View Full Version : Why was Mikey's Nunchucks replaced in the Classic Cartoon?
Redmage1987
08-26-2010, 12:09 AM
I own the 4th Season of the Cartoon on DVD, I noticed that they replaced Michelangelo's Nunchucks with that Grappling Hook of sorts. Why did they replace them? Something happen to them Storywise? Or did parents complain about how dangerous they were or some crap? Sorry if this has been asked, just kind of curious, lol. :)
Leonardo87
08-26-2010, 12:54 AM
I could be wrong or right here but, they took them out count of overseas like England because they were banned over there. Since they wanted to make TMNT a worldwide name, they probably did it for that reason.
This was done to make it easier to edit for foreign audiences. I'm just now watching the CBS eps of Season 4 for the first time in years, and I was surprised to find that they actually did show Mike swinging his 'chucks a couple times. It's just a 'blink and you'll miss it' sorta thing. Still, all this time, I thought CBS was strictly anti-'chucks.
Raph's Girl
08-26-2010, 01:14 AM
I own the 4th Season of the Cartoon on DVD, I noticed that they replaced Michelangelo's Nunchucks with that Grappling Hook of sorts. Why did they replace them? Something happen to them Storywise? Or did parents complain about how dangerous they were or some crap? Sorry if this has been asked, just kind of curious, lol. :)
In much of europe nunchucks were banned at the time. Some kids did get hurt using them so his nunchucks were replaced by grappling hooks. In the UK every scene in the 1st movie using nunchucks was even edited out (but a couple years ago the film was re-released unedited in the UK). Also in Europe the word ninja was bad and was considered to promote violence so they were called the Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles instead.
I believe the only country that still has a ban on nunchucks is Norway. The UK has since lightened up on them (but swords are now banned).
Luzmagica
08-26-2010, 02:32 AM
Hope Leonardo dont hear that.... :P:lol: ...
It will be a sad story a ninja adventure without swords!!
A good new after all know they are forgive the nunchuks!! :D
bridgegrn
08-26-2010, 06:58 AM
pretty much the same reason they didnt show Mikey letting loose in TMNT it seems
Andrew NDB
08-26-2010, 12:07 PM
pretty much the same reason they didnt show Mikey letting loose in TMNT it seems
So what's the excuse for none of the other Turtles "letting loose" either?
TheCanadiandrome
08-26-2010, 03:12 PM
This was done to make it easier to edit for foreign audiences. I'm just now watching the CBS eps of Season 4 for the first time in years, and I was surprised to find that they actually did show Mike swinging his 'chucks a couple times. It's just a 'blink and you'll miss it' sorta thing. Still, all this time, I thought CBS was strictly anti-'chucks.
yeah, lol i kinda thought the same thing
bridgegrn
08-26-2010, 04:15 PM
So what's the excuse for none of the other Turtles "letting loose" either?
just cut and paste from all your other debates on the subject
ooglafina
08-26-2010, 04:25 PM
just cut and paste from all your other debates on the subject
Well, it's true.
bridgegrn
08-26-2010, 04:33 PM
Meh. My point was that Mikey never swung his nunchucks, never hit anyone with them etc. At least Raph and Leo were shown using their weapons on others. Don barely used his too but that's very much within his character to take the 'less is more' approach to fighting.
I at least liked how the OT at least phased out the chucks slowly by showing mikey use both the chucks and the grappling hook before completely switching over.
Although I wish they had given him Tonfas or something since ALL the turtles had the same grappling hooks Mikey had so he was out of a unique weapon and Tonfas are similar to nunchuks.
Candy Kappa
08-26-2010, 05:45 PM
I believe the only country that still has a ban on nunchucks is Norway.
yup, or rather everything that can go under "Karate Sticks" is illegal, unless you have a permit or practice martial arts I guess. some weapons police are less strict on.
But with the vague law, I guess some police officers can be douche and label most wooden weapons as "Karate Sticks"
Nunchucks that are not coated for protection is a definitive no-no.
Sage Ninja
08-26-2010, 09:23 PM
hmm, we all know the real reason it was phased out, but in the context of the story, what excuse do you think could be given for him not using them any more?
