How'd you guys discover TMNT?

[Cyndaquilfan123]

For me, It was back in 2013 back when the 2K12 was in it's first season. All my cartoons were getting cancelled, (Clone Wars, Young Justices, EMH,) and I needed something new to watch, and I had heard a lot of people talking about the CGI show on Nick, so I had decided to check it out. I watched "The Alien Agenda", and I was hooked, and so I decided to look further into the franchise.

[Original TMNT Cartoon Fan]

I heard about it getting popular, and started watching the Fred Wolf cartoon by August or September 1991 and buying some Archie and Fleetway comics around November the same year. That Christmas, I got many TMNT action figures.

[newfan]

Edit: Well, I knew of it back in the time of turtle mania but managed not get caught up in it. I came in with 2012 when my son came across it in 2016. I remember liking the look of them and watching a little, then...here we are.

[Wesley]

I first discovered TMNT when I started watching the Fred Wolf toon around 1989/1990 (I was 3 or 4 at the time). Like other shows back then, I didn’t know what was going on in the episodes, but it looked really interesting to me at that time and there was something about it that drew me in. The earliest memories I have of the show are a bit of Enter the Shredder, Case of the Killer Pizzas and The Mean Machines and of course the intro.

[IndigoErth]

Like the larger majority of us older "kids" (at heart), it was the original cartoon that hooked me. Though I was only 8 when that series started over 30 years ago, so it's pretty cloudy and not sure quite when or how I came across them or how early in the series. Think it was relatively early.

Unfortunately, being that age group, there wasn't a prior generation of old fans and the internet to support the notion that, yes, it was still okay to be into them as an older teen and young adult, so sadly, I put them away for quite a few years. So credit also due to the 2012 series for hooking me in early 2013 and bringing me back in.

[Candy Kappa]

I have no idea how I discovered the Turtles, probably by seeing the figures in a toy store when I was 4-ish

[Sugilita]

For me, It was back in 2013 back when the 2K12 was in it's first season. All my cartoons were getting cancelled, (Clone Wars, Young Justices, EMH,) and I needed something new to watch, and I had heard a lot of people talking about the CGI show on Nick, so I had decided to check it out. I watched "The Alien Agenda", and I was hooked, and so I decided to look further into the franchise.

I discovered through the 1990 movie.

[MikeandRaph87]

Who else has been a fan so long its before their first memory?

[triplexxx]

Just stumbled across very early in life sitting in front of the TV, as I did many other things in life I love. First impression left a lasting one.

[Prowler]

The first NES game was my first exposure to the Turtles, I believe: I must have been 4 years old or so. Yikes. What a way to be introduced to the Turtles.

[The-Shredder]

Sometime in early 2003, our house got a satellite dish installed that let us watch foreign T.V. channels. In the late spring or early summer of 2003, I first saw the 1987 Fred Wolf cartoon on one of those channels. The earliest episode I remember watching is the first episode of Season 2, "Return of the Shredder." I was instantly hooked. I also started eating pizza more around this time as well. :D

At the time, I was a fan of Buzz Lightyear of Star Command, Pokémon, and Scooby Doo, basically what was on UPN's Disney's One Too and Kids WB. Since then, I also got into Star Wars, DCAU Batman, and Sonic the Hedgehog, but most of the things that I liked back then and still like now don't get the same level of attention that I still give to TMNT.

One day, I went to Target and I saw the 2003 cartoon figures on an endcap in the toys section. I then realized that this was much bigger than some old cartoon. I got on the foxbox.tv website, learned everything I could about the 2003 cartoon, and saw a rerun of "The Shredder Strikes" in mid August, a perfectly timed introduction. I watched both the 1987 cartoon alongside the 2003 cartoon, but the 2003 cartoon instantly became my favorite.

Then, I discovered The Technodrome fansite (https://web.archive.org/web/20040125012640/http://thetechnodrome.com/), ninjaturtles.com (https://web.archive.org/web/20040124141052/http://www.ninjaturtles.com/), and other fan sites (https://web.archive.org/web/20050825234018/http://directory.google.com:80/Top/Arts/Animation/Cartoons/Titles/T/Teenage_Mutant_Ninja_Turtles/), which is how I got to learn more about the comics, cartoons, movies, and the Next Mutation, which despite its reputation always mystified me for some reason. However, I have yet to see every episode because I want to see the uncut version as it aired on Fox Kids.

