Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles The comic book illustrators Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird are the creators of the media franchise known as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, or TMNT for short. It centers on the ninjutsu-trained anthropomorphic turtle brothers Leonardo, Donatello, Raphael, and Michelangelo as they battle evil in New York City. The turtles’ human pals April O’Neil and Casey Jones, their sensei, a rat named Splinter, and antagonists like Baxter Stockman, Krang, and the Shredder are examples of supporting characters.
Originally envisioned by Eastman and Laird as a satire of features prominent in superhero comics at the time, the franchise started as a comic book series called Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. The first issue was an unexpected hit when it was released in 1984 by Mirage Studios, owned by Eastman and Laird. Playmates Toys created a series of Turtles action figures after receiving a license from Eastman and Laird in 1987. Turtles toys were the third-best-selling toy figures ever at the time, having sold for almost US$1.1 billion between 1988 and 1992.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TMNT) is a long-running multimedia property based on a comic book series about four fighter turtles that resemble humans. The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles—cool-headed leader Leonardo, fun-loving Michelangelo (misspelled as “Michaelangelo” in early stories), bookish Donatello, and hot-tempered Raphael—delivered vigilante justice to the streets of New York City. They were born of a radioactive accident, raised by a talking rat, and named after Renaissance painters. They battled gangs, aliens, and creatures both there and throughout the planet, but Shredder—a malevolent warrior who headed the Foot Clan—was their biggest enemy.
The first TMNT comic book was published in 1984 and was funded by a family loan and a tax refund. The series and its characters were established in 1983 by cartoonists Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird. They also assembled a low-cost press kit, which they mailed to many media outlets. Their package produced surprisingly good press, and the series went on to become one of the first big successes in the then-emerging direct-retail comic book industry. Soon after, licensing executive Mark Freedman became a long-term partner of Eastman and Laird, who refocused the frequently brutal and grim series on the profitable children’s market. A number of live-action films, video games, and a well-liked animated television series (1987–1996) were all inspired by the TMNT brand.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Details
| Created by |
- Kevin Eastman
- Peter Laird
|
| Original work |
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
(1984) |
| Owner |
Mirage Studios (1984–2009)
Nickelodeon (2009–present) |
| Years |
1984–present |
| Comics |
List of comics |
| Comic strip(s) |
See list of comics |
| Film(s) |
List of films |
| Television series |
List of television series |
| Animated series |
See list of television series |
| Television film(s) |
See list of films |
| Direct-to-video |
See list of films |
| Role-playing |
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles & Other Strangeness |
| Video game(s) |
List of video games |
| Toy(s) |
Action figures |
| Characters |
List of characters |
History
After meeting in Massachusetts, comic book writers Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird collaborated on drawings. Laird extended an invitation to Eastman to live with him in Dover, New Hampshire, in 1983. To make Laird laugh that November, Eastman produced a drawing of a masked turtle standing on its hind legs, brandishing nunchucks. The phrase “teenage mutant” was added by Laird. The idea mocked a number of aspects that were common in superhero comics at the time, including the training and ninja abilities of Daredevil, the teens of New Teen Titans, the mutants of Uncanny X-Men, and the comic tradition of humorous animals like Howard the Duck.
The idea was evolved into a comic book by Eastman and Laird. Though Laird stated that the notion of naming the turtles after the Italian Renaissance artists Leonardo, Donatello, Raphael, and Michelangelo “felt just quirky enough to fit the concept,” they ultimately decided against giving the turtles Japanese names.They created a background that made further allusions to Daredevil: the Turtles, like Daredevil, are changed by radioactive material, and Splinter, their sensei, is a parody of Stick, Daredevil’s sensei.
Characters
According to most stories, four newborn turtles are exposed to radioactive ooze, which turns them into humanoids, and this is how the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are created. They live in the sewers of New York City and battle evil.As the leader and most disciplined of the turtles, Leonardo is also the best swordsman. He wears a blue bandana and carries two katana. The strongest and most irascible turtle, Raphael, utilizes sai and sports a crimson bandana. Donatello wears a purple bandana and wields a bō staff. He utilizes his intelligence to create devices and cars. Typically presented as the fastest and most nimble turtle, Michelangelo is actually the least disciplined and most carefree of them all. He uses nunchucks and has an orange bandana on.
A wise adoptive father who teaches the Turtles ninjitsu, Splinter is a mutant rat. In some incarnations, he is a mutant version of Hamato Yoshi, the ninja master, or he was previously Yoshi’s pet rat. April O’Neil, who is portrayed in different ways as a news reporter, lab assistant, or brilliant computer programmer, helps the Turtles. In most of the depictions, she is the object of love interest for Casey Jones, a vigilante with a hockey mask who typically ends up siding with the Turtles. The Shredder, the head of the Foot, a group of criminal ninjas, is the enemy of the Turtles. Usually, he goes by Oroku Saki, the ninja. In most renditions, the Shredder’s second in command is Karai, a talented martial artist; in some forms she.
Comics
The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles by Eastman and Laird made their comic book convention debut in May 1984 at the Portsmouth, New Hampshire, Sheraton Hotel. Limited to a print run of 3000 copies, it was released by their firm Mirage Studios in an enlarged magazine-style format with black and white artwork on inexpensive newsprint. Although it was just supposed to be a one-shot, its success led to it becoming a continuous series.
Laird, who was by then the only proprietor of the franchise, and Lawson restarted the main series at Mirage with a fourth volume in 2001, following publication being briefly taken over by Image Comics for the third volume (see below). Laird kept the rights after the property was sold to Nickelodeon in late 2009.Over the course of four distinct volumes, consisting of 62, 13, 23, and 32 issues each, the main Mirage series ran for a total of 129 issues. Throughout time, more miniseries and one-shot issues were released. Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, a companion book that Mirage also released, was created to bridge the continuity holes in the TMNT world.
Television series
The first animated series, which debuted as a five-part miniseries in 1987 and was picked up by syndicated television on October 1, 1988, as a regular Saturday morning show, followed the exploits of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and their allies as they battled Krang, the Shredder, and many other criminals and villains in New York City. To make it more kid- and family-friendly, the property underwent significant changes from the darker-toned comics. The ten-season television show, which was produced by Fred Wolf Films, concluded in 1996.
In addition to the American series, Mutant Turtles: Choujin Densetsu-hen, a two-episode anime original video animation (OVA) series, was produced in 1996 exclusively for Japan. The voices from TV Tokyo’s Japanese dub of the 1987 TV series are used in the OVA, which has a tone reminiscent of that of the TV series. It portrayed the Turtles as superheroes who used Mutastones to acquire outfits and capabilities, whereas Shredder, Bebop, and Rocksteady used a Dark Mutastone to acquire evil abilities.
