Remember that one day when you could wake up without an alarm? When you would get your favorite bowl of cereal and sit between the hours of 8 and 12? This is a blog dedicated to the greatest time of our childhood: Saturday mornings. The television programs you watched, the memories attached to them, and maybe introducing you to something you didn't realize existed. Updated every weekend.
When you
become a long-running multimedia franchise, there are gonna be a lot of
different versions of the same concept for each rendition. The Teenage
Mutant Ninja Turtles franchise is no different, with incarnations ranging
from dark and gritty to comedic and everything in between.
Saban's Ninja Turtles.
In the
mid-90s, Saban
Entertainment acquired the rights to the Turtles franchise and decided to
produce the first live-action Turtles series: Ninja
Turtles: The Next Mutation. It took elements from the
never-produced fourth live-action film and turned it into a comedic martial
arts action program, similar to Saban’s popular Power Rangersfranchise.
And what better way to promote the show than with a crossover into that
franchise?
Power
Rangers in Spacewas the version produced at the same time as Next
Mutation, and both being on Fox
Kids made the crossover possible. The only hitch was that since both shows
were filmed in different locations, the performers for the Turtles weren’t the
same ones used on their own show. In “Shell Shocked” written by Judd Lynn, the Turtles were
brainwashed by the Space Rangers’
nemesis, Astronema
(Melody
Perkins), to serve her and attack the Rangers. However, the Turtles are
eventually freed from her control and aided the Rangers in defeating her. This
was the second and last time that the Rangers franchise would cross over with
another show outside of comics (the first being Masked
Rider), and due to Next Mutation’s cancellation shortly after
this crossover was deemed non-canon by Ranger fans.
4Kids' Ninja Turtles.
In 2002, 4Kids Entertainment
acquired the Turtles license and produced their own animated series the
following year; simply titled Teenage
Mutant Ninja Turtles(although it would gain subtitles in future
seasons). Unlike its 1987
predecessor, the series placed more emphasis on a serious tone and action,
as well as featured season-long story arcs that would noticeably make psychological
changes to the Turtles. The 2003 Turtles ultimately came to an end when
co-creator Peter Laird sold the
franchise to Nickelodeon (co-creator Kevin Eastman had previously
sold his stake back in 2000). 4Kids decided to end their incarnation with a
bang while simultaneously celebrating the 25th anniversary of the
franchise with the TV movie Turtles
Forever, written byRob David, Matthew Drdek and series
developer Lloyd Goldfine.
The 2003 Turtles discover that the
1987 Turtles were accidentally brought over from another dimension, along with
their Shredder
(David Wills) and Krang (Bradford Cameron). 1987
Shredder sought an alliance with 2003 Shredder (Scottie Ray) as a way to
finally beat the Turtles, only to have 2003 Shredder take his Foot
Clan and technology and turn them into frightening instruments of war. 2003
Shredder ultimately discovers that additional dimensions exist with their own
Turtles that could potentially stop him, leading him to decide to eliminate
them all by destroying the one he’s identified as the “prime” universe. That
universe contained the black and white 1984 Turtles from the original
Mirage comics. The twelve Turtles are joined by friend and enemy alike to
put an end to 2003 Shredder’s plans. In a meta touch, Eastman and Laird make a
cameo appearance at the end as they put the finishing touches on the first Turtles
comic. Incidentally, during one scene, 2003 Shredder shows the Turtles the
Turtle multiverse which included the movie versions, the various comic
versions, and other random interpretations inspired by the “Guest
Era” of the comics (a span of the first run from #22-44 that were produced
by guest creators and later deemed non-canon by Eastman and Laird).
Nick's Ninja Turtles.
Nickelodeon’s first outing for
their newly-acquired Turtles franchise was the 2012 CGI-animated Teenage
Mutant Ninja Turtles. They opted for a return to the lighthearted fun
reminiscent of the 1987 series while injecting a bit of the seriousness (and some
original characters) of the 2003 version. So, it was only fitting that the 1987
universe would make several appearances during the course of the show (outside
of the theme being the 2012 Turtles’ ringtone). And, unlike the non-union 4Kids
who couldn’t use the original actors for Turtles Forever, the 2012
series was able to employ them readily (heck, Rob Paulsen—who was part of the 1987
series—was already a regular cast member for 2012).
The first instance were cameos in
both parts of the two-episode “The Manhattan Project” (aka “Wormquake!”)
written by Brandon Auman and
John Shirley. The 2012 crew sees the
1987 characters through a portal in the first part, while the team actually
appeared at the end of the second part to deal with a giant worm-like creature
that had entered their dimension through a portal. They became a major part of
the story in their next appearance, “Trans-Dimensional Turtles” (again by
Auman), when the 2012 Turtles—currently on a space adventure in the past to
stop the sinister Triceratons
from constructing a weapon that will destroy Earth in the present—end up transported
to the 1987 universe where their counterparts ask for help in stopping Krang (Pat Fraley) from destroying both
their dimensions with a special bomb. As a nod to the original series, the
Turtles were rendered in a mimicked cel animation style whenever they were in
the 1987 world. This episode had a bit of fun with continuity as well,
retconning Krang’s origin to his being Kraang
Subprime’s (Gilbert Gottfried)
cousin that was banished to the 1987 world. Similarly to Turtles Forever, an
additional bomb was placed in the “Prime” dimension which was rendered in a
comic book panel style, black and white, and featured the 1984 Turtles as silent
animatics. Because this technically took place in the past, the episode ended
with the 1987 Turtles confronting the giant worm from their last cameo, which
by extension led to an encounter with the mutant Tiger
Claw (mistakenly sporting the eyepatch he had not yet acquired by this
point).
