Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Difference between revisions

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''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'' (or [[TMNT]]) began as a comic book by Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird, who formed the idea from a napkin drawing one of them made while eating at a pizzeria. The first story began as a tale in the vein of [[Frank Miller]]'s ''[[Daredevil]]'', with the four titular ninja battling the Shredder to avenge the murder of Master Splinter's master, Hamato Yoshi. After a fierce battle, they successfully kill him. A surprise hit (often attributed to the unique name), the series continued with applying a [[Fantasy Kitchen Sink]] motif: with time travel, robots, and aliens introduced within the first ten issues. Despite their inauspicious beginnings, the series became so popular that an action figure deal was struck, which then snowballed into an animated series, movies, and every type of merchandise under the sun, turning it into one of the biggest [[Cash Cow Franchise|cash cow franchises]] of the mid-eighties/early nineties.

The major incarnations of the franchise are as follows:

 

* '''''[[Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures]]''''' (1988/1989-1995): Midway through its run, the original cartoon spawned its own comic book, published by Archie Comics. While it initially limited itself to adapting some of the cartoon stories, it eventually evolved into something as different from the cartoon as the cartoon was from the original comic book. This incarnation of the turtles is generally regarded favorably, with a notable contingent of fans clamoring for inclusion of its characters into future incarnations.

* '''[[Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (film)|The movies]]''': Debuting in 1990, the first movie combined events from the comic book with the cartoon's humor. It went on to be extremely popular, breaking records for an independent film and even though reviews weren't glowing, praise was given to the [[Jim Henson]] Shop for the costumes. The resulting two sequels cost more and made less, started to fall into self-parody and ended the series. More than a decade later, the TMNT movie franchise was revived with the 2007 release of the fully-CGI ''TMNT''. Made as a [[Broad Strokes|tenuous continuation]] of the original movies, it received respectable reviews for the animation and character storylines, but was criticized for the main plot mysticism. ''Another'' reboot of the TMNT film franchise was released on 2014, with [[Michael Bay]]'s Platinum Dunes serving as the production company.

* '''[[Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Mirage|TMNT Vol. 3]]''' (1996-1999)': Published by Image Comics, this series was the official continuation of the Mirage continuity, until it was [[Canon Discontinuity|subsequently ignored by Peter Laird]] upon the publication of Volume 4. Mostly remembered for mutilating three out of the four turtles, and for a plot featuring a three-way struggle for leadership of the Foot involving Raphael, who had taken on the Shredder identity after finding his armor; Pimiko, the original Shredder's daughter; and Lady Shredder, a ninja of unknown origin dressed in the familiar armor.

* '''''[[Ninja Turtles: The Next Mutation]]''''' (1997-1998), a live-action Saturday morning show by Saban (guys behind ''[[Power Rangers]]''), aired on [[Fox Kids]] in 1998 shortly after the animated series ended. It lasted only one season before going belly-up. The new series added a new character, [[The Scrappy|Venus de Milo]], a female turtle with knowledge of the art of Shinobi (and playing the foil to the scientifically-minded Donatello). Many fans were [[Fanon Discontinuity|antagonistic]] to the series, and Peter Laird was even [[Berserk Button|more]] antagonistic to Venus, although nobody knows why [[Canon Discontinuity|because she doesn't exist and never did]].

** ''[[Turtles Forever]]'', an animated movie crossing over this incarnation of the turtles with that of the first cartoon, and acting as a celebration of the franchise's 25th anniversary.

* '''Videogames''': By both [[Konami]] and [[Ubisoft]]. Notable entries include:

** ''[[Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (video game)]]'' (1989). An infamously [[Nintendo Hard|difficult]] [[NES]] [[Platformer]]

** ''[[Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Tournament Fighters]]'' (1993-1994). Three different fighting games sharing the name.

** ''[[Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Smash Up]]'' (2009) from Ubisoft. Another fighting game, which combined elements from several different incarnations.

 

'''Other media franchises''': There are also other media franchises of the series, including [[wikipedia:Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles food tie-ins|food tie-ins]] (Ninja Turtles cereal, Chef Boyardee TMNT pasta, Ninja Turtles cookies, etc.); a ''Coming Out of Their Shells'' concert tour that first premiered at the Radio City Music Hall (with Donatello on keyboards, Leonardo on bass guitar, Raphael on drums and sax, and Michelangelo on guitar, as the story had a feel similar to ''[[Bill and Teds Excellent Adventure]]'', with its theme of [[The Power of Rock|the power of rock n' roll]] literally defeating the enemy, in the form of the Shredder (who only rapped about how he hates music), trying to eliminate all music); and a stage show at the Disney-MGM studios theme park in Orlando, Florida from 1990 to 1996.

 

* [[Absurdly Spacious Sewer]]

* [[Action Girl]]: Several, most notably April O'Neil (depending on the incarnation), and Karai.

* [[Alternate Continuity]]: Tons—see above.

* [[Alternate Universe]]

* [[Animal Nemesis]]: The feud between Oroku Nagi and Hamato Yoshi is taken up by Nagi's brother and Yoshi's pet rat, and the Turtles themselves when they mutate.

* [[Animal Superheroes]]

* [[Distaff Counterpart]]: Venus de Milo, who fit in as an [[Action Girl]] and [[The Chick]] in ''Next Mutation'' since it didn't even feature April as a character.

* [[Ditto Aliens]]: The Utroms; Triceratons.

* [[Dual-Wielding]]: Three of the four turtles use their weapons in pairs, with Donny being the odd man out. Though since his weapon is a bo staff, it's justified (although his original action figure did come with a pair of bo).

* [[Elaborate Underground Base]]: The turtles' lair is usually one of these.

 

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