Best first episode of a TMNT cartoon?

*CyberCubed* · 09-29-2012, 12:00 PM

This is actually really hard for me, because the first episode of the original cartoon was an absolute classic, but the first episode of the 4kids cartoon was also very good. Also the Nick show had a really strong and funny opener.

What did you like most?

*TurtleTitan97* · 09-29-2012, 12:02 PM

Hmm, I guess I'd go with "Rise of the Turtles".

*pannoni1* · 09-29-2012, 12:12 PM

Things Change is the weakest out of the bunch, as all it involves is fighting some Purple Dragons and Foot Soldiers with a retreat from their original lair, even though the Eastman & Laird cameo is present. That series isn't really established until you reach The Shredder Strikes nearly half a season in. April also doesn't appear until the second episode.

Since this only involves one episode and not two, Rise of the Turtles, Part 1 is next. The Turtles' origin story is presented, we get a few glimpses of April, a Kraang alien, a good introduction by Splinter, and most importantly, has the Turtles actually acting like Teenagers and giving you the feeling that this is their first time going topside. It also brings the earliest appearance of Kraang/Krang/Utroms.

Of course, Turtle Tracks will be hard to top. Good animation for its time despite some technical mistakes can't defer squeezing in the Turtles/Splinter origin stories, rescuing April, as well as fighting the Foot for the first (and best) time. April does a good job about the dangers of being topside, and the Turtles' disguise outfits were a cool feature. It's also the funniest of the three and has the best background music. And it is the only one that includes Shredder on the first episode.

*oldmanwinters* · 09-29-2012, 12:40 PM

As much as I liked the "Rise of the Turtles" part 1 and the 1st season of the 4Kids show, "Turtle Tracks" was a classic and it probably what most people remember when thinking about the TMNT. I can't say either "Things Change" or "Rise of the Turtles" part 1 qualify for "classic" status.

*Chris* · 09-29-2012, 01:12 PM

Not voting yet as I've not seen Rise of the Turtles (never thought I'd ever say this but Monday can't come soon enough!!). But out of Turtle Tracks and Things Change I'd have to go with Things Change.

Turtle Tracks is a classic, but the opening of Things Change, straight from Vol. 1 #1 is just perfect. It might not have covered as much ground as Turtle Tracks, but it did a great job of setting the tone for the series that followed. I liked that 2K3 didn't feel the need to rush and introduce everyone in the first few episodes. The way they built to Shredder and only used him a few times in that first season really added to his threat. If they beat him every week from the first show he wouldn't have been anywhere near as impressive as a villain.

Lance_Steele · 09-29-2012, 01:17 PM

I personally liked turtle tracks the most for the same reasons as above. I also thought it was cool showing Shredder's face near the end when he realized who the turtles were.

Today's episode was cool with nice homages towards all of the series. The pizza incident, the origin stories(that was us!), and even having a newer version of channel 6. But I still like the OTs first episode the most. I can't wait to see more of this new series.

Scud · 09-29-2012, 01:38 PM

I would have to agree with most. Rise of the Turtles was a really good episode. but it's hard to top the classic of Turtle Tracks.

*Zachatello00* · 09-29-2012, 01:44 PM

I'm sorry but I think you're all forgetting something: EAST MEETS WEST!
</sarcasm>

Loudo · 09-29-2012, 01:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pannoni1

And it is the only one that includes Shredder on the first episode.

Technically, the Shredder does appear in Things Change. He doesn't interact with the Turtles, but he's there.

I haven't watched Rise of the Turtles, so I'm not voting yet.

I liked both Turtle Tracks and Things Change, but my vote would be for the latter. Mainly because I didn't like the origin story and the end of Turtle Tracks.

Lance_Steele · 09-29-2012, 03:06 PM

Oh well... I guess the bananas and sausage pizza gag wasn't enough...

cartoonistaaron · 09-29-2012, 08:13 PM

Turtle Tracks.

Those early OT TMNT episodes were so, so awesome. I mean the Nickelodeon first episode was pretty good, too - I never liked the 4Kids one, I thought it was kinda boring - but nothing will top Turtle Tracks. SO much craziness - the Shredder? Robots? April? That whole mini-series was nuts!