Inefficiency, perhaps? :ohwell:
Storywise Mikey got bored of the chucks and saw the grappling hook much more interesting with the larger reach and could play along more with it. Not to mention it was technically also more useful than his chucks since he rarely used them even in combat anyways and the grappling hook was rather useful in the OT universe where things were wackier and on a larger scale than just one to one combat.
Well thats the best I can come up with.
Redeemer
08-27-2010, 05:51 AM
Hope Leonardo dont hear that.... :P:lol: ...
It will be a sad story a ninja adventure without swords!!
A good new after all know they are forgive the nunchuks!! :D
Then dont watch the 2nd movie :D
TheCanadiandrome
08-27-2010, 10:35 AM
Storywise Mikey got bored of the chucks and saw the grappling hook much more interesting with the larger reach and could play along more with it. Not to mention it was technically also more useful than his chucks since he rarely used them even in combat anyways and the grappling hook was rather useful in the OT universe where things were wackier and on a larger scale than just one to one combat.
Well thats the best I can come up with.
works for me
Luzmagica
08-27-2010, 12:14 PM
Then dont watch the 2nd movie :D
Touche! LOL!!! :D :D :D ;)
GodzFire
08-28-2010, 11:41 AM
I love the utter hypocritical ******** that Mikey's nunchucks were too 'violent and imitable', but swords, sais, and bows weren't. Oh, and how about Casey Jones using golf clubs and baseball bats? I'm still pissed off that happened, more than likely because Mike was my favorite.
Original TMNT Cartoon Fan
08-28-2010, 07:00 PM
Too violent for the UK market (who used censorship). But sais and swords were OK?
Mikey's nunchucks were considered inapproproate for a young audience considering their violent connotation.
Fugitoid Jones
08-31-2010, 08:01 PM
It's pretty silly because, aren't all weapons violent? How many weapons do you know that aren't all that violent? Sais, swords, bo staff, they're all violent. Maybe they should have used household items like vacuums and hair dryers to stop and contain enemies. Maybe everyone would be happy then. Except us kids, watching some lame show about Turtles using vacuums.
I can only guess the ideal of a non-violent weapon is the context in which it is used. So, ninjas using swords is more artsy than ninjas using chain-sticks, which, IIUC, is something invented to make Bruce Lee movies look cooler.
ooglafina
08-31-2010, 09:29 PM
It's pretty silly because, aren't all weapons violent? How many weapons do you know that aren't all that violent? Sais, swords, bo staff, they're all violent. Maybe they should have used household items like vacuums and hair dryers to stop and contain enemies. Maybe everyone would be happy then. Except us kids, watching some lame show about Turtles using vacuums.
I'd watch ninjas fight with vacuums.
Raph's Girl
08-31-2010, 09:48 PM
It's pretty silly because, aren't all weapons violent? How many weapons do you know that aren't all that violent? Sais, swords, bo staff, they're all violent. Maybe they should have used household items like vacuums and hair dryers to stop and contain enemies. Maybe everyone would be happy then. Except us kids, watching some lame show about Turtles using vacuums.
Well there WAS that one ep where the turtles didn't have their weopons so they used stuff they found in a broom closet... Raph kicked butt using spoons....
Sides.. Most ninja weopons didn't start out as weopons but farming tools. When the Damio banned swords the people started using whatever they had laying about. Sais are planting tools, Bo's are basically yolks, and nunchucks are used to beat rice and stuff.
Original TMNT Cartoon Fan
09-01-2010, 05:45 PM
It's pretty silly because, aren't all weapons violent? How many weapons do you know that aren't all that violent? Sais, swords, bo staff, they're all violent. Maybe they should have used household items like vacuums and hair dryers to stop and contain enemies. Maybe everyone would be happy then. Except us kids, watching some lame show about Turtles using vacuums.
Sounds more like the Ghostbusters. They used something like that to trap the ghoss inside.
The fear in the UK was actually that children would manufacture nunchuks at home.
ninjafowlkes8705
12-03-2010, 02:17 AM
that is bs besides Mikey , Leonardo Donatello and Raphael just have a grappling hook too unknown not just Michelangelo that is gay i stop watching it after season 4 at least the video game make more since to have his nunchucks in the game and the toys from 1988 - 1993 and the movies why i like 2003 they let him have his nunchucks.
