Things you learned from TMNT?
 

Thought this would be a fun thread.

I've learned a few basic things regarding Japanese martial arts from TMNT. Probably my first exposure to the words "ninja", "ninjutsu", "sushi", "sai", "katana", "nunchaku", "kimono", "bo" and to Japanese names like Saki, Oroku, Yoshi and Hamato. Granted, TMNT and the FW series in particular aren't exactly very accurate depictions of Japanese culture and history but I'd say that's where the seeds in me were planted for my future interest in anime, Japanese stuff and East Asian culture in general. Kinda interesting how TMNT has a lot of Japanese references/stuff when that wasn't a common thing in American cartoons at the time.

I guess it was also the TMNT that taught me that turtles are both reptiles and amphibians? And ofc, the words "mutant" and "mutation".

...other than that, I don't see what else I might have learned from TMNT. I've never watched those Turtle tips vignette shorts. They must have been US exclusive by the CBS network or something. The FW series was never a very educational cartoon. In fact, I remember reading a question from a fan on the old Mirage website many years ago where he asked why the FW series eventually lost popularity and got cancelled and the answer more or less said that the Turtles weren't educational enough... or am I remembering it wrongly? This was in like 2002-2003 already, so a lot of time has passed since then.

So hum... I think I first learned from FW TMNT that NYC is also known as the "Big Apple"? Shredder calls it the Big Apple in episode 6 and I was like 6-7 years old when I first watched that episode, so yeah...

What about you?

Well the names of the turtles definitely helped me learn a lot about the renaissance painters they were named after.

I learned that it’s beyond dangerously hot in the earths core in a high school science class but a TMNT episode helped me remember it (because Shredder was like “yeah and into this even stuffier earths core”).

I also like to learn things by taking advice from Splinter, like when he said “doing good should be your primary purpose because the good you do for others will come back to you in abundance” “winning is nothing, doing your best and acting with honor are the only things that matter”, “things are not always what they appear to be”, “when the eagle is ready to fly, there is nothing to be gained by remaining in the nest”. There’s many more, too many to list and probably some I forgot about. But I always thought his advice were great things to learn.

Lol how could I forget this haha. Eventually I'd hear of Leonardo Da Vinci and Michelangelo the Sistine Chapel painter, but I dunno if I'd ever hear about the guys Raphael and Donatello were named after if it wasn't for TMNT.

Yeah, once I learned more about art history, I myself was initially confused between the Renaissance artists and the turtles. XD Especially since Leonardo daVinci remains one of the most well known classical artists to this day.

As for other things I learned:

1. It MIGHT have been the 80s cartoon that got me into pizza? Don't remember as it's been quite a while since I first heard of the franchise...

2. Admittedly a bit more personal, but TMNT had helped skyrocket my love of reptiles, even if moreso the carnivorous reptiles, to the point that a fair chunk of my teenage years was spent reading about them.

New York City is called the Big Apple (Turtles in Time)

Elevator is called ascenseur in French (Tower of Power)

Main basics of Buddhism and Islam (Archie Comics)

The People's Republic of China occupied Tibet in 1950 (Archie Comics)

Global warming may raise the water level in the oceans on Earth, and affect coastal towns (mostly Archie Comics)

The Orient Express was a passenger train service (Turtles on the Orient Express)

One that sticks out for me- Splinter's sage words in TMNT SotO: "the true ninja is a master of all things; a master of himself, and a master of his environment." I used to use this as a mantra while exercising in gym during high school, particularly while running laps on the track- and it worked! Was able to control breathing and heart rate enough that I could keep going a steady pace long adter everyone else had tired. Guess Splinter was right.... :twink: :tgrin:

I learned that in Japan, a person's first name is their surname.
I learned to draw by constantly filling sketchbooks with TMNT as a kid.

There's probably a lot that I learned, but one that sticks out to me is the Turtle Tip about balloons getting caught on power lines. Ever since I saw that, I have looked down upon people who gleefully let go of balloons into the sky.

I think I learned that from anime.

Flushing random chemicals down a drain is bad for the environment and that the person you think might be the most different from you probably has more in common with you than you realise. :)

So what years did they produce Turtle Tips from and how many were made?

Turtle Tips started in the 1990 season when the show went to CBS. It would air in the middle of the hour-long block. I think they they aired until the end of the show's run, but I think new ones were only produced for a year or two.

Thanks. I know there's YT compilations but has anyone catalogued everyone. Would be interesting to see how many were made and for which episodes.

Simple answer: Integrity.

I doubt they were the only influence in my youth, but they (esp my boy, Leo) were probably very likely one of them.

I learned what a Zamboni was from The Big Cufflink Caper episode. I don't think I'd ever even seen one before that point.

Don't like money.

Girls can look great in yellow.

Everything.

