Old Guy Watches Nickelodeon Show

[cormano]

I was born in 1984 and can't remember a time before I loved the original TMNT cartoon, toys, movies and a few Archie issues. I grew out of it in the mid-90's, then got pulled back in by the 2k3 show in college, which lead me back to the Mirage comics. Volume 1 as well as 4 and Tales volume 2, which were also coming out at the time. Then the franchise was sold and I moved on again and didn't follow any of the new stuff until Mutant Mayhem. I saw that in the theater, enjoyed it but didn't dwell on it beyond that. Then I saw The Mirage Years Compendium of Volume 2 randomly at the comic shop in Spring 2025. I'd never read Volume 2 and always wanted to, so I got it and immediately got sucked back in. I got the other IDW compendiums and reread Volume 1. Actually the first time I've started at the beginning and read them all in order, I had all of the stories in various versions and formats and read them as I got them but not all together like this.

So after reading tons of comics, rewatching the 2k3 show and the new Tales cartoon, I finally started the 2012 show. I just finished Season 3, so I'm not done yet, but here's my experience so far.

As soon as I saw the cg animation when the show started, I hated it and was primed to hate the show. Over the years, though I've heard nothing but good things about it, so I came in with an open mind.

I still don't like the animation when they're in normal New York, but it works well in the 50's sci-fi inspired environments with the Kraang. Speaking of which, as a horror fan, I had no idea how horror and old sci-fi influenced this show would be (there's an extended Texas Chainsaw Massacre 3 reference, not the original TCM… the third one. Crazy).

Beyond the janky 2012 tv cg, the character design on the turtles is actually really good. I've been reading the comics based on the series, too and they look great. The designs are strong, the animation can't do them justice. There are some character designs I don't like. Rahzar is the poster child for the big but scrawny villain designs that I'm not a fan of. Reminds me of the old Shredder figure. Lanky… I don't know, just don't like it.

Speaking of Shredder, I find this version boring. The Kraang are super interesting (even if the speech pattern can get irritating). Shredder just feels generic and I don't like the design, either. Some of his henchmen are more interesting than him.

Aging April and Casey down to the turtles' age works great for this incarnation. They need to be older in other versions but April, while very different from other series, is great. Casey is irritating sometimes, but I think that is mainly because I'm old and as a kid, I would have loved him.

Anyway, some pro and con bullet points:

+ Sci-fi and horror influence
+ Individual turtle character designs
+ Good balance of adapting things from other iterations and new ideas
+ Kraang/Dimension X storylines bring originality without feeling out of place
+ April and her father's story
+ Humor/action/sci-fi balance is good (this is the first cartoon Mikey that is actually funny)

- Already outdated animation
- Cookie cutter villain Shredder
- Lanky villain designs
- Donnie/Casey fighting over April is cliche and boring
- Minor thing, but Napoleon Bonafrog as Napoleon Dynamite was so annoying

I'm sure I'll think of more I want to say later.

[FredWolfLeonardo]

I thought this was gonna be a CyberCubed thread, judging by the title.

Agreed about the Kraang being more interesting than Shredder.

I always felt the Kraang should've been the bigger villains with more focus.

[Antoniocafe]

I think the show got better as went along. I found the final two seasons to be the best.

[cormano]

I'm about halfway through season 4 now and I agree, it's still continuing to get better as it goes. They just got back to Earth, so I don't know if that will continue. I already talked about how much better the animation looks for sci-fi environments compared to normal cities, so the space arc continued to have good writing and in addition, it was by far the best looking part of the series.

[IMJ]

Originally Posted by Antoniocafe

I think the show got better as went along. I found the final two seasons to be the best.

I feel like it curved. It started out really strong and then the middle seasons were less than stellar and it ramped up again near the end.

Basically as long as the Turtles were in New York the show was good - a lot of the "anywhere but New York" and it was harder to watch.

[ToTheNines]

Originally Posted by IMJ

I feel like it curved. It started out really strong and then the middle seasons were less than stellar and it ramped up again near the end.

Basically as long as the Turtles were in New York the show was good - a lot of the "anywhere but New York" and it was harder to watch.

I felt that way about Northampton, but not the space arc.

The canon event of the Northampton retreat is supposed to be slow, somber and reflective. Unfortunately the writers took the opportunity to take their penchant for horror pastiches to yet another level. They also fumbled the vision of Splinter at the campfire, which was odd because this show normally excelled at emotional scenes.

The space arc was fun, visually appealing and more or less in line with the story it was adapting. Just a fun adventure with them teaming up with Fugitoid against the Triceratons. Added bonus being there was enough variety and side quests that it felt like it dragged much less that it’s 4kids counterpart, even if that take had less episodes.

[CyberCubed]

The Bigfoot ep in Northampton is the worst ep of the entire show. Literally the only ep I get embarrassed to watch. It's all the worst tropes of the show dialed up to 11, and doesn't feel like a TMNT episode.

[Prowler]

Originally Posted by FredWolfLeonardo

I thought this was gonna be a CyberCubed thread, judging by the title.

Agreed about the Kraang being more interesting than Shredder.

I always felt the Kraang should've been the bigger villains with more focus.

Well, OP is only one year older than CC. Cubed was born in 1985, after all.