For how long did Shredder have the Technodrome?

[neatoman]

There's a lot of things wrong with David Wise's writing, one of them keeping a logical timeline.

As an example of this, how long did Shredder have the Technodrome? The show clearly states that he used mutagen from the Technodrome to transform the turtles, who by the time the series actually start are skilled enough win fights in which they are outnumbered and outgunned.

The problem here is that Shredder explicitly wants to take over the world using the giant wheeled golfball but for whatever reason hasn't done so yet. Either him getting the Technodrome, mutating the Turtles and their training happened in very rapid succession (about a few days or so). Or he has had the Technodrome for years and simply never made a real move until the start of the series.

And there really isn't much of a logical balance here either, it still falls apart if we try to say it happen in about six months or so, because that's still ample time to take over the world and not enough to learn advanced martial arts.

[FredWolfLeonardo]

Why Shredder didn't take over the world using the technodrome immediately, I would say is because Krang was the real one in control and making all the decisions.

His intention was to have his rock soldiers over from Dimension X first, so that they could help him conquer/destroy the planet.

As for the question of the thread, there is no definitive answer but I did get the impression that Shredder had only recently gotten access to the technodrome and mutated the turtles/Splinter.

For one, the turtles mutate directly into teenagers in the cartoon so there couldn't have been too much of a passage of time.

Secondly, the turtles managing to beat the robotic foot soldiers and punks is not that impressive since we know that both are pretty incompetent in the show, so the turtles could've been only been trained for a short amount of time.

Lastly, episode 1 starts with the news of Ninja robberies having just been spotted within the city and startling everyone, even though crime was a day to day fact of life.
Shredder couldn't have had the technodrome for that long if the foot soldiers only just began to pop in the news.

[Original TMNT Cartoon Fan]

For one, the turtles mutate directly into teenagers in the cartoon so there couldn't have been too much of a passage of time.

That was just flashback scenes, demonstrating the mutagen. Also, Back to the Egg and Adventures in Turtle Sitting show how they were when being around 4.

[Utrommaniac]

Turtles: It's Shredder's Technodrome!

Krang; made the Technodrome, controls the Technodrome, commands the Technodrome, commands Shredder in the Technodrome, knows everything about the Technodrome:
https://media.giphy.com/media/l3q2K5jinAlChoCLS/200w.gif


Shredder never "had" the Technodrome, he just lives there and occasionally takes the wheel. As for the topic at hand, we might have to go back even further to when Saki dishonored Yoshi. Which from the way Splinter describes it, sounds like had been a good several years.

[Original TMNT Cartoon Fan]

Turtles: It's Shredder's Technodrome

The turtles didn't even know Krang when first visiting the Technodrome. Not even Michelangelo.

[Utrommaniac]

They were calling it that after they became aware of that, though.

[sdp]

A lot of missed opportunities of what they could've done with the Technodrome, explaining how krang/shredder met etc. Maybe an IDW comic based off the OT can build on these ideas.

[Original TMNT Cartoon Fan]

A lot of missed opportunities of what they could've done with the Technodrome, explaining how krang/shredder met etc. Maybe an IDW comic based off the OT can build on these ideas.

Meanwhile, we have two fanfiction stories on this website, The Shredder is Born and The Exile of Krang. And the 2010's Fred Wolf–Nickelodeon crossovers...

[Prowler]

I, too, always wondered as a kid how Krang and Shredder met and what Krang's past was like.

Anyway, Shredder told the Turtles that it was in USA where he gained access to advanced technology, meaning he met Krang in USA. So NYC is probably where Krang and his Technodrome landed on Earth. And Shredder probably alleid himself with Krang because it was gonna be hard to take over the world by himself and with Earth technology only. And he originally used the mutagen to try and destroy Splinter. Which is a weird thing. Why not just send some henchmen to kill him? Oh wait, too dark for a children's cartoon, so it had to be with the mutagen. And he had to "destroy" him, not "kill him". I guess he turned him into a rat to confine him to a life of being a freak forever or something?

