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[StaaViinsZ]

You knew it had to happen--
A thread just for those good old boys in green!

Ever since they struck that Mortal Kombat thread... They were screaming for attention... So now it happens!

Share anything you like about the original 80's to early 90's TV Show, the later show, or even the Live action movies, 2007 or so animated movie, and the Current Nickelodeon TV Show.

Anything at all!

Something to think about: I haven't watched much of the current TV Show that's going for the TMNT, but it's a bit different.

Mostly, everything's more serious!
All the names have been abbreviated to "Mikey" and "Don" and "Raph" and such.
Mikey-- oops, I mean Michelangelo, (since I don't support these weird abbreviated versions of the names they've instituted) is still the joker, but not as much so. Definitely lost the heavy accent, I think.

Nothing quite as cool as it may have used to be, but I'm just glad it's here and it's more or less back to normal! (We lost them for a while there)
Still, I've only seen 1 episode, and I believe on a part of it, so I'm not up-to-date! :O

Raphael and Michelangelo were always my two favorites-- I would know-- One is a bad pun sayer and the other is a man with weird terminology.
They're like 2 halves of me! M.O.M.!!

Plus Michelangelo always loved pizza, even more so then the rest!

So, anyone else have anything to say, any memories, or any news-- post it here!


[AS A NOTE:]

I used to alter the lyrics of the original TMNT theme similar to the way I did ST:TNG, only without chewing (That gives me an idea!)

It went something like this:

Teenage mutant Ninja kittens

They're the world's most fearsome kitten team

(We're Really Crip)

They're heroes in the half-fur, and they're mean

(Hey, Get A Snip)

When the evil Nose Poker attacks... These Kitten-Cats, don't show him no jokes!

Teenage mutant ninja kittens-- HEROES IN A HALF-FUR-- KITTEN POWER (Echoes)

That's the short version

[MrFlibble]

I'll repeat myself that I totally loved the (1987) show as a kid.

The 2003 version, on the other hand, is too far away from the lighthearted feel of the 1987 series, so I didn't like it too much even though the art style is rather similar.

I've also seen some episodes of the 2012 reboot recently, it's kind of nice actually although I would rather enjoy re-runs of the original series.

Also there's an entire Turtles wiki as anyone would expect but I didn't know of its existence until recently

[StaaViinsZ]

I still love the 1987 show even now, but then again, I'm still 15
The 2003 version went through many changes, some a little light-hearted, some darker and more serious like you said. (Most were darker, even the lighter ones weren't as good or as classic as the original).
I personally have not seen much of the newer series, although I wouldn't mind it!

I do need to check up on the 2012 incarnation, as it looks rather interesting. I think they may be going for a little more of the classic feel, yet while still remaining different.

Ha, there's a wiki for everything, it's just a question of how updated and maintained it is.

I think there's a power rangers wiki, but it's about as maintained as a Ninja Star is after it leaves your hand (or the njnja's, as the case may be)
In this case, the TMNT Wiki is rather well maintained, I'd say.
DEAR ME, WHAT AM I SAYING!?! It has 10 or more articles for Michelangelo ALONE!
That's maintainery!


I don't know about you, but in the new 2012 series, I find those name abbreviations INCREDIBLY annoying. At least it was to me, for the ever-so-brief period I've seen it.
Perhaps I'll get used to it.

Those movie you have to see: the 2003 1987 crossover film!

Yes, that's right 2003 crosses over with the classic! Totally awesome.

I think it was a finale of sorts to the 2003, but I still love it on it's own.

M.O.! COWABUNGA!!!

STUVAN.

[Japo]

I started re-watching the classic series after it was mentioned here some weeks ago, because I have no other show to watch right now. It wasn't one of the most influential TV shows in my childhood, but I found that the opening song was burned in my memory. I didn't remember particular episodes or story lines, only the characters, the Technodrome and transport modules, etc. I've always been unable to follow a series on TV anyway, and I've forgotten a lot of the TV that I watched back then.

Now I found the pilot not so great, but the rest of the first season was pretty cool. Then when the Technodrome gets stuck and all episodes end where they started it doesn't look as interesting today, but I guess it was cool back then.

