is actually the Turtles training). April enters her home to see junk scattered around from Raphael, Donatello, and Leonardo (while Mikey left a fake snake in her fridge to scare her). The Turtles arrive through the fire escape window with their pizza in tow, happily informing April that they brought dinner (which to April's dismay is always pizza), Upon opening the pizza boxes, Leonardo suggests taking a moment to reflect before they all take a slice. Mikey jokes that he has a "ninja pizza" to which Donny is confused and ask what he means. Mikey answers "pizza that vanish very quickly, without a trance". Leonardo and Raphael then decide to play the "statue of liberty" football play much to April's annoyance. She then asks them if they have found a new place to live yet, to which Donatello gives a joke, answering no. Mikey suggests just going back home, but Leonardo reminds him that the Foot still know where they live. Raphael then encourages him by reminding them of their defeat of the Shredder. However, Splinter (having heard enough of their squabbling) comes down stairs and gives them a lecture on their place in society before cheering them up by mentioning pizza. Splinter then tells April that they won't be a bother to her much longer as they have overstayed their welcome.

The Shredder Returns

Elsewhere, in the New York dump, what remains of the Foot from the first film have met up in an abandoned shack, where the Shredder's second in command, Master Tatsu has taken over in his leave, angry for the defeat of the clan's "father". Tatsu declares himself the new leader and demands from the remnants if any oppose his choice step forward. To the Foot's surprise, the Shredder walks in and Tatsu stands down. One of the Foot Ninjas is shocked to see the Shredder had survived being crushed by a garbage compactor. Which, following the Shredder's defeat by the Turtles, has left him deformed, emotionally twisted, and bent on revenge, but alive. Hiding his deformity with an even sharper helmet and mask, the Shredder decides that instead of rebuilding the Foot, revenge against the Turtles will come first. Knowing that April O'Neil is good friends with the Turtles, Shredder decides to send one of the Foot undercover as a Channel 3 intern to follow April.

The next day, April is doing a report on TGRI and interviewing Professor Jordon Perry, whom quickly outwits April and avoids an in depth interview. One of the company's scientist discovers that the waste the company is producing is causing mutations in the local plant life and tells Professor Perry of this, making the scientist worry even more that the media may find out about the waste. The Foot disguised as the intern tells the Shredder this, and the Shredder decides to have Tatsu and the best, what remains of the Foot go to TGRI and take however much of the ooze they can find.

Dr. Jordan Perry

Jordan Perry

Splinter sees the report and decides to show April and the Turtles the canister that mutated them in the first place. They piece it together to reveal the canister came from TGRI. Elsewhere, Professor Perry is busy at TGRI, removing the contents of the recovered canisters and as he is prepared to empty the remaining canister, Tatsu and the Foot arrive and take him along with the canister. Outside, the Turtles have gotten onto the rooftop and begin to wonder what answers that they can find in TGRI about their past. They arrive to find the lab empty and Donny tries hacking into the computer Professor Perry was at to learn more about the ooze, however the system crashes in self-defense. The Foot then attack and Leonardo notices that they have the canister Professor Perry was going to empty

Keno and Raphael

Tokka

The Turtles do their best to stop the Foot,

Rahzar

but they still got the last canister of ooze. Back at the junk yard, the Shredder is intrigued by the possibilities that the ooze can do for him and taunts Professor Perry about how he will be forced into helping him. After Tatsu returns with two of the fiercest animals he could find, Shredder orders the ooze poured into their containers. The end results are a mutant a gray wolf and a mutant snapping turtle, Tokka and Rahzar. However, Perry altered the ooze beforehand so that the mutants intelligence is equal to that of an infant. The Shredder initially orders their execution, but after seeing their incredible strength, he changes his mind as they have also imprinted on him as their surrogate mother.

In the meantime, the Turtles have left April's apartment on Splinter's order to find a new home. However, Raphael has grown impatient with Leonardo's decisions not to go after the Foot and leaves his brothers. While Michelangelo complains about Raph's attitude, he accidentally stumbles through another manhole in the sewer and finds himself in an abandoned subway tunnel (train included). Leo and Donny decide that it will make a great home as well, but soon give April a call at Channel 3 the next day after "shopping" for essentials to find out if she has seen Raph. However, April does not know where he is.

In the meantime Raph has recruited Keno (now the Turtles ally) to help in his scheme to find out where the Foot is (as they have been secretly advertising to troubled teens again to rebuild their ranks). Assisting Keno in the more complicated ninja tests, Raph follows Keno to the junk yard, where he sees Shredder in the distance but dismisses the idea as a ghost sighting. However, the Foot soon discover Keno's treachery and fight both him and Raph. Raph, out of concern for his safety, orders Keno to bring help or he'll kick his butt. Unfortunately, the Foot decide to cheat and pin Raphel down. Joking to Tatsu about his disposition, Raph is shocked to see Shredder step between them.

