Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

[Taco-Calamitous]

So, if you were a kid growing up in the 80's like me, you definitely remember the Turtles. The Turtles were everywhere, from the cartoon to the video games to the movies to the cereal/other random food products, to the toys... etc. There was even an Archie comic based on the cartoon (which was based on a much darker, grittier comic, which I want to read.) That was the first comic I collected, and I think I still have my old issues.

As I got older, I slowly decided that the Turtles were lame. The cartoon had quickly become much cheesier than it already was in its early stages, and I'm pretty sure that on the school playground, it wasn't cool to like them anymore. There was a later 90's version that came out, that was supposed to be less cheesy that I never gave a chance but I remember existing (although seeing a few episodes of that incarnation, it felt rather like mid-90's cartoon cheese.)

And then there was a third iteration, started in '03, which is much more faithful to the original, and seems to be still running, given the existence of this movie: Turtles Forever. I watched it tonight, and it was pretty awesome, I thought. Very heavy on the Nostalgia factor (The Nostalgia Critic/That Guy With the Glasses did a review of it, which caught my attention. He did it as himself as opposed to his NC persona, because he thought it was actually really good.)

Anyway, I've actually watched the '03 iteration off and on, and it's fairly good, for what it is. I actually also got a DVD of the first 6 or so episodes of the 1987 cartoon, and it was Nostalgia-tastic. The early episodes also seemed a lot better than what I remember of it at the end of its run. Less cheese, although still cheesy. But yeah; I wanted to bring that cartoon to attention, and also wanted to discuss the Turtles. Are y'all down with "Turtle Power?" Anyhoo...

Wuv, Yer Mom

EDIT: Check it. You can read much of the original comic on the official Mirage site.

[Dodie16]

I watched the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, because I really didn't have a choice in the matter. They were huge when I was younger, and I grew up with three brothers and no sisters, so I was usually out-voted on what cartoons we got to watch. I did manage to convince them to watch Muppet Babies when it was on, but that's not the point of this thread.

Anyway, yeah. My brothers had all kinds of Ninja Turtle crap. I remember my older brother had a comforter on his bed that had them on it, and my second youngest brother has a picture of him and a dude dressed as Raphael posed together. They had action figures, removable tattoos, costumes, playsets, and for some reason one of my brothers had a toothbrush holder that was battery operated, and when you pushed the button, a 2-minute speech about the benefits of brushing regularly would play. I don't think we have any of that stuff anymore, but if we did, it wouldn't be in any condition to be considered a very high in collector's value, because they were rough with thier stuff.

I didn't really get into the cartoons as much as I did the live-action movies. All three of 'em. I actually liked the second one the best when I was younger, but I tried watching it when I got older, and it didn't have the same appeal to me. The first one is still pretty good though. I won't comment on the third.

I haven't watched the TMNT movie, the one with all the fancy CG work in it. If it comes on tv or something, I'll watch it, just to see how it looks.

I'll have to check out Turtles Forever. It's been a while since I've seen anything with the Ninja Turtles in it, and I watched the first clip that you linked to. It does look pretty good.

EDIT:: I just got finished watching the entire movie. It was kind of cool how the different adaptations of the Turtles interacted with one another, and I loved the fourth wall breaking done by the 80's version, and the newer ones were like "Who are you talking to?!?" I was wierded out that the new Shredder was

SPOILER!!:

A space alien thing. I don't know what the deal with that was, but he was a pretty evil dude, I guess. Oh, and he had a human daughter? Odd... I have a soft spot for the old Shredder I guess.

But like I said, it's been a while since I've seen a TMNT cartoon, so maybe it works there.

[Taco-Calamitous]

...and for some reason one of my brothers had a toothbrush holder that was battery operated, and when you pushed the button, a 2-minute speech about the benefits of brushing regularly would play.

lol 80's cheese. That is awesome. Literally made me lol when I read it. Always have to have a moral or a message at the end of the cartoon!

Yeah, the new Shredder is kinda weird. I think I saw an episode of the cartoon with him in it, and I thought, "WTF?

Spoiler: Is he related to Krang in this version?" Although Krang apparently isn't in the new cartoon. Swore I saw him in some episode, though... and he was a good guy, it seemed like.

