Do children of today know who the Ninja Turtles are?

[CyberCubed]

I am pretty much speaking of kids from around 5-12 years old. Not counting the ones who have older siblings or family who watched the Turtles when they were younger. Aside from the ones who may have watched the 4kids series, I don't know.

But I am curious, if you went up to your average 10 year old today of the year 2011, and asked them, "Do you know who the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are?" would they have a response?

[ABrown]

I think that a 10 year old most likely would know who the TMNT are. The turtles were a regular on Saturday mornings up until just these last couple of years. So I would bet on a child who is at least maybe six or seven years old would know about the turtles. It's the ones who are less than maybe five years old that I would say are more likely to not be familiar with them.

[Xav]

Yeah there's a good a chance a kid would have at least have heard of them or have seen the toys or video games.

[pannoni1]

And with a new series coming up, it will likely introduce a whole new generation of fans as well, so I don't see any real "end". It's franchises like Josie and the Pussycats, Heathcliff, The Tick, and other now-obscure franchises that never got revived. It may be a whole different story this time next year, and Christmas 2012 may see the new kids going after the turtles! But I'm proud to be a first-generation fan, and helps me be more of a "fatherly fan" to the younger fans.

Then there are characters associated within a certain generation (e.g. The Neutrinos, Channel 6 Crew, Hun, Bishop) that certain fans would relate to better.

[The Fifth Turtle]

Originally Posted by Xav

Yeah there's a good a chance a kid would have at least have heard of them or have seen the toys or video games.

As a middle school science teacher I can tell you that kids do know who the turtles are. As a die hard fan I usually wear a turtles shirt on casual Fridays. Everytime I do I get at least 10 students a day who make a comment along the lines of "Oooo a ninja turtles shirt, cool!"

[Ulisa]

I work in a children's psychiatric ward, where the youngest we take is 5 years old. The 5-yr olds know who the turtles are though they are a bit confused over who is who. They usually come to me and ask me: "Miss, which one is the blue one? Who has the big stick?" etc etc. My other coworkers usually direct all TMNT related questions to me.

Sometimes, on weekends when the kids can watch movies I'll bring in some of my turtles movies. Apparently, they like Movie III best...go figure. Though, Movie I is still a huge hit. I've been debating bringing in some of my "cartoon series" DVDs, both old and new. It keeps my ADHD boys still.

And for the record, we have had multiple autistic kids, of various ages, that are fixated on the turtles.

Ulisa

[BubblyShell22]

Wow. That's awesome, Ulisa. I agree that many kids probably do know who the Turtles are and probably will know more about them once this new series comes out.

[mysterycolor]

Originally Posted by CyberCubed

I am pretty much speaking of kids from around 5-12 years old. Not counting the ones who have older siblings or family who watched the Turtles when they were younger. Aside from the ones who may have watched the 4kids series, I don't know.

But I am curious, if you went up to your average 10 year old today of the year 2011, and asked them, "Do you know who the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are?" would they have a response?

i have a lot of customers tell me they are buying for their kids/nieces/nephews/grand-kids...so i would say that kids today do seem to have an interest now at this point a child of 5ish would almost def have learned from word of mouth, but isnt that how kids are introduced to everything? I mean, even when I was little- my older brother loved TMNT and that was how I got into it who cares how they learn as long as they love the turtles and spread the word!

[pannoni1]

While there may certainly have been a few young adults back during TMNT's heyday, it increasingly seems like their is a distinction between adult fans like me and the young kid fans. How would you describe the similarities and the differences between the two groups in terms of fandom?

Personally, I see adults into two camps: passive, casual fans who are content with buying some DVDs and perhaps a TMNT merchandise item if it pops up without searching, and the die-hards, who just want to seemingly get anything possible TMNT-related, such as official cast interviews/autographs, rare/obscure collectors items, and intricate fan works such as sketches and fanfics.

Now for the kids, I see that since they don't have money yet to spend (though the Internet has allowed shopping without a car), they just like to believe things that whatever they see is "their time" and new to them. If their parents are Type 1-casual fans, it works out generally well, but caution is advised to Type 2-die hards so that the child can have proper development through proper education and social growth.

[Zany Orange Dude]

Yes they do. My mom is a teacher to 4 year olds and a kid brought in a Rapheal action figure for show and tell. Also a student from another class dressed up as Raph for Holloween.
Ninja Turtles is just a part of pop cultural osmosis. Something that people know about even if not in any great amount of detail.

[Leonardo87]

Well when I have a kid of my own; they'll definitely know who the TMNT are. Once a fan..always a fan!

[SherlockJr]

Of course. Tons of kids I know can at least recognize them. Like Zany Orange Dude and TV Tropes say, it's part of Pop culture Osmosis.

[BubblyShell22]

If I ever have kids, they'll definitely get introduced to TMNT. Heck, even my BF's nephew watched Turtles Forever with us and seemed to like it.

[Redeemer]

Originally Posted by CyberCubed

I am pretty much speaking of kids from around 5-12 years old. Not counting the ones who have older siblings or family who watched the Turtles when they were younger. Aside from the ones who may have watched the 4kids series, I don't know.

But I am curious, if you went up to your average 10 year old today of the year 2011, and asked them, "Do you know who the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are?" would they have a response?

I think so bc I was actually fortunate enough to enjoy both cartoon incarnations. I was born in 91 watch the OT ever sense I can recall and I was 11 or 12 when the 2k3 appeared. I found out about 2k3 bc I watched Saturday morning cartoons and saw a tv commercial for them.k So I bet there are kids who may have watched the 2k3 towards the end of the run