Their final main appearance was in the
three-part series finale that spanned across “Wanted: Bebop & Rocksteady”,
“The Foot Walks Again!” and “The Big Blow-Out!” by Peter DiCicco, Mark Henry and Jed MacKay. 1987 Shredder (Kevin Michael Richardson,
replacing the late James Avery)
and Krang come to the 2012 dimension to continue Krang’s earlier plan of
dimensional destruction. They had to employ the 2012 Bebop
(J.B. Smoove) and Rocksteady
(Fred Tatasciore) to help with their plans when they accidentally left their
versions behind, and discovered that the 2012 henchmutants proved more
effective than theirs when they’re sent out to capture the 1987 Turtles that
followed them. In order to combat Shredder and Krang’s plans to open a portal
to Dimension
X and call in an army of rock
soldiers, the 2012 Turtles attempt to turn their counterparts into genuine
ninjas (their fighting was ineffective as a commentary to the neutered violence
forced on the original series) and get some help from their human allies, the Foot
Clan and the Mutanimals
(whose roster included characters voiced by Corey Feldman and Robbie Rist, who provided Turtle
voices in the live-action films). Ultimately, it took Bebop and Rocksteady
deciding that they didn’t want the world destroyed to turn on Shredder
and Krang and help ruin their plans. This trilogy not only closed out the 2012
series (even though it wasn’t the intended finale) also served as a 30th
anniversary celebration of the 1987 series as it aired just a few weeks shy of
the original’s debut.
One final encounter happened
between the 2012 and 1987 Turtles. In the short Turtles Take Time (and
Space), the 2012 Turtles get sucked into a time vortex when Michelangelo (Greg Cipes) plays with a
scepter that April (Jessica
McKenna) bought. They’re shunted onto a pirate ship, back into their
aquarium when they were babies, and an extreme dimension where the Turtles and
Shredder were jacked. Finally, they returned to their lair only to discover it
was the lair of the 1987 Turtles. Only Cipes and Townsend Coleman reprised their
respective roles as Michelangelo for the short.
In 2002, 4Kids Entertainment
acquired the license for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and debuted their
own cartoon the following year. Compared to the original
1987 cartoon, it was a darker, more serious take on the franchise that
brought it closer to its comic roots; however, it wasn’t without its own kind
of humor. The series initially aired on the FoxBox/4Kids TV programming
block on FOX until it was discontinued in
2008, prompting its move to The CW for its
final season on The CW4Kids
programming block. Ultimately, a combination of low ratings and co-creator Peter Lairdselling
the franchise to Nickelodeon saw the end
of the series, but not before 4Kids delivered one final parting gift.
The meeting of the generations.
As 2009
marked the 25th anniversary of the Turtles franchise, 4Kids wanted
to do something for it and conceived of an idea to bring their Turtles in
contact with the 1987 incarnations, as well as the original
comic versions. Originally, they planned to make it part of the final Back
to the Sewer season, but decided to make it its own standalone film
entitled Turtles Forever. Itsaw the 1987 Turtles shunted to the
2003 universe when a dimensional teleporter malfunctioned during a fight in the
Technodrome.
The 2003 Turtles became aware of their capture by Hun (Greg Carey) and the Purple Dragons gang
and rescued them; leading to an encounter with 1987 Shredder (Load Williams)
and Krang (Bradford Cameron). Shredder hypothesized that there might be another
Shredder on that world and sought to ally with him to defeat the Turtles once
and for all. However, 2003 Shredder (Scottie Ray) found his counterpart
insufferable and took over the Technodrome and its horde of Foot
Clan robots for himself. 2003 Shredder discovered that there were multiple
dimensions with even more Turtles that could potentially disrupt his plans, and
theorized that he could end them all by destroying the universe he deemed
“Turtle Prime”. The 8 Turtles made their way to Turtle Prime where they
encountered their 1984 black and white, grim and gritty counterparts and proceeded
to battle 2003 Shredder for the fate of the entire multiverse. The film ends
with a cameo from creators Kevin
Eastman and Laird as they prepared to publish the first issue of Turtles
in 1984.
12 Turtles to save the world.
The art
styles for the 1987 and 1984 Turtles were rendered as close to their original
ones as possible, while the 2003 Turtles sported a different design than what
was currently seen on their show. For the final season of the 2003 series, the
Turtles were modified to closer resemble the ones seen in the 2007 theatrical
film TMNTfor
“brand
unity”. For Turtles Forever, the Turtles were given a slight
redesign of their appearances during the Fast
Forwardstory arc. Other incarnations of the Turtles, including
the original live-action
films, TMNT, and various other interpretations from the “Guest Era” of the comics
(a span of the original series from #22-44 that weren’t made by Eastman and
Laird and later deemed non-canon) also made cameo appearances during 2003
Shredder’s villain monologue. The only one absent was the live-action Ninja
Turtles: The Next Mutation, which was famously despised by
Laird. Adrian Marquez Barrios
served as the lead character designer, with further designs by Danny Kimanyen, Khary Randolph and Emilio Lopez.
Poster for the film.
A rough unfinished
version of Turtles Forever was shown at San Diego Comic Con in July of 2009. A
limited theatrical release was planned for October 29th, but a
dispute between 4Kids and Fathom Events
ended that plan. It instead made its debut on television on November 21st
on The CW4Kids following a 25th anniversary Top 10 episode countdown;
although, this version was shortened with the removal or reduction of several
scenes. Initially billed as a one time only airing, it was split up into three 23-minute parts
and aired weekly between November 28th and December 12th.
The uncut version of the film containing 12 extra minutes was put up on the
4Kids website on December 16th. The film aired again on March 20th,
then May 29th, and then on August 29th and Thanksgiving
Day on Nickelodeon.
2003 Shredder--outside of his human armor--is not amused by 1987 Shredder.
Turtles
Forever was generally well-received by fans of the 2003 show and the
franchise as a whole. However, some fans took issue with the portrayal of the
1987 Turtles. They were depicted as unable to take anything seriously, ineffective
in combat, and obsessed with getting pizza no matter what. It got to the point
that the 2003 Turtles got frequently exasperated while trying to reign them in
as well as their constant need to give noogies and the fact that 1987 Raphael
(Sebastian Arcelus) kept breaking the 4th wall (as was done
frequently in the original show). The
1987 series actually began as a more action-oriented show, but concerns over
the violence were raised and forced the show to tone it down. That necessitated
the inclusion of often silly alternatives to straight-out violence, such as
slicing open a fire hydrant to hit foes with water, or causing a foe to fall on
their own by being pushed into some kind of pratfall. The final season also
took on a much darker and serious tone, attempting to turn Shredder back into a
genuine threat. But, the 1987 Turtles were allowed a redeeming moment crucial
to the outcome of the final battle in the film.
For the history of the Ninja Turtles, check out the post here.
The black sheep of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchise, Ninja Turtles: The Next Mutation was a
loose continuation of the live-action movie trilogy that began in 1990.
Franchise co-creator Kevin Eastman had been
working on the fourth movie since the release of the third, but
nothing had ever materialized. Saban Entertainment acquired the rights
to the franchise and produced the show utilizing ideas that would have been
seen in the film.
