# TMNT; any good? \[Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles\] **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 31, 2011, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tmnt-any-good-teenage-mutant-ninja-turtles/569601 "2011-01-31T03:33:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![gregorio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/fbc32d/32.png) [@gregorio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gregorio)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2011, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tmnt-any-good-teenage-mutant-ninja-turtles/569601/1 "2011-01-31T03:33:34Z")
I remember the movie getting some acclaim. The comic series too? Was there a bound edition or anthology published? ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2011, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tmnt-any-good-teenage-mutant-ninja-turtles/569601/2 "2011-01-31T03:52:56Z")
I just watched it last week. I thought it was okay, and probably the best or second best of the four movies, though I missed out on some characterization somewhere, or forgot a lot since I saw TMNT III as a kid. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2011, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tmnt-any-good-teenage-mutant-ninja-turtles/569601/3 "2011-01-31T04:01:33Z")
The comics are not, for the most part, collected. The first 2 dozen or so Mirage issues are collected. A single arc from Image. A handful of random Archie issues. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2011, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tmnt-any-good-teenage-mutant-ninja-turtles/569601/4 "2011-01-31T04:20:32Z")
TMNT, the recent-ish CGI animated movie, is wonderful. Highly recommended. It has no real continuity with the live-action series of the 90s, or the animated TV series of the whenever-it-was, so it can be enjoyed standalone, though familiarity with the general setup does help, as it sort of leaps into the middle of a story. ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2011, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tmnt-any-good-teenage-mutant-ninja-turtles/569601/5 "2011-01-31T04:34:07Z")
Reading about it on Wikipedia after watching it, it does appear to share continuity with the three live action films. The TMNT Wiki agrees: [TMNT (film) | TMNTPedia | Fandom](http://tmnt.wikia.com/wiki/TMNT_%282007_film%29) ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2011, 9:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tmnt-any-good-teenage-mutant-ninja-turtles/569601/6 "2011-01-31T09:10:23Z")
That brings up a bit of a point… If you go ahead and collect the comics, be aware that there are multiple separate continuities in the comics. There are the original **Mirage comics** (volumes 1, 2, and 4). Only the first half of the first volume (I think) are collected. There are the **Archie comics** (which spun out of the 1980s TV series, but went on to become an incompatible sub-continuity of their own). A handful of later issues and Mutanimals issues are collected, but that’s it. Then there are are the **Image comics** (volume 3, which started as a continuation of volumes 1 and 2, but which was rendered non-canon when Mirage started again). One arc, and a related mini-series are collected. Then, we have the **Dreamwave comics** (based on the 2003 TV series). Due to Dreamwave being a complete flustercluck which collapsed in 2005, that one didn’t last long, and is not collected at all. There were also a few Turtles stories in **Heavy Metal** magazine after Eastman took it over (drawn by Simon Bisley!), but I don’t know where they fit into the scheme of things - probably in the Mirage continuity, due to Eastman’s involvement. And, finally, there’s the _movie adaptations_, which, obviously, don’t fit into any of the other comic continuities, and probably not the movie continuity, either. (Such is the way of comics adapted from movies adapted from comics.) You’ll want the Mirage books, and maybe the Image and Heavy Metal. Now that Viacom owns the turtles, it’s unlikely any of the series will be collected in the future. So…uh…good luck tracking down the singles. For non-comics, the 2003 animated series is quite good. At least up to the penultimate (Fast Forward) season. The final season, Back to the Sewers, wasn’t great. But, seven seasons (155 episodes) long, so you’re looking at a bit of a commitment to watch it. Turtles Forever, which ended the 2003 series, is pretty good, but you kind of need to have at least a passing familiarity with the franchise as a whole for full appreciation (though I assume the story itself should be easy enough to follow), since it’s a crossover between the two TV series (and the Mirage comics), with brief appearances by the other entries in the franchise, so that’s recommended as a capstone, if you really get into the Turtles, not an entry point. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2011, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tmnt-any-good-teenage-mutant-ninja-turtles/569601/7 "2011-01-31T13:15:37Z")
People, please don’t use unexplained abbreviations in your thread titles – non fanboys who might actually have something to contribute will have no idea what you’re talking about. Thanks, **twickster** , Cafe Society moderator ---
