Your honest opinion of the 1987 cartoon - Then and Now [Archive]

LeotheLateBloomer

08-09-2014, 07:35 AM

Many of us grew up with the 1987 cartoon and it's what got us into the turtles. A lot of the merchandise that was released around the time were pretty awesome. However, now that we are grown up and delve deep within the TMNT mythos such as the Mirage comics, the movies and the 2003 series, over the years many of us have noticed that the show hasn't aged as well as we like. Some dislike the aspects of what it has left on other turtles incarnations. There are also those who only like that show and a few of the movies.

This isn't to start a war or anything but I want to ask you guys. What is your honest opinion of the 1987 cartoon now? Especially in comparison to the Mirage roots. Do you still think it is still as good as it used to be? Do think it holds up well? Are you appreciative for what it has done? What do you guys think of it?

Whatswiththeheadbands?

08-09-2014, 07:55 AM

To me, Season 1 is the best. If the whole series were like Season 1, I could watch the whole series. I don't really like Cartoons where the whole series is episodic and doesn't have a focus. This makes the 1980s TMNT series a chore to watch, for me. In fact, upon my first viewing, I didn't make it halfway through season 3.

So yeah, in summary I Respect the series and what it did, but it's not for me.

Prowler

08-09-2014, 08:00 AM

It's a huge part of my childhood. When I was a kid I thought it was the cream of the crop of action cartoons and viewed the turtles as "the cool kids in school" more or less :lol:

As I got older and watched more episodes it became clear to me that they weren't that badass after all and the show wasn't meant to be taken seriously. Still, I actually expected them to kill Shredder on the last episode. Boy I sure was naïve :lol:

Nowadays? I re-watch an episode once in a while. It's always fun to go back and relive it.

CyberCubed

08-09-2014, 08:22 AM

Warhorse

08-09-2014, 08:40 AM

I still love the 80's toon, for what it was. The best thing I can say is, when I watched Turtles Forever, while it was in the 2k3 toon, my semi favorite of the cartoons, I had the biggest smile on my face when the FW Turtles showed up. And I still think the 80's toon Mikey was the best out of all of the toons we got, (yeah, he was a party dude, but if by some strange miracle I got zapped into the 80's toon and stuck with Mikey, I feel he could protect me alot more than the 2k3 or 2012 Mikey's could)

And I tip my hat because the 80's toon gave each Turtle equal fighting skills, no one outshone no one else, heck, in season one, Raph jumped behind Shredder and picked him up and threw the dude across the room. Today's cartoons would never allow that to happen.

So, I love the show for what it is, I still get old Turtle stuff when I see it (last night, I even bought an old school TMNT coffee mug while waiting for my movie to start) and despite me growing up, the 1990 movie shaping the way I would see the franchise from here on out, the old cartoon will forever have it's place in my heart.

turtlefanforever

08-09-2014, 08:55 AM

Timeless to each generation

RaphaelinSTL

08-09-2014, 08:56 AM

The show is still great fun and entertaining highly as an adult. I enjoy about 75% of the OT's episodes. There are 25% that are bad, but considering this is a nearly 200 episode series I'd say more than half is good.

What CyberCubed said.

I hold the original cartoon very dear to my heart as it's what got me into this property and how almost 23 years later as a 26 year old dude, I still love everything about the TMNT. It's funny, exciting and holds up very well.

Aaronardo

08-09-2014, 10:07 AM

Back when I was younger, the show was so great to me. My favorite show of all time at the time. I don't remember what exactly I loved about it so much, I guess I just loved the humor and the action.
Now, I barely watch any episodes (Except Seasons 1 and 7-10), since mostly, it just doesn't have that same spark it used to have. I will say, though, it was sort of ahead of its time with the jokes :P

Netkeeper

08-09-2014, 10:10 AM

As a kid, I liked it enough, but I preferred the movies. My favourite thing about the 87 show was its opening.

Nowadays... eh. It's something to watch if I want to just put on a show I don't have to think about, just like a lot of other cartoons I watch. If I want something thoughtless to do while I play Pokémon, it works. But by itself with no multitasking... I can usually only handle like one episode per sitting. It's still funny, but more in an "it's an aged cartoon" kinda way.

T-U-R-T-L-E POWA!

08-09-2014, 10:24 AM

I watched it religiously then and I honestly still like it now. I like the fact that it throws in pop culture references and things like that. I know it's not the greatest animation and all that but the characters do shine in it and are still very memorable. I feel without the 87 series the Turtles would have forever been a cult classic comic book.

DarkFell

08-09-2014, 10:33 AM

I enjoy the 80's-90's TMNT the most; maybe some of the episodes were campy but most of them were great and I enjoy them more so now as an adult. The humor within the series is prevalent and you tell that everyone in the studio and the voice actors in the recording booth(s) enjoyed the work that they did for the show. So they definitely left us fans -of all ages- something to actually enjoy, and I really appreciate that.

CombatColdCuts

08-09-2014, 10:35 AM

The original show was a key component to my childhood. I watched it every time it was on tv and I had loads of figures and play sets. I was a child then so I didn't have any knowledge of the comics or the concept of a storyline. I just liked to see the turtles in action and all the cool characters that guest starred every week.

Now that I am older it is just a laborious task to watch the original show. They rarely ever use their weapons except to cut bags of sand to have it fall on their enemies or something lame like that. The story lines and 80's dialogue is awful. The Shredder is a whiny baby that always has the turtles where he wants them but ends up monologuing instead and they slip away.

My favorite episodes from when I was a child hold a lot of value for nostalgic reasons but when I watch them back today they don't seem the same. I think as a child I was too busy trying to act like a turtle or making my action figures re-enact the fight scenes in the show to focus too much on the plot. So seeing the turtles in a blimp trying to reverse Krang's gravity lifter or whatever it was called appealed to me. I didn't realize then that the story line was pretty lame I just liked the gravity boots the turtles stole from Rocksteady and the foot soldiers. I laughed at Rocksteady having a sock with a hole in the toe and reeking of stench. Silly things like that appealed to me as a 2-10 year old which is the ages wherein I watched the program.

Children are easy to entertain with just flashes of cool images and I think the turtles were just a fun Saturday morning cartoon back then. Now they are extremely dated and a bit lame..

I know it was intended for kids and it mastered that market but I don't think the show is interchangeable between childhood and adulthood. I still like the way they looked and if there is merchandise based off of that era I usually buy it or become interested in it. As far as watching the show in my late 20s though, it's not for me anymore.

terrorblade

08-09-2014, 10:51 AM

I think it's still the most influential and most important version of the turtles by far. The changes they made and the characters they introduced remained staple to the franchise.

Obviously the show itself doesn't really hold up well but what action cartoons made in the 80s are still good by today's standard? Even the early-mid 90s cartoons are getting harder and harder to watch.

ObiWanFan4life

08-09-2014, 10:59 AM

For me, the first five episodes are the ones with the most rewatch value and the most consistent. The Later seasons are entertaining, but aren't as well animated, and are too corny for my tastes.

RaphAndDonnie

08-09-2014, 11:05 AM

It's my second favorite cartoon series as far as the three cartoons go and it's what got me into TMNT. I like a good majority of it, I like how cheesy and campy and funny it is and honestly the only stuff I asolutley cannot stomach is the European Vacation episodes and the Red Sky seasons.

ssjup81

08-09-2014, 11:08 AM

Personally, I can still watch the OT series. I still love it. Not sure if it's just the nostalgia talking, though, but there are some eps I do find painful to watch....like the European Vacation eps, but even as a kid I didn't like them very much.

Other than a few exceptions, I enjoy the show more than when I did as a kid, flaws and all. The jokes I may have missed as a kid I fully get now. I just like that type of humor, I guess. I like campy humor, even as an adult. It's like You Can't Do That On Television. I can still watch that show because of that style of humor....minus the toilet humor which I've never been a fan of.

Slade

08-09-2014, 11:10 AM

Used to love, not so much anymore.

Autbot_Benz

08-09-2014, 11:12 AM

I grew up with it myself but I find it hard to watch now the stupid puns and breaking the 4th wall jokes annoy me. I prefer the darker shows like 2003/Nick Cartoon.

