Back when the 80’s toon came out.

[Mona_Lisa]

A lot of people think the OT was too silly, or corny (not me). Do you guys remember though, when The OT just came out how people said they were too violent, and how it taught children violence?
I am a Religious person, and my husband comes from a VERY religious family. My mother in law (Bless her heart) found out I like the ninja turtles and flipped out.
“ The ninja turtles teach children to be rebellious, the use slang, they are too violent, this preacher says this”… and so on.
Maybe stuff like this is why the toon ended up using so much slap stick?
Anyway, without bashing religion what are you guys thoughts on this? Can you remember someone saying stuff like this back in the day?

Sorry if this post is in the wrong place.

[Luzmagica]

Well, in my child-years nobody tell me/ I never hear.. about they were violent cartoons...always were stories about good boys and bad boys...and won the good boys....so I never hear about commentaries taught children violence...
The first time I hear about that, was when I know about the change the name "ninja" for "hero" at UK :teek: ....but never talking stuff like violence at my country ...in my opinion...

[Powder]

I do remember a book called 'Ninja turtles exposed' which said april oneil acted too provocatively & her character design would teach young boys to.. I don't know, like, stare at her breasts (they worded it differently). Also of course the nunchuku were considered a lethal weapon in several states so advocating its use was questionable to some adults. Another note, in an issue of the archie comics series some manic christian said the comic would corrupt him & his younger brother for having mentioned zen within its pages. People will bastardize anything if they look hard enough. Its just a case of over analytic parents. I would love to bash religion for its faults but hey, I'll leave that one alone.

[Canadian Turtle]

I can totally remember the worry in the adult community when the show came out. But look where that got us, no good cartoon content anymore, and a bunch of over sheltered kids lacking moral code and an ability to deal with anything harder than going to the bathroom by themselves.

I too will attempt to hold my tong in respect of your request against religious bashing. I would not disrespectfully "bash" per say as I am a very opened minded and accepting individual, however as with anyone have my own opinions regarding the overall subject. I will point out however, that this woman in question seems to be worried about kids being rebellious, this in itself is very indicative and deeply bread into religious culture to be utterly terrified of change, straying from the conservative reform, anything that is different, anything they do not understand. Thus totally within itself puts someone worried about such things as opened mindedness and choosing ones path in a very ignorant state of being. I only feel sorry for someone so controlled and oppressed that they worry so much about someones choices, beliefs, and values as if it really affected them in any way.

In short, even though we should not show our children inappropriate things (which Turtles are far from), we should ease up on the control we set in place, and if you are old enough to be married... I would think you would be old enough to enjoy anything you damn well wanted within reason and it not affect your relationships poorly like that, I feel for you!

[Scandia]

I grew up in a VERY religious family- and my folks had no issue with the Turtles. In fact, my brother had a lot of the toys.

These criticisms sound very similar to those given to Roald Dahl's books- that they teach children to be rebellious and disobey authority figures. I kind of disagree with this- some of the authority figures in Roald Dahl's books are very kind and the kids do love and obey them.

[ToTheNines]

Maybe stuff like this is why the toon ended up using so much slap stick?

It always was slapstick.

It was just under so much scrutiny because of it's popularity, so people tried to blame it for kids problems. Much like video games get accused of breeding murderers.

[gobo]

When I was 10, I heard that nonsense for the first time from my physical therapist. When she heard that I watch the show (though I was slightly embarassed to admit it since it was in its third season, the height of its silliness if you ask me), she immediately got all up in arms about it. She said something about her son taking sticks role-playing Ninja Turtles with his friends (Donatello fan, I'm sure... "I wike dee one wif dee stiks" :roll:) and someone would always get hurt. Although I knew better than to say it out loud, it was on the tip of my tongue: "gosh, I'm sorry your kid has to be such a dumbass".
I do remember a book called 'Ninja turtles exposed' which said april oneil acted too provocatively & her character design would teach young boys to.. I don't know, like, stare at her breasts (they worded it differently).
To this day, I can't look directly at a top-heavy woman for fear my eyes may wander and the shame will consume my very soul. Who do I blame? APRIL O'NEIL!! Dang her and her unlimited ogleativity. Dang her to SHELL![/truthfuljoke]

[Mona_Lisa]

