Does anyone think we should see the main cast age with each passing season?

[CyberCubed]

I was wondering if the show will be running in real-time. For example Season 1 has the Turtles at 15 and April at 16.

Then when Season 2 begins the Turtles can be 16 and April will be 17.

That means over the course of the show we'd see the Turtles maturing, and even stuff like April becoming a woman and going off to College. Anyone think this is a possibility?

[The Stryker]

Not really.

[HerpDerp]

No, because that limits how many seasons/episodes they could do.

[CyberCubed]

Not really.

It would be odd if we're in like say...Season 5 and the Turtles are still 15 year olds.

The way I see it this show is setting out to have them grow and mature, I definitely would like to see them act a bit older in the later seasons if the show continues to go on for a long time.

[The Stryker]

It would be odd if we're in like say...Season 5 and the Turtles are still 15 year olds.

The way I see it this show is setting out to have them grow and mature, I definitely would like to see them act a bit older in the later seasons if the show continues to go on for a long time.

Why would it be odd? It would be no different from 90% of all other cartoons.

Hell Phineas and Ferb are still on that ONE summer after 4 seasons.

[sykosis]

Maybe, every 2 or 3 so seasons they could age them one year or so. I dunno. I dont think they will do it, but that would make the most sense to me

[sykosis]

Why would it be odd? It would be no different from 90% of all other cartoons.

Hell Phineas and Ferb are still on that ONE summer after 4 seasons.

Right, the south park boys have only had 2 birthdays in the past 14 seasons

[CyberCubed]

Why would it be odd? It would be no different from 90% of all other cartoons.

Hell Phineas and Ferb are still on that ONE summer after 4 seasons.

TMNT looks to have a narrative though, its not just a mindless comedy romp like Spongebob or Nick's other shows.

[chrisdude]

I could go either way. I definitely want to see them mature and grow, as people. It'd be awkward to do that if they didn't age.

[ZariusTwo]

No, because that limits how many seasons/episodes they could do.

But what interest is there in an unchanging status quoe? Unless you're a sheep who eats anything TMNT related with a spoon regardless of good scripts or not, I don't think anyone wants this franchise ending up like Spongebob and The Simpsons. If you want this type of show to keep going in this day and age, it's characters have got to evolve.

Personally, I'd much rather this show have a limited five year run than go on forever, the quality is kept under control better when you have a finite number, and it permits it's writers to go crazy with the consequential drama.

Hell Phineas and Ferb are still on that ONE summer after 4 seasons.

That may be true, but at least the characters in that show take several leaps in progression over the course of it (excluding the ones that require time travel and memory erasing to undo them)

[Donatello19]

No, that would be weird.

[pannoni1]

Well the Turtles have "mutation days" in this version, but it could be timed where each season lasts six months so that the series could last as long as 10 seasons as the executive producer hopes it could. Still, having April graduating high school and going to college and/or interning is something I'd like to see. Of course the show could drop the "Teenage Mutant" and just call itself "Ninja Turtles" if they decide to let the Turtles enter their twenties. Even the OT had shades of aging with Red Sky, with the Turtles' heads looking a bit older and April aging as well, with Splinter's voice sounding more mellow in later seasons in addition.

[Fugitoid Jones]

Most tv shows (especially animated shows) aren't told in real time. A week between episodes doesn't necessarily mean the characters have aged a week. 3 seasons could only equal out to a year for them.

I do think you can do character progression, but it doesn't have to be because of they age in real time.

[Donatello19]

Most tv shows (especially animated shows) aren't told in real time. A week between episodes doesn't necessarily mean the characters have aged a week. 3 seasons could only equal out to a year for them.

I do think you can do character progression, but it doesn't have to be because of they age in real time.

That's true about how they are not told in real time, i didn't even think about that

[oldmanwinters]

I expect they'll probably age April a little bit... after they introduce Casey Jones.

[ZariusTwo]

No, that would be weird.

Somebody is clearly forgetting the comics TMNT aged into their 30s

Don't be so stupid. It's not weird at all.

[bloodstainedwings]

No, if this was cannon for all cartoons we would not have 24 years of the Simpsons would we? But on the other hand some people might not see this as a bad thing.