In My opinion I think the 80's cartoon can get Overrated at times.

ssjup81

08-09-2014, 11:20 AM

Mutagen

08-09-2014, 11:29 AM

Well, as I said in a different thread,
I love the animation style, with painted backgrounds, love the designs and the quirkiness of it. The show realy shows everything that was cool about the 80s, it has originality, uniqueness and its just whacky and bizarre. Its like Bizzarro's World, thats what I love about it. Like in Turtles Forever cartoon, the 03 turtles said this 80s world is weird and odd, and thats precisely why i love it. its designs, feel, everything is so crazy and downright surreal. The technodrome - Death Star with a big eye, krang - a brain in a stomach of a fat guy looking like the mutated guy from Goonies with 80s techno sunglasses, its all great, its all bizarre, I enjoy the insane surrealism of it all. And Shredder is the cream of the crop, i love his visual design and i love the fact that (intentionally) he does resemble Darth Vader and they also voiced him with a black actor.

its simply a lot of fun, even for an adult, and especially for art fans, such as myself, i love the art of older cartoons, especially the good old max fleisher cartoons, and tmnt resemble that a bit with the background work. Im a big fan of that animation style
http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a277/lovegunner/Batman/tm_zps54381ec9.png
Aside from the background, the characters animation actually resembled a lot the classic Disney films

given, most of late 80s early 90s cartoons had the same style, be it The New Adventures of He Man or The Real Ghostbusters, but none had as much quirkiness and surrealism as this show

its a lot of fun still, the whacky, surreal 80s, its the same fun in the vein of killer klowns from outer space or House (movie)

Spike Spiegel

08-09-2014, 11:32 AM

Those first five episodes have nostalgic value for me as they are what I remember renting from the library on VHS as a young child. They were my first exposure to the characters, even though I was in also in the prime age group for 2k3 when it was released.

When I tried watching the rest of the series recently, I could only get to the end of season 2 before realizing how convoluted and downright silly the plots were. I think "Turtles Forever" may have been more interesting if the OT characterizations were more like the ones in the first season. The parody of the OT in that movie only seemed to express how much that series ultimately declined in such a short time.

As for the Red Sky seasons, I suppose they are interesting, but, having grown up on 2k3 and getting into the comics shortly after that series ended, I felt I had already seen "darker, grittier" TMNT done much better. In a way, those seasons seem like a cop-out of sorts, caving into the influence of shows like Batman TAS instead of embracing what had made the franchise popular in the first place. Maybe this series should have gone gently into that good night after season six ended.

IndigoErth

08-09-2014, 12:12 PM

In the process or rewatching it, just got to the first few episodes of season 6 last night. I realize now how their personalities are only mildly distinct between them and, watching more than one episode in a sitting vs maybe one a day years ago, some of the themes are obviously a bit repetitive, but its still a cute show.

While Nick's series may be more creative and is able to have the luxury of 21st century writing, effort, animation technology, etc, I'll refrain from judging the old one against Nick's as it should prob just be left to stand on it's own for what it is, and visa versa. At the very least the old one is still certainly better than a lot of the cartoon nonsense on tv these days and contributed it's own aspects to the Turtles that helped craft them into who they are today and most would not want missing from them.

Mewzard

08-09-2014, 12:29 PM

My sister (who is around six or so years older than me) grew up on the cartoon, so I know I must have seen some of it. But I was born in 1988, so by the time she stopped watching it, my memories of things are still in a fuzzy period.

My first real good memory of the TMNT (and what defined how they should be to me) was the first movie, which I wore the VHS into ruin with rewatches. So, I probably ended up thinking they were not quite as serious/cool as I would like.

Now? Well, I've experienced many a series now (I do wish the 2003 series would get a proper full release, as I've been meaning to watch more of it/rewatch what I have) both in comic and animated form, but I've never seen a lot of the old Cartoon, so probably about the same.

My preferred TMNT actually became something I only discovered in the last few years, the Mirage Comic run. I really gotta thank Turtles Forever for getting me curious about the series around the time IDW was just starting to reprint the old stuff (it also eventually lead me to want to do a Podcast about the series, and I knew Andrew was the biggest turtles guy in my group of friends, and that eventually lead to Shellshocked).

I do want to eventually check out more (probably get some of the DVD sets if I can ever get the spare cash, it's costing a fortune as is trying to catch up on a year's worth of TMNT trades from the Mirage, Archie, and IDW series). But, as it is now, I can only speak on limited terms.

I'd probably like the series for a while if I gave it a shot. I just prefer my turtles a bit darker (but I haven't watched a lot of turtles material that I hated, so I'm not too concerned).

CyberCubed

08-09-2014, 12:34 PM

Well, as I said in a different thread,
I love the animation style, with painted backgrounds, love the designs and the quirkiness of it. The show realy shows everything that was cool about the 80s, it has originality, uniqueness and its just whacky and bizarre. Its like Bizzarro's World, thats what I love about it. Like in Turtles Forever cartoon, the 03 turtles said this 80s world is weird and odd, and thats precisely why i love it. its designs, feel, everything is so crazy and downright surreal. The technodrome - Death Star with a big eye, krang - a brain in a stomach of a fat guy looking like the mutated guy from Goonies with 80s techno sunglasses, its all great, its all bizarre, I enjoy the insane surrealism of it all. And Shredder is the cream of the crop, i love his visual design and i love the fact that (intentionally) he does resemble Darth Vader and they also voiced him with a black actor.

its simply a lot of fun, even for an adult, and especially for art fans, such as myself, i love the art of older cartoons, especially the good old max fleisher cartoons, and tmnt resemble that a bit with the background work. Im a big fan of that animation style

its a lot of fun still, the whacky, surreal 80s, its the same fun in the vein of killer klowns from outer space or House (movie)

Agreed. The OT came at a time where shows weren't expected to have continuing plotlines and story arcs. It's just a fun cartoon to watch 22 minutes of adventure and turn your brain off.

I think the strength of the main cast and the wacky plots is exactly why it's held up. If it tried to be a serious cartoon it would have aged much worse.

Original TMNT Cartoon Fan

08-09-2014, 01:29 PM

As a kid, I mostly cared for Krang and Shredder episodes. Then I rediscovered TMNT, I became more fascinated with those season 4-5 solo adventures, often set at the countryside.

One of the strength with this show is how most characters actually are ordinary humans, coming from planet Earth!

snake

08-09-2014, 01:39 PM

To be completly honest, most of it is pretty bad. I don't hate it, but it's not exactly the best thing ever. It is fun to watch if you look past all the animation errors and such.

FoxBoxKid

08-09-2014, 02:15 PM

Mutagen

08-09-2014, 02:28 PM

I grew up on the 4Kids show as you might have gleaned from my username. I've seen season 1 of the original show and that was decent enough, but I hate that the worst Ninja Turtles cartoon is the most popular. Not only is it not my kind of show, but it seems like a "who cares, it's for kids" sort of show. I resent that it's the most popular and well-known version of TMNT, and one my biggest peeves is seeing people online say, "teh new ninja turtles suks, bring bak teh orginal." I respect it for it's importance to the franchise, but I hate it's nostalgia-blinded fandom. I belive that because of this show, Ninja Turtles might never realize it's full potential, but IDW comic is pretty darn close.

I dont think its fair to say that people liking it most, like it because theyre blinded by nostalgia, Im pretty sure a lot of people who have passion for something have good reasons and actual reasons for why they love it. Its as if saying that nobody can like Burtons Batman anymore or the 60 tv show because Nolans Batman is here. Perhaps I cant speak for everybody and I can only speak for myself, but I myself gave my own reasons why i enjoy the show so much on the first p[age. I think the fact Im a graphic designer may have an influence on that, but overall my love for surrealism definitely pinpoints the 80s tmnt as the thing for me

IndigoErth

08-09-2014, 02:38 PM

I grew up on the 4Kids show as you might have gleaned from my username. I've seen season 1 of the original show and that was decent enough, but I hate that the worst Ninja Turtles cartoon is the most popular. Not only is it not my kind of show, but it seems like a "who cares, it's for kids" sort of show. I resent that it's the most popular and well-known version of TMNT, and one my biggest peeves is seeing people online say, "teh new ninja turtles suks, bring bak teh orginal." I respect it for it's importance to the franchise, but I hate it's nostalgia-blinded fandom. I belive that because of this show, Ninja Turtles might never realize it's full potential, but IDW comic is pretty darn close.
Well, to be fair it was also the times, I don't think most cartoons were all that deep or perfect back then, not like they are today. The irony being that many who work on the cartoons of today were prob adults who used to watch the old ones and have helped bring cartoons to what the are now... so who we calling blind. lol

Only thing stopping it from reaching any kind of potentials of some kind or another is the need and/or wait for the right people to come along and have the ability to do it.