To this day, I can't look directly at a top-heavy woman for fear my eyes may wander and the shame will consume my very soul. Who do I blame? APRIL O'NEIL!! Dang her and her unlimited ogleativity. Dang her to SHELL![/truthfuljoke]
Funny


Not all religious people are so strict. My family didn't mind for me to watch the turtles, my husbands parents are just much more old fashion. They don't even own a TV.
But if you are wondering, this doesn’t affect my husband and I relationship.
And we have a TV!:D

[Koi]

Majority of the 80's cartoons where violent, provocative, or disturbing. TMNT, in my opinion was on the lower on of the cartoon provocative stick of the 80's. The violence was pretty moderate, slapstick made it more comedic then anything else.

[Cowabunga Kiefer]

I remember reading a journal article on the TMNT some professor did at UCLA. She asked kids of the day if the show made them do anything violent or promote violence. All of them answered no, they're just cool, and they're everywhere! Nor the video games hypnotize them. I find it funny parents could really be freaked out by this...maybe it was an excuse because their wallets were going empty from buying their kids toys and stuff. lol.

[CyberCubed]

Majority of the 80's cartoons where violent, provocative, or disturbing.

Are you serious? I can't think of any 80's cartoons that were like that. Such as?

[Coola Yagami]

I remember people complaining in newspapers or whatever of kids getting hurt with makeshift weapons or trying to do the moves and such. I remember seeing kids in the street trying to do kicks and yelling out 'ee-yah!' cause the turtles do.

But then I noticed that the Turtles seemed to kick more ass and bust more actual martial arts moves in the videogames and live-action movies than they ever did in the actual cartoon. LOL

[gobo]

Are you serious? I can't think of any 80's cartoons that were like that. Such as?
Thundercats, He-Man and G.I. Joe are the first to come to my mind for violence. Provocative would be anything involving the skin-tight, superhero-type costumes; especially the ones with the entirety of their legs showing. Ren & Stimpy? Psychotic AND disturbing.

Really, it's just a matter of 'how desensitized are you to it?' as to whether or not it registers. In essence, we are discussing the views of extremists. You have to think like them to understand where they're coming from. Personally, I find it a bit paranoid and overly sensitive, but to each their own. It takes all kinds to make the world go 'round.
She asked kids of the day if the show made them do anything violent or promote violence.
This is an unreliable method of collecting evidence for or against an argument. That's like asking prisoners if they're criminals. Most will tell you "no". Most people want to pretend they're more 'perfect' than they are whether it be for vanity or because they're actually too delusional to recognize their own bad habits.

[Koi]

Are you serious? I can't think of any 80's cartoons that were like that. Such as?

Ren and stimpy.

[Cipher]

It's hard to believe coming off the heels of G.I. Joe and Transformers, that any parent could really object to the content in TMNT. It just came under scrutiny like all huge fads do.

Pokemon took a lot of the same abuse.

[Original TMNT Cartoon Fan]

Violence in comics and cartoons has always been discussed since the 1920's-30's or something (like Batman and Superman)? He-Man some years before TMNT was probably more considered violent than teh TMNT.

[hudemx]

I remember back in the early 90s that even the Hero Turtles Version (which aired in Germany and Austria) was also considered in being to violent.

In 1995 in Germany a kid was beaten half dead by his friends because he played Shredder and the other 2 boys the Turtles and they reenacted one episode...
That might have been the reason why they stopped dubbing the series over here (well we got the remaining 3 Season in 1999 after all ;))

[discordiatookie]

Must say that I must've missed the whole controversy over in the UK. Guess I was too young. I knew there was the 'Hero' Turtles and 'Ninja' Turtles, but to me, that was just one of these things, I never looked too much into it. (My Turtles Blimp said 'Ninja' on it.) I never even noticed that Mike's 'chucks had been edited outta the cartoon over here. My parents were awesome, they fairly treated me to some awesome toys, so no bother from them either!

In fact, the only thing I remember along these lines is when I was in nursery, and this is a proper early memory, nothing to do with TMNT, its He-Man, I flexed my arms to show my 'ceps, with the line "I have the power!" and got into trouble from the teacher-wifey. Guess she didn't like the violence of these shows!