**Jester** · 09-29-2012, 08:18 PM

Not sure....I've only seen part 1 of Rise of the Turtles, Things Change did just that and I'm probably blinded by nostalgia with Turtle tracks. Can I say they were all pretty great for their own reasons? Tracks introduced the cast, and gave us our first tastes of the humor the FW series would be known for. Things Change showed us that the 4Kids series would be a more straight adaptation of the Mirage source material, with more action and more subdued humor. And lastly Rise tries to meld the two, giving us solid action but also some laugh out loud humor. I guess if I had to choose, taking the blinders of nostalgia off, I'd say Rise, if only because it's the "best of both worlds."

*CyberCubed* · 09-29-2012, 09:36 PM

Things Change was great. I remember back in 2003 being absolutely blown away by what appeared to be a darker TMNT cartoon along the lines of Batman: TAS and Gargoyles.

*Slade* · 09-29-2012, 10:11 PM

Counting part 1 and 2 as a whole, so I'm picking Rise of the Turtles. Things Change was great, and even though I tend to like dark more than comedy, I actually laughed out loud at Rise of the Turtles.

*Zulithe* · 09-29-2012, 10:30 PM

Rise of the Turtles Pt 1 & 2 by far the best. We get to learn so much about the turtles as individuals, with some of the best battle sequences ever to appear on a TMNT show.

*Jephael* · 09-30-2012, 09:34 AM

All I can say is classic toon FTW!!!

*Cipher* · 09-30-2012, 11:19 AM

Just finished watching "Rise of the Turtles." It's great.

However, "Turtle Tracks" remains the best 20-minute introduction to a Turtles universe to date. Hilarious, establishes all the characters, gives you great action and animation, etc. "Rise of the Turtles" does that too, but it's less succinct.

*Zany Orange Dude* · 09-30-2012, 12:00 PM

Gosh this is hard, it's a tie between Turtle Tracks and Rise of the Turtles for me.

*MikeandRaph87* · 09-30-2012, 12:04 PM

To be fair the poll should be a year away. We JUST saw Rise of The Turtles adn have that inital pleasure or disgust from opinions that form immedaitely. After enough time passes after Rise of The Turtles and see how it sets up everything and only then can we properly measrue it against Turtle Tracks and Things Change. At this point I like the first episodes in chrological order,but who is to say a year from now after watching Rise of The Turtles three times or so and see how the first season did as a whole it could be between Turtle Tracks and Thing Change. Its just to early to properly judge Rise of The Turtles and compare.

*Oculus Orbus* · 09-30-2012, 12:45 PM

I'm unable to decide on that. Turtle Tracks will always be somehow special for me, as it brings me so many memories. I'm not too fond on the OT nowadays, but still I don't feel like I can judge it properly.

I loved Things Change very much the first time I watched it, and I still do. It was really nice how they tried to give it a "Mirage feeling", although I didn't quite work that way.

And Rise of the Turtles was great, better that I expected, but maybe it's too soon for me to compare it to the other two, wich I've watched so many times through the years.

View Poll Results: Best series opener?
Turtle Tracks (original cartoon)	28	50.91%
Things Change (4kids series)	9	16.36%
Rise of the Turtles (Nick cartoon)	18	32.73%
Voters: 55. You may not vote on this poll

09-29-2012, 12:02 PM	#2
TurtleTitan97 Space Cowboy Join Date: Dec 2011 Location: Speed Force Posts: 7,043	Hmm, I guess I'd go with "Rise of the Turtles". __________________

09-29-2012, 12:12 PM	#3
pannoni1 Foot Elite Join Date: Jul 2011 Location: USA Posts: 3,447	Things Change is the weakest out of the bunch, as all it involves is fighting some Purple Dragons and Foot Soldiers with a retreat from their original lair, even though the Eastman & Laird cameo is present. That series isn't really established until you reach The Shredder Strikes nearly half a season in. April also doesn't appear until the second episode. Since this only involves one episode and not two, Rise of the Turtles, Part 1 is next. The Turtles' origin story is presented, we get a few glimpses of April, a Kraang alien, a good introduction by Splinter, and most importantly, has the Turtles actually acting like Teenagers and giving you the feeling that this is their first time going topside. It also brings the earliest appearance of Kraang/Krang/Utroms. Of course, Turtle Tracks will be hard to top. Good animation for its time despite some technical mistakes can't defer squeezing in the Turtles/Splinter origin stories, rescuing April, as well as fighting the Foot for the first (and best) time. April does a good job about the dangers of being topside, and the Turtles' disguise outfits were a cool feature. It's also the funniest of the three and has the best background music. And it is the only one that includes Shredder on the first episode. __________________ http://forums.thetechnodrome.com/sho...d.php?t=37065- MY WANT LIST TMNT FAN CLUB LINK: http://sot.ag/gCjK/ 30 years of Turtle Power! Last edited by pannoni1; 09-30-2012 at 11:33 AM.

