Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2003 TV series) explained

Runtime:21–23 minutes
Developer:Lloyd Goldfine
Producer:JoEllyn Marlow
Company:Mirage Studios
4Kids Entertainment
Theme Music Composer:Norman J. Grossfeld
Russell Velazquez
Country:United States
Language:English
Network:Fox (season 1–6)
The CW (season 7)
Num Seasons:7
Num Episodes:155 (List of episodes)
Related:Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1987–1996)
Turtles Forever (2009)
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2012-2017)

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (also known as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Ninja Tribunal, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Fast Forward, and TMNT: Back to the Sewer for the fifth, sixth, and seventh and final seasons of the series) is an American animated television series developed by Lloyd Goldfine and based on the characters created by Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird. The series premiered on February 8, 2003, as part of Fox's FoxBox programming block (later known as 4Kids TV) and ended on February 28, 2009.

The series was announced on May 7, 2002. It was co-produced by 4Kids Entertainment (as its first in-house animated production) and franchise creators Mirage Studios,[1] which co-owned rights to the show,[2] with animation provided by the studio Dong Woo.[3]

The series ran for 155 episodes over seven seasons. For its final season in 2008, the show moved from Fox to The CW. 4Kids also licensed the first 40 episodes to Cartoon Network in 2003, and Cartoon Network aired the series until 2007.[4] A sequel film, Turtles Forever, serving as both the series finale of the series and a crossover with the 1987–1996 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles animated series (via the plot element of the multiverse), was released on November 21, 2009.

Series overview

See main article: List of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2003 TV series) episodes.

Seasons 1–4

Compared to the predominantly comedic approach of the 1987 TV series, the 2003 series more closely matches the serious tone of the original comics, with a greater emphasis on action and themes of familial bonds. The series adapts a large scope of story arcs from the comics, with the Turtles' adventures combining elements of both fantasy and science fiction.

The first season starts with the Turtles' Lair being destroyed by Mousers, robots made by Baxter Stockman. On the hunt for a new place to live, the Turtles go topside and run into the Purple Dragons, who they later discover is led by Hun. The Turtles eventually get to the source of the Mousers and rescue April O'Neil, who after this becomes the Turtles' most trusted friend. Halfway through the season, Leonardo is approached by the Foot Clan leader Oroku Saki, later learned to be The Shredder, who funded Baxter's Mouser project and is Hun's master. The Shredder attacks the Turtles and burns down April's home, forcing them, April, and Casey Jones to flee the city. When the Turtles return to New York they confront the Shredder once more and Master Splinter goes missing, leading to the introduction of the Utroms, an alien race secretly living on Earth.

Season Two starts with the brothers being sent into space in the middle of a war between two alien races, the Triceraton Republic and the Federation. Upon returning to Earth, the Turtles learn from the Utroms the origins of the Shredder. This season also introduces Karai, Shredder's daughter and pupil, when she comes to take control of New York during a gang war. The season ends in a four-parter with the Turtles and Splinter taking part in the Battle Nexus tournament.

In Season Three, the Triceratons and Federation bring their war to Earth with the Turtles having to help end the war to save their planet. Agent John Bishop, leader of the Earth Protection Force, is introduced as an independent antagonist fighting both the Turtles and the Foot. The Turtles meet Renet, an apprentice timestress, which leads to them being scattered into different worlds/timelines. The Turtles and their allies then confront Shredder for a final battle when he attempts to leave Earth to wage war upon the cosmos.

Season Four sees the Turtles recovering from their final battle with Shredder, particularly Leonardo who suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder. Karai takes leadership of the Foot, Hun leaves to reform the Purple Dragons into a powerful crime syndicate, and Bishop stages a faux alien invasion to secure funding for the EPF. However, lingering consequences from Bishop's engineered invasion caused an outbreak of mutations in New York.

Ninja Tribunal

See main article: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Ninja Tribunal. Season Five introduces the Ninja Tribunal, a council of ninjitsu demigods who conscript the Turtles as acolytes to protect the world from the original Shredder, a dark evil coming back into being who threatens to set the world into darkness. During this season, the Turtles go through many trials and tribulations on their journey to become the best fighters they can be, eventually tapping into ancient energy to defeat the original Shredder. This would be the last to use the original character designs and animation style with its plot concluding the series' main storyline.

