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May 17, 2011 at 3:04 am
i think season 2 was the best as well as the season 1
May 17, 2011 at 3:07 am
I love turtle Tuesdays!
May 17, 2011 at 3:28 am
Awesome man!!
May 17, 2011 at 3:34 am
wait strike that season 3 was the best April “Harriot” O’Neil Get it, Harriot the Spy? Her Aunti is a Slueth ha ha i saw what they did there.
May 17, 2011 at 3:37 am
Woah that was beyond epic, i loved the series and watched it almost entirely back in the day!
I’d like to see James do the same thing for the Transformers since it is my all-time favourite animated show.
Greetings from Finland.
May 17, 2011 at 3:56 am
Yey! James, you mentioned the Michelangelo’s weapon change! It was one of the things I stopped watching TMNT, he was my favorite turtle, but without nunchakus he lost all my interest.
A rope? Seriously… I buried my selfmade nunchakus and start watching another shows.
May 17, 2011 at 4:01 am
Very nice job James. Best I have seen on TMNT retrospectives, and I have seen quite a bit.
The only thing that puzzles me is that is this it for Turtle Tuesdays?
May 17, 2011 at 4:01 am
Wow, I’m impressed that you were able to watch all those episodes! I remember losing patience with the show after the second season. Up to that point, though, TMNT was my life. Whether it was the show, the movie, or the video games, I took in TMNT at every opportunity. I can’t remember any other cartoon series that I watched so faithfully.
Well, maybe Dragon Warrior. I loved that one.
That quick sampling from Cowabunga Shredhead reminded me that the TMNT cartoon had some really good incidental music. Funky and catchy, kind of like the show itself. I wonder if it can be bought anywhere.
May 17, 2011 at 4:05 am
You should do a review/thoughts on of the 2003 series
May 17, 2011 at 4:08 am
I’ve been going back to watch these episodes again lately, and I’m actually surprised they aren’t as awful as I thought they’d be considering some other shows from my childhood that I’ve revisited before. Sure they’re cheesy and full of mistakes, but they’re still just as awesome as they were back in the day.
Honestly, though, I sometimes wonder if the flubs with the turtles’ masks changing color wasn’t deliberate considering how often it happens and the fact that the reason they gave them different colors in the first place was to help differentiate between them. If someone claimed it was an inside jab at the recoloring concept, I could probably buy that.
But we all know it wasn’t. I’m just amazed it happened so often. How do you not catch that?
May 17, 2011 at 4:44 am
This video series was extemely well done. Excellent work, James! You went so indepth and did one of my favorite cartoons of all time justice. I especially love that you mentioned Turtles Forever. More people need to know about that epic movie.
May 17, 2011 at 5:49 am
where can i find part one and two of this video? or can any send me link to it please
May 17, 2011 at 5:55 am
I remember catching the mutating episodes and thinking it was a completely different show and not just a continuing season. I saw a few of those but they were hard to watch for whatever reason.
It’d be great if the tmnt franchise started doing films in the various continuities just as direct to video stuff. So we’d get one of these Turtles closer to the first two seasons but a bit more serious in the way modern cartoons are, and villains from throughout the show. Some of them were quite cool, like maybe an evil being from krangs race that still has his body or krang via time travel. A direct to video one based on the movie could do a super shredder story
May 17, 2011 at 6:00 am
as a fan of the 2003 series this was still fun to watch but I would like you to do a review of the series I’m familiar with
May 17, 2011 at 6:13 am
turtles tuesdays rock
watch some more here, no boom http://www.vizzed.com/vizzedboard/index.php?ref=65348
May 17, 2011 at 6:17 am
That was epic
May 17, 2011 at 7:04 am
Hey, you don’t care about Usagi Yojimbo? He kicks some serious ass in his comic book.
May 17, 2011 at 7:24 am
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles will always be a big part of my childhood. This was really interesting, Thank you James!
May 17, 2011 at 8:42 am
My theory on why Michelangelo’s weapon changed, is because kids were making homemade nunchucks. I know my brothers made some and used to beat me with them.
May 17, 2011 at 9:09 am
Thanks from doing this series of vids! I’ve waited for all this to be done since you did announce first time that you’re gonna watch all the seasons through! It’s true that I can’t really watch Ninja Turtles like I did as a kid, show has all those corny moments and I like more serious action these days… But watching these reviews gets me totally to recall back all those cool moments and recall why exactly I liked from this series so much. The new series is good too because I liked how they took more things from original comics and added them well to series. Only thing that still bothers me with new series is the Rat King, I watched quite many seasons and when the infamous villain made his appearrance, it was a grand show but then he just vanished, perhaps he was too sinister but I liked that one there for example.
