April O'Neil
| April O'Neil | |
|---|---|
| File:Mirage April.jpg April O'Neil, as shown in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Vol. 1, #11. | |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Mirage Studios |
| First appearance | October 1984 |
| Created by | Kevin Eastman Peter Laird |
| In-story information | |
| Full name | April O'Neil |
April O'Neil is a fictional character in the Mirage Studios franchise Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. In each of the many TMNT continuities, she is good friends with the Turtles: Leonardo, Raphael, Donatello, and Michelangelo.
Comics
In the original Mirage Comics storyline, April, who originaly sported a yellow rain coat and jeans, was a skilled computer programmer and worked as an assistant for Baxter Stockman, helping to program his Mouser robots and demonstrating their operation. After she discovered that Baxter was using the Mousers to burrow into bank vaults and steal from them, she attempted to flee Baxter's workshop and found herself in the sewers running for her life, with several Mousers in pursuit. Three of the Turtles happened to come across her and save her; they later successfully fended off a Mouser invasion after Baxter programmed them to attack the Turtles.
April's antique shop came under attack by The Shredder and the Foot Clan, who had come for the Turtles, and was destroyed in the ensuing battle. She and the Turtles retreated to a farm house where she later had disturbing dreams about the Foot Clan's attack. During the mid-90s, April became romantically involved with Casey Jones and the two eventually adopted a child, Shadow. In TMNT: Volume 4, Peter Laird revealed that April's origin was far from normal as fans assumed. It was revealed that April was in reality a pencil sketch brought to life by a magic crystal.
April also appeared in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures comic produced by Archie Comics, which began as retellings of cartoon episodes but eventually spun off into original stories. In this series, she began as a carbon copy of her animated counterpart, but the writers developed her into a competent warrior after training with Splinter. Because of her frequent adventures with the Turtles, she lost her job at Channel 6 and became a freelance reporter. Archie also published 2 sets of 3-part April O'Neil mini-series.
The second issue of the Dreamwave Comics series (based on the 2003 animated series) focused entirely on April, consisting of a dream sequence showing how she had been pressured into a scientific career by her family despite having interest in journalism, an obvious homage to the 1987 cartoon.
Animated series (1987-1996)
In the original TMNT animated series, April O'Neil (whose middle name was purported to be Harriet) was a television reporter for Channel 6 News. She was employed by Burne Thompson, though due to her headstrong nature and passion for her work, she expressed frequent disagreement with the assignments he gave her. She also butted heads on a regular basis with Vernon Fenwick, the director/camera operator whose enormous ego compelled him to scoop April on her stories whenever possible. April was best friends with Irma, the secretary at Channel 6. Though it remains unclear whether this was required work attire or her particular fashion sense, April later could usually be found wearing a distinctive yellow jumpsuit. She lived in an apartment in New York City, though during the course of the series, she was forced to relocate several times due to a variety of indirectly Turtle-related mishaps.
In 1987, having been employed at Channel 6 for less than a year, April was reporting on a series of thefts of high-tech scientific equipment, apparently by a ninja (ostensibly components Shredder was securing for use in the Technodrome), when she came under attack by a gang of punks. Thinking quickly, she managed to squeeze into a storm drain and ran from the mob until she hit a dead end. As it happens, the Ninja Turtles were nearby and soundly beat the punks. They took her back to their sewer lair for rest and recovery where they explained their origins to her. At first, she believed them to be responsible for the equipment thefts, but they agreed to provide her with the true culprits if she provided her assistance. April quickly became the Turtles' link to the outside world, since their unusual appearance effectively precluded them from functioning aboveground without some sort of disguise.
April's friendship with the Turtles resulted in the opportunity to film exclusive footage of their encounters with Shredder, but despite her intimate knowledge of the details of their lives, she tended to keep her professional news reports about them impersonal and mysterious. She was a vocal champion of their cause, despite the opinion of the general populace (an opinion shared by Burne Thompson) that the Turtles were a menace to the city. April was frequently captured by Shredder, quite often as bait in order to lure the Turtles out of hiding in order to unleash his latest attempt at destruction upon them. April's innate curiosity and determination placed her in danger on several occasions as well. The Turtles usually waited until the last possible second to rescue her, but they always came through in the end. Her most important contribution to the Turtles was her experience in doing research on the Channel 6 computers and alerting the Turtles to trouble and possible case leads.
Like Lois Lane before her, April was normally portrayed as a capable woman, but also filled the role of the typical plot device of damsel-in-distress. Her obsession with "getting a story" led to numerous instances of poor judgement which often resulted in her getting captured for the Turtles to save.
Following the destruction of the Channel 6 building in the season eight episode Get Shredder!, April worked as a freelance reporter, exchanging her yellow jumpsuit for a brown leather jacket. This outfit was more practical and less conspicuous than her classic form-fitting "banana suit." She continued to help the Turtles, even after the defeat of Shredder and his subsequent exile to Dimension X.
There was also a two-part OVA series in Japan, in which April was voiced by Emi Shinohara.
Motion pictures
In the first TMNT motion picture, April (played by Judith Hoag) was a Channel 3 News television reporter working for Charles Pennington, and did a series of stories on mysterious thefts in New York City whose culprits vanished without a trace. One night when leaving work, she was accosted by teenage thieves in league with the Foot Clan, but the Turtles saved her by knocking out and tying up the teens under the cover of darkness. In the aftermath April discovered and grabbed Raphael's discarded sai, but Raphael soon followed her and took back the weapon and saved her again when she was attacked by a group of Foot Ninja. Unsure what to do with her, he carried her unconscious form to their sewer lair. Though her fear of rats initially got the better of her, she eventually came to regard the Turtles as friends, and even allowed them to live in her apartment after the Foot Clan discovered and destroyed their sewer dwellings.