I did watch the 1990 movie in the theater, and I also remember playing the arcade video games. I didn't have any TMNT toys (I had few toys though). I've just taken a look at the original comics but I found them very different to the rest, the plots and themes are all over the place in different books, and the art was better on TV (specially at the beginning, later they relaxed the quality and also made the art more childish).

[StaaViinsZ]

I started re-watching the classic series after it was mentioned here some weeks ago, because I have no other show to watch right now.

I believe it was me that did that, eh?
You can tell whoever it is that's annoyed with the bouncy "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" theme echoing through the house that Staaviins put you up to it, and if they want to speak to him, sign up for the AB forums or shoot him a message at staaviinsz@yahoo.com.

It wasn't one of the most influential TV shows in my childhood, but I found that the opening song was burned in my memory.

The theme is everybody's Godzilla. You're not alone.

WARNING***WARNING***WARNING***
ACTUAL INFO FROM STAAVIINSZ INCOMING! AND FAST!

In other words, a lot of people remember the theme the most as well as you.

***END REAL INFO***

I've always been unable to follow a series on TV anyway, and I've forgotten a lot of the TV that I watched back then.

What? You don't remember He-Man & the Masters of the Universe?

Star Blazers?

Power Rangers?

Pokemon?

Spider-Man (1994)?

Captain Power and the Soldiers of the Future?


Shame on you, Mon frere.

I've just taken a look at the original comics but I found them very different to the rest, the plots and themes are all over the place in different books, and the art was better on TV (specially at the beginning, later they relaxed the quality and also made the art more childish).

The comics situation varies greatly for the turtles. Overall, you can expect Darker, more serious characters, though.

It all depends on what you get. The original incarnation of the turtles was actually pretty dark, had Black and White art, and was very serious.

I suppose when someone had an idea to make a cartoon series of it, they felt that it needed a re-vamp since cartoons shows of that time very usually very bright in some sense of the word. (SEE: G.I. Joe & Jem)

Even Mortal Kombat as a cartoon was pretty tame, (Which isn't a bad thing)
which is a little ironic since the violence of the show was probably less than the violence of the video game!

Anyway though, you can find the classic 80's turtles in comic form on occasion. Look for: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures
or something like that.

I don't remember the art becoming more relaxed but I do remember changes in the show.

Near the end, I guess certain people were taking more creative control, and slowly making it darker and darker. By season 8 or so, It was like a different show, almost. They didn't go all the way until after it was canceled, and they revived it in 2003.

After the revival, it was hopelessly changed. Even the 2003 show went through many changes, getting lighter and darker at the poke of a nose (Flip of a coin).



I personally like it all, just I like the 80's and 90's version better.

All this talk about it, I should go get some from the library!
Too bad it's not on Netflix Instant...

M.O.!
STUVANI

[Japo]

I understand how the comic is different, it's only that I don't like it particularly (or compared to other comics) other than as an inspiration for the TV show.

The art changed a lot even during the first seasons of the TV show, if you compare carefully (I don't know how it changed later). In the first season it had much more detail, specially the backgrounds and objects but notably the characters. Not only that but later they came to draw the characters much more as cartoons (on purpose I suppose), for the facial expressions and overall, specially the turtles and Bebop and Rocksteady.

Most of those example shows are too recent for me. Of course I know Pokemon but I never watched and it came up when I was already too old. The first He-man is in the time frame of my childhood, but what I meant is that it's too long ago, I watched tons of episodes but now I remember only the characters and so. The other shows were never significant for me. I do remember watching (Choudenshi) Bioman, an installment of the Japanese source material for the equally cheesy Power Rangers.

There are many shows that I can't recall right now but I'd remember if I saw them. He-man is one that I do remember, but as I said only a little about it. The show that I probably watched more and was my favorite at the time was the A-Team, and from that time also Knight Rider, and later MacGyver was my favorite for a while. Some other shows that I remember from then or even earlier are Blue Thunder, GI Joe, Ulysses 31, Jayce and the Wheeled Warriors, Dungeons & Dragons, Fraggle Rock, Pippi Longstocking, Maya the Honey Bee, Heidi, and Marco. Later the top two cartoons would be awesome Dragon Ball and the great great Simpsons. Later in high school I watched a lot of X-Files. I must have seen dozens of shows more until then that I don't recall now. Later it's been more or less all sitcoms with no continuity, my favorite is of course Seinfeld.

