Nick TMNT Season 1 vs TMNT 4kids Season 1
 

Hey everyone, I am new to the forums so please excuse me if I am posting this thread in the wrong place.
Now that we have gotten through a whole season of the newest incarnation of the turtles, I am curious on how it stakes up against season one of the 4kids series in terms of plot, character development, action scenes, things of that nature.
In my opinion I feel the season was slightly rushed because of so many plot points going on, and the characters didn't have time to really grow. it felt the episodes were sort of random each time and they did not have any cohesion besides a few scenes or minor details to connect each other. I think the 4kids series handled their fist season slightly better. Also a minor issue is the focus on the Donatello April infatuation. Donatello is one of my favorites and I didn't like seeing him being reduced to nothing more that a one note character.(crush on April)
The season finale was great, I liked the fight between splinter and shredder. I just wish the buildup toward the fight was handled a little better during the course of the season. One last issue for the season finale was the dancing scene, I felt was unneeded. We could have used more time for the characters instead of a unnecessary dance sequence.

Anyway great start to the newest turtle series. Hopefully the crew can step it up for season 2. This show has great potential and I hate to see it wasted.

Thoughts?

You should really add a poll. I thought Nick's Season 1 was WAY better than 4kids mostly because that show's 1st season sidetracked with every other episode and had way too many plot holes and pointless characters.

As great as TMNT 2012 was, it still didn't reach the classic 1st Season of the 1987 TMNT! Then again, that was the best season of that show but Nickelodeon's TMNT done the BEST job at setting up the characters and plots for further Seasons which makes the overall show amazing. :)

I have to hand it to 4kids Season 1. "The Shredder Strikes," "Shredder Strikes Back," and "Return to New York" were better than the big episodes of the Nick run.

Nick is obviously much better with humor, but the 4kids run did much more. At this point the Turtles already fought Shredder 3 times, defeated him, met the Utroms, met Casey, Baxter turned into a cyborg, and we had some decent filler episodes.

Also Hun > Dogpound.

The Nick show's fillers tended to be rather meh, (Spiderbitez, Cockroach mutant), but everythng else was pretty good.

I'd give 4kids Season 1 an 8.5 and Nick an 8.2.

It's a tie. 4kids season 1 is nearly as good as Nick Season 1.
I said nearly because all the filler episodes in 4kids that were boring (Like Nano.) and the non-filler episodes that were boring (Notes To The Underground.)
Other then that, 4kids season 1 was nearly perfect, same for nick.

So it's a tie.

4kids hands down for me. Much more was covered by the end of the season and I think the pacing and story were handled better than the Nick season.

Seeing as I couldn't make it all the way through season 1 of the 4kids series (I tried 3 times, I swear!), I have to go with the Nick version, but I'll agree that the 4kids story was handled much better. It was paced better and made sense. The 4kids season felt cohesive, but Nick's first season felt more like a bunch of episodes put together with plot sometimes showing up and other times being ignored completely.

Saying that, I'm much more of a character oriented person, so it didn't really detract from the show for me personally. I noticed it, but I was much more interested in the dynamics between the Turtles then why they didn't seem to be rushing to save April's dad, and I felt the characters themselves were much more interesting in the Nick version.

So yeah, Nick for me, but I can see why others would go for the 4kids version. Here's hoping Nick's story issues get ironed out in season 2.

agree with this :3 (Don't you love it when a person says what you wanted and you don't need to type it out yourself XDD)

I think that's ultimately what it comes down to: If you're a story person, you'd be more satisfied by the 4Kids Season while a character person, like myself, would choose the Nickelodeon Season!

The problem is the 4kids show wasn't funny, and when it tried to be it came across as forced.

But as long as you don't care about humor, the 4kids show did almost everything else right.

Honestly 4kids season one was y favorite of them, but I still gotta give it to 2k12, this show has just been insane. Now hopefully the rest of the seasons stay this good, unlike the 4kids did, in my opinion

Everything up until Fast Forward of course. The terrible humor wouldn't have been as bad if they just gave up on it but no, they force it over and over and over again to the point where it takes the whole episode down sometimes.

Don't get me wrong, the 2K3 show has some of the absolute BEST moments of all TMNT but the writing was always mediocre. The dialogue was never clever or funny, the stories didn't always follow up and the show went into too many different directions which made the overall series disjointed and weak.