09-29-2012, 12:40 PM	#4
oldmanwinters Overlord Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Between yesterday and tomorrow! Posts: 15,485	As much as I liked the "Rise of the Turtles" part 1 and the 1st season of the 4Kids show, "Turtle Tracks" was a classic and it probably what most people remember when thinking about the TMNT. I can't say either "Things Change" or "Rise of the Turtles" part 1 qualify for "classic" status. __________________ Experience the TMNT Fan Commentaries! Check out my TMNT fan comic, "Nothing to Fear"! View my sketch work! I'm selling some of my hard-to-find TMNT items!

09-29-2012, 01:17 PM	#6
Lance_Steele Foot Soldier Join Date: Jul 2012 Location: Killeen, Texas Posts: 139	I personally liked turtle tracks the most for the same reasons as above. I also thought it was cool showing Shredder's face near the end when he realized who the turtles were. Today's episode was cool with nice homages towards all of the series. The pizza incident, the origin stories(that was us!), and even having a newer version of channel 6. But I still like the OTs first episode the most. I can't wait to see more of this new series. __________________ Warning! Objects in mirror are closer than they appear...

09-29-2012, 12:00 PM	#1
CyberCubed Overlord Join Date: Dec 2004 Posts: 43,831	Best first episode of a TMNT cartoon? This is actually really hard for me, because the first episode of the original cartoon was an absolute classic, but the first episode of the 4kids cartoon was also very good. Also the Nick show had a really strong and funny opener. What did you like most?

09-29-2012, 01:12 PM	#5
Chris Mad Scientist Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: UK Posts: 1,898	Not voting yet as I've not seen Rise of the Turtles (never thought I'd ever say this but Monday can't come soon enough!!). But out of Turtle Tracks and Things Change I'd have to go with Things Change. Turtle Tracks is a classic, but the opening of Things Change, straight from Vol. 1 #1 is just perfect. It might not have covered as much ground as Turtle Tracks, but it did a great job of setting the tone for the series that followed. I liked that 2K3 didn't feel the need to rush and introduce everyone in the first few episodes. The way they built to Shredder and only used him a few times in that first season really added to his threat. If they beat him every week from the first show he wouldn't have been anywhere near as impressive as a villain.

09-29-2012, 01:38 PM	#7
Scud Hench Mutant Join Date: Jun 2012 Location: Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, Sol 3, Gould Belt, Milky Way Galaxy, Virgo Supercluster Posts: 485	I would have to agree with most. Rise of the Turtles was a really good episode. but it's hard to top the classic of Turtle Tracks. __________________ New to the Technodrome? Why not introduce yourself here. To read the forum rules click one. For guidelines on Buying/Selling/Trading click two.

09-29-2012, 01:44 PM	#8
Zachatello00 On the beat! Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Hiding behind the phone booth Posts: 2,135	I'm sorry but I think you're all forgetting something: EAST MEETS WEST! </sarcasm> __________________ "You're still news!"

09-29-2012, 03:06 PM	#10
Lance_Steele Foot Soldier Join Date: Jul 2012 Location: Killeen, Texas Posts: 139	Oh well... I guess the bananas and sausage pizza gag wasn't enough... __________________ Warning! Objects in mirror are closer than they appear...

09-29-2012, 08:13 PM	#11
cartoonistaaron Stone Warrior Join Date: Feb 2007 Posts: 737	Turtle Tracks. Those early OT TMNT episodes were so, so awesome. I mean the Nickelodeon first episode was pretty good, too - I never liked the 4Kids one, I thought it was kinda boring - but nothing will top Turtle Tracks. SO much craziness - the Shredder? Robots? April? That whole mini-series was nuts!

