Lair Layout
 

Does anyone have a good idea of the layout of the lair?

Also, out of curiosity, which lair was your favorite? I liked the one from the original movie. From the 2K3 eps, probably the one they spent a majority of their eps in (a'lintiyan).

That's a good question. I've wondered that myself.

as for my fave lair, it would definetly be the lair of the original tv series. I really liked that it was made up of various rooms. And it had a very nice, settled, cozy look to it. It had a look like they really did live there for years and developed and organized their living space much like a typical home.

My second fave is the lair in the second movie. I liked that it was a section of an abandoned subway station, complete with a broken down subway train. And after the guys dressed up the place with things, it started looking pretty cozy.

The lair from the first movie, as well as the lair from the 2007 movie, I was cool with. They had a nice feel to it, but my problems with them was... well, the lair in the first movie I found to be way too cluttered and messy. And not messy in a "I made myself at home" kinda way, but more like they just tossed a bunch of junk into a storage room. That's what it looked like to me. Just a cluttered, messy storage unit rather than an actual living space.
The lair of the 2007 movie was pretty good, but I didn't get much of a cozy, "homey" feel from it. Looked more like some public hangout for teens (like a recreation center) than an actual home.

The one I liked least would have to be the huge spacious one in the 2k3 series. The one they found after the mousers.
What I didn't like about it was pretty much because it was huge and spacious. It was like a big auditorium. Hardly cozy. Like really, it was f***ing huge and hollowed out. You could put a space shuttle in the center.

I don't really have much of an opinion on the lair of the Mirage series because I just don't see much of it in the comics.

Here's a pic of the Back to the Sewer lair http://www.4kids.tv/images/uploads/turtlelair_large.jpg

Oh I like the larger lair of the 2k3 series and the 4th movie. It is good for each member of the family to have his own space.

I like the one from the original TV series as well. It still gave everyone space in each room.

When they find that lair is my favorite part of the second movie. I also agree that the A'lintyan lair from the 2K3 series was huge, but when they left it I was actually disappointed for them!

I like ot's layout best, with each there rooms across eachother, with the blankets and the little tv and all. nt's high tech lair is great to, but i prefer the one in ot best.

i liked the TMNT1 lair, 2k3 cos it fit the cartoon well, and i even didnt mind the subway lair, that was a good succession of the first home they had.

as for the cleanliness of the first movie lair, they live in a tunnel system, not far off the sewer & subway systems...it's not gonna be homey and cushy. They dont have a lot of room either.
Going to the subway lair was the solution...roomy, dojo areas, probably actual bathrooms donnie could fix with plumbing, internet access once he found the right wiring...

I liked the 1st lair and the new toon one as for the underground one (subway) I liked that one too

That looks ridiculously futurestic. Looks more like Area 51 than the lair.


Now here's a lair that was designed to perfection..

http://img89.imageshack.us/img89/8069/lair.jpg

I second Ryona. I love the old lair layout.

I'd love to do a full layout of that lair through screenshots, but this as far as I've gotten. Can anyone else complete my collection?

Original Post

Alright, here's my attempt to map out some of the lair through caps from "Nightmare in the Lair." I think you are right that it isn't always consistent. The most glaring inconsistency is the sleeping area. Sometimes the Turtles are seen sleeping in bunk beds in a tunnel. Usually, they each have their own room. I wonder if Splinter sometimes made them sleep together for the sake of community?

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a56...aps/nlair1.jpg
TV... the centerpiece of the Turtles' lair. Without the TV, the plot doesn't happen.:D

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a56...aps/nlair3.jpg
Turtles sit around watching TV. Exit/entrance is to the left side of this picture. Kitchen is behind them, slightly to the right.

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a56...aps/nlair5.jpg
Splinter emerges from the Kitchen.

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a56...ps/nlair45.jpg
There is an entrance past the TV on the left, it leads to the hallway with the bedrooms. Obviously, kitchen is offscreen to the right.