The five (yes FIVE) Turtles: Venus, Mikey, Donnie, Leo and Raph.
Ninja
Turtles: The Next Mutation ran for a single season as part of FOX’s Fox Kids
programming block, plus a crossover episode with Saban’s other program at the
time, Power
Rangers in Space. However,
the series failed to perform well in the ratings. Since FOX didn’t own the show
or the characters and didn’t receive as much profit from airing it, they saw no
reason to continue financing its production. It was the first time the Turtles
had been off the air for an extended period of time since the debut of the first
animated series in 1987. The show has largely been ignored in
Turtles continuity, and co-creator Peter Laird has gone
on record with his hatred of the Venus character. In the years since its
cancellation, it has aired internationally almost consistently, finally
returning to the United States in 2013 when the now-defunct Hub
Network aired it on Saturday mornings.
For the history of the Turtles, check out the post here.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles dominated
most of the 80s and 90s. But, like with many other franchises, its popularity
soon began to wane even if it didn’t fade out completely.
Donatello as a cyborg.
By 1996, Image Comics had taken
up publication of the comic series, launching a third volume
notable for its emphasis on action and the physical damage inflicted on the
main cast (Leonardo lost a hand, Raphael an eye, Donatello had his body smashed
and replaced with a robotic one, etc.). That same year, the long-running
animated series had finally come to a close. It wouldn’t be long for the
Turtles to return to the airwaves, however, as the following year saw the debut
of the live-action Ninja Turtles: The Next Mutationby Saban Entertainment.
The show loosely followed the continuity of the three live-action movies and
introduced the maligned fifth Turtle, Venus de Milo (often
credited as the first female Turtle, but in actuality was preceded three years
earlier by April O’Neil being
mutated in Archie Comics’ 1994
Winter Special). The show was cancelled after its only season, marking the
first time in a decade the Turtles didn’t have a show.
New looks for Leonardo, Donatello, Raphael, Michelangelo,
In 2002, Mirage Studios
entered into a partnership with 4Kids Entertainment
to bring the Turtles back to television with a new animated series after a proposed CGI series with
Rainbow Studios failed to catch
on. The series was a complete departure from its predecessor with stories
presented in a more serious and action-oriented manner, as well as introduced the
element of magic for the first time. Greater care was taken to adhere to the
original Mirage comics across each title in the Turtles universe to the point that many early episodes were direct
adaptations. Storylines also progressed for entire seasons, leaving noticeable
emotional scars on the characters as they continued to evolve throughout the
series.
Ninja Turtles for a new Century.
For the most part, the Turtles maintained the personality traits
audiences had come to know and expect from the various media. Leonardo (Mike
Sinterniklaas) was the team leader and the most balanced of the four—at least
until the stresses of leadership led him to develop rage issues later on.
Donatello (Sam Riegel) was the resident genius who was constantly upgrading and
improving the Turtles’ gear, and sometimes lost all focus to his latest
project. Raphael (Frank Frankson) was still the impetuous hothead who struck
first and thought later, although he tried to work on his anger issues.
Michelangelo (Wayne Grayson) was the fun-loving goof of the group, and the only
one that maintained the surfer slang that the previous cartoon made synonymous
with the franchise. Michelangelo even adopted the superhero identity Turtle
Titan and often teamed-up with real superheroes.
Casey and April.
Splinter (Darren Dunstan) was restored to being the pet rat of martial
artist Hamato Yoshi
(Eric Stuart), whereas the
two characters were combined in the previous series. For the first time outside
of the comics, the Turtles’ first human ally, April O’Neil (Veronica Taylor),
was depicted as the lab assistant to psychopathic scientist Baxter Stockman (Scott Williams). Stockman,
notable for turning into a fly in the last series, went through the entire show
putting his mind from one cybernetic body to another. Casey Jones (Marc
Thompson), the Turtles’ other primary human ally, was also depicted as being
closer to his comics counterpart. Although April initially couldn’t stand
Casey, the two would become romantically involved and eventually marry in the
series finale.
Utrom Shredder.
Once again, the Turtles’ primary antagonists were the Foot Clan led by the Shredder (Scottie Ray), however the
Shredder had undergone significant changes for the series with input from
co-creator Peter Laird.
The Shredder the Turtles first encounter turned out to be an alien Utrom named Ch’rell, who
wore a humanoid exo-suit to disguise his appearance. He was a prisoner that
escaped the Utroms when their ship crash-landed on Earth during the Sengoku period
of Japan and adopted the legend of a demon Shredder for his new identity, as
well as the human guise of Oroku Saki.
Tengu Shredder.
That demon Shredder, also known as the Tengu Shredder, had possessed
Oroku Saki, the most powerful ninja in Japan, before he was defeated by the Ninja
Tribunal and sealed away. Shredder’s followers continually sought to
resurrect him, but the Tribunal remained steadfast to prevent that from
happening through the ages. The Tribunal was comprised of Kon-Shisho (David Zen Masley), Ninjitsu
master of Spirit; Juto-Shisho (Thompson), Ninjitsu master of Weapons; Chikara-Shisho (Lenore Zann), Ninjitsu master of
Strength; Hisomi-Shisho,
Ninjitsu master of Stealth; and the Ancient One (David Chen), who had trained
Yoshi.
Cyber-Shredder.
The final shredder was known as Cyber-Shredder. Cyber-Shredder was an
engram of Ch’rell locked in a Foot data vault until the living computer virus Viral (Eva Christensen) set it free.
Cyber-Shredder sought to escape cyberspace and worked at making a portal to do
so.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles was
initially pitched to Warner Bros. to be
broadcast on one of their networks. WB, however, passed on the series and
instead it debuted on February 8, 2003, on FOX
as part of their FoxBox
programming block. FoxBox replaced the original FOX Kids block when 4Kids
entered into an agreement with FOX to lease the Saturday morning hours from the
network and handle all of the programming. In 2005, the block was renamed 4Kids
TV for the remainder of its run.
Hun and the Purple Dragons.