The-Shredder

08-09-2014, 03:20 PM

Back when I first watched it in the early 2000s on a foreign T.V. channel, I was instantly hooked. It was only when I saw the toys in stores back in 2003 that I discovered there was a new show on the FoxBox. Eventually, the 2003 series became my favorite version. I still watched both shows at the time and enjoyed them both, but I liked the 2003 series a lot more due to it's more serious tone. In my opinion, the 1987 series seemed to be hampered by the annoying human cast and poor fight sequences. I have yet to get the entire series on DVD, besides the first season with the 4 Red Sky episodes, which I think is the best sample of what the show had to offer, and it is still fun to watch to this day.

babyb

08-09-2014, 03:26 PM

pharaohyami5000

08-09-2014, 03:50 PM

I think the Classics are still fun and entertaining to watch to this day, and a good way to be introduced to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. At least until you move toward the comics, the TMNT movies and 2k3 TMNT. By the way, I do wonder if Hero is still replacing Ninja to the residence in Europe?

I like the Turtles and Splinter, April O'Neil and Irma Langinstein are funny and supportive at times (hate how Irma was dropped with the rest of the Channel 6 crew later in the series) and Shredder and villains with their oddball plans are just entertaining.

It just that most of Season 5 and 6 were what started to become repetitive to me until Season 7 kicked in. Still, if given the chance, I'll give the Classics a go again, just to make fun of their animation flaws.

IndigoErth

08-09-2014, 04:16 PM

I was watching the turtles last night and to this day i still love them! especially the witty comments :)
kinda sucks that all of the cartoons i used to watch are now only on telethon retro.. makes me feel old lmao:tlol:
lol Tell me about it. When it and it's toys are now "retro" and some figures might be resold well past original retail prices.... How and when did this happen! o.O

CyberCubed

08-09-2014, 05:00 PM

Jester

08-09-2014, 05:07 PM

Loved it as a kid, thought I think the only episodes I really remember from then are the ones on the VHS tapes I owned. Having finally watched the whole series years later I still enjoy quite a bit of it...mainly for it's campyness, though there are some episodes that are genuinely well done...especially the 1st couple of seasons and season 7.

Werecat

08-09-2014, 05:18 PM

I still like the 1987 cartoon. Before I was convinced I wouldn't like it because I assumed only those naive enough will enjoy the show. I was wrong. Well I don't like the late seasons. The first season is amazing and still holds up to this day. Combining some comic book themes with humor is pure gold. I dislike the different origin as a fan. However, the cartoon does a good job telling its story.

Mutagen

08-09-2014, 05:22 PM

There are many great episodes in the OT's run and even the sillier episodes have their merits. You guys shouldn't go into it with the mindset that it's an action cartoon, it's more of an adventure comedy.

A PURE 80S adventure comedy, in the vein of The Critters or already mentioned Killer Klowns From Outer Space or House (1986). All of those very fun, not taking themselves seriously, and extremely bizarre, as surreal as they came in the crazy 80s

Candy Kappa

08-09-2014, 05:23 PM

I hVe little to no nostalgia for the FW cartoon. As a kid I hates the Fred wolf show, or the few episodes I saw on rental VHS. The Norwegian dubbing was terrible and the episodes was usually boring, and I still don't likee this episodes I remember seeing as a kid.

But, when I got the chance to see the entire show in it's English dub a few years ago, I really enjoyed the show a lot more.

CyberCubed

08-09-2014, 05:25 PM

A PURE 80S adventure comedy, in the vein of The Critters or already mentioned Killer Klowns From Outer Space or House (1986). All of those very fun, not taking themselves seriously, and extremely bizarre, as surreal as they came in the crazy 80s

Very true. There are some bad episodes from time to time, but I'm being honest when I say I enjoyed at least 75% of its total episodes.

I do wish the Turtles had fight scenes a bit more in various episodes but what can you do.

Leo656

08-09-2014, 05:50 PM

My friends and I were seriously heavy into it as kids. I didn't wanna like it, because everyone else did and I've always been one of "those" kinda people, but I decided to check it out and just couldn't hate it, especially when my parents liked it, too. It blew up huge at school, I still remember at recess how we'd make turtle bandanna masks and Turtle-Coms and "weapons" and sh*t out of construction paper; it used to be on for an hour every day after school, pretty sure it was on at 3:30 and 4, two different episodes on two different channels, and again on Saturdays (I never really liked the Saturday morning version of the intro). I watched it constantly, and I had those four Burger King VHS tapes. I didn't see it as much besides Saturday mornings once a lot of syndicated channels stopped running it, but I still watched it up until the end, although I didn't quite catch when they cancelled it, I just noticed one day it wasn't on anymore. I kinda liked the "Red Sky" seasons, mostly, and I appreciated what they were trying to do with it but it did feel kind of like a forced change. I had no idea they were going to cancel it, but you could kind of get a feeling that the end was near by that point.

Going back to it now, I do still like it and I do still laugh, but a lot of what got laughs back then gets a serious groan now, especially some of the middle seasons. I could still watch the first "season" anytime, but it's really tough for me to do a marathon run of it; they really got stale and started carrying the whole show on pizza jokes and "Cowabunga", at one point, and t became really obvious. Some of the stories are really clever, though. And the art is good, aside from the glitches and whatnot. The music was also pretty good, they always had a good way of working the theme song jingle into some plot- or scene-based variation whenever they would shift scenes, I thought that was creative.

It's definitely one of the best shows of its era, but when you compare it to everything else that was on at that time (except the Disney Afternoon stuff) that isn't really saying much, because even a lot of the most memorable shows from back then simply aren't that great when you look at them. It's definitely good for what it is, but it's hard to watch in large chunks now, because a lot of the episodes are really pretty similar after a while.

Refractive Reflections

08-09-2014, 06:15 PM

I still enjoy the series very much, but of course the slapstick can be extreme and the plots can feel forced (the European vacation sideseason) or forgettable at times, but the series was chucking out 40+ episodes a season in the 3rd and 4th seasons, so there's bound to be some clunkers there. I think when most people complain about the comedy (breaking the fourth wall and bad puns), episodic nature (plot being solved within each episode), and animation errors, it reflects more on the cartoons of the time (80s and 90s) rather than just the OT itself.
Most shows (not only children's shows but a significant amount of adult shows as well) of the time couldn't be serial (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serial_%28radio_and_television%29) since there was no internet or DVR for viewers to catch up on the more intricate details of the characters, much less know how the episodes were in order, plus it was the syndicated nature of television which could easily attract new viewers.

One thing that made the series alluring for me is the show recognizing how outlandish and ridiculous the TMNT concept is in the first place (it was most common whenever OT Raphael applied "real world" logic to the bizarre situations they got into), and building its charm from there rather than starting off pretentiously as most action-adventure cartoons do with consistent melodrama (especially with cartoons of the 90s). I think it's probably one of the more important key aspects of the series, and one of the humblest, because almost any superhero franchise and its concept is absurd or ridiculous in itself in comparison to the real world. If I really wanted to watch stone-cold crime-fighting drama that paralleled the cruelty of real life, I would choose programming that was more realistic and relatable to the human experience rather than with monsters, mutants, aliens, etc.

neatoman

08-09-2014, 06:17 PM

When I first watched it I didn't think very highly of it but I didn't dislike it. I thought it was just a cartoon that didn't really stand the test of time.

Now that I have exposed myself to much of what is considered good TMNT material and watched about 30-50 episodes of the cartoon I have gotten a bit of distaste for it. Now I understand what a lazy waste of potential it is.

Ninja Tiptup

08-09-2014, 06:23 PM

The old cartoons will always be fun. Some of the ideas were creative for the time. The comedy holds up decently and while it's light on action the slapstick fighting could be rather clever.

It doesn't take itself seriously and that's a plus. We all know it is ridiculous campy light-hearted froth that occasionally tried to teach a lesson.

The 5 part pilot is still the best the series has to offer despite its many animation errors. There are some gems among the massive amount of episodes that follow but none quite recapture the feel of those first 5 IMO.

When I was a kid it was the greatest thing I had ever seen but now I see how they were largely going through the motions and throwing ideas at a dart board every week and it all feels so cookie-cutter.

CyberCubed

08-09-2014, 06:27 PM

The original TMNT cartoon is a lot like the Pokemon anime. Its entertaining even though we all realize its repetitive. Shredder/Bebop/Rocksteady "blast off" like Team Rocket (by running into the module or portals), and the overall plot of the show is just Shredder/Krang trying to take over the world every week.

