In
our last TMNT '03 news post - which focused on the release of the 9th and 10th DVDs in the series - we briefly mentioned about all the complaints we had gotten regarding Volumes 7 and 8.
The griping was about "previously on" recaps and the accompanying narration missing from 3 of the episodes across those two March releases, which was originally there when the shows were broadcast.
Volume 7: Return To New York has this missing from the 2nd and 3rd parts of the "Return To New York" saga that the DVD is named after. Similarly,
Volume 8: Search For Splinter has this recap missing from "Search For Splinter (Part 2)" on that disc. Obviously, these recaps were present for the broadcast versions in the first place to catch viewers up on events that they say a week ago, and needed to jog their memories on.
A short time after these volumes were released on March 16th, a person representing himself as a Suncoast employee posted on the Internet, saying that he'd been told my his manager that these discs had been recalled for this "defect", and that consumers should hold off purchasing those discs until replacements showed up on store shelves.
We contacted Funimation about this issue, and received a straightforward response: Since the DVDs (and VHS versions) were INTENDED to be produced this way, there are NO plans at this time to remaster these episodes to include the intros. And there is definately NO RECALL; that is a false rumor. Here is their explanation of the intent at 4Kids, the producers of the show:
We checked with the producers of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles...the intros were not included on several of the episodes because the DVDs include each part of the saga consecutively (Return to New York: Part 1, 2 & 3 / Search for Splinter: Part 1 & 2) and fans could go directly to the next episode, as opposed to waiting for the TV broadcast and needing a brief recap to be brought up to speed.
Funimation also told us that they use the material as provided by 4Kids, and so if the episodes are sent over without those recaps from the broadcast versions, then they produce the DVDs exactly that way. It sounds to us like 4Kids made the "artistic" choice that recaps were only needed for broadcast, were unneccessary for home video, and wanted to save a bit of room on the DVDs for any other material that Funimation might need the disc space for in the way of extras.
Now, we realize that many of the people who wrote in to us are very particular, and want the episodes to be put onto the DVD *exactly as broadcast*...recaps and all. Feedback to Funimation and 4Kids (the latter sounds like the better choice) on this matter should continue to be very polite, and just briefly say that you prefer these to be included in the future. Remind them that the episodes aren't always watched consecutively, in a single sitting...sometimes it's one-at-a-time, and days apart.
For now, though, our suggestion is that you remember that these recaps are not *crucial* to the storyline, and that these DVDs can be had for around $10, and that's well worth it to enjoy in the meantime, while showing your support for the franchise. We prefer the recaps to be included, too, but at this time it shouldn't be a deal-breaker.
