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Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

Sprite

(He/Him/His)
I started watching Rise of the TMNT a couple days ago and… apparently people hate this show? I’m not sure why. I’m guessing because it’s wacky and it changes personalities around quite a bit, but the premise has always been beyond goofy and previous shows had no qualms about making big lore changes. The only change I genuinely dislike is turning Splinter into a useless couch potato, though I’ve read that he gets better as the show goes on.

What I do like is the really unique Spumco meets Studio Trigger animation style and the wildly different designs for each of the turtles. Lots of characters flinging themselves around with dynamic camera angles and such. I’m sad that we’re not gonna get any games in this style because these turtles would’ve played super differently.

Anyway, apparently it kind of bombed and got canned halfway through season two, though they got a chance to wrap it up and make a Netflix movie. Here’s hoping whatever is next keeps trying to experiment with the concept and doesn’t just rehash the old days (though, of course, I also love when they rehash the old days).

So! TMNT! Is the earlier Nick show worth watching? I never tried it. It’s surprising how evergreen (heh) this concept is. It’s up there with Scooby Doo as managing to just constantly reboot itself.
 

jpfriction

(He, Him)
I liked the last Nickelodeon one a fair amount (I think.. The CGI one?) although it lost me a bit when they go into space for like an entire season. Certainly goes places.

Greatly enjoyed when they lost Jason Biggs as Leonardo, used a soundalike for a couple of episodes, then had shredder choke him out so they could have an excuse to have Seth Green take over.

I do want to give Rise a chance. I like Ben Schwartz and the trailer for the Netflix movie looked bonkers.
 

JBear

Internet's foremost Bertolli cosplayer
(He/Him)
So! TMNT! Is the earlier Nick show worth watching? I never tried it. It’s surprising how evergreen (heh) this concept is. It’s up there with Scooby Doo as managing to just constantly reboot itself.
I really enjoyed it. It's thick with obscure TMNT references and callbacks.

Also, as I always like to bring up when someone mentions it, it casts Lewis Black as a mutant spider who literally spews caustic bile.
 

FelixSH

(He/Him)
Is the early Nick show the one from around 2012? The CGI one? Definitely worth watching, it's a great interpretation in many ways, very fun.

I also realized that I have only watched the first three seasons. Need to correct that.
 
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Octopus Prime

Mysterious Contraption
(He/Him)
While I didn't see any of the ones that came after it, it's hard to imagine me liking any series as much as the early 2000s Fox series; or at least the first half of the series, after that it went a little... astray.
 

Johnny Unusual

(He/Him)
it's hard to imagine me liking any series as much as the early 2000s Fox series
It's not like people say anything bad about it but I do feel like that one doesn't get enough love (save for the series finale "Turtles Forever"). It was really cool to see something more representative of the classic comics while still being all ages friendly and familiar to fans of the old series.

Plus, it didn't whitewash Baxter Stockman.
 

Octopus Prime

Mysterious Contraption
(He/Him)
It also had that episode where his clone body was collapsing around him and he was steadily losing his mind as he tried to staple his limbs back together.

Which was pretty friggin' nuts for a kids show.

Also the very special episode where Donatello meets Jack Kirby, which was also a weird choice for the intended age group, but for wildly different reasons.
 

Johnny Unusual

(He/Him)
Also the very special episode where Donatello meets Jack Kirby, which was also a weird choice for the intended age group, but for wildly different reasons.
Also based on one of the earlier comics as well.

Don02.jpg


Probably best they didn't do the issue where they met Cerebus. The 80s were a wild time for indy comics.
 

Sprite

(He/Him/His)
I do want to give Rise a chance. I like Ben Schwartz and the trailer for the Netflix movie looked bonkers.
I love all the voices, especially Mikey. Ben Schwartz feels like a weird choice for Leo, but he’s the perfect choice for this Leo. He’s the turtle they changed the most, personality-wise, which makes me expect he’ll be the one to have the most growth.

Right now it seems to be following the Steven Universe model of a monster-of-the-week hangout show that’s occasionally interrupted by Plot. The humor is definitely a bit Teen Titans Go! but it’s not nearly as aimless as that show.
 

ArugulaZ

Fearful asymmetry
You know what's kind of nifty about Turtles 2012? They took the Baxter Stockman character and split the difference between 1987's goofy Doc Brown-esque scientist and 2003's Bryant Gumbel on steroids. What you end up getting is a Baxter who's amusingly hapless, like a slightly less manic Richard Pryor. Baxter was a forgettable villain in 1987 and insufferably arrogant in 2003 (plus they kept chopping him into pieces... stop it, it's a kid's cartoon!), but 2012 Baxter threads the needle between the two extremes and makes the character work.

I have all the episodes on VUDU. I need to go back and watch them. I think I stopped around the time they introduced a fat, obnoxious New Yorker who got under Raphael's shell, referring to the turtles as "karate frogs" armed with "salad tongs" and eventually transforming into an ugly spider. He was played by Lewis Black from The Daily Show, and really, where are you going to go after casting like that? It felt like TMNT 2012 doomed itself by offering an episode so conceptually perfect that it was impossible for the producers to top.
 