The first season introduced the Turtles and their world to the viewers,
while slowly established their rivalry with the Foot Clan. Introduced for the
first time in animated form was the Purple Dragons
street gang (although a similar, yet unnamed, gang did appear in the 1987
series) led by Hun (Greg Carey & Mansley), who
was created for the series and named after Attila the Hun. Hun was the
primary antagonist of Casey and often worked with the Utrom Shredder. In an
unproduced episode, Hun was revealed as being the formerly conjoined twin of
original series villain Garbageman
(Mike Pollock). Casey’s neighborhood
friend Angel (Tara Jayne & Carrie Keranen) was featured as
a potential recruit for the Dragons, which Casey put a stop to. Also introduced
were the Guardians: a
team of humans charged with protecting the Utroms on Earth.
Leonardo and Karai.
The second season featured the Triceratons, an army
of rhinoceros-like aliens, who factored more prominently into the series than
they did in the 1987 show, as well as Professor Honeycutt, aka the Fugitoid (Oliver Wyman). The season saw
the debut of Shredder’s adopted daughter Karai (Karen Neil), who had a conflicted
and potentially romantic relationship with Leonardo as she went back and forth
between friendship with the Turtles and loyalty to the Foot. Season 3
introduced new antagonist John
Bishop (Mansley), the head of the anti-alien Earth Protection Force who
would use any means he saw fit to accomplish his mission; including siding with
Stockman. The fourth season would explore Leonardo’s psychological damage as
well as lay the groundwork for the debut of the Tengu Shredder and the Ninja
Tribunal. The episode “Insane in the Membrane” was initially banned in the
United States due to content issues, particularly Stockman drowning, and
although it was released to DVD it wouldn’t be seen until a Nicktoons Channel marathon in 2015.
For season five, the plan was to continue with the Ninja Tribunal
storyline. However, in the face of declining ratings, it was decided to bump up
season six instead. Subtitled Fast
Forward, the season saw the Turtles accidentally shunted to the year 2105
by Cody Jones (Christopher C. Adams), the
descendant of Casey and April. The future saw Bishop, surviving through
cloning, as having changed his stance on aliens and become the president of the
Pan Galactic Alliance, as well as the threats of Darius Dunn (Mansley)
and Sh’Okonabo (Sean Schemmel). Dunn was the CEO
of O’Neil Tech who sought to eliminate Cody, the rightful owner, and take
complete control of it while also using the company for illegal enterprises.
Sh’Okanabo was an alien shapeshifter who had dark plans for Earth and used
seeds to create loyal Kanabo
to help him achieve it. This season also introduced sentient computer virus Viral (Eva Christensen) and mercenary Torbin Zixx (David Elliott). Another
ten-episode season set in the future was planned, but ultimately scrapped in
mid-production. An animatic
for the first proposed episode was initially released though the 4Kids
website before making its way to YouTube.
The title and basic plot for “The Incredible Shrinking Serling”, which focused
on Cody’s robotic butler Serling (Thompson), was later recycled and reused with
some alteration during the final season.
Mystic-powered Turtles.
Meanwhile, production on the Tribunal season continued with producers
deciding to release it directly to DVD. However, 4Kids signed a deal with Comcast
to air the season on Comcast-On-Demand beginning August, 2006. Fans became
confused at which was the true season five, not that it mattered for long as
Comcast stopped airing the episodes after the first five. Plans for a DVD were
resumed with a tentative 2007 release date, but ultimately 4Kids decided to air
it on television beginning in February of 2008. Promoted as The Lost Episodes, the series focused on
the Turtles learning mystic arts they’d need to combat the return of the Tengu
Shredder. One episode, “Nightmares Recycled”, was cancelled by 4Kids for being
too violent. The episode would have shown the separation of Hun and Garbageman
as infants by a back-alley surgeon and Garbageman subsequently being discarded.
The final season was subtitled Back
to the Sewers and returned the Turtles to the present. 4Kids wanted to
bring the series closer in tone and style to the recently-released 2007 movie TMNT, which was a
loose continuation of the movie franchise (ignoring Next Mutation).
4Kids pitched an idea called “Superworld” that would focus on a card game;
however, Laird shot it down. 4Kids then pitched TMNT Overload that would involve a glitch bringing the Turtles’
younger selves with them to the present.Mirage
liked that one, but Playmates Toys
hated it. Playmates attempted to make their own pitch that would introduce
elements from the movies, previous show and the Archie Comics run, but that,
too, was rejected. By October of 2007, the three parties had agreed on a
direction which infused elements from the “Overload” pitch. The season focused
on the Turtles trying to find pieces of Splinter in cyberspace while dealing
with the rising threat of the Cyber-Shredder after Viral interfered with their
return to the present. Following the series finale, “Wedding Bells and Bytes”,
a series of 13 shorts called “chapters” aired during episodes of Ninja Turtles and Chaotic: M’Arrillian Invasion after being streamed on the 4Kids
website the week prior. The shorts were later edited together and aired as a
new episode, “Mayhem from Mutant Island”, the following year.
Cyber-armor.
In December of 2008, the 4Kids TV block was ended. FOX was no longer able
to guarantee sufficient coverage for it by affiliates in places where FOX
networks refused to air it, and subsequently decided to use the four-hour time
frame for something other than children’s programming due to increased
competition. 4Kids had also defaulted on paying FOX for the time lease for some
time. As a result, Ninja Turtles moved
to The CW for its final season as part of The CW4Kids programming block,
which, as the name implied, was also run by 4Kids. The block was the replacement
for Kids’ WB, which was
ended due to children’s advertising limits and competition from cable.
The new character designs for the Turtles' final season.
The show received mixed reviews from fans; those familiar with the comics
praised its faithfulness to the material, but fans of the original series
weren’t happy with the numerous differences between the two shows. Although the
series performed well, it was ultimately ended by Laird selling off the
franchise to Nickelodeon (co-creator Kevin Eastman had sold off his
shares of the franchise back in 2000). 4Kids’ final entry in the Turtles
franchise was the TV movie Turtles
Forever, which celebrated the franchise’s 25th anniversary by
teaming up their Turtles with the 1987 and original black and white Mirage
comic versions.
The Dreamwave comic.
Dreamwave Productions
published a series
of comics based on the show in 2003. The first four issues were adaptations
of the first four episodes told from the perspectives of the supporting
characters. The series, written by Peter
David and drawn by Lesean Thomas, was
cancelled after seven issues due to a poor reception and sales. David had
completed #8 and plotted #9-10, and Thomas had done some initial work on #8. That
material saw publication in 2007 as bonus content in Titan Books’ TMNT Volume 2: Out of the Shadowstrade paperback.
