Is this series worth tracking down?

[ABrown]

What is with all the talk about pupils? Who likes/dislikes a cartoon based on whether or not characters are drawn with pupils? This is one of my favorite cartoons of all time. What am I supposed to disregard all that I like about the show because of pupils?

[DarkLightDragon]

It's easy to see how some would be better adjusted to them having pupils with their masks on. Aside from Mirage and 2k3, it's more prevalent in other Turtle media. Personally I don't think you need pupils to help convey what a character is feeling (sometimes it's all in the brow) but they do make that character seem more human and personable than you'd get from no-pupil look which is usually used to make a character seemed possessed, alien, or the classic 'blind with rage' trope.

[shuriken]

Originally Posted by Leo656

Pretty good. Raph needs to lay off the smokes.

Smoking helped quell his rage. his INEXPLICABLE RAGE
But I liked it. It's the cartoon that most closely resembles the Mirage series. Even goes so far as straight up adapting some issues. It's the only TMNT series I've watched from start to finish more than once. I saw the Next mutation all the way through, but that was only once, and I don't think I ever saw all of the Fred Wolfe toons (since there's 196 of em).

[Xav]

Come on there's only 193 of em.

[cloud]

The 2k3 show is great. The show follows the original comics closely and even include the one shot series like the Donatello one shot with a comic artist named Kirby. Also some original ideas that were pretty good like the character Nano and the underground characters. They even had a background story for their sewer lair.

The tone and well planned story line is a huge highlight of the show. I later on found out that it's had a lot to do with Peter Laird being involved in the creative process. He had a lot of inputs on the scripts which made the stories tighter and more logical in many ways. I had problems enjoying the Nick show because of the plot holes and mostly ridiculous settings.

[GiveMeBackMyRaphXLeo]

2k3 is the only storyline that actually make sense besides tmnt 2007 movie.

nick's... has better animations n the voice acting is more real in speaking speed wise, but other than that... its not competitive to 2k3.

[shuriken]

2007 made as much sense as Garbage Pail kids

Originally Posted by Xav

Come on there's only 193 of em.

Aww geez. Wasn't Planet of the Turtleoids put as one and I'm sure there was a lost episode in there too? eh whatevs I'm not watching every Fred Wolfe episode from start to finish any time soon.

[CyberCubed]

Originally Posted by shuriken

Aww geez. Wasn't Planet of the Turtleoids put as one and I'm sure there was a lost episode in there too? eh whatevs I'm not watching every Fred Wolfe episode from start to finish any time soon.

I rewatch the entire OT about once every 3-4 years or so and you can get done in 3 months.

[D Piddy 1982]

I have been toying with the idea of watching this series too, probably online.

I grew up on the OT, and and have watched the first 2 series of the Nick show (which is great by the way). What is happening about season 3 of the Nick show in the UK I have no idea...

Anyway, I'm interested to know, all of you guys who are big fans of the 4kids series, was this the first series you were brought up on, or introduced to the TMNT by?

It's interesting that it's likely everyone thinks "their" TMNT is the best one. As I do love the OT. I can see why people hate it, but it holds a special place for me.

I did watch a few episodes of the 4Kids when it came out, but it seemed difficult at that time to catch it on a regular basis so I stopped watching it, but I remember watching the episode that is based on "What Goes Around Comes Around" and I thought that it was pretty damn cool that it was based on the Mirage comics. That's why I'd still like to make an effort to watch the series.

On the subject of voices, my favourite voice cast is the original movie cast.

[The-Shredder]

Originally Posted by D Piddy 1982

Anyway, I'm interested to know, all of you guys who are big fans of the 4kids series, was this the first series you were brought up on, or introduced to the TMNT by?

It's interesting that it's likely everyone thinks "their" TMNT is the best one. As I do love the OT. I can see why people hate it, but it holds a special place for me.

I did watch a few episodes of the 4Kids when it came out, but it seemed difficult at that time to catch it on a regular basis so I stopped watching it, but I remember watching the episode that is based on "What Goes Around Comes Around" and I thought that it was pretty damn cool that it was based on the Mirage comics. That's why I'd still like to make an effort to watch the series.

On the subject of voices, my favourite voice cast is the original movie cast.