Those are all problems from Seasons 1-5 because I don't even want to get to Fast Forward or BTTS. Nickelodeon Series knows what it's doing and it gets what makes TMNT appealing which is why I think in the long-run, it will become the best Ninja Turtles Cartoon ever made! :tsmile:

Completely agree, with the 2k3 series, it seemed to have way too many plots at one time, and just when they'd be dealing with one, another would come up.
I also feel like it was too based on simply action, and didnt get the emotion or interaction between characters that this series seems to do perfectly

Wait, what? How could you complain about a number of plot threads going on at once? Its what made the show more interesting since it wasn't just the Turtles Vs. Shredder all the time. They also pretty much wrapped up virtually all loose ends in the series by the end anyway, so we weren't left with any major plotholes.

In Season 1 alone:

- Episodes 1-3: Introduced the characters, The Foot, April, Purple Dragons did the Baxter/Mouser story

- Episode 4: Casey Jones

- Episode 5: Nano filler

- Episode 6-7: Further Foot Clan stories, setting up the Sword of Tengu

- Episode 8: Purple Dragons, Hun/Casey/Angel development

- Episode 9: Garbageman filler

- Episode 10-11: First Major Shredder showdown

- Episode 12: Turtletitan filler

- Episodes 13-15: Notes of the Underground arc, Shredder experimenting with mutants

- Episode 16: Don goes to an alternate dimension with Kirby

- Episode 17-18: Shredder gets revenge, burns down April's shop and the Turtles are defeated

- Episode 19-20: Filler

- Episode 21-23: Return to New York, Shredder is defeated

- Episode 24: Gangster episode

- Episode 25-26: Introduction of TCRI and the Utroms



The 4kids show did a LOT in Season 1. Looking back the only throwaway episodes was the Garbageman ep, the Monster Hunter ep, and the Turtletitan one.

maybe that was the problem....they solved too much in season 1....
I would be upset if 2012 Shredder was already defeated in this season....

I think I liked Nick TMNT season one more than 4Kids season one.

I'm torn on this one. If we look at it from a storytelling point, then I'd have to go with 4kids, hands down. In one season they achieved a lot of stuff, and the fact that they followed Mirage storylines was definitely a plus. The chemistry between the brothers was nice as well.

However, the nick show excels at other things. The CG they use is amazing; it makes all the fight scenes look so freaking good. I also like Nick splinter a lot more than the 4kids one; he is probably one of my favorite characters (that's also probably why I bash him so much when he doesn't move his fat rat ass to help the turtles). There is also not a single ep where you do not laugh or at least chuckle at something, so there is that. I feel that, although there are a lot of things about the plot that could have been done better, all the eps were still super enjoyable.

Huh, this is tough. I guess it's a 50/50 for me. If I'm forced to choose though, nostalgia would make me pick 4kids. Btw, I'm a die hard 4kids fan so that is saying a lot :lol:

Coming to think about it, 4kids 2nd season will be tough to beat as well. There were lots a good things in there (*cough* triceratons *cough*) so let's see how nick's second season stacks up to the competition (:

I guess it comes down to whether you prefer humor, better characterisation among the Turtles and fun plots...then you would like Nick better.

In any case I find all 3 TMNT cartoons great at what they do, so it doesn't matter to me.

A lot was solved in season 1 of 2003, but I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing.

yea but I like it when things get stretched out to the other seasons :3

kinda like Avatar the last airbender XD they didn't defeat the Fire lord in the first season :3

Me too, it's better if things are stretched, it doesn't make the enemy weak that way.

Well, think about Justice League, and how the first two season finales were meant to be series finales. Think about the fact that a show isn't guaranteed to have multiple seasons.

yea :) but they seem to be taking the chance

which could be good if they last (which it seems they will)

True, but again it's not a bad thing if all of the conflicts wrap up in the first season.

Your right, but it's better to continue the plot into another season, it adds build up, and I like it that way.

You seriously cannot compare Nick's epic season finale with the 1987 one...the first season of that show was literally only made to sell the toys. The later seasons were much better IMO.

Completely disagreed. 1987 Series' first Season is classic in the way it set up its first arc and resolved it! It was the perfect introduction and the action scenes were the absolute BEST of its time. All 5 Episodes of that 1st Season were unique and engaging.