Keno, in the meantime has raced all the way back to April's apartment, only to find the other Turtles aren't there now. He tells April about Raph's predicament and the other Turtles soon learn of this. They proceed to head to the junk yard at night to find the Foot's security lax, only to be yelled at by Raph for falling into a trap. Shredder

makes his appearance as the there Turtles are lifted into a net to be dropped on sharp objects. However, Splinter frees them using a bow and arrow, leaving his sons to fight the Foot on their own. However, Shredder calls his new "pets" Tokka and Rahzar to fight the Turtles. During the skirmish, Donny is thrown into the hut Professor Perry is being held hostage in and frees him. While the other Turtles fought off Tokka and Rahzar, Mikey luckily found a manhole to the sewers near by and has everyone follow him. Rahzar tries ot follow, but the spikes on his shell prevent him from getting more than halfway in. (Mikey tickles his feet to annoy him)

The Turtles take Perry back to their lair, where Splinter instructs them to let the Professor rest before answering their questions. Pooling their genius together, Donatello and Perry discover a way to reverse the ooze's mutations by coming up with a concoction (which was given an accidental extra ingredient of pepperoni pizza by Mikey) that needed to be ingested by Tokka and Rahzar in order to reverse their mutations.

In the meantime, Shredder has declared "play time" for his pets and has Tokka and Rahzar tear up some of the city before having his undercover Foot agent relay a message to April to give the Turtles. He will release Tokka and Rahzar in a populated area next time unless they have a final battle at the docks.

Deciding that it would be the best idea for their counter attack on Tokka and Rahzar, the Turtles hide the anti-mutagen in doughnuts and feed them to the brutes. However, once they discover a "hidden prize" in the doughnuts (after eating half the box) they fight the Turtles until they're thrown into a night club next door. The MC's singing on stage decide to sing about the Turtles fighting ("Go ninja, go ninja, go!") while the Turtles find Tokka and

Rahzar's burping is retarding the anti-mutagen. Professor Perry arrives and quickly deduces that the fire extinguishers can be used to speed up the anti-mutagen. The Turtles succeed in knocking out Tokka and Rahzar as the Foot arrive with Tatsu as the Shredder's back up plan. However, the Turtles subdue the Foot and use "wishbone crunch" to knock Tatsu out. They then dance to the song (the Professor included). However, the Shredder arrives and takes a hostage, declaring that the hostage will be the next mutant for the turtles to face. However, while the Turtles keep Shredder talking (and Keno's unexpected or needed appearance), Mikey and Don turn the volume on full blast and play a sharp key that produces a sound so powerful, it blasts the Shredder out the window. They go outside to see Shredder did not land on the pier, thinking they sent him flying into the distance.

The Super Shredder.

However, before they can say cowabunga, the Shredder's hand punches through the peer and brings the Turtles down to him. To their horror, the see that the Shredder used the remaining ooze on himself to become Super-Shredder. The new Super-Shredder has little intelligence, fueled only by his hatred and desire to kill the Turtles. Leo tries to reason with him, but Super-Shredder accidentally collapses the piers on himself, going underwater. The Turtles are able to escape that to their natural aquatic natures

Having defeated their foe again, the Turtles return to their new lair. Splinter is there, waiting. He asks if they were seen, which they denied. Splinter lifts a newspaper, revealing a picture of them fighting Rahzar and Tokka at the nightclub. Splinter makes them do 10 flips, reminding them "Go Ninja, Go Ninja, Go!" before adding "Hahahaha! I made another funny!"

Cast

April O'Neil … Paige Turco Professor Jordon Perry … David Warner Splinter (voice) … Kevin Clash Leonardo … Mark Caso Leonardo (voice) … Brian Tochi Raphael … Kenn Troum Raphael (voice) … Laurie Faso Donatello … Leif Tilden Donatello (voice) … Adam Carl Michelangelo … Michelan Sisti Michelangelo (voice) … Robbie Rist

Shredder/Oroku Saki … François Chau Shredder/Oroku Saki (voice) … David McCharen Tatsu … Toshishiro Obata Tatsu (voice) … Michael McConnohie Chief Sterns … Raymond Serra Keno … Ernie Reyes Jr. Rahzar … Mark Ginther Tokka … Kurt Bryant Tokka & Rahzar (Voice) … Frank Welker Super Shredder … Kevin Nash Vanilla Ice … Himself

Production

Due to the large success of the first film, it was generally expected that a sequel would follow.[4] The film was produced on a budget of $25 million (USD), higher than the budget of the 1990 film, which was $13.5 million.[5] Like the first film, New Line Cinema distributed The Secret of the Ooze. Both the voices of Michaelangelo and Leonardo reprised their roles in the second film, whereas Corey Feldman did not voice Donatello in the second movie. Also, a different actress had been hand-picked for the role of April O'Neil, with Paige Turco replacing Judith Hoag from the first film. The character of Casey Jones, who was a prominent character in the first movie, did not appear here. Ernie Reyes Jr., who was Donatello's fight double in the first film, was cast as a new character, Keno, as the producers admired Reyes and his performance in the first movie, so much they asked him to join in this sequel.[6] Todd W. Langen returned from the first film to write the screenplay.