[Raph's Girl]

I grew up in a rather strict household but Ninja Turtles was one of the few things I was allowed to watch. Mostly because it encouraged me to be interested in Renaissance art. My grandparents sent me a bunch of Hero Turtles stuff when they were living in England.

One of the shows I wasn't allowed to watch was The Simpsons because my dad felt that Bart was a bad influence. Seriously....I don't think I've ever seen the first couple seasons cuz of that. :P

[Oculus Orbus]

I was pretty much a baby when the OT started airing on TV, so I can't really remember if there was any kind of controversial here in Spain, but I haven't heard anything about it. I was allowed to watch it, and I was totally obsessed with the Turtles. Nobody around me (family, teachers...) seemed to find it dangerous in any way. My parents are quite open, but I remember them not letting me watch other shows, so I guess they probably thought about the TMNT as a kids thing.

[Original TMNT Cartoon Fan]

How old were you when you were not allowd to watch? I think it's wrong to ban children from watching cartoons. Cartoons are the thing you shall watch as a child.

Children who grew up in Sweden in the 1970's and 80's were seldom allowed to watch cartoons before the arival of the videocassette recorder, not because of their parents but because of the Swedish government monopoly for radio and television between 1925 (radio, television from 1956) and the late 1980's/early 1990's (television monopoly broken in 1987, radio in 1993). Before December 1969, there was only one channel, then it was only two. In the 1950's and 60's, the Swedish government even managed to ban private radio stations from operating from boats on international waters and broadcast to Sweden.

This may sound more like the USSR or GDR than Sweden, but it was. The only difference was that it was decided in a democratic way, and it was not ran to broadcast government propaganda but allowed the free opinion (you could say you hated this government monopoly). Sweden was a nanny state (and some say it's still, but not so much, even if it's not the night watchman state).

This system was paid with a radio and television licence so you only saw commercials in billboards, cinemas and newspapers/magazines.

Children who grew up in Sweden at that time felt like it was Christmas when they could see cartoons. They knew some like Disney ("From All of Us to All of You" is still broadcasted every Christmas Eve since 1959) and Tom & Jerry, but many US cartoon shows were probably unknown to Swedish children.

The Swedish government monopoly television had some own "cartoons" (like Alfons Åberg and Bamse), but a lot of live-action shows (some were based on Astrid Lindgren books). Some were more to be education than entertainment (I think Kindergarten and schools are for education).

In 1987 a third Swedish television channel begun operating, which was private and aviable through cable television and parabolic antenna. Soon, a lot of US cartoons came to Sweden. And the children's programme host Skurt ("a frog Doll") and Inga-May were even educational. They visited places to teach how things worked, had a 1991 Christmas calendar witha an old train to teach about the world 100 years ago (late 19th/early 20th century), visited missionary schools in Ethiopia, Kenya and Liberia (not to broadcast any religious propaganda, but to teach about children in Africa), talked to the Swedish queen (even if I hate monarchy) and learned about the European Union.

[Mona_Lisa]

One of the shows I wasn't allowed to watch was The Simpsons because my dad felt that Bart was a bad influence.

I wasn't allowed to watch the Simpsons either.

Pokemon took a lot of the same abuse.
What was wrong with Pokemon?

Ren and stimpy.
I hate Ren and stimpy, it was gross and dumb!

[discordiatookie]

What was wrong with Pokemon?




Wasn't that the show that seemingly had kids going into seizures in front of the telly, due to the mad animation?

[Candy Kappa]

Wasn't that the show that seemingly had kids going into seizures in front of the telly, due to the mad animation?

that episode only aired in japan, but Pokemon had other crazy stuff like use of gun in a episode, and James blow-up boobs....

and since they had Pokemon duels fanatics probably screamed it made children violent:trolleye:

[Cipher]

Pokemon got a lot of (ridiculous) opposition during the fad for being too violent and instilling anti-Christian values in children. You can still find plenty of articles about it.

But of course, now that it's settled into just being one of the top-selling game franchises each year rather than a global phenomenon, the critics seem to have vanished. They only care when something reaches a certain level of popularity.

Hell, I'm sure you can find some negative press about Beanie Babies if you look.

[Powder]

The only controversy the other children & I knew was the misuse of the franchises name in the media.

News reports talking about the POKEYMAN PHENOMINA.