And tbh, why did Yoshi even move to USA after he was kicked out of the Foot Clan? He basically went there and became a homeless man, even though he seemed to speak English fluently. Couldn't he have found a job as a Starbucks worker or as a taxi driver or something?

[neatoman]

Turtles: It's Shredder's Technodrome!

Krang; made the Technodrome, controls the Technodrome, commands the Technodrome, commands Shredder in the Technodrome, knows everything about the Technodrome:
https://media.giphy.com/media/l3q2K5jinAlChoCLS/200w.gif


Shredder never "had" the Technodrome, he just lives there and occasionally takes the wheel. As for the topic at hand, we might have to go back even further to when Saki dishonored Yoshi. Which from the way Splinter describes it, sounds like had been a good several years.

Shredder also calls it "his" Technodrome, implying that he considers it his to do as he pleases with.

I, too, always wondered as a kid how Krang and Shredder met and what Krang's past was like.

Anyway, Shredder told the Turtles that it was in USA where he gained access to advanced technology, meaning he met Krang in USA. So NYC is probably where Krang and his Technodrome landed on Earth. And Shredder probably alleid himself with Krang because it was gonna be hard to take over the world by himself and with Earth technology only. And he originally used the mutagen to try and destroy Splinter. Which is a weird thing. Why not just send some henchmen to kill him? Oh wait, too dark for a children's cartoon, so it had to be with the mutagen. And he had to "destroy" him, not "kill him". I guess he turned him into a rat to confine him to a life of being a freak forever or something?

And tbh, why did Yoshi even move to USA after he was kicked out of the Foot Clan? He basically went there and became a homeless man, even though he seemed to speak English fluently. Couldn't he have found a job as a Starbucks worker or as a taxi driver or something?

There's a whole bunch of things that are nonsensical about the Fred Wolf backstory. Another thing you could add to the list is:
Why did Krang get a ninja/warlord to build a an android body, rather than an engineer?

Even the "improvements" over the comic could be done far better.
As bad as the PD movies are, they did make me realise that the one thing about Yoshi being Splinter that "makes more sense" (i.e him knowing martial arts), only does so until you remember that Splinter had plenty of time to teach himself.

[Prowler]

Shredder also calls it "his" Technodrome, implying that he considers it his to do as he pleases with.



There's a whole bunch of things that are nonsensical about the Fred Wolf backstory. Another thing you could add to the list is:
Why did Krang get a ninja/warlord to build a an android body, rather than an engineer?

Even the "improvements" over the comic could be done far better.
As bad as the PD movies are, they did make me realise that the one thing about Yoshi being Splinter that "makes more sense" (i.e him knowing martial arts), only does so until you remember that Splinter had plenty of time to teach himself.
Honestly, never thought about that. Where did Shredder learn to build a robot? He also pitched the idea for Chromedome, but was he the one who designed it?

[FredWolfLeonardo]

Honestly, never thought about that. Where did Shredder learn to build a robot? He also pitched the idea for Chromedome, but was he the one who designed it?

Shredder also designed the weapon from Night of the Dark Turtle that was ultimately used by Donatello to scare off the Triceratons.

Honestly, he was quite the engineer when you think about it.

[Prowler]

Shredder also designed the weapon from Night of the Dark Turtle that was ultimately used by Donatello to scare off the Triceratons.

Honestly, he was quite the engineer when you think about it.

Yeah it's odd considering we don't know what kind of education he had. All we knos was that he was a martial artist.

[neatoman]

Well I guess it's technically possible to both be the full time head of a martial arts school and have an engineering degree, it's just a rather absurd combination.

A civil engineering program (in Sweden) takes five years to finish and require passing grades (preferably high ones) in high school level physics, chemistry and mathematics.

I don't know what it takes to become the head of a martial arts school but I assume you'd have to be the number one student and stay loyal to that particular school, then only get the position once the previous head retires.

He'd first have to spend all his teen years trying to get high grades in some of the hardest school subjects, then get his engineering degree in his mid twenties. Only then would he have to join a dojo in order to pursue a seemingly unrelated career, which could easily take years if not decades to go anywhere.

