Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1987 TV series)


Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is an American animated series produced by the studio Murakami-Wolf-Swenson and the French company IDDH. The pilot was shown during the week of December 14, 1987 in syndication as a five-part miniseries and the show began its official run on October 1, 1988. Since then the show and franchise has become a worldwide phenomenon. The series featured the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles characters, created by Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird. The property was changed considerably from the darker-toned comic, to make it more suitable for children and the family.
The initial motivation behind the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles animated series was that, upon being approached to create a toy line, Playmates Toys was uneasy with the comic-book characters' small cult following. They requested that a television deal be acquired first, and after the initial five-episode series debuted, the California toy company released their first series of Ninja Turtles action figures in the summer of 1988. The two media would correspond in marketing style and popularity for many years to come.
David Wise and Patti Howeth wrote the screenplay for the first 5-part miniseries. When the series continued in the second season, comic artist Jack Mendelsohn joined the show as the executive story editor. Wise went on to write over seventy episodes of the series, and was executive story editor for four later seasons as well. Wise left the series partway through the ninth season, and Jeffrey Scott took over as the story editor and chief writer for the rest of the show's run.
The show was in Saturday morning syndication from October 1, 1988 to September 9, 1989, and became an instant hit. The show was expanded to five days a week and aired weekday afternoons in syndication in most markets from September 25, 1989 to March 29, 1991, with reruns airing until September 17, 1993. Starting on September 8, 1990, the show began its secondary run on CBS's Saturday morning lineup, beginning as a 60-minute block from 1990 to 1993, initially airing a couple of Saturday exclusive episodes back to back. There would also be a brief "Turtle Tips" segment in between the two episodes which served as public service announcements about the environment or other issues. There were at least 20 "Turtle Tips" segments that were produced and aired. Beginning in 1994, the show began airing as a 30-minute block until the series ended. The series ran until November 2, 1996, when it aired its final episode.
The show helped launch the characters into mainstream popularity and became one of the most popular animated series in television history. Breakfast cereals, plush toys, and all manner of products featuring the characters appeared on the market during the late-1980s and early-1990s. A successful Archie Comics comic book based on the animated show instead of the original black-and-white comics was published throughout the late 1980s and early 1990s. Action figures were top-sellers around the world. By 1990, the series was being shown daily on more than 125 television stations, and the comic books sold 125,000 copies a month.