We hated that the adults couldn't pronounce it right.

Heh.


EDIT: For Mona Lisa,

http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Pok%C3%A9mon_controversy

[METALHEAD]

my mom allowed me to watch ninja turtles, transformers, he-man, she was a groovy woman. she wasn't stritct...hell i even watched wizards (1977) which was violent AND heavy metal. .... heavy metal still disturbs me...can't watch it for some reason...

but anyways....if it had sex in it thats a nono. violence? i dunno...i was a kid when i saw robocop. an terminator 2. *shurgs* and i am in a catholic family.

[Original TMNT Cartoon Fan]

I think a lot of more violence has been carried out in the name of religion than in the name of shows.

[gobo]

if it had sex in it thats a nono.
It had Irma in it. Care to rephrase? :P

[Mona_Lisa]

It had Irma in it. Care to rephrase? :P

That’s a joke right????:tsmile:

[gobo]

Meaning "was that supposed to be funny?" Yes. But, it is a legitimate concern at the same time. If some parents were too conservative to look the other way for the sparse violence in TMNT, why could they do so for the man-hungry Irma? Doesn't make much sense, does it?

[Mutagen Mutant]

I do remember a book called 'Ninja turtles exposed' which said april oneil acted too provocatively & her character design would teach young boys to.. I don't know, like, stare at her breasts (they worded it differently). Also of course the nunchuku were considered a lethal weapon in several states so advocating its use was questionable to some adults. Another note, in an issue of the archie comics series some manic christian said the comic would corrupt him & his younger brother for having mentioned zen within its pages. People will bastardize anything if they look hard enough. Its just a case of over analytic parents. I would love to bash religion for its faults but hey, I'll leave that one alone.

Michaelangelo's nunchucks were the first to go from the cartoon series because of this. He henceforth used that grappling hook, which is wrong. I remember nunchucks being singled out too, as if katanas that could cut off your head like a watermellon, or sais that could gut you like a fish, or a bo 4 feet long weren't dangerous? It probably would have been lame if everyone had a grappling hook, but there you go nunchucks lost out. I remember thereafter getting a REAL pair of nunchucks to play with, which I still have, thinking they sure aren't taking these away from me.

[plastroncafe]

Saturday Mornings were family bonding times in my household. My father and I would spend quite literally hours in front of the television watching reruns of Loony Toons and Bullwinkle. Both of which have quite a bit of violence and gunplay in them. Or well, they did before they were censored in the late mid 90s.

So when it came to watching the Turtles...that was nothing. I mean, after you watch a bunch of rabbits commit suicide because Bugs lost yet another race to the Tortoise, exploding ninja robots is nothing.

Though, I do have to say that I find it truly disturbing that we're more than willing to let young kids see so much violence, but even the slightest hint of sexuality and it's Rated R time.

[Revan]

That’s a joke right????:tsmile:
That's kind of his thing. Gobo and Jester tend to joke around a lot.

Anyway. Let me tell you a story.
When I was 6, my parents went out to dinner together and called a sitter for me. During the course of the evening I made a trip to the kitchen, grabbed a couple butter knives, and started waving them around at my babysitter. "I'm a ninja turtle," I said. She freaked out and told my parents and my mother took ALL MY TURTLE FIGURES AWAY. Worst day of my young life. Now I wasn't brilliant by any means but I wasn't stupid either. So I guess what I am trying to say is that kids can be influenced to behaving "violently." The only catch is, I didn't intend to be violent. I was simply imitating my heroes and that behavior happened to be construed as violence. Bottom line. Yes, kids (myself) can be more "violent" as a result of watching characters who act that way.

[Krutch]

My parents are Roman Catholic and they had no problem with me loving the Turtles. And I even remember two of my teachers talking about how they thought the show was funny and would watch it even when their kids weren't around.

[Original TMNT Cartoon Fan]

He-Man was probably more blamed for being a violent show than TMNT.

[hudemx]

He-Man was probably more blamed for being a violent show than TMNT.

Really? Even as a Child I always though He-Man was just a "Piece of Stockfootage":lol:

Yeah I never like that show...or any other Filmation show...

[plastroncafe]

That's kind of his thing. Gobo and Jester tend to joke around a lot.