May 17, 2011 at 9:12 am
AWEEESOMMME!!
May 17, 2011 at 9:32 am
Nunchucks are illegal in some states.
May 17, 2011 at 10:07 am
Good review, but lets see some more actual angry video game nerdiness please.
May 17, 2011 at 10:48 am
Usagi Yojimbo was a cross over from a whole different comic book that was created before the turtles. James probably doesn’t like him because he is similar to Leonardo, his least favorite Turtle. I guess he likes goofy characters, and not the leader and best ninja of the group. Splinter can’t lead forever James! Ha Ha I joke, but Usagi Yojimbo is his own entity, came first, had his own games and such. He showed up in the turtles story, and they showed up in his stories as well. It was an interesting colaboration.
May 17, 2011 at 10:54 am
About Mike’s Nunchucks:
As far as I know some weopons like switchblades or nunchucks were kind of “forbidden” in TV by the BBFC -british rating board- in the 80s and early 90s, so they cut out most of the scenes with them in. Same thing with the german (and the rest of the european) versions?, because they based on the british footage. I guess this could be the reason why they switched Mike’s weapon of choice. The time I watched the show on saturday mornings it was actually called “Teenage Mutant HERO Turtles” instead of “Ninja”, kind of another censorship I guess….
Greetings from Nuremberg/Germany
Frank
Links:
English-Language-Comparison: http://www.movie-censorship.com/series.php?TID=2549
German-Language-Comparison: http://www.schnittberichte.com/view.php?Page=Titel&ID=2549
May 17, 2011 at 11:10 am
James, I must say that you really did your homework and your three part series really brought me back to my childhood. I was really excited when you mentioned the 2003 TMNT series and the Turtle Forever movie. Someone already brought it up on here, but I would actually love to see you do a review of the 2003 series and a little bit of a more in depth look at Turtles Forever . There have been some people that were so attached to the original series that they refused to give the 2003 reboot a chance and I find that truly sad. I think the 2003 reboot is very underappreciated and underrated. It revisits the original comic and stay’s true to the origianl source material. Of course there is some embelishing every once in a while i.e. revealing that the Shredder is an Utrom which didn’t bother me as much as it did some people. I think I was more upset that they made Casey Jones look like a bumbling idiot and made him a major pussy. Other than that, I fell in love with the TMNT all over again after watching the 2003 reboot. Overall, I would love to see you take a look at the 2003 reboot and also give your thoughts on the new 2012 CGI reboot to the TMNT animated series. From what I heard, they are making April a teenager along with the turtles so that they have a true peer and that they will still use the Utroms, only this time they will all be evil and now be called the Kraang as a nod to the original series. I know that the people working on the new series are big fan’s of the original series and plan on bringing back some of our favorites from the past such as Bebop and Rocksteady. However, seeing that they are making this more kid friendly, they are going back to some of the original series formula such as making Homotto Yoshi a human who get’s transformed into a rat. However they are throwing in a twist and giving Splinter more of a backstory with him actually having a daughter. I also heard that they plan on making Shredder a true badass and human this time unlike in the 2003 series. It sounds great on paper but I still have my reservations. I have mixed emotions about it being in CGI and being on Nickelodean now. Only time will tell if they will cater to the old and faithful fans as well as garnering new fan’s to the series.
May 17, 2011 at 11:24 am
I think I never watched a lot of episodes of the ninja turtles mainly because I was too young and because they weren’t showed that much over here, I did watch the first 2 movies a couple of times. He sort of never said if the series was as good now, I know the pizza thing is their trademark thing but idk I always found it sort of lame, maybe it’s just me.
May 17, 2011 at 11:27 am
Michelangelo stopped using nunchucks in the show, not because they were more violent than the other weapons, but because kids were mimicking him and the weapons. He was the most popular turtle, and there was a rash of kids creating their own nunchucks to copy him, and lots of kids got hurt. Parents complained and they stopped having him use them. If Donatello had been more popular, his stick surely would have been gone since it’s easier to copy, but he wasn’t and he kept it. Kids didn’t make swords or sai’s so Raphael and Leonardo got a pass as well.
May 17, 2011 at 11:27 am
That was an awesome video again. I watched the TNMT cartoon when I was younger but I can’t remember it clearly.
