Random Behind-The-Scenes Stories Of How 'TMNT II: Secret of Ooze' Became A Cinematic Disast (14 items)

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  (#7) Vanilla Ice’s Bodyguard Almost Started An Epic Fight

  When it came time to film the concert sequence for TMNT II, the on-set chemistry between Vanilla Ice and the rest of the crew wasn't quite as smooth as filmmakers originally hoped, thanks in large part to an aggressive bodyguard on Ice’s payroll.

  Actor Michelan Sisti, who played Michelangelo, tried to welcome the rapper to the set by giving him a friendly hug in full costume before filming began. Before he could reach “The Ninja Rap” artist, one of his bodyguards stepped in and aggressively blocked Sisti. This didn’t go over well with the rest of the stunt team, all 18 of whom had to be stopped from retaliating.
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  (#10) Things Got Too Cartoony

  We may have thankfully escaped a Krang cameo in TMNT II, but the sequel did take a hard turn into references to the cartoon series, which were noticeably absent in the first film. The menacing Shredder from the original was given a new purple outfit and melodramatic temper tantrums that strongly echoed the cartoon.

  This was in contrast to the prior film, which earned praise for being a darker and grittier interpretation of the material. The dialogue and character choices were also noticeably lighter and sillier in tone.
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  (#13) The Brits Cut Out The Offensive Bangers

  American parents and educators were the inspiration behind nixing the nunchucks in TMNT II, but it was the British Board of Film Classification that took things even further in the name of young audiences.

  As part of an effort to make the film more kid-friendly, Michelangelo’s trusty nunchucks were replaced by a link of sausages in a mall food court scene early in the film. Evidently, this still offended censors in the UK, so the scene was cut out of the film in order to maintain a kid-friendly rating.
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  (#2) The Ninja Rap Was Written In Half An Hour

  Every once in a while, there comes a piece of cinema whose soundtrack makes as much of a splash as the film itself. Such is the case of Secret of the Ooze. Hot off the success of “Ice, Ice, Baby,” rapper Vanilla Ice was tapped by the studio to create a theme for the sequel, which ended up earning him some substantial screen time in the third act.

  While the lyrics of “The Ninja Rap” might be burrowed into your long-term memory even more than the state capitals, the song itself took Mr. Ice a mere 30 minutes to write.
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  (#12) Bebop And Rocksteady Were Absent

  In the animated series, Bebop and Rocksteady were a pair of mutated thugs recruited by Shredder to sabotage the Turtles. Peter Laird, co-creator of the original comic book series, came up with the original sketches when brainstorming new characters for a toy line.

  Once the characters made their debut on the silver screen, he quickly grew tired of the pair due to their numbskull antics and repetitive behavior. As a result, the pair were left out of the film franchise - much to the chagrin of many young fans - but their presence was channeled into Ooze through the characters of Tokka and Rhazar.
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  (#14) The Bad Guys Had To Let Themselves Get Beat Up

  Stuntman and pioneering motion-capture performer Daniel Pesina was one of many stunt performers who portrayed henchmen in TMNT II. During an appearance on the game-themed YouTube show UpUpDownDown, he attested to the difficulty of fighting properly with the Turtle performers, mainly due to the costumes' limited field of vision.

  In fact, the stuntmen literally had to dive into the Turtles' punches and kicks just to sell each fight move. This explains why you see the henchmen dancing around on their toes so much instead of going on the attack.

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