When the "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" franchise took the decision to get a movie makeover, that portrayed a very different world illustrated by the cartoon, this was a big risk.
The first movie, made in 1990, was live-action, and this meant they had to make the Turtles and Splinter look realistic, so the best was done with what there was available at the time, which was an advanced puppetry called "Animatronics", which gave life to the mutant's faces. There was no 3D graphics at that time. Also, although the majority of the audience would be kids who have seen the cartoon, important or regular characters from the cartoon like Krang, Bebop & Rocksteady, Baxter Stockman, Irma & Vernon were not involved in the TMNT movies at all. Instead, the head villain was Shredder whose accomplice was a completely new character named "Tatsu", a Japanese Martial artist rogue who train Shredder's gang, the Foot, or Foot Clan. Unlike the cartoon, the Foot soldiers were simply played by actors, not robots. Not only that, but the origins of Splinter & Shredder were changed, which i don't think were as believable as the cartoon plotlines. However, all the risque shuffling of major aspects of the make-up of the previous TMNT incarnation paid off and TMNT 1 became the highest grossing independent film of all time, when it was released.
"Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2: Secret of the Ooze" had pretty much the same formula of the turtles facing Shredder, Tatsu & the Foot, but with a few new characters like "Professor Perry", "Keno", evil mutants "Tokka & Rahzar" and of course, "Vanilla Ice"! A different actress was used for "April 'O Neill who did look more the part. The film was still a success at the box office, but not near how much the first movie made.
The 3rd TMNT movie, was released when the turles were on the wane, but they tried to freshen up the film trilogy this time, with no Shredder or the Foot. But with brand new villains never seen before and a change of setting, with the turtles being transported back in time to ancient Japan. However, the film was a flop. There was too little interest to make another movie.
Once again, Michaelangelo's ninchukas scenes were censored in the UK, but in the new DVD of TMNT 1 released in 2004, the scenes have been brought back in.
The best known actors/actresses you might have seen in other films or programmes are Elias Koteas(TMNT 1 & 3)as Casey Jones, Alan Warner as Professor Perry(TMNT 2), Judith Hoag(TMNT 1) as April 'O Neill, & Corey Feldman who did the voice for Donatello(TMNT 1 & 3).
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Movie Review
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2: Secret of the Ooze Review
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 3 Review
TMNT Movies Overview
TMNT Movie Chart Page. The Best? The Worst?
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