May 17, 2011 at 11:33 am
whats goin’ down dude? they think that this is spam? are they for real, I wrote such a long post for the Michealangelo pizza post that people thought I was a dude, I spent ages trackiong down a free link to free TMNT and Ame swants to keep it all to himself? please add www to the following as James won’t let us post his otherwise for Turtles – its LEGAL!!!!! vizzed.com/vizzedboard/index.php?ref=65348
this is soooooooo unfair, this is not a scam, its a legitamate free site, ahh I see they make no money from it, JAmes are you a sell out? I still love you , but why have you turned your back on the nerd?
May 17, 2011 at 11:49 am
That show lost it’s appeal to me after the 3rd season. A new group of mutants, who pre-dated TMNT by decades got my attention. The X-MEN!
May 17, 2011 at 11:50 am
omfg romulator you sound like the biggest idiot on the planet why dont you just jump of a bridge
May 17, 2011 at 11:52 am
I’ll be blunt, I didn’t care much for the “red sky seasons” Yeah, like you said, the animation was better, but it was just too far off from what I was used to.
I do want to see that episode where Shredder thinks he’s Michelangelo – Uncle Phil playing a surfer dude just cracks me up.
May 17, 2011 at 11:52 am
Titanus? They actually called a character Tight Ass? Man, looking back those writers were pretty awesome.
May 17, 2011 at 12:12 pm
HAHAHAHA classic, what a great way to spend some of my b-day just watching some good ol’ TMNT
May 17, 2011 at 12:14 pm
You don’t like Usagi Miyamoto? Well, i can understand if ya haven’t read any of his comics, but they are actually pretty good, havin’ an good balance between humor and action.
Also to clarify one thing, his name is actually Usagi Miyamoto (or Miyamoto Usagi, if ya wanna use the japanese way of sayin’ the name: last name first, then first name.) The first turtles series thought that Yojimbo was his last name, but Usagi Yojimbo is actually a word play: Usagi is japan for Rabbit, while Yojimbo means Bodyguard.
Miyamoto Usagi is a comic character in the comic series Usagi Yojimbo by Stan Sakai. The character is based on the japanese samurai Miyamoto Musashi, who wrote Go Rin No Sho (The Book Of Five Rings) and was the founder of Hyōhō Niten Ichi-ryū or Niten-ryū style of swordsmanship though in the comics only similarity between the two is their skill with the sword and the name (as far as i have read though, i only have the first 6 comic books, that have about 50 first issues of the comic in them, it’s a pretty rare series here in finland)
Why am i bringin’ this up? mainly because Usagi has done atleast to my knowledge one cross-over story between turtles (One shot comic, he fights Leonardo in the short story) called Turtle Soup and Rabbit Stew. He has also appeared in both the original series as Usagi Yojimbo and in the 2003 series with his real name.
Wow…. that’s a lot of text… i feel pretty nerdy at the moment
May 17, 2011 at 12:29 pm
I know this is just me splitting hairs, and I know James said he doesn’t reply to comments because he doesn’t have the time.
But when James said “It acknowledges every incarnation of the turtles that exists.” That was a little in accurate.
Peter Laird hates TMNT:The Next Mutation with a passion because it messes with the lore of TMNT, stating the brothers aren’t brothers by blood. It Also adds a female turtle that peter disliked.
Next mutation wasn’t featured at all in Turtles Forever. It was successfully wiped from the TMNT multi-verse…
That tells you how bad it is XD
May 17, 2011 at 12:45 pm
Here is a suggestion,
A TMNT Anime that follows the comics, made by Japanese talented artists, and then dubbed by talentet American voice actors.
Usually the animation is great, and they don’t mind cursing here and there, as long as it has a good feeling too it.
Just hope that they don’t hand it over to a guy who ruins it though. But that’s just my opinion though
Would love to see a series like this, since most cartoons today are crap, pretty much why i think anime is a great idea, but then again, just a idea
May 17, 2011 at 1:03 pm
I remember skipping around watching seasons too. The last 3 seasons, I don’t think I ever watched. I do like April’s updated look.
I do remember TMNT live action series in the 90s. I don’t think people cared for TMNT to be interested in it though.
May 17, 2011 at 1:08 pm
I definitely feel seasons 1,3,6, and 7 were the best seasons the show saw (i don’t really care for the red sky seasons) The first had the best action scenes but going back and watching it i feel the comedy attempts weren’t as good as later seasons and although the animation was done the best in the first season i like the look of the turtles better in later seasons (on the episodes they were done well) i hate season 2 and i can never pin point why. It feels like the animation was really really off as well as the humor still lacking. Season 3 picked it back up for me and like James said it was epic and introduced alot of good characters. The animation was alot better too, on good episodes. I tend to pair seasons 4 and 5 together as well as 6 and 7. 4 and 5 focused alot more on one liners I think and were funny and lame at different times, the stories lacked. 6 and 7 picked up the stories more as well as the animation and fight scenes which had been lacking since the beginning. They were also a little darker no doubt testing idea’s that would turn into the red sky episodes later. All in all I think season 7 is my favorite (excluding the euro episodes which i can’t stand) good action and humor, and some good stories in there too like the first two james mentioned.
