Am I the only person who doesn't really like the OT any more?

[blockhead]

The OT is what got me into turtles as a kid. I saw it first and got the toys and the first 2 movies. I love the mirage comics now and the first move, second is decent. But rewatching the OT, I found it pretty painful to watch. All the episodes are pretty predictable, the turtles hardly ever use their weapons, shredder is incompetent. I don't really enjoy but a few episodes of it any more (mainly the first 5 ep mini series.) Anyone else like this? To me the turtles are the mirage comics and the OT is a bastardization of the comics. I like the 2k3 cartoon a lot more, but all the "shell" puns are unbearable and mikey is annoying. The mirage comics are awesome though and some of the archie ones are cool. I really like the toys (neca and playmates too) but the OT just seems like it has aged poorly to me.

[Samhain]

Well, I think alot of us like the OT strictly for the nostalgia. As for me, while the Mirage TMNT are my favorite I can enjoy the 80s toon for what it is. A kids cartoon. A classic 90s toon. Not a masterpiece by any means but I still enjoy it.

You dont enjoy it anymore because you are older now and you prefer a little bit more mature content. But dont forget, while the Mirage turtles were first, it its because of the toon you are on this forum right now.

[blockhead]

Yeah I agree with you man, the toon brought me to the forum and to the mirage turtles i love so much. I do like it some what for nostalgia, especially the theme song. It just gets a little too repetitive for me now. I kind of wish I hadn't watched it again as an adult cause I remembered it being a lot better. Not that it doesn't have good aspects. I'm not trying to bash the original toon by any means, I was just dissapointed that I can't enjoy it like I used to.

[raphfan84]

I don't know many people who don't like the OT. I love the old toons, I was born in 1984 and the OT is what I grew up on and when I think of TMNT the OT is what comes to mind first. Even though I am 26 now I still love the OT I have almost all the seasons on dvd and I can sit down with my daughter and watch them and watch her enjoy it knowing the content of the cartoon is fine for her age. Everyone is titled to there opinions but rather you like the OT or not it will always be a part of TMNT as long as there around.:)

[nwafreak]

I still absolutely love the original cartoon! For many of us, its how our love for the tmnt first started. I still can't get enough of the classic hero-villain action. In fact, I wish we could all get together each weekend with munchies & coffee for an old toon marathon! Pure Awesomeness.

[blockhead]

That would definitely be fun to hang out with a bunch of other TMNT enthusiasts and watch the OT/the first two movies/the 2k3 series any of that stuff.

[Eiko]

I still love the ot i grew up with it as most of us here have. I watch it with my kids now and they love it.

[blockhead]

Even though I grew up with it I find it a little repetitive. I don't like how raph is just a smart ass instead of angry and rebellious. I don't like the lack of violence. It's good in it's own right, but doesn't hold a candle to the comics.

[sdp]

I like the OT and not because of nostalgia. While I did watch the OT as a kid, I really don't remember much of it at all, I may have been too young and it stopped airing when I got older, most of my TMNT childhood came from the toys and videogames. So when as I watched the OT DVDs I don't think I'm blinded by nostalgia and I really enjoy the show and definitely don't consider it inferior to the 2k3 show, just different. The show is just more fun and the lightheartedness works for it, I also don't consider the bad guys as incompetent as you the fandom some times makes them out to be as I watch other cartoons from that era they had far more incompetent villains while those shows were set in more serious universes.

As I've been watching the 2k3 show for basically the first time I've also realized the 2k3 is not as awesome as I used to think it was from what I had seen. It can get a bit flat and kinda drags. Its definitely missing more fun elements on the show, the comedy is just very childish and fails most of the time and its not serious enough to make up for the lack of comedy, so it doesn't really balance both really well and the show hurts because of it. Its still an awesome show don't get me wrong but I used to have much higher opinion on it when I had only watched a part of it and my opinion of the OT definitely grew. As far as Archie I think its way overrated, having never read any comics as a kid and was told how awesome they were I was very disappointed by them, they aren't bad but they are far from the best interpretation of the turtles. I understand why people like them though, they read them as kids and it was the turtles they loved but on a more serious setting.

[psyrusly]

Me too here.Introduced by OT,fav Mirage Comics,like 2k3.To me,2k3 is kinda like a fusion of OT and Mirage(Mixture of updated designs with slightly altered Mirage line story)It's nice that at the end of the day fans with different taste can enjoy different version of material from the multiverse.

[CyberCubed]

The original series works best when you think of it as a screwball comedy, which is what it was.

The entire cast made fun of themselves and knew the craziness of the show in general, and that's what made it fun. The show never took itself too seriously, (until the last few seasons), and just had a wild ride.

I'm in my 20's now and I still find the old toon fun when I watch the DVDs. Its just a show to turn your brain off and have fun with.