[Gyt Kaliba]

I could see it going either way. I won't be surprised if they don't age really, but it'd be nice if they did ever so slightly. I wouldn't expect another 'birthday' for them until season 3 or something if I had to guess though.

[Scud]

It's an interesting idea that should be apply to some comic book runs. I remember an interview with Brian Michael Bendis whenhe said 100 issues of the Ultimate Spider-Man would be one year of Peter Paker's life

For Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle, in five years once they hit 20 you would have to change the name of the show. :trazz:

[Chris]

Well OT didn't age but 2K3 did (though not in real time) so there's president for both. I hope they do age them over time, it allows for some interesting story progression rather than just maintaining the status quo.

It could also be interesting if, after a few seasons, they did a time jump like Young Justice did.

[TonySiegel]

It'll be a change from the "usual" cartoons that keep their characters "ageless". I would personally love to see the characters grow old.

[oldmanwinters]

It'll be a change from the "usual" cartoons that keep their characters "ageless". I would personally love to see the characters grow old.

There have been a few high-profile cartoons in recent years that haven't been afraid to age (in a noticeable manner) their characters a little:
Justice League/Unlimited
Young Justice
Ben 10 franchise
Legion of Super Heroes
Avatar/Legend of Korra

I'm sure there are a few more, but I can't think of any at the present moment.

[Zulithe]

Maybe if the show goes on for many, many seasons.

In comics we see it all the time. Spider-Man started as 15yo back in the 60s, today he's much older. But this creates its own problems: like, maybe 15yo spider-man is simply more interesting than adult spider-man! And then we see marvel create things like Ultimate Spider-Man to alleviate that issue.

So it is a double-edged sword. Usually cartoons do not last for 50+ years so I think aging them is okay if they don't get it out of hand. I would only support it if it had a real purpose though. Do not age them simply for the sake of making them older, it has to serve a story purpose. As people get older, things change.

[miru]

I think they should age slightly. They did in the original comic.

[Jester]

I'd like to point this discussion to M*A*S*H for a moment if I may. One of the reasons that that show was canceled was that it ran longer than the conflict it was based upon, the Korean War, by 7 years. In a live action show, that can be telling as the actors do age that time. An animated show could, technically run for several seasons and only be about a year. I mean, we see the Turtles for 26 23 minute chunks a season. That comes to only about 10 hours. That's less than a day. Now, I'm not saying that a 23 minute episode is equal to only 23 minutes of "real time" in the series, but conceivably several seasons worth of adventures could happen in "one year" in the series. That's not to say I think the characters should remain the same one note characters for those seasons, but a lot can happen over several seasons of 26 23 minute episodes.

[TheSkeletonMan939]

I'd like to see them take the route Spectacular Spider-Man did - the first episode of that series took place on the first day of school, the beginning of September. I think the series finale took place around April the next year.

So what I'm saying is that it'd be nice for them to allude to time passing, with episodes taking place on holidays and such.

In a perfect world, I'd like to see as part of the title cards the exact date the episode takes place on (the route Young Justice takes) but seeing as this wasn't done in Rise of the Turtles, I assume this won't ever be the case.

[MST3KFan]

Well OT didn't age but 2K3 did (though not in real time) so there's president for both. I hope they do age them over time, it allows for some interesting story progression rather than just maintaining the status quo.

It could also be interesting if, after a few seasons, they did a time jump like Young Justice did.

A kind of awkward time jump though if I recall correctly...

[Cure]

A kind of awkward time jump though if I recall correctly...

How was it awkward?

[BubblyShell22]

I could go either way with this, but I think it would be cool if they did age eventually. I'm not saying they should age every season, but maybe a few seasons down the line, you could age them up a bit. That would be kind of cool.

[TMNT is cooler than MOTU]

Maybe not necessarily 1 year per season, but it would be nice to watch the characters evolve over time.

[cACHI]

ya i would like to see them age

[Vegeta]

That would be pretty cool, kind of like a naruto type thing.

[Ninjawolf]

Yay for necroing threads! I think they should age... TMNT has an ongoing plot shows like Spongebob are episodic in nature and no ongoing plots (which is why I kinda hate episodic shows...) so logically time will pass as the plot goes on... I like the each Season=6 months... that'd be 10 seasons covering 5 years... and I do kinda want to see April and the others grow up...

