Kids who grew up with TMNT in the 2000's as opposed to the 80's/90's
 

As we know, TMNT had a second generation of fans in the 2000's because of the 4kids cartoon, movie, and new comics, toys and videogames.

Most of us here are from the first generation, who remember Turtlemania from the late 80's and early 90's. How many new hardcore TMNT fans do you think the 2000 era picked up?

And do you feel bad for these kids that they weren't around to experience TMNT when it was truly popular, even if they likely watched the old cartoon on DVD anyway?

In a way it reminds me of the Pokemon franchise. Some kids getting into Pokemon now will never know what it was like back in 1998 when Pokemon was a huge phenomenon and it was truly popular, and thus they missed out because they were too young.

What do you think?

I was still a kid for 2003. It wasn't the show that really made me love the whole franchise, it was the old comics, toys, and video games from the 80s/90s, ironically. The 2k3 show was a big (and welcome) surprise.

Obviously, TMNT was never as big when I was a kid. I was the only kid who really loved them. Everyone was into Pokemon, and then Yu-Gi-Oh, and then Beyblades.

Its a hard topic to reply to, especially since people are going to give very biased opinions like on the "comparing fads" topic I made a few months ago. Choppy's post might be the only real insight from a fan who was a kid then we may get. I don't think 2k3 made many new hardcore fans, or we'd see more of them here, I'm sure there were a few hardcore fans but most of the kids who liked 2k3 likely saw it as "another show" that they liked.

I'm trying to be unbiased but to me I was born in the perfect year, I got to experience the fad of 3 franchises I absolutely love as a kid(TMNT/Power Rangers/Pokemon) I definitely like older franchises and newer ones but they aren't ones that I would enjoy a fad, maybe thats because I was a kid then and if I had been a kid in the 2000's I couldn't have beleived people missed out on Yu Gi Oh. Same with 80s kids who can argue 90s kids like me never grew up with the Transformers/He-Man fads but I never really cared for those franchises, I saw Beast Wars and liked it as a kid but I never cared for Transformers. Now I do believe 90s kids had the best childhood and its even backed up by some non-90s kids. Now that I posted this I am sure I angered 80s kids which this board has a lot of and this will be a thread of how the 80s were better ;)

So yeah, re-stating what I just stated, Most likely outside of a few new hardcore fans, most kids who enjoyed 2k3 liked it as a show but they were happy with the fads of their childhood be it YuGiOh or Beyblade or Pokemon.

I was born in 91 and was a big Turtles fan before 2003, but I was 11 when the show premeired so I suppose I qualify.

I feel like the new show didn't pick up that many hardcore fans...maybe a few. Most of the kids I grew up with didn't really give a sh*t about that kind of stuff. Back when the show came out, all my friends were obsessed with music, skateboarding and Jack-ass, and most other kids were just into First Person Shooters and 50 cent.

I couldn't even talk TMNT with the nerds, the were suckling the teet that was Yu-gi-oh and other lame anime shows.

I felt my younger cousins missed a lot of good cartoons (Batman, G1 Transformers, The Tick, X-Men, re-runs of Loony Toons).

But the new generation cartoons are very good, and I watched it with them (Spectacular Spiderman, Justice League, Teen Titans, Ben 10, Avatar). The new TMNT didn't grab them I'm afraid, they are more attracted to Naruto (it helps that the fighting game in the PS3 is AWESOME). :p

This would be like FFVII. FFVII is huge, took the world by storm, but newer players would look at the game now wondering how on earth that came to be... with the dated graphics, and some of the lines not done well, not to mention the huge twist that's common knowledge now.

It's really the case of "you need to be there".

So yeah, I'm glad I was born to enjoy TMNT as a kid, and live long enough to see the rest.

I'm sure they exist. At least that's what I think as a lurker in deviant art.

Most overrated game of all time.

Well... yeah... XD. But you have to admit it was so popular back then that the other RPGs were overlooked (Xenogears... ;_; ). I like VII and Crisis Core though. The rest of the Compilation... not so much...

Anyways, let's not hi-jack the thread.