It's kind of funny when you realize how similar the original TMNT cartoon is to Pokemon in terms of format. Especially considering the length.

Netkeeper

08-09-2014, 06:44 PM

So does that make 2k3 like Pokémon Origins? :V

Wildcat

08-09-2014, 11:12 PM

I grew up watching it and have up to season 4 on DVD.

Honestly I do not think its as ridiculous as most consider it to be. Take out the humor element and the storylines and characters are actually quite interesting.

They were not anymore outrageous than sci-fi/action cartoons of today that are portrayed more seriously and get praised for be gritty and grown up.

ssjup81

08-10-2014, 05:45 AM

Well, to be fair it was also the times, I don't think most cartoons were all that deep or perfect back then, not like they are today. The irony being that many who work on the cartoons of today were prob adults who used to watch the old ones and have helped bring cartoons to what the are now... so who we calling blind. lol

Only thing stopping it from reaching any kind of potentials of some kind or another is the need and/or wait for the right people to come along and have the ability to do it.Yes, you're right. Most shows at the time aimed at kids were for full on entertainment purposes only. The shows were also very episodic back then so that kids can always tune in without having to worry about missing something.

Shark_Blade

08-10-2014, 06:22 AM

The first Season is still one of the best cinematic piece in history imo.

CowabungaMikey

08-10-2014, 10:02 AM

I joined the fandom only 1,5 years ago. The 2012 cartoon brought me in, and I got excited to see the more older stuff. I LOVED the 1987 cartoon. Loved it. I don't think it will ever leave. The characters were fantastic, the voice-actors perfect, and most of the time it got some nice animation.

Technogeek29

08-10-2014, 10:31 AM

I loved it as a kid watched my VHS I asked/begged my parents to buy to oblivion. Couldn't be helped I just really liked the show. Occasionally will go to youtube and watch my favorite episodes although not many since a lot of my favorites are Donatello and Michelangelo centric episodes. I have no problem watching it today but man some episodes are very hard to stomach even my favorites have a few groan moments here and there.

I skipped Next Mutation thankfully and saw 2k3 following and became a big fan of that, although not at first and didn't start watching it really until season 2. I felt at the time 2k3 was a rip off of the 80's toon so it just outright turned me off. But I was a huge Sci-fi nut and Turtles in Space was my cup of tea.

neatoman

08-10-2014, 03:41 PM

So does that make 2k3 like Pokémon Origins? :V

That would be a mostly correct analogy, yes.

ABrown

08-10-2014, 04:41 PM

As an adult I still find the original cartoon entertaining. Though it did have its share of stinkers. My favorite seasons are the "red sky" seasons. They were what I had always wished that the TMNT cartoon had been like when I was a kid.

oldmanwinters

08-10-2014, 05:22 PM

Overall, I like the show more now than I did when I was a kid.

And that's saying quite a bit.

Type 97 Chi-ha

08-10-2014, 06:15 PM

The original five episodes were rather weak (of course it was uncertain if the show would succeed or what direction it was to take), the series became refined after that, but once the show went to CBS, it went downhill. Some good episodes, but a lot of silly or otherwise bad ones. (Presumably because it had so many bad villains that weren't Krang and Shredder to face.)

ryukenden

08-10-2014, 06:24 PM

When I was a kid, it was the best thing ever. As an adult, I still kind of enjoy it. The first three seasons in particular. Even as a kid, I hated Mikey replacing his chucks with a grappling hook.

Powder

08-10-2014, 06:27 PM

mikey22

08-10-2014, 06:37 PM

every season has at least one great episode

season 1 no doubt wish they kept the animation

season 2 was well written for the most part as well

season 3 who didnt love don in the trenchcoat episode w/ the maltese hampster where everyone gets captured

season 4 the fish episode was a good action one

season 5- casey jones w/ the exericse buffs

seaon 6- the rock episode w/ trag. had great potential to be better but trag pussying out got me mad

seaon 7- ahh the end of the original them song era... the night of the rogues and the dirk savage episode were good fun

season 8 wrath of rat king

season 9... hmmmm one of those 2nd mutation ones were kinda fun

season 10- the turtles in time episodes w/ krang and shredder coming bak. i didnt like lord much but he had a good voice actor

Leo656

08-10-2014, 06:41 PM

Powder: Yeah. I kind of hate it for how it's permanently kept TMNT in a little kids' toybox, never to grow or evolve or expand. Like when they're working on a movie, and they go, "Don't worry, there's pizza", it's like, "Gee, thank God, I was worried for a second you were gonna bury me with boring stuff like story or character development. Thank GOD someone is gonna crack wise about pepperoni. You had me nervous." :roll:

More than anything the show itself does "wrong", I resent it for making sure TMNT can never "grow up" with the audience the way Superman, Batman, etc. have.

Powder

08-10-2014, 06:47 PM

Right, the OT became the standard for all future media, the basis for comparison & source for pulling inspiration. Short of maybe The Next Mutation (which isn't ALL bad), it's the worst place to take cues from, yet they all do...

Leo656

08-10-2014, 06:57 PM

Yeah, same way no matter what Neal Adams, Denny O'Neil, and Jim Aparo did with Batman for decades, "Batman" to the public at large was just Adam West in pantyhose until the '89 movie flipped that sh*t on its head, (mostly) for good. But even now, 25 years and several movies and thousands of comics about "dark Batman" later, thanks to that show, every newspaper or magazine article about comics still has "BAM! POW! Comics Aren't Just For Kids Anymore!" as a sub-header, because of how prevalent those "sound effects" were played for laughs on the Adam West show.

As long as people are going to willingly perpetuate the notion that TMNT is a "silly kids' property" with no room for depth or nuance, it's never going to outgrow that show. I think that's a real shame. I mean, I've accepted it, but I'm not thrilled about it, and it's entirely the show's "fault". It would be nice if there was TMNT product for "everyone" who's a fan, but that'll never happen. And no, I don't count comic books that most people can't find and won't read, I mean in the "wider" media arena of movies and TV. Even in live action, TMNT is only ever going to be a cartoon.

Konchadunga

08-10-2014, 09:25 PM

It hasn't changed that much. I hate the slapstick fighting as an adult, but I hated it as a kid, too. Some of the jokes are actually funnier rewatching them as an adult. I'd say as far as 1980s action cartoons go, TMNT is high up because it at least has a self-aware sense of humor; something MOTU or Thundercats lacked painfully. Its sense of humor is also less obnoxious to me than that in the movies.

There was a period I looked down on the 1987 show, during my time as a big fan of the 2003 show. Yet after that show started to get crappy itself, and I discovered the Mirage series, I've revised my stance. While the 2003 show was good for a while, it seems like almost all of its good bits came from Mirage; except often not as good as they were there, and those bits that didn't were pretty damned bad. The 1980s show hasn't been my quintessential interpretation of the Turtles for a long time, but I do think it did a better job being its own thing.

snake

08-10-2014, 09:27 PM

Does anyone think that the red sky seasons were actually an improvement? Even though April is pretty much a secondary character, they had better villains who seemed like a threat, like Dregg.

CyberCubed

08-10-2014, 09:51 PM

. While the 2003 show was good for a while, it seems like almost all of its good bits came from Mirage; except often not as good as they were there, and those bits that didn't were pretty damned bad. The 1980s show hasn't been my quintessential interpretation of the Turtles for a long time, but I do think it did a better job being its own thing.

LOL, what? Some of the 4kids best episodes came from all-new material, like the Battle Nexus, virtually any of the Shredder stories not from the comics, all of Season 3 and 4, Bishop and Hun, etc.

In fact since most of the Mirage comics adapted to the cartoon were so drastically different, most of it is all new material.

sdp

08-10-2014, 09:58 PM

What it did to the brand?

Without the OT and turtle mania, TMNT would be an obscure indie comic that geeks would only recommend in geeky online forums.

I didn't watch a lot of the OT as a kid, but when I did I liked it even if it was nothing like my ideal version of the turtles (which was all based on the toys). As an adult I really got to watch the OT for the "first" time even if it really wasn't my first time and I think it holds up very well if you go in as a comedy/action cartoon.

CyberCubed

08-10-2014, 09:59 PM

Prowler

08-11-2014, 03:07 AM

You can't really blame the show for the lack of fight scenes either, the censors and soccer moms came down on the show hard due to its immense popularity back then. Turtles fighting with realistic weapons was a no-no in kids shows back then.