Aside from a brief break during most of the Fast Forward and TMNT 2007 movie era, I've been a fan ever since. It must have made a huge impression on me at the time because it's the only franchise that I'm a fan of where I buy the action figures, video games, and DVDs/Blu-rays. However, that has mostly stopped since I find most of the 2012 and Rise of the TMNT toys less captivating, the last game we got was Mutants in Manhattan (which was alright, but there's not a lot to it), and the Michael Bay movies are self-explanatory.

[AT-Man]

Someone in kindergarten told me about it. I think the first time I saw any of the turtles was on a sticker from a TMNT bubblegum.

[MsMarvelDuckie]

Mentioned this before, but for me it was the original movie. Fell in love with the characters, and later discovered (well, I alreasy knew about it existing, just hadn't really checked it out) the cartoon. Was hooked all over again, and now here we are, all these years later, still a fan.

[neatoman]

I think the earliest memory I have of TMNT is that one issue of Archie where an owl, a crow and cat fall into toxic waste. It was in a doctor's waiting room. If not that then it was probably some other Archie issue that was lying around in a thrift shop or something. I might have seen the first movie on TV but TMNT 3 is the only one I'm sure I watched as a kid.

[MikeandRaph87]

Just stumbled across very early in life sitting in front of the TV, as I did many other things in life I love. First impression left a lasting one.

That is what happened with me. I was taught how to use the remote control at age two and my father observed what I was watching not long afterward I started saying "Beba and 'Ocksteady!" So its something I turned to and liked before my earliest memory. Ninja Turtles has been ALWAYS been a part of my life. One of the few constants from 1989 on.

[Original TMNT Cartoon Fan]

I think the earliest memory I have of TMNT is that one issue of Archie where an owl, a crow and cat fall into toxic waste.

It must have been this

https://miragelicensing.com/comics/archie/27/27.htm

I might have seen the first movie on TV but TMNT 3 is the only one I'm sure I watched as a kid.

Reruns of the second and third film were often played over Swedish television throughout the 1990's and early 2000's. You can check out the Swedish Media Database to see when the reruns aired. (sadly, not much about the cartoon airdates)

https://smdb.kb.se/catalog/search?q=Turtles+typ%3Atv&sort=OLDEST

[80gmrp]

I THINK my first experience with TMNT was a video cassette release based on the 1987 series. We had even owned one cassette with two episodes in which Don was the focus. My house didn't have cable, so that was the best I had at the time.

[Andrew NDB]

I remember a million threads like this, but OK. The cartoon, the toys, then I was given an issue of the Archie comic. It all snowballed from there.

[CyberCubed]

I was around 3-4 years old and saw the original cartoon on TV, got the original Raphael Playmates figure, and went on from there.

[Original TMNT Cartoon Fan]

My house didn't have cable, so that was the best I had at the time.

But CBS (from season 4)?

[MrPliggins]

I remember first seeing the figures. In 1988 (I was 10), they were taking over the toy aisle of a local department store. The packaging really got my attention. I first thought the Turtles were bad guys because they didn't have pupils. Then I saw "Splinter No More" and "Teenagers from Dimension X" at 6am on two Saturday mornings on my local ABC affiliate. The opening title sequence really caught me. I started drawing them a lot, discovered the Mirage comics at #16 and the rest is history.

[sdp]

No idea, too young, probably the toys.

[Coola Yagami]

Legit saw the TV ad for its first five eps. The fact that it was unique to see turtles using martial arts and cool weopns, and the fact that (at the time) it was a one-time only event made me not want to miss it.

I remember Toxic Crusaders was the same thing. 5 episode one time mini series that became its own show. Even had a similar set up where Shredder was the guy in charge for those 5 episodes but was stuck following Krang's orders when it became a series due to how episode 5 ended. Their main bad guy also has to answer to someone higher when the show became a series.

Takes me back to Battletoads, which in the end, turned out to be a one-time event and never sprung out into its own show. On the flip side, Swamp Thing had a single episode which would become a series.

I wonder what would have been had the TMNT never made it and was just stuck with those first 5 episodes.

[MikeandRaph87]

Legit saw the TV ad for its first five eps. The fact that it was unique to see turtles using martial arts and cool weopns, and the fact that (at the time) it was a one-time only event made me not want to miss it.