Originally, the studio wanted Bebop and Rocksteady, from the cartoon, to appear. However, Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird were not in favor of it, so Rahzar and Tokka were created.[7]

The abandoned subway station, which serves as the new lair for the Turtles, is based on real-world decommissioned New York subway City Hall Station, of the former Interborough Rapid Transit company. However, the station is not completely abandoned as it appears in the movie. Trains currently pass through the station daily as they turn around to head uptown, passengers are allowed to ride through the station, but the train does not stop and so they cannot disembark. During filming of the scene where the Turtles are trapped in the net and fall to the ground, one of the stuntmen broke an ankle. Some filming took place in North Carolina, much like the first, where the New York City skyline was created at the North Carolina Film Studios. The building used for the entrance to April's apartment is the office of the New York location of Jim Henson's Creature Shop, which did the animatronics work for the film. The film is dedicated to the memory of Jim Henson. This makes it the first movie dedicated to Henson, the second being The Muppet Christmas Carol. This is also the first TMNT film to include a dedication, the second would be TMNT which was dedicated to the late Mako.

Reception

The film was released less than a year after the first, using the taglines "Back by bodacious demand" and "Cowabunga, it's the new turtle movie". Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze was released in theatres on March 22, 1991, in the United States, and was subsequently released in numerous countries from June through to August.

Based on a sample of 27 reviews, the film holds a 36% "rotten" rating on Rotten Tomatoes with the consensus "Not only is the movie's juvenile dialogue unbearable for adults, but the turtles' dopey and casual attitude towards physical violence makes them poor kids' role models." The film opened at number one in North America on its first weekend of release, taking in over $20 million (USD), eventually making $78,656,813 in total. The film was a success at the box office, but made less than the first film. Some fans noted that there was also a reduction in the use of weapons by the turtles in the film, perhaps due to violence in the first film. (Leonardo and Raphael only use their weapons once each in the movie, for example.)

Like with its predecessor, the second Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles installment was censored in the UK due to usage of forbidden weapons (the nunchuku). The edits were waived for the DVD release in 2002. The German version was not censored visually; however, funny cartoon sound effects to soften the violence were added to the fight scenes (as already with the first film).

Merchandising

The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchise was arguably at the height of its popularity around the time that The Secret of the Ooze was released in theatres. A number of tie-ins were brought out alongside the release of the film. A new line of toys were introduced for the release of the film, including "Movie Star" toys of all four turtles, with the box art depicting stills from the film, as well as a cartoon rendition of the turtles gathered around a canister of ooze in the top right corner of the package. In contrast to the usual Turtles' figures, the film series figures were softer and more rubbery, to better reflect the look of the animatronic costumes used in the films. They also featured ball joints at the neck, shoulders, and hips, and each figure came with a small, plastic canister with a sticker of "Ooze" wrapped around them. An official film adaptation was also released by Eastman and Laird.

Figurines of Super Shredder, Tokka and Rahzar were also available, though they were not as closely aligned to the film as the four turtles were. The Playmates company produced the figurines. The Turtles franchise had by now also immersed itself into the food industry, with characters from the franchise appearing on numerous food products. Royal Gelatin Desserts adapted the "Ooze" name into their product, and featured the Turtles on the packages. The boxes included various recipes involving ooze in some form.

TV releases

On ABC Family, on 5 May 2007 marked the first time the movie was on TV since August 2000, last aired on USA Network. On 28 February 2008, Logan from Loogan's Channel announced that a marathon called The Green Teen Leen Mean Fighting Machines Marathon will be placed. It will have 6 encores of each movie. On 30 May 2009, once again the first three movies aired on ABC Family.

Reception

The film was released less than a year after the first, using the taglines "Back by bodacious demand" and "Cowabunga, it's the new turtle movie". Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze was released in theatres on March 22, 1991, in the United States, and was subsequently released in numerous countries from June through to August. Based on a sample of 27 reviews, the film holds a 37% "rotten" rating on Rotten Tomatoes with the consensus "Not only is the movie's juvenile dialogue unbearable for adults, but the turtles' dopey and casual attitude towards physical violence makes them poor kids' role models." The film opened at number one in North America on its first weekend of release, taking in over $20 million (USD), eventually making $78,656,813 in total. The film was a success at the box office, but made less than the first film. Some fans noted that there was also a reduction in the use of weapons by the turtles in the film, perhaps due to violence in the first film. (Leonardo and Raphael only use their weapons once each in the movie, for example.)