Fast Forward

See main article: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Fast Forward. The sixth season, subtitled "Fast Forward", would retool the series with a new art style and comedic tone. The season's plot focuses on the Turtles being transported about 100 years into the future to the year 2105; where they meet and befriend Cody Jones, the great-grandson of April and Casey. They must also contend with futurist enemies like Sh'Okanabo and his minion Viral as well as dealing with the activities of Cody's greedy and ambitious uncle Darius Dunn.

Back to the Sewer

See main article: TMNT: Back to the Sewer. The series would conclude in the seventh and final season, titled "TMNT: Back to the Sewer", while sporting another redesign for the entire cast based on the designs from the 2007 TMNT film. After returning to the present day, the Turtles must battle a cybernetic version of the Shredder which was the result of Viral merging with the data of the exiled Utrom Shredder. There is also a running subplot centered on the engagement and wedding of April and Casey.

Turtles Forever

See main article: Turtles Forever. The 2009 television film serves as the actual four-part finale to the 2003 series and centers around the Turtles encountering their 1987 animated counterparts, who have accidentally been transported to the 2003 Ninja Turtles' reality. To make matters worse, the 80's Shredder and Krang as well as their minions Bebop and Rocksteady free Ch'rell from his imprisonment as the redesigned Hun and Karai realign themselves with the released Ch'rell.

Characters

See main article: List of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles characters.

Protagonists

Allies

Antagonists

Others

Crew

Production

In May 2002, 4Kids Entertainment announced to produce a new animated Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles TV series for the FoxBox programming block to air on Saturday mornings.[1] The series was renewed for a second season in the summer of 2003; the third in May 2004; the fourth in April 2005. The "Ninja Tribunal" was originally intended to be the fifth and final season of the 2003 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles animated series, but the schedule was changed to try to increase interest in the series, and "Fast Forward" became the fifth season. The "Ninja Tribunal" episodes were scheduled to be released on DVD sometime in early 2007, but 4Kids Entertainment later removed them from their release schedule and the season was promoted in commercials as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Lost Episodes.

Series development was headed by producer Lloyd Goldfine, who had known the Ninja Turtles since the original Mirage Studios comics and declared he "loved the charm of the cartoon", but much preferred the idea of turtles raised to be ninja assassins, and was interested in using said plot while also being family-friendly. Once he heard 4Kids had an interest in the franchise, Goldfine suggested going straight to Mirage for guidance, and then he and other company representatives went to the company's headquarters in Northampton, Massachusetts. Turtles co-creator Peter Laird and Mirage CEO Gary Richardson approved their pitch, and Mirage remained very close during development, with Laird reading every outline and draft of the script, and approving most of the character designs.[5]

Home video

See main article: List of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2003 TV series) home video releases. The series was initially released on DVD by FUNimation Entertainment and 4Kids Home Video in various compilation releases, with pre-2005 releases also available on VHS.

On July 25, 2023, Nickelodeon and Paramount Home Entertainment released the entirety of the 2003 series in a single box set.[6] In addition, the digital versions for all seven seasons are presently available as of May 29, 2023, either individually or in a complete series set.[7]

Merchandise

Playmates Toys produced toys based on the series.[8] [9]

Broadcast history

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles originally aired in the US on Fox for its first six seasons from February 8, 2003, to October 27, 2007. It then aired on The CW for reruns of its first six seasons, its seventh and final season, and Turtles Forever from September 13, 2008, to February 28, 2009.

On November 24, 2003, 4Kids announced that they had licensed the first 40 episodes of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles to Cartoon Network.[4] 4Kids' CEO, Al Kahn, said he was "pleased to be able to broadcast the series with Cartoon Network. Now that we're adding the Cartoon Network audience, we're certain that many more kids across the country will become part of the growing craze and get 'Turtle-ized.'"[4] The show aired on Cartoon Network until March 24, 2007.

Jetix Europe handled pay-TV rights to the series.

Turtles Forever also aired on Nickelodeon on August 24, 2010. The show was eventually broadcast on Nicktoons from 2014 to 2015.

The show (excluding season 5 and Turtles Forever) aired in the Republic of Ireland on RTE Two from September 17, 2003, to 2009.