Still they managed to give us action when we needed it.
In seasons 1 and 7 the turtles used their weapons to fight just fine. Although the show wasn't a hit yet in the former and in the latter the height of its popularity had already passed by.
It's strange how they used their weapons less in red sky episodes than in the seasons I mentioned above. Wasn't red sky supposed to make the show a bit more edgy?

CyberCubed

08-11-2014, 07:30 AM

They do plenty of fighting in various episodes in the middle seasons too. Its odd, because in one episode there would be no fighting at all, and then in the next episode a fight scene of some sort.

I don't think the show needed heavy fight scenes either, it just wasn't that type of show.

Pterobat

08-11-2014, 11:41 AM

I was pretty young when the OT came out, so I don't have any very specific memories of it, though of course I liked it a lot.

Nowadays I actually *do* enjoy re-watching it, even when I can see how low-quality it can be. It's partially nostalgia, partially because when the OT is "on" it's a bizarre, fun, and quirky show, with a (mostly) loveable cast.

I wouldn't want it all to be like season 1, because while season 1 is fun, I would miss the weirdness of some of the later episodes. Also, the Red Sky seasons are terribly boring, because most of the changes are superficial and never play to the series' strengths.

I don't care if it's like the Mirage comics or not, because of the cliche that the source material still exists no matter how radical (heh-heh) the adaptation changes things.

While censorship is stupid and there's no reason a comedic series *couldn't* have the Turtles using their weapons, I don't have a strong hate for the toning down of the weaponry use, or a concern that the characters be more "badass". I like the silliness, just that the weapons coulda still be used. And Mikey could keep his 'chucks.

At the same time, if someone really dislikes how the OT altered the world of the TMNT, they don't have to take into consideration how it founded a huge franchise and made the creators some major scratch. They don't have to be grateful.

After saying all that, there are actually only a handful (in comparison to the huge run of the entire show) of episodes that I really like enough to watch again as an adult. I got the whole damn Turtle Van set because that was easier, and I'm a completist for TV shows, but there's just a small number of OT episodes I enjoy unironically.

However, I use this small amount to define how I feel about the whole series, so it doesn't matter.

Prowler

08-11-2014, 12:55 PM

I think the best thing about the OT was the humor and its unpredictability. You never knew what kind of weird plot they'd come up with in the next episode. It kept your interest in the show despite its episodic nature.

Dirty Blond

08-11-2014, 12:59 PM

The OT is usually thought of as silly, but no other iteration has had the wit of that series.

It's astonishing how mature and polished the humor could be.

Prowler

08-11-2014, 01:05 PM

The OT is usually thought of as silly, but no other iteration has had the wit of that series.

It's astonishing how mature and polished the humor could be.
There's indeed some humor on that show that went over my head as a kid. It's a cartoon for children with humor that appeals to adults. Not many shows are successful at appealing to two different generations.

ScrewtheMirageTMNT

08-12-2014, 12:30 AM

When I was younger? I thought that it was perfect. Right now? I noticed that it's flawed, however, I still like it for the most part. The bit of it that I cannot stand the most is slash's attachment to a plastic tree and calling it binky. Sorry guys, but when it comes to entertainment, I do not care for crap like subtext, a large amount of depth, or substance. I just want to be entertained. If I wanted to be educated about stuff I would read a book or go on the internet.

Konchadunga

08-12-2014, 02:30 AM

LOL, what? Some of the 4kids best episodes came from all-new material, like the Battle Nexus, virtually any of the Shredder stories not from the comics, all of Season 3 and 4, Bishop and Hun, etc.

I may need to reanalyze some of it to find where things are from, but of the things you mentioned, the only one I really like is Bishop. The Battle Nexus arc was repetitive and felt way too contrived, and I despised them prolonging the Shredder's existence.

You can't really blame the show for the lack of fight scenes either, the censors and soccer moms came down on the show hard due to its immense popularity back then. Turtles fighting with realistic weapons was a no-no in kids shows back then.

Still they managed to give us action when we needed it.

Who says I blamed it? As a kid, I assure you it never even crossed my mind who might be responsible. I just knew I hated the lack of conventional fighting in the show, when the video games were full of it.

And seriously; stop saying "soccer mom". That's an incredibly forced Internet slang term that needs to stop being bandied around and vilified for every kiddification that happens.

The OT is usually thought of as silly, but no other iteration has had the wit of that series.

It's astonishing how mature and polished the humor could be.

Agreed. As stupid as it could get at times, I think the show is so enjoyable partially because it knows it's stupid and is taking shots at its own stupidity. That was badly missing in the last three seasons of the 4Kids show.

ssjup81

08-12-2014, 02:47 AM

"Soccer Mom" was used before the internet was conventional.

CyberCubed

08-12-2014, 10:10 AM

The OT is usually thought of as silly, but no other iteration has had the wit of that series.

It's astonishing how mature and polished the humor could be.

I definitely agree. Sometimes the show reached Simpsons or Futurama level wit.

LeotheLateBloomer

08-13-2014, 08:23 PM

I love it to death but at the same time I have really come to resent it & what it did to the brand. It's funny, it's my childhood, often thoroughly entertaining, but it also represents the death of an adult oriented TMNT. I still watch it all the time (as recently as last week) but my views of it have changed over the years as I came to be familiar with the comics & whatnot.

This is pretty much my opinion of it. Whenever I try to go back to the series, if it isn't the first season on a few episodes of season two, I just can't seem to have fun watching it as much as the latest two cartoons. I also groan whenever I see stuff from the OT return and I couldn't tell anybody why. It also bothers me of the possibility of the technodrome and Dimension X being in a sequel to the latest movie. I guess my preference is for the turtles to stay close to their roots like every other comic book based series.

Bravesfanjd

08-13-2014, 09:06 PM

My sister and I always watch it on DVD and we enjoy it still I think it still holds up in terms of cartoons

ledahead

08-15-2014, 09:35 PM

Now that I am an adult, I don't think the OT is as great as I thought it was when I was a kid but I still enjoy watching episodes occasionally. The OT was my first introduction to the turtles so I have a lot of nostalgia for it and appreciate the OT for what it did for the franchise. I still enjoy that the OT didn't take itself to seriously and I guess I just prefer a more light hearted, fun version of the turtles, although, I still enjoy the darker versions as well.

I think some aspects of the show hold up. For a kids show, the humor can be pretty witty at times and I appreciate the jokes I get now that went over my head as a kid. While the show could be really corny in the later seasons, I think that the writing in a number of episodes from the first 3 seasons was pretty good. The first season was especially great and I re-watch it more than the other seasons. Some episodes are painful to watch because of how corny they are. For example, I actually had to stop watching the episode "Name that Toon" from season 4 when that nerd with the glasses started singing an awful ninja turtles song while playing the keyboard.

I enjoy the first 3 seasons the most but I also somewhat enjoy the quirkiness and goofiness of later seasons (particularly 4 and 5). I didn't watch the last 3 seasons as a kid but I have seen them as an adult and they are not bad.

Michaelangelo was my favorite turtle as a kid but when I watch him in the OT now I find him somewhat annoying and now I prefer Raphael the most. I didn't mind Krang as a kid but I find him very annoying now and really can't stand his voice. Shredder is still awesome though. Episodes where there are random villains like mobsters or a mad scientist are pretty bad. The theme song is still awesome. I guess that's it.

erik

08-15-2014, 11:10 PM

I've actually been rewatching the show lately, and while it is juvenile - there are still some laughs to be had, even as an adult. I have a lot more appreciation for Rob Paulson as Raph, given how much I like him now as Donatello.

Its silly stupid fun -- but there are occasionally some real gems woven into the old show.

Plus - everyone always praises the first season 5 episode mini-series, and then criticizes the later seasons for lower quality. Its actually watching the later episodes that I'm finding the most enjoyment -- because that mini-series is so ingrained in my head, it seems almost dull. The later single episode installments sudden seem fresh to me, because I haven't seen most of them in a dog's age. (Well, really, in a Turtle's age)

Allio

08-16-2014, 08:35 AM

Then? Awesome

Now? overrated, there were better shows

Garfield

08-16-2014, 11:40 AM

I like it mostly for the same reasons but I understand why much more now than I was when I kid. There are some standards that I have that the 87 cartoon doesn't live up to, but it doesn't matter that much and i'll explain why.

