Do you like it that the original toon actually took place in the 80's and early 90's?
 

One thing I love about the original cartoon is it actually took place in the years that it aired. When you watch the original cartoon, you actually feel like they're living in the late 80's and early 90's. There is also the Hokum Time Travel episode, where Mike says, "Let's head back home to good old 1991." Which was of course the year that episode aired.

Of course there was some advanced technology like the robot police officers and all the other robot stuff in the show outside of Shredder/Krang, but you still got the feeling the TMNT lived in those years.

We have the TMNT with a VCR in their home, an old beat up 80's TV, the Twin Towers are in several episodes (just saying), and there is no internet until the later red sky episodes.

I loved the fact that the old toon Turtles actually lived in the 80's and 90's as the show was airing. Its almost nostalgic in a way.

I'll agree with that, I grew up watching it in the 90's so not only am i reminded of that by watching turtles, but by getting hints of it from the world they lived in too. I always loved when they would wear the 80's punk rock/new wave fashion, or even the hip hop apparel when they had the boom box! I get such a kick out of it lol.

I like how in "It came from beneath the sewers", those two little kids who had the eye of sarnath fragment said they're children of the 80's. And there's April, who changed her outfit for the red sky episodes, which made it look like she was keeping up with the times, she looked more 90's style. But in the last European episode, "Elementary My Dear Turtle", the turtles' regular time was 1991, even though the episode is a 1993 episode. But I believe the European episodes take place around the 1990 season due to the technodrome being on that asteroid in Dimension X.

When the hell else would it have taken place?

That's my question.

As opposed to what? The 60s or 70s? A post-apocalyptic future?

I mean looking back on it now, decades later. It brings back memories of the 80's and early 90's when you go back and rewatch it.

Sort of like the original seasons of Simpsons that took place in the late 80's and early 90's, and how they'd reference pop culture events of those decades which are now nostalgic when you rewatch now in nearly 2010.

Yeah... just like every other show from their respective decade does.

I think one of the things about the 2003 cartoon that majorly bothers me is that it's set in modern times.

Turtles will always be a period piece to me. It can follow the characters to whatever decade it wants, but when you're doing TMNT, you start in the mid-eighties.

Interesting way of putting it. I guess I kinda/sorta agree. Well... not really, but for some reason it strikes me as somewhat funny or odd seeing the Turtles with an I-pod, or a Blue-Ray DVD, a Wii or any other modern thing.

Or how in the Tales comics, Donatello playing Guitar Hero on an Xbox 360 back in the early 90's. It just seems so wrong.

As time has gone on I've come to agree with you. I sort of like it as a period piece now, at least in its beginnings.

that **** pissed me off!

Yes I do. Bad things had not happened back then.

1990
 

I hate that dub into Swedish. Just because that aired for first time in 1990 or 1991. Instead, they say "-Vi lever på 90-talet" (-"We live in the 90's").

Shouldn't it be 1990 in Elementary My Dear Turtle? They travelled back to 1890 when going to the UK.

Jesus Christ!! Is this **** seriously THAT detrimental to peoples' reading experiences? I consider myself just as much a fan as anyone else here on these boards but I cannot believe this is still being harped on!

How come the WOW rip off didn't get crucified like this?

Go back and reread it. You're putting your own anachronisms in there now. There is no Xbox 360. I would never put an Xbox into anything I write. It's just a freakin' guitar game.

Yeah, I hear you, Tristan.:roll:



Though For the record, I do prefer to think of certain kinds of media as period pieces, but even I admit that it is unrealistic to hold writers to those rules when you have decades of continuity to deal with. Take my favorite superhero continuity, the DC Animated Universe, it starts with Batman: The Animated Series in which all the planes (except the Batwing) are propeller driven and most of the TVs are black and white. A few years later you have space age technology in Justice League and in about 40 years total you end with Batman Beyond in which all the cars are floating. Believable? Not really, but fine nevertheless.

Argh, this bothers me a lot to tell you the truth. In about 20 years almost all of Gotham was rebuilt. JESUS.

Maybe there was a fire? Or a massive flood? Ice storm?:P

Obviously it is easy to base the setting in the present day you are writing it in as it avoids tackling either futurology (i.e Fast Forward) or accurately depicting a past decade.

Present day is just neutral, but whatever the setting the TMNT will always be good. Although I think a 'What If?' comic with the TMNT set in the 70's or maybe the 60's could be a real hoot.

===HERO

Actually, if you're going to do something besides the 80s or "vaguely-defined-present-day" (which I kind of hate), I've always thought setting the Turtles in the Red Scare '50s could make for a really cool alternate version.

You have an increasingly sci-fi oriented culture, the nuclear family, constant paranoia (that the Turtles could really run with), Japan going through a major cultural shift. All good stuff.