Anyway. Let me tell you a story.
When I was 6, my parents went out to dinner together and called a sitter for me. During the course of the evening I made a trip to the kitchen, grabbed a couple butter knives, and started waving them around at my babysitter. "I'm a ninja turtle," I said. She freaked out and told my parents and my mother took ALL MY TURTLE FIGURES AWAY. Worst day of my young life. Now I wasn't brilliant by any means but I wasn't stupid either. So I guess what I am trying to say is that kids can be influenced to behaving "violently." The only catch is, I didn't intend to be violent. I was simply imitating my heroes and that behavior happened to be construed as violence. Bottom line. Yes, kids (myself) can be more "violent" as a result of watching characters who act that way.

It's probably no surprise to anyone that there are quite a few studies backing up your anecdotal evidence. That yes indeed, children mimic the behavior they see.

Having said that, cartoons are not to blame for violent behavior. Parents are. There's one study in particular, and I can go searching for the source to cite if anyone likes, where they skimmed the "most violent" children from one of these traditional studies. Then split them into two groups.

The control was just shown plain old ordinary television.
The experimental group watched television with an adult who then talked to them about what they saw when the show was over.

What they found was that the experimental group's violent tendencies dropped like a rock due to having the context of the behavior explained to them.

Now back to anecdotal evidence.
I only ever tried to fly once. I wanted to be Mighty Mouse. After my father pried me off of the banister 15 feet above the ground, he sat me down and gave me the "reality is not fiction" talk. I couldn't have been more than four.

That was it. I still got to watch my favorite cartoons, including Mighty Mouse. I just never tried to fly like him ever again.
(though...I also developed a very sizable fear of falling)

[Revan]

Parents def need to take responsibility for talking with their kids. Not just about violence but everything. It's no secret that kids mimic the behavior of adults. Little girls play house and carry baby dolls around. Young boys play cowboys and indians and cops and robbers.
It's not to say that television is to blame for violent behavior but it can have an influence if it is the only source of information a kid gets. Parents need to be that other source and be teachers.

[Original TMNT Cartoon Fan]

That's kind of his thing. Gobo and Jester tend to joke around a lot.

Anyway. Let me tell you a story.
When I was 6, my parents went out to dinner together and called a sitter for me. During the course of the evening I made a trip to the kitchen, grabbed a couple butter knives, and started waving them around at my babysitter. "I'm a ninja turtle," I said. She freaked out and told my parents and my mother took ALL MY TURTLE FIGURES AWAY. Worst day of my young life. Now I wasn't brilliant by any means but I wasn't stupid either. So I guess what I am trying to say is that kids can be influenced to behaving "violently." The only catch is, I didn't intend to be violent. I was simply imitating my heroes and that behavior happened to be construed as violence. Bottom line. Yes, kids (myself) can be more "violent" as a result of watching characters who act that way.

You mean a wooden butter knife?

[GK Punk]

Really? Even as a Child I always though He-Man was just a "Piece of Stockfootage":lol:

Yeah I never like that show...or any other Filmation show...

I love Filmation. Especially MotU. They were able to make up for their negatives with good story telling, and they helped create a rather large mythology for MotU. Which I find kind of shocking because of how silly the concept is, but I guess if you have talented writers it happens.

[Ninjinister]

One "controversy" (Lord I hate that word) that I recall surrounding TMNT at one time, was that there were a few parents freaking out because they thought Splinter would brainwash them into entering a "Zen cult". Like, really.

You mean a wooden butter knife?

Er... probably not. I've never even heard of ones made of wood.

[Luzmagica]

When my father was a kid,....TV was young in black/white ... Long time ago....he (and his friends)..and go out to the old cinema after saw a cowboys movies, all of them come out playing at cowboys...when they saw a mosqueters movie all of them come out playing with wooden sticks like swords, when they saw a war movie all of them play to war!!....its not violence,(we can smile at those old inocent movies these days) its just a game of imitation....

[gobo]

its not violence,(we can smile at those old inocent movies these days) its just a game of imitation....
That may be true of children's intention, but the point is that, from a psychological standpoint, they are conditioning themselves to think the behavior is hrmless and may end up accidentally poking a friend's eye out or end up using the behaviour outside of its make-believe context when they lose their cool.