Mirroring the Mirage Comics storyline, the Foot once again attacked the Turtles in the antique shop, prompting April, the Turtles, and a wounded Raphael to retreat to her family's farmhouse. She kept a journal documenting their forced sabbatical in addition to drawing sketches of the Turtles. During their respite, April also developed a kind of love-hate relationship with Casey Jones.
In the second and third movies, April was played by Paige Turco. In TMNT III, April was temporarily transported to feudal Japan. April also made a live-action appearance in the TMNT: Coming Out of their Shells musical tour, during which her role was to incite the live audience to interact with the stage performers and encourage the Turtles when needed. She was played by Sherie Rene Scott.
In the film, her occupation was changed from programmer to reporter so as to give her an occupation that could more easily place her in contact with the turtles.
Animated series (2003-Present)
April got a radical costume change for the new incarnation of the animated series produced by 4Kids Entertainment, but her role was similar to that of the Mirage Comics character. Again, she served as an assistant to Baxter Stockman until his Mouser experiments got out of control, and after the Turtles saved her, she became a faithful friend and ally to them.
Like in the Mirage Comics, April owns an antique store which came under attack by The Shredder and the Foot Clan, who had come for the Turtles, and was destroyed in the ensuing battle. However when she returned home from the Northampton Farmhouse were she had been staying she decided to rebuild the store and reopens.
In the episode, "Secret Origins: Part III," the creators of the show paid homage to the original cartoon by having April don a yellow jumpsuit familiar to fans. Posing as a reporter in order to help the Turtles escape from the TCRI building, April stalled the military and bought the Turtles enough time to defeat the Shredder. Upon their escape, Leonardo jokes that April seems to have a career as a reporter. She responds with a sarcastic: "maybe in another lifetime." Casey Jones made a wise crack that her jumpsuit might have been more appropriate for moving toxic waste.
This version of April makes much more use of her scientific expertise and she often uses her computer skills to aid the turtles. This has also meant that she has developed a closer relationship to Donatello, who shares many of her interests. The two have even showed signs of a romantic attraction but have done little to capitalize on this. Truthfully, according to a bio book given to Toys 'R Us, they share more of a brother/sister relationship, similar to that of twins.
April is also shown to have an attraction to Casey Jones, though their contrasting personalities often make them bicker. By the third season the two are shown to be dating and seem to have a serious relationship. In the Fast Forward season it is revealed that the two eventually marry and have children. The two of them also found a computer company. April doesn't appear in this season in person, but her great-grandson Cody does, and many references are made to her.
April also has developed a modest knowledge of combat skills after training with Splinter. In this series, she rarely plays the helpless damsel-in-distress role, and her quick thinking is often a key to the Turtles' survival. She was voiced by Veronica Taylor.
Video games
April has appeared in most of the TMNT video games, usually as the damsel in distress who has been captured by the Foot Clan. In TMNT IV: Turtles in Time for SNES, she kicks the story off with a brief report and appears onscreen in the SNES version to encourage the Turtles to fight when the player characters are idle. She also appears as a playable character in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Tournament Fighters for Sega Genesis. Her game sprite bears no resemblance to the cartoon likeness.
In Konami's new series of TMNT games based off the animated series, April resembles her cartoon counterpart. Like in the new show, she is no longer a mere damsel-in-distress but often shows up in various cutscenes to give advice and advance the plot of the game. In TMNT: Mutant Melee, April is once again a playable character and participates in multi-player battles.
Action figures
In the TMNT toy lines produced by Playmates Toys, April O'Neil has appeared in several action figure incarnations. The first of these had a limited production run, notable for the lack of a blue stripe running along the side of her jumpsuit, and is considered valuable to collectors. The more common yellow-striped version quickly replaced it and had much greater circulation. (One item of note is that the badge above her breast pocket that read "PRESS" was removed after Playmates became concerned that children would interpret the text as directions for a gimmick and expect a reaction after following those instructions.) An alternate version of April, with a different head sculpt (closer to her cartoon incarnation) and orange boots and details was a further modification made to the original figure. At one stage, a 13" version was slated for production to accompany the other similar-sized figures, but was never produced. Other notable April figures include the 1988 version, dubbed simply "April," with purple accents on her jumpsuit; "April, the Ravishing Reporter," which was the first such figure to feature rooted hair; "April, the Ninja Newscaster," who came with one of each of the Turtles' signature weapons; and "Mutatin' April," part of the Mutations assortment in which April could transform into a humanoid cat (inspired by the original series episode "The Cat Woman from Channel Six").
For the new TV series, Playmates introduced two April figures, a standard sized April with bonus Mouser robots and a miniature April.
2007 Movie
April appears in the 2007 film voiced by Sarah Michelle Gellar; following the continuity from the previous films, it appears that she and Casey Jones are living and working together in a shipping firm, engaged in a relationship. It is she who finds Leonardo at the start of the film, having been in the area seeking an artifact for Max Winters. No mention is made of her past as a journalist, but it is instead implied that she has taken up archeology as a career. She has taken up martial arts training from Splinter, purchasing a suit and armor from Japan and becoming skilled in the use of katana, apparently leaving behind her past as a 'damsel in distress.' This is corroborated in a collectible booklet packed in with her action figure for the film, she has become a master of the katana sword; the figure itself includes a katana, tonfa, and two shoulder armor pads; this outfit would be replicated for the film. It is also noted that in the begining of the film, she wears something similiar to Lara Croft's normal outfit.
External links
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