[jonh_sabugs]

Well, I believe most of the fondness for these shows come from nostalgia, rather than content. I don't remember much of TMNT myself, apart from the characters and the intro. And I don't think I would be willing to watch the show again today, it would kill much of the magic.

Growing up as a child I remember liking Thundercats a lot, as well as Smurfs, He-man, and other shows. There was a 90's X-Men cartoon I really liked also. As a teenager I remember watching things like Animaniacs, and some Nickelodeon cartoons like Doug Funnie. I used to watch a lot of Cartoon Network also.

Another unforgettable show is Wonder Years.

[MrFlibble]

I've only watched some three-and-a-half episodes of Thundercats I found on a VHS tape someone recorded from TV. The show seemed nice but that was a very limited experience.

The other shows that I watched at the same time as TNMT were Speed Racer (I watched some episodes from both the original Japanese series and the Fred Wolf version), Conan the Adventurer, The Raccoons and that live action show, The Odyssey.

[StaaViinsZ]

StaaViinsZ begins the onslaught of replying to 3 posts at once-- for fuel, he has :

A) 2 McDoubles

B) A Pumpkin Pie (McDonald's)

along with

C) A Peach Fruit2O Water *Slurp*

AMMO:

Salt & Pepper Packets, one each.

Enemies:

Small pile of school to do

Allies:

None to speak of, except Scatty.

He takes another bite out of his first McDouble, Opens a Salt Packet from Sonic that's been sitting in the cabinet for weeks, and delves in to the deep pool of bubbling tar, that is...

THIS REPLY!!!


And now, back to your regularly scheduled reply.

I understand how the comic is different, it's only that I don't like it particularly (or compared to other comics) other than as an inspiration for the TV show.

I've never liked it as much myself, especially the art, but then again, I've never read any of it, just glanced at the pages
I might like the story!
The TV show's premise and such is just so much more fun and light than the comic and later stuff... but I'm not completely selective, TMNT from 2005 is better than Care-Bears and Law & Order SVU and Criminal Minds! (All of those are completely mockeries if you ask me.)


Wait a sec... Whoa whoa whoa... Rewind...

"Compared to other comics"? WHAAAAAT??

That's right folks, we've got a comic lover here! Right under our noses!

If it had been a spider, it would have bit us, MAN!

*Crickets Chirp Over Silence*

So hey, what other comics do you like? I'm a pretty big comic fan myself, although I got out of reading them for a while.

*Crowd Gasps*

I like Star Wars, Spider-Man, Some weird old independent titles, and lots of Marvel in general.

*Crowd Cheers*

The art changed a lot even during the first seasons of the TV show, if you compare carefully (I don't know how it changed later). In the first season it had much more detail, specially the backgrounds and objects but notably the characters. Not only that but later they came to draw the characters much more as cartoons (on purpose I suppose), for the facial expressions and overall, specially the turtles and Bebop and Rocksteady.

Hmm, I'll have to go back and look at that. I haven't watched for a while, but I do remember certain art changes.
Sounds like another case of "We're gonna do this really good", but then they realize that even if they did it "Kinda bad" or "Just average", no one would complain, so they stop spending so much money to make it unltra-awesome and then just make it good, because really, no one expects ultra-awesome from a Saturday morning cartoon show, and the kids who do don't need detailed backgrounds and characters to get that

Another example of something like this:

A restaurant around where I live used to give this GIANT fried steak if you ordered chicken fried steak or such, so big, it was hard to eat it all.

One day, they seemed to realize, that no one expected it to be THAT BIG, so they slow made it smaller until it was about an average size.

See, what they discovered is this: If you have a fixed price, and a customer is expect to get "average", and you deliver "Mondo Awesome", then that customer will be very happy. But, since you have a fixed price, if, for the same price, you give the same or ever-so-slightly more than what they're expecting, they won't object, and be just about as happy, and therefor, the company spends less money OVER-Delivering on things that could just as well be MIDDLE-Delivered, with no whiplash.