It was never intended to be anything more than an entertaining children's cartoon.

[blockhead]

okay you guys tell me what you think the best episode is and i'll watch it right now

[Jester]

okay you guys tell me what you think the best episode is and i'll watch it right now
Legend of Koji.

[Avatar Yuffie]

To be fair, media watchdogs are a lot tighter back then than now. I mean would 10 year old Ben Tennyson get kicked and punched in his cartoon if it was aired in the 80's? I really doubt it. Even the first live action TMNT movie made the "grown ups" put up such a ruckus the Turtles never used their weapons in the sequel.

I treat the OT and NT cartoons as different entities. I don't treat the other as "better" because in the end, they're both cartoons geared at different audiences of a different era with different directions. Sometimes I wanna watch OT Raphael make such a witty retort to the silliness of their adventures as much as watching NT Raphael kick butt because he's such a badass. I kinda contest with the "NT are faithful with Mirage" disclaimer (because honestly, if that had been the case April's should be a drawing and Splinter drops dead by season 4) simply because I see the NT as different from Mirage as the OT did.

I like them both. I was kinda sad with 2K3 TMNT dragged with the narration after season 3, and wish it didn't have to undergo retools, but it was fine as itself nonetheless.

Also... there's a feeling of weirdness when re-watching the OT and see them reference the World Trade Center or April threatening to blow up the Channel 6 building just so her boss can give her his permission for a tv crew (though Shredder DID blow up Channel 6 much later in the Red Sky seasons) or a space ship used to ram a bunker in a slave camp. Recent cartoons would definitely won't dare show that, I'm sure. It was a different time, back then...

[Original TMNT Cartoon Fan]

I think a lot of people have became more interested in other TMNT works throughout the years.

[cryan]

With the old toon.Put your brain in another romm and enjoy.The series began when is was about 12 at the time.So,yeah I was there at the beginning of the craze.Though I wasn't into it as much in reguards to the figures and what not but it was a fun escape.

[technicalfoul]

If you can accept the OT for being silly and having very little action, it's not a bad show. I prefer for it to be an action series which is why I prefer the 2003 show. The whole pizza thing in the OT gets really annoying too, which is why I really don't like OT Mike. I sometimes think every line of dialogue he has mentions pizza. The other turtles LIKE pizza, but it seems like Mike's entire character is based around it.

[gobo]

I appreciate the Original 'Toon for what it was, the partial-prequel to Archie's TMNT Adventures and prototype for 4Kids TMNT (among other things). But, I only really like the pilot season. I was just stricken with a lot of blind devotion as a child, and so I watched regularly, thinking every time, "it'll get non-embarassing again someday!" It came close from time to time (certain eps like "USAGI YOJIMBO"), but I never saw in any other ep what I appreciated about the first five.

[ToTheNines]

okay you guys tell me what you think the best episode is and i'll watch it right now

I see you've been banned for some reason, but I'll answer anyways.

"Usagi Yojimbo"

Every episode of season 1

The "Big" 3-part finale for season 3 (well part 2 and 3 at least).

[Sage Ninja]

I see you've been banned for some reason, but I'll answer anyways.

"Usagi Yojimbo"

Every episode of season 1

The "Big" 3-part finale for season 3 (well part 2 and 3 at least).

I concur. I'll even chime in and say most of season seven of the orginal series as well/ And for the record, am a gal in her twenties who still to this day enjoys her OT turtle series, and not just for the nostalgia.

[ToTheNines]

I concur. I'll even chime in and say most of season seven of the orginal series as well/ And for the record, am a gal in her twenties who still to this day enjoys her OT turtle series, and not just for the nostalgia.

I remember before season 7 was out on DVD I watched a few of those episodes on youtube and fell in love with that season. Then when it came out I was kinda let down by them... but then upon a second go-through of the OT, I loved them again haha.

[Koi]

The OT reigns supreme to me.

[prescribeddrone]

The OT is still *alright* but when compared to the 2K3 version, it's a bit corny but in an amusing way.

[Fugitoid Jones]

I can't wait for the day when we're all comparing the OT, the 2K3 toon and the Nick Toon.

[Avatar Yuffie]

I concur. I'll even chime in and say most of season seven of the orginal series as well/ And for the record, am a gal in her twenties who still to this day enjoys her OT turtle series, and not just for the nostalgia.

I agree on Season 7. Actually, most episodes written by David Wise are pretty good.

My fave was the Starchild. It shows Leo and Mike are so good with kids (not so much with Raph), April surprisingly didn't get herself in trouble for getting the story, and Splinter being awesome.