**Author:** ![Grumman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/43a26b/32.png) [@Grumman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grumman)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2011, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tmnt-any-good-teenage-mutant-ninja-turtles/569601/8 "2011-01-31T14:34:19Z")
The movie with the Immortals was worth watching, IMO. I haven’t seen the newer animated series or Turtles Forever. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2011, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tmnt-any-good-teenage-mutant-ninja-turtles/569601/9 "2011-01-31T14:58:03Z")
> [@twickster](#): > > People, please don’t use unexplained abbreviations in your thread titles The movie the OP is talking about is actually [called](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TMNT_%28film%29) **TMNT**. ---
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2011, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tmnt-any-good-teenage-mutant-ninja-turtles/569601/10 "2011-01-31T21:14:38Z")
> [@Grumman](#): > > The movie with the Immortals was worth watching, IMO. I haven’t seen the newer animated series or Turtles Forever. The CGI movie is really good as is Turtles Forever. In Turtles Forever the different turtle universes cross-over. [spoiler]The goofy 80’s cartoon turtles show up in the universe of the then current show. The current shows turtles think the 80’s turtles are lame but give them respect when the 80’s turtles actually kick butt. Current show Mikey loved them from the get go of course. Then stuff happens and the current show and 80’s turtles end up in the original comic book turtles universe. Those turtles are bad-ass personified. The current show turtles who thought they were all bad-ass humble themsleves when they realize how bad-ass the original turtles actually are. Also the original turtles universe is in black and white like the comic was.[/spoiler] It’s a really good movie. The cross-over is done well and the three different sets of turtles are easily distinguishable from each other. Here’s a picture of the 3 sets of turtles together. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Turtles\_Forever\_All\_Turtles.PNG](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Turtles_Forever_All_Turtles.PNG) ---
**Author:** ![Capitaine\_Zombie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e95f7d/32.png) [@Capitaine\_Zombie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capitaine_Zombie)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2011, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tmnt-any-good-teenage-mutant-ninja-turtles/569601/11 "2011-01-31T21:18:12Z")
> [@Tahssa](#): > > The CGI movie is really good as is Turtles Forever. In Turtles Forever the different turtle universes cross-over. > > [spoiler]The goofy 80’s cartoon turtles show up in the universe of the then current show. The current shows turtles think the 80’s turtles are lame but give them respect when the 80’s turtles actually kick butt. Current show Mikey loved them from the get go of course. > > Then stuff happens and the current show and 80’s turtles end up in the original comic book turtles universe. Those turtles are bad-ass personified. The current show turtles who thought they were all bad-ass humble themsleves when they realize how bad-ass the original turtles actually are. Also the original turtles universe is in black and white like the comic was.[/spoiler] > > It’s a really good movie. The cross-over is done well and the three different sets of turtles are easily distinguishable from each other. > > Here’s a picture of the 3 sets of turtles together. > > [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Turtles\_Forever\_All\_Turtles.PNG](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Turtles_Forever_All_Turtles.PNG) That spoiler bit really made me want to watch it. I’ll try to catch it. ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2011, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tmnt-any-good-teenage-mutant-ninja-turtles/569601/12 "2011-01-31T23:36:34Z")
I highly recommend the Mirage run. There are aliens, dark magic, superscience and occasionally other super heroes. All of it is done with a straight face. The premiere issues begins and ends with “We are ninja. We strike hard and fade away into the night.” The art is great. The writing is great. The series also have a quality I can only describe as “heart”. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2011, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tmnt-any-good-teenage-mutant-ninja-turtles/569601/13 "2011-01-31T23:41:37Z")
> [@Tahssa](#): > > Then stuff happens and the current show and 80’s turtles end up in the original comic book turtles universe. Those turtles are bad-ass personified. The current show turtles who thought they were all bad-ass humble themsleves when they realize how bad-ass the original turtles actually are. You have a totally different read on that scene than me. Everyone except the original Turtles seems to have seen them pretty much as the parody (specifically of Frank Miller) they started as. In the end, the 21st Century Turtles were as annoyed with the Mirage Turtles’ Badasser Than Thou attitudes as they were the 80s Turtles dumbass behaviour. ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2011, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tmnt-any-good-teenage-mutant-ninja-turtles/569601/14 "2011-02-01T00:32:41Z")