I still remember that time I kamehamehaed my sister for beating me at checkers. "B-But... that's how Goku solves his problems!" Getting grounded at age 20 is so humiliating... :cry:
when they saw a mosqueters movie all of them come out playing with wooden sticks like swords
:lol::lol: Oh, you non-English-speakers and your silly spellings... Now, you've got me imagining three giant mosquitos fencing with their proboscises (mouth cones). ^_^

[Revan]

You mean a wooden butter knife?

http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb94/kalaneutrino/knife.png

[Mona_Lisa]

That's kind of his thing. Gobo and Jester tend to joke around a lot.

Anyway. Let me tell you a story.
When I was 6, my parents went out to dinner together and called a sitter for me. During the course of the evening I made a trip to the kitchen, grabbed a couple butter knives, and started waving them around at my babysitter. "I'm a ninja turtle," I said. She freaked out and told my parents and my mother took ALL MY TURTLE FIGURES AWAY. Worst day of my young life. Now I wasn't brilliant by any means but I wasn't stupid either. So I guess what I am trying to say is that kids can be influenced to behaving "violently." The only catch is, I didn't intend to be violent. I was simply imitating my heroes and that behavior happened to be construed as violence. Bottom line. Yes, kids (myself) can be more "violent" as a result of watching characters who act that way.

Wow, that is kind of funny, but sad that you had all your turtles taken away.
I was allowed to watch the Ninja Turtles, and even imitate them to some extent. I wasn't allowed to have fake weapons though.... And I REALLY wanted them LOL!!! I remember once a snuck and bought a sling shot with my own money, and my mom took it away.
:trolleye:

[Tomoshibi Amatsu]

I remember when I was 5 years old in 1989. I watched the turtles and my mom was always okay with it though I did my share of stupid things. Like for instance. My mom ran a snack bar in the museum and when I would play sometimes I'd grab an actual knife. Mainly the biggest one I could find and then run down the hallways pretending I was Leonardo. XD

eh it never made my mom think bad of the turtles. She did worry that I might trip one of those days, but it never happened.

[Kendamu]

When I was a kid, there were a few kids who didn't watch TMNT because their parents thought it was too violent or whatever but they were so few in number that they were basically "weird" and were treated with that kind of politeness that kids would show to the classmate who has to get around in a wheelchair or something.

Yeah. Not being able to watch TMNT was treated like a horrible disease or injury where you felt sorry for the kids who couldn't. It was that popular to those of us born in the 1983-ish range (give or take a couple years).

On my end, my mom and my best friend's grandmother (who he lived with) were the types who taught us the difference between reality and fiction rather early. So, to them, it was no problem that we were practicing the Karate his uncle taught us or the Karate we picked up at the sessions at the YMCA or swinging around makeshift wooden "Ninja" weapons. We knew how to control our sparring and we only swung our weapons at imaginary opponents. Our parental figures didn't treat us like idiots and, in return, we didn't act like idiots and reenact TV violence on each other.

[Tomoshibi Amatsu]

Well it's not like you ever saw kids burying their heads in sand when it came to TMNT unlike that other overrated fad.

[Kendamu]

Well it's not like you ever saw kids burying their heads in sand when it came to TMNT unlike that other overrated fad.

Nah. They just fell into the sewer instead.

[Tomoshibi Amatsu]

Nah. They just fell into the sewer instead.

Don't ever remember that happening.

[gobo]

I remember the incident. I believe it was in no way related to TMNT, but people just joked that it was. Snowball effect soon followed.

[Gyt Kaliba]

I LOLd at the kamehameha mention gobo. Yay for more anime recognition among Turtles fandom (which is what I credit for getting me into anime in a way).

As for the Naruto incident, the kid burying his head in the sand, blaming that on the show in question is one of the stupidest things I've heard, IMO. Question 1 - Where were the adults while his friends buried him that tightly? Question 2 - Why didn't his friends, I dunno, know to stop when he started struggling to get out. Cuz, let's face it, at some point that kid was going to have realized what was going on, and tried to get out.

[gobo]

Didn't someone go on a gay-bashing spree and blame it on the CooTS song, "Walk Straight"? At least "Tubin'" was well after Manson' time (amusement park ride blamin' psycho... :tgrumble: )
I LOLd at the kamehameha mention gobo.
^_^ *takes a bow*