Anyway, If that made any sense?

Most of those example shows are too recent for me.

Yes, I figured that, but I was on a roll and those shows are some of my favorites

Of course I know Pokemon but I never watched and it came up when I was already too old.

Too old? Haha man, you're NEVER TOO OLD!

Too old, or too OLLLLLD (Like they said about Anakin in Episode one)

The first He-man is in the time frame of my childhood, but what I meant is that it's too long ago, I watched tons of episodes but now I remember only the characters and so.

Hmm, That's understandable. IF YOU'RE A NUT, HAHAHAHAHA--

Okay, yeah, anyway, that's understandable.
Sometimes the more episodes you watch, the less likely you are to remember any one particular one. Especially if you watch them all in a week on DVD like me

The other shows were never significant for me.

Captain Power was never significant to you? Ha, what a surprise

I do remember watching (Choudenshi) Bioman, an installment of the Japanese source material for the equally cheesy Power Rangers.

Power Rangers isn't Cheesy, it's CAMPY!
I love power rangers, and apparently, someone else does too, considering it's reached 18 or more seasons!

As far as long running kids shows go, Pokemon, Power Rangers, definitely. TMNT is in there, but not as much, since it's not still running. (Sort of)
What else?
Voltron ran for a while, along with Spider Man (1994) and such.

Star Wars the Clone Wars ran for about 5 seasons. (Whoo, I need to catch up on that one)

Any other kids shows that ran for a realllly long time?

Mr. Rogers, I guess, but now we're getting into weird stuff... I'm gonna do everyone a favor here and NOT mention Teletubbies.

The show that I probably watched more and was my favorite at the time was the A-Team, and from that time also Knight Rider, and later MacGyver was my favorite for a while.

Stop the flurry, stop the flurry, stop the FURY!

Talk about a machine gun barrage of good shows! Well, A-Team is debatable, but still.

What about ST:TNG?

Some other shows that I remember from then or even earlier are Blue Thunder, GI Joe, Ulysses 31, Jayce and the Wheeled Warriors, Dungeons & Dragons, Fraggle Rock, Pippi Longstocking, Maya the Honey Bee, Heidi, and Marco.

You lost me at Blue Thunder.
I haven't heard of half of those shows.
You sir, are more of a 80's cartoon aficionado than I thought. When I began this battle, I had no clue I would be shot down by a sudden barrage of flaming arrows flying through the sky.
I lay defeated... BUT YOU WILL NEVER DEFEAT ME IN THE 90'S!! WHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
HAHAHAHAHAHAA!!!

Later the top two cartoons would be awesome Dragon Ball and the great great Simpsons.

What I heard:

Originally Posted by My Mind

Later, the top two cartoons would be *LAME* *FAKE* and the *LAME LAME* *FAKE*

Okay, so not really, but those are two I never really got into. Glad you like them I suppose, (I'm never really glad when anyone likes the Simpsons) but I really do not like them, especially the Simpsons.
Then again, DBZ might be alright, I haven't seen much. I might like it if I watched some.

Later in high school I watched a lot of X-Files. I must have seen dozens of shows more until then that I don't recall now. Later it's been more or less all sitcoms with no continuity, my favorite is of course Seinfeld.

X-Files, good show, creepy, but good. Haven't seen much of it either.
Sit-Coms eh? Well, I do occasionally like Fraiser, but not always.

I have a love for the Disney Sit-Com "Kickin' It". It's pretty funny.

Other than that, Sit-Coms don't bear much weight for me.
Or, if we're talking swimming analogies, then Sit-Coms bear a lot of weight for me, and they sink to the bottom of the pool!


Now, We march on to reply 2!

Well, I believe most of the fondness for these shows come from nostalgia, rather than content.

I'm 15. Love lots of "These Shows". Don't try and slap that nostalgia nonsense in my face, el charie. (I'm currently at a loss for what El Charie means, just came up with it real quick )
(Yeah, I tried Google Translate, it pretty much means nothing. It ain't real.)