09-29-2012, 08:18 PM	#12
Jester Rat-faced Dude-guy Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Arkansas Posts: 26,298	Not sure....I've only seen part 1 of Rise of the Turtles, Things Change did just that and I'm probably blinded by nostalgia with Turtle tracks. Can I say they were all pretty great for their own reasons? Tracks introduced the cast, and gave us our first tastes of the humor the FW series would be known for. Things Change showed us that the 4Kids series would be a more straight adaptation of the Mirage source material, with more action and more subdued humor. And lastly Rise tries to meld the two, giving us solid action but also some laugh out loud humor. I guess if I had to choose, taking the blinders of nostalgia off, I'd say Rise, if only because it's the "best of both worlds." __________________ "Clearly, you're Ninja Turtling incorrectly." - Leo656

09-29-2012, 09:36 PM	#13
CyberCubed Overlord Join Date: Dec 2004 Posts: 43,831	Things Change was great. I remember back in 2003 being absolutely blown away by what appeared to be a darker TMNT cartoon along the lines of Batman: TAS and Gargoyles.

09-29-2012, 10:11 PM	#14
Slade god status Join Date: Mar 2012 Location: Louisiana Posts: 3,291	Counting part 1 and 2 as a whole, so I'm picking Rise of the Turtles. Things Change was great, and even though I tend to like dark more than comedy, I actually laughed out loud at Rise of the Turtles. __________________ Do not concern yourself with what I've already done: rather tremble at the thought of what I am about to do. Everyone has a plan 'till they get punched in the mouth. http://forums.thetechnodrome.com/showthread.php?t=48140

09-29-2012, 10:30 PM	#15
Zulithe Ninjutsu Master Join Date: Jul 2012 Location: Bay Area, CA Posts: 6,418	Rise of the Turtles Pt 1 & 2 by far the best. We get to learn so much about the turtles as individuals, with some of the best battle sequences ever to appear on a TMNT show.

09-30-2012, 09:34 AM	#16
Jephael That whack job behind you Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Carlisle, Pennsylvania Posts: 8,143	All I can say is classic toon FTW!!! __________________ "I like it. Simple, but effective!" Raphael; The Mean Machines - 1988

09-30-2012, 11:19 AM	#17
Cipher Foot Elite Join Date: Nov 2007 Posts: 3,454	Just finished watching "Rise of the Turtles." It's great. However, "Turtle Tracks" remains the best 20-minute introduction to a Turtles universe to date. Hilarious, establishes all the characters, gives you great action and animation, etc. "Rise of the Turtles" does that too, but it's less succinct.

09-30-2012, 12:00 PM	#18
Zany Orange Dude The Little Nerdy Teacher Join Date: Oct 2011 Location: At my desk reading comics and writing lesson plans Posts: 2,292	Gosh this is hard, it's a tie between Turtle Tracks and Rise of the Turtles for me. __________________

09-30-2012, 12:04 PM	#19
MikeandRaph87 Jedi Master Join Date: Dec 2011 Location: JLA Satellite Headquarters Posts: 11,190	To be fair the poll should be a year away. We JUST saw Rise of The Turtles adn have that inital pleasure or disgust from opinions that form immedaitely. After enough time passes after Rise of The Turtles and see how it sets up everything and only then can we properly measrue it against Turtle Tracks and Things Change. At this point I like the first episodes in chrological order,but who is to say a year from now after watching Rise of The Turtles three times or so and see how the first season did as a whole it could be between Turtle Tracks and Thing Change. Its just to early to properly judge Rise of The Turtles and compare. __________________ Michelangelo: This looks like a job for the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles! Raphael: Sheesh, Mikey this ain't a cartoon! Last edited by MikeandRaph87; 09-30-2012 at 12:45 PM.

09-30-2012, 12:45 PM	#20
Oculus Orbus Mad Scientist Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Spain Posts: 1,535	I'm unable to decide on that. Turtle Tracks will always be somehow special for me, as it brings me so many memories. I'm not too fond on the OT nowadays, but still I don't feel like I can judge it properly. I loved Things Change very much the first time I watched it, and I still do. It was really nice how they tried to give it a "Mirage feeling", although I didn't quite work that way. And Rise of the Turtles was great, better that I expected, but maybe it's too soon for me to compare it to the other two, wich I've watched so many times through the years.