Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles appreciation thread

[Snatch1414]

Is that documentary on Netflix?

General comments: It was huge when I was a kid. Watched it any time it was on. Hyperstone Heist was excellent (until I sold it to a friend towards the ends of the 16-bit era gah!). Everyone involved in the Michael Bay movie can burn in hell.

[Sarge]

So I was at the age where I watched TMNT, but it wasn't cool to admit that you did. Still, they were definitely fun. I hated the figures, though. No points of articulation at the elbows and knees like G.I. Joe? Boo!

[noiseredux]

Everyone involved in the Michael Bay movie can burn in hell.

I thought it was better than I expected it to be. Sure the nerd in me was raging over alterations to the origin story and so on, but ignoring that, I found it to be a fun movie beginning to end. I'm actually really looking forward to the sequel which looks (fingers crossed) to actually improve on the first one quite a bit.

[SNESdrunk]

Did you know this franchise is responsible for ruining the Saturday morning cartoon/toy craze?

Curious, how so?

I'm guessing because it inspired a seemingly endless number of clones and ripoffs. Swat KATS, Biker Mice From Mars, Street Sharks, Avenger Penguins...

[Sarge]

C.O.W.-Boys of Moo Mesa. *shudder*

[Ack]

Did you know this franchise is responsible for ruining the Saturday morning cartoon/toy craze?

Curious, how so?

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles was the specific series which led to a lawsuit about advertising toys during cartoons.

The FCC got involved, resulting in the Children's Television Act of 1990, which set rigid standards for increased educational programming, the amount of commercials during programming and the types, including forbidding the selling of products featuring animated characters within so much time of the show(because the way kids' minds process advertising means a 22 minute cartoon with a single 30 second ad for related content turns the entire thing into a 22 minute 30 second advertisement). Hence, programs specifically designed around selling toys began to drop off(ie. Transformers, G.I.Joe, Masters of the Universe, etc.), and the lucrative market of children's programming began to diminish. Children's programming(which makes up most animated content) is still monitored heavily by the FCC, though it's even more heavily self-policed by networks that show such programming due to the massive fines and potential litigation that can be leveled in the wake of a screw up.

Oh, and what filled the gap for the lost toy advertisements? Food ads, which made up as much as 47.8% of television advertising. These have since also come under heavy regulation. A 2006 update to the act has also enforced these kinds of guidelines on websites.

The end result? Less money from advertising meant less money for programming, so the perceived quality of children's programs began to slip as a result, eventually leading to the death of the Saturday morning cartoon block.

[Sarge]

Very good summary, Ack. Another lesson about the unintended consequences of government action in some areas. (Seriously, I remember when Saturday morning cartoons started dying, and it sucked.)

[TSTR]

that shit is sad as fuck

[Tanooki]

Goddamn that's depressing. I guess that would explain why the only toy ads you see anymore on TV tend to be on cartoon network, disney, and nick at specific moments and the toys while being toy ads aren't for the shows on at that spot. You'll see a paw patrol toy during a TMNT cartoon and what not. That probably gets around shoveling crap to kids based directly on the show, while in general I don't see toy ads on the classic channels known for the saturday morning cartoon block anymore.

[Xeogred]

If it wasn't Turtles, it would have been another series. The downfall was inevitable no matter how you cut it I'm sure. I'm glad I was born in the 80's and lived a good childhood.

Turtles was my first major "phase" as a kid, before Batman, and then Power Rangers. Among the big dogs. I was always a Donatello guy, and loved how him and "Mikey" always got along pretty well.

Even as a kid, one humorous thing that always irked me is that it seemed like Leonardo should have been the toughest, because... he has the most dangerous weapons by far. I always thought with two swords, he could do so much more damage and be more threatening. Talking both in the games, movies, etc, but that was never the case haha.

For the games, I never saw any reason to play anyone except for Donatello, because his range was unbeatable.

Would love to go through the TV series again someday for nostalgia sake. I've also been wanting to rewatch the movies again sometime soon.

Last but not least, The Manhattan Project is completely underrated and I've always liked it more than TMNT II / Arcade and Turtles in Time. It's such an advanced NES game too. Amazing graphics and music for its time.