Discogod
12-03-2010, 02:59 AM
Basically the guy in charge of UK film & video classification had a mad hate for nunchaku and the word ninja (a guy named James Furman, BTW). Anything submitted to the British Board of Film Classification that featured either of these things was refused a certificate, which effectively banned it from the UK.
Nunchaku were seen as "easily imitable" - i.e. kid could easily make a pair out of some sticks and string.
This policy was relaxed after Furman's retirement, which led to the 2K3 series being shown uncut.
What I don't understand is why the 'chucks weren't edited out of the UK videogames since they were so taboo. Was the Mikey action figure distributed with a grappling hook over there or was that one of the ways UK audiences knew about their country's censoring of the concept? O_o
they replaced Michelangelo's Nunchucks with that Grappling Hook of sorts.
I was thinking, could that be a source of inspiration for the Turtle Titan? Probably a long shot, but who knows.
shuriken
12-03-2010, 01:03 PM
^^ Ya know that makes sense. As a way to poke fun at the censorship of the OT.
I agree. I've always thought the same thing. It's pretty obvious that they weren't above poking fun at the show that kick-started Turtlemania. This one was just a less obvious nod. Even I keep forgetting about it. But, Mikey being the only Turtle to regularly use a grappling hook in 2K3? That just has to be a reference. If not, it's a very amusing, happy accident.
nwafreak
12-03-2010, 08:04 PM
I say Michelangelo should have used a pair of kamas after his chucks were edited out! I'd give him the kamas if I ever was able to achieve a dream of mine. A grown-ups only, no holds barred version of tmnt!! Plus, I always thought the kamas was an interesting weapon. Heh, me and my crazy dreams/ideas.
Candy Kappa
12-03-2010, 08:22 PM
I say Michelangelo should have used a pair of kamas after his chucks were edited out! I'd give him the kamas if I ever was able to achieve a dream of mine. A grown-ups only, no holds barred version of tmnt!! Plus, I always thought the kamas was an interesting weapon. Heh, me and my crazy dreams/ideas.
He had that in Next Mutation
gah! never mind, I mixed Kama with Tonfa...
raphfan84
12-03-2010, 08:29 PM
This is about the dumbest shi! iv ever heard!! Out of all the weapons they complain about Nunchucks??? That's crazy in my OP a sword is more violent.
That's crazy in my OP a sword is more violent.
I believe the argument in the favor of swords is that they are historically more culturally relevant as weapons, and therefore put the 'art' in martial arts... from what I understaand.
Candy Kappa
12-03-2010, 08:59 PM
This is about the dumbest shi! iv ever heard!! Out of all the weapons they complain about Nunchucks??? That's crazy in my OP a sword is more violent.
Nunchucks are a lot easier to duplicate by amateurs then swords
raphfan84
12-03-2010, 09:29 PM
Well yeah I guess I can see you guys point. But I like watching the Turtles use there weapons I wish they would not have took the chucks out. Didn't they take alot of weapon use out in the second movie?
Chucks were edited out of the UK release of Soul Blade on the PS1. How they remained in the UK released TMNT games is a blessing!
The Bruce Lee films also faced de-nunchucking too.
Watching the old toon uncensored these days is refreshing. It was'nt just nunchucks either cut out of the beeb broadcasts either, but all sorts of clips for whatever reason.
===HERO
Discogod
12-04-2010, 11:11 AM
Yeah, a lot of stuff was cut out of the UK 'toon. Aside from the weapons, shuriken were banned from being shown, the word "Ninja" could not be said (although it appeared in the background of a couple of eps) and a lot of the more American-centric references were cut. There was usually a minute or two cut for time reasons (as it originally ran in a 20-minute timeslot).
Watching the uncut version makes you realise how choppy our version was.
As for why nunchaku were allowed in the videogames, it's a lot harder to edit them out of a game than it is a cartoon. Most of the cartoon cuts were accomplished with reframes and freeze-frames, often in an obvious way...
