The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles have been around for so long that it seems like every generation has their version. People of different ages will all have a different TV show or movie in mind when TMNT is brought up, because everyone who watched the show grew up with a specific version, whether it was the original cartoon, one of the live action movies made later on, or one of the more modern animated shows. Perhaps Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem, the newest movie about the crime-fighting turtle brothers, will be someone's first time entering into this world.
With this newest TMNT entry hitting theaters, it’s interesting to reflect on just how many iterations of the characters and storylines there have been over the years, in both TV and movie formats. The Turtles have been captured in numerous animation styles, as well as in live-action, and have had many different voices over the years. This is an overview of the many versions of Leonardo, Raphael, Donatello, and Michelangelo that have been made throughout TMNT's history.
Where Did The Ninja Turtles Come From?
The story about anthropomorphic turtles that use ninjutsu to fight crime in New York City was originally created as a comic book by Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird. They came up with the idea as a way to parody the tropes of popular superhero comics at the time. The first issue was published in 1984 and was a big success, and Eastman and Laird then licensed the characters to be made into action figures. In order to market those toys, they created an animated series (the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles show) that premiered in 1987 and ran for almost 10 years. The comics were dark and gritty, while the series took a more lighthearted approach (one that gave the Turtles their signature style and sense of humor that they kept to this day). Of course, more shows and movies followed, along with some video game adaptations, and the series has been kept alive and active for almost 40 years.
How Many Versions of TMNT Are There?
So, there was the original comics series and then the first TV show that ran from 1987-1996, but what came after that? During the height of the original TMNT show's popularity, a live-action film was released in 1990, titled Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. It was very successful and is most known for its slightly campy nature and puppet costumes used for the Turtles. The success of this movie led to it getting two sequels: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze (1992) and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 3 (1993). The TV show was rebooted with Ninja Turtles: The Next Mutation in 1997, which was live-action and very loosely carried on where the movies left off. This show wasn't quite as successful as its predecessors.
The next TMNT adaptation wouldn't come until 2003 with the release of the TV show Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, which was essentially a reboot of the original 1987 cartoon, though it was slightly less silly this time around. This version ran until 2009, and feels very much in line with the overall tone and style of the original cartoon, though the animation style is different. The next movie that came along was TMNT in 2007. This film, which is CGI animated, is considered a cult classic now and is canon with the older live-action movies. It's beloved by a lot of fans, despite its flaws. The show was rebooted yet again in 2012 with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (yes, most of these share that same title). While it's still not as beloved as the original cartoon, it's generally agreed upon by fans to be one of the best adaptations and has a really solid story.
There was another attempt to do live-action movies, which led to two movies directed by Michael Bay - Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2014) and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows (2016). These movies are a little contentious, as the design of the CGI Turtles didn't satisfy a lot of fans, and most actually find them kind of creepy looking. The most recent TV adaptation of TMNT is Rise of the TMNT, which aired from 2018-2020. The animation style is really different than everything that came before, and it seems to be more geared toward younger kids rather than fans as a whole. Then, of course, there's the newest TMNT entry that just hit theatres.
What Is The Newest TMNT Movie About?
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem is another reboot and follows the four brothers as they try to be accepted as normal teenagers in NYC after spending their whole lives sheltered from the human world. They meet a new friend named April O'Neil, and together they hunt down a mysterious crime syndicate, getting into trouble when they encounter an army of mutants rising up. This particular adaptation is really leaning into the "teenage" part of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and is trying to make these versions of the Turtles feel like real teenagers, which is a fresh new angle to take when previous version have had the characters feeling less like kids and more like adults. The voice cast of Mutant Mayhem features Micah Abbey, Shamon Brown Jr., Nicolas Cantu, and Brady Noon as the Turtles, along with Ayo Edibiri, Maya Rudolph, Jackie Chan, and John Cena, as well as many others.