The first dozen or so issues of the original Mirage series were collected, and colorized, in graphic novel format (in 4 volumes) by First Comics in the 80’s, but I imagine those would be pretty hard to track down these days. The last volume also had the Leonardo “micro series” one-shot included, as it directly lead into one of the issues being reprinted, but the other 3 turtles’ micro series weren’t part of the collection, which is too bad. Raphael’s issue introduced Casey Jones, for instance. ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2011, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tmnt-any-good-teenage-mutant-ninja-turtles/569601/15 "2011-02-01T01:12:39Z")
> [@Tengu](#): > > You have a totally different read on that scene than me. > > Everyone except the original Turtles seems to have seen them pretty much as the parody (specifically of Frank Miller) they started as. In the end, the 21st Century Turtles were as annoyed with the Mirage Turtles’ Badasser Than Thou attitudes as they were the 80s Turtles dumbass behaviour. Which, from what I’ve read (haven’t seen this special yet) was exaggerated from my own memories of the '80’s series. I cry foul on that. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Man\_In\_Black](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bcef8e/32.png) [@The\_Man\_In\_Black](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Man_In_Black)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2011, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tmnt-any-good-teenage-mutant-ninja-turtles/569601/16 "2011-02-01T04:23:44Z")
> [@Tahssa](#): > > The CGI movie is really good as is Turtles Forever. In Turtles Forever the different turtle universes cross-over. > > [spoiler]The goofy 80’s cartoon turtles show up in the universe of the then current show. The current shows turtles think the 80’s turtles are lame but give them respect when the 80’s turtles actually kick butt. Current show Mikey loved them from the get go of course. > > Then stuff happens and the current show and 80’s turtles end up in the original comic book turtles universe. Those turtles are bad-ass personified. The current show turtles who thought they were all bad-ass humble themsleves when they realize how bad-ass the original turtles actually are. Also the original turtles universe is in black and white like the comic was.[/spoiler] > > It’s a really good movie. The cross-over is done well and the three different sets of turtles are easily distinguishable from each other. > > Here’s a picture of the 3 sets of turtles together. > > [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Turtles\_Forever\_All\_Turtles.PNG](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Turtles_Forever_All_Turtles.PNG) I just sat here and watched the entire movie on Youtube. I enjoyed it a lot. ---
**Author:** ![Autolycus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/22d042/32.png) [@Autolycus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Autolycus)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2011, 6:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tmnt-any-good-teenage-mutant-ninja-turtles/569601/17 "2011-02-01T06:40:00Z")
Ninja…ninja…rap! I adored the first two movies as a kid. The third one though…errmm… I wouldn’t call it god-awful but even my Japanophilia can’t make me enjoy it. The CGI one wasn’t bad, perfectly enjoyable with a few drinks and some snacks. I admit this new-ish animated one intrigues me. ---
**Author:** ![BomTek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bomtek/32/21364_2.png) [@BomTek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BomTek)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2011, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tmnt-any-good-teenage-mutant-ninja-turtles/569601/18 "2011-02-01T19:01:16Z")
The first \*Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles \*movie has held up very well over the years, IMO. I watched it recently, thinking that it was probably awful. I loved it as a kid, but looking back, it was the perfect movie at the perfect time in my childhood, and I was just afraid that it wouldn’t be as good as I remembered it. I have no desire to see the second or especially the third live-action movies, but I’ve never seen the animated one, and think I oughta check it out. ---
**Author:** ![Meeko](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e495f1/32.png) [@Meeko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meeko)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2011, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tmnt-any-good-teenage-mutant-ninja-turtles/569601/19 "2011-02-02T20:42:59Z")
I think that for the most part, TMNT only “Works” if you are a certain age. IIRC, the turtles come to terms with their age. This touched a few unexpected buttons for my own life. Hopefully that makes sense. But it works because of it.