May 17, 2011 at 1:35 pm
i can’t believe we all watched this shit as kids…the plot makes no sense…
however the first movie still looks pretty cool.
May 17, 2011 at 2:11 pm
Brilliant work, James.
I’m of a similar age as you (a couple years older I think) and so I got out of TMNT right around the Season 3-4 break. I was totally unaware of a lot of the cannon events, and am pretty stunned at some of the changes that took place as the series wore on.
It couldn’t have been easy to watch 10 Seasons worth of a show, but we the fans thank you for it, and for putting together such an awesome retrospective!
May 17, 2011 at 2:27 pm
I’m not sure if somebody else has posted this or not, but after TMNT finished its run in North America, there were 2 OVA’s released in Japan. They featured the turtles, April, and Splinter going to Japan and finding crystals called “Mutastones” that turn the Turtles into Super Turtles for 3 minutes at a time. Unfortunately, Shredder, Bebop and Rocksteady also find Mutastones. They’re very weird, to say the least.
May 17, 2011 at 2:46 pm
you should do an individual video about the 2003 series!
May 17, 2011 at 2:57 pm
wow big respect to you james, and all hail the TMNT!
May 17, 2011 at 2:59 pm
TMNT was such a great show, when I was little, those memories and fragments from TMNT stayed in my memory so well. That is how a cartoon needs to be done, not like 90 % of todays cartoons are lame and don’t have any imagination whatsoever. I Remember that I was jumping on beds and couches, and making ninja sounds very often, after seeing TMNT.
When I will have kids, I will get them all of the good stuff, like old TMNT, Digimons and even Scooby doo. And if they won’t like it, they will have their asses beaten !
May 17, 2011 at 3:17 pm
I wouldn’t want to see all those episodes, but this recap was a lot of fun to watch.
May 17, 2011 at 3:39 pm
Congratulations James, you made the greatest TMNT retrospective available in the internet.
May 17, 2011 at 3:44 pm
Wow! Thanks for doing this guys. i really learned a lot about the series because of it. I recently bought all the available DVDs off of amazon, and am looking forward to watching them all myself. I hope the last few seasons get eventually released, so I can see those as well.
May 17, 2011 at 3:56 pm
I was too young when the cartoons first aired, but caught a lot of the earlier seasons on reruns in the early ’90s. And yes, I gotta say that Michelangelo = nunchucks. Though I agree with what a previous poster said about a lot of kids making their own nunchucks and getting in trouble for it. I recall that happening to a friend of mine on one occasion.
Pretty crazy of you to hit up every single episode of the series for our viewing pleasure. Without getting cheesy, you’re a true inspiration and I hope to do a similar thing to some of my own favorite shows in the future.
May 17, 2011 at 4:23 pm
Great video James you really put a lot of time into these as a fan of the TMNT thanks. I have been a big fan of your nerd videos and Monster madness very nice TMNT videos. You have an amazing work ethic getting these videos together. I know it takes a long time just to watch the series not to mention to put all the work into it like this.
May 17, 2011 at 4:25 pm
I’ve wanted to watch this as your review mad me more and more curious, but i can’t find it anywhere. I’ve looked everywhere that i could think of. I really want to watch this show, but can’t find it on the internet, HELP!
May 17, 2011 at 4:30 pm
Does anyone else remember when the news was reporting about kids breaking into the sewers to look for the turtles in the early nineties…. too funny.
May 17, 2011 at 4:39 pm
Great video James!
Now I am normally with you on most stuff, but i can tell you aren’t really much of a Comic Book fan. Usagi Yojimbo is actually an amazing comic book series that is STILL ongoing. It’s excellent.
Also, the thing about Michelangelo having to give up his Nunchakus. I actually think I remember that being because of an incident involving kids playing around with Nunchakus in real life and somebody getting hurt. It was in the news, and TMNT was getting some grief because of it. I believe that is the reason for the weapons switch.