[Prowler]

Well I guess it's technically possible to both be the full time head of a martial arts school and have an engineering degree, it's just a rather absurd combination.

A civil engineering program (in Sweden) takes five years to finish and require passing grades (preferably high ones) in high school level physics, chemistry and mathematics.

I don't know what it takes to become the head of a martial arts school but I assume you'd have to be the number one student and stay loyal to that particular school, then only get the position once the previous head retires.

He'd first have to spend all his teen years trying to get high grades in some of the hardest school subjects, then get his engineering degree in his mid twenties. Only then would he have to join a dojo in order to pursue a seemingly unrelated career, which could easily take years if not decades to go anywhere.
Yeah. But on the other hand, Donatello being such a scientific and engineering genius is even more absurd. Shredder having engineering skills alongside being a black belt and having turned the Foot Clan into a crime syndicate in japan for some years is already a bit farfetched... but Donatello, a mutant turtle who lived in the sewers all his life and thus obviously couldn't pursue any type of education whatsoever being highly skilled in mathematics, physics and engineering?! How the hell did he learn all of that? Did he self-teach himself such things by finding old books in the trash or something? But I don't think that's possible, considering such subjects and skills aren't obtainable in the same way that learning a foreign language is, for example. Plus, this was the 80s/early 90s. No such thing as online classes or degrees back then.

[Original TMNT Cartoon Fan]

So yeah, the first thing comic and cartoon writers think of is how the education system of Japan works in every single detail.

[FredWolfLeonardo]

So yeah, the first thing comic and cartoon writers think of is how the education system of Japan works in every single detail.

Of course, amd we even have these wonderful little insights into Shredder's personal life, scattered throughout the series :D

In the episode, Take me to Your Leader:

Shredder: The entire planet will be turned into a deep freeze that will make the Ice Age look like a Turkish bath!

Krang: Ooh, you have a way with words Shredder!

Shredder: Well, actually I always wanted to be a writer, being a ruthless conquerer was my second choice.

I want to know more about the days of Shredder being an aspirational writer! (and what made him change? overbearing Tiger parents wanting him to get a "respectable" career, thus forcing him into engineering?)

[Original TMNT Cartoon Fan]

Shredder: Well, actually I always wanted to be a writer, being a ruthless conquerer was my second choice.

Believe it ot not, but it may actually be a reference to Adolf Hitler who was an artist during the early 20th Century.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-46991969

[neatoman]

I'm gonna guess Jump rejected his pilot chapter of "Dr Samurai Frankenstein and his Cyborg Alien Squid" because it was too unrelatable.

[Prowler]

Of course, amd we even have these wonderful little insights into Shredder's personal life, scattered throughout the series :D

In the episode, Take me to Your Leader:

Shredder: The entire planet will be turned into a deep freeze that will make the Ice Age look like a Turkish bath!

Krang: Ooh, you have a way with words Shredder!

Shredder: Well, actually I always wanted to be a writer, being a ruthless conquerer was my second choice.

I want to know more about the days of Shredder being an aspirational writer! (and what made him change? overbearing Tiger parents wanting him to get a "respectable" career, thus forcing him into engineering?)

Shredder did have a way with words. He was a pretty good speaker and came up with a lot of creative ways to insult Bebop and Rocksteady, Krang and the Turtles.

It's kinda funny how he was so incompetent and sometimes made to look like an idiot, when in fact he actually seemed somewhat clever.

[Original TMNT Cartoon Fan]

It's kinda funny how he was so incompetent and sometimes made to look like an idiot, when in fact he actually seemed somewhat clever.

Probably censors, as it was most prominent around seasons 3-5.

[FredWolfLeonardo]

It's kinda funny how he was so incompetent and sometimes made to look like an idiot, when in fact he actually seemed somewhat clever.

Same with Krang, even though he was incompetent many times (though not to the same extent as Shredder, and far less than Bebop/Rocksteady), he and Shredder frequently talked on the same level of techno babble and were always inventing various devices that would require them to be engineering geniuses.