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a56...ps/nlair21.jpg
The TV couch is in the background. This is the bedroom area. Donatello's room is in the hole on the right.

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a56...ps/nlair11.jpg
Mikey's room is also on the right, past Don's.

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a56...ps/nlair12.jpg
Leo is in the center of the bedroom area. Each turtle has their own "room." Raph's (bottom left), Leo's rooms(top left), Don (top right) and Mike (bottom right).

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a56...ps/nlair18.jpg
This cat appears from the other side of the bedroom area. Splinter's meditation area is the room behind the cat.

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a56...ps/nlair17.jpg
Donatello's room also functions as an entrance to his Lab. Creepy Eddie enters from the Lab through Don's room.

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a56...ps/nlair13.jpg
Entrance to Don's lab after passing through his room.

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a56...ps/nlair43.jpg
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a56...ps/nlair29.jpg
Don's lab. The two holes in the background lead back to the bedroom area.

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a56...ps/nlair30.jpg
Another angle on Don's lab.

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a56...ps/nlair28.jpg
The other side wall of Don's lab.

Other shots:
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a56...aps/nlair6.jpg
Street entrance to the lair.

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a56...ps/nlair20.jpg
Sewer entrance/exit to the Turtles' lair with lights out.

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a56...ps/nlair31.jpg
The main entrance with the lightswitch to the right.

Here's some shots of the training room. My trouble is that I have no idea where in the lair it is located or how the Turtles get to it.
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a56...aps/snake3.jpg
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a56...aps/snake4.jpg
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a56...aps/train2.jpg
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a56...aps/train3.jpg

There is at least one entrance to the training room, as "pirate" Raph demonstrates:
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a56...aps/train5.jpg

Next we see of Raph (in "Turtle of a Thousand Faces") he's taking off his costume in his own room. Could his room be an entrance to the training room?
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a56.../raphroom2.jpg

Here's the rarely seen "library." It seems to me it may actually be part of Leo's room.
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a56...aps/lmiss1.jpg
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a56...aps/lmiss2.jpg
Raph peeks in expecting to find Leo. Unfortunately, "Leonardo is Missing."
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a56...ps/lmiss10.jpg

Splinter's Lair
 

The entrance to Splinter's meditation area is behind Leo, who is in the bedroom commons. Raphael's room is to the right.
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a56...aps/lmiss9.jpg

Splinter's meditation area has at least one entrance leading to the bedroom area:
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a56...aps/lmiss8.jpg

Various angles of Splinter's lair (notice the different patterns on the changing room(?) in each shot):
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a56...ps/splair3.jpg
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a56...ps/splair5.jpg
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a56...ps/splair1.jpg

In season 2, Splinter could be seen meditating in this room, apparently different from the lair used in other seasons:
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a56...ps/splair2.jpg
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a56...plairmicro.jpg
This version had a microwave.

Cool study of the lair, oldmanwinters. I think discrepencies with the bedrooms and meditation rooms stem from the fact that the lair wasn't clearly designed until season three. It seemed different in each episode for the first two seasons.

Duuuuude!... You totally rock, Oldmanwinters!
Fantastic study. I'm totally tempted to design an arcitectural-approach map of the lair based on your study.

Awesome, but there are still a few more rooms to go! That'd be great if you could diagram the whole place.

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a56.../lairbooks.jpg
TV room, note the bookcase opposite the wall of the main sewer entrance.

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a56...ps/closet1.jpg
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a56...ps/closet2.jpg
The closet. I'm guessing it's in the TV room, but can't place a particular wall.

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a56...s/kitchen2.jpg
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a56...s/kitchen1.jpg
Kitchen; TV room is through the tunnel hole in both shots.

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a56...imphanger1.jpg
Tunnel to the blimp hanger.

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a56...imphanger3.jpg
Looking into the Blimp hanger, but no blimp!

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a56...aps/donlab.jpg
More Don's lab junk.