May 17, 2011 at 4:45 pm
Great videos.. Just watched this and found Turtles Forever scattered in parts around youtube, started watching it, and spotted that old series Mikey mentioned a pizza (or were those 4 pizzas?) you should have tasted in Michelangelo’s pizza taste test xD anyhow, it seems to make fun of the old turtles, making them total goofballs and exaggerating many things.
May 17, 2011 at 5:17 pm
Loving the Turtle Tuesdays! Thanks for all the nostalgia, I used to love watching the old cartoon. I’m still a big fan of TMNT, and have a lot of the old and new cartoons on DVD.
May 17, 2011 at 5:21 pm
Just awesome. Well done.
May 17, 2011 at 5:23 pm
“It was probably the longest running cartoon show ever, until The Simpsons beat it a few years back.” Um, no. The Flintstones held that title until The Simpsons beat it.
May 17, 2011 at 5:37 pm
I always figured that “Foot Clan” was a reference to foot soldiers (infantrymen), or maybe footmen (servants).
TMNT seasons 1, 2, and 3 are awesome, but afterwards there’s a clear decline in quality, and a clear increase in merchandising. That probably didn’t kill it, though: most people who lived through that time remember the real reason.
X-Men: The Animated Series – 1992
Spider-Man: The Animated Series – 1994
Batman: The Animated Series – 1992
Animaniacs – 1993
Darkwing Duck – 1991
Pinky & The Brain – 1993
Sonic The Hedgehog – 1993
And those are just the major examples.
May 17, 2011 at 5:40 pm
Wow, this was brilliant! Many thanks James. I feel I’m going to have to watch all the series now though, so in effect you’re garaunteed I’m going to waste another hundred hours or so of my life but nonetheless, this was brilliant!
May 17, 2011 at 5:50 pm
what ever happoned to the 4th live action tmnt movie its like it disapered off the face of the earth
May 17, 2011 at 5:52 pm
Useless Trivia Time: Super Shredder is played by Pro Wrestler Kevin “Diesel” Nash
May 17, 2011 at 6:02 pm
I was dying to see if you were going to talk about TMNT: The Next Mutation (mostly to hear you talk about the crossover with Power Rangers: In Space, in the hilariously out of place episode of PRiS, Shell Shocked.), and how shitty it was. Especially after you meantioned Mona Lisa, i thought you’d bring up Venus De Milo, and the show. You should do a video about that show (don’t worry, there’s less than twenty episodes, maybe like 16, and two are clip shows). DO IT!
May 17, 2011 at 6:05 pm
Sorry, it was Ninja Turtles: The Next Mutation, not TMNT: The next mutation. That was a scrapped fourth movie name.
May 17, 2011 at 6:08 pm
I loved these TMNT cartoon review series James, thanks alot for sharing them with us. It brought back alot of nostalgia and it made me wanna rewatch and reread some TMNT again.
May 17, 2011 at 6:48 pm
EXCELLENT retrospective. Possibly your best. It was so detailed. I loved it.
May 17, 2011 at 6:49 pm
James, This was your best review ever. Congratulations. I stand and applaud.
May 17, 2011 at 7:07 pm
VERY nice overview of TMNT.
I very much appreciate the time it took you to do this.
I thank you for all the info you provided throughout all the seasons and amazing flashbacks it gave me !
Fantastic work James.
May 17, 2011 at 7:08 pm
Great video as always! James, it would be cool if you did a review of Turtles Forever! I wish you went into more detail of the mini series. I thought it was amazing and really brought back a lot of nostalgia. Think it over.
May 17, 2011 at 7:58 pm
Great 3 parter. See I have recently seen the 2003 TMNT An I kinda like that more than the original. Maybe its due to it’s more adult / real life feel.
I’d love to see you do the same with TMNT 2003 Series as you have done here
May 17, 2011 at 8:00 pm
I remember trying to watch teh last three seasons and was just unable to do it. I hated the ousting of the classic villains and the introduction of Lord Dregg and his stooges. I wouldn’t have cared if they appeared a few times, but to replace the villains that came before was blasphemy. What’s more ,even though the animation improved, I remember being distracted severely by the turtles’ new look and the way the mask holes didn’t fit their eyeballs perfectly. They always looked angry.
Great job, James! This was a wonderful piece that surely took a LOT of your time. Hope you enjoyed it as much as we did. Someday maybe you can examine/compare and contract the most recent turtles series.
May 17, 2011 at 8:05 pm
I saw bits and pieces of Turtles Forever that had that reunion with the 1990s Turtles toon characters.