Storylines

Seasons 1–7

The origins story in the 1987 television series deviates significantly from the original Mirage Studios comics. In this version, Splinter was formerly human, an honorable ninja master named Hamato Yoshi who studied art history as a hobby. He was banished from the Foot Clan after one of his students, the power-hungry and seditious Oroku Saki, set him up for an offense against a visiting master sensei. One day, Saki pinned Yoshi's dogi to the wall with a knife, preventing him from kneeling before the sensei, which was seen as an insult. When Yoshi removed the knife, the sensei was again insulted, believing that Yoshi was drawing the blade in an attempt to kill him. Disgraced, Yoshi left his native Japan and relocated to New York City without a penny to his name. Now homeless, he was forced to live in the sewers with the rats as his only friends. Meanwhile, Saki is given command of the Foot Clan, which he corrupts and transforms into a criminal organization.
Sometime later, Yoshi adopted four turtles after they were accidentally dropped into the sewer system by an unnamed boy, who had recently bought them from a pet store. He returns from his explorations around New York City one day to find the turtles covered with a strange glowing ooze. This substance caused the turtles, who were most recently exposed to Yoshi, to become humanoid, while Yoshi, who was most recently exposed to sewer rats, became a humanoid rat, and was given the name "Splinter" by the turtles. This, and the following Archie TMNT Adventures comics, is the only origin story in the TMNT franchise in which the Turtles come to Yoshi before being exposed to the mutagen. The television series also differs in that Yoshi himself becomes a rat, whereas, in most other versions, Splinter is Yoshi's pet rat and becomes humanoid after being exposed to mutagen. This is also the only version in which the Turtles become fully grown immediately after exposure to the mutagen, whereas Splinter raises them from infancy in other versions.
Yoshi raises the four turtles as his sons and trains them in the art of ninjitsu. He names them after his favorite Italian renaissance artists: Donato di Niccolò di Betto Bardi, Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni, and Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino. In most versions, the Turtles tend to go by nicknames Don/Donnie, Leo, Mikey/Mike and Raph, but in this version, they are always addressed by their full names. Each Turtle wears a mask over his eyes with a distinctive color : blue for Leonardo, purple for Donatello, red for Raphael, and orange for Michelangelo; and they are each trained in the art of a distinct weapon, with Leonardo wielding katanas, Donatello wielding a bo staff, Raphael wielding sais, and Michelangelo wielding nunchuks.
Oroku Saki eventually leaves Japan and tracks Yoshi to New York City, where he intends to destroy him once and for all. It is also around this time that he begins working with Krang, a disembodied alien brain from Dimension X who ruled his native realm with an iron fist until he was stripped of his body and banished to Earth. Saki takes on a new pseudonym, "The Shredder", donning a suit covered with razor spikes, and complemented by a long purple cape, a metal samurai helmet, and a metal mask over his mouth. Since leaving Japan, his ambitions have grown from usurping leadership of the Foot Clan to world domination. To this end, Krang provides the Shredder with a vast array of powerful technology from Dimension X, including the Technodrome, and funds most of his schemes throughout the series.
It becomes clear early on in the series that the mutagen which transformed the Turtles and Splinter into their new forms was dumped into the sewers by Shredder in an effort to murder Yoshi, as he had mistakenly believed it to be a deadly poison rather than a transformative agent. After several years of training under Splinter, the Turtles set out to find whoever is responsible for their transformation, and upon learning that Shredder was behind it, they vow to put an end to his ongoing criminal career and restore Splinter back to his human form, despite the risk that they themselves could be de-mutated and changed back into ordinary turtles, thus losing all of their humanoid abilities. Along the way, they befriend Channel 6 news reporter April O'Neil after rescuing her from a gang of street punks who had chased her into the sewers. The Turtles, who had rarely left the sewers prior to meeting April, also began to take on the role of semi-vigilante crime fighters, operating outside of the jurisdiction of law enforcement, much like Casey Jones. Despite this, they frequently have to deal with citizens misunderstanding them, which is due in no small part to the efforts of Burne Thompson, April's employer, and Vernon Fenwick, a Channel 6 cameraman, who both distrust the Turtles and frequently and wrongfully blame them for the trouble that Shredder and Krang cause. As a result, they mainly have to rely on April to inform them of crimes in the city, and to counteract Burne and Vernon's smear and bad-tempered campaigns against them with her own news coverage of the Turtles, portraying them as a force for good, although doing so frequently lands her in trouble with her employers and various criminals throughout the city. Reluctant to expose themselves to the outside world, the Turtles usually wear disguises whenever they leave the sewers, although this is slowly relaxed as the series progresses and they gain the trust of the broader populace, whom they have saved from Shredder and other villains on many occasions. Even at Channel 6, the Turtles befriend secretary Irma from the second season onwards.
Shredder, Krang, Bebop & Rocksteady, Baxter Stockman, and their legions of Foot soldiers repeatedly try to destroy the Turtles and take over the world. Much of their quest for world domination hinges on repowering the Technodrome and bringing it to the Earth's surface, as it was either buried deep under New York City, stuck in Dimension X, embedded in the Earth's core, stranded in the Arctic, or at the bottom of the Arctic Ocean. However, their plans always fail, often landing the villains in humorous predicaments. Some episodes feature other, usually minor villains, such as the Rat King, Leatherhead, Slash, General Traag and Granitor, and many others. Some episodes also involve the TMNT getting themselves and the city out of a mess that one of the Turtles inadvertently causes.

