Teenage Mutant Ninja (Hero) Turtles

1 9 8 7 – 1 9 9 6 (USA)
193 x 30 minute episodes

Four pet shop turtles – Donatello, Raphael, Michelangelo and Leonardo – accidentally fall into the New York sewer system, where they are contaminated by ‘Mutogen’.

As a result, they begin to walk upright, talk, and fight a fearless crusade for justice, primarily against the evil Shredder (voiced by James Avery from Fresh Prince of Bel Air). They are aided in this endeavour by copious quantities of pizza.

Leonardo (who wore a blue mask and accessories) was the leader and a proficient swordsman; Michaelangelo (who wore orange) was a prankster, party dude and karate master; hot-headed Raphael (in a red mask) was skilled with a dagger, and Donatello (wearing purple) was a technical whiz who used a staff to fight.

The “heroes in a half-shell” learned their defensive talents from a rat named Splinter, who helped guide them. TV reporter April O’Neil (who worked for Channel 6 News) assisted them in their crimefighting endeavours.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles may go down in television history as one of the most profitable jokes of all time.

They were conceived in 1983 as a napkin doodle by Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird as a parody of the Japanese samurai-type heroes featured in many comic strips at that time.

A Turtle comic book followed, with the characters picked up by Group W for an animated CBS series in 1987, succeeded in turn by two hit live-action cinema features, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1990) and Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of The Ooze (1991).

In Britain, concerns about the Turtles’ use of ‘Ninja’ fighting techniques resulted in both the series and movies being retitled Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles. Any shot of Michelangelo using his nunchucks was also edited out.

The popularity of the characters ensured that Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles toys and merchandise flew off the shelves around the world, including action figures (by Playmates), clothing, household items, cereals, snacks, and video games based on the cartoon.

Donatello
Barry Gordon (1)
Greg Berg (2)
Leonardo
Cam Clarke
Michelangelo
Townsend Coleman
Raphael
Rob Paulsen (1)
Thom Pinto (2)
Hal Rayle (3)
Michael Gough (4)
April O’Neil
Renae Jacobs
Shredder
James Avery (1)
Jim Cummings (2)
Bill Martin (3)
Splinter
Peter Renady

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