Vacation in Eastern Europe
 

Except for the train ride in Turtles on the Orient Express, all episodes of the Fred Wolf series' Vacation in Europe were set in Northern, Southern and Western Europe.

How does it come we didn't se some more episodes set in Eastern Europe? I mean, cities like Belgrade, Bucharest, Budapest, Ljubljana, Moscow, Prague, Riga, Saint Petersburg, Sarajevo, Sofia, Split, Warsaw and Zagreb have rich cultures and histories. (Skipping former Yugoslavia would probably be OK once the Yugoslavian Civil Wars began in June 1991, but hey Nickelodeon Rocksteady showed his résumé to Fred Wolf Krang and Shredder he fought as a volunteer in that war, but on another Earth.)

I never sat down to think about which counties in Europe Splinter and the Turtles visited. I suspect if eastern Europe was omiited it was due to the countries one being lesser known to an American audience. Secondly, the Cold War was just ending as the episodes were being produced and East Germany to the east was largely a Soviet satellite.

Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, and Poland were also all Soviet satellite states. Albania and Romania acted more independent from the late-1960's. Yugoslavia never was, in fact it balanced between east and west from 1947–1948 until the end of the Cold War in 1991 (the same year both Yugoslavia and the USSR broke up).

And if the countries aren't too well-known for Western children, isn't that a great opportunity to wake som interest? Just think how many places the Archie comics took the turtles to.

I am just speculating. Going by the time, the Soviet Union's USSR satellites were just then being freed so it is possible it was to avoid politics or because the eastern half of Europe was forced against its will behind the iron curtain. I also know that the students I teach don't know countries beyond Germany geographically and historically. They can identify Portugal, Spain, the U.K., France, Germany, Italy, and Russia. Even though we discuss Poland in relation to it being removed from the map and its role in Versailles and World War II I don't think they overall know where it is located.

What countries did the Turtles visit? I don't have a list.

Yes, Eastern Europe was forced behind the Iron Curtain by Joseph Stalin.

France (Tower of Power, Rust Never Sleeps, Turtles on the Orient Express)

Austria, Switzerland (A Real Snow Job)

Italy (Venice on the Half-Shell, Artless)

Portugal (Ring of Fire)

Republic of Ireland (The Irish Jig Is Up)

United Kingdom (Shredder's New Sword, Elementary, My Dear Turtle)

Greece (Lost Queen of Atlantis)

Germany, Austria, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Turkey (train ridethrough only, Turtles on the Orient Express)

Netherlands (April Gets in Dutch)

Norway (Northern Lights Out)

You want the honest truth, the real, probable reason why? The countries they visited are the most popular countries in Europe. Apart from Moscow the average viewer would want the TMNT to visit a country they kind of recognised.

You don't want to be encouraging kids to visit those communist countries :lol:

I do suspect that it was the combination of what countries children would know of and the times as the Cold War was ending and Eastern Europe was under the Communist thumb. Even so western Europe is much more well known abroad especially for reasons of tourism which is what the TMNT were doing. Similarly, National Lampoon's European Vacation focused on western Europe. So it was what the international audience knew.

I enjoyed the episodes involving The Shredder while those without him and his group not so much.

Turtles on the Orient Express
 

I think Turtles on the Orient Express is the best. So many countries within one episode.