My first introduction to the TMNT was through reruns of the 1987 show in early to mid 2003 on a foreign T.V. channel, so this was exactly when the 2003 show was airing at the time, which I had no idea about until I saw the action figures in stores. Once I went to the FoxBox (4Kids Saturday morning block on FOX) website and experienced the minisite, I was hooked and couldn't wait to watch it. I first watched the show when the FoxBox aired a rerun of "The Shredder Strikes" episodes back to back in August, 2003, which was a perfect introduction to the overall tone and feeling of the show for me.

I still watched the 1987 cartoon every time it was shown, got the Season 1 DVD with the bonus Season 10 episodes, and got a good kick out of the fun action and humor, but once I saw the 2003 show, I immediately knew that the original cartoon was inferior, yet it did have a lot of good things about it to make up for it and still be enjoyable to watch.

I dislike the idea of considering the 1987 cartoon the definitive version of how TMNT should be represented since it strays greatly from its roots and restricts it from reaching its true potential if its going to keep being labeled in the mainstream as a kids show from the 80s . I consider it as the Adam West, 1960s Batman of TMNT, which isn't a bad thing, it's just a different flavor to enjoy.

If there's one thing I love the most about the 1987 show, it's Raphael. His one-liners are hilarious. Also, I like the shift towards a more serious tone in Season 8, even if it felt forced. I was never really a fan of the supporting human characters, especially the Channel 6 News cast, so I was glad they got dropped.

Reading Peter Laird's blog posts about the making of the 2003 show, as well as watching Michele Ivey's interviews with the voice cast on Cowabunga Corner on YouTube show how much the original movie influenced the feel of the show, which they were trying to emulate with the voices.

Overall, the 2003 show is my favorite, the original movies come second, and the 1987 show third. I don't appreciate the direction Nickelodeon is taking with the 2012 show at all with its juvenile humor, abundance of mutants, and gross-out scenes, and it annoys me, which is why I haven't cared to take the time to watch the rest of Season 3 since December.

[CylonsKlingonsDaleksOhMy]

Originally Posted by D Piddy 1982

Anyway, I'm interested to know, all of you guys who are big fans of the 4kids series, was this the first series you were brought up on, or introduced to the TMNT by?

It's interesting that it's likely everyone thinks "their" TMNT is the best one. As I do love the OT. I can see why people hate it, but it holds a special place for me.

Nope. I grew up on the OT, which I owe my allegiance for introducing me to TMNT, but it did not age well. Gah. I will not watch OT now.

4Kids I didn't find until high school, rewatched it in college and again as an adult. Still love it.

[Wesley]

I'm a big fan of the 2003 series. However, my first introduction to the Turtles was the 1987 cartoon in the early 90s. I watched '03 in my late teens and early 20s when it was on the air from 2003 to the late 00s. The show was put in a bad time slot at first on Wednesday afternoons, so I was only able to watch random episodes every now and then for the first two seasons.

"Garbageman" was the first episode of '03 that I saw. It's one of the worst episodes of the series, but I still liked it and the serious tone reminded me a bit of the Red Sky seasons of '87. I only became a fan of the show, though, after seeing some of the later episodes like "The Shredder Strikes Part 2" and "Tales of Leo".

I was able to watch both the original cartoon and 4Kids show at the same time for nearly a decade, as '87 was regularly rerun on the Irish TV channel RTE Two from the mid 90s to late 00s. '87 isn't as good as I remembered it, but nearly half of the episodes are still fun to watch, in my opinion. I prefer '03, though, as it had better characterisation and story arcs and was based on the original Mirage Comics.

[Netkeeper]

Originally Posted by D Piddy 1982

Anyway, I'm interested to know, all of you guys who are big fans of the 4kids series, was this the first series you were brought up on, or introduced to the TMNT by?

No. I didn't even attempt to watch much of it until I was in my 20's. The TMNT I was brought up on were the original three films', though even as a kid I hated the third one. But I watched those first two to death. I wasn't even big on the 87 cartoon as a kid because the turtles were too different from the ones in the movie [and I hated Next Mutation].

Speaking of the original movies, if those voices are your favourite turtle voices, you'd like the 4Kids cast. They based the turtle voices on those.

