The TMNT, or Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, first appeared in 1984 in a ‘Mirage Studios’ comic. The creators, Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird, originally intended to parody the popular comics of the 1980’s (such as the X-Men and Frank Miller’s Ronin) with a single issue self-published comic story; featuring an anthropomorphic team of four mutated turtles taught Martial Arts by their rodent (and also mutant) Sensai Master Splinter, and using these fighting skills in tackling crime from their home in the sewers of Manhattan.
The team consisted of:
Leonardo, the earnest leader of the team who wore a blue mask and was adept at the ‘ninjaken‘ swords.
Raphael, the troubled loner who wore a red mask and was adept with the ‘sai‘ daggers.
Michelangelo, the ‘Cowabunga!’ shouting comic relief who wore an orange mask and was adept with the ‘nunchaku‘.
Donatello, the scientist and thinker who wore a purple mask and was adept with the ‘bō‘ staff.
The success of the ‘Turtles was due in no small part to the licensing and merchandising opportunities presented by such a strange and offbeat comic idea. So in 1990, the ‘Turtles became action figures, thanks to Playmates Toys Inc, and along with an animated series on television, this ensured that these pizza-eating, skateboarding and crimefighting misfits became pop culture icons. You could find them on cereal boxes, toothpastes, computer games, PEZ dispensers and more. In the UK they became known as the Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles, thanks to the ever-meddlesome censors; and the far-east got blessed with many a manga animated series featuring them(Super Turtles, Mutant Turtles, Mutant Turtles Gaiden and so on).
In 1990 the first live-action feature film, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, was released. It presented the origin story of the ‘Turtles and their master Splinter, their initial encounters with reporter April O’Neil and vigilante Casey Jones, as well as their first confrontation with the villain Shredder. The film showcased the puppetry skills of Jim Henson’s Creature Shop and was released by New Line.
The lucrative success of the first film lead inevitably to a sequel a year later, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze; which expanded on the origin story but was a mixed affair due to creative conflicts and budget problems, and is made all the more memorable for being the filmic debut of ‘Vanilla Ice‘, a successful-but-ephemeral caucasian rapper.
A third film, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III, was released in 1993 and involved the ‘Turtles being transported back in time thanks to a magical sceptre to Feudal Japan, where they end up in the middle of a conflict between Japan’s Daimyo rulers and British traders.
Following the films came Ninja Turtles: The Next Mutation in 1997, a live-action television series that served as a loose continuation of the events in the movies. A fifth turtle was introduced, a female named ‘Venus De Milo’ who was a ‘Shinobi’ ninja. The series wasn’t very successful and was cancelled after only one season.
The franchise was revived with the Fox Network animated series in 2003. Produced by Mirage Studios, the cartoon is more faithful to the original comics, being darker and more edgier than the 1987 series, but is still lighthearted enough to be warranted as children-friendly. The animated show also took a radical direction in 2006 with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Fast Forward, where the ‘Turtles are thrown forward in time to New York in the year 2105.
So we come to TMNT, the fourth feature film. Released in March 2007, this is a computer-generated movie produced by Imagi Animation Studios and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures and The Weinstein Company.
The tone of the film is dark and gritty but still PG-rated, following the trend set by the comics. Although it seems to be quite different from the preceding films due to its unique animation style, the storyline does seem to be a chronological continuation; the movie takes place after Shredder’s defeat, with the team now disbanded. Leonardo is off on a soul-search in Central America, Donatello and Michelangelo are working regular jobs, and Raphael continues to fight crime as the vigilante ‘Nightwatcher’. The team have to come together, not necessarily without leadership problems, when an immortal warrior who tried to take over the world 3000 years ago decides to come back and finish the job. The film also sees the return of the ‘Foot Clan’ previously lead by Shredder and now being lead by his student ‘Karai’, a human antagonist ‘Max Winters’, as well as regulars April and Casey Jones.
The film features the voices of Chris Evans, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Patrick Stewart and Ziyi Zhang, and is also the last film of actor Mako Iwamatsu who passed away in 2006. The film appears to be well received by fans, with mainstream critics somewhat confused by it, though this might be explained by a lack of knowledge of the source material than anything else.
Cowabunga.
Mo Ali was born in a haunted hospital and has exceeded all expectations and kept breathing.
A digital artist, poet and writer, he needs to find some paid work before the inevitable apocalypse. To make matters worse he lives in Berkshire.