So, just because it was too much work, 'chucks were allowed in videogames? What hypocrisy... :roll:
Original TMNT Cartoon Fan
12-12-2010, 05:07 AM
To fit for the moral panic that was going on int the UK at the time.
Hanzo the Razor
12-13-2010, 12:01 PM
Also, wouldn't a bo staff and sais be the most "imitatable"? A bo is just a long stick while a sai can be imitated with a knife from your kitchen.
Plus, all the karate fighting can be imitated with your hands and feet.
The dumb stuff censors think will help...
Discogod
12-15-2010, 01:19 PM
Well, in the UK there'd been a bit of a nunchaku craze in the 70's when Bruce Lee's films were big. This resulted in a lot of kids hurting themselves, so the weapons were banned and censored from most forms of media. We'll panic about anything, us. Anyway, eventually they were unbanned and they began to creep back into TV & films towards the late 90's. Nowadays there's little fuss about them.
According to the law, I am allowed to possess my chucks, but I'm technically not allowed to carry them in a public place (only martial arts instructors are, and then only in a secured bag or case). It's a bit of a grey area. There used to be a sports shop in my town that sold them - it was perfectly legal to go in there and buy a pair, but the second you handed over your cash and took possession you were breaking a law.
So to sum up, Britain is sh*t.
ninjafowlkes8705
12-31-2010, 12:08 AM
my grandma said mikey should keep his nunchucks and rapheal should remove his weapons his weapons are deadly
people going around stabbing somebody and stuff kids should not be playing with knifes rapheal should have the tonfas or slingshot.
Powder
12-31-2010, 12:29 AM
my grandma said mikey should keep his nunchucks and rapheal should remove his weapons his weapons are deadly
people going around stabbing somebody and stuff kids should not be playing with knifes rapheal should have the tonfas or slingshot.
Sais aren't sharp most of the time, nor are they supposed to be stabbed.
They have rounded edges and are a defense weapon. Nunchucks can do far more damage.
You have any idea how many pounds of pressure you get hit with? Lots.
Luzmagica
12-31-2010, 02:07 AM
Well, ......it was perfectly legal to go in there and buy a pair, but the second you handed over your cash and took possession you were breaking a law.
So to sum up, Britain is sh*t.
Something similar happens with swords/blades/knifes ...You can buy them,you can display them, you can ask a permission for having them, and for use them (martial arts), But If you carry (even inside of your trunk of your car inside of a gift box ) something more big than a finger with sharp, its non legal...You can be reported for having a weapon!!....
...The most amazing case I know it was a guy reported by police for having a small penknife for collector that was BOXED (MIC/MOC) after buy it in a tipical kioske of collectors !!!!!! I mean : it was SEALED in a packet!!!!...To sump up....sh*t everywhere!!!! :lol: :lol:
PD. I dont know how the Court process ended!!!...I know the guy needed take on a lawyer for defense !! ...Police confiscated the collector IN BOX mini penknife! After all...thanks the guy can buy those everywhere!!!!
It's pretty silly because, aren't all weapons violent? How many weapons do you know that aren't all that violent? Sais, swords, bo staff, they're all violent. Maybe they should have used household items like vacuums and hair dryers to stop and contain enemies. Maybe everyone would be happy then. Except us kids, watching some lame show about Turtles using vacuums.
True.:tlol:
Panda_Kahn_fan
01-06-2011, 09:37 AM
I never got the Whole 'Nunchuck ban' thing when I watched the OT as a kid. I never even noticed mikey not using his chucks (being a leo fan). I'm hoping they give Mikey his chucks and let him use them in the new show on Nick. Otherwise, I'd rather he had a set of Tonfas that he can use instead of Nunchucks always on his belt because he can't use them.
Andrew NDB
01-06-2011, 09:59 AM
I never got the Whole 'Nunchuck ban' thing when I watched the OT as a kid. I never even noticed mikey not using his chucks (being a leo fan). I'm hoping they give Mikey his chucks and let him use them in the new show on Nick. Otherwise, I'd rather he had a set of Tonfas that he can use instead of Nunchucks always on his belt because he can't use them.
I'd rather they not bother with a new show at all if they can't/won't show him using the weapon indicative of the character.
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