Older Fans on Rise Vs the '87 Toon
 

Admittedly, I have seen very little of Rise of the TMNT, but... Do some of you older fans think you would have become a TMNT fan at all (casual, life-long etc.) if Rise (or something closer to it) had aired in 1987 when you were a kid instead the 1987 show? Granted, Rise is a very different conception than the 87 show (especially the pilot) was. And the 87 show is closer to E&L's concept.

IF in 1987 that 5-episode pilot had skewed even younger and been closer to what Rise is... would you have stuck with TMNT or been a fan at all?

Cartoons in the 80s were trash for the most part, most cartoons from any era after would've faired excellent just for not being some boring predictable preachy show that is badly animated.

It's colorful, funny, action packed, & full of monsters. Anything fitting that mold, I'm here for it.

The humor of kids cartoons today is very different than it was in the 80's. It's hard to describe, but modern cartoons have a lot of "screaming" and "overreactions."

Old cartoons went with more subtle humor and dry sarcastic wit. You can tell the clear difference from the humor in the original cartoon and in Rise or even the 2012 Nick series. They were products of their time.

Modern cartoon humor is more self-centered. It comes from a "YOLO" perspective and from a perspective of self-empowerment. That's part of the reason it doesn't appeal to me as much. These shows are more focused on the "already existing and powerful YOU" rather than striving to be better. Pay real close attention to the direction of the humor and the reactions and you'll start to see the nuance of the zeitgeist. It's incredibly self-centered and leads people to greater egos rather than leading them to see something better than themselves and striving to become that better picture.

It's almost a 100% sure thing to me that my fandom wouldn't have been impacted by Rise in the 80s, but I would be more tolerant of the show itself. I was already a fan of the turts just based on the original NES game ad I saw, and the action figures I was already collecting. At the time I didn't even like the cartoon very much, at least after the mini-series. Today I appreciate it more than I did then.

Oh, geez, a new thread that isn't Cubed doing his gimmick. :lol:

Nah, I wouldn't have ever been a fan if "Rise" or something like it was the first thing I'd seen of TMNT. As it was, I already didn't wanna like TMNT when it came out in the 80s. All the kids at school were talking about it and to me, it seemed like the dumbest premise I'd ever heard of. Just being honest. I was already very elitist and self-righteous at a very young age and this thing called "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" just sounded dumber than dumb.

I only got into it by accident when my first-grade class had one of those "book and tape" gimmicks that transcribed the first episode, and kids who were done with their work early got to either mess with those or play with blocks or whatever. My one friend insisted that I check it out, and I did, and then that day I went home and watched the cartoon and after that I was hooked.

But given how I already went into it thinking the basic premise was stupid, and that only the specific execution of the show was what won me over, and that aside from Loony Tunes I've never had much of an appetite for "zany", if something like "Rise" was the very first thing I was exposed to, I would have absolutely hated it, to the point where even if a "better", more serious show came out later on, there's no way I'd be objective enough to give it a chance. It would have poisoned me against the brand forever.

Taste is subjective, so if the style of "Rise" appeals to people then that's fine for what it is. For me, it's just about Everything I Hate about modern cartoons in general, and there's absolutely nothing about it that appeals to me.

Just being honest.

No I wouldn't

I don't think it would've been the phenomenon the 80s show was. For one modern humor relies on self awareness more than the references/wit in the 80s and Rise kinda goes more out with the concept than "wOaah mutant turtles AND there ninjas eufwunnwduduwndw". I'm not trying to diss the 80s show either cause I think that was a huge part of appeal (along w/ toys but yeah).


Ok however I think its animation would be a HIGH advantage compared to other shows from that time. While I don't think people would fully appreciate the structure of the show the animation would definetly catch alot of kids attention. And if the toys were higher quality and more produced in this alternative universe it could have made another TMNT rennisance. On the other hand it couldve been a niche show that in retrospect would be praised for things not common or substantial in the 80s

However this would have a bad effect on TMNT the brand I think. even though the 90s movie took inspiration from the Comics idk if the aspects from rise would fuse well with the aspect from the 90s movie and it would take a looong time to make a proper Rise movie (doubtfull on this paragraph besides last sentence tho) also a more Magic influenced brand on the series




TLDR: I dont think everyone would truly appreciate it at the time but Rise would go down as influential in retrospect for aspects like the high quality animation and action and would age extremely well. though some aspects might conflict later on (Sorry for writing lowkey a essay :tlol::teek:

I became a fan in 2010 but not because of the 2k3 series. It was actually because of a Cracked article.:lol:

https://www.cracked.com/article_1890...haracters.html

For me as a edgy teenager, it was like coming across a giant cartoon conspiracy and I just had to see it and read it for myself. I remember look frantically for any Mirage related content.

I am only start watching the 87 cartoon out of morbid curiosity and so far the first season is pretty okay. There are some moments where it look like straight out of a Zelda CDI game. :teek:

I really think it would been impossible for Rise to look the way that it is now in 87. Even if it was only produce solely through Toei Animation, it would still look a completely different beast all together.

But I think I would have watch as long it still had a lot of anime influence within its animation like it does now. I was a huge fan of Dragon ball and Dragon ball Z back in the day.

