Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird created the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles in 1984, when doodles on a piece of paper became four "turtle-men" martial artists, who were named after famous European Renaissance artists. As if that was not strange enough their sensei was a humanoid Japanese national rat, who also was a master martial artists, his name, Splinter. The comic was showcased in May of that year, with a distinctively different look, that included a color cover and black and white drawings inside. The studio that Eastman and Laird named Mirage distributed the Turtles comic and thanks to newspapers and other media outlets, the comic became a huge success. Michaelangelo, Donatello, Raphel, and Leonardo parodied other superheroes and always seemed to have a wisecrack about the situations they faced and teenagers actually began to relate to them.
Each member of the group had a specific skill, weapon and attitude, that all came together to fight the evil Shredder, an arch rival of Splinter from Japan, as well as, a large assortment of bad guys. When the comic first ran there was no way to really tell the characters apart since the color cover showed them all wearing red masks over their eyes and the comic was in black and white. But through Eastman and Laird's sequential storytelling abilities, readers were able to discern the four through their traits and fell in love with the four adolescents. With the success in the comic book field, Playmates Toys agreed to put together a line of toys if an animated series would be released. Murakami, Wolf, Swenson, Inc. produced a mini-series that became a big hit, and the rest is history.
The first Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle animated show aired in 1987. The story was that an ambitious channel six investigative reporter, April O'Neil, is assigned to report on the mysterious thefts of hi-tech scientific equipment from various scientific laboratories across the city. April discovers that the thieves are ninjas and investigates the matter. Her investigation leads her into some serious Lois Laneesque trouble with some thugs. The Turtles save her from these thugs, and when she realizes what they are, she faints. When she comes to, she meets Splinter, who tells her how the humanoid superheroes came to be...
Some time ago in Japan, there was a Ninja Clan, known as The Foot, led by Hamato Yoshi, a quiet/gentle man who loved art. One of his students, Aroko Saki wanted to become the master of The Foot and through his efforts, forced Yoshi to leave the clan and Japan and flee to America for his life. Yoshi was forced to live in the sewers, where he made friends with the rats. One day, a small child was returning from the pet store with a fish bowl of baby turtles, tripped and fell, causing the bowl to crash on the street and the turtles to fall into a drain. Yoshi found the turtles and made four new friends.
One day, Yoshi discovers the turtles covered in some radioactive waste or "mutagen" that caused whomever touched it to take on the form of whatever animal they most recently had been in contact with. Thus, the turtles became human, because of their recent contact with Yoshi, while, Yoshi, a.k.a. Splinter, was transformed into a rat because of his recent contact with the rats.
In the cartoon it was decided to color-code the turtles in order to make it easier for viewers to tell the gang apart. Michelangelo (orange mask) is the fun-loving dude who is kind of stupid and just likes to chill and eat pizza all day. His favorite phrase of course was Cowabunga, a phrase another animated child stole from the Turtle. Donatello (purple mask) is a techno-whiz and is probably the second most serious Turtle of the group, especially when it comes to computers and other technological gadgets. Leonardo (blue mask) is the serious leader who is always looking to complete the mission and gain favor with his mentor, Splinter. Finally, Raphael (red mask) is the wild member, funny, sarcastic, and often times getting himself into trouble. In the cartoon, he is second to Mikey in terms of goofiness, but in the movies, live-action series and comics, he has an edge to him that puts him at odds with the others in the group.
The show was a huge hit, and stayed that way in syndication, before going to CBS in an hour-long block that aired as part of the networks' Saturday morning lineup. The show introduced so many new characters like Baxter Stockman, the evil scientist that became a fly, Krang, the alien brain that actually ordered Shredder around and Rocksteady and Bebop, the warthog and rhinoceros that always messed up Shredder's ingenious plans. Of course, we can never forget Kala and the Nutrinos, the hot-rodding teenagers who came from Krang's home world of Dimension X. And more importantly, KC Jones, the sicko vigilante who often times helped the Turtles in battles with Shredder, The Rat King and the evil mutated alligator Leatherhead (I guarantee!). There were even some frogs named Napoleon Bonafrog, Genghis Frog and Rasputin (named after the most heinous leaders and personalities of world history) who were supposed to be enemies to the Turtles and ended up becoming their friends.
The show was excellent, very funny, brilliantly written and wonderfully animated. But after many years on the year the stories started getting stale and the jokes were not as funny. Efforts to change the show around, led to Shredder, Splinter, Rocksteady and Bebop being trapped in Dimension X for good, in an episode that was actually very good. As season nine began, a new enemy was introduced and his name was Dregg. The show just didn't seem the same without Shredder and soon, with year ten over, the animated Turtles were no more.
Ten years seemed like a long time to be in animation. The show sold many toys, videos, games and comics. In fat, besides Mirage Studios creating comics, Archie Comics created a brand based on the cartoon, while Image comics resurrected the grittier, edgier comic book format made famous by Mirage. Besides games, toys and comics, there were three live-action movies made, with the first two doing the best in theatres. There was even a live-action band that performed concerts and even had a CD out. With the live-action hoopla gaining the Turtles even more attention, a decision was made that in 1997, the year after the animated show was cancelled, a new show would be created. The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Next Mutation was created in hopes of achieving similar success to that of the Power Rangers and similar shows. The show even featured Venus De Milo, a female turtle that tries to help the team through their battles. April O'Neal, a major focal point of every single animated show is no more and after 26 episodes on FOX, neither is the live action show.
Where are the Turtles today? Well, we have several major announcements to make. While the shows we knew and love are no longer shown on television, even cable, there may be future Turtle shows to enjoy. YBFREE.com reported in the article What was Old is New Again that the Turtles might be seeing the print pages again. In March 2001 Laird announced that he and Jim Lawson are working on an all-new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comic series. The series will be reminiscent of the original series and be in black and white. Also in the works is a full length CG animated theatrical film, which will be done in collaboration with Digital Rim Entertainment's John Woo and Terence Chang. The film is said to return the Turtles to their grittier roots. There is even talk that the creators of the Turtles are pitching a CGI-animated show for television. You can check out their site for the complete press release as well as photos of the CGI-Turtles.
This is huge news for all us Turtle fans. I am certainly looking forward to the return of the Turtles. My partner told me they would be making a comeback and she was right. I guess you can't keep a good Turtle down. Cowabunga!!
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