Sprite

(He/Him/His)
So far the worst part of Rise is that the episodes are clearly out of order and for the life of me I can't find the correct order. They're different between Netflix and Paramount+ and different wikis show different orders. This issue isn't a big deal from a plot perspective, as there are only a few plot episodes in the whole first season, but from a character perspective it's a disaster. Splinter in particular feels very inconsistent until you see episodes that are clearly meant to push the character forward and show him as something more than a worthless couch potato. One episode ends with them going, okay, it's time to start training, and then they spend several episodes talking about how hard they've been training without showing it, then finally there's a training episode that probably was meant for earlier in the series.

It's a shame, because the idea behind the show seems to be if Teen Titans Go! slowly transformed into Teen Titans, except it's not allowed to change organically. I'm very impressed by the version of the show I've been re-arranging in my head, and wish Nickelodeon had treated it better. The animation is still transcendent, at least.
 

Daikaiju

Rated Ages 6+
(He, Him)
Admittedly I bounced hard off RIse on the first watch, but true TMNT fans accept that all adaptations are Valid*. I figured this was more for new fans and left well enough alone.

I gave it another go at the start of summer and I'm glad I did. The way it remixes the lore and characters is refreshing, admittedly they way Splinter is handled initially was a huuuge hurdle for me. Plus there are some deep cuts to more obscure TMNT moments and characters that tickle my geek out reflex.

*I suppose I really should watch Bay's TMNT films at least once to give them a fair shake... >_>
 

Sprite

(He/Him/His)
Splinter is definitely going to be the sticking point for most fans, yeah. If you treat him as just a completely new character he’s good, though still super annoying at first.
 

Octopus Prime

Mysterious Contraption
(He/Him)
I did watch the second Bay movie, I remember it being watchable enough, and that it had Rocksteady, Bebop and Krang, which is the bare minimum of anything I’d ask for from a film.

The only thing I actually remember in the movie was Rocksteady and Bebop high-fiving when they realized they now had sizeable nards.
 

FelixSH

(He/Him)
The Bay movies are fine. Not great, but I did have quite a bit of fun with the second one, which felt more TMNT-y. Don't remember much (they weren't GREAT), but I enjoyed them for what they were.

Also, couch potato Splinter sounds really bad. Especially after the great interpretation of him from the Nickelodeon show.
 

Daikaiju

Rated Ages 6+
(He, Him)
Also, couch potato Splinter sounds really bad. Especially after the great interpretation of him from the Nickelodeon show.
There's a method to the madness, but it's bit of a rough ride until the "Oh that's why!" moment.
 

Sprite

(He/Him/His)
Oh good lord, they have a cliffhanger followed up two episodes later because they stuffed an unrelated episode in-between them. No respect, I tells ya.
 

ArugulaZ

Fearful asymmetry
Is Danny DeVito Splinter the way he is because some tragedy earlier in his life sapped him of his passion and will to live? You know, like Gene Wilder's character in Blazing Saddles? Did someone shoot him in the ass?
 

Sprite

(He/Him/His)
I finished the series of Rise. It’s really a shame they got cut short, it’s pretty clear they had to shove a season’s worth of material into four ten minute episodes for the finale. One point in particular feels like it was meant to be a multi-episode arc but is resolved in about thirty seconds.

Still, what’s here is great. I’m really glad they managed to have their cake and eat it too with an ancient bloodline story which emphasizes that, no, a family is not a bloodline. The animation is of course great. And the final gag is so good.

I still think Splinter’s characterization in the first few episodes is a big mistake, but I definitely like where they go with him, and that they tried something new. It really is his show in a big way.

I’ll probably check the movie out this weekend.
 

Sprite

(He/Him/His)
The Rise movie is great and good payoff for character development that the show started but never got to finish. It also works well as a standalone film, with only a couple of callbacks to the series. If you’re curious about Rise but don’t want to wade through the show then the movie works fine on its own.

I also had no idea that freaking Rob Paulsen was the voice director for Rise and voiced the Foot Lieutenant. So he’s in three out of the four TV shows. Dude is TMNT royalty.
 

madhair60

Video games
The Michael Bay-produced TMNT movies are fun. They're bad, but they're fun. Go in expecting popcorn nonsense and you'll enjoy them.

Also the Diablo-lite 3DS tie-in game is fun too.
 

Octopus Prime

Mysterious Contraption
(He/Him)
Well apparently the 2000s series is on Paramount Plus, but with the wrong cover art, and year listed and… well most of them are just called Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles so that I’ll forgive.

Anyway; I know what I’m watching….
 
The Rise movie was so so good. I haven't watched much of Rise, but after the movie, I'm definitely going to go back and watch them.

The CGI series is still my favorite, I feel like after the first season it really finds its footing and it a great mix of story, comedy and action with lots of throwbacks and references.

I feel like like the second Bay movie more than most people? The first Bay movie was only alright, but I thought the second one knocked it out of the park. It was like they realized it was their last chance and went "You know what? Let's just make the 80s cartoon" Bebop, Rocksteady, a much better Shredder, Krang and his android body, the Technodrome, Casey Jones? They just crammed it all in and I loved every minute of it.
 

Octopus Prime

Mysterious Contraption
(He/Him)
Well apparently the 2000s series is on Paramount Plus, but with the wrong cover art, and year listed and… well most of them are just called Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles so that I’ll forgive.

Anyway; I know what I’m watching….
Yup; holds up!

Also; Shredder very unambiguously murders a guy with his bare hands in the first episode.

Which is hardly the most jarring death in this series but pretty wild for a first episode
 
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