I remember Toxic Crusaders was the same thing. 5 episode one time mini series that became its own show. Even had a similar set up where Shredder was the guy in charge for those 5 episodes but was stuck following Krang's orders when it became a series due to how episode 5 ended. Their main bad guy also has to answer to someone higher when the show became a series.

Takes me back to Battletoads, which in the end, turned out to be a one-time event and never sprung out into its own show. On the flip side, Swamp Thing had a single episode which would become a series.

I wonder what would have been had the TMNT never made it and was just stuck with those first 5 episodes.

Has the promo advertising for the five episodes been preserved on Youtube? I have never seen it!

[Lord Nightwalker]

The Mirage black and white. Issue nine was the first one for me, I believe. Maybe issue twelve. I was in scouts when I found it. Good times.

[AquaParade]

I must have been so young that I feel like I was practically born into TMNT. Must be why it has remained such a constant.

[FredWolfLeonardo]

Despite my favourite version being the 80s cartoon, it was actually the 2003 cartoon and 2007 movie that served as my introduction to tmnt during the time that the movie was out in theatres.

I also remember playing an emulated version of the tmnt NES game on ps1, and watching AVGN and Irategamer's reviews of those games back in 2006-2007, so do those count?

[Original TMNT Cartoon Fan]

Despite my favourite version being the 80s cartoon, it was actually the 2003 cartoon and 2007 movie that served as my introduction to tmnt during the time that the movie was out in theatres.

I also remember playing an emulated version of the tmnt NES game on ps1, and watching AVGN and Irategamer's reviews of those games back in 2006-2007, so do those count?

Angry Video Game Nerd reviewed on 29 June 2006

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XjUz8IT0CYg

Irategamer reviewed on 10 September 2007

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gqB1e7MlWN8

[DarkFell]

From watching the OT on TV and VHS tapes. The toys, Henson TMNT movies and Archie comics version came later on.

[Coola Yagami]

Has the promo advertising for the five episodes been preserved on Youtube? I have never seen it!

Hmmm idk. I mean back then you'd have to have been randomly recording commercials or some other show to have captured it. You'd have no way of knowing that weird show would become a big hit.

[DonnieTello]

Compared to all the veterans and turtle connoisseurs of this thread I'm a peasant. I just got bored one night, went looking through IMDb, saw the Fred Wolf cartoon, watched it. Liked it. Decided to look at everything else TMNT and now I'm here.

[rickwj324]

I was aware of TMNT starting with the Mirage books in the 80's (before the cartoon). I didn't read them at first though. Sometime after the FW toon came out I started picking up the Mirage titles and eventually picked up the Archie comics for a bit.
I've always liked the turtles, but it was the Nick TMNT that made me a true fan. I just love that show so much.

[The Great Saiyaman]

I discovered them when the TV network started to air previews of the series in 1988.

After that it was as if the flood gates opened and Turtle mania was just as big as He-man a few years prior.

[Original TMNT Cartoon Fan]

I discovered them when the TV network started to air previews of the series in 1988.

So the first TMNT cartoon came to the Netherlands already by 1988?

[Shred87]

I can’t ever remember a time that I didn’t know the franchise. A combination of the first movie/figures/Fred wolf cartoon....

[ABrown]

About the time that the original cartoon went into five day a week syndication in the Fall of 1989, TMNT started becoming pretty popular among my third grade classmates. I didn't find the show to be all that entertaining. However, when the 1990 movie came out in the theater, my dad took me to see it. MAN did I love it. I had no idea that's what TMNT is. It was at that point that I started to regularly watch the original cartoon. I stuck with it until around Christmas 1991, when I got a Super Nintendo. At that point, it was all video games and sports for me. I stopped watching the cartoon until the I saw the "red sky era" in the mid 90's. That rejuvenated my love for TMNT.

[Original TMNT Cartoon Fan]

it was all video games and sports for me.

Didn't you get Turtles in Time in 1992?

[wpugh2424]

got a few for Christmas presents one year

[Original TMNT Cartoon Fan]

got a few for Christmas presents one year

Without even asking for it?

[ABrown]

Didn't you get Turtles in Time in 1992?

Nope, in 1992 I got The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Legend_of_Zelda:_A_Link_to_the_Past) for my 11th birthday and NCAA Basketball (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NCAA_Basketball_(video_game)) for Christmas that year.

[pferreira]

My first memory of TMNT was watching a repeat of the FW episode The Incredible Shrinking Turtles back in 1989 on Going Live I think. I don't think it was Return of the Shredder. Was a fan ever since.