[Original TMNT Cartoon Fan]

Same with Krang, even though he was incompetent many times (though not to the same extent as Shredder, and far less than Bebop/Rocksteady), he and Shredder frequently talked on the same level of techno babble and were always inventing various devices that would require them to be engineering geniuses.

Krang was always superior to Shredder in inventing devices (which makes sense).

[Utrommaniac]

It's that "900+ IQ" he talked about :P

[Original TMNT Cartoon Fan]

Another issue: how did the Technodrome, with Krang inside, end up on Earth, and where did it end up? Did it just pop up in the same underground caverns beneath Manhattan where it was during season 1?

A general rule is that nothing extraordinary has been noticed by most Humans at the time when the major adventures of the Ninja Turtles begin.

[pferreira]

Shredder never "had" the Technodrome, he just lives there and occasionally takes the wheel. THIS! It's Krang's technology and the only reason Krang allowed Shredder access was because he supplied an army of soldiers to slowly take over the city. Throughout the whole of the first season it's clear that Shredder doesn't trust Krang, which is why Krang spends so much time begging for his robot body to be built. In fact Krang even helps Mikey escape at one point to get Shredder to fail and provide Krang another excuse as to why he should build Krang the suit. Sorry neatoman, this can be explained. ;)

Another thing you could add to the list is:
Why did Krang get a ninja/warlord to build a an android body, rather than an engineer?Why not? Shredder proved himself over the course of the show to have technical understanding of Krang's inventions so it would make sense to employee your closest ally. Baxter sure wasn't any help.

Another issue: how did the Technodrome, with Krang inside, end up on Earth, and where did it end up? Did it just pop up in the same underground caverns beneath Manhattan where it was during season 1?Why not the caverns? It obviously came through the interdimensional portal.

[Leo656]

So I am to believe that Shredder had a surveyor down there, with a compass and graph paper and a yardstick and whatnot, mapping things out to make sure that everything was just right before Krang zapped himself and the Technodrome over from Dimension X? Is that right? :lol:

Nah, I don't buy it. I mean, there's other explanations, such as it was built slowly over a period of years, but frankly, they're all kinda crap. I really don't understand why people insist on trying to apply logic to a show that clearly wasn't concerned with that, and didn't want anyone watching it to be, either.

You're NOT supposed to think too hard when watching the FW cartoon. I get that it's fun to toss ideas around and whatnot, but seriously. Some of these conversations are silly. Each and every one of you has already applied 1000% more thought and energy into this stuff than they did when they were writing it. Why bother? They got paid to write the stuff, are y'all getting paid to fill in the plotholes? C'mon.

Not trying to be mean, just... jeez. "How'd the Technodrome get there?" "A f*cking wizard did it, same as everything." End of story.

[FredWolfLeonardo]

So I am to believe that Shredder had a surveyor down there, with a compass and graph paper and a yardstick and whatnot, mapping things out to make sure that everything was just right before Krang zapped himself and the Technodrome over from Dimension X? Is that right? :lol:

Krang didn't "zap himself and his technodrome" to earth, he was banished there.

And it is likely that he and Shredder met after he was already on earth, since there is no indication that Shredder had access to dimensional travel prior to meeting Krang.

[Leo656]

I like to imagine that they met at a particularly colorful Alcoholics Anonymous meeting. They probably had the same sponsor.

[Xav]

THIS! It's Krang's technology and the only reason Krang allowed Shredder access was because he supplied an army of soldiers to slowly take over the city.What army of soldiers did he supply Krang with? All the Foot Soldiers were made in the Technodrome and outside of Bebop and Rocksteady the gang working for him all disappeared.

[neatoman]

Also, if Krang was banished, why let him keep the Technodrome in the first place?

[Original TMNT Cartoon Fan]

Krang didn't "zap himself and his technodrome" to earth, he was banished there.

And it is likely that he and Shredder met after he was already on earth, since there is no indication that Shredder had access to dimensional travel prior to meeting Krang.

