Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2003 TV series)

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Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles logo.
Genre	Animated
Creator(s)	Lloyd Goldfine
Starring	Mike Sinterniklaas Wayne Grayson Sam Regal Frank Frankson Darren Dunstan Scottie Ray Veronica Taylor Marc Thompson Scott Williams
Country of origin	United States
No. of episodes	106 aired, 24 unaired (as of August 2006) (List of episodes)
Production
Running time	approx. 0:30
Broadcast
Original channel	Fox
Original run	February 8, 2003 – current

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is an American animated television series set in New York City. It first aired on February 8, 2003 and marked the revival of the franchise by Fox, with the help of 4Kids Entertainment, as a Saturday morning cartoon in Fox's Fox Box programming block (now known as 4Kids TV). The 2003 TMNT animated series was produced by Mirage Studios, which owns one third of the rights to the show. As of October 2005, it is the oldest American animated series on 4Kids TV.

Contents 1 Overview 2 Coloring 3 Fan reactions 4 Fifth Season & Fast Forward 5 Episodes 6 See also 7 External links

[edit] Overview

The 2003 animated series deviates from the 1987 - 1996 animated series significantly. While still a Saturday morning cartoon, the show bears more resemblance to the original, "darker and edgier" comics, published by Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird's Mirage Studios. Gone are a cartoony Shredder and his inept mutant/alien associates. Bebop and Rocksteady, Krang, the Technodrome and Dimension X are all absent from this series since they were not in the original comics and were created for the 1987 animated series, and Shredder is much more menacing and threatening than his previous cartoon incarnation. In addition, there is a main plot and several sub-plots running through the series, revealing hints which will develop as the series unfolds. Although many of the episodes are stand-alone, each usually has a key element that relates to the plot as a whole; furthermore, there are frequent two-to-four-episode continuous stories.

In the 2003 cartoon show, the four Turtles personalities are in someways different from the 1987 cartoon, they are an attempt to follow the Mirage comics more closely. All characters are more fleshed-out and more sensitive, and have a stronger family bond. Leonardo is more skillful and meditative than in the 1987 series (where he was slightly serious, but occasionally does silly things whenever his brothers do); episodes of the 2003 series that focus on The Shredder and ninjitsu also focus on Leonardo. Leonardo's strained yet close relationship with Raphael is an important plot element. Raphael is much angrier and more emotional (in the 1987 show, he loves to make jokes and is more friendly), and sometimes fights with Leonardo, but is shown to deeply care about his family and friends on several occasions. When the Turtles pair off, the most likely combinations are Leonardo and Donatello as one pair, and Michaelangelo and Raphael as the other - often due to their personalities. Despite this, the show explores each relationship more with each season. One unique new trait is that major TMNT ally Casey Jones is given a larger supporting role, unlike the original 1987 series where he was just a minor recurring character, and the 2003 series also shows him having some romantic feelings towards the Turtles' other major ally April O'Neil (who also is a supporting character in this series) - just like in the original comic books and the first movie. The original show's catchphrase, "Cowabunga," has been joked about several times (with Raphael telling Michelangelo not to say "cowabunga" anymore). The "Turtle Power" catchphrase has been almost totally left out of the 2003 series. "Let's get the shell outta here!" is more prominent.

In the 2003 TMNT cartoon, as in the original comic, Splinter, the Turtles' sensei and father, is depicted as a rat who has been mutated to a humanoid form, instead of a man who has been mutated to rat form as in the 1987 TMNT cartoon. Baxter Stockman is African American (like he was in the comics) instead of Caucasian, and April is initially his lab assistant and later, the owner of an antique shop, instead of an anchorwoman. She has also been studying Ninjitsu under Splinter, and is now capable of holding her own in a fight. The character Leatherhead, who in the 1987 show was an evil, cajun-sounding mutant alligator with limited intelligence, in the 2003 show is a highly intelligent mutated crocodile whose origin involves the Utroms, prefers peace but becomes violent when provoked, and is considered by the turtles and Splinter to be family.

The 2003 series, aside from showcasing new twists on familiar characters, introduces comic-famous but animated-rookie characters, such as Renet, a time traveller in training with the personality of a valley girl; The Fugitoid, a robot whose mind is that of a brilliant scientist, Professor Honeycutt; The Triceratons, a race of Triceratop humanoids who desire galactic conquest; and most prevalent is Karai, leader of the Foot Clan in Japan, and adopted daughter and heir to the Shredder.