“Things Change” (2/8/03) – Training is interrupted by Mouser robots
attacking their lair, separating the Turtles and Splinter in the chaos.
“A Better Mousetrap” (2/15/03) – The Turtles find a new lair and trace
the Mousers to Baxter Stockman, whom his former apprentice April O’Neil is
currently fleeing.
“Attack of the Mousers” (2/22/03) – April befriends the Turtles and
they dedicate themselves to taking down Stockman and his Mousers.
“Meet Casey Jones” (3/1/03) – After almost seriously hurting
Michelangelo in anger, Raphael takes to the streets where he meets someone with
similar rage problems: Casey Jones.
“Nano” (3/8/03) – A small-time crook stumbles upon nanotechnology and
goes on a crime spree; eventually setting his sights on April’s antique shop.
“Darkness on the Edge of Town” (3/15/03) – Investigating a blackout
leads the Turtles to encounter the Foot Clan stealing artifacts.
“The Way of Invisibility” (3/22/03) – Raphael and Casey get taken down
by the Foot Tech Ninja, whose cyber-armor allows them to turn invisible.
“Fallen Angel” (3/29/03) – Casey tries to keep his longtime friend,
Angel, from joining the Purple Dragons.
“Garbageman” (4/5/03) – Investigating the disappearance of homeless
around the city leads the Turtles to an island ruled by the Garbageman.
“The Shredder Strikes, Part 1” (4/12/03) – Leonardo is offered a truce
by the Foot to fight against a greater evil, but his brothers convince him to
consult with Splinter first.
“The Shredder Strikes, Part 2” (4/19/03) – The Turtles meet the
Shredder and flee the foot while Splinter prepares to aid his sons.
“The Unconvincing Turtle Titan” (5/3/03) – Michelangelo becomes a
superhero and teams-up with his inspiration, Silver Sentry.
“Notes from the Underground, Part 1” (5/10/03) – Examining strange
crystals lead the Turtles to discover an abandoned Foot genetics lab deep
underground.
“Notes from the Underground, Part 2” (5/17/03) – The Turtles find and
befriend past genetic experiments in the lab and aid them against their
mindless counterparts.
“Notes from the Underground, Part 3” (5/24/03) – The Turtles and the
Mutants discover an ancient subterranean city whose sole occupant promises to
help the Mutants—but will he?
“The King” (5/31/03) – While the Turtles are staying with April,
Donatello meets her mysterious tenant Kirby who has the ability to open portals
to other worlds.
“The Shredder Strikes Back, Part 1” (6/7/03) – Leonardo stumbles upon
the Foot and Hun and soon comes afoul of the Foot Elite and the Shredder.
“The Shredder Strikes Back, Part 2” (6/14/03) – A battered Leonardo is
used as an opening salvo for an all-out Foot assault on April’s apartment.
“Tales of Leo” (9/13/03) – The Turtles escape the city to recuperate
at Casey’s grandmother’s farmhouse while sharing stories about Leonardo.
“The Monster Hunter” (9/20/03) – The Turtles try to keep busy on the
farm while Michelangelo, Donatello and Casey deal with monster hunter Abigail
Finn in the woods.
“Return to New York, Part 1” (9/27/03) – Shredder is caught unprepared
by an all-out assault from the Turtles, whom he believed had been destroyed.
“Return to New York, Part 2” (10/4/03) – The Turtles face mutant
clones, Foot Mystic Ninjas, and Stockman in an exosuit.
“Return to New York, Part 3” (10/11/03) – The Turtles and Shredder
hold a truce long enough to deal with Stockman before turning on each other.
“Lone Raph and Cub” (10/18/03) – When Splinter goes missing, Raphael
sets out to find him on his own and ends up having to help a kid against a gang
of mobsters.
“The Search for Splinter, Part 1” (10/25/03) – The Turtles learn TCRI,
the company that created the ooze, may be responsible for Splinter’s
disappearance and infiltrate their HQ.
“The Search for Splinter, Part 2” (11/1/03) – The Turtles find
Splinter in the TCRI lab, but end up transported into space while rescuing him.
Season 2:
“Turtles in Space, Part 1: The Fugitoid” (11/8/03) – On the planet
D’Hoonnib, the Turtles team-up with the Fugitoid to prevent the Federation from
conquering the galaxy.
“Turtles in Space, Part 2: The Trouble with Triceratons” (11/15/03) –
While trying to get off D’Hoonnib, the Turtles learn the Triceratons also want
Fugitoid.
“Turtles in Space, Part 3: The Big House” (11/22/03) – The Triceratons
threaten the lives of the Turtles unless Fugitoid makes them a teleportation
device.
“Turtles in Space, Part 4: The Arena” (11/29/03) – The Turtles are
captured trying to escape and put into the Games where they befriend fellow
prisoner Traximus.
“Turtles in Space, Part 5: Triceraton Wars” (12/6/03) – The Turtles
take Prime Leader Zanramon hostage and ask Fugitoid to build the portal to send
them home.
“Secret Origins, Part 1” (1/17/04) – The Utroms send the Turtles and
Fugitoid to Earth and allow them to learn about their first crash-landing on
Earth and an early encounter with the Shredder.
“Secret Origins, Part 2” (1/24/04) – Stockman attacks TCRI and
sabotages the oracle pod chamber, trapping the Turtles with an all-too-real
feudal era Shredder and the Foot Clan.
“Secret Origins, Part 3” (1/31/04) – The Turtles escape the oracle
chamber only to find the TCRI building under siege by the Foot.
“Reflections” (2/14/04) – The Turtles head back to the farm to
recuperate and discuss what it means knowing that Shredder is now a centuries-old
criminal Utrom.
“The Ultimate Ninja” (2/7/04) – While out getting ice cream for their
movie night, Leonardo encounters a ninja from another dimension and is
challenged to a duel.
“The Return of Nano” (2/21/04) – Nano reforms and abducts Harry Parker
and Dr. Richards to form his own family.
“What a Croc!” (2/28/04) – While exploring the underwater access way
to the lair, Michelangelo and Donatello encounter Leatherhead.
“Return to the Underground” (3/6/04) – The Turtles return to the
subterranean city to help their mutant friends, but discover their friends have
reverted back to monsters.
“City at War, Part 1” (3/13/04) – The Foot, the Purple Dragons and the
mob attempt to fill in the void left by Shredder.