I don't remember much of TMNT myself, apart from the characters and the intro. And I don't think I would be willing to watch the show again today, it would kill much of the magic.

I have heard about the "wasn't as cool when I watched it later" effect.
Sad, but true. I've yet to experience it myself, yet, I think.

Growing up as a child I remember liking Thundercats a lot, as well as Smurfs, He-man, and other shows. There was a 90's X-Men cartoon I really liked also. As a teenager I remember watching things like Animaniacs, and some Nickelodeon cartoons like Doug Funnie. I used to watch a lot of Cartoon Network also.

Thundercats, heard of it, never watched it. Smurfs, no thank you. He-Man, well, it's aforementioned, but I never mentioned that I haven't actually watched any of it, either.

X-Men 90's cartoon, oh yeah, love that. Crazy addictive theme song. I was in the process of watching that whole thing when I suddenly quit. I need to find my spot and finish it! (It's on Netflix Instant, for those whom it may concern )

Animaniacs, heard of it, might've watched some, but it always seemed a little weird or possibly even dark. But it always looked kindof funny.

Doug Funnie I have not heard of, and I don't really think it sounds like I want to, but I suppose that's premature.

Cartoon Network varies for me, but in general, a good "Network".

Another unforgettable show is Wonder Years.

As long as it's not "Golden Years" or whatever, or anything with Betty White, I'm open. Maybe.

To Reply 3!

I've only watched some three-and-a-half episodes of Thundercats I found on a VHS tape someone recorded from TV. The show seemed nice but that was a very limited experience.

Lemme guess, dumpster, 'ight?
Okay, that's pretty stupid, anyway...

So it cut off in the middle of one? Ouch.
I haven't seen any. Maybe it's actually pretty good, who knows.

Speed Racer (I watched some episodes from both the original Japanese series and the Fred Wolf version), Conan the Adventurer, The Raccoons and that live action show, The Odyssey.

Speed racer, I watched some of the American version of that, it's pretty good.

Conan the Adventurer, heh, no, haven't seen it. Again, heard of it. A lot of cartoons are un-objectionable once you start watching them, in fact, a lot are easy to like, but it just depends on whether or not it's one you "LOVE" that makes it special. Or Really like.

Never seen or heard of the Raccoons. When was that on, and for how long?

I vaguely remember HEARING about the odyssey, but I certainly can't tell you what it is besides what you've already told me.


I thought Seaquest DSV was pretty cool, but it was kind of ridiculous, they kept changing it, trying not to get canceled, and changing a bunch of cast members, and finally they got canceled in the middle of an Arc. Bleh.

I liked Underdog and Pink Panther, Also there's this VERY old limited scope Robocop cartoon I have a couple of episodes of on VHS Tape that always seemed really cool. I really liked Super-Human Samurai Syber-Squad.
Along with Power Rangers and Pokemon, and ST:TNG. I used to love and still like Talking Dog movies. One of those that I remember was "Cyber-Mutt".
Looney Toons was alright.
There was a "Movie Version" of a series of TV episodes from the Justice League, that is a all-time great for me. I've watched it a million times.

There was other stuff too.

Something weird I Read on Wiki about TMNT: Way back in the 80's or so, there were some people who had things against "Ninjas" or something, so they would alter the title of the show.

Teenage Mutant NINJA Turtles became "Teenage Mutant HERO Turtles"!

Weird, eh?

Not to mention, who ever had the nunchucks never appeared with them. They always "Censored" the parts with the nunchucks, instead doing something else, like having the same turtle appear twice, with stock footage, instead of having the right one.

Really weird. The (Regular, possibly special) wiki article on TMNT should have all about it.

And of course, we can't forget the Bill and Ted cartoon, equally as "Bodacious" as the original TMNT!

That is all!

StaaViinsZ

[MrFlibble]

Originally Posted by StaaViinsZ

Lemme guess, dumpster, 'ight?

Actually, it was buried in the depths of a drawer. I guess someone borrowed it to us and forgot (or didn't bother) to ask back. I've never seen Thundercats on TV. That would be normal back in the early nineties though, most of videos that were available then here in Russia were pirated, homebrew-dubbed VHS copies. Those could get shown by local TV channels too (but not necessarily).