What I like then and what I like now are the charming colourful, quirky, lovable and funny characters. The only difference now is that I understand what makes them this way because I understand those concepts beyond face value. Its gone from. "I Like Raphael because he makes me laugh" to. "I like Raphael's sarcasm...his out look on the situation through witty humor and how his humorous quips and expressions represent an outward look about how ridiculous the story of there lives are."

I understand how Mike is the heart of the team, How Splinter is a caring father figure, and how Don is just the most charming guy ever.(okay maybe Don isn't REALLY charming, but I think he is.

There are some things that I didn't realize than that I do now. Like I never realized how campy the show was. I didn't understand the satire and the parody. And that's just because, when you're a very small child, things like camp, parody and satire don't stand out to you. I didn't realize the show didn't take it self seriously because I sure did.

There are things like the inconsistent writing, plot holes and continuity errors as well as animation and voice over mistakes that I'm aware of that lower the quality to some degree, But it doesn't really matter that much to me because I just don't take it that seriously and I got into Ninja Turtles at a time in my life when things like that meant little or nothing to, and honestly for this cartoon it still doesn't because the nostalgia is so strong with this one that I just don't care about those flaws.

Now when speaking of 87 Ninja Turtles objectively, I will take all of those flaws into consideration, and when talking objectively I tell people that its full of lots of flaws, but when in a subjective context it becomes less about the structure and technicality of the product and more about the warm and happy memories and how it makes me feel.

dragonside

08-16-2014, 12:23 PM

Honestly, the way i viewed the original series has changed so much throughout time.

Childhood (late 90s)

Only caught the tail end of the red sky episodes on TV. I had VHS tapes, like Donatello's Degree, Eye of Sarnoth, Easter Special, Once upon a time machine, Big Rip off. and of course the First TMNT Movie.
I really didn't have much of an appreciation a lot of the jokes. However, some of them i still thought were pretty funny. I never got the weird pizza jokes. But I liked how Mikey was so chill.
Some episodes like the Once upon a time machine, and Easter special, I liked alot. The other episodes I was pretty bored of, after multiple rewatches (since hey! kept missing the television broadcast).

The First Complete Viewing (2009-2012)

I just started getting back into the series. I was really into the 2003 series actually....and really wanted to know what happened in the original series.
I could appreciate the the action scenes in the original cartoon were much less...... less. Compared to the first five episodes. But I started seeing it for what it was. A comedy. Watching it like a slice of life cartoon.
The music held up well. Tunes were catchy and when the fighting.. slapstick began, it definitely took the cake.
The animation errors, i noticed, and they were... almost hilarious most of the time. But nowadays that's hard to forgive.
After watching he whole series, i enjoyed some of the red sky episodes (GET SHREDDER), season 7, season 1.
And really, built the mythos of the TMNT knowledge that I wanted. Making comparisons to the 2003 series. That's what made it fun.

The Subsequent rewatches 2013-2014
With the turtles being revived. Nick cartoon, IDW Comic, Mirage Comic Re-release. I finally had an opportunity to know the mirage stories. And I could see a lot of the creative choices they made with the cartoon.

Seeing so much fancy animation really dates the original cartoon. But I do prefer old school style. Its just the aesthetics and the ridiculousness soemtimes. - Turtles forever original cartoon dimension. man. Ninja Pizza, Ninja Dry Cleaners. I never thought it was more funny until now.

Its not the best, but still lovable. The Nick cartoon is just too good. And 2003 remains my favorite.

THGhost

08-16-2014, 06:30 PM

I thoroughly enjoy the first 4 seasons. Most episodes after that are a little too cheesy for me, but still fun to watch.

CyberCubed

08-16-2014, 10:35 PM

I thoroughly enjoy the first 4 seasons. Most episodes after that are a little too cheesy for me, but still fun to watch.

I find this an ironic statement, as the show moves more toward action toward the end of its run.

THGhost

08-17-2014, 03:36 PM

I find this an ironic statement, as the show moves more toward action toward the end of its run.

Not in seasons 5 and 6 it doesn't :P

CyberCubed

08-17-2014, 04:39 PM

Not in seasons 5 and 6 it doesn't :P

Depends which episodes you're talking about. Many of Season 5-6 episodes have just as much action as Season 7. The ones about mad scientists or human gangsters usually don't though.

TMNT8813

08-17-2014, 09:14 PM

jenna

08-18-2014, 08:12 AM

Honestly... I fell in love with the turtles at the age of 9 when the OT first hit our TV screens, in the same way that any child gets fixated on a TV series. Before that it was Transformers and before that it was My Little Pony, Care Bears and before that it was Thomas the Tank Engine. And perhaps if I had been a tad younger when the TMNT obsession began, I'm sure I would have moved onto something else before long.

But....

The OT's main value to me though was as a gateway to the turtles universe, which appeals to me as an adult in a way that the OT never will. If I hadn't been crazy about the OT I never would have watched Steve Barron's film, which I was just old enough to appreciate on a deeper level. The characters were rawer and the plot was earthy and poignant.

It's the aspects featured in the film that appeal to me. The family relationship, the tortured souls, the personal journeys, the defiance of the underdog and the will to fight. And martial arts. Always martial arts. So it was actually the film which grew my love of the TMNT and turned me into a 'fan' of everything TMNT, including, on the recommendation of people on this forum, the comic books.

Today I have the OT on DVD and watch it a lot, because it is a key piece of TMNT lore and I am fascinated by the entire universe. The OT will never have the depth or the intellect, or the grit of the pieces which came before it and after it, but I will always treasure it nonetheless.

Plus, it has some real moments: Where else would there be dialogue as brilliant as this:

Baxter Stockman: I'll never talk!
Raphael: You'd better. Or else I'm gonna get.... sarcastic.

:D

THGhost

08-18-2014, 07:11 PM

Depends which episodes you're talking about. Many of Season 5-6 episodes have just as much action as Season 7. The ones about mad scientists or human gangsters usually don't though.

Oh, Cubed. You do amuse.

Cryomancer

08-19-2014, 12:20 AM

Was nuts for it as a kid sure, but I don't have many specific memories at this point of my reactions to particular episodes or anything. I think I liked it as an adventure show at the time, mostly.

I did a full watch a couple years ago maybe? and it's...hit or miss to be sure. Some stuff is just terrible tedious bland crap. Sometimes it's a pretty funny comedy. I think to enjoy it as an adult you need to watch it primarily as a character relations comedy. Mostly Krang, really. The way he bosses everyone around can be funny, he's super evil or whatever but still does silly stuff constantly. Bebop and Rocksteady are smart enough to realize their job sucks but not smart enough to stop doing it. Raphael is a sarcastic dick. Shredder is pretty much a parody of 80s cartoon villains while also being one himself, and sometimes throws out a comedy moment of his own. The show works ok to well as a comedy depending on the episode/scene in question. Leonardo and Michelangelo are boring and repetitive most of the time.

Some of the adventure elements are good too, like the weird technology and locations encountered. Too many plots rely on Donatello fixing everything but sometimes it's done well. The first season is of course rad as hell and I wish we would have gotten 200 episodes on that level but that was probably never a remote possibility.

It's effect on the franchise as a whole is overall negative, I think. Thankfully we now have the Nick show and IDW which can take elements from it and occasionally do something better with them. It would be nice if Mirage was more influential to newer material though, of course. Or even 2k3 or Archie. The pop culture awareness mostly beginning and ending with "lol pizza" definitely has and still prevents us from getting more varied TMNT media.

Leo656

08-19-2014, 12:31 AM

My hatred burns with the fire of a thousand suns, at the fact that the entirety of TMNT's importance to the world is "pizza" and "Cowabunga". Having one of the better 80s cartoon theme songs helps... but not much.

Shark_Blade

08-19-2014, 01:20 AM

That's the fun factor in tmnt, and if the world gets that, it's more than enough imo. They know pizza, turtles, rat and woman in yellow is April, then it's okay.

If you want to delve in deeper into the origins and other things, by all means.

Leo656

08-19-2014, 01:33 AM

Huh. And here I am thinking that surfer-slang that was already outdated in 1987 and an unhealthy pseudo-sexual obsession with the world's greasiest non-Tempura-based snack food merely make the property look juvenile and dated.

Seriously, of all the things that matter to TMNT, that sh*t doesn't. It's absolutely the least-important stuff and it's infuriating that it's all people ever mention about TMNT.

Cryomancer

08-19-2014, 01:48 AM

The theme song sucks by the way, I'll say it, I don't even care.