What if Krang left Dimension X in the Technodrome on his own, right after the decision to banish him had been taken?

Shredder didn't have access to portals until Hot Rodding Teenagers from Dimension X.

[FredWolfLeonardo]

What if Krang left Dimension X in the Technodrome on his own, right after the decision to banish him had been taken?


Thats certainly an interesting way to look at it, though if one were to take the Nickelodeon crossovers as gospel, then it was Kraang Subrpime who "kicked him out", against his will.

[Original TMNT Cartoon Fan]

Thats certainly an interesting way to look at it, though if one were to take the Nickelodeon crossovers as gospel, then it was Kraang Subrpime who "kicked him out", against his will.

Krang's backstory itself deserves a thread on its own.

[Utrommaniac]

Now that you mention it, it is pretty funny how he was exiled and immediately said "lol fvck that, easy to get back when I have the stuff."

[Original TMNT Cartoon Fan]

Now that you mention it, it is pretty funny how he was exiled and immediately said "lol fvck that, easy to get back when I have the stuff."

I believe the Technodrome portal was damaged and broke right after the Technodrome first crashed on Earth, before Krang and Shredder met. So Shredder and Krang rebuilt it (which is why Shredder said it will open for first time).

[Prowler]

I believe the Technodrome portal was damaged and broke right after the Technodrome first crashed on Earth, before Krang and Shredder met. So Shredder and Krang rebuilt it (which is why Shredder said it will open for first time).

During most of the show The Technodrome either lacked fuel or was stuck somewhere Krang and Shredder didn't want it to be in. That's what held their plans back. If the Technodrome hadn't had such problems throughout most of the show, it would have rampaged NYC.

[Original TMNT Cartoon Fan]

If the Technodrome hadn't had such problems throughout most of the show, it would have rampaged NYC.

If the Technodrome was full-powered all the time, every episode (at least with Krang and Shredder) would have been like a series finale (large-scale invasion).

[pferreira]

Nah, I don't buy it. I mean, there's other explanations, such as it was built slowly over a period of years, but frankly, they're all kinda crap. I really don't understand why people insist on trying to apply logic to a show that clearly wasn't concerned with that, and didn't want anyone watching it to be, either.It would be dishonest to say the writers didn't think of some of these plot points. No writer goes to write a script with the intention of delivering one plot hole after another. If there's some logic intended for the series I'm not going to sit back and say "who cares" like a neatoman. :roll:

What army of soldiers did he supply Krang with? All the Foot Soldiers were made in the Technodrome and outside of Bebop and Rocksteady the gang working for him all disappeared.From what I understood the original foot soldiers were humans trained by Shredder. After a short while and some trust from Krang he got robot ones, which was a good call considering the speed the TMNT went through them. Hope that clears things up. :)

Also, if Krang was banished, why let him keep the Technodrome in the first place?Are you talking about why Krang has the Technodrome? He stole it.

Now that you mention it, it is pretty funny how he was exiled and immediately said "lol fvck that, easy to get back when I have the stuff."Krang is a warlord so he'd want to show power through conquer before returning back.

If the Technodrome was full-powered all the time, every episode (at least with Krang and Shredder) would have been like a series finale (large-scale invasion).Now THAT is a true plot contrivance.

[Leo656]

It would be dishonest to say the writers didn't think of some of these plot points. No writer goes to write a script with the intention of delivering one plot hole after another. If there's some logic intended for the series I'm not going to sit back and say "who cares" like a neatoman. :roll:
.

But they DIDN'T think of it. Just like the people writing the He-Man cartoon didn't bother to think of any explanation for where Snake Mountain came from, or why Skeletor hung out there in the first place. Where'd Filmation Skeletor even come from, originally? Never explained. Or like how the people writing Filmation's Ghostbusters cartoon never bothered explaining WHY the car could talk, or travel through time, or why the entire Hauntquarters was full of ghosts and spooky sh*t and the guys don't bat an eye. Or why the other Thundercats bother listening to Lion-O when he's clearly incompetent. Where'd they find the resources to build the Cat's Lair and that tank, anyways? What, all five of them are f*cking engineers, now? It's implied that Panthro did most or all of it himself, but how much goddamn sense does that make? None! And so on and so on and so on. Pick any popular cartoon of the 80s, there's TONS of unexplained backstory and tons of lapses in logic as well.