[KittenBunny]

I think the original cartoon is full of action? I've been watching it back to back from ep one with the intention of going the whole way through all 200 odd of them! And to be honest I'm liking it more than I thought I would...
What do I like?
- the cuteness of the characters, and I prefer them this way, less serious cuz I can switch off to life's probs when I watch it! and the whole raph anger thing for me got over the top at times so I prefer the OT raph. the angry raph made me... angry, i'd just get so irritated and see him as a massive weak link due to his running off all the time and brooding.
- the awesome art design - I love vibrant colors and the anime feel of it, also the attention to detail... sure it has bloopers but they dont detract much for me
- the nice open to each ep and close at the end, i get the shizzles with cliff hanger endings and long continuing eps. :P
- I love the pizza references as i love to eat pizza? lol esp. desert pizzas.. im obsessed with them and go thru periods of ordering them days in a row, so I totally agree with mike there... and as for mike being iritating? I dont see that at all, at least he dose not scream like a girl and act like a twerp.... he's more chilled and laid back, which i totally love and dig about him in this series. Besides I also found the 2K3 mikey's actions often to be far too immature and also disrespectful for the character to be taken seriously as a capable and highly skilled martial artist- which 2K3 stresses that he is- anyone who's studied martial arts would understand where i'm coming from.. to study even a bit (let alone making it your life like it is to the turtles) changes you soo much, it leaves its mark on you greatly, making you a much more respectable, logical & mature person
- its just really fun to watch and the comedy, some of it is very clever, though i dont appreciate them breaking the cinematic 4th wall rule in virtually every single episode, i find that a bit much and also felt it played down the crew's respect for the show's stories and the jobs they were doing.
- The type of action they have in these episodes I like, as its not gory, reptitive movements/sequences and stressful to watch or anything... i hated image's mutilation and i generally get bored of guts and blood and long drawn out fights so i like the OT's really unique non-violent means of difusing fights and problem situations, they always came up with something macguyver like or simple yet effective!
- I LOVE the tie ins with the toys !!! like the sewer seltzer cannon, and all the other awesome toys, talk about effective product placement!
- and being the girl i am, I love the domestic side of the turtles, seeing them hanging out at the lair, sleeping, eating, training and doing things like a normal person would :) this is something i relish most!! esp. their little pizza parties as a reward for every tough battle won!
- the intro of tons of new truly unique and excellently designed both visually and personality wise characters in lots of episodes rocked....

As for the great charcaterisation and design as a prime point- the best example I can think of is Leatherhead. The original Leatherhead kicked butt, he was just the coolest most bad-ass character, the way he talked, and acted was just classic! and he had so much personality! He is way way cooler than the 2K3's take on LH. who was as a sciencey geek who I felt lacked personality... just another brooding tourchered soul intellectual trapped in the body of a monster, the typical beauty and the beast type scenario ... yawn

all in all, very entertaining and incredibly visually appealing series I say, kids show or not!

[KittenBunny]

I forgot to mention: anyway above all of what i've said, whoever disses the original turtles but then simultaneously accolades and wants to 'rub one out' to turtle hentai is obviously a fruit cake and their 'criticisms' leave little if anything to be taken seriously.....

[gobo]

Why ya gotta remind us all that was said? :sick:

[Luzmagica]

- and being the girl i am, I love the domestic side of the turtles, seeing them hanging out at the lair, sleeping, eating, training and doing things like a normal person would :)!


100% Agree too with this part...
Maybe because I´m a girl too... :)

[Candy Kappa]

I love the domestic side of the turtles, seeing them hanging out at the lair, sleeping, eating, training and doing things like a normal person would :) this is something i relish most!!
I think all the incarnations of the turtles have these moments.
It's a vital plot point to show the turtles in a relate-able angle for the viewer, making their situation not being a part of society stronger.

The original Leatherhead kicked butt
The Original Leatherhead is pretty awesome, the second incarnation is not too bad either :P

[TheCanadiandrome]

the OT ftw! that was my intro into TMNT fandom!

then got into the comics both Mirage and Archie, but always liked the OT best

[Jester]

If it wasn't for the old toon I wouldn't be a Turtle fan...or a fan of voice over actors. Some of the best worked on TMNT, Tress MacNeille, Pat Fraley, Jim Cummings, Peter Cullen, Cam Clarke, and of course Rob Paulsen.

[Discogod]

I only watched the first 3 seasons or so, but watching most episodes back now is pretty tough. It's not aged well and the animation is a lot worse than I remember.

I still love the first mini-season - the designs were great, but I didn't like how cartoony they got later on, and it was about as serious as the OT got - and some of the second season eps are decent, but like most cartoons of its era it's hard to sit through too much.

[Koi]

If it wasn't for the old toon I wouldn't be a Turtle fan...or a fan of voice over actors. Some of the best worked on TMNT, Tress MacNeille, Pat Fraley, Jim Cummings, Peter Cullen, Cam Clarke, and of course Rob Paulsen.

Top two fav. voice actors are in that list ;)