Seasons 8–10

In the last three seasons, the show went through dramatic changes. The stories within these seasons are typically known among viewers of the show as the "Red Sky" episodes. The show's humor was toned down significantly, the animation became darker, the color of the sky in each episode was changed to a continuous, ominous dark-red sky, the theme song was changed, the introduction sequence added in clips from the first live-action film, and the show took on a darker, more action-oriented atmosphere. The series' main antagonists—Shredder, Krang, Bebop, and Rocksteady—who had previously been depicted as dangerous but comically inept villains, were now portrayed as a more menacing, unified threat. Both Shredder and Krang had lost much of their earlier resentment towards each other, and Shredder had evolved into a more vengeful, bloodthirsty version of his earlier self. Bebop and Rocksteady also gained a certain degree of intelligence and joked around much less. Additionally, Krang was revealed to have seized power in Dimension X through numerous betrayals and widespread destruction, resulting in old enemies seeking vengeance.
The Turtles, likewise, underwent a few changes. Although their personalities remained mostly the same, their demeanor evolved into a more serious and determined one than in prior seasons. Michelangelo, for example, did not obsess over pizza or goof off as much as before, and Raphael made lighthearted, fourth-wall-breaking jokes far less often, more closely resembling the angry, impulsive Raphael seen in the comics and later adaptations. And in contrast to earlier episodes in which the Turtles would spend most of their time training, relaxing, or partying, and only countering a threat when it arose, they devoted most of their time and energy to tracking down Shredder, Krang, or Lord Dregg, and putting them away for good.
Season 8 was also noted for the destruction of the Channel 6 building where April worked, which had been a longtime fixture of the series. Additionally, a number of recurring villains had been written out of the show by this point, including Baxter Stockman, Leatherhead, Pinky McFingers, Slash, Big Louie, Don Turtelli, and Groundchuck/Dirtbag. The Rat King, however, makes one final appearance in the second episode of season 8, in which he is defeated once more by the Turtles and apprehended by the police, never to be seen again. With the exception of April, the Channel 6 news crew were all gradually phased out of the show by the end of season 8, and many other secondary characters were dropped from the show completely.
At the end of the seventh season, the Turtles sent the Technodrome through a portal into Dimension X, but without Shredder, Krang, Bebop, and Rocksteady. As a result, the villains are now stranded on Earth without any weapons or power, and they are forced to work out of an old science building until they can find a way back into Dimension X and retrieve the Technodrome. The Turtles, taking advantage of the situation, relentlessly pursue their arch enemies in an effort to put an end to their schemes once and for all. Eventually, Shredder and Krang, along with Bebop and Rocksteady, build a new portal into Dimension X and reclaim the Technodrome, although the Turtles manage to track them down with the help of Gargon. Gargon initially intended to betray the Turtles by leading them into Shredder's trap on the planet Balaraphon, but he switches sides after seeing them rescue innocent villagers from Krang's army of Rock Soldiers. At the end of season 8, the TMNT finally banish Shredder, Krang, Bebop, and Rocksteady to Dimension X by destroying the engines and the "trans-dimensional portal" of the Technodrome, preventing them from returning to Earth. From season 9 onwards, a new villain called Lord Dregg, an evil alien warlord from Dimension X, appeared as the new chief nemesis. He begins a propaganda campaign against the Turtles, turning the general population against them and in favor of him and his forces. Although Dregg is outed as a villain at the end of season 9, the Turtles are never able to regain the trust of the broader population, which is mainly due to an earlier smear and bad-tempered campaign by Burne and Vernon, who wrongfully blamed the Turtles for the destruction of the Channel 6 building in season 8. Additionally, the Turtles began to suffer from mutations that would temporarily transform them into monstrous hulks with diminished intelligence, a problem that would not be completely resolved until season 10. The TMNT also gain a new ally in the form of Carter, a brash African American male who initially sought out Master Splinter for training in ninjitsu, but is eventually exposed to mutagen and contracts an incurable mutation disease.
In the final season of the series, Dregg's sycophantic henchman Mung encounters Shredder and Krang, who are still stranded in Dimension X. They told him that they had battled the Turtles for years, but even though Shredder claimed to have destroyed them, Mung knew that he was lying. No mention is made of Bebop or Rocksteady, suggesting that they are either dead or have long since parted ways with Shredder and Krang. Soon afterward, Mung returns to Dregg's ship and informs him of their encounter, and Dregg decides to bring both Shredder and Krang back from Dimension X to help him fight the Turtles. However, the pair immediately rebel against Dregg and leave, continuing on where they left off before they were banished at the end of season 8. Back on Earth, Shredder and Krang kidnap April O'Neil and do battle with the Turtles once more, although they are all soon transported back to Dregg's lair. The Turtles initially have the upper hand in the fight, but Shredder and Krang are able to subdue them after reluctantly agreeing to work with Dregg. As he prepares to drain the Turtles of their life energies, Shredder and Krang betray Lord Dregg and force him onto one of the operating tables, intending to drain both him and the Turtles of their power. Dregg, however, manages to escape and uses his microbots to capture Shredder and Krang. Although he successfully drains the Turtles and Krang of their life energies, Shredder breaks free before Dregg is able to take anything from him. Shredder spends the duration of the next two episodes finding a way to heal Krang and dispose of Dregg so that they may take control of his armies and conquer the Earth, but in the ensuing confrontation they are permanently transported back to Dimension X, never to be seen again. In the same episode, Carter also bids farewell to the Turtles as he travels to the future to look for a cure for his mutation. In the final episode of the series, Michelangelo and Donatello travel to Dimension X to retrieve Krang's mechanical body in the Technodrome, which is sitting on a hill standing upright, suggesting that Shredder and Krang initially tried to repair the Technodrome before declaring it a lost cause. Shredder, Krang, Bebop, and Rocksteady are nowhere to be seen, and it is assumed that they are either dead or still somewhere in Dimension X. The Turtles eventually find Krang's suit and use it in a final confrontation with Dregg, which ends with the Turtles banishing Dregg to Dimension X. Splinter congratulates the Turtles on their victory and, now that all of their enemies have been vanquished, states that he has nothing more to teach them, calling them his equals.