“City at War, Part 2” (3/20/04) – When Karai comes to New York, the
Turtles have no choice but to ally with her when they end up caught in the
middle of the turf war.
“City at War, Part 3” (3/27/04) – Karai offers to stop the turf war if
the Turtles will help her take Shredder’s place, but Raphael wants no part of
the plan.
“Junklantis” (4/3/04) – Testing out the new Shell Sub leads Donatello
and Michelangelo to discover Garbageman’s newest lair and scheme.
“The Golden Puck” (4/10/04) – The Turtles help Casey retrieve the
golden puck from the clutches of Mr. Arboost.
“Rogue in the House, Part 1” (4/17/04) – Shredder returns and Hun
supplies him with an army of Foot Mechs to enact his revenge.
“Rouge in the House, Part 2” (4/24/04) – Half the Turtles end up
captured and Karai has to decide if she’ll honor her promise to the Turtles or
obey Shredder.
“April’s Artifact” (5/1/04) – While finishing up restoring her antique
shop, April comes across a puzzle box that sends her and the Turtles to another
dimension.
“Return of the Justice Force” (5/8/04) – Taking a respite to the farm,
Michelangelo’s hunt for a Justice Force issue
puts the team in an adventure with the real Justice Force.
“The Big Brawl, Part 1” (5/15/04) – The Turtles discover Splinter
regularly participates in an interdimensional battle tournament and persuade
him to let them enter.
“The Big Brawl, Part 2” (9/18/04) – The Turtles work their way through
the fighting ranks while sinister happenings go on outside of the battle arena.
“The Big Brawl, Part 3” (9/25/04) – Splinter is framed for the attack
on the Ultimate Daimyo and the Turtles end up pitted against each other as
punishment.
“The Big Brawl, Part 4” (10/2/04) – Michelangelo becomes the champion
while the Turtles learn the Daimyo’s son and Drako orchestrated the whole
ordeal to get revenge on Splinter and Leo.
Season 3:
“Space Invaders, Part 1” (10/9/04) – The Triceratons attack Earth,
believing Fugitoid is still there.
“Space Invaders, Part 2” (10/16/04) – Donatello is captured by the
Triceratons and the Turtles steal one of their ships to mount a rescue.
“Space Invaders, Part 3” (10/23/04) – Traximus leads a faction of
rebel Triceratons and the Turtles join him to help overthrow their current
leader.
“Worlds Collide, Part 1” (10/30/04) – Fugitoid returns to Earth and
intends to offer himself to the Treiceratons.
“Worlds Collide, Part 2” (11/6/04) – Agent Bishop captures the Turtles
and Fugitoid, and after turning Fugitoid over experiments on the Turtles.
“Worlds Collide, Part 3” (11/13/04) – Casey, April and Splinter launch
a rescue while Traximus continues his rebellion.
“Touch and Go” (11/20/04) – While Splinter and Michelangelo deal with
super-powered assassins, Raphael is chased through the streets by an
alien-hating mob.
“Hunted” (11/27/04) – Mr. Marlin hunts a crocodile rumored to be
living in the sewers and discovers Leatherhead.
“H.A.T.E.” (12/4/04) – Violent alien-hating survivalists encounter the
Turtles and Casey’s mother threatens his relationship with April.
“Nobody’s Fool” (12/11/04) – Leonardo and Michelangelo attempt to help
the heroic Nobody.
“New Blood” (1/22/05) – Investigating a crashed Triceraton ship pits
the Turtles against Karai-Bots created by Stockman’s apprentice
“The Lesson” (12/18/04) – The Turtles refuse to train April,
recounting their disastrous first attempt as teachers.
“The Christmas Aliens” (12/25/04) – Michelangelo attempts to stop the
Purple Dragons from stealing a truck full of toys at Christmas time.
“The Darkness Within” (1/29/05) – Angel asks the Turtles to help find
her missing brother, and their search leads them to a monster that forces them
to face their greatest fear.
“Mission of Gravity” (2/5/05) – While the Turtles attempt to lower
Beijing back to Earth, Karai seeks out their help to save innocents endangered
by Stockman wanting to kill Dr. Chaplin.
“The Entity Below” (2/12/05) – The Turtles return to the subterranean
city when Donatello’s crystals glow at the same time as an earthquake.
“Time Travails” (2/19/05) – Renet takes the Turtles on a time
adventure to stop demon sorcerer Savanti Remaro from escaping his exile.
“Hun on the Run” (2/26/05) – Agent Bishop captures Karai and Shredder
sends Hun to retrieve her.
“Reality Check” (3/5/05) – The Ultimate Ninja and Drako merge into one
being and use Lord Simultaneous’ time scepter to send the Turtles to other
dimensions.
“Across the Universe” (3/12/05) – Raphael ends up in a world with
alien motorcycle races and tries to teach them how to race with honor.
“Same As it Never Was” (3/17/05) – Donatello ends up in a dystopian
future ruled by the Shredder and seeks out his family to dethrone the despot.
“The Real World, Part 1” (3/26/05) – Leonardo ends up in a feudal
Japan-like world of anthropomorphic samurai animals, including Usagi Yojimbo.
“The Real World, Part 2” (4/2/05) – Usagi takes Leonardo to the Battle
Nexus to seek aid from the Ultimate Daimyo.
“Bishop’s Gambit” (4/9/05) – Bishop takes some of Splinter’s DNA,
leading the Turtles to raid his lab and discover his plans.
“Exodus, Part 1” (4/16/05) – The Shredder plans to leave Earth and
wreak havoc on other worlds.
“Exodus, Part 2” (4/23/05) – Stowing away on Shredder’s ship after a
defeat, the Turtles try to come up with a desperate final plan.
Season 4:
“Cousin Sid” (9/10/05) – The Turtles head to the farm to heal, but
Casey’s cousin Sid shows up looking for money to pay back to the Purple
Dragons.
“The People’s Choice” (9/17/05) – An alien crashes near the farm and
the Turtles seek to aid her in her fight when her opponent shows up with an
unfair advantage.
“Sons of the Silent Age” (10/1/05) – April’s confrontation with
Leonardo over his newfound rage is cut short when a mutated fish creature possesses
her.
“Dragon’s Brew” (10/8/05) – Leonardo recruits Casey to go up against
the Purple Dragons to stop their weapon shipment hijackings.