Leo656

08-19-2014, 01:51 AM

Really? Even that opening guitar chord? I mean, yeah, it's kinda downhill from there... but the first 2.5 seconds of it are pretty radical.

Cryomancer

08-19-2014, 01:55 AM

As a tune it's fine but the lyrics ruin it I think. It's like the Power Rangers theme, works better as an instrumental, and even then if anyone else hears it while you are playing a videogame or whatever with it they'll end up singing or mock singing the lame lyrics like a Pavlovian response.

Also the oversimplification of the character's personalities, blah blah.

Leo656

08-19-2014, 02:01 AM

Yeah, I get that. My Mom thought the song was hilarious and used to make me sing it at family gatherings for her amusement. It was awful.

You know what? F*ck that, I f***ing hate it too. F*** you, Mom.

Walkabout

08-19-2014, 06:32 AM

They show a couple of episodes back to back once a week at like 2 AM here, Bebop and Rocksteady are hilarious.

I LOVED the show as a kid, but I don't think I watched it past 91.
Not using their weapons always bugged me, especially since my favourite was Mikey with his chuks.

ssjup81

08-19-2014, 06:36 AM

Oh man, I will forever love the theme song. It's so catchy.

Konchadunga

08-19-2014, 02:23 PM

As much as the show isn't the quintessential TMNT to me, the theme song really is. The lyrics may be an oversimplification of the turtles' personalities, but they're base enough that they could apply to every incarnation. Not so much the bit about Shredder being the Big Bad, but that's pretty subtle. At the time I was into the 2003 show, the old theme song was the one thing I truly missed from 1987. There's more now, but of the things in that show valued by the masses, that song is probably the least detrimental.

Garfield

08-19-2014, 02:50 PM

THGhost

08-19-2014, 07:12 PM

The theme song sucks by the way, I'll say it, I don't even care.

I'm sorry, which theme are we talking about here? :P

Cryomancer

08-20-2014, 01:27 AM

I'm sorry, which theme are we talking about here? :P

The one that sucks!

As much as the show isn't the quintessential TMNT to me, the theme song really is. The lyrics may be an oversimplification of the turtles' personalities, but they're base enough that they could apply to every incarnation. Not so much the bit about Shredder being the Big Bad, but that's pretty subtle. At the time I was into the 2003 show, the old theme song was the one thing I truly missed from 1987. There's more now, but of the things in that show valued by the masses, that song is probably the least detrimental.

The oversimplification complaint I made was more that people will refer to, and write entire movies/comics/series/etc, the theme song as the entire sum of who the turtles are. Like yeah ok the theme summarizes them in broad strokes fine, but that's not their entire self, and it's not very cool to treat that as your entire "did I write them well" yardstick. Lots of people on this forum and elsewhere were saying stuff about the new movie like "well Mikey is a party dude so it's fine by me" or whatever, and that just makes it seem like nobody wants any sort of complexity or thought put into TMNT.

I get so much more out of the well done animated animation than from the actual song. The animation is so cool. I like that Mike does the funky chicken and then spins on his shell and a lot of other things to.

Yeah, the animation in the intros are usually pretty cool and I won't complain about those. If the show actually lived up to the intro more often it would have been a better show overall.

JamieH

08-20-2014, 02:22 AM

As a kid, it was the best cartoon ever. As an adult, nostalgia only goes but so far.

Hannurdock

08-20-2014, 02:27 AM

As a kid, I watched it relentlessly. Loved it and cuddled up next to the television.

Now, it is ... what it is. It's a kids TV show from the 80's, nostalgia aside, no worse or better than others of it's day. The characters are a bit wooden and the title theme tune is very retro.

I only watch it now and again for nostalgia. Mainly put on The Fifth Turtle because that's one episode I can still watch again and again. I know the dialogue too. Kinda sad, I know.

Type 97 Chi-ha

08-20-2014, 05:08 AM

I think the 87 theme song is cheesy. I get nostalgic for it, but its cheesy. With the weird way the lyrics are sang and the 80's slang and catch phrases belted out through it. It dates it self in a bad way and it makes me blush when people try to get me sing it with them (not that that happens a lot or anything.)

I get so much more out of the well done animated animation than from the actual song. The animation is so cool. I like that Mike does the funky chicken and then spins on his shell and a lot of other things to.

When the show was first produced, I'm sure not too much effort was put into it. Nobody could be sure it was going to be a success. A lot of cartoons or other television shows don't have particularly good theme songs.

As for animation, in the 1960's and 1970's, animation was poor in a lot of cartoons. The TMNT and other shows of that era were from a time when better animation was back in vogue.

Shark_Blade

08-20-2014, 05:20 AM

When the show was first produced, I'm sure not too much effort was put into it. Nobody could be sure it was going to be a success. A lot of cartoons or other television shows don't have particularly good theme songs.

As for animation, in the 1960's and 1970's, animation was poor in a lot of cartoons. The TMNT and other shows of that era were from a time when better animation was back in vogue.
Not much effort put into it?

...

I have no time to deal with people who talk with their ass instead of facts.

Go read yourself The Ultimate Visual History instead of embarrassing yourself.

turtle1237

08-20-2014, 07:44 AM

Not much effort put into it?

...

I have no time to deal with people who talk with their ass instead of facts.

Go read yourself The Ultimate Visual History instead of embarrassing yourself.

Depends on the cartoon, Scooby Doo was top of its work for its hey day,

But how much movement did Space Ghost and Mighty Mightor do in there own tv shows. It was mostly standing as stiff as a board and speaking. Zorak on what cartoon planet was it? Made a joke of it costing the suits 49$ for him just to move his arm.

Prowler

08-20-2014, 08:47 AM

The theme song is a classic and frequently considered one of the best cartoon theme songs of all time. The funny thing is, it made you feel like you were in for a kickass action show instead of a comedy one with mostly slapstick violence. The turtles look pretty badass in the opening. But then you look at the 4Kids TMNT opening and the lyrics give you a Sesame Street vibe by teaching you to count when in fact it's more of an action show than the FW series has ever been.

plastroncafe

08-20-2014, 10:26 AM

I loved the cartoon then.

Now...I think it's best to remember it fondly, and never rewatch all but a selection of episodes.
The rest have had varying visits with The Suck Fairy. (http://www.tor.com/blogs/2010/09/the-suck-fairy)

CyberCubed

08-20-2014, 12:13 PM

Davetello

08-20-2014, 12:16 PM

As a kid, it was the best cartoon ever. As an adult, nostalgia only goes but so far.

Sums it up well.

plastroncafe

08-20-2014, 12:18 PM

Most of the show has very good episodes for its writing style.

In your opinion, sure.

CyberCubed

08-20-2014, 12:20 PM

In your opinion, sure.

In many opinions. The OT is highly underrated by people who brush it off without truly sitting down to watch it. Especially the hidden gem episodes in the middle seasons people overlook.

plastroncafe

08-20-2014, 12:22 PM

THGhost

08-20-2014, 01:06 PM

The one that sucks!

Fast Forward then. :lol:

CyberCubed

08-20-2014, 01:06 PM

Fast Forward then. :lol:

Fast Forward didn't suck at all, many of its episodes were just as good as the other seasons.

Lou 500

08-20-2014, 01:14 PM

I remember enjoying it as a child. I bought season 1 and 2 on DVD as an adult and while initially liking the first few episodes, it got boring pretty quickly.

Fast Forward didn't suck at all, many of its episodes were just as good as the other seasons.

The only episode in that series I liked was when Dark Leo was under house arrest with the turtles after being captured. Character development, yo.

CyberCubed

08-20-2014, 01:16 PM

I remember enjoying it as a child. I bought season 1 and 2 on DVD as an adult and while initially liking the first few episodes, it got boring pretty quickly.

I don't see how it got boring, the best episodes come in the following seasons when the show finds its formula.

turtle1237

08-20-2014, 02:33 PM

In many opinions. The OT is highly underrated by people who brush it off without truly sitting down to watch it. Especially the hidden gem episodes in the middle seasons people overlook.

Not sure if it is underrated or overrated. At the time, the show cause Turtle mania, that has not been seen since, Not even the 2003 series or 2012 series was able to duplicate what the 87 series did, and today its still makes most list of top cartoons ever, and perhaps most times number 3 in 80's toons, always falling short to things like Robot Cars, and US soldiers fighting a snake or something :lol:.

Not to mention the 3 movies it spawn. Food items, Toys, and I mean Toys, we had Star Trek turtles, cave turtles, April O'Neil herself had like what? 10 action figures herself. The Turtles had endless toys base on them self's. I still got space suit Mickey and Samurai Leo on my self right now. April with the press sign, of course the press sign is faded.

