Does anyone here still enjoy the 80s series?

[neatoman]

Originally Posted by Original TMNT Cartoon Fan

Yes, Nickelodeon. It seems to take most inspirations from the 1987 cartoon.

Difficult to pin down, most of what it pulls from that series were the toy characters (who rarely ever popped up) and the general status quo is quite different. April isn't a newsreporter (meaning no channel six crew), Kraang is split up into a hivemind race, Bebop is Michael Jackson, Shredder is an actual villain etc. You get the idea, almost everything has been reimagined to a ridiculous degree, sometimes to an unrecognisable point (such as the Neutrinos).

Not to mention the fact that story is very loosly based on the old Mirage story. You know the drill:

1. Revenge backstory
2. Rooftop fight with Shredder
3. Infiltration of TCRI
4. Escape from NYC
5. Farmhouse
6. Return from farmhouse
7. Zog
8. Space adventures with the Fugitoid
9. Gang war following Shredder's defeat (coming after hiatus)

It's a pretty bare bones adaptation of the story with mostly new material but it's still clearly there.

[pferreira]

Originally Posted by neatoman

Someone made an in depth character analysis of a show that once had a villain trying to destroy the world because he was butthurt over a plant not being named after him?

Sorry I wasn't asking you. I wanted an actual answer.

[pferreira]

Originally Posted by Wesley

I don't know if it's the site you're talking about, but there is a site that has reviewed all the episodes of the original cartoon called adventures in poor tastes TMNT. I discovered it a few years ago. There is also a site with a few seasons reviewed called Tmnt original cartoon reviews Angel Fire.

No both aren't what I'm looking for. The website doesn't just review the episodes it looks at how the Turtles behave in each episode as characters. It was really detailed and analytical.

[Wesley]

Originally Posted by pferreira

No both aren't what I'm looking for. The website doesn't just review the episodes it looks at how the Turtles behave in each episode as characters. It was really detailed and analytical.

That website sounds good. Adventures in poor tastes gave some analysis of the characters in each season, though (season 10, for example).

[pferreira]

Originally Posted by Wesley

That website sounds good. Adventures in poor tastes gave some analysis of the characters in each season, though (season 10, for example).

Bingo! After going through endless fan websites (a lot of them gone) I found it. Satirical but analytical a pretty enjoyable read:

http://media.tmnt.net/Dissected.pdf

[neatoman]

Originally Posted by pferreira

Sorry I wasn't asking you. I wanted an actual answer.

Sorry, it's just that an in depth analysis for the FW cartoon seems like a joke to me and judging from what you posted, it seems like it is.

[Original TMNT Cartoon Fan]

Originally Posted by neatoman

Difficult to pin down, most of what it pulls from that series were the toy characters (who rarely ever popped up) and the general status quo is quite different. April isn't a newsreporter (meaning no channel six crew), Kraang is split up into a hivemind race, Bebop is Michael Jackson, Shredder is an actual villain etc. You get the idea, almost everything has been reimagined to a ridiculous degree, sometimes to an unrecognisable point (such as the Neutrinos).

Not to mention the fact that story is very loosly based on the old Mirage story. You know the drill:

1. Revenge backstory
2. Rooftop fight with Shredder
3. Infiltration of TCRI
4. Escape from NYC
5. Farmhouse
6. Return from farmhouse
7. Zog
8. Space adventures with the Fugitoid
9. Gang war following Shredder's defeat (coming after hiatus)

It's a pretty bare bones adaptation of the story with mostly new material but it's still clearly there.

Yes, but the tone feels still more compared to the 1987 than 2003. But personally, I don't mind what inspires the producers as long as I like it.

[neatoman]

Originally Posted by Original TMNT Cartoon Fan

Yes, but the tone feels still more compared to the 1987 than 2003. But personally, I don't mind what inspires the producers as long as I like it.

Tonally... I'm honestly not sure.

I guess this:

Spoiler:

Can be compared to stuff like this:

Spoiler:

On the other hand.

Stuff like this:

Spoiler:

Reminds me more of stuff like this:

Spoiler:

I can't give you a clear answer on this one, I wish I could but the tone is all over the place. One episode it's the Looney Wacky World show, the next it does something straight out of horror movies. I can't imagine the Fred Wolf cartoon trying to do straight up horror, but I can't imagine the 4Kids show having episodes about living food and this one does both...

[Original TMNT Cartoon Fan]

Wasn't it just a dream sequence when Leonardo was chased by those vegetables in "Unidentified Flying Leonardo"?

[neatoman]

Originally Posted by Original TMNT Cartoon Fan

Wasn't it just a dream sequence when Leonardo was chased by those vegetables in "Unidentified Flying Leonardo"?

I guess it's probably a dream sequence? It's Splinter having a vision and it has no bearing on the plot after it's revealed as such but it's edited into the episode like a normal scene until the revelation, so who really knows. But yeah, probably didn't actually happen.

Well, the episode was still about a mad scientist's plan to make giant veggies that will solve the problem of food shortages and somehow that's an act of evil...

