A TMNT Episode

[ballhog]

Guys i need a little help here...I'm racking my brain about this TMNT episode that I saw a LONG time ago, when I was a kid. It was one where April was captured by footsoldiers and left atop a building roof. The turtles themselves were a grave-looking bunch, that said very little. All I remember was that they were in trench coats the entire episode. The drawings were also more professional looking (very nice). I also remember my cousin saying that those were the Japanese series before the Americans bought it, which explained the difference thereafter in the drawing technique. Does anyone remeber seeing the two or so episodes of this??

thx

[Coola Yagami]

Very first episode. Turtle Tracks.

[Karpo_007]

Yep, first episodes were made by TOEI a japanese animation studio. Thats why the animation is superior compared to later seasons.

[Reznorite420]

Sheesh...just because it was done in Japan doesn't mean it's superior. I could've easily been done by an American animation studio and been up to par with Japanese animation.

[ballhog]

thx guys, I read the synopsis of the first episode and it didn't refer to the plot that I recalled, but yeah I was thinking it was the first episode, or somewhere around there. Do you guys have a source for looking at old episodes?

[MW8979]

The animation in the first episodes wasn't superior at all. What was superior is the storylines and characters, so let's not get confused here. Animation was alright when it came to Shredder and Krang, but the turtles were drawn poorly, especially at a distance. I think that later seasons actually had better animation, because really, nobody would spend lots of money on a pilot episode.

[raphael90]

I agree...the story in the first five eps was good. I really liked how they drew "Turtle Tracks", excellent episode with a good vibe. Probably always be one of my top favorites. Too bad it never stayed that good in the animation department. You notice the change almost immediately when you go from "Turtle Tracks" to "Enter The Shredder" Then the animation is almost unbearable to watch in "A Thing About Rats" Thankfully the remaining two are better, they resemble the style of the first a little more.

[Bowser_Koopa]

the first episode's animation is sooooo much better, i mean come on, look at the episode rhino man (or the adventures, whatever) at the beginning there is a part where they are running, and they look to strange and absolutly not realistic, not even funny, it just looked plain bad...look at this picture http://www.thetechnodrome.com/contests/captioncontest02.jpg there weren't such flaws in the fist episode(or funny looking).

but just because its American doesn't mean its a bad animation, and just because its japanese doesn't mean its always good (just must of the time)

in the spider-man cartoon of the 90's the first episodes also looked good, like the lizard episode, but then episodes later the characters starts looking funny....

in DBZ after the Freezer saga, the animation changes for bad, above all the faces, before that they looked so much better.

[Roseangelo]

Yes, some of the later episodes did have very poor animation. But not all of them. I would agree that the animation of the first five is no better than a well animated episode from later in the series.

[Karpo_007]

Sheesh...just because it was done in Japan doesn't mean it's superior. I could've easily been done by an American animation studio and been up to par with Japanese animation.

No it doesn't, but that doesn't change the fact. On later seasons the animation was less detailed, fights were poorly choreographed and WAY simplified. And of course there is the goofy factor, but weather you like it or not is a matter of opinion like is the constantly changing character desing.

But those changes are only visible in seasons 2-6, season 7 and onward had a really big change in the animation and for the better. It was lamost up to par with other animated shows at the time like Batman TAS.

[Coola Yagami]

Krang only looked that awesome in his first appearance in 'Enter the Shredder'. After that he looked smaller and all simplified...

[ballhog]

Just got through watching "Turtle Tracks" and it took a brief moment, but I was back to when I first marveled at the short-lived Japan drawings. Man I loved it! I can't believe I'm saying that at age 20, but just seeing it again reminded me of the scenes/phrases/actions that I used to carry around in my head. "Throw the bum out!" LOL. The rooftop fight was still as exciting, when Mikey initiated the serious but kicking (check the drawing of him throwing off the coat--nice). Even as a kid, that episode was one of my favorites. Once again, I loved those drawings. Ahh, nostalgia....

[Roseangelo]

But those changes are only visible in seasons 2-6, season 7 and onward had a really big change in the animation and for the better. It was lamost up to par with other animated shows at the time like Batman TAS.

Not really. It was still done by the same "inferior" group you love to hate. The animation quality was the same. The LOOK was different and made to LOOK more like Batman and the other comic book based cartoons that were on Fox at that time (Spider-Man, X-men, etc.). Fox was killing everyone in the ratings, so the show was redesigned to resemble that, thus creating CBS's "Action Zone." The change in look certainly didn't create better stories. IMO it brought about worse stories. And I think the changes they made did not suit the show that it was supposed to be. The show lost nearly all its humor. I definately prefer the non "Red Sky" episodes.

[Coola Yagami]

I didn't see any more or less action in those red sky eps when compared to the regular eps. The only difference was no more pizza tossing and stuff, but it was still 1-2 punch fights, no real awesome battles.

[Karpo_007]

But those changes are only visible in seasons 2-6, season 7 and onward had a really big change in the animation and for the better. It was lamost up to par with other animated shows at the time like Batman TAS.

Not really. It was still done by the same "inferior" group you love to hate. The animation quality was the same. The LOOK was different and made to LOOK more like Batman and the other comic book based cartoons that were on Fox at that time (Spider-Man, X-men, etc.). Fox was killing everyone in the ratings, so the show was redesigned to resemble that, thus creating CBS's "Action Zone." The change in look certainly didn't create better stories. IMO it brought about worse stories. And I think the changes they made did not suit the show that it was supposed to be. The show lost nearly all its humor. I definately prefer the non "Red Sky" episodes.

The animation got better, really. Like I said before, after first season there is noticable difference in animation quality, lower fps, poor fight choreographs etc. This did get better in the 7:th season athough it still wasnt as smooth as Toei's work.. And I actully think that the stories got better too, finally there was continuity again, and not just recycling the same plot over and over again.