The old versions of the characters seemed a tad too goofy and incompetent to me, though. Like, I remember Donatello and Leonardo at least being a bit more serious than that. "First, we gotta save April!" Heh.

Yeah, the movies were okay. I had the same reaction to the first two, actually; the first one was still pretty good, and the second one was pretty cheesy and stupid. The third one, I haven't seen for a really long time, but I liked it as a kid. What I really want is to own the old beat 'em up arcade game, although I don't think that was released for any system (except the NES version.) There's an arcade/old video game store/bar in Portland called Ground Control that has it, and I like to play it when I go there. Haven't gotten past Baxter Stockman, though.

More Turtles fans need to come out of hiding and discuss this with us. Come on, guys! Don't be afraid. We're all nerds, here. Some of us like to pretend that we're not, but we all know it's true. Anyhoo...

Wuv, Yer Mom

[Pete]

OH MY GOD

That was insanely awesome. The nostalgia alone was mindblowing, though I really wish they would've shown more of the 80's world.

I was a HUGE fan of the turtles as a kid. I probably had every single toy and playset... including the blimp! I also own the original movie trilogy and the first 6 dvd's of the original cartoon. I never really got into the new cartoon though, despite the fact that it seems like it could be pretty cool.

The one thing I didn't like about the movie though was the space stuff, or aliens or whatever. Krang is Dimension X, and to me, that makes sense. The outer space and super futuristic stuff never really was my cup of tea. Other than that, I was in awe. Especially when they brought the original turtles into the mix. I had no clue whatsoever that they were that badass.

I am thoroughly pleased and impressed. They found a way to pay tribute and poke fun themselves, which is all sorts of awesome to me

[T.G. Oskar]

First and foremost, T...congrats on showing the really old-school Turtles. I was only familiar with the cartoon, so the comic was like a shock of adrenaline.

Second, you're not alone. I was an old Turtles fan, specifically of Donatello and his tech-savvy. I mean, the van that the Turtles drove was his alteration (and existed since...the third or fourth episode...wasn't it a Channel 6 newsvan pimped to be the Turtlemobile?) I feel a bit bad that Don isn't as tech-savvy as he was meant to be (it seems to me that the transdimensional portal sorta dunked his intellect a bit), and of all people, Raph and Mike are closer to the real deal.

Nu-Turtles never hooked me up as the old ones. They were a tad too serious, and they tried to use modern action flick camera shots and whatnot to make it interesting. I swear, it has the same shots as 24... I like as how Don in this version is a tad more tech-savvy, but they cranked that up too much of a notch. Plus, he was not that geekish; IIRC, Don was also a great strategist and tactician. Finally...bo staff is awesome. No need for ambidexterity when you can simply leap and strike with a long stick!

So yeah...Turtles Forever. Man, that was a great trip down memory lane! I just had to WOO!! myself after seeing how the ol' Turtles schooled the new ones. Another woo was when ol' Shredder, Krang, Bebop and Rocksteady appeared. I feel bad for the whiny Shredder, since he wasn't so whiny in the first few cartoons (actually, he was quite ruthless). Oh, and another big WOO!! when the Technodrome appeared. And Krang's bio-body, as well.

Still...I missed some of the old Turtles behavior. Their surfer-speak (Dude! Cowabunga!), not to mention the pizza thing. It's no prob if you wanted to make the Turtles a bit more serious, but man: does it hurt if they at least keep the pizza bit? That made them awesome!

So yeah...well appreciated trip down memory lane. Made me realize the big difference between the ol' Turtles and the new ones, and why the old ones rocked (even though they were a tad downplayed in the movie, akin to their last few episodes more than the first ones)

Still have to see the rest of the movie, tho; was too late when I was seeing it. Does ol' April make a cameo appearance? Darn, she was hot in that 80's way...

[Taco-Calamitous]

Yeah, April makes an appearance at one point. The turtles make the comment that they have to "save April!" Even though they have no idea what her situation is. They just know they have to save her. And they do. And it is awesome. You will see!

Also, here are a couple videos for a trip down memory lane:
Turtle Power
Ninja Rap by Vanilla Ice

Ha, we had all three soundtracks to these movies. This stuff is making me remember other 80's stuff, like the Ghostbusters, now. The old music, and such. Anyhoo...

Wuv, Yer Mom

EDIT: lol, and here's the old Ghostbusters video, too (still awesome, IMO)