The answers to ALL of this - and the question about the Technodrome's origins in the Fred Wolf cartoon - are the same exact answer: "Dude, we wrote it for 5-year olds; we knew nobody watching it was going to ask those questions, so we didn't bother coming up with answers to a question nobody was realistically going to ask." If you do the research, some of the writers of various popular cartoons of that era are on record saying more or less exactly that.

It's not an indictment of any of those shows, it's simply a statement of fact: They weren't creating "high art", they NEVER expected people to still be talking about and over-analyzing these children's cartoons three or four decades later, they were creating a children's product and under an obligation to churn out dozens of scripts in as little time as humanly possible. "Don't think: WRITE" was the order of the day. That's why the shows themselves, while thoroughly entertaining, are also thoroughly inconsistent with regards to their own internal lore and logic. No, they weren't "trying to create plot holes"; but "plot holes" weren't even a THING in TV back then. The idea of ANY television show remaining internally consistent for its entire run is a relatively new, mid-1990s phenomenon; before that, most shows - even live-action ones aimed at adults, like most of the popular sitcoms of the era - were completely made up on the fly, resulting in characters' entire backstories being different, completely different personalities for the same character depending on what episode you were watching, a character having an entirely different job or even last name than the one they had two episodes previously... it was a mess. But nobody cared! You HAVE to remember that people didn't take TV so seriously a couple of decades ago, and that literally everything was being made up with no regard at all to what happened last week, or what kind of questions these inconsistencies might raise.

People simply didn't watch TV back then to think, especially not kids' cartoons. The writers never came up with any explanation for the Technodrome because they quite reasonably and realistically assumed that their target audience wasn't going to care one bit. Frankly, I don't think it hurt anyone's enjoyment of the show, so they were correct. It would have been NICE to get some kind of explanation, but they were right in assuming that no explanation was ultimately necessary. What first-grade kid was gonna care?

That's not reductive in any way, it's a simple matter of priority and knowing who the audience is.

[Original TMNT Cartoon Fan]

But they DIDN'T think of it. Just like the people writing the He-Man cartoon didn't bother to think of any explanation for where Snake Mountain came from, or why Skeletor hung out there in the first place.

There was a "series bible" for writers, but not everything made it to the cartoon.

http://mysteriesofgreyskull.tripod.com/Articles/MOTUbible.htm

[FredWolfLeonardo]

But they DIDN'T think of it.

Well, atleast not until season 8 when we learn that Drakus built the technodrome for Krang.

I would agree with you that the show wasn't meant to be taken super seriously, and I actually think that its a good thing not to take entertainment so seriously as many people do nowadays.

At its core however, the original tmnt series still had a relatively consistent timeline and internal world logic, with past events and characters continuosly being mentioned and referenced.

Its not like Tom and Jerry where every episode shows a new origin for Nibbles, a different house and a different owner for the duo.

[Original TMNT Cartoon Fan]

Its not like Tom and Jerry where every episode shows a new origin for Nibbles, a different house and a different owner for the duo.

Who cares, owners sell their pets all the time?

[pferreira]

It's not an indictment of any of those shows, it's simply a statement of fact: They weren't creating "high art", they NEVER expected people to still be talking about and over-analyzing these children's cartoons three or four decades later, they were creating a children's product and under an obligation to churn out dozens of scripts in as little time as humanly possible. "Don't think: WRITE" was the order of the day. That's why the shows themselves, while thoroughly entertaining, are also thoroughly inconsistent with regards to their own internal lore and logic. No, they weren't "trying to create plot holes"; but "plot holes" weren't even a THING in TV back then. The idea of ANY television show remaining internally consistent for its entire run is a relatively new, mid-1990s phenomenon; before that, most shows - even live-action ones aimed at adults, like most of the popular sitcoms of the era - were completely made up on the fly, resulting in characters' entire backstories being different, completely different personalities for the same character depending on what episode you were watching, a character having an entirely different job or even last name than the one they had two episodes previously... it was a mess. But nobody cared! You HAVE to remember that people didn't take TV so seriously a couple of decades ago, and that literally everything was being made up with no regard at all to what happened last week, or what kind of questions these inconsistencies might raise.So we should never discuss the series because it was for kids and to sell toys. Well why didn't you just quote neatoman then? :roll:

