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Not JUST a Cartoon: A Quarter Century of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles!
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1987-1997 cartoon TMNT. Image from "toKKa" on Flickr from VHS.
The year is 1987. The TV airwaves come alive with a short season of episodes, five, to launch a bold new franchise. Four lean, mean, talking Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, training under the guise of their rat ninja master Splinter and taking on the evil Shredder and the Foot Clan, alongside steady ally April O’Neil, among others. Almost overnight it becomes a children’s media sensation. It spans nine more seasons, six of them on CBS from 1990-1997. Toy company “Playmates” starts the very first line of Turtle action figures in 1988, after the cartoon was picked up for syndication. The very first Nintendo video game would sell in 1989, although two popular arcade games would dominate the quarter feeders for years. There would be three films before the mid 90’s. And no end of merchandise tie-in’s; the Ninja Turtles were on everything from clothes to school supplies to breakfast cereals. Nearly anyone pushing thirty, or the parent of one, has some memories of “TMNT”.
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TMNT #1, circa 1984. Image from Mirage Studios
The common misconception for most people, however, is that the Ninja Turtles did not start off with a cartoon in 1987. They began in the minds of Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird, two struggling cartoonists, in 1983. An innocent and creative conversation in Laird’s apartment after work led to the first drawings of Turtles with masks and Asian weaponry, as a lark. In May 1984, the first issue of TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES #1, with forty black and white story pages, saw a print run of 3,000 copies; the budget for the effort was about $1,200. Before it became a pop culture juggernaut and as vital a 1980’s children’s icon as G.I. JOE, TRANSFORMERS, and HE-MAN, it began as an independent comic from an equally small company, Mirage Studios. The $1,200 to even publish the effort was via a tax return and a loan from Kevin Eastman’s uncle. The intention was not to hit the lottery, but create a unique satire of comics that were selling at the time. Specifically, Frank Miller’s RONIN as well as his run on DAREDEVIL; both involved an origin involving science or chemical waste, and lots of Japanese themes and ninja. The origin of the Turtles themselves was organically tied to Daredevil; a re-creation of Daredevil’s origin from DAREDEVIL #1 (1964, by Stan Lee and Bill Everett, with some art from Jack Kirby) was a loose homage, only in addition to that, a vial from that truck had the “ooze” that created Splinter and the Turtles. The debut issue was a complete story featuring the Turtles’ origin and their battle against Shredder over the honor of Splinter’s master, Homato Yoshi.
The series quickly became an “indie” comic hit; from 1984-1988, the first issue was reprinted five times and sold over 100,000 copies, on par with a Marvel or DC title of the time. Eastman and Laird continued to write, draw, and publish their own line of comics, as well as a table-top role playing game based on the Turtle universe. In fact, by the time the TV cartoon that most are familiar with started, the TMNT comic book was launching a 10th issue, which didn’t include one-shot tales featuring several individual Turtles, as well as another character, the robotic Fugitoid. The TMNT comic even guest starred another famous independent comic character, Dave Sim's Cerebus the Aardvark in July 1986’s issue eight. Rather than be remembered as a merchandising and child-endearing mega franchise, the TMNT represent the ultimate goal of struggling independent comic book creators making something that captures the imaginations of readers as well as a wider audience and bringing it into the collective mainstream. Virtually every independent comic creator since has wanted to try to imitate even a quarter of the success of Eastman and Laird’s Turtles.
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2003-current cartoon TMNT. Image from 4Kids & Mirage Studios
The rest, as they say, is history. The cartoon series that began in 1987 as a seasonal mini series of five episodes lasted until 1997, a run of over 180 episodes. Many elements from the grittier, darker comic book were altered and made more “kid friendly” for the wider audience. Some “indie” comic fans accused Eastman and Laird of “selling out” with their creation, even as they continued to publish more Ninja Turtles comics under their Mirage label and continuity. ARCHIE COMICS would buy the rights to their own Turtles comics, closer to the cartoon than the Mirage version, from 1988 to 1995. A movie franchise began in 1990, with the movie TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES remaining one of the top grossing independent films of all time, spawning two sequels in the 90’s and a third in 2007, which was CGI animated. Merchandise sales, from toys to video games, remains a multi million dollar industry.