[CyberCubed]

4kids was already long after I was a fan of the original cartoon, movies and Archie series. In fact I was 16 when the 2k3 series came out so it felt perfect for my age when I was getting older and looking for more serious or plot-driven cartoons.

That being said I still enjoy the majority of the original cartoon and I watch it every few years.

[D Piddy 1982]

Watched "Monster Hunter" last night. Really enjoyed it!

The episode I had seen previously was "The Shredder Strikes Back part 1". Awesome stuff!

Yep think I'm gonna have to start getting into this one, especially as there appears to be no sign of season 3 of the Nick series here in the UK?...

[aliena]

My thoughts so far...

I've just finished season one and so far I like the show. Some of my favorite things are:

Raph- I like all incarnations of Raph, but this one is probably my favorite. I love his voice.
Leo- He is more serious in this series and maybe a bit more of a loner? I'm not sure just yet what it is about him, but I do like him a lot.
Splinter- He's both tough and funny. He leaves to go fight with them from time to time.
I love how the episodes are a lot more adventurous. They get out and go past the norm.
I like Don and Mikey's relationship so far.

so far, my dislikes are:
I can't stand the intros. There doesn't seem to be a real need for them as anything more than a preview before I watch the episode.

Casey is horrible. I can't stand this incarnation of him. Maybe he'll grow on me as I keep watching.

Leo and Don's voices are so similar that sometimes I don't know who is talking.

Mikey- I just don't care for this Mikey. I don't like his terrible jokes that do not make me laugh. He is not as caring as I'm accustomed to. I suppose he is more serious than 2012 Mikey and the others respect and depend on him a bit more.

[Bio_Ninja]

You probably can collect the first 2 seasons with minimal trouble but collecting season 3 or more precisely "turtles against h.a.t.e" can be difficult since it is very rare to find an auction on ebay and even if there is an auction the final price is usually around $200, the 2003 dvd releases are out of order but these may be the best releases for this series since it seems that Nikelodeon are releasing them in a WORSE order.

[CylonsKlingonsDaleksOhMy]

Originally Posted by aliena

My thoughts so far...

I've just finished season one and so far I like the show. Some of my favorite things are:

Raph- I like all incarnations of Raph, but this one is probably my favorite. I love his voice.
Leo- He is more serious in this series and maybe a bit more of a loner? I'm not sure just yet what it is about him, but I do like him a lot.
Splinter- He's both tough and funny. He leaves to go fight with them from time to time.
I love how the episodes are a lot more adventurous. They get out and go past the norm.
I like Don and Mikey's relationship so far.

so far, my dislikes are:
I can't stand the intros. There doesn't seem to be a real need for them as anything more than a preview before I watch the episode.

Casey is horrible. I can't stand this incarnation of him. Maybe he'll grow on me as I keep watching.

Leo and Don's voices are so similar that sometimes I don't know who is talking.

Mikey- I just don't care for this Mikey. I don't like his terrible jokes that do not make me laugh. He is not as caring as I'm accustomed to. I suppose he is more serious than 2012 Mikey and the others respect and depend on him a bit more.

You pretty much nailed everything in one go, Aliena.

• Raph does have a great voice.
• Leo is definitely the leader, and we see him mature. 4Kids TMNT is pretty much his story, though the other Turtles do get a lot of development, too (Raph the least).
• Splinter is a badass.
• 4Kids Casey is the worst incarnation of the character ever. He's slapstick bumbling comic relief... basically, 4Kids is to Casey what Fred Wolf was to the four Turtles... except much worse.
• Mikey can be really annoying. Sometimes not, but a lot of times, yes.

[Bio_Ninja]

Originally Posted by [*

4Kids Casey is the worst incarnation of the character ever. He's slapstick bumbling comic relief... basically, 4Kids is to Casey what Fred Wolf was to the four Turtles... except much worse.[*]Mikey can be really annoying. Sometimes not, but a lot of times, yes.[/LIST]

I personally liked Casey and Mikey in the 2003 series, i found Casey very funny especially in the TCRI lobby and i did think that Mikey became annoying during Fast Forward, Back to the sewers and Turtles forever.

[madyankees]

In my opinion, the series with the best TMNT storylines /arcs BUT i do feel the whole thing tailed off badly starting with the fast forward season.