Subsequent works

In 2009, the Turtles, Shredder, Krang, and various other characters from the 1987 series returned for the 25th anniversary crossover movie Turtles Forever, in which they meet up with their counterparts from a series that began in February 2003. Due to financial restrictions, none of the original voice actors were able to reprise their roles, and replacement actors were used instead.
In April 2013, Ciro Nieli, the executive producer of the 2012 Turtles series, confirmed in an interview that the 1987 Turtles would cameo in a one-hour special in season 2. Cam Clarke, Townsend Coleman, Barry Gordon and Rob Paulsen reprise their roles as Leonardo, Michelangelo, Donatello, and Raphael, respectively, in the closing of the episode "Wormquake!". The 1987 turtles also had a crossover with the 2012 turtles in the season 4 episode, "Trans-Dimensional Turtles". In addition with the lead cast-members reprising their roles from the episode, Pat Fraley also reprised his role as Krang who is depicted as a relative of Kraang Subprime that was banished to Earth in the 1980s reality for being incompetent. The 1987 turtles also returned during season five of the 2012 series for a three part special,"Wanted: Bebop and Rocksteady", along with the original Shredder, Foot soldiers, Krang, Technodrome and Bebop and Rocksteady.

Episodes

Voice acting

Casting for the show took place in Los Angeles. During recording of the voice acting, all the main cast recorded together. According to Renae Jacobs, voice-actress of the reporter April O'Neil, working together "was great for camaraderie and relationships. We played off each other...there was a lot of ad libbing."
Also according to Jacobs, the actors frequently undermined the efforts of the show's creators to make the show grittier and more serious, instead embracing silliness and jokes for both children and adults.

Characters

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

Through most of the series, the episodes featured a recurring background music which reflected the mood of the situation, as well as ID music for settings such as the Technodrome, the New York City sewers, Channel 6, etc.. The soundtrack was composed by Dennis Challen Brown and Chuck Lorre. Lorre recorded the theme song and became a successful television producer. The performer of the song was James Mandell. To date the soundtrack has never been released for retail.
The Channel 6 News theme music also appeared in the video game.

