"You Know, I Could Go For A Slice."

As a whole, I'm not much of a fan of metatheatre, but I love metatheatrical techniques that work within the world of the story, instead of ones that remind you what you're seeing isn't real. The new Turtles Forever movie, which aired on the CW a little over a week or so ago to celebrate 25 years of Turtle Power, employs the former with an elegant amount of subtly and respect for the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchise as a whole.

Briefly, the story centers on the current incarnation of the Ninja Turtles, who recieved a revamped and modernized animated series in 2003. These Turtles sport larger muscles, face off against more serious enemies, and inhabit a far more interconnected world than than their predecessors from the 1987 TV series, with storyarcs running through multiple episodes. Early on in the movie, they rescue another set of Turtles--those from the 1987 series--and realize that the '87 turtles are from another dimension, and came into this dimension accidently. Unfortunately, the same is true for Shredder and Krang...and their Technodrome. Ultimately, all eight Turtles discover that the '03 version of Shredder plans to destroy all incarnations of Ninja Turtles in all universes by destroying the Prime universe.

I was a huge Turtles fan when I was a little kid, so I loved seeing the '87 Turtles intereact with the '03 ones. The juxtaposition of the goofy, pizza-addicted '87 Turtles and the darker world of the '03 Turtles gently pokes fun at how ridiculous the older series was while not making the '87 Turtles out to be buffoons. '87 Donatello's inventions and use of "science" baffles '03 Donatello, for instance, but those inventions somehow work.

When the Turtles reach the Prime universe, they encounter the original comic book versions of themselves--who are significantly darker than the '03 Turtles. It was fascinating to see the spectrum of Turtles, ranging from the original, almost gritty conception, to the silly TV series, to something in between. I think it's brilliant to acknowledge that all three versions--and many, many more--coexist in a greater multiverse. Crossing into other dimensions, as well as traveling through time, has long been a part of the Turtles franchise, so it stands to reason that alternate dimensions would have their own Turtles, too.

I was also struck by the vast difference in tone when both series were created for children. As much as I enjoyed the '87 Turtles series and the live action movies (andI still do), I'm really glad the material is being given a darker treatment, particularly since it's closer to the source material. I think Batman: The Animated Series and Justice League Unlimited did a lot to redefine what a children's Saturday morning cartoon can do, and I think it's really important to have those sorts of shows out there. Kids can handle more than a lot of adults think they can, and if they're given a show that's slightly more complex, they'll generally be able to keep up. I think that's particularly true when dealing with superheroes; it's hard to invest in a character whose powers give her an advantage over her enemies, since she doesn't have that much at stake. And when the superheroes in question are a bunch of mutant 15 year old turtles, each of them needs to have something worth losing--and be in an environment where that could feasibly happen. In the 2003 series--one in which characters have died--that's certainly the case.