Do you ever think about the little kids growing up with TMNT now?
 

Something that a lot of us don't really think about, is that there was a whole new generation of kids that were first exposed to Turtles via 4kids TMNT 2k3 series and/or the Imagi 4th movie.

Most of us here are the old veteran fans from the 80's and 90's who grew up during the original TMNT fad, back when TMNT was a worldwide phenomenon and grew up with the original stuff.

Do you think the new generation of TMNT fans will have completely different views on the franchise than us older fans? Most of the original cartoon is out on DVD, as well as the original live-action movies, so its not like the older stuff isn't available for them. When they get older they'll likely discover the comics, and if they're still available by then, will probably get into those.

Do you ever think about how different it would be if you did not grow up with the original TMNT fad from the late 80's and 90's? I actually hope these kids age a few years and come into the fandom, just to see how their views are different than our own.

I see alot of the younger fans say that they hate or really dont like the original toon. I'll check out videos of the 2k3 toon on youtube from time to time that feature a funny clip or something & see comments like 'I borrowed one of the old vhs tapes from my older brother. I couldnt get passed the first five minutes. The jokes sucked the animation was horrible etc'

Those kind of comments piss me off a little... I do understand them though. In this age of technology the little brats cant expect anything but the latest & greatest. I think it must be especially hard for the turtles ( & other comic rooted franchises alike ) to really flourish because kids these days live in a digital world. It seems toys are replaced by xbox, comics by google & other websites, sports by wii (you know what I mean), dogs by robot dogs etc. They dont want action figures & comics and stuff like that. As far as cartoons go, kids now sleep late as hell on saturdays & probably dont find many things action packed enough due to their moral-less parents letting them go see bloody movies at age 10.

Growing up on the OT was great because it taught you something most of the time. The new show is great too, dont even get me wrong. For the kids who grew up on the new show and/or new movie, the TMNT will be a passing thing. They probably already stopped caring long before turtles forever. With so many other forms of entertainment (ya know games & youtube blah blah blah) the modern turtles probably dont stand a chance with them. I dont doubt there may very well be some kids who disliked it for being too serious aswell. In that case, its another passing interest.

I highly doubt the majority of those who were raised by 2k3 will ever come back to the franchise as a whole unless they had the same love for it that we've had for the OT. I'm sure there are some out there, but none too many. If anything the only ones who take it that serious were jusssttt barely the right age to say 'I think my older brother used to watch it so now I get to see it!' Know what I mean?

Anyhow, we're the lucky ones.

Yeah that's what I thought. We didn't even have the internet in the early 90's! No DVDs either!

I think that's why toy companies are complaining that kids, "grow up too fast" nowadays, because they move onto the computer at like 7 or 8 when back in the old days we were still playing with our action figures.

I do agree some of those kids probably feel like they outgrew Turtles after the show ended and won't come back to it or grow interested in any other part of the franchise.

I just get the feeling it would be nice if, much like Star Trek, Batman, and other long-lasting properties, each series brought in a new generation of fans that stuck around.

They don't make bloody movies anymore, really. When they do it's like a big thing now.

My parents never molly-coddled me from R rated movies or anything when I was a little kid and I've always respected them for that. I don't find anything morally suspect about that.

Some of the things that show up in the 2k3 cartoon that kids today take for granted were pipedreams back in the days of the OT.

Unfortunately, something that may have shown up in the OT is no longer available :cry::cry:

I'm generalizing here... but kids thees days really aren't into this kinda stuff. I'm not saying I see kids being more mature, but I do see/hear of kids getting cell phones, lap tops, and other **** alot earlier than I believe they should. So cartoons/comics because uncool alot quicker.

Examples. My cousin is 14 right now, which means he was 7 when the NT came out. He watched season 1 religiously and watched seasons 2 and 3 occaisionally before quitting altogether. Now he's back into TMNT because his 25 year old basketball coach is a fan and I have so much TMNT media for him to check out.

My other cousins are in 5th and 3rd grade right now, so while they were too young to follow the NT from the start, they could have jumped on board any time and they did love TMNT 07 when I took them to see it. As young as they are, you'd think they still watch cartoons... wrong. They make fun of me for watching cartoons, and all they do for fun play/follow sports. Not saying there's anything wrong with that, I love sports myself, but they have the "cartoons are for kids" mentality, while they are kids themselves. So I doubt there will be many followers coming out of their age group.