Broadcast and release

International

In the United Kingdom, TMNT was originally released under the name Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles. This was due to the controversy surrounding ninjas and related weapons such as nunchaku at the time. The intro sequence was heavily edited because of this, replacing the word ninja with hero or fighting, using a digitally faded logo instead of the animated blob, and removing any scenes in which Michelangelo wields his nunchaku, replacing them with clips from the show. Scenes of Michelangelo using his nunchaku were likewise edited out of the episodes themselves, which led the American show runners to drop the weapons from the series entirely in the fourth season in order to make the show more appropriate for the international airings. The weapons were replaced with a grappling hook called the "Turtle Line" that served as Mikey's signature weapon for the rest of the show's run. The word 'ninja' was also edited out of any speech within the show, often leading to some awkward sounding dialogue.
The TMHT version was aired in other European countries, including the Republic of Ireland, Belgium, Germany, Austria, Poland, Hungary, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, and Finland, in local dubs. In Denmark, the English censored version was aired on the national broadcaster TV2. It had subtitles as well, however, only seasons 2 and 3 were aired in this fashion. Season 1 was aired as one spliced feature, instead of the original five-part miniseries. The movie was titled The Epic Begins, and included heavy edits from each of the five episodes, and was also released to VHS in the US in 1988.
After the 2 seasons had aired on Danish TV, the show was cancelled; however, it later returned with local dubs of episodes from season 5, and Denmark was also one of the first countries to get to see the episodes in which the turtles travel to Europe. These were also aired with subtitles.
The original series aired in early 2011 during the early morning hours on TV2 in Denmark. All 193 episodes have been re-dubbed, and this time they aired in their original US unedited form.
In Russia TMNT was the first western franchise which appears on a TV after a dissolution of the Soviet Union. They were named just as "Ninja Turtles". Out of 10 seasons 9 were fully dubbed, 10th season wasn't aired at all.
In Sweden, TV 3 Sweden, which aired from London, aired seasons 1-3 between 1990-1993, while TV1000 aired seasons 4-6 with subtitles and the "Vacation in Europe" episodes dubbed. The series was dubbed into Swedish by Mediadubb. Meanwile, Sun Studio also dubbed some chosen seasons 1-3 episodes into Swedish, for home video releases in 1991, later rereleased to DVD. In Sweden, the home video releases kept the original title, "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles".
In Spain, the name of the cartoon was translated to Las Tortugas Ninja, but at first the TMHT version was still used for dubbing, although the word ninja was kept in several instances of the dub, and the original TMNT version was also alternatively aired afterwards. Other European countries dubbed the original TMNT version. In Yugoslavia, the series was re-dubbed into Serbian with Prizor sincronization for TV Pink as Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles.
In the Republic of Ireland, the series was initially known as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles just like the US version and the intro sequence was unedited when it debuted on RTÉ Two as part of the Irish tv strand The Den with the airing of the second season in September 1990. After the first two episodes were broadcast, the name was changed to the Hero Turtles version and the intro was edited, except for season one. Scenes with Mikey’s nunchucks and the word ‘ninja’ were always edited out in the actual episodes, though. Episodes were also cut a bit midway through at the point where there would be a commercial break, perhaps because there were no ad breaks during shows on The Den. The show was very popular in Ireland and aired a lot on weekday afternoons on RTÉ in the mid 90s with season 1 being placed between 3 and 4. The European Vacation eps first aired in Ireland in December 1990. In 2007–2008, episodes were aired in their original US unedited form.
When shown on the BBC, phrases such as "Let's kick some shell!" and "Bummer!" were removed from the episodes. The series was also referred to as Hero Turtles, possibly using the term hero to separate the television series from the live action movies. The 2003 television series, however, remained intact when shown in the UK and the Republic of Ireland. This led the UK and the Republic of Ireland to have a disambiguation between the two animated series, using Hero Turtles to separate the 1987 television series from the other incarnations of the franchise. In 2009, a DVD of the first two seasons was released under the Ninja Turtles branding, thus bringing this version of the franchise into line with the later versions.
The first season of the show premiered in Australia as a two-part prime-time miniseries on the Seven Network, after being promoted as coming soon in December 1989, as a new huge US show sweeping the world, and exclusive only to Seven, to be aired for the first time in Australia in early February 1990 only on Seven in a TV line up commercial of new shows for 1990 before shifting to a 3:30 p.m. timeslot for Season 2. Later, after ratings fell, it was moved to a morning timeslot in January 1994 as part of Agro's Cartoon Connection until its end in Australia in 1996. The show was mostly uncensored, airing under its original name with occasional edits, including the editing of Season 1 into the two-part 90-minute primetime broadcasts.
In New Zealand the series screened on TV3 from early 1990 onwards, just weeks after TV3 began broadcasting. Season 2 and Season 3 were first screened weekdays initially at 5:30pm and later moved to an earlier timeslot, season 2 and 3 were repeated several times over in 1990. Season 1 aired as lost episodes which screened on Saturday evenings at 6:00 p.m. between September and October 1990. Season 4 was picked up in 1991 with TV3 first screening the episodes that aired in the US on CBS followed by the syndicated episodes. From 1992 to 1996 TV3 screened the later seasons on Saturday mornings, the "Vacation in Europe" episodes were screened in 1993.