Eh it's all good as long as it gets it's self back on track. I was actually trying to work what I wanted to say in response to the main thread out in my head when I originally posted anyway LOL.

(Edited in to this post)

I wouldn't feel bad for them for missing out on the original "Turtlemania" they aren't even aware they missed it, in a way. A lot of them would still be too young to really have the nostalgia factor kick in quite yet for the TMNT. (Unless they were say 10-13 or so.) They really got their own version of what we got, and I'm sure they enjoyed it just as much as we did.

Well Im loath to be one of those "your turtles arent real turtles" people-the 2k3 series puts the original to shame IMO...I was born 82 so Im definitely an OT kid,never knew of the comics until much later though.

Any turtles is good turtles I say,its all good!:tsmile:

TMNT 2003 came out in a era where its really hard for it to actually become a CULT like it did in the 80's and really 90's. Pokemon the same way kids today are WAY more into reality TV and nonsense like that, as far as NICK's TMNT coming out i feel like its going to be bigger then the 2003 series was just because it is coming on NICK.

^^ Yeah, I have a feeling that a Nick owned TMNT product will be a bit more successful than a 4Kids owned property, so perhaps Nick may be able to shove TMNT down more kids throats than 4Kids did. Hopefully Nick can bring in more fans in this third era of TMNT fandom than the ones made during the second era.

I was born in 81 so I have loved the turtles since the beginning. IMO they dont make cartoons like they used to in the 80's and 90's. My best memory's from the Ninja Turtles are from the 80's cartoon, and original 3 movies especially part 1 and 2.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, the TMNT I like depends on my mood. I love the goofy fun (and the voice acting. ;)) of the original toon, but for more story/character driven, action oriented stories, it's 2k3.

I'm kind of the same way. I also do that with Masters of the Universe.

Here's hoping the Nick TMNT just tells good, fun Turtle stories. That's all i care about.

Ah i remember the Turtlemania days. I feel a bit sorry for the kids of today who missed out on all the good fun.

Yeah definitely, I say the same of Pokemon, too. I'm glad I got experience them both, and still enjoy them just as much as I did then.
It's also great that they're both getting revamped all the time. Keeps this geek happy.

I was 15 years old when TMNT 2003 series started. But i was fan of TMNT since my 7 when it was then that i started watching TMNT(80 series). But i liked TMNT 2003 series more than the 80 series. And yes in a few years when i will get married and have kids i will introduce tmnt to them i :trazz::trazz:

I was born in 1979. Perfect age for the onset of Turtlemania. It was truly a phenomenon. The movies, the stage show, the cartoon, the toys, the lunchboxes, the fishing kits, the Ooze pies, the fruit snacks, the Tshirts, the bedding...

I had He-Man, Inspector Gadget, Ninja Turtles, Batman, Voltron, action figures were still cheap (under five bucks!!), playground equipment was still dangerous, and Ghostbusters - heck, I could go to Universal Studios and see the live show, and see Ecto-1 blasting the Ghostbusters theme song... There were rows and rows of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle toys at KayBee, Toys R Us, Kmart...

Man those were good times! The best!

The new show, I think, was just a little too "bland" compared to other cartoons. The original 'toon was just so weird and wacky compared to the other pedestrian He-Man / GI Joe type stuff that was out there.

While Turtlemania was nowhere as big the second time around... Remember that most of those 2nd Generation Turtle fans aren't old enough yet. There comes a certain age, when, you start looking back fondly on the things you loved as a kid. For most the 2K3 fans, they aren't at that age yet.

My cousin was a huge 2K3 fan... but he's only 15 now. Not old enough to care about a show that just went away a few years ago and too old to admitting he likes cartoons. When he's 20 or 25, he'll likely become part of Turtles fandoms.

I grew with the TMNT in the 2000's when I watched the 2003 Cartoon. Then I watched The 80's cartoon.

The kids who grew up in the 2000's missed out on a LOT

Wow. Good post. Reps for you.

Do you really mean that or are you being sarcastic?