My 4 year old niece hated the first movie and the 2k3 show but LOVED Secret of the Ooze.

Yeah, every one's different. But I'm just saying, I don't think alot of hardcore fans are going to come out of said generation.

I'm not sure, in all honesty. Kids will be kids and have different tastes. When I was growing up, my friend loved S-Club 7 and Saved By the Bell. I loved Looney Toons. Yet we still hung out.

I'm with Nines in saying there won't be many hardcore fans coming out of this. I mean... heck, kids now have mobile phones. I saw a six year old girl with a working one. I saw eleven year olds at the dentist looking on Facebook to talk to their friends. This generation is going to be more social I think. Anyone who likes cartoons or things that aren't social won't be looked upon kindly.

Still... it's all in my head. I'd like to sit back and see what unfolds for the next ten years, yeah?

Yeah I am not sure what to think either. The mentality of it all has drastically changed from most of our generations to the current one. Just a couple of weeks ago my little cousin came over for a family birthday party (he is 7 I believe) so I watched some Cartoon network videos with him on my laptop to pass the time. The younger girl cousins that were there (10ish) mocked me for watching the cartoons with them saying that I am to old for that and I am weird. The thing is cartoons are not the booming force they were when we were kids. Look at Cartoon Network for example they have live action shows. CARTOON network has live action. I love cartoons as much as the next guy but clearly they are not what they used to be. The number of shows seems to be decreasing but I think overall the quality is going up. So it isn't bad all around at least I don't think so. Plus with the superhero boom that is going on thanks to hollywood I think cartoons and comics are considered more acceptable presently. Just my 2 cents.

Dude, I'm like 17 and my mom won't even let me (for the most part) watch pg-13 movies, if you ask me our generation is just more sheltered.

I think YOU are the one that's sheltered.

As long as the youngin's are interested in any aspect of the series, I'm good.

Christianity is it?

That's how I feel too. You're doing something right when you can hook fans at a young age and keep them around.

Geesh. My dad dragged me to my first rated R movie when I was 7 (my mom blocked my eyes on the parts she deemed not for my eyes *lol*). That movie was Robocop.... :lol:

As for the younger generation. Im lucky to have much younger cousins so I've been able to see the younger generation's reaction to TMNT. My entire family are fans. I have neighbors who are fans (there's a 12 yr old in my complex who's a fan of the new stuff but Im not sure if he's seen the original.). Some of my cousins like the original series, some don't. That's just how the way the world is. *shrugs*

I went to R rated movies with my parents as a kid, too. I'm not the only one f my friends that have experiences like that, either.

But yeah, I don't think one generation of kids is luckier than the other, so it's whatever.

I remember as a kid laughing when Robocop shot the guy in the balls. LOL

Franchise
 

I think kids today aren't into a Franchise for so many years in a row now as 20 years ago. Today's Internet culture starts more trends, soon they will be gone, and replaced with another trends.

Fads existed years ago too.

I'm probably one of the youngest TMNT fans on the Drome, but I was not exposed to TMNT by 4kids. Thanks to my two older brothers. I did grow up with 2k3 as my first TMNT cartoon, but I did also watch the old TMNT movies alot back then and played with some of the old Turtle Toys and also watch the same two episodes of the 80s Toon on VHS which were "Shredderville" and "Bye Bye Fly".

Don't get me started on kids today.... These little bad ass urchins make me sick, but it's not their fault, it's the parenting (or lack of) but anyway off topic

Which decade?
 

From which decade is that "Ciga Pet"?

Y'know, by the time I was 7 or 8 (I'm 26 now) there were plenty of kids who thought that they were too old for cartoons and such. It's not "this newfangled technology" that's doing it. It's the same as when someone pointed out that fads existed back then, too.

If it were as easy as "this newfangled technology" we'd probably have seen more TMNT stuff available on the web.

The kids in my life love the TMNT and they are always looking for more. old, new, they eat it up..

Nah, it wasn't until you were 12 or 13 that liking cartoons was considered childish.

7 and 8 year olds loved cartoons. Once you hit 13 though, I remember people hiding the fact that they liked cartoons.

Me? The hell with that. I watched TMNT, Batman: TAS, and whatever was on Cartoon Network at the time when I was a teenager.