Syndication

Reruns of the series were broadcast weekly on Teletoon Retro in Canada until the channel was shutdown on September 1, 2015. There are no other TV reruns of the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles animated series currently airing in North America. Although the last episode broadcast on CBS on November 2, 1996, reruns of Seasons 8, 9 and 10 continued to air until August 30, 1997. The series previously reran in North America in Quebec on Super Écran, who rebroadcast the entire series from 2006 to 2008. Episodes from Seasons 1-7 were reran on the USA Network's USA Cartoon Express from September 13, 1993 to September 15, 1996. Lionsgate Home Entertainment and Fred Wolf Films own the rights to the show, and they have been responsible for the DVD releases.
Neither Mirage Studios nor ViacomCBS, the current owner of the franchise, own the rights to the 1987 television series, so Lionsgate and Fred Wolf are not under any obligation to inform them of future releases. Some reruns were shown for UK audiences on BBC weekday mornings. In the Republic of Ireland, the series ended its original run on August 9, 1998, but the show was regularly rerun on RTÉ Two until 2008. In Yugoslavia the series was broadcast on RTS from 1991 - 1994 and on RTV Pink from 1998 - 2002. In Denmark, the show is aired every weekday at 6.00 am on TV 2.
In Australia, it is currently being rerun for the first time since its original run and end in 1996, when it was on the Seven Network. The rights to the show are now owned by Network Ten, and the show airs on their sister channel 10 Peach every Sunday morning at 9–10:00 am with double episodes.

Home video releases

Originally, the series was released to VHS tapes and laserdisc between 1988 and 1996 by Family Home Entertainment while airing back in the late 1980s-early 1990s. Meanwhile, the UK, videotapes were released using the "Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles" censoring title. Starting in April 2004, DVD releases began in region 1.

VHS

Laserdisc

DVD

Region 1

has released the entire series to DVD in Region 1. Initially it was released in volumes, with each volume containing 9–13 episodes in its original production order, with the exception of the first volume, which included bonus episodes from the last season. After six volumes, it was announced that the series would now be released in season sets, starting with season 4. However, the episodes "Once Upon a Time Machine" and the 1991 prime-time special "Planet of the Turtleoids" were omitted from the Season 5 set, but are included in the Season 10 set as bonus episodes. The DVDs do not include the Turtle Tips PSAs.
On November 13, 2012, Lionsgate Family Entertainment released Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - The Complete Classic Series on DVD in Region 1. The 23-disc set features all 193 episodes of the series as well as bonus features. It also contains special collectors edition packaging.
On July 23, 2013, Lionsgate re-released all 47 episodes of season 3 together in a 4 disc box set.

Region 2

The first volume of the 25th Anniversary Edition, containing all episodes from the first two seasons in a PAL format, was released for Region 2 DVDs by Lionsgate Home Entertainment in the UK and the Republic of Ireland on May 25, 2009.
4 DVDs containing 3 episodes each based around Leonardo, Donatello, Raphael and Michelango were released on May 19, 2014.
DVD titleEpisode countDiscRelease dateAdditional Information
Season 1–2223May 25, 2009Contains all episodes from seasons 1 and 2, plus 4 bonus episodes from season 10.
Best of Leonardo31May 19, 2014Contains the episodes "Hot Rodding Teenagers from Dimension X", "Unidenfied Leonardo", and "Leonardo Cuts Loose".