The Later Seasons completely lacked in all of that IMO. It just got too silly for me but that 1st Season was perfect.

Nickelodeon's first Season was not quite perfect because of all the weaker fillers...

The first season of the OT may have only been 5 episodes, but it was pretty much the best 5 first episodes any show could ask for. Literally the entire TMNT universe in animation was spawned from the first 5 episodes.

I know...I hope I don't sound like a hater of the OT,(because I'm not by any means) It's just that I can't really compare the Nick finale to the OT's. The fight scenes, action, story and humor were just (IMO) much better than the OT's.

Well yeah...but think of the time period. When 1987 Series came out, the action scenes, humor and story were instantly acclaimed and still impressive to this day.

2012 Series is no where near the level of quality as some other cartoons these days like Avatar: The Last Airbender, Young Justice, Legend of Korra etc.

When TMNT first came out, it was THE very best! There was no second place. 2012 Series is still one of the best shows right now but it won't have the same impact say 20 years later with improved CGI.

Nick version was waaay better IMO.

I feel one of the weaknesses of the this Nick show is timing. So far the show has nothing that makes it stand out among other shows right now. It seems a little bland compared to things like Korra, and The Last Airbender. At least the 4kids show had the benefit of being the second animated series after the OT. This one is the third and I hope the crew get to push the series to achieve greatness before it gets lost in the shuffle. Especially if more CGI shows are coming up and end up beating out Ninja Turtles. Transformers Prime is a show that has its roots in G1, but the crew have put together an extraordinary show for fans and new comers. There is frankly more competition than it was in 1987.

Anyway I wish the show the best, and the Ninja turtles have been with me for as long as I can remember, so I am glad it will be getting at least one more season after season 2.:tsmile:

My thoughts on the this are pretty much identical to cybercubed. Anything I would say would likely be redundant.

2K3>2012, but the Nick show is growing on me quite a bit. That finale was amazing, and while the Nick show seems at first glance to be '87 revisited, it has a MUCH more serious tone, while still being very, very funny. It is really well done, imo.

really? I think TMNT 2012 beats Korra......

Korra lost alot of it's potential in my opinion.....I can't even like half the characters anymore because of the way they were portrayed.....

TMNT is doing very fine IMO sure the Finale lacked something.....but the episodes have been awesome~ even the ones that I didn't like as much were very enjoyable :3 and I'm sure season 2 will get better~

also saw Transformers Prime....didn't really get into it :(.....(and I like transformers.)

Not sure what you're talking about, most action cartoons are dead or are poor nowadays. TMNT is one of the best.

Young Justice was canceled as was Avengers and Spectacular Spiderman....Nick's TMNT is the only decent action cartoon out there right now.

I watched Prime, boring bland show. And I used to be a huge Transformers fan.

Yeah............
that.

I'm not so sure they're totally fair to compare... 4kids was a bit more story driven, darker, less focused on establishing itself as a new universe. It had all the groundwork laid out for it, given it was based (albeit loosely at times) on the Mirage books. The new series had to start fresh and pull from EVERY universe. Of course there's going to be a little bit less done. But just the same, Nicks turtle show is more like the OT in some sense, how it features several non-plot advancing episodes that introduce new villains and just have fun with the characters. Taking those breaks slows down the overall pace, but that isn't necessarily a bad thing. They're taking their time, and that's okay. 4kids didn't have to make time for jokes, nor did they focus on character development so early on, so I think Nick is doing more for personality than story at this current time. With 3 seasons locked in place, it's better we get to know our players before the game truly begins. So ultimately I think they're too different in design to say one had a better execution than the other. I will say however that I prefer the Nick toon to the 4kids one, but that's just a personal preference.

I thought both shows had good seasons, but if I had to pick, I'd say Nick wins. 4Kids was good, but the Turtles were already established as ninjas and seemed to act way older than teenagers and more like adults. With Nick, the Turtles are growing as ninjas and learning how to be an effective team, so that's what makes it unique and awesome. And although I liked the season 1 finale of 4Kids, Nick beats it hands down.

i apologize if this is off topic, but i didnt know where else to ask. did mikey and leos shade of green skin tone flip with each other from 4kids to the nick series, or have they always been like they are now?

um...I know Mikey's skin tone was darker green in the 4 kids version...
now he's much lighter :)

so..I guess you can say they flipped XD

I think it suits them better now.