The series is currently available for streaming on Paramount+,[10] and Pluto TV as part of their "Totally Turtles" channel, which the latter also includes the 2012 series.[11]

Critical reception

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles received widespread acclaim and was commercially successful throughout its first five seasons, receiving wide critical praise for the faithfulness to the source material, the storytelling, character development, action, darker tone, humor, the theme song, background music, voice acting, animation and appeal to all ages. It also garnered high ratings for a 4Kids Saturday morning cartoon and shortly after the premiere became the highest-rated and most popular children's television show in the US. Unleash the Fanboy praised the series for its connection to the comic books in story and tone, and it helps that co-creator Peter Laird was closely involved with the series, making sure things stayed on the right path.

4Kids was known for its controversial history of censoring anime, but the series was acclaimed for trying to follow the dark and gritty tone of the original Mirage comics.[12] However, due to 4Kids having to keep their ratings under PG, the last two seasons of series, Fast Forward and Back to the Sewer, was met with negative reception from fans and critics alike.

Several of the characters introduced in the series would later appear in subsequent publications of the TMNT franchise. Hun was introduced into the Mirage Comics with the issue Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Volume 2 No. 56 in March 2009,[13] and also appears as a recurring figure in the IDW comic series and in the 2012 animated series, as does Agent Bishop. Angel, Ch'rell, Darius Dun, and the Street Phantoms would also be featured in the IDW comics, and the Triceraton Mozar as an antagonist during season 4 of the 2012 series.

Notes and References

  1. Web site: 4kids To Produce And Launch New Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Series. 4kidsentertainment.com. May 7, 2002. August 22, 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20060225092009/http://www.4kidsentertainment.com/docs/news/2002-0517.pdf. February 25, 2006.
  2. Web site: 4Kids Entertainment Annual Report 2002. 5. March 31, 2003. August 25, 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20060208053758/http://www.4kidsentertainment.com/docs/report2002.pdf. February 8, 2006.
  3. Web site: TMNT – Dongwoo Animation Official Site . . May 1, 2008 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20081219141426/http://www.anidong.com/r2/en/co_production/ninja/sum.php . December 19, 2008 .
  4. Web site: 4Kids Entertainment licenses Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles to Cartoon Network. dead. 4kidsentertainment.com. November 24, 2003. https://web.archive.org/web/20051024045920/http://www.4kidsentertainment.com/docs/news/2003-1124.pdf. October 24, 2005.
  5. Web site: NYCC2009: TMNT Animation: 25 and Going Strong . May 16, 2020 . February 5, 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220205133026/https://animesuperhero.com/nycc2009-tmnt-animation-25-and-going-strong/ . live .
  6. Web site: 'Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2003) - the Ultimate Collection' Leaps Onto DVD on July 25 .
  7. Web site: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2003), The Complete Series . June 23, 2023 . June 23, 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230623035312/https://itunes.apple.com/us/tv-season/teenage-mutant-ninja-turtles-2003-the-complete-series/id1678325928 . live .
  8. Web site: Maria. Weiskott. Mass Market Toy Expo Recap — Final. https://web.archive.org/web/20040102145826/http://www.playthings.com:80/article/CA331507/playthings?industry=New+Products&industryid=1218. Playthings. January 2, 2004. October 24, 2003. June 27, 2024.
  9. Web site: Playmates Toys Shell Raising Ninjas are back and ready for world domination!. https://web.archive.org/web/20060811095725/http://www.playmatestoys.com:80/html/corporate/pressreleases/TMNT_Fall%20Announce_FINAL.pdf. Playmates Toys. August 11, 2006. June 27, 2024.
  10. Web site: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. March 4, 2021. Paramount+. February 7, 2003. May 6, 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210506004602/https://www.paramountplus.com/shows/teenage-mutant-ninja-turtles/. live.
  11. Web site: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Is Streaming Live On Pluto TV . April 3, 2021 . June 28, 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220628101515/https://pcmworldnews.com/news/2019/07/teenage-mutant-ninja-turtles-is-streaming-live-on-pluto-tv/ . live .
  12. Web site: Why Does No One Talk About the 2003 Ninja Turtles. Unleasth the Fanboy. en. Patrick Coakley. September 24, 2014. January 15, 2017. October 7, 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20181007143443/http://www.unleashthefanboy.com/news/one-talk-2003-ninja-turtles/118236. live.
  13. Web site: Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Volume Two #56. Miragelicensing. en. March 2009. February 3, 2018. December 31, 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20171231091413/http://www.miragelicensing.com/comics/mirage/talesvol2/56/56.html. live.