[Original TMNT Cartoon Fan]

Originally Posted by neatoman

I guess it's probably a dream sequence? It's Splinter having a vision and it has no bearing on the plot after it's revealed as such but it's edited into the episode like a normal scene until the revelation, so who really knows. But yeah, probably didn't actually happen.

Well, the episode was still about a mad scientist's plan to make giant veggies that will solve the problem of food shortages and somehow that's an act of evil...

The tought behind the idea is good, but he tried to use it to knock out other local farmers and companies at the market and get some kind of monopoly.

[pferreira]

Originally Posted by neatoman

Sorry, it's just that an in depth analysis for the FW cartoon seems like a joke to me and judging from what you posted, it seems like it is.

It's half joking, have actual analytical and I love that website for it. Fred Wolf 80s haters need not apply.

[BlindFaith]

Hell yeah...Original series all the way

[Anarchistguy]

I used to LOVE the OT when I was a kid.

Now? I still love seasons 1, 7 and red sky but the rest? Not so much. I still enjoy the voice acting, the bad guys and Raph's sarcasm, but that's pretty much it.

And lol at the people who say the action was never important.

You do know this cartoon was originally supposed to be action oriented, right?

[Original TMNT Cartoon Fan]

Originally Posted by Anarchistguy

I used to LOVE the OT when I was a kid.

Now? I still love seasons 1, 7 and red sky but the rest? Not so much. I still enjoy the voice acting, the bad guys and Raph's sarcasm, but that's pretty much it.

And lol at the people who say the action was never important.

You do know this cartoon was originally supposed to be action oriented, right?

Nothing beats the dialogue between the characters in the 1987 cartoon!

[Tetsu Deinonychus]

It is possible to enjoy a show while still acknowledging it's flaws and the impact it's had (both good and bad) on the franchise as a whole.

I still enjoy it, though (aside from the first two seasons which hold up surprisingly well) it is very flawed. It's full of sloppy production errors, and bad jokes. But, it's also got some clever jokes and is still entertaining (and self-aware) 80s kitch. It brought TMNT from an underground comics hit to a mainstream super-success, but it also ruined the public image of TMNT in general.

I would say the TMNT fandom as a whole has a love/hate relationship with the FW series. I'd say most hostility isn't directed at the show itself, but at the attitude that *all* versions of TMNT should be based around the FW show.

The best comparison would be to Batman. The FW TMNT series is very much the "60s Batman show" of the franchise. 60s Batman was a lighter, comedic version of Batman, and the show was notoriously goofy and cheesy. It was a fun show, but it was not a good representation of Batman as a whole, and not true to the original comics (it was too goofy to be like Golden-age Batman, and not goofy enough to be Silver-age Batman).

But, for a long time that was the best known version of Batman (TV shows simply reach more people than comics, after all). And, it's what brought Batman into the mainstream and even saved the comic from cancellation.

Now imagine a world where the public never got over the 60s Batman show. In this scenario, when the Burton films, animated series, Nolan films, etc. came out everyone just went "That's not the Batman I grew up with!" and dismissed them all as failed "gritty" remakes of the 60s show, not even being aware of the comics themselves.

There would still be nothing wrong with anyone enjoying or even preferring 60s Batman, but don't you think the Batman fandom would be frustrated that the public's perception of Batman was still Adam West? Especially, when all the merchandise and newer material started pandering to 60s fans and dismissing both the source material and other adaptations?

That's pretty much where TMNT is. I think that most TMNT fans have a lot of love for the show, being most people's entry point and a childhood favourite. But, (aside from seasons 1 and 2) it hasn't aged well. And, it's also a little frustrating that the public still considers it the "definitive" TMNT when it doesn't represent the franchise as a whole very well (though it does it's own thing just fine, and is good, corny, fun).

TLDR version: I do still like the FW TMNT show, but I like other versions better. And, I wish the general public would stop thinking of TMNT as "that kitchy 80s cartoon" and see it the way they do Batman, as an evolving property with many versions, one of which just happening to be a campy older TV show that was very different from the others.

[Original TMNT Cartoon Fan]

I checked out some 1960's Batman scenes of the Youtube and it looks like it's trying to look like a stereotype comic book with all BANG! POW! SMASH! so the world probably got over it by the early-1970's. Also it was live action so maybe the films would have been similair if the first had been produced in 1969 instead of 1989 (maybe without BANG! POW! SMASH!).

[ZariusTwo]

I've been binging it again lately and I love it as much as always. Way better than the Nick show in my opinion (fight me), is it flawed? Quite. Is the 2000s era show better? Yes, but there's narm charm and a wholesomeness to the characters, it's an innocent show for more innocent times

[plastroncafe]

So long as one ignores the fact that our social mores have changed somewhat in the interim.

[Original TMNT Cartoon Fan]

Also, it's not a catastrophe if anything isn't enjoyed by everyone 20-30 years later. Music, films, TV-series, video and whatever is mainly produced for being popular contempotary, no matter what someone thinks years later. What matters is an entire generation once had fun with it and great memories.