Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1990): A Retrospective
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From their gritty and somewhat satirical comic book origins, to the their ever-evolving portrayal in animation and film, few icons of American fiction have stood the test of time quite like the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Since these four mutant turtles and their rat surrogate father/sensei hit the scene in 1984, they’ve consistently found new and fresh ways to appeal to generation after generation. That’s one of the enduring appeals of the Turtles: just how many renditions of them there have been. These different eras of Turtles either endure for years on their own or follow in rapid succession of one another. For my brother, who is 11 years my senior, the Turtles were introduced to him with the Saturday morning cartoon series of the late 80s. The cartoons were basically glorified toy commercials, yet they made household names of Leonardo, Raphael, Donatello, and Michelangelo all the same. The craze for this cartoon cannot be overstated, so it was only a matter of time before the Turtles would get their very own live-action movie in 1990. Why talk about this all now? Well, this week marks the 30th anniversary of that movie hitting theaters.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1990): A Retrospective
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1990): A…
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1990): A Retrospective
From their gritty and somewhat satirical comic book origins, to the their ever-evolving portrayal in animation and film, few icons of American fiction have stood the test of time quite like the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Since these four mutant turtles and their rat surrogate father/sensei hit the scene in 1984, they’ve consistently found new and fresh ways to appeal to generation after generation. That’s one of the enduring appeals of the Turtles: just how many renditions of them there have been. These different eras of Turtles either endure for years on their own or follow in rapid succession of one another. For my brother, who is 11 years my senior, the Turtles were introduced to him with the Saturday morning cartoon series of the late 80s. The cartoons were basically glorified toy commercials, yet they made household names of Leonardo, Raphael, Donatello, and Michelangelo all the same. The craze for this cartoon cannot be overstated, so it was only a matter of time before the Turtles would get their very own live-action movie in 1990. Why talk about this all now? Well, this week marks the 30th anniversary of that movie hitting theaters.