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a56...abscanner1.jpg
Don's lab, complete with giant computer!

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a56...donlabexit.jpg
Exit/entrance to Don's lab with lightswitch. Again, the holes lead to his bedroom and then into the main lair hallway.

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a56...aps/lmiss5.jpg
Computer in Don's lair [near bedroom entrance/exit?]

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a56...ps/donlab2.jpg
Similar shot. Could there be another tunnel in Don's lab on the right?

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a56...aps/lmiss4.jpg
Messy shot of the bedroom hallway!

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a56...ps/vacuum2.jpg
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a56...s/vaccuum1.jpg
Raph vacuums the TV room. Is that Don's room on his right?

I didn't know there was a Freddy Krueger like character in the old turtles cartoon.

Wasn't there a map of the Turtles lair in the Archie comics guidebook? I thought I remembered one being there.

Thanks for the pictures, oldmanwinters.

I may just be reading that wrong, but the entrance to the bedrooms is clearly on the side in which the camera is placed, opposite of the Main Exit. I believe the doorway to the left of the picture is to the training area.

With the pictures, I made this floor plan.
http://vault.error-403.net/files/3/P...TMNTOTLair.PNG

It ain't perfect, but it's not far off. I too have no idea where the library goes. I did notice it has the same mate as Splinter's room. Maybe Splinter's real room is behind the screen at the steps and his meditation area and the library are one and the same. It's possible due to animation errors (I mean, you said it yourself that Splinter's room keeps changing).

Also, I could have swore Don's lab and the kitchen were connected (which would make sense), but the pictures say otherwise.

EDIT: I made the Bedroom to big. Don's Lab top wall should be nearly even with the kitchen. This is just general placement.

That's something that puzzles me. I believe the episode that screenshot is from is "Raphael Vs. the Volcano." The context didn't provide much help on where the tunnel is located though.

I belive they keep them away from the lair like they do with the com station. Their always shown walking between the lair and the Van parking. It really makes sense because there's less chance of being followed.

EDIT: Plus, they need them near Sewer exits. The lair may be in the middle of downtown for all we know.

Great oogly moogly! I believe you are right. I neglected the placement of the couch, STOP sign, and dragon poster in all my analysis! I'll go back and try to fix my errors.:D Good catch!

EDIT: Fixed! (I hope!)

I don't know about all the kitchen walls/exits. I haven't seen clear shots from every angle.
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a56...s/kitchen3.jpg
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a56...s/kitchen4.jpg

Here are some erroneous layouts of the kitchen's placement next to Splinter's meditation area. I believe these are from a season 2 episode:
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a56...lintkitch1.jpg
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a56...lintkitch2.jpg
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a56...intkitch2b.jpg
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a56...lintkitch4.jpg
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a56...lintkitch5.jpg
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a56...lintkitch8.jpg

I think you may be right about the Training Room placement.

Here's MACC finding his way around the lair:
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a56...n_possible.jpg
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a56...ainingpan1.jpg
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a56...ainingpan2.jpg
Looks like he went directly from the TV room into the training room. Since the kitchen, bedroom hall, and exit occupy the other three walls, it looks like the training room would have to be the other wall.
ONE PROBLEM, though... the floors don't match (or the style of door for that matter). MACC may be peering out of the TV room into the bedroom area, even though the next time we see him he is in the training hall.
Hmm, might need to watch this episode again!

Notice there appears to be a ladder in the training room.
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a56...aps/snake1.jpg
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a56...aps/snake2.jpg
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a56...aps/snake3.jpg
Could it be a manhole exit?

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a56...aps/snake4.jpg
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a56...aps/snake6.jpg

Nice work, Blade Raider! If you ever become a policeman, you'll make the rank of detective in record time! :D

Still unaccounted for?
 

Okay, Detective Blade, here are some leftovers which may or may not be in continuity.

