Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Difference between revisions

* '''[[Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Mirage (Comic Book)|The Mirage Comics]]''' (1984-1993, 2001-2010): Stories featuring the original incarnation of the turtles. These are notable for its semi-real time storytelling (stories written after 2001 featured the turtles in their thirties); its lack of a consistent [[Rogues Gallery]]; and alternating between "throw-everything-at-the-wall-to-see-what-sticks" and "heavily focused" approaches to storytelling. This incarnation comprises Volumes 1, 2, and 4 of the ''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'' comic book, two volumes of ''Tales of the TMNT'', and a multitude of one-shots and mini-series.

* '''[[Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 1987 (Animation)|The first cartoon (1987-1996)]]''', with Fred Wolf at the helm: Resemblances to its source material are mostly superficial. The first cartoon featuring the turtles proved even more popular than the comics, thanks to the [[Adaptation Distillation|distillation]]/[[Flanderization]] of the four turtles to easily identifiable character types; the addition of villains Krang, Bebop and Rocksteady; the promotion of the Shredder from one-shot baddie to [[Arch Enemy]]; gleeful breaking of the fourth wall; the addition of food addiction (pizza) and a catch phrase ("Cowabunga," although there were others), and a general comedic bent. The series ended in 1996, after ten seasons, 194 episodes, and one retool which attempted to make the series more dramatic.

* '''[[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 will be released on 2012, with Michael Bay's Platinum Dunes serving as the production company.

* '''[[Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Legend Of The Supermutants|Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Legend of the Supermutants]]''' (1996). An [[Anime]]. It is a two-episode OVA which adapts (very freely) the Turtles into Japanese anime format, although they're mainly [[Merchandise-Driven|thinly-veiled ads]] for Takara's Japanese version of the ''Turtles'' toyline. Among the changes made, the turtles have the power to transform into ''"Super Turtles"'' for about three minutes (during which they look really manly), have an animal-themed armor each (like in ''[[Saint Seiya]]'') and can fuse together to form the ''"Saint Turtle"''. Besides that, the bad guys also have transforming powers, and Shredder turns into a Dragon. Oh Japan, what would we do without your Wacky Dragon-Based Hijinks... For further info, visit [[The Other Wiki]] [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teenage_Mutant_Ninja_Turtles:_Legend_of_the_Supermutants\] or just see [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vGMfb60lc14&feature=related this video].

* '''''[[Ninja Turtles the Next Mutation (TV)|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 Dis Continuity|because she doesn't exist and never did]].

* '''[[Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2003 (Animation)|The second cartoon (2003-2009)]]''': Mirage teamed up with [[Four Kids Entertainment|4Kids]] in order to produce this new cartoon, this time making sure it had a closer resemblance to the comic book it was based on. Nicknamed TMNT 2k3, the series featured faithful adaptations of most of the comic book's stories, contained major [[Arc|story arcs]], and straightened up the original patchwork narrative and made it more coherent. Surprisingly for a show produced by someone with 4Kids' pedigree, it has avoided several of the tropes associated with Saturday Morning cartoons, such as [[Thou Shalt Not Kill]] and [[Status Quo Is God]]. It ended in 2009, after six years, seven seasons, and two retools.

* '''[[Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles IDW (Comic Book)|The IDW Comics]]''' (2011-): The first new incarnation of the turtles following the purchase by Nickelodeon, it features elements from all previous incarnations before it, as well as a heavily revised origins for the familiar characters.

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

 

 

TMNT remains a pop-culture phenomenon, though [http://news.toonzone.net/articles/31520/nick-acquires-rights-for-teenage-mutant-ninja-turtles-new-tv-series-and-movie the property has been sold to Nickelodeon] with a new CGI cartoon coming in 2012 along with the aforementioned [[Michael Bay]] movie. A new Eastman-helmed TMNT comic series has started in August 2011.

* [[Crossover]]:

** Most important is Miyamoto Usagi of ''[[Usagi Yojimbo]]'', who has appeared in the original comics and the Fred Wolf,4Kids cartoons; the turtles have also made the occasional appearance in the ''Usagi Yojimbo'' comic books.

** ''[[Cartoon All Stars to The Rescue]]'' features 1987 Mikey among [[Massive Multiplayer Crossover|many other toons]].

** ''The Next Mutation'' guest starred in the ''[[Power Rangers in Space]]'' episode "Shell Shocked".<ref>Retroactively, this did get ''[[Power Rangers]]'' to beat ''[[Super Sentai]]'' to the punch at an [[Intercontinuity Crossover]] with an eleven-year gap. For the record, the ''Sentai'' crosover was ''[[Kamen Rider Decade]]''/''[[Samurai Sentai Shinkenger]]''... and ''Shinkenger'' is as just as well loved as ''In Space'', like ''Decade'' is as hotly contested as ''The Next Mutation'' (albeit for different reasons).</ref>

* [[Good Republic Evil Empire]]: Averted all to hell in the 4Kids series. Both [[The Federation]] (humanoids) and [[People's Republic of Tyranny|The Republic]] (Triceratons) are pretty nasty.

* [[Government Agency of Fiction]]: D.A.R.P.A. in the Mirage comic books and its animated counterpart, the Earth Protection Force.

* [[Highly-Visible Ninja]]: The turtles, of course. There are other ninjas present too (some of the Shredder's minions for an example) who stand out from the crowd.

* [[Honor Before Reason]]: A trait seen in most incarnations of Leonardo. It goes both ways though- either he is commended or, if something goes horribly wrong, grievously injured.

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