Without having any Turtle that feels relatable to hook me... prob not. I might have watched it as a kid, I dunno, but if so, then probably in the same superficial way of most cartoons these days... as an easily forgettable distraction for a few minutes that you don't care two cents about the second it's over. (And lord that's the last thing I want for the TMNT.)

The 87 show may have been goofy and very much a product of its time and far from being a masterpiece, but it's sincere in what it was trying to be; it is unintentionally a bit derpy and glitchy which is amusing now. Now what passes for humor in a lot of "modern" cartoons, including Rise, just feel too forced. Being derpy on purpose is just kind of annoying, feels artificial, and not so funny.

I mean it's not like it's just a problem with cartoons. Look at those last films... The so-called attempts at humor there also seem too forced. It's like they don't know how to make humor seem natural anymore.

It's pretty hard to try and recreate my mindset from when I was that age. However, with the crude-type humor, and not so down-to-earth feel, and way too flashy looks, the answer is probably no, it would not have left a lifelong impression on me. Saw a lot of things in the 80s and 90s that may have intrigued me, but in the end I considered to be "just ok", which is probably how I would've felt about this at best.

Haven't seen Rise at all, I can't say for sure, but going by the art style alone, I don't think, I would've been fan of it.

I prefer more realistic style of animation, not going all stretch'n'wacky ****. Or at least something that sits in the middle.

I dont think the particular humor of Rise would have been there in the 80's but if 87 TMNT had looked more Ren & Stimpy and been closer to those SPACED OUT! Mirage comics, I would have seen TMNT more as a funny animal toon and I definitely would have been LESS inclined to buy the toys, watch the movie or beg my mom for that $30 TMNT lunchbox (yes it was $30 in 1991 only because inside were some stickers and TMNT school supplies).

If the 87 toon pilot, which i kind of adore, had been as bad as Rise is IMO, I think I never would have cared to pursue TMNT toys or ever discover the INCREDIBLE, AMAZING BRILLIANCE that is the E&L Mirage canon.

This may be hard to believe BUT in 1991 I knew A LOT of 5 to 6 year old kids in the Indianapolis area (my hometown) that COULD NOT GET INTO, UNDERSTAND, OR GIVE 2 SH*TS about TMNT! And I have no idea why?

I don't mind goofy and visual slapstick humor. The only time I hate it when there is a noticeable pattern like a character said something stupid and other character hits him for said stupid comment. That gets old after a while. That is one reason why I don't like humor in other versions.


but I appreciate when the humor is more dialogue base. 2012 TMNT have some genuine funny moments like in season 1 that are between characters arguing or just someone pointing something out.

I suspect not. The cartoons that I liked best were the serious-leaning, story-driven shows: The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest, Batman, and Ninja Turtles.

Rise of the TMNT simply wouldn't have cut it.

Humor of any kind is so subjective. What makes one person bust a gut makes the person next to them roll their eyes and groan.

And that is exactly why "humor" of any kind should NOT be part of the bedrock for ANY iteration of TMNT. You can obviously have humor IN there but if you make "being funny" the entire point, the absolute best you're gonna do at pleasing a larger audience is 50/50. And usually a lot less than that.

Wow, interesting thing to consider.

But..... hmmm. No. I don't think I would've been a fan. Rise is clearly a marker of this generation, not of ours. And I respect that, I do. But I don't respect the markers that make it true - the self-empowerment that leads to ego inflation for fans that is present in these modern shows is completely different than the reinforcement and striving to be better that were markers of 80's culture. I'm not saying that 80's culture was purely better or without nonsense - it certainly had it's fair share of nonsense in kids programming, but the character dynamics and subtleties had a different heart to them. And so I'm not saying that as a kid I would've comprehended what I'm saying now as an adult, but I am saying that Rise would have been the odd-man out as far as content zeitgeist goes and I wouldn't have thought it was "cool".

As for the animation? Again modern animation is for the Attention Deficit Disorder crowd. It's a series of flash animation punctuated by frame-rate changes that serves digestion of quick impulses as opposed to anything fully constructed and uniform that serves digesting a narrative. And I hate that it's like that because it makes me sound like a Luddite when in fact nothing could be further from the truth.

So I see Rise in a manner where the show itself is a joke on moving celluloid which I wouldn't have liked, as opposed to the FW show which was an action show full of jokes even if they were a little lame from time to time. Rise is a show for kids who will grow up with egos greater than the millenials who, as kids themselves widely got trophies even in failure and then grew up to make a show like Rise. FW TMNT was a show for kids that was widely pervasive for it's wild consumerism yet still managed to yield characters that made people want to grow outside of their framework and better themselves which is what most of our generation's cartoons did. What I've described here is the nature of modern shows (Rise) versus 80's shows (FW TMNT). One group gets told they are all already special and to challenge even their friends with their specialness while the other show was corny but handed out a framework of brotherhood to develop from. It's a subtle difference in content.

If I was a kid now, I'd probably be reading a lot more. These days people only watch cartoons and movies for the same thing...memery and everything a product does is to sell those moments for the social media hits.

Call out the '87 cartoon all you will for product placement, at least it gave us something to stir up an imagination.

I do get that was theme they were going for the entire first season, but they seem to drop it for "Family is Important" somewhere in the second half of season two.