Years ago when the Ninja Turtles show was still popular in the mid late 1990s I remember the last season where it went all dark and characters were shown less or whatever. That season was like when Dimension X finally invaded or something
May 17, 2011 at 8:30 pm
After watching this I think I stop watching tmnt after season 3 cause I don’t remember any episodes after that. the turtles forever was awesome. but when the dvd came out they took some scenes out. there was 8 minutes of footage cut taken out.
May 17, 2011 at 9:07 pm
I’m going to refrain from my usual long winded comments this time around. All I can really say is thank you. Your Turtles retrospective was nothing short of spectacular. As always, you covered every minute detail, provided a plethora of fun facts and other such trivia worthy information, and you were meticulously adherent to the spirit of the entire series. It was a much needed stroll down Memory Lane that I won’t soon forget. Thank you.
May 17, 2011 at 9:30 pm
awsome (micheal angelo voice) lets eat a sardine and hot choclate pizza
May 17, 2011 at 9:43 pm
You may be shocked to know that Nickelodeon has announced a new Turtles series to be released in 2012…
And not to mention…
Another movie.
I don’t know if it’s gonna be live action or not, but from what I know, it’s being produced by Nickelodeon movies and Viacom, and being directed by Micheal Bay.
So…I’m not entirely sure how to feel about this.
May 17, 2011 at 9:57 pm
This series was awesome. I would LOVE to see you do the same sort of review for Transformers Gen 1 and Thundercats!
May 17, 2011 at 10:05 pm
yay teenage mutant hero turtles.
May 17, 2011 at 10:36 pm
Damn. I forgot about Michealangelo using that grappling hook in the last 2 seasons. Why did the creators of the show change his weapon from the nunchucks to that grappling hook lasso?
May 17, 2011 at 10:41 pm
James, I’m not sure if you are familiar with a Japanese offshoot of the TMNT called Mutant Turtles: Choujin Densetsu-hen. It’s pretty interested because the turtles have advanced mutations (as well as Shredder, Rocksteady, and Bebop) and even fuse to form one super turtle called the turtle saint. It’s definitely a trip to check out.
May 17, 2011 at 11:02 pm
An entertaining trilogy to say the least. Seeing all of those minor characters reminds me of how many action figures my parents bought for me over the years.
May 17, 2011 at 11:06 pm
Awesome!! I forgot how many random enemies the turtles faced.
May 17, 2011 at 11:32 pm
Tight anus?
May 18, 2011 at 1:34 am
Man I really have enjoyed turtle Tuesdays. Sucks that the series “review” is over, I hope that you decide to do commentaries on some of your favorite episodes.
May 18, 2011 at 1:34 am
Good job putting this together man. It must have been hard to watch all of the episodes. Good Job, I would love to see this kinda thing done with the newer series but I doubt you’ll do it because it’s not really connected to you and it would be really hard to do this thing again. But I know you have the DVD’s and this could be like a monster madness kinda thing. Maybe next year you never know. Good job James!
May 18, 2011 at 2:00 am
I think I eventually lost interest in the series because so much of it doesn’t make sense. I guess I got drawn in by the novelty and that other kids were watching it, but after awhile a growing kid is going to want to be able to take in what is fascinating and novel to appreciate it. The writing in the show was pretty hasty. The movies were a logical evolution. It’s unfortunate the show couldn’t keep up. The 3rd movie tried to be intelligent, but wound up like Disney’s Pocahontas.
May 18, 2011 at 2:12 am
Thanks for that excellent review of the TMNT classic series. It makes me miss the old turtles even more, and annoys me even more that all the episodes weren’t released properly.
May 18, 2011 at 2:35 am
I very vaguely remember the first season because I was too young at the time that it premiered in syndication, 4 years old to be exact! I think that I started watching around the 2nd or 3rd season and was absolutely hooked with the original opening.
But of course, I did watch the other cartoons like Spider-Man and X-Men from the 90s as well as Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog along with reruns of the Super Mario Bros. Super Show as well as Mighty Morphin Power Rangers which basically got me to grow out of the Ninja Turtles for a long time!
I watched the first 2 movies on VHS when Blockbuster was still around, and absolutely loved them and wanted to see what they could do for the 3rd movie! What I saw with what they did with the 3rd Ninja Turtles movie just made me shake my head and tell myself “This is absolutely NOT Ninja Turtles!” and I stayed as far away from that movie as I could when it originally came out.
I already have the first 2 seasons on DVD and have already watched the first season all the way through alot of times by now and I’m just now getting started on the 2nd season, so thanks James for doing this 3 part retrospective on the original TV series!