The series has also been released by German distributor KSM GmbH.
DVD titleEpisode countDiscsRelease dateAdditional Information
DVD Collection245May 17, 2007
July 26, 2007
August 17, 2007 		Contains all episodes from season 8, 9, and 10.
  • First released in 5 Single DVDs entitled "Disks".
  • Later released as a DVD Collection containing this 5 Disks.
  • Both, the Single Release and the Collection only includes the German Audio Track.
Box 1255March 12, 2009Contains all episodes from seasons 1 and 2, plus first 7 episodes from Season 3.
  • Contains the German Hero Turtles TV Version and the Uncut US Version as well.
    • Box 2255May 3, 2010Contains 25 more episodes from Season 3.
  • Contains the German Hero Turtles TV Version and the Uncut US Version as well.
  • The 25 included episodes are announced to be in chronological order.
    • Box 3306July 12, 2010Contains the remaining 15 episodes from Season 3, the first two episodes from Season 4 and the complete "European Vacation" Side-Season.
  • Contains the German Hero Turtles TV Version and the Uncut US Version as well.
  • The 30 included episodes are announced to be in chronological order.
    • Box 4306October 17, 2011Contains 30 more episodes from Season 4.
  • Contains the German Hero Turtles TV Version and the Uncut US Version as well.
  • The 30 included episodes are announced to be in chronological order.
    • Box 5306December 5, 2011Contains the remaining Episodes from Season 4 as well as all episode from Season 5 and the first of Season 6.
  • Contains the German Hero Turtles TV Version and the Uncut US Version as well.
  • The 30 included episodes are announced to be in chronological order.
    • Box 6296February 12, 2012Contains the remaining Episodes from Season 6 as well as all of Season 7.
  • Contains the German Hero Turtles TV Version and the Uncut US Version as well.
  • The 29 included episodes are announced to be in chronological order.

    • Region 4

    The show was released in Australia by Lionsgate Home Entertainment. All episodes from the 1987 series were released in sixteen volumes. The discs are in Region 4, but unusually, they are in NTSC picture format, instead of PAL. The first six DVDs are more or less duplicated from the Region 1 discs released in America, however unlike the American release, Season 4 was broken down into several separate volumes.
    DVD titleEpisode countDiscRelease dateAdditional information
    Volume 1912009Includes the complete first season and four episodes from Season 10.
    Volume 21312009Includes the entire second season.
    Volume 31212009Includes episodes 1–12 of Season 3.
    Volume 41212009Includes episodes 13–24 of Season 3.
    Volume 51212009Includes episodes 25–37 of Season 3.
    Volume 61212009Includes episodes 38–47 of Season 3 and episode 1 of Season 4.
    Volume 71312009Includes episodes 2–14 of Season 4.
    Volume 81312009Includes episodes 15–27 of Season 4.
    Volume 91312009Includes episodes 28–39 of Season 4 and episode 1 of Season 5.
    Volume 101312013Includes episodes 2-14 of Season 5
    Volume 111312013Includes episodes 15-22 of Season 5 and episodes 1-5 of Season 6
    Volume 121112013Includes episodes 6-16 of Season 6
    Volume 131312016Includes entire Vacation in Europe sideseason
    Volume 141312016Includes episodes 1-13 of Season 7
    Volume 151312016Includes episode 14 of Season 7, entire Season 8, episodes 1-4 of Season 9
    Volume 16812016Includes episodes 5-8 of Season 9, episodes 3-5 & 8 of Season 10

    Reception

    IGN named TMNT as the 55th best show in the Top 100 Best Animated TV Shows. While the story diverged heavily from the original conception of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles with the universe of the original Mirage comics, the 1987 television series is largely the most notable and popular incarnation and drove the franchise to the phenomenal status it would achieve in popular culture. Co-creator, Peter Laird, has publicly shared his distaste with the show on numerous occasions but has also acknowledged that it was extremely successful with and beloved by its audience and, while he would have preferred a different approach to the material, it might not have been as popular as what was produced. Retroactively, the cross-over film Turtles Forever established a common multiverse continuity between all Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles variations that existed at the time of the 25th anniversary of the original Mirage comicbooks, primarily focusing on this series, and those of the 2003 animated series. Therefore, while not part of the original canon of the Mirage Turtles, the series can be considered part of the wider official turtles canon.
    At the time, the series was criticized by various groups for its violent content and commercialism. The extensive line of toys and other licensed products attracted criticism. The Australian Council for Children's Films and Television accused the show of being a 30-minute toy commercial.

    Magazine

    The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Magazine was a children's magazine published quarterly by Welsh Publishing Group, Inc during the height of TMNT popularity in the late 1980s and early 1990s. It was officially licensed by Eastman and Laird and available by subscription.
    The $1.95, 32-page magazine featured articles about the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and a variety of other subjects, including an article on the last page of each issue spotlighting a real life turtle species. Mirage Studios staff artists such as Dan Berger and Jim Lawson provided a majority of the covers and spot illustrations. A pullout poster was available in every issue and was painted by Mirage Studios artist Michael Dooney.