Internet TMNT fan fiction
 

Most Internet TMNT fan fiction seems to be basd on the 2003 TMNT cartoon (except for stories written between cirka 1997-2003, who seem to be based on the Next Mutation series).

Grew up in the 2000's, don't care at all that I missed the turtlemania era at all. I don't see how it is something to care enough about that you would feel sorry for those who were not born at the right time to experience just some random faze.

he or she above me as a point. Ninja Turtles is famous, and yes still somewhat of a faze with the retro aspect, but orangey found love with TMNT which we all did, and most people that grew up during the "faze" MOST of them have familys and dont care for TMNT except for just there kids now and dont push it on them.

Growing up in the craze of any show is a big deal.

Same reason people loved when Pokemon, Power Rangers or The Simpsons were at the height of their popularity.

When something is a huge fad and its everywhere, it feels like a joy to be a part of it, especially when you're a little kid.

i was young when pokemon was big. was ninja turtles that big in the ninties?

From what I observed of the Pokemon craze, I would hazard to say in it's day Turtles was even bigger then Pokemon was.

Maybe everything just seems larger then life from my childhood, but Pokemon only got one or two films that actually went to the theater I think and it never had a concert tour.

True... but it was a multi-platform videogame phenomenon, plus a super successful card game, animated series, and toy line.

TMNT mostly had the show and toys.

I'd argue Pokemon was as big if not bigger in it's hayday. Watching my nephew and niece grow up with Pokemon made me realize that.

I got to experience both fads as a kid and Pokemon was easily much bigger than TMNT ever was. Thats not to say the TMNT craze wasn't big because it was, but Pokemon was able to appeal to a much wider audience and had a more compel people of all ages into it not to mention Pokemon was definitely a multimedia hit with videogames/cards/cartoon, sure TMNT also had those but they were supplements to the show and not hits on their own like they were with Pokemon, this is also why it was much larger. This is a TMNT forum so you are going to get biased opinions that TMNT were bigger but this is not the case, oh and Pokemon did get a live tour btw.

I actually made a thread about comparing the ads against each other here but it devolved into NO WAI TMNT WAS MUCH BIGGER. which is false but people here were kids when the original turtles craze and not when pokemon was around so they see things different. The Power Rangers craze that followed after TMNT is one that TMNT may have been bigger than PRs but both were fairly close to each other.

Pokemon was bigger, I'd say... I think they had 3 if not 4 films that made it into theatres.

Plus, "Pokemon Live!". BING. Tour.

While I like Pokemon I was in college when it came out so while I think my whole dorm played the games and quiet a few of us watched the show I really didn't have much of a clue about how popular it actually was. So I learned something new today thank you! :tgrin:

Just to add without getting this too off topic to this day the Pokemon Christmas CD is still one of my guilty pleasures to play during the Holidays to drive my family crazy.

Im in the same boat I grew up on TMNT when I was really young, I watched a lot of the 80/90s OT with my older brother, I dont remember most of the episodes, bc Ive had 3 concussions. lol But I saw the whole 2k3 series, They both have a special place in the TMNT Franchise, I do feel bad for those who didnt come to know the OT rather than not knowing 2k3 simply bc of all the Hype it was almost a life style compared to a underground fandom like the 2k3 series created.

now that i think about it... pokemon has a float in the thanksgiving parade, pokemon has made tons of cartoon episodes and movies, are probably more well known internationally, made more played video games but pokemon was probably more popular than ninja turtles at both of their respective times
(but what do i know?) lol

I have to disagree, to me it is a very little deal to no deal at all. Just my opinion though. I don't see how some show, or game that becomes a craze among many is a big deal at all.

what year is considered the "peak" of the turtle craze?

i was born in 1990 , so i kind of missed out on the show but i loved the movies my whole life. I started watching the show later on i think it was still on TV but i made have had VHS's i'm not sure.

but I remember the toys were still everywhere when i was growin up , Power Rangers started in 1993 i remember that and pokemon being everywhere i looked. but i always liked the TMNT toys and movies better. Pokemon was my game , TMNT were my movies and MMPR was my show. lol.