TMNT

[numbah235213]

teenage muntant ninja turtles rock dude. i luv that show. it has enough violence, action, funny, romance, scary, and emaotional parts for everyone. it just rocks (and so doz the theme song ^^)

[numbuheightbitstar]

Oh man... I LOVE TMNT. Simply put, one of the best cartoons ever made. A bunch of lovable and distinct characters, with charm added by their lighthearted bantering and the interplay between Shredder and Krang. The Technodrome, Dimension X, the Stone Warriors, etc. made for an interesting conflict.

The show was also more varied than your average cartoon... not all the "bad guys" were completely evil. The Rat King, for example, helped the turtles a few times, and stuff would change over the course of the show (Shredder trading Baxter Stockman for Bebop and Rocksteady, Baxter getting turned into a fly, etc).

Sure, some of the plotlines were quite silly (who can forget the time Shredder tried to find the Turtle's lair by starting a pizza delivery service?) But... heck, it was funny, AND had lots of action. I prefer shows that don't take themselves too seriously.

And it had a cool theme song, to boot.

It's actually out on DVD now, if you're interested.

www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B0001FVDG4/qid=1092273708/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/104-6004419-4332717?v=glance&s=dvd

Okay, I know you are probably HORRIBLY confused by this point, because I was talking about the 1987 Ninja Turtles while I'm almost positive you (and anyone else who responds to this topic) were and will be talking about the new one that plays on Fox Box and Cartoon Network. Personally, I think that one is okay at best, abysmal at worst. Mostly,I dislike five things about the new one:

1. The music, including the theme song.
2. The "darker," more serious tone of the show (there's humor, but it often comes off as cheap and, in some cases, too mean-spirited IMO to really be funny).
3. I don't like how the characters always abbreviate their names. Like, they're always calling Michelangelo "Mikey" or Raphael "Raph." In the old show they NEVER abbreviated--Michelangelo was always called Michelangelo, not Mike or Mikey, Michelangelo.
4. Simply put, I don't like how this new series interprets some of the characters. While Raphael was just cynical and occasionally rude in the old series, here he has a serious attitude problem and outright hates Michelangelo. Michelangelo was originally just a carefree party dude, but here he's a complete, total idiot. And Splinter... in 1987 he came off as a believable and serious Ninja master, here he's little more than an old goofball. I loved these characters back in 1987, but in this show they just get on my nerves.
5. The Garbage Man, sorry to say, is probably the lamest villain ever concieved.

Nevertheless, I do watch this show from time to time (No matter how much the new millennium screws them up, I just can't bring myself to hate the Ninja Turtles) and have even considered buying DVDs from time to time, but probably won't because I'm holding out for the original series.

[kevin009]

Yeah, but I like the old 4 player video games. Thankfully, they finally got it right! Their making TMNT 2 a 4 player! I mean, you can't have a TMNT game that's not 4 player! (Like the last one ). But, anyway, I watch the show whenever it comes on and I'm watchin tv. But, I'm not like a HUGE fan who watches it every day! (I still like the old theme song better. I have the link to the song listed under favorites. Courteousy (Did I spell that right?) of www.moviethemes.org ;D)

[Stardrifter 8]

I remember when this show was on when I was like 4. My brother watched this while I watched My Little Ponies.

Yup. I havn't really watched it, but It looks like a pretty cool show.

[kevin009]

Yeah the show is kinda cool. But, those old arcade TMNT games! They rocked!!! ;D

[numbuheightbitstar]

Stardrifter said:

I remember when this show was on when I was like 4. My brother watched this while I watched My Little Ponies.

*Calculates what year this must've been*

... My Little Pony was still on the air in 1994?

*Sigh* You know, when I see threads like this I am always sorely tempted to go off in a ramble about eighties trivia.

But instead I'll agree with the people who have been mentioning the TMNT Arcade games... I've played both. I also used to have a near-complete collection of the home video games (two of them were based on the arcade ones, the rest were all original). Those games were almost as good as the show... me and George recently played through the SNES version of Turtles in Time and had a blast doing so.

[kevin009]

Michelangelo is my favorite. Who's yours?

(I have revived it! I feel empowered!...................Just kidding. ;D)

[numbuheightbitstar]

In the old series, Master Splinter.

Or if you were limiting this specifically to the four turtles, I liked, in order:

1. Leonardo
2. Michelangelo
3. Donatello
4. Raphael

In the new series... I haven't decided yet. *Wonders if Usagi Yojimbo will make a re-appearance*

[kevin009]

Yeah, well I like Michelangelo in both series. He'll always be my favorite!

[numbah235213]

here are mine:

1. donatello (cuz he's smart XD)
2. Michelangelo
3. Leonardo
4. Raphael

i don't see anything wrong with the new theme song, it's pretty catchy ^^ *sings: 1-2-3-4 TURTLES!!*
but sometimes it helps abreviating their names, you're mouth can get tired if you keep saing 'Michelangelo' so many tmes instead of 'mikey'

[numbuheightbitstar]

Well, I'm so used to their full names my mouth never gets tired ^__^.

But as for the new theme song... I just find it vapid. It's like it's trying to be catchy but it's not, and also it's bouncy nature kinda contradicts the show.

Or maybe I was just spoiled by the 1987 theme song ^__^.

[Nella (Numbuh 310)]

Oh man, I love TMNT! Not so much the new series, tho. The 1987 series was awesome!
I would post a huge rant here, but James said basically everything I was planning to say and I don't want to be redundant.
As for my favorite turtles, that would be...
1. Michelangelo
2. Donatello/Leonardo (I honestly can't decide)
3. Raphael
But come on: Master Splinter's the coolest. Obviously.
Am the only person who loves the fact that the Turtles are named after famous Renaissance painters?

[numbuheightbitstar]

Nella said:

Am the only person who loves the fact that the Turtles are named after famous Renaissance painters?

I loved that too, actually. It shows the creators put more thought into the characters rather than just dishing them out like some franchises do.

For example, some time ago there was a video game called Battletoads which was probably kinda-sorta inspired by TMNT. You can tell they didn't spend any amount of time coming up with names for the three main characters: Rash, Pimple, and Zitz.

(Street Sharks and Extreme Dinosaurs are two more examples of rather obvious TMNT wannabes, Street Sharks even went so far as to rip off specific plot points, but both shows were insanely vapid).

[Nella (Numbuh 310)]

JamesEightBitStar said:

For example, some time ago there was a video game called Battletoads which was probably kinda-sorta inspired by TMNT. You can tell they didn't spend any amount of time coming up with names for the three main characters: Rash, Pimple, and Zitz.

That's just horrifying.

(Street Sharks and Extreme Dinosaurs are two more examples of rather obvious TMNT wannabes, Street Sharks even went so far as to rip off specific plot points, but both shows were insanely vapid).

Haha - I remember Streek Sharks! It was awful! Never saw Extreme Dinosaurs, tho...

As for the Renaissance names, it does show how much thought went into the show. It also strikes me as rather funny: mutant turles with ninja training have old italian names that bring warmth to the heart of every art lover. Those names also helped me in my art history class. But I digress.

[numbuheightbitstar]

Nella said:

That's just horrifying.

Yea... the really sad part is that some of the games actually weren't too bad.

Never saw Extreme Dinosaurs, tho...

Let me put it this way... it was by the same company that did Street Sharks. And it was actually WORSE.

Don't ask me how they managed it... that was one seriously bad time for cartoons. This was around the same time that the horrible "G.I. Joe Extreme" revival was going on.