neatoman
03-30-2021, 11:42 AM
Something that has bugged me ever since I've read the first seven issues, as well as the micros with a few other main issues, is that I noticed that they were all published way before the cartoon was put into production and it made me realise how pointless the changes season 1 made really were.
Aside from the revenge bit at the start, there really isn't that much plot relevant stuff that is inappropriate for children. After that, it's pretty much:
#2 Evil scientist steals money.
#3 Car chase.
#4 Break in at a lab.
#5 Alien city.
#6 Alien Arena fight.
#7 Back home.
The funny thing here is that I don't even need to argue that it could work hypothetically. Literally of that was adapted into two other cartoons, so I know there was no need to change it for the kids. Even if I were to argue that it could work and also ignore that I know it was adapted for kids later on, none of this seems at all like it would be hard to work with. In many ways Baxter Stockman's scheme is quite similar to what evil scientists in kids' cartoons tend to do.
What's also a bit strange is that the cartoon still has elements similar to what the comic had. There Alien Technology hidden in New York, and MOUSERS, and Brutish aliens, and a teleportation device, etc. So there really is no need to create something totally new here.
Maybe some of the demands of Playmates forced some alterations to the plot but I kind of doubt it. In my experience, toy companies don't really care that much about what the action figures are explained as being in-universe, just as long as they're on-screen. I know they don't, because Mattel was fine with He-Man going from being a caveman to a prince living in a castle, and Hasbro didn't mind Cobra Commander being a salesman in the comic while the cartoon made him an ancient snake mutant. If Bebop, Rocksteady, Krang, Turtle Van, Technodrome blimp Blimp had to be in the cartoon no matter what, you could have figured out a way to force them in anyway. Bebop and Rocksteady could just be aliens fought in the Triceraton Arena, Krang could just be an Utrom traitor and the Technodrome could just be a fortress on D'Hoonib. Nothing was set in stone back then, so why the hell not?
And what's probably the most baffling thing about this aside from how pointless it was, it's that it's not even done in favor of a good story. The story of season 1, while better in a very basic sense compared to the rest of the series, is actually kind of bad. It's basically just Shredder making really dumb tactical mistakes and Krang whining about not having a body, until Shredder somehow thinks giving Krang a body really is the last resort and the Turtles send the Technodrome back to Dimension X. Even you think the comic had a dumb story, it still has a more clear through line.
Aside from the revenge bit at the start, there really isn't that much plot relevant stuff that is inappropriate for children. After that, it's pretty much:
#2 Evil scientist steals money.
#3 Car chase.
#4 Break in at a lab.
#5 Alien city.
#6 Alien Arena fight.
#7 Back home.
The funny thing here is that I don't even need to argue that it could work hypothetically. Literally of that was adapted into two other cartoons, so I know there was no need to change it for the kids. Even if I were to argue that it could work and also ignore that I know it was adapted for kids later on, none of this seems at all like it would be hard to work with. In many ways Baxter Stockman's scheme is quite similar to what evil scientists in kids' cartoons tend to do.
What's also a bit strange is that the cartoon still has elements similar to what the comic had. There Alien Technology hidden in New York, and MOUSERS, and Brutish aliens, and a teleportation device, etc. So there really is no need to create something totally new here.
Maybe some of the demands of Playmates forced some alterations to the plot but I kind of doubt it. In my experience, toy companies don't really care that much about what the action figures are explained as being in-universe, just as long as they're on-screen. I know they don't, because Mattel was fine with He-Man going from being a caveman to a prince living in a castle, and Hasbro didn't mind Cobra Commander being a salesman in the comic while the cartoon made him an ancient snake mutant. If Bebop, Rocksteady, Krang, Turtle Van, Technodrome blimp Blimp had to be in the cartoon no matter what, you could have figured out a way to force them in anyway. Bebop and Rocksteady could just be aliens fought in the Triceraton Arena, Krang could just be an Utrom traitor and the Technodrome could just be a fortress on D'Hoonib. Nothing was set in stone back then, so why the hell not?
And what's probably the most baffling thing about this aside from how pointless it was, it's that it's not even done in favor of a good story. The story of season 1, while better in a very basic sense compared to the rest of the series, is actually kind of bad. It's basically just Shredder making really dumb tactical mistakes and Krang whining about not having a body, until Shredder somehow thinks giving Krang a body really is the last resort and the Turtles send the Technodrome back to Dimension X. Even you think the comic had a dumb story, it still has a more clear through line.