One can never know just what will become an enduringly popular franchise and what will merely exist with a more quiet and cult-like following. For instance, Ghostbusters has managed to spawn a whole franchise, but most generally agree that the original movie was best and later additions have felt more much divisive in terms of their quality. Meanwhile, Ben Edlund has gotten a following for his comic book creation The Tick thanks to its superhero satire and delightfully absurd hero, but this property has survived more on the cult classic level with several fun takes (most recently, a live-action series on Amazon Prime Video) that never really broke into the public stratosphere. Then, there are those works that break into the public consciousness and capture the imagination at a more consistent level. Such is the case with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. What began as an independently published comic book back in 1984 would explode into popularity, spawning a franchise that would include (as of the time of this post) four animated series, one live-action series, five live-action films, three animated films, along with numerous comic books, toys and video games. But just what helped a comic book with such an odd title to blossom into the pop cultural juggernaut it is now? Well, let us examine a little history first.
Back in 1983, Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird were sharing a house when Eastman drew an image of a masked turtle with nunchucks. Eastman labeled the drawing “Ninja Turtle”, while Laird added “Teenage Mutant”. From this initial spark, they began developing an idea for a comic that served as a kind of parody of mainstream comics popular at the time, such as Daredevil and X-Men. It would be centered around a quartet of four turtles named Leonardo, Donatello, Michelangelo, and Raphael (named after famous Renaissance-Era artists). Transformed by a radioactive mutagen, they were trained in the art of ninjutsu by a rat named Splinter (a parody of Daredevil’s mentor, Stick) in opposition of the Shredder and the Foot Clan (itself a parody of the Marvel Comics ninja clan, the Hand). Originally crafted as a stand-alone story, Eastman and Laird self-published the first issue through their own Mirage Studios and found themselves selling out of their 3,000 copies within the first week. They would continue the series, ending up with an indie comics hit. This hit would catch the attention of Playmates Toys, who would acquire a license in 1987 to make toys inspired by the comic. Playmates in turn went to Murakami-Wolf-Swenson to create an animated series to help sell the toys, a common tactics during the ’80s exemplified by franchises like G. I. Joe and Transformers. This series helped to develop the property further, introducing many signature elements like the Turtles having uniquely colored masks for each of them (in the Mirage comics, they only wore red masks) and their love for pizza. In fact, this cartoon gave each of the Turtles their signature personalities, with Leonardo as the stalwart leader, Donatello as the resident genius, Michelangelo as the fun-loving “party dude”, and Raphael as the tempestuous hothead. It also brought a lighter tone, compared to the dark and gritty comics. Thus, a major franchise was born.
It certainly grabbed attention worldwide with that first cartoon, but what has helped it to endure? In my opinion, one key element is the quirky “kitchen sink” sensibility that never loses sight of its core. Even the name itself sums up that unsung quality. “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” on its own just sounds like an odd but evocative chain of words strung together. However, break it down and it offers a quick summation of the general personality (they’re teenagers), appearance (they’re mutant turtles), and abilities (they’re ninjas) of the main characters. It is a hook whose colorful description sells the basic premise and gets an audience in on the conceit fast. In addition, the franchise itself offers a wide net of oddball characters and premises. Its most iconic villains offer a diverse line-up including the Shredder (a ruthless ninja clan leader), Krang (a brain-like interdimensional alien), Baxter Stockman (a genius scientist and inventor of the Mouser robots), and Bebop and Rocksteady (a pair of mutated brutes and loyal henchmen), but it does not end there. From street thugs like the Purple Dragons to the intergalactic dinosaur-like conquerors known as the Triceratons, there have been a wide spread of adventures and threats across the franchise. Meanwhile, these disparate elements still manage to channel the largely sci-fi thread that binds it all together. To manage keeping that core despite the sheer variety within it is certainly an impressive feat, but it also speaks to another essential part of this franchise’s survival: its versatility and knack for reinvention.
A major risk to a franchise is the potential of it to go stale. It may have a strong first story, but if a creator is not able to successfully expand beyond that first story, there is the chance that audiences may soon cool on the work and let it fade. That said, the wrong execution of a new piece of the franchise can just as easily leave a sour taste for audience and make them turn away. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, meanwhile, has managed to offer new twists and turns with each new iteration of the series. Characters often change and tweak with each new version, such as frequent villain Baxter Stockman having alternatively been (among other takes) a ruthless human scientist, a somewhat goofy inventor mutated into a human fly, and even a social media-obsessed teen with a knack for robotics. Even the origin of the Turtles themselves has often changed with these different takes, keeping the core of “transformed by mutagen” yet altering details like the nature of Splinter’s past or even dabbling in out-there ideas like reincarnation (such as in the IDW comics run). A good example of this reinventive nature is in the most recent animated series, Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Though most of the franchise has its focus on a sci-fi angle, there has still been some rarely-seen mystic elements such as the temporal magic-wielding “timestress” Renet Tilley. For this show, they chose to lean heavily into a mystical element, with the mutagen originating from a hidden world of yokai (a collection of otherworldly monsters) and the Turtles taking up mystical weapons against these out-there foes. With such a bold change, it offers up fresh new takes on classic characters (like the show’s iteration of the Shredder being a cursed set of armor that transforms into a demon once united) and some fun new additions of its own, such as Hypno-Potamus (a mutated hippo with a stage magician gimmick). It is a bold new addition to the franchise that really differs from most other iterations, and yet it still captures that same core appeal: four “Heroes in a Half-Shell” saving New York City from the forces of evil.
With so many different versions of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, there are plenty of places for a new audience member to give a try with the franchise. For those looking for some of the earlier entries, the first season of the 1987 animated series (which comprises five episodes, with one major plot across all five episodes) and the 1990 live-action movie (which manages to mix together the lighter Turtles from the ’87 cartoon with an overall tone more fitting of the darker Mirage comics) serve as solid starting points to see the franchise from its initial heyday. That said, the 2012 animated series (the first one made by Nickelodeon, after the franchise was acquired by Viacom) is a fantastic iteration to check out. It offers a strong sense of character and weaves good ongoing stories over the course of its seasons, while still keeping up the fun that most would want from a franchise as off the wall as this. So, if you are curious, I’d suggest giving any of those a try, ordering a good pizza, and kicking back as you check out a franchise that has made millions yell out, “Cowabunga!”.
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