Sewer Door used in "Enter the Fly" (another season 2 anomaly?)
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a56...sewerdoor1.jpg
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a56...sewerdoor3.jpg

Turtles' bunk bed tunnel:
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a56...bedtunnel1.jpg
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a56...bedtunnel2.jpg
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a56...bedtunnel3.jpg
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a56...tlesLair14.jpg

oldmanwinters you are a legend. It is so good to see some screen shots, I like seeing how they have decorated the lair (both the common areas and individual rooms) as well as the layout. I've got to rewatch the 2K3 eps and do the same thing!

& thanks Blade Raider, I love the floor plan :)

Until mid season 3, the lair keeps changing. The TV room seems to be the only unaffected room. Oddly, in the first episode they have a bedroom area like the normal layout (I can't remember if it's exact or not). Most likly no one execpted this show to continue for long, so the layout wasn't finalized until season 3 when the show had over 60 episodes. Think of it like the bandana errors of the early seasons. They became less and less often over time. The Lair's layout got more and more one way over time.

The normal door in "Enter the Fly" is probably just miscommunication. I guess the sript called for a wooden door (Like Don's Lab door), but the animations at Toei thought they mention a normal wooden door.

Now then, that bunk bed is nothing but advertiement. If you've never noticed, Playmates' Lair Playset has a sticker on the back wall making a fake doorway that leads to the Turtles' room with (you guessed it) a bunk bed. Most likly, Playmates asked them to change to this to sell the playset. Lucky, it didn't keep.


All this talk reminds me of the time when I was a kid that I mapped my house to be a world. My brother's was a sea because he had blueish green carpet and the kitchen was the arctic. Things like that :P

I could never quite figure out the layout beyond the living room always being the same. I figured that, as Ninjas, maybe they moved around a lot to keep from being found.

I like that explanation for the occasion variation throughout the early seasons.

BTW, here is what the sewer exit looks like on the outside:
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a56...sewerexit1.jpg
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a56...sewerexit2.jpg

I remember an episode where Rocksteady and Bebop actually did discover their lair, thought they couldn't remember how they found it afterwards when Shredder asked where it was. I assumed the Turtles would have relocated their lair anyway, as a precaution.

There's also "The Fifth Turtle"... :lol:

Here a screenshot of the tunnel by the TV and you can see weapons on the back wall, so you might be right about it being the training room.

http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/h...tlesLair13.jpg

Wow, very astute observations, although I'll still keep an eye out for any way to resolve the continuity, since there are still a few wall unaccounted for (Splinter's room, training room, etc.). Also, that's very funny about mapping your house. I think a lot of kids do stuff like that. I think I did too.:D

Tone-master, I was just thinking of that very screenshot! It certainly does look like the training room is through that tunnel, no doubt.

It never occurred to the me before that they went from separate bedrooms, to having that bunk bed area, then back to individual rooms.

Official Map Found!
 

Alright, I know I've resurrected another long dead thread, but I have a good reason for it!

The "definitive" answer to the lair mapping question is revealed in this very blurry scan of the OT Lair layout sheet which I found on the late, great NinjaTurtlesNetwork.com:

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a56...modelsheet.jpg

And for comparison, here's Blade Raider's map, which is a very close match outside of a couple of rooms, which I'm guessing are the weapons room, training room, and library (next to Splinter's room?):

Awesome! Is their maybe also technodrome layouts?

Aside from the Playmate Lair, has anyone put together their own lair?

Pretty cool blueprint, just wished it was legible.

One thing Oldmanwinters: you mentioned the Blimp Chamber being at the end of a tunnel, could it be at the far end of the Training Room? In each shot you provided the Training Room appears to be situated in a tunnel that either arcs around or doesn't have good lighting.

Also, perhaps the Lair itself is in a sub-level of the sewer system and the Training Room ladder leading upward goes up into the garage holding the Party Wagon?

I considered this since I remember seeing on a History Channel show the NYC sewer system being an elaborate underground network spenning several levels deep after.