“I, Monster” (10/15/05) – Training is interrupted when the Rat King
attacks and takes Michelangelo captive.
“Grudge Match” (10/22/05) – Michelangelo is challenged for a rematch
for his champion title over an unfair advantage, but his opponent’s father sets
one of his own.
“A Wing and a Prayer” (9/25/05) – The Turtles get involved in a
conflict between angelic Avians to prevent their city from conquering Earth.
“Bad Day” (11/5/05) – A series of misfortunes befalls the Turtles,
leading up to an all-out assault by a collection of their foes.
“Aliens Among Us” (11/12/05) – Bishop engineers a fake alien invasion
in order to keep the President from cutting the funding of the Earth Protection
Force.
“Dragons Rising” (11/19/05) – The Turtles and Casey try to figure out
a way to stop Hun from expanding the Purple Dragons’ influence.
“Still Nobody” (11/26/05) – Nobody comes to the Turtles for help in
stopping a Purple Dragons arms sale and his old foe, Ruffington.
“All Hallows Thieves” (10/29/05) – Halloween is interrupted when a
thief steals something from April’s shop that can open a portal and unleash a
threat on the city.
“Samurai Tourist” (12/3/05) – Splinter invites Usagi and Murakami
Gennosuke to speak with Leonardo, and Gennosuke gets lost exploring the city.
“The Ancient One” (12/10/05) – After injuring Splinter, Leonardo heads
to Japan to study under the Ancient One who once trained Hamato Yoshi.
“Scion of the Shredder” (2/4/06) – The Shredder returns and launches
an assault on the Turtles’ lair.
“Prodigal Son” (2/11/06) – Leonardo returns home to witness the
destruction and discovers Karai is no longer their ally.
“Outbreak” (2/18/06) – Bishop’s fake aliens combine with the
inhabitants of the sewers, creating a new mutant outbreak.
“Trouble with Augie” (2/25/06) – April gets a message from her Uncle
Augie trapped in another dimension and uses the puzzle box to rescue him.
“Insane in the Membrane” (10/14/06 UK, 8/2/15 US) – Stockman puts
himself in a new body and is driven insane to the point of believing April is
the cause of all his problems.
“Return of Savanti, Part 1” (3/11/06) – Romero lures the Turtles and
Renet into a trap in order to steal the time scepter.
“Return of Savanti, Part 2” (3/18/06) – The Turtles and Renet fight
against Savanti and his dinosaur minions while he tries to prevent their
inevitable extinction.
“Tale of Master Yoshi” (3/4/06) – During a blackout, Leonardo shares a
story he heard about Hamato Yoshi.
“Adventures in Turtle Sitting” (3/25/06) – Donatello undergoes a
second mutation while Bishop rescues Stockman’s brain and puts it into a new
body.
“Good Genes, Part 1” (4/1/06) – Bishop offers a cure for Donatello in
exchange for the Turtles stealing a piece of technology from the Foot.
“Good Genes, Part 2” (4/8/06) – The Turtles retrieve the Heart of
Tengu for Bishop, but it turns out he doesn’t have a cure after all.
“Ninja Tribunal” (4/15/06) – The Turtles are abducted and placed
before a Ninja Tribunal composed of four beings that resemble Shredder in order
to combat a greater evil.
Season 5:
“Lap of the Gods” (2/16/08) – The Turtles and their allies begin their
training to face the coming evil.
“Demons and Dragons” (2/23/08) – After securing the first of the
Tribunal’s lost artifacts, the Turtles learn the great evil is the spirit of
the true Shredder.
“Legend of the Five Dragons” (3/1/08) – Splinter and the Ancient One
doubt the intentions of the Tribunal and explain their origin to the Turtles.
“More Worlds Than One” (3/8/08) – The Turtles prepare to retrieve the
next artifact guarded by nasty tengu demons.
“Beginning of the End” (3/15/08) – The Turtles return with the second
artifact in time for them and the Tribunal to fall under attack.
“Nightmares Recycled” (N/A) – Raphael, Donatello, Casey and April come
up against the Garbage man again and learn he and Hun are actually brothers.
“Membership Drive” (3/24/08) – Michelangelo wants to join the Justice
Force as Turtle Titan, but things go awry when Bishop and Stockman unleash Nano
into the world again.
“New World Order, Part 1” (3/29/08) – The Foot Mystics resurrect the
original Shredder in order to have him dispose of Karai and achieve his goal of
world chaos.
“New World Order, Part 2” (4/5/08) – The Turtles use all their new
training to protect Karai from the Shredder.
“Past and Present” (4/9/08) – The Turtles and Karai team-up to
redirect Shredder’s life-force energy against him using mystical kystones
around the city.
“Enter the Dragons, Part 1” (4/26/08) – The Turtles are forced to
team-up with the Purple Dragons to prevent Shredder’s influence from expanding
beyond the city.
“Enter the Dragons, Part 2” (5/3/08) – The final battle comes down to
the Turtles focusing their own energies to become mystic avatars in the form of
dragons.
Season 6:
“Future Shellshock” (7/29/06) – The Turtles and Splinter are
accidentally whisked to the year 2105 by the descendant of Casey and April:
Cody Jones.
“Obsolete” (8/5/06) – Cody takes the Turtles to O’Neil Tech to try and
fix the time window, but Darius Dunn sees them and wants the Turtles for study.
“Home Invasion” (8/12/06) – Living computer virus Viral takes over
Cody’s building and turns his holographic dojo into a very real death trap.
“Headlock Prime” (9/30/06) – Attending a wrestling match pits Raphael
and Leonardo against banned three-headed wrestler-turned-criminal Triple
Threat.
“Playtime’s Over” (10/7/06) – While shopping for the sequel to
Michelangelo’s favorite game, the Street Phantoms hijack the shipment of the
game and frame the Turtles for it.
“Bishop to Knight” (10/14/06) – A reformed Agent Bishop enlists the
Turtles’ help in tracking down mercenary Torbin Zixx.
“Night of Sh’Okanabo” (10/21/06) – A horror movie festival turns real
when Sh’Okanabo attacks.
“Clash of the Turtle Titans” (10/28/06) – Michelangelo sets out to
find who usurped his Turtle Titan identity.
“Fly Me to the Moon” (11/4/06) – Cody and the Turtles head to the moon
to find a rare alloy and encounter Dunn’s goons.
