If it had been any other animal...
 

...do you think it would have worked?

Because back when I was six or seven and at the height of my origonality I came up with the amazingly inventive "Mutant Dogs", with martial arts and color coded masks and swords and vans and bikes...

Not getting my hopes up for that working in a paralel universe where Eastman and Laird never met and the greatest underground comic of all time never got off the ground. But that's with hindsight.


Then there are the numerous shows that tried to cash in on the formula. I think SWAT Kats is th eonly one that can be considered a sucess and that's because it didn't feel like a TMNT rip off...if you can call a show about two anthromorphic superhero characters from a company famous for making anthromorphic characters a rip off.

Aren't they crossing over with the Wild West Cow Boys of Moo Mesa nowadays?

Plus Usagi Yojimbo has been a success on its own.

I'm actually talking about if Eastman and Laird hadn't gone with "Ninja Turtles" and come up with "Ninja Chipmunks". And I don't really consider Usagi that closely related to the TMNT idea, same as the SWAT Kats.

It may have worked indeed. Turtles are cool.

I do not know if a creepier animal, such as a snake or lizard, would have turned people off or attracted them even more. At least turtles are a somewhat more acceptable pet. But spiders/snakes/sharks/electric eels/really scary stuff like that...may have appealed to little boys of all ages, but would have less female fans than what TMNT has.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Lizards

heeh

they'd be cute. but nothing like the turtles...turtles are just adorable as they are, turning them into cool heroes is even better.

Wow it's so hard to imagine. Thinking about it I'm going, "Lizards... naw, no way that would have worked." But I'm sure turtles sounded quite silly back then too. Now that I love the turtles so much, it's hard to imagine any other animal ever working out.

Crabs would have been sweet though.

I'm confused...Why are you leader again?

Because I'm better than you. I'm better than everyone!

Better? Oh-ho-ho! I think not. I try to keep you out of trouble. I warn you, but do you listen to me? NoooOOooooOOoo! Of course you...always get the girls, the glory, the rewards. I will kill you. It would be so easy. A little scientific mishap...a chemical reaction...I'm smarter than you. I'm smarter than all of you.

Keep dreaming Mr. Wizard, I'll just use my swords and-

If they kill each other, I'll get all the food. I'll have my own room...


Boys! We have company coming over! Quit making death threats and come downstairs. Oh...and no more leaving shuriken in the fridge guys...they've been mistaken for crackers before.

YES MASTER DAVE! YES MASTER DAVE! YES MASTER DAVE!




...I'm going back to bed now >.<

I think the turtles worked because the idea was so utterly unique. Like there were all sorts of humanoid animal characters out there in the 80s: Danger Mouse, Thunder Cats, Batfink etc, but the turtles... such a juxtoposition. The original concept of a ninja turtle plays on the contrast of slow, gentle reptile and the agility, athleticism and deadliness of ninja. If it had been four Usagis like Teenage Mutant Ninja Bunnies, in my opinion the concept would not have taken off, or if it had it would have made a small impact like Thunder Cats and be in our memories, but not hold the same meaning that the turtles do.

At the end of the day, there has never been anything as unique as the turtles and there never will again.

Thundercats are cool! But they are not quite mutants like the Turtles. They come from another planet. And each Thundercat represents a different feline species.

80s toons were cool. Some animals work better than others at being anthropomorphic...some just DON'T ahem cough sponges ahem cough.

I don't mean that they are mutants or the same as the turtles - just that they are a comparable concept in 80s TV.

The turtles kind of make sense because you can see them as animals that may accidentally end up down the drain, when it comes to anthropomorphic animals dwelling in the sewer.

We totally agree, jenna! :) :) They even reference this in the first movie with the cartoon on TV of the tortoise and the hare ("Ninja kick the d@mn rabbit!" :D )

Even if one didn't consciously get the "joke", we think this incongruity between the stereotype of a turtle's character and Ninja Turtles is part of what made them stand out from the rest of the crowd.

- T & J

Teenage Mutant Ninja Pangolins would have ruled.

http://www.petinfo4u.com/images/pangolin.jpg

O.o Whoa. What the heck is that?! It looks like a cousin of the armadillo. Neat!

"Teenage Mutant Ninja Echidnas?"

"What's an Echidna?"

Echidnas are monotremes just like platypuses.

Armadillos are placental mammals just like rats and humans.

I wasn't actually asking.

I know. I was just showing off because people were mentioning them.

Well look at you, little miss smarty pants.

"Teenage Mutant Ninja Chubachanras?"

"You're not even try now are you?"