May 18, 2011 at 2:37 am
ATTENTION!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! James: can you review the Japanese TMNT? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MQAQohS0On4&feature=related
May 18, 2011 at 2:37 am
You forgot one of the characters in your Review, though.
The Female Turtle, Venus. I believe she only appeared once in the entire series, but still.
May 18, 2011 at 3:04 am
Bravo
another brilliant review by James, no one could make a better retrospective than him. I watched the turtles when I was a kid too but wasn’t as super into it and never kept up with the series, especially after like 1991 at the latest so its great to know everything there is to know!
May 18, 2011 at 3:10 am
i watched all the TMNT old and new series all together 4 months ago, all of them!
it was cool,
also simpsons is kinda longest, not the most episodes though, shin chan has more episodes
May 18, 2011 at 3:17 am
utterly nostalgic .. i have always wondered whatever happened to good ol turtles. thank you for all your efforts. enjoyed every bit of it. keep it comin james.. you’re the man!
May 18, 2011 at 6:29 am
Wow. I never saw the later seasons as they came out, but seeing 4 episodes from season 10 on the first dvd was cool.
Megavolt..wasn’t he a villan from darkwing duck? Oops! Wrong cartoon!
May 18, 2011 at 8:15 am
James, stop watching cartoons and start making some AVGN videos :]
People are waiting!
May 18, 2011 at 8:17 am
Slash may have been lame in the cartoon…but he was a total badass in the video game (TMNT IV: Turtles in Time) He looked like a twisted and evil version of Leonardo, and was easily the toughest boss in the game. Too bad he wasn’t like that in the cartoon.
May 18, 2011 at 12:02 pm
There’s just one thing left to complete your epic TMNT retrospective, James…
Cinemassacre’s Top Ten Turtle Episodes!
May 18, 2011 at 1:07 pm
What no mention of the live action saban produced tv show and Power Ranger cross over? I would like to hear your take on the Turtle anime made in 1996, titled Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Legend of the Supermutants (ミュータント・タートルズ超人伝説偏 Myūtanto Tātoruzu: Chōjin Densetsu Hen?).aswell.
May 18, 2011 at 1:33 pm
Nice work James, I like how passionate you are with the nostalgia times haha, keep it up, I guess Im a fan of youre work, also I will be cool If you keep coming like the all the stuff with the turtles new animations games and stuff like the weird o not know stuff
May 18, 2011 at 2:03 pm
I’m new to this so go easy on me people but James mentioned in a previous episode that Shredder’s face mask is revealed to be a cloth bandana and not metal (which is what I assumed it was made from) in this episode (at around 3.13 I think it is) the face section is open and appears to be hinged; the same material i.e. metal…what do we think?
May 18, 2011 at 2:17 pm
you have to see this James “http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MQAQohS0On4&NR=1″…i don’t know about it…
oh! and before i forget…. Excellent review!
May 18, 2011 at 3:41 pm
it bring me memory
thank you James
May 18, 2011 at 5:32 pm
Hey James good review you forgot to mention that in TMNT 2 Movie that super shredder is Kevin Nash the Wrestler who was WCW anyway the TMNT cartoons were the sh*t back then it’s a shame they don’t have a channel that can air only the old 80′s classic cartoons all day and air them like we just came out of school anyway hope to see more reviews on different classic cartoons.
May 18, 2011 at 5:42 pm
Actually, I think newer information says that the reason the Classic Series voice actors didn’t return for Turtles Forever, is because it would be too expensive to bring them into the studio since 4Kids was in New York and the voice actors were elsewhere.
May 18, 2011 at 6:27 pm
Great video!
Is it just me, or does anyone else hate T-mobile now?
(seriously, their ad played before AND after the video)
May 18, 2011 at 6:32 pm
Great review James! Good timeline of the entire series.
My only gripe with Turtles Forever is that they went too far on the original show turtles. They were too goofy and afraid of nearly everything. Goofing off was a part of the show but when push came to shove they took care of business. In Forever they were pretty much useless (save for maybe donatello)
May 18, 2011 at 8:49 pm
I think I stopped regularly watching the original TMNT cartoon by the end of season 3 or so. I really don’t remember the era of Michelangelo without nunchucks. I only remember hearing about it from other people years later. I also never knew the show got darker for the last 3 seasons. Maybe that idea carried on in the 2k3 show, which was really dark at times. I mean, seriously, some messed up stuff happened in the first five seasons of that show. Don’t bother with seasons 6 and 7, though, unless you want to see when their change in design took place. How they look in Turtles Forever is NOT how they look in the first five seasons. They got much taller for seasons 6 and 7 for some reason. It’s like Ultimate Wolverine being changed to 5’9 instead of the usual 5’3. I guess being short isn’t cool these days?