That explains a lot. :P

Cubed, are you saying you can't tie your shoes, since the Turtles never taught that? :trazz:

Surfer slang: words like "Dude", "Exactomundo" and of course...

https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon....2L._SX425_.jpg

But more recently that when reading the IDW comics, the characters aren't really all that different from what they were in the 2012 series.

https://imagesvc.timeincapp.com/v3/f...3tnk.jpg&w=949
This exchange between Leo and Karai for example, when reading it, I SO could hear Kelly Hu and Jason Biggs' voices.

I don't believe the Turtles ever taught how babies are made either, not even in those Turtle Tips from the FW series days. So how did Cubed learn about that? :P

:lol::tlol:

Ya know... a video of "TMNT Discuss the Birds & the Bees" (on a kid level) could fit nicely alongside some of the really random stuff of them that's out there. :tlol:


Granted, as mutant Turtles in an all male household with a rat father who might not tell them all that much because he might figure "why bother," thus they themselves might get most of their knowledge from the internet... maybe they aren't the best teachers of that sort of thing. lol

Things I learned:

- Sci-fi elements such as dimensional portals and black holes.

- gendarmes are the police force in France from Rust Never Sleeps.

- A lot of stuff from Splinter as already mentioned in this thread.

- Learnt about the renaissance artists first from TMNT. A history teacher would say years later “I’m talking about the renaissance artist, not the ninja turtle”. :lol:

- Learnt a few life lessons from Leo-centric episodes such as Take me to Your Leader and The Ancient One.

- May have also been my first introduction to fantasy/supernatural stuff from watching OT episodes such as Splinter No More and Usagi Yojimbo.

The classic episode Snakes Alive taught me a very important life lesson "Fears are just in our minds and we have the power to overcome them." Thanks to Leonardo I overcame my fear of movies that scared me as a kid. When I wrote to Cam Clarke about the impact it made on me, he was so happy to hear it.

Aww that's nice. :)

I agree that’s nice to hear. Snakes Alive is one of my fav OT episodes.

I just remembered something I learned and that’s to avoid battle when possible and never make enemies unnecessarily, from the battle nexus GameCube game.

I have a "type" when it comes to aliens.

The ones I tend to like the most are tiny, usually pink, hyper-intelligent and use machines to get around. Mileage of danger may vary.

Yeah, it started with Daleks. But then Utroms cemented it when I realized, in the midst of enjoying TMNT as a whole...that I just "like" that type of alien.




Utroms did give me what I wanted out of Daleks, though, so there's that.

Because by god, does Doctor Who writers squander their best Daleks...

Off the top of my head, Archie TMNT was my first ever exposure to the concept of bonsai (Shredder is pruning his when the Turtles surprise him in his sewer lair at one point). And though I didn't start because of the comic, I always remained fascinated by them and I've been keeping bonsai for well over a decade now with an ever-increasing collection.

David Wise
 

But it was David Wise who wrote the episode.

Never pay full price for late pizza.

That's actually a pretty useful lesson.

Well, I got all my most important life lessons from Tigra in Thundercats, but the Turtles cartoon taught me that freon was the gas in refrigerators.

Daleks used to be green, of course. The creature inside, that is, not the casing.

Ice resurfacer
 

Zamboni is actually a trademark for a specific type, that has become synonymous. Correct term =ice resurfacer

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ice_resurfacer

I just remembered something else:

Splinter told the Turtles that Shredder's own evilness will be his doom. As cheesy as it sounds, Shredder's greed of wanting to take over the world and killing the Turtles really does him no favours. Taking over the world is hardly a feasible goal, and his anger and hatred for the Turtles clouds his judgement often and leads him to embarrassing defeats. Same happens to Dregg somewhat. In season 9 he only views the Turtles as mere obstacles. But in season 10 he becomes obsessed with killing the Turtles and he loses his marbles in the process. His own hatred for the Turtles begins consuming him.

So yeah, don't let hate consume you, everyone.

I agree that’s a great lesson. I think Shredder did become less obsessed with wanting to destroy the Turtles in season 10, as he only seemed to be interested in getting rid of Dregg and taking over the Earth by then.

Yeah. He was slowly improving, but he was still a bad guy :P. Anyway, the most noticeable change was that he no longer wanted to backstab Krang like he always said he wanted to do. It's like they finally became friends.

I just learned from Splinter in a 2012 episode, you don’t really fail at things unless you give up.

I just remembered that I learnt the principles of judo (when your opponent pushes, you pull) from the episode Cry Havoc when the Turtles used it to defeat Titanus.

I tried using it myself on a school bully back in the day by pulling on his jumper. The impact of the jumper being pulled caused some material to stretch out. He said “You’ve ruined my jumper!”:lol: He was taken aback when one of my friends said the jumper was still fine. Didn’t expect that to happen but still hilarious.