Production

Due to the large success of the first film, it was generally expected that a sequel would follow. The film was produced on a budget of $25 million (USD), higher than the budget of the 1990 film, which was $13.5 million. Like the first film, New Line Cinema distributed The Secret of the Ooze. Both the voices of Michaelangelo and Leonardo reprised their roles in the second film, whereas Corey Feldman did not voice Donatello in the second movie. Also, a different actress had been hand-picked for the role of April O'Neil, with Paige Turco replacing Judith Hoag from the first film. The character of Casey Jones, who was a prominent in the first movie, did not appear here. Ernie Reyes Jr., who was Donatello's fight double in the first film, was cast as a new character, Keno, as the producers admired Reyes and his performance in the first movie, so much they asked him to join in this sequel. Todd W. Langen returned from the first film to write the screenplay.

The abandoned subway station, which serves as the new lair for the Turtles, is based on real-world decommissioned New York subway City Hall Station, of the former Interborough Rapid Transit company. However, the station is not completely abandoned as it appears in the movie. Trains currently pass through the station daily as they connect to another station, but passengers are not allowed to ride through it. During filming of the scene where the Turtles are trapped in the net and fall to the ground, one of the stuntmen broke an ankle. Some filming took place in North Carolina, much like the first, where the New York City skyline was created at the North Carolina Film Studios. The building used for the entrance to April's apartment is the office of the New York location of Jim Henson's Creature Shop, which did the animatronics work for the film. The film is dedicated to the memory of Jim Henson. This makes it the first movie dedicated to Henson, the second being The Muppet Christmas Carol. This is the first TMNT film to include a dedication, the second would be TMNT which was dedicated to the late Mako.

Merchandising

The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchise was arguably at the height of its popularity around the time that The Secret of the Ooze was released in theatres. A number of tie-ins were brought out alongside the release of the film. A new line of toys were introduced for the release of the film, including "Movie Star" toys of all four turtles, with the box art depicting stills from the film, as well as a cartoon rendition of the turtles gathered around a canister of ooze in the top right corner of the package. In contrast to the usual Turtles' figures, the film series figures were softer and more rubbery, to better reflect the look of the animatronic costumes used in the films. They also featured ball joints at the neck, shoulders, and hips, and each figure came with a small, plastic canister with a sticker of "Ooze" wrapped around them. An official film adaptation was also released by Eastman and Laird.

Figurines of Super Shredder, Tokka and Rahzar were also available, though they were not as closely aligned to the film as the four turtles were. The Playmates company produced the figurines. The Turtles franchise had by now also immersed itself into the food industry, with characters from the franchise appearing on numerous food products. Royal Gelatin Desserts adapted the "Ooze" name into their product, and featured the Turtles on the packages. The boxes included various recipes involving ooze in some form.

Soundtrack

Cover of the soundtrack

• Awesome (You Are MY Hero) - Ya Kid K
• Ninja Rap - Vanilla Ice
• Find The Key To Your Life - Cathy Dennis and David Morales
• Moov! - Tribal House
• (That's Your) Consciousness - Dan Hartman
• This World - Magnificent VII
• Creatures of Habit - Spunkadelic
• Back to School - Fifth Platoon
• Cowabunga - Orchestra On The Half-Shell
• Tokka & Rahzar: The Monster Mix - Orchestra On The Half-Shell

Home Video releases

The film was released to DVD in Region 1 on 3 September 2002; it contained only minor special features and interactive menus.

On 4 August 2009, the film was included in a special 25th-anniversary boxset, released to both DVD and Blu-ray formats. It contains Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III, and 2007's animated release, TMNT.

Trivia

• Super Shredder appears as a final boss in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III: The Manhattan Project, the Super Nintendo port of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Hyperstone Heist. He also appears as a boss in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: Back from the Sewers.
• This is the first, and only, live action Turtles film where Corey Feldman did not provide the voice of Donatello. He was instead replaced by Adam Carl.
• Once again Shredder seeks out vicious animals in order to mutate into his minions to destroy his enemies. It's obvious that this is no simple coincidence.
• A scene with Professor Perry revealed to be an Utrom was cut for fears the creature would be mistaken for Krang.
• Casey Jones is noticeably absent and not even mentioned. However he returns in the third film, he mentioned that he was away for a while meaning this would have happened during the time in the second film.
• Judith Hoag (April in the first movie) is replaced by Paige Turco.
• The Turtles still remain 15 years old.
• While the Turtles, Keno and Perry were making the antidote to counteract the ooze's effects and transform Tokka and Razhar into normal animals, Perry picks up a cup with Bart Simpson on it to put the antidote in.

External links

• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze at the Official Ninja Turtles website.
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze on IMDB