Konchadunga

08-20-2014, 04:28 PM

Now, it is ... what it is. It's a kids TV show from the 80's, nostalgia aside, no worse or better than others of it's day.

I couldn't disagree more. Many of the classic cartoons of the 1980s, such as both MOTU shows, Thundercats, The Scooby and Scrappy Doo Show, and especially the shows intended for girls, are close to unwatchable to me as an adult because of their glaring lack of self-awareness. TMNT managed to tick the boxes of their formula while also having jokes that were still funny to the adults. I will grant it had some competition, such as The Real Ghostbusters, but that had the benefit of being based on a comedy movie not intended for kids.

THGhost

08-20-2014, 05:55 PM

Fast Forward didn't suck at all, many of its episodes were just as good as the other seasons.

Oh you do amuse. :lol: I was talking about the theme, not the show.

You have to admit though, the show was pretty cringe-worthy. :P

Powder

08-20-2014, 06:30 PM

Fast Forward was great. Opinions.

Davetello

08-20-2014, 10:33 PM

Lisardo

08-20-2014, 10:40 PM

I couldn't disagree more. Many of the classic cartoons of the 1980s, such as both MOTU shows, Thundercats, The Scooby and Scrappy Doo Show, and especially the shows intended for girls, are close to unwatchable to me as an adult because of their glaring lack of self-awareness. TMNT managed to tick the boxes of their formula while also having jokes that were still funny to the adults. I will grant it had some competition, such as The Real Ghostbusters, but that had the benefit of being based on a comedy movie not intended for kids.

As I'm rewatching the OS, I can't help but get a feel for satire, like so many comical shows/toons have these days. Seems there's a bit of light humor/poking fun of pop culture and stuff. Just not as much as shows like South Park or Family Guy. Either way, this kind of humor made grown-ups giggle.

plastroncafe

08-20-2014, 11:28 PM

Fast Forward will always be tainted for my by the fact that they created Cody rather than just using Shadow.

That said, I can just imagine the glee in the writers' room when writing Turtles in Tron.

THGhost

08-21-2014, 11:23 AM

"FF is good" as "TMNT III has a certain charm to its story" and is "better than The Secret of the Ooze". This place is really diverse. :P

cammy85

08-21-2014, 04:37 PM

Every season has a different feel to it. The early Saturday seasons were goofier and of course there are the hit-or-miss solo adventures but they got better. It's ard to wach random episodes anymore. Just depends on the mood, I guess.

Jephael

08-21-2014, 05:11 PM

I love showing episodes to my little nephew. He really enjoys watching it, though he still hasn't quite grasped the aspect of the characters.

LeotheLateBloomer

08-22-2014, 12:20 AM

FF is a fine season. Not as good as the first five seasons of course but interesting. Same for BttS.

neatoman

08-22-2014, 04:39 AM

Fast Forward was great. Opinions.

Tom Waltz agrees, no really, Tom Waltz like Fast Forward a lot.

Hannurdock

08-24-2014, 12:44 PM

"FF is good" as "TMNT III has a certain charm to its story" and is "better than The Secret of the Ooze". This place is really diverse. :P

I know. I like it.

If we all had the same opinions, it would be a boring place.

CyberCubed

08-24-2014, 04:00 PM

Agree with Powder, CC and others. FF is actually really quite good and gets better on rewatches - it's just the animation style which is off-putting. I rewatch this season over a few days and it was excellent. There were some solid stories there. I still prefer Ninja Tribunal but FF was good.

Agreed. Had the animation of FF been the same as the first 5 seasons, and the stupid catch phrase, "It's Ninja Time!" not existed, the season would have been viewed as almost as good.

I also agree FF gets better upon rewatches. I don't know why but everytime I rewatch it I like it a bit more than before.

Cryomancer

08-24-2014, 04:13 PM

Fast Forward will always be tainted for my by the fact that they created Cody rather than just using Shadow.

This annoys me too.

But otherwise FF was decent to good depending on the episode. It was one of the few cartoon retools that actually felt like a good change of pace, and actually was almost nearly un-retooled back in the next season. So it actually is like getting a "break" from the ongoing show which is almost never a thing that happens.

TMNT_2010

08-24-2014, 08:49 PM

I remember loving the show back in the day and always going home after school to watch it.

A few years ago I rediscovered my love for the turtles and I decided to rewatch the show. To my surprise, it holds up very well. Especially compared to other shows of that time which are near impossible to watch anymore.

There is a lot of humour in there that only an adult would find dunny. My only rule when watching it is that I never watch any episode that doesn't have James Avery as the shredder. He brings the character to life and its hard to imagine the show without him. Once the show hits the vacation episodes I also don't bother watching it. The first 6 season are my favourite.

Mellie

08-25-2014, 11:20 AM

I will forever love the show because it's what got me into Turtles, but re-watching a couple episodes recently.. it was hard to get through. The fact that they narrate everything that's going on ("It's gonna hit that building!", "I'll use my --- to knock out the ---!" etc) was annoying me, lol.

Still I'm planning on marathoning the whole series before the 2016 sequel. I was so young when it was on I don't remember much.

arkangel

08-25-2014, 11:30 AM

At the risk of being deported, I'll say with honesty that I wasn't into the original cartoon at all and never will be. I appreciate the nostalgia it invokes for fans and it's not that I dislike it, but I was in Grade 10 when the series started and my fandom was already firmly placed in the Mirage series. Not really an age thing as I'm still collecting tmnt comics and customizing toys. I just think I would have been more taken by it had it been my first exposure to the TMNT universe. Most of us also have a "black period" where we move away from our childhood fandoms in our 20s only to come back to it with feverish intensity when we can spot middle age around the corner. lol

Ulisa

08-25-2014, 12:23 PM

It's still my favorite of the TV series (though 2k3 is not far behind) and while not all the episodes are great, I think a majority of them are good, with a few being horrible and a few being excellent!

For me, I love the charterization on these turtles, especially Mikey. Still my favorite after all these years and I still say the Fred Wolf version is my favorite because he is likable, relatable yet still capable of holding his own. The other versions seem to push the "little brother" angle too much, making him come across as incompetent.

I like Leo in this version because he does have periods where he wants to goof off and isn't portrayed as the number 1 student all the time. I like 2k3 Leo, a lot actually, but in the later seasons I didn't see as much of his playful side.

Yes the adventures can be dumb; yes, they can far fetched but I loved the whole "anything goes" concept of this series. If the episode kept me entertained, it did its job. I like all the wacko characters they introduced. It actually made a great contrast once the series took on that darker tone. The scene where Shredder blows up Channel 6 stuck with me as a child and it still stands out to me now, probably because of the contrast to the lighter episodes prior.

Wesley

10-20-2014, 01:39 PM

I loved the show as a child and thought it was the best thing ever. The cartoon seemed more serious to me when I was 12. I thought it was an action cartoon with some comedy in it. I don't love it as an adult. I don't mind that it was really a comedy with some action. A lot of episodes haven't aged well. I think seasons one, two, three, seven and eight were the best (I still like some episodes from other seasons, though). The cartoon was an inconscient show. There were too many episodes made and it could've been condensed into 5 seasons. It has aged better than other shows such as Sonic SatAM and Spider-Man, though.

I like its version of Raphael, Casey, Shredder, Rat King and Leatherhead. There are annoying catchphrases and too many pizza jokes. I don't like Zach or Carter. Dregg was an okay villain, but he seemed to be evil for the sake of being evil and didn't have much of a personality (I liked him better in season 10, though). I don't mind the other characters like Big Louie, Barney Stockman and Buffy Shellhammer.

I like that the show doesn't take itself too seriously. The 2003 cartoon did that too often. Krang and Shredder's banter is still funny (they really do act like a married couple). I think half of the episodes are still enjoyable to watch, but the good is far outweighed by the bad in seasons 4, 5, 6 and 9. I haven't watched most of the episodes for years, though, since only some DVDs are available in Ireland, but I thought a few episodes on the Cowabunga Classics dvd were somewhat boring to watch as an adult such as Planet of the Turtloids.

I prefer the 2003 cartoon. The OT was a product of its time, but parts of it still hold up well. I watched it every now and then from the early 1990s to late 2000s on RTE Two, so it's not down to nostalgia that I like the show. It's one of those guilty pleasure type shows like Charmed and 2 Broke Girls.