Despite my favourite version being the 80s cartoon, it was actually the 2003 cartoon and 2007 movie that served as my introduction to tmnt during the time that the movie was out in theatres.
Can I ask considering your contemporary series was the 2003 one what made you go for a more outdated series as your favourite?

[FredWolfLeonardo]

My first memory of TMNT was watching a repeat of the FW episode The Incredible Shrinking Turtles back in 1989 on Going Live I think. I don't think it was Return of the Shredder. Was a fan ever since.

A pretty good episode, the turtles vs Shredder fight was just fantastic while the Splinter vs Shredder fight in the cheese factory was a lot of fun as well.

Can I ask considering your contemporary series was the 2003 one what made you go for a more outdated series as your favourite?

It comes down to a multitude of factors, but the most key reasons I can think of are:

1. I grew up watching many of the serious cartoons in the mid 2000s such as Teen Titans, Tmnt 2003, Justice League etc. So when my interest in tmnt was revitalized during the Nick era, and I checked out the FW cartoon, I found it to break every cliche that I had to come expect from watching those serious mid-2000s toons, and that honestly made me enjoy the cartoon all the more (such as having the villains be so funny and likeable while still being threatening).

2. All the more, the cartoon managed to stay so funny most of the time without going into gag territory, which I really admire. It can be admittedly hard to nail the balance of creating a grounded world with rules, while keeping a show really fun, and that is something that the FW toon nails perfectly (aside from fourth wall gag breaks, which despite being really funny, are the one part of the FW toon that require a serious suspension of disbelief, even compared to everything else the show had to offer).

3. Many things about the FW toon just stuck out to me alot more than the 2k3 one. The colours are much more abundant in the FW toon rather than being a world of dark and dul colours like the 2k3 one (a lot of the time), the music is much more booming in the FW toon, the voice performances are much more memorable, the concepts of the 80s toon (such as the technodrome, the rock soldiers and Krang), stayed in my head longer than any of the concepts that I first discovered through the 2k3 toon.

4. The 80s-90s aesthetics, such as the dated animation, the outdated slang and catchphrases, all just served to make the cartoon more memorable and "retro", that would make me feel nostalgic for it, despite not having grown up with it.

[pferreira]

1. I grew up watching many of the serious cartoons in the mid 2000s such as Teen Titans, Tmnt 2003, Justice League etc. So when my interest in tmnt was revitalized during the Nick era, and I checked out the FW cartoon, I found it to break every cliche that I had to come expect from watching those serious mid-2000s toons, and that honestly made me enjoy the cartoon all the more (such as having the villains be so funny and likeable while still being threatening).

2. All the more, the cartoon managed to stay so funny most of the time without going into gag territory, which I really admire. It can be admittedly hard to nail the balance of creating a grounded world with rules, while keeping a show really fun, and that is something that the FW toon nails perfectly (aside from fourth wall gag breaks, which despite being really funny, are the one part of the FW toon that require a serious suspension of disbelief, even compared to everything else the show had to offer).

3. Many things about the FW toon just stuck out to me alot more than the 2k3 one. The colours are much more abundant in the FW toon rather than being a world of dark and dul colours like the 2k3 one (a lot of the time), the music is much more booming in the FW toon, the voice performances are much more memorable, the concepts of the 80s toon (such as the technodrome, the rock soldiers and Krang), stayed in my head longer than any of the concepts that I first discovered through the 2k3 toon.

4. The 80s-90s aesthetics, such as the dated animation, the outdated slang and catchphrases, all just served to make the cartoon more memorable and "retro", that would make me feel nostalgic for it, despite not having grown up with it.Thanks for explaining. I guess if you were brought up on serious cartoons seeing something more sci-fi imaginative with some humour was a welcome relief. I always feel kids today are missing out on the imaginative cartoons of the 80s. I also can't talk about how dated the FW TMNT animation is as I personally like that type of animation and complain endlessly about there not being any of that today.

[Original TMNT Cartoon Fan]

3. Many things about the FW toon just stuck out to me alot more than the 2k3 one. The colours are much more abundant in the FW toon rather than being a world of dark and dul colours like the 2k3 one (a lot of the time), the music is much more booming in the FW toon, the voice performances are much more memorable, the concepts of the 80s toon (such as the technodrome, the rock soldiers and Krang), stayed in my head longer than any of the concepts that I first discovered through the 2k3 toon.