[RiseAbove873]

I was wondering if the show will be running in real-time. For example Season 1 has the Turtles at 15 and April at 16.

Then when Season 2 begins the Turtles can be 16 and April will be 17.

That means over the course of the show we'd see the Turtles maturing, and even stuff like April becoming a woman and going off to College. Anyone think this is a possibility?

I wouldn't mind if they aged in this series. Let's say the show runs for five years, they'd all still be relatively young, yet more mature. The characters in the previous shows always felt older anyway.

[chrisdude]

I'd like to see them take the route Spectacular Spider-Man did - the first episode of that series took place on the first day of school, the beginning of September. I think the series finale took place around April the next year.

So what I'm saying is that it'd be nice for them to allude to time passing, with episodes taking place on holidays and such.This. And April going to school would be interesting. Are we under the assumption that it's summer, now?

[TheSkeletonMan939]

This. And April going to school would be interesting. Are we under the assumption that it's summer, now?

Or she just plays hooky. And with her dad gone, who can stop her?

[Gyt Kaliba]

Or she just plays hooky. And with her dad gone, who can stop her?

You'd think that aunt she's supposedly staying with would have a problem with it...but who knows. She hasn't been mentioned since anyway.

[ToTheNines]

This. And April going to school would be interesting. Are we under the assumption that it's summer, now?

It is. The Bradford billboard in New Friend, Old Enemy said so. Should be Fall soon though.

[zodiac brave]

i think a mutation day episode here and there throughout the seasons would be fair enough to denote that, yes, time is passing. other than that, the sort of standard cartoon formula of "suspended aging" is cool with me! :D

[Coola Yagami]

I kinda doubt they would. And if they did, they wouldn't change visually. The 2K3 Turtles have been through alot, and you can say they're older in season 5 than they were in season 1... but they look exactly the same. The only difference they have were the art shifts in Fast Forward and Back to the Sewers.

I'm not completely sure, but isn't Ash from Pokemon supposed to be older within the show, even though he still looks the same as he does in the first season minus the new clothes?

[CyberCubed]

I'm not completely sure, but isn't Ash from Pokemon supposed to be older within the show, even though he still looks the same as he does in the first season minus the new clothes?

Nah, Ash is still 10...even though the show has been running for 15 years. Its ridiculous and makes no sense, but they haven't aged him at all. Everyone else in Pokemon hasn't aged either, even though some look a little older now.

[Coola Yagami]

Speaking of which what do you think of the Simpsons. Some characters have gone through a marriage here and there. Apu was single, later got married, his wife got pregnant, they have kids, the babies are later toddler and can walk and such..... all while the Simpsons family themselves haven't changed at all. Maggie will forever be a baby even if Apu's kids learn to talk.

[Ravenxl7]

Would be interesting to see the Turtles gradually mature over time, but not a year per season. Maybe every two or three seasons. That said, I can't see them actually doing it. If it was 2D/traditional animation, I could possibly see it happen, but not with CGI. They'll want to put most, if not all, of the allotted CGI budget to go towards new characters and environments, rather than revamping the looks of the main characters every season or two.

We'll ultimately just have to wait and see.

[Coola Yagami]

Mature, yes. Age, sure. Actually re-draw them and make them look visually different? I kinda doubt it... with the possible exception of April maybe.. but it's still iffy.

[Bossa Nova]

The only thing I really care about is if the Turtles continue to mature and grow from their experiences mentally. If they go through physical changes I'd prefer if it came about from an actual incident of some sort in the past (such as Leo's damaged shell in Season 4 of the 2k3 series), not just the fact that they're older and suddenly they change to reflect that. As others have mentioned, I'm cool if the Turtles age, but not a year per season, perhaps a year per 2-4 seasons sounds about right for me.

[Candy Kappa]

I can go either way, this is a cartoon after all.

And in cartoon land theres X-mas 6 times a year

[BladeEdge86]

Though I wouldn't mind seeing them age I think it should be done a bit more slowly, I don't want them growing up too fast especially the resident goofball Michelangelo.