“Invasion of the Bodyjacker!” (11/11/06) – Jammerhead takes over
Dunn’s body to learn O’Neil Tech’s secrets, and reveals a cover weapons program
to the Turtles.
“The Freaks Come Out at Night” (11/25/06) – The Turtles discover
Michelangelo has been implanted by one of Sh’Okanabo’s gene-seeds, turning him
into a Kanabo drone.
“Bad Blood” (12/2/06) – Sh’Okanabo supplies Dunn with Kanabo
duplicates of the Turtles, and with Splinter and Serling arrested it’s up to
Cody to rescue them.
“The Journal” (12/9/06) – The Turtles discover Casey and April’s
journal amongst Cody’s things.
“The Gaminator” (12/16/06) – A new game console sucks the Turtles into
the game as part of a trap set up by Viral.
“Graduation Day: Class of 2105” (3/24/07) – The Turtles try to speed
tutor Michelangelo so that he can advance in rank with the rest of them.
“Timing is Everything” (3/31/07) – Sh’Okanabo tests his time window,
setting a time storm loose on the city.
“Enter the Jammerhead” (4/7/07) – Jammerhead gets a new chip that
allows him to download any fighting style and sets out after the Turtles.
“Milk Run” (4/14/07) – Zixx recruits the Turtles to help him smuggle
humanitarian aid supplies past the Triceratons.
“The Fall of Darius Dunn” (4/21/07) – Cody discovers Dunn’s weapons
program and battles him for final control over the company.
“Turtle X-Tinction” (4/28/07) – A virus implanted in Cody’s armor by
Dunn sets it out after the Turtles and Cody.
“Race for Glory” (9/8/07) – The Turtles enter a cross-country race
that Triple Threat decides to crash in order to steal all the cars.
“Head of State” (9/15/07) – Bishop recruits the Turtles to investigate
mysterious underground monsters only to be kidnapped by Stockman.
“DNA is Thicker Than Water” (10/6/07) – To get back in Dunn’s favor,
Dark Leonardo decides to invade the Turtles from within but has second thoughts
after spending time with them.
“The Cosmic Completist” (10/13/07) – Raphael finds himself having to
think like a geek to beat Aramzedo, the ultimate collector.
“The Day of Awakening” (10/20/07) – The Turtles head to Moonbase
Bishop to stop Sh’Okanabo’s plans only to discover an upgraded Sh’Okanabo
waiting.
“Zixxth Sense” (10/27/07) – Zixx asks the Turtles to help him retrieve
a device he gave to the Triceratons to pay off a debt.
Unproduced season:
“Master Fighter 2105” (5/11/09*) – Viral brings the Master Fighter
from the Turtles’ favorite film to life, and Master Fighter believes the
Turtles are his foes from the movie’s plot.
*First uploaded online.
“Something Wicked” (N/A) – A Triceraton freighter comes afoul of the
Utrom Shredder on an asteroid, and he takes their ship to head back to Earth
for revenge.
“Bounty Huntin’” (N/A) – Zixx and Boss Zucko work out a scheme to have
Zixx turned over to various gangs for reward money, and then tricking the
Turtles into rescuing him each time.
“Turtles, Turtles Everywhere” (N/A) – The Dark Turtles turn to the
Turtles for help when Dunn sends his new Tech Turtles after them to test them
out.
“Law and Disorder” (N/A) – Jammerhead reprograms Constable Biggles to
go after the Turtles, setting the whole police force after them.
“The Devil and Dr. Stockman” (N/A) – Stockman joins the Turtles for
the Intergalactic Science Expo, but Shredder attacks their ship and strands
them on a hostile planet.
“The Incredible Shrinking Serling” (N/A) – The Turtles and Cody use
Serling in various experiments to find a way back to their own time.
“A Question of Honor” (N/A) – The Turtles team-up with Usagi.
“City Under Siege / Con Space” (N/A) – Triple Threat hijacks the
prison transport and rallies all the prisoners against the city, forcing Bishop
to consider calling on the Turtle Titan for help.
“Homeward Bound” (N/A) – As their enemies close in, Donatello has to
fix the time window in order to rescue Cody who has flickered out of existence.
Season 7:
“Tempus Fugit” (9/13/08) – Viral interferes with the Turtles’ return
home, splitting Splinter up into data-bits through cyberspace with a
Cyber-Shredder lurking around.
“Karate Schooled” (9/20/08) – Returning a year after they left, the Turtles
try to acclimate to their new reality while Donatello works on a device to save
Splinter.
“Something Wicked” (9/27/08) – Cyber-Shredder prevents the Turtles
from effectively rescuing Splinter in cyberspace.
“The Engagement Ring” (10/4/08) – Casey is given a ring that he in
turn gives to April, which proceeds to cause the evil in her to grow and change
her into a monster.
“Hacking Stockman” (10/18/08) – Donatello is forced to give up the
search for Splinter when Cyber-Shredder takes over Stockman’s body.
“Incredible Shrinking Serling” (10/25/08) – Serling sends the Turtles
away to work on his own time window, but it backfires and shrinks him down
before sending him into the past.
“Identity Crisis” (11/1/08) – Cyber-Shredder infects the Turtles with
a virus that wipes their memories and has them working for the Foot.
“Web Wranglers” (11/8/08) – Cyber-Shredder develops a portal to escape
cyberspace, sending animals through it that mutate and attack the city.
“SuperQuest” (11/15/08) – The Turtles enter Michelangelo’s favorite
video game to retrieve more of Splinter, and Hun unknowingly aids them while
playing the same game.
“Virtual Reality Check” (11/22/08) – The Turtles think they escape
cyberspace and destroy the portal, but soon discover they’ve fallen for
Cyber-Shredder’s trap.
“City Under Siege” (11/29/08) – Cyber-Shredder hacks the city’s
electrical grid, effectively taking it over.
“Super Power Struggle” (2/21/09) – Michelangelo finds a cape and gives
it to Raphael to be Turtle Titan’s sidekick, not knowing it was the powered
cape of the Green Mantle.
“Wedding Bells and Bytes” (2/28/09) – The Turtles reassemble Splinter,
but Cyber-Shredder planted a tracer in his data bits and tracks it to crash
April and Casey’s wedding.
“Mayhem From Mutant Island” (3/27/10*) – A monster attack leads the
Turtles to a remote island where they discover Stockman has been creating them
to unleash on the world.
*Originally aired as a series
of shorts from March 7-May 23, 2009.