I think it was a strength creating concepts that many would remember for so many years. I guess even if there was no Internet, many of those concepts would still exist in many people's memories.

[Musashi]

I genuinely don't remember first becoming aware of the Turtles, but it was undoubtedly through the Fred Wolf cartoon, most likely around 1988 or '89. Shown on Saturday mornings on BBC1 for a while, and then later got an afternoon slot. It was all about Bebop and Rocksteady for us kids back then - Sorry, Eastman & Laird! :)

[Original TMNT Cartoon Fan]

I genuinely don't remember first becoming aware of the Turtles, but it was undoubtedly through the Fred Wolf cartoon, most likely around 1988 or '89. Shown on Saturday mornings on BBC1 for a while, and then later got an afternoon slot. It was all about Bebop and Rocksteady for us kids back then - Sorry, Eastman & Laird! :)

You must have been very dissapointed when they were so absent from the first half of season 2.

[Musashi]

You must have been very dissapointed when they were so absent from the first half of season 2.

No idea. A long time ago now... :) I suspect I didn't start watching it till slightly after that point. The earliest specific episodes I remember are from season 3.

We were all disappointed that they weren't in the movie. We'd probably have loved Out of the Shadows back then. :roll:

[Original TMNT Cartoon Fan]

The earliest specific episodes I remember are from season 3.

Then it must have been 1989, or maybe they first aired in 1990 in the UK.

[Luke795]

Watching the 1987 cartoon.

[Zulithe]

I can't remember for certain, as this would have been during the 87/88 animated launch and I was so young then that my memory isn't exactly clear how I first learned about it. But I'm pretty sure I discovered the show and the action figures around the same time as they were both deep passions of mine once I got into it. I remember being really inspired by the art on the figure cards, both on the front and back, as I loved to draw and the art was really good (and I wasn't really exposed to comic books yet, at least for another 2 or 3 years)

[Original TMNT Cartoon Fan]

I discovered the show and the action figures around the same time

The cartoon debuted in December 1987 (unless you caught reruns), the action figures in June 1988 and Archie Comics in August 1988.

[Sumac]

I think, I've answered this question in the similar thread, but I repeat again: my Mom bought Raphael toy from the newspaper stand. I didn't know who it was, so just called this green dude "Redick", since he had letter R on its belt.

Later I met some kids with little TMNT books based on Wrestling Asteroid arc from TMNT Adventures and first TMNT movie and this way I've learnt about their real names and who they were.

And only then I've watched 80s series to complete the deal.

[Original TMNT Cartoon Fan]

Later I met some kids with little TMNT books based on Wrestling Asteroid arc from TMNT Adventures and first TMNT movie.

Do you mean these?

https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/vintage-lot-teenage-mutant-ninja-1826053022

[pferreira]

I think it was a strength creating concepts that many would remember for so many years. I guess even if there was no Internet, many of those concepts would still exist in many people's memories.The concepts weren't new ones. Most were ripped from old sci-fi and horror B-movies but they modernised them in a cool way by integrating them with the 80s futurism of the show. That's why they worked so well.

I genuinely don't remember first becoming aware of the Turtles, but it was undoubtedly through the Fred Wolf cartoon, most likely around 1988 or '89. Shown on Saturday mornings on BBC1 for a while, and then later got an afternoon slot. It was all about Bebop and Rocksteady for us kids back then - Sorry, Eastman & Laird! :)Well it turns out I was watching repeats on Saturday morning. They started with Season 2 on weekday afternoons and then it was repeated on Saturday morning which is where I started watching. Season 3 was then shown weekdays.

[Original TMNT Cartoon Fan]

Most were ripped from old sci-fi and horror B-movies

That didn't matter for us who didnt watch that as children.

[pferreira]

That didn't matter for us who didnt watch that as children.No, what was old once again became new thanks to the way they handled the stories.

[Original TMNT Cartoon Fan]

No, what was old once again became new thanks to the way they handled the stories.

When I first watched Fred Wolf TMNT, I hadn't seen the 1950's and 60's B-science fiction films, Star Trek and Star Wars.

[pferreira]

When I first watched TMNT, I hadn't seen the 1950's and 60's B-science fiction films, Star Trek and Star Wars.Those eras of films were blended with the then modern idea of futurism. Loved it all. :)