If the Red Sky style came first.

Metropoliskid41 · 08-31-2015, 09:01 AM

You say that "Kids cartoon didn't really start getting serious until the 90's," but I beg to differ, I think for the most part the 1980's Cartoons had a more serious factor to them than most of the 90's toons that saw the rise of the slap-stick Villain. I would think that a case could be made that the slapstick tone of the OT may have been what caused that shift to the more goofy villain in action cartoons. I would say Gargoyles and Red Sky era of Turtles being "serious" are more of the exception, not rule.

In the 1980's you had pretty competent downright creepy villains. the Transformers movie killed off several main characters, including THEE MAIN CHARACTER in Optimus Prime, I'm not sure what 90's cartoon could make the same claim. There's a pretty high bodycount of heroic main characters in that movie. GI JOE had likewise planned to follow suit and kill off Duke until the parent outcry from the TF Movie caused Hasbro/Marvel/Sunbow to revise their conclusion and save Duke. The first season of the OT from the 80's was also the most serious of the Turtles seasons until the Red Sky shift.

I think the Original Toon serves as plenty popular and more memorable, I would say that the bulk of public consciousness of the TMNT still stems from the OT. While the Turtles remain popular today and hopefully always will, I don't ever see their popularity eclipsing what it was when "Turtle-Mania" hit in the early 90's. The Turtles were everywhere and I would say that main reason for that popularity was the OT, which at that time was in its silly phase. It's hard to say if it really could have been more popular with a more serious tone when it was already at the zenith of popularity.

I honestly think instead, the Red Sky change coming when it did probably kept fans longer. Kids latched onto the show in the silly phase, became enthralled with the property, and as they aged and looked for something maybe a little more serious, the series shifted and got a bit more serious, thus holding their interest. The series essentially "grew-up" or matured with its audience, at least it did with me.

08-31-2015, 09:01 AM	#2
Metropoliskid41 Stone Warrior Join Date: Dec 2011 Location: Tundra Posts: 886	You say that "Kids cartoon didn't really start getting serious until the 90's," but I beg to differ, I think for the most part the 1980's Cartoons had a more serious factor to them than most of the 90's toons that saw the rise of the slap-stick Villain. I would think that a case could be made that the slapstick tone of the OT may have been what caused that shift to the more goofy villain in action cartoons. I would say Gargoyles and Red Sky era of Turtles being "serious" are more of the exception, not rule. In the 1980's you had pretty competent downright creepy villains. the Transformers movie killed off several main characters, including THEE MAIN CHARACTER in Optimus Prime, I'm not sure what 90's cartoon could make the same claim. There's a pretty high bodycount of heroic main characters in that movie. GI JOE had likewise planned to follow suit and kill off Duke until the parent outcry from the TF Movie caused Hasbro/Marvel/Sunbow to revise their conclusion and save Duke. The first season of the OT from the 80's was also the most serious of the Turtles seasons until the Red Sky shift. I think the Original Toon serves as plenty popular and more memorable, I would say that the bulk of public consciousness of the TMNT still stems from the OT. While the Turtles remain popular today and hopefully always will, I don't ever see their popularity eclipsing what it was when "Turtle-Mania" hit in the early 90's. The Turtles were everywhere and I would say that main reason for that popularity was the OT, which at that time was in its silly phase. It's hard to say if it really could have been more popular with a more serious tone when it was already at the zenith of popularity. I honestly think instead, the Red Sky change coming when it did probably kept fans longer. Kids latched onto the show in the silly phase, became enthralled with the property, and as they aged and looked for something maybe a little more serious, the series shifted and got a bit more serious, thus holding their interest. The series essentially "grew-up" or matured with its audience, at least it did with me. __________________ -------------------