People simply didn't watch TV back then to think, especially not kids' cartoons. The writers never came up with any explanation for the Technodrome because they quite reasonably and realistically assumed that their target audience wasn't going to care one bit. Frankly, I don't think it hurt anyone's enjoyment of the show, so they were correct. It would have been NICE to get some kind of explanation, but they were right in assuming that no explanation was ultimately necessary. What first-grade kid was gonna care? What's hilarious about your logic is that the FW series demographic is kids and teens as does other every other TMNT cartoon series. The Mirage Volume 1 comics targeted teens so in that case you're saying we shouldn't talk about any iteration of TMNT that is aimed at kids. That's pretty big snobbish BS to me, a very hypocritical stance to take.

At its core however, the original tmnt series still had a relatively consistent timeline and internal world logic, with past events and characters continuosly being mentioned and referenced.I would add it was also a relatively new timeline. It takes years in comics for some things we take for granted to be developed for superheroes for instance.

[snake]

The FW cartoon was a product that existed in a world before products were more carefully disguised. Future incarnations aimed at kids provide more continuity explanations because more nerds on the internet care about that.

Basically, it didn’t matter to the writers because storytelling and worldbuilding in cartoons was different than it is now.

I can’t believe this has to even be said.

[Prowler]

The FW cartoon was a product that existed in a world before products were more carefully disguised. Future incarnations aimed at kids provide more continuity explanations because more nerds on the internet care about that.

Basically, it didn’t matter to the writers because storytelling and worldbuilding in cartoons was different than it is now.

I can’t believe this has to even be said.

Yeah, as a kid I already wondered how Shredder and Krang met, but it's not like it ruined my enjoyment of the series.

[Wesley]

Yeah, as a kid I already wondered how Shredder and Krang met, but it's not like it ruined my enjoyment of the series.

I never wondered how Shredder and Krang met tbh. Rte Two placing season 1 in between S3 and S4 probably didn’t help.

[pferreira]

The FW cartoon was a product that existed in a world before products were more carefully disguised. Future incarnations aimed at kids provide more continuity explanations because more nerds on the internet care about that.

Basically, it didn’t matter to the writers because storytelling and worldbuilding in cartoons was different than it is now. Everything is more seralised now so the obvious effect is the need for more complex writing. This is why episodic TV in general has almost disappeared. There are also less long syndicated cartoon shows which obviously had to have a toy line hence the episodic storytelling. Apart from that TMNT is marketed exactly the same way as it was back then. Unlike some TMNT fans it doesn't really bother me when I look back at how the show was written and marketed. :)

[FredWolfLeonardo]

Unlike some TMNT fans it doesn't really bother me when I look back at how the show was written and marketed. :)

I find it funny how fans of the show are lambasted for "taking the show too seriously", but isn't that precisely what critcs are doing when they express how the writing and marketing of the show bothers them?

[pferreira]

I find it funny how fans of the show are lambasted for "taking the show too seriously", but isn't that precisely what critcs are doing when they express how the writing and marketing of the show bothers them?Yes it's hypocritical. The whole "I've grown out of the FW series" line is also hilariously contradictory when you take into account TMNT has always been written, marketed to kids and teens, so far at least. :D

[Mr Salk]

Yeah, as a kid I already wondered how Shredder and Krang met, but it's not like it ruined my enjoyment of the series.

I figured they were just drawn to each other through the criminal underground. Ok, I think that NOW. Never crossed my mind before.