I'm in my 20's now and I own several cartoon series on DVD and still follow some new ones.

Internet culture
 

I think that belongs to the past. When the Internet beccame a part of modern life in the late 1990's, and an Internet culture was established, with and homepages. bloggs and Internet forum. This changed the view of teenagers very much, from "tough gangs hanging outside the hot dog stand with mopeds" to computer "nerds" or with different interests.

I didn't really grow up on a specific toon. But now, I prefer the Old Toon.

For me around fifth and sixth grade was when cartoons were no longer something "cool". The only cartoons we'd talk about was Dragon Ball Z and The Simpsons, besides that it was videogames. I still watched other cartoons and I'm sure they did as well though. However Pokemon started when I was in 6th grade and I was still able to like it fine however once I was in 7th grade it was something you had to hide and only talk with other fans. Of course in 7th/8th grade you kinda have to hide the fact you like anything "childish" since its the transitional time when kids want to act "mature", once I was in High School no one gave a ****.

I don't think the internet really affects kids much, I first used the internet in 96 though I didn't start really using it much until 98. The only thing the internet does is give kids more information, and even then kids are still stupid, just read youtube comments or go to other forums with mostly kids. Even in the age of the internet they spread misconceptions. The only real way the internet affects is its changed how most view their stuff. Right now we're in a transitional period between getting tv through the old ways and through the internet. But yeah I guess what I'm getting it is that its BS to say kids grow up faster now. I always hate when people grow up they seem to forget at what age they stopped being stupid kids and expect kids to be "childish" until 12.

Another thing fads still exist, you just aren't a kid anymore so its harder to know whats "in" with the kids. Hannah Montana and other shows like that are a fad right now and for boys Ben 10 and bakugan. Those two may not be in the TMNT/Pokemon level of huge fad but they are fads nonetheless though Hannah Montana probably is.

And now on topic its hard to think of what the new generation of fans, on the internet I've definitely seen a few 'old show sucks', but its a minority compared to all the "new show sucks where is krang". The new show never had a large audience even the 07 movie was marketed as the return of the turtles to prove how little of an impact TMNT 03 had. It really makes me wonder why exactly the toyline sold any.. To compare as a kid I'd watch the old batman cartoon and superfriends as well as BTAS and considered Batman TAS the real batman cartoon while the old ones just "old less interesting" versions though I'd still watch them. Its a similar comparison even if the old show had more charm and never as stupid as the old Batman shows and the new 2k3 show is not quite up to BTAS levels.

It may not have had as large of an impact as the OT (hard to do given all things considered) but it was large enough to cultivate a fan following, allowing it to last on TV for seven years and convince a studio to produce a movie for it. No one can really predict which fad a generation chooses to hang onto and which they choose to let fade away.

No, I'm sure it was 7 or 8. By the time I was 12 or 13 I had moved to a different town and I distinctly remember which city I lived in when cartoons became uncool.

12
 

I recall it was at 12. But it's not like you watch cartoons in television one evening, and weak up the next morning and think "-Cartoons are no longer cool".

please dont dragg religion into this. be respectful. and parents just want to sheild him from violence. which i can understand, as there are some who are old fashion like myself. (though i'm abit open minded)

Kids/Teens today are afraid to latch onto things. Almost everything "cool" only lasts months before being deemed "lame". I've seen my girlfriends younger sister go from loving Good Charlotte to hating them in two months. Same thing for Three Days Grace and Linkin Park. TV shows are the same. Loved Gossip Girl for a season then hated it before the second started. She loves Vampire Diaries but she's already starting to act funny about it when her friends are over.

I think the best chance of this new generation of kids(and the Nick gen) becoming hardcore fans are ten years down the line when they start feeling nostalgic. Then they may be curious to dive into the rich history of the turtles and fall in love.

Mixed taste
 

I think it's better to be into several shows instead of just one. You don't need to hate TMNT or whatecer you watched before. It's like music. Listen to whatever you want from Matz Bladhs to Metallica to get a mixed taste.

I agree entirely. Thats just not the general mindset of youngsters these days. Fickle bunch they are.

I didnt see any disrespect. Besides 17 cmon. Thats a little strange.

I think kids today are dumb. j/k. And It never bothered me what was cool or uncool. All my friends were closet cartoon watchers anyway. haha