We take all of the season episodes, into consideration and question about the overall quality, the animation, music, action scenes, humor & storylines. The "out of 5" rating is an AVERAGE RATING of all the episode ratings.
Short Description: The TMNT cartoon is given a serious new shake-up with new-style animation, look and darker feel to the cartoon. New villains are created, such as the gang of mutants called H.A.V.O.C, and old favourites return, such as the Rat King. Shredder, Krang, Bebop and Rocksteady have been reduced to appearing in only half (4 of the 8 episodes) of the episodes. The beginning of the "red sky" that casts over New York, which always remains that way throughout.
94 Season Quality: The beginning of the season has the strongest quality, and we see a slump in the 3 H.A.V.O.C epsiodes, but the last 2 episode see an upturn and quite memorable ending to boot. The finale though is nowhere near being the best end to a season.
ANIMATION: A brand new style of more consistent animation. In previous seasons the specific colours of such things as the turtles eye mask's could vary in brightness or dullness, but this animation just looks sharper and in-touch with the recent times.
The turtles look the most different, with their eyes and eye mask's. Other characters like Splinter, Shredder, Krang and the Rat King have no real change. The Rat King however, starts to wear a hat and trenchcoat in "Wrath of the Rat King" and at one point, his eyes glow red in the dark, which is all part of this new menacing look to the cartoon. Everything is darker, and we see less lighter colours like pink, yellow and orange. We don't really see the city building with bright yellow walls or shop logo's, or passers-by wearing friendly-looking hawaii shirts. The sky is always a dark red, and funnily enough nobody notices that. There is no scientific explaination given for it in the cartoon, and we all just have to assume it's to add to the darker tone. Maybe the makers thought their type of drawing and animation were becoming dated, having not changed much since 1987, by the end of the 1993 season.
The theme song intro has changed, and the most interesting bit about it, is they merge shots from the first or second TMNT movie in with this "new animation". Despite it being already 3 or 4 years old, the heyday of the TMNT is still remembered and recognised by the makers.
April has been given a change, dropping the yellow jumpsuit, which may also fit into the "dated" category. She is given a leather jacket, jumper and trousers. One other change is the colour of her eyes which is now green, not brown. Instead of the Channel Six TV van or motorbike, she has a red sports car. April takes more of a back seat now, and isn't seen much on the move with the turtles. Characters like Irma, Burne and Vernon do feature, look the same, but this is when they get phased out, and the 1994 season is their last appearances.
MUSIC: Basically everything about the cartoon is given an overhaul, and not a trace of the old TMNT music survives, not even the theme song! Guitars are heard more often in the background music. The new theme song has a hard act to follow, and it just isn't as good as the original, and some may feel it can't hold a candle to how good the original was. So anyway, whenever the TMNT get involved in action, the tune of the theme song will come in sometimes, just like in the previous seasons.
They do use new kinds of tunes like a sort of space-like tune, and when you start to see the gang of masked ninjas at the start of "State of Shock", you hear Japanese style music. Then there's a tune i usually associate with the H.A.V.O.C gang, with this confused, chaotic sound to it. However, the tunes used before Season 1994 sound more varied, memorable and distinct.
ACTION SCENES: The action becomes more serious, with little uses of humor or puns in-between, to maintain that darker feel. There's no slapstick, no pizza throwing in faces. There is some memorable fights, one of the most being the action in "Cyber Turtles" with the turtles controlling giant robot suits against the Glaxxons. Another one is with the Rock soldiers in "Turtle Trek". Then there is the unforgettable scene in "Get Shredder!" where the Channel Six building is blown up by Shredder.
FINAL THOUGHTS: It is a good solid start to the era of the "red sky". This repackage sees the likes of Shredder, Bebop and Rocksteady being much less goofy than in previous seasons. However on a downside, all your old favourites are starting to dissappear or get phased out like Vernon, Burne, Irma, Krang and Shredder. Even April to an extent. It was an attempt to create new interest in a cartoon which was looking tired with the same old faces, and other franchises such as the Power Rangers were leaping above them in the popularity stakes. However, it is a good attempt.
THE 1994 SEASON GETS A: 3/5 RATING.
