While the franchise is somewhat lacking when it comes to having a cohesive continuity, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movies in order show how the world’s favorite heroes in a half-shell have continually adapted themselves to stay relevant throughout the decades. From the pages of comic books to the big screen, Earth’s favorite crime-fighting anthropomorphic turtles love only one thing more than ridding the world of scum: pizza. Named after famous painters from the Italian Renaissance, these four sewer-dwelling, skateboarding heroes have appeared in a multitude of TV series and films over the years.
Michelangelo, Donatello, Raphael, and Leonardo all maintain distinct personalities, but they share the same origin story. After being exposed to a toxic mutagen underneath New York City, these normal reptiles quickly evolved into human-sized martial arts experts. With the help of their sensei, Splinter, and a journalist named April O’Neil, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles keep the universe’s evil forces at bay. Thirty-five years after their first television appearance, there are many Teenage Mutant Nina Turtles movies and TV shows involving the heroes in a half-shell.
The very first screen adaptation of the TMNT is the cartoon classic that arrived in 1987, a syndicated series that ran for 10 seasons and includes seven special broadcasts. The show was a classic Saturday morning cartoon that an entire generation of kids grew up loving and that offered a kid-friendly introduction to the Ninja Turtles. It is this version of the Ninja Turtles that remains the most iconic as far as their character designs go, and also the iteration that spawned the incredibly lucrative range of toys and action figures that helped buoy the franchise.
While it veers somewhat from its source material โ the Mirage comic book series by Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird โ it easily surpassed the popularity of the on-page iteration and the 1987 cartoon propelled Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles to its status as a household name. The show focuses on the TMNT’s relationship with April O’Neil, Splinter, and their mortal enemy, Shredder. The series predates the first live-action movie by three years, and is arguably the reason the movie got optioned in the first place.
The next significant TMNT project was the live-action 1990 movie Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Thanks to the popularity of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cartoon and its correlated line of toys, Jim Henson’s Creature Shop brought the Turtles to the big screen with some TMNT live-action suits that recreated the classic heroes much to the thrill of young fans.
The first live-action Ninja Turtles movie sees the TMNT crew crossing paths with Shredderand his Foot Clan while also meeting April. Despite its poor critical reception, the movie was a major box office success, becoming one of the most successful independent movies of all time. The voice cast included the likes of Gremlins and The Goonies star Corey Feldman, which helped buoy ticket sales. Elias Koteas, who would later go on to play Dominic Palladino in The Sopranos and Al in Chicago P.D., also made an early career appearance as the live-action Casey Jones.
The second Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie, 1991’s The Secret of the Ooze, capitalized on the success of the original and attempted to spin the live-action iteration into a fully fledged sequel. The sequel is less violent than its predecessor. Instead of weapons, the Turtles spend more time fighting using bare-fisted martial arts techniques. It also provides more backstory into the origins of the Turtles and Splinter while introducing Shredder’s nefarious associates, Tokka and Rahzar.
Perhaps the charm of seeing the turtles brought to life was fading for audiences as the sequel was a step-down, as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret Of The Ooze was far less successful than its predecessor. A common criticism was that the leaning away from action and violence in favor of comedy was a misguided move for the franchise. This criticism wasn’t universal though, and some critics praised the movie for this same decision. The second live-action TMNT movie also featured a cameo from Vanilla Ice and wrestler Kevin Nash as the mutated Super Shredder.
The third and final film in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles‘ original theatrical run was 1993’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III, which was also live-action. Like the previous movie, this sequel uses the All Effects Company for the Turtles instead of Jim Henson’s Creature Shop. Due to this and the lower budget, the designs of the turtles feel a lot less convincing, which contributed in part to the dwindling interest compared to the 1990 original.
