Not everyone may know who The Martian Manhunter is, not everyone knows what a Skrull is, but you can bet your pepperonis that everyone and their grandparents knows who The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are. Welcome to part one of a three-part turtle epic, as today we explore the many incarnations of everybody's favorite radical reptilians!
Cowabunga Comics! (1984 Comic Book Series)
Crafted from their humorous sketches of slow reptiles having the speed and precision of Japanese assassins, Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird payed out of pocket to form their own comic book publisher called Mirage Comics and turn their doodles into a fully realized story about mutated turtles who had the attitudes of teenagers and specialized in ninjutsu. Taking art inspiration from Jack Kirby and Frank Miller and story keys from The New Mutants, Cerebus and Daredevil, these two young men crafted a parody of 80's comic books. Patterned directly off of Daredevil-with origins tied to the Marvel character and villains based of his own-the turtles were raised by a martial artist rat named Splinter. Because the two men couldn't think of authentic Japanese names, they named each turtle after a Renaissance artist: Leonardo used swords, Raphael used sai, Donatello used a bo staff, and Michelangelo used the nunchakus. These brothers defended New York from Splinter and his Foot ninja clan. From Mirage Comics, the Turtles' books were passed on to Image Comics and finally to IDW Comics and have, for the most part, stayed loyal to the darker nature of the original series.
Awesome Animation! (1987 Animated Series)
When The Murakami-Wolf-Swenson Animation Studio and French company IDDH bought the rights to make a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles children's television show, it was to draw in younger viewers and make bank on toy sales, similar to "Masters of The Universe" or "Thundercats". Due to the target demographic, many aspects of Eastman and Laird's original story were changed. Firstly, each turtle was given more personality and each were given a different color to tell them apart. Leo got blue, Donny got purple, Mikey got orange and Raph kept the traditional red. The turtles were also nerfed in their use of weaponry, especially Leo and Raph who's weapons were bladed. Leo and Raph only took full advantage of their weapons when fighting robot foes. The show also exaggerated the teenage motif and the turtle's love for pizza. It gave new origin stories for Splinter and Shedder, upped reporter April O'Neil and vigilante Casey Jones' importance and entertained many children of the 80's. For as goofy as it was, this ten season cartoon booster the popularity of the turtles and made them media superstars.
Fantastic Film! (1990 Film)
After the hit cartoon, the very first Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle film was directed by Steve Barron in 1990 and brought a layer of respect to the franchise. The true selling point to the film were the turtles themselves, with suits designed by Sesame Street and Muppet creator Jim Henson, each turtle had a different look and attitude to match. Critics were notably harsh on the film, but the box office scores and fan response gave legitimacy to what was considered a "kids cartoon". Though it's held high by many nostalgic fans, this movie was followed by two lack-luster sequels that downgraded the turtle's looks and became more ridiculous with their stories. At the very least, the 1990 film was a chance to show people that these turtles had more potential beyond toys and cartoons.
Shoddy Show! (1997 Television Series)
As if the 1990's sequels weren't bad enough, Saban Entertainment-the same studio that brought us The Power Rangers franchise-produced a television series based off Eastman and Laird's comic. Barely. "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Next Mutation" show was created in an attempt to ride the film series popularity train and make money off toys, sadly the design, the writing and the overall tone of the show was offensive to fans old and new. Some notable changes include the exclusion of April and Casey, the change of Mikey's weapons from nunchakus to tonfa-due to regional laws-and the inclusion of the worst TMNT character ever, Venus. Venus was a fifth female turtle who grew up in China Town and was taught mysticism. An obvious decision made to draw in young female viewers and "satisfy" young male viewers, Venus was largely disliked by both the fans and by Peter Laird himself, who notably does not like the mentioning of this character. The producers were trying so hard to get this show off the ground, this show had a crossover with "Power Rangers in Space" that was considered the only bad episode of that Power Rangers series.
Cool Cartoon! (2003 Animated Series)
From the ashes of The Next Mutation, 4Kids Entertainment, Mirage Studios and Dong Woo Animation produced the 2003 "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" animated series. This take on the turtles is one of the best, taking personality cues from the 87' cartoon and story elements from the 84' comic book and perfecting both. Leo became a balanced, but overworking leader, Raph became a hot-headed brute, but cared deeply for his family, Donny was a mechanical genius who sometimes took his work too seriously and Mikey was active in pop culture, but was often too juvenile. Characters who were originally toys were given actual stories and the adventures of the turtles were treated with respect, seriousness and light-hearted moments. They fought mystics, aliens and ninjas a plenty! The show had seven seasons, with season six tossing the turtles into the future, this series also got a made-for-TV movie citing the turtles' history. With effort and care, this show not only stands as one of the best representations of the TMNT, but as a great comic book cartoon as well.
Tubular Television! (2012 Animated Series)
The most recent television series for the turtles and definitely the most refreshing. This series uses computer generated graphics to provide a fast-paced and bright representation of these characters, each turtle given further design differences: Leo is angular, Raph had a ridged look that reflected his less-than-safe antics, Donny is tall and lanky with a gap in his teeth, Mikey is clearly rounder and has a mask design similar to his look in 84'. Each character's personality is further perfected, characters like April and Casey were changed into teenagers to fit the demographic and villains who were once just toys became decent characters, similar to how the 2003 show did it. This show provides a fun experience for both young and old TMNT fans with four seasons and more to come.
Mondo Movie! (2014 Film)
Although being written, produced and directed by many hollywood people, people often credit the 2014 film to Michael Bay, who's name is the biggest on all the posters. This film was made with the same goals as Transformers, to take an old, nostalgic brand and retool it to be "modern" and make money off toys and advertisements. Each turtle was redesigned to be uncomfortably large, disgustingly faced, annoyingly personified and unnecessarily cluttered. Lazy comedy, lazy lore, and even lazier retakes on classic TMNT characters tied together with an unneeded "Amazing Spider-Man"-type of plot built a widely unlikable film. Despite what we got, a sequel is already in the making with a trailer that shows minor improvement. Though all of the most well received pieces of TMNT media are goofy, silly and targeted mainly towards children, this film tries to continue elements of the franchise in disrespectful, shallow and grotesque means.
So, that's the main history of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Obviously, the series has hit some low points, but I believe both the 2003 and 2012 cartoons to be a shimmer of hope that they still got potential. The movies could improve for all we know. And hey, the comics are doing pretty well I hear. Despite the publicity stunt that was the death of Donny. Still, I hope this tour down turtle lane has been interesting for you and I hope you stay interested for upcoming TMNT posts.
Thanks for reading!
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