Originally Posted by StaaViinsZ

Conan the Adventurer, heh, no, haven't seen it. Again, heard of it. A lot of cartoons are un-objectionable once you start watching them, in fact, a lot are easy to like, but it just depends on whether or not it's one you "LOVE" that makes it special. Or Really like.

The opening sequence seemed pretty awesome to me back then And the show itself doesn't fall short of it either, with a cool character cast and equally cool antagonists.

I totally hated the spin-off Conan and the Young Warriors though, and in fact refused to watch it. Not only Conan's original companions were all removed, but the authors went so far as to explain the absence of Conan's talking phoenix sidekick as him having been eaten by Conan himself (this was supposedly a joke or something - but man, you don't joke like that in a show aimed at kids!).

Originally Posted by StaaViinsZ

Never seen or heard of the Raccoons. When was that on, and for how long?

The Raccoons is a regular TV series, but there are also a few feature films. Of those, I only saw The Raccoons and the Lost Star, which was I think long before some other local TV channel ran the series. I liked The Lost Star a lot because of lots of weird technology like red WWI-looking biplanes that are capable of space flight (piloted by anthropomorphic aardvarks, no less) and Cyril Sneer's entire war machine in general. Yeah, I understand that they were depicted as the bad guys while the nature-loving protagonists should have been actually setting a good example for the kids, but I liked the tech stuff more anyway.

Originally Posted by StaaViinsZ

I vaguely remember HEARING about the odyssey, but I certainly can't tell you what it is besides what you've already told me.

I liked The Odyssey a lot. As with The Lost Star and TMNT, this was a show I first had a glimpse of on some TV channel but could watch more or less consistently only some time later. To me, the appeal of The Odyssey comes from the author's attempt to introduce some serious ideas (serious for a kid show that is) or at least give a non-trivial spin to common problems (growing up, the misunderstandings between adults and children etc.), and also from the military-like aspects of the "bad" guys' organization

The show's third season also got a darker and edgier main theme (they already had a rather creepy closing credits theme). Here's a convenient comparison of the opening sequences across seasons.

BTW, I forgot two more shows I enjoyed as a kid, Challenge of the GoBots and Macron 1. I was actually quite surprised to learn that Macron 1 is in fact a combination of what was originally two different Japanese series. Although now I'm not even sure if what I watched was the US version (which amalgamates the two series), or the European version that only leaves the original GoShogun part.

I also vaguely remember two shows I don't know the titles of. One was about anthropomorphic dinosaurs that came to Earth from another planet. They wore spacesuits (IIRC) and had some advanced tech vehicles and all that stuff. Can't remember any details beyond this, I think there were some antagonists but who they were or what they fought over eludes me now. I think there was some sort of environmental protection theme, which I guess is typical for the 80s/early 90s.

The other was a Japanese anime that could probably be considered a "girly" show that was centred around a blonde girl from an orphanage who had some special powers or something. The setting was late 19th century Europe, possibly with some steampunk overtones thrown in. The girl was pursued by some dark-haired witch/magician lady whose sidekick was a stout humanoid cat in a dark purple suit with a bowler hat (and possibly a monocle).

As for the environmentalist theme, I also like the early 90s animated feature film FernGully: The Last Rainforest, which is actually better than some Disney feature films of the same time period IMO.

Originally Posted by StaaViinsZ

Something weird I Read on Wiki about TMNT: Way back in the 80's or so, there were some people who had things against "Ninjas" or something, so they would alter the title of the show.

Teenage Mutant NINJA Turtles became "Teenage Mutant HERO Turtles"!

Weird, eh?

Not to mention, who ever had the nunchucks never appeared with them. They always "Censored" the parts with the nunchucks, instead doing something else, like having the same turtle appear twice, with stock footage, instead of having the right one.

This is the result of some British censorship law, which is I think no longer in effect. The same law was applied to Shadow Warrior, which resulted in a complete removal of all images of shurikens in the UK version. The shuriken weapon available to the player was replaced with darts (in reality, the Japanese concept of "shurikens" includes projectiles that are not only star-shaped, but also those that are essentially throwing darts).