May 18, 2011 at 8:57 pm
Maybe you just forgot, but FYI, Tokka and Razar show up in the Turtles Forever finale, too, if only in cameo style.
May 18, 2011 at 9:26 pm
It is so absurd to me that the show ran as long as it did. The only “children’s action” show that ran longer was Power Rangers.
I loved the Ninja Turtles growing up, but they really outstayed their welcome. As far as I’m concerned the entire franchise peaked with the SNES video game TMNT IV. If the last season ended in a cliffhanger where Krang steals the Statue of Liberty and it led into the game, it would have been the best possible way to end the show.
May 18, 2011 at 9:52 pm
What, no mention of the movie TMNT from 2007?
May 18, 2011 at 10:10 pm
James I got the reason behind Michelangelo”s change of weapon. Basically compare the violence seen in the first episode to later episodes. In the first episode when they realize that they’re fighting robots they hack slash and bash with their weapons.
In most of the other episodes the violence is toned down.. a lot. Leonardo and Raphael only use their weapons to parry other weapons and then hit bad guys with their fists/feet. Michelangelo lost his nunchaku because he could only use it to club people with. Donatello basically just used his staff to launch himself up and do flying kicks.
This is why I got sick of TMNT as a kid, it went weak.
May 18, 2011 at 10:36 pm
OK is it me or enough of the TMNT WHERES THE NEW AVGN VIDEO????i I mean its late may is there one this month cmon james your bread n butter is avgn
not tmnt or mickey mouse books i want avgn 
May 18, 2011 at 11:46 pm
dude above me clearly didn’t get the memo regarding avgn; guess someone should mention it again for the 10th time.
May 19, 2011 at 1:23 am
what the shell, was up with saying what the shell on a kids show?
May 19, 2011 at 1:30 am
The original TMNT cartoon is to Ninja Turtles what the Adam West show was to Batman. It was really corny and goofy, but as a kid I enjoyed it. I don’t believe I had ever seen any episodes past Season 3 though, as none of that was familiar to me.
May 19, 2011 at 6:51 am
I hope he does more things like this… Reviews other classic 80′s and early 90′s cartoons.
The Real Ghostbusters
Batman TAS
I also wonder if his Turtle thing is over yet. Their is still the live action TV show.
May 19, 2011 at 7:01 am
Please please please review more cartoon series! I loved this series!!
May 19, 2011 at 8:29 am
you know what id really like? an honest opinionated review on the newer (2003) series of turtles, cos personally, i love it. dont get me wrong, i hate fast forward, it’s daft and it took away from the more real idea of the turtles…though i liked the battle at the end. i didnt really like the reinvention in back to the sewers, again i felt like all that digital stuff took it too far. then there’s another series coming in 2012 that nickolodeon are doing, with 26 episodes. so yeah…the original series was a part of my childhood too. so, what about the most recent series?
May 19, 2011 at 9:23 am
James, hats off for being able to watch all the seasons. I’m trying to do that and it’s freaking hard. You just want to bash your head into a wall sometimes. Thanks for the great work and making us relive the memories
May 19, 2011 at 1:04 pm
I love that you use the Turtles in Time music for this series.
You reminded me that the first live-action TMNT movie is probably one of the best examples of a cartoon/comic-to-movie adaptation.
LLOL look at how depressed Donatello looks in that clip with Howie Hardy singing. hahaha
Looks like it’s safe to say they blew their load during season 3. I’m pretty sure half the show was just a giant merchandising push, hence why they introduced a new character every 5 seconds.
Jesus, I remember all those toys. A friend of mine was one of those kids who had EVERY toy, so he had them all. I also had a pretty sizeable tmnt collection. I had that stand-up box with all the characters in it in their own little shelves.
I think I must have stopped watching/caring about the show after season 5 or so, I don’t remember most of that other stuff.
@Ryzfx – it’s called a continuity goof
May 19, 2011 at 2:45 pm
as a kid i was obsessed with both g.i. joe and the turtles. i want some turtles pies now from hostess…even though i’d always just trade them with my sister for the orange cupcakes
May 19, 2011 at 3:31 pm
I grew up with the turtles from 2003
May 19, 2011 at 4:37 pm
Thank you for making this retrospective, I really enjoyed it
Just one thing, The Simpsons isn’t the longest running animated Tv show in the world, against the popular belief. For example, Soreike Anpanman! and the Doraemon -shows have been running from early 80s and they still go on 8D