There was a lull period for the franchise. The third film in 1993 was not received well critically or commercially; by then the cartoon was also past it’s prime, competing with better quality comic cartoons on what was then Fox Kids. Eastman teamed with Saban, the company behind POWER RANGERS, for a live action TV show from 1997-1998, dubbed “The Next Mutation” that is famous, or infamous, for creating a female Turtle, Venus. It failed to find an audience and aside for comics from Mirage and even Image, the Ninja Turtles seemed to be dead. Eastman even sold his rights to the franchise to Laird at the turn of the century, convinced efforts to revive them would prove futile. The Mirage TMNT comic was relaunched with a new number one in 2001, with a new cartoon series debuting on “The FoxBox” (the former FoxKids, soon to be the now defunct 4Kids TV Saturday morning network) in Feb. 2003.
While not as popular as it was in 1987, this new generation Ninja Turtle cartoon was a different beast. It offered superior animation, far more modern action and storytelling sequences, and was more faithful to the Mirage comics with not only the four Turtles and Splinter themselves, but with April (who was a lab technician, not a news reporter), Casey Jones (a hockey masked vigilante who was a rare sight in the original cartoon), and even villain Baxtor Stockman (who in the Mirage series was not mutated into a fly, and was also African American). It continues to air on The CW Network Saturday mornings and has completed a seventh season; a rarity for American children’s cartoons these days (even the best only last five seasons). It has spawned more merchandise, action figures, video games, and the aforementioned 2007 film. Mirage still publishes a 4th volume of Laird written TMNT comics to a select audience and has maintained a general, “TALES OF THE TMNT” comic series for years, allowing many talents to tell virtually any Turtle story they wish.
Now celebrating a 25th anniversary, a fifth movie is in production with a new video game for the Nintendo Wii coming soon. A cell shaded 3D “remix” of the second Turtle arcade game, “Turtles In Time: Remix”, was the top game download for the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3, beating out even the popular MARVEL VS. CAPCOM 2. fighting game. Toys are still on the shelf, DVD’s of the new and old cartoons are being sold, an animated TV special is set to air on The CW this Fall celebrating two generations of fans, and the comics still allow “indie” talents to work on their craft in the industry.
Outlasting plenty of other “fads” from the 80’s, the Turtles have survived for many reasons. The tenacity of their creator(s) is one, the fact that animals are popular characters to market to children is another. But behind that is the overall theme of the Ninja Turtles, which isn’t all about combat and quips. The theme of the Turtles is about family; the idea that four very different Turtles and their master and father, Splinter, in addition to their few human allies who accept them like April and Casey, can survive through thick and thin, above internal and external conflicts, through love. Even Raphael, the Turtle with the worst temper and attitude problems, in the end loves his allies, and would die for them. While intended as a spoof of Frank Millar’s ninja material, in some ways they may be akin to a Modern Age Fantastic Four, who also thrive on family honor themes, just in another way. They may be a weird family that wasn’t planned to be such, but they are a family nevertheless.
(image from Mirage Studios)
There have been many imitators to the Ninja Turtles’ success ("Street Sharks" for instance), and even some outspoken critics, such as the “soccer mom” brigades fearing violence on TV, and Roger Ebert not being thrilled with the themes of the films. However, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles have persevered through think and thin, as sturdy and adaptable as only the best franchises are. The adventures and success of “the heroes in the half-shell” continue, twenty five years and counting. Turtle Power!
For more info: Main TMNT website: www.ninjaturtles.com
25th Anniversary of TMNT website: www.tmnt25.com/home.html
Flickr: www.flickr.com/
Dave Sim's Cereberus The Aardvark: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cerebus_the_Aardvark
Roger Ebert's website: rogerebert.suntimes.com/
Major TMNT fan site: www.thetechnodrome.com
Street Sharks ("They bite...they fight..."): en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Street_Sharks
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