Concerning Spelling
The following letter was e-mailed to Peter Laird by a very good friend of mine… a mega huge TMNT fan by the name of Roseangelo. While this went directly to Peter Laird, she forwarded me a copy because she thought I’d be interested… and she was right. And I bet that if you are here, you’re interested too!
Hi Peter,
I meant to email you about this issue when I first read of it in the back of, I believe it was TMNT #3 (of Vol. 4). But alas, I never did, but now that marketing for the new cartoon has begun, I am reminded of why I remain a bit disheartened at the changing of the spelling of Michaelangelo. And I know your set on keeping the change, but I still feel it important to let you know what I think on the issue.
I can understand the initial embarassment on spelling the name incorrectly, based on the spelling of the painter. But that was almost 19 years ago now and as far as I’ve been aware no one has ever mocked you or Kevin for the error. And although I knew it was an error on your guys’ part, I always just viewed as part of Michaelangelo’s personality – he liked it better with an A in there. As far as I’m concerned, Michelangelo is the WRONG spelling for the Ninja Turtle.
When I discovered the TMNT when I was 10, and started learning all the trivia about them, I thought it was so cool that Mike’s name was spelled different. People make the error with Michelangelo’s (the painter) name A LOT, and I was the one secretly mocking all of them for spelling it the “Ninja Turtle way”!
Mikey has always been my favorite Turtle, and when you’re 10 Michaelangelo is a long word to spell. So I made a game of spelling it outloud in a fashion similar to M-I-C-K-E-Y M-O-U-S-E. It didn’t quite fit, but it was close enough. And after awhile the game changed to just spelling it as fast as possible. Now I try to do the same without the A and it just doesn’t work the same.
So that’s my view on that, which I felt important to share. And I know I’m not the only person who feels this way. I will always be spelling it Michaelangelo.
BTW- all the stuff for the new show looks great so far & I’m digging the theme song. Can’t wait for January.
Regards,
Roseangelo