Considered the worst in the original line of films, TMNT III follows the Turtles on a time-traveling trip to feudal Japan, where they rub elbows with samurai and make both new friends and enemies. In the 2014 documentary Turtle Power, the creators of the original comic books Peter Laird and Kevin Eastman spoke on the live-action trilogy, and while they were less-than-complimentary about the third installment, they conceded that it was at least better than The Secret of the Ooze. As Kevin Eastman explained:
Released in conjunction with a new line of toys, Mutant Turtles is a two-part Japanese special. The episodes recast the Turtles as next-level superheroes fighting a troop of extra-powerful supervillains led by Shredder. They gain these additional abilities with the help of a spirit trapped inside a magical MutaStone. The Japanese adaptation โ known as Myลซtanto Tฤtoruzu: Chลjin Densetsu-hen in the original language โ is one of the most obscure entries in the entire Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchise, and also perhaps the one that strays most from the source material.
Mutant Turtles: Superman Legend wasn’t the introduction of the TMNT to Japanese audiences, as the original 1987 cartoon had received its own Japanese language dub. The majority of the voice cast for the Japanese dub also returned for Mutant Turtles: Superman Legend, including notable voice actor Hideyuki Umezu, who also appeared in Mobile Suit Gundam ZZ and Bravoman, in which he had the titular role.
With the hugely successful 1987 animated cartoon and the three live-action films under its belt, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles returned to TV in 1997, this time for the live-action series Ninja Turtles: The Next Mutation. The Next Mutation picks up where the movies leave off. The TMNTs meet a female Turtle, Venus de Milo, as well as a new villain: Dragonlord. Venus was an intriguing character and represented an interesting new direction for the franchise, paving the way for the new turtles introduced in future projects such as Jennika and Lita in the IDW comics.
The low budget of Ninja Turtles: The Next Mutation definitely hampered its success, as the cheap costumes are distracting. However, it is a fun and overlooked addition to the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles legacy that fans of the franchise will want to check out. It also represents one of the most experimental entries in the TMNT franchise, favoring the introduction of new characters and villains as opposed to rehashing the same classic formula of the Turtles fighting Shredder ad-infinitum.
Fox originally aired the second animated TMNT series, simply titled Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, which ran for seven seasons between 2003 and 2009. The cartoon’s style and plot are more in line with the original Mirage comics, ignoring many of the family-friendly changes in the films. As was common in the late 1990s and early 2000s, the second Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cartoon was something of a “gritty reboot”, leaning into the popularity of anime and other more mature animated kids shows that had gained popularity in the years since the 1987 original.
The 2003 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles show deals with more adult themes, even venturing into science fiction and fantasy territory. Despite the tone change, the series continued to capture the spirit of these characters and the humor that audiences have come to expect. The result is a solid cartoon that served as a new generation’s introduction to this franchise. Just like The Next Mutation before it, the second Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles animated show also introduced many more story elements, characters, and villains.
In 2007, the Turtles returned to the big screen with the CGI film TMNT. The fourth Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie featured voice work from some of some big names, including Chris Evans, Sarah Michelle Gellar, and Patrick Stewart. In TMNT, the Turtles have fallen out after defeating Shredder once and for all, but they join forces again in NYC where a new evil threatens humanity.
The new updated look of the Ninja Turtles in TMNT showed how long these characters had been around and that they were changing with the styles of the day. The redesign definitely worked in the franchise’s favor, as the art style was a notable element that critics praised. Full of action and campy one-liners, TMNT did very well in theaters, ranking number one at the box office on its opening weekend and beating out the likes of 300 and The Hills Have Eyes 2.
The legacy of the Ninja Turtles can certainly be seen by how many young fans through the years are drawn to the franchise and its success after decades in pop culture was acknowledged in this fun adventure โ and of all the entries in the franchise’s canon, 2009’s Turtles Forever is the movie that capitalizes on this legacy the most. Turtles Forever is a made-for-TV movie that celebrates the 25th anniversary of the franchise. Produced by 4Kids Entertainment, it also serves as the finale for the 2003 Fox series.
In the film, the Turtles discover they have doppelgรฅngers, “imposters” who turn out to be the original 1987 gang. The two groups work together to understand how their worlds have combined as one enemy after another pursues them and their special mutagen. Long before multiverse movies like The Flash used legacy casting, this combining of timelines was a thrill for fans.