As the relationships and dynamics of the Turtles grow and mature over the 4.5 year run of the series, so does the Legacy, and the identity, of The Shredder. His origins, while still in spirit of both the original comics and 1987 show, differs considerably so. Clues and reveals throughout the series tie every facet of the Shredder persona into the origins of both the Turtles and their heritage. This is seen very much in the first two seasons, as well as the fifth and lost season, which centers around the threat of the one, true Shredder being reborn.

[edit] Coloring

The character coloring in the new cartoon series is somewhat different from that in the old cartoon series. Splinter is a grey, not brown, rat, with brown robes instead of magenta ones. April O'Neal has long red hair instead of short copper-brown hair. Each of the Turtles has a unique skin coloring in the new show, unlike the old show wherein they were all the same tint of green. In the new animated series, Leonardo is a basic green (much like the 1987 original), Raphael is dark green, Michelangelo is dark green-blue, and Donatello is a yellowish olive-green. It should be noted that these color schemes are very different from the color schemes within both the original and 2003 toylines, which have remained similar. In the toys, Leonardo is olive green, Michelangelo is sea green, Donatello is brownish with a hint of green, and Raphael is basic green. They also have their favorite colors on their weapon-handles. In the 1987 show, they all had white-tan on their weapon handles, but now in the 2003 show you can tell who has what weapon by looking at the color on the weapon. Also, the bands on their wrists, elbows, and knee-caps are brown, similar to the original comic book series and films. In the 1987 show, they were all the personal favorite colors of the turtles (like their bandanas, in fact their bandanas are shorter in the 1987 show). On their belts in the 1987 show, the turtles have their own first letter. In the 2003 show, it's just a knot in front of their belts.

[edit] Fan reactions

The various plotlines and story arcs of the 2003 TMNT animated series culminated in a way many fans of the franchise never expected. Peter Laird, who had considerable input in the new series, introduced radical new origins for the Shredder, making him a criminal alien Utrom at war with his peaceful race. The decision to make him an alien sparked controversy among some fans.

The 2003 TMNT animated series has often endured unfavorable criticisms from some fans of the 1987 TMNT animated series^{[citation needed]} (citing less likeable characters and the use of a new, less exciting theme song), and the video games based on this series have endured the same criticisms. However, it has also been widely praised, especially by fans more loyal to the comics than to the 1987 series, for its character development, more consistent animation, daring plot twists, and more consistent story arc, which often follows the Mirage comic books closely. Many think this series is similar in plot and style to Fox Kids shows like Spider-Man: The Animated Series. The 2003 TMNT animated series, nonetheless, is considerably more violent and grim than the 1987 TMNT animated series. Also, the Turtles often employ quasi-profanities through their use of the word "shell" in place of "hell" (e.g., "What the shell was that?"; "Ah, shell.").

For the fourth season, the opening has been changed to be more like the theme song for the 1987 animated series. While the basic music is the same, the lyrics and tempo have been change to add a quick one-sentence description of each ninja turtle, and identify the new villain, the Shredder having been defeated the season before, hence the lyric change from "Watch out for Shredder!" to "We shredded Shredder!" This second intro was met with mixed reactions from both sides of TMNT fandom. The title sequence again changed back to "Watch out for Shredder!" upon the premiere of the episode "Prodigal Son", after Saki's adopted daughter, Karai, assumes the mantle of her fallen father's armoured identity.

[edit] Fifth Season & Fast Forward

Dan Berger, TMNT comic writer, and correspondent to the fanbase, confirmed that Peter Laird and his staff had been working hard on an fifth season for the show that would have resolved the "Ninja Tribunal" storyline introduced in the season four finale, producing thirteen episodes in total, but it was shelved in favor of the "Fast Forward" concept for the following season. This "lost season" began airing selected episodes on 4kids' on demand channels, beginning on August 9, 2006, but the episodes have since vanished. Dan Berger would later confirm in November that the Lost Season has been pulled from the Comcast services, and that the DVD release has also been postponed, with at least one episode ("Nightmares Recycled") pulled from production due to sensitive issues (it dealt in a small way with the theme of conjoined twins). The season had a Region 4 release on March 8, 2007. This release lacks the first episode of the arc, "The Ninja Tribunal", which was not included with the Region 1 fourth season releases, having been delayed so as to release the entire storyline in a discrete set.

Instead, the fifth season was composed of "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Fast Forward". On July 29, 2006, 4Kids TV debuted the next season of the series, but moved them ahead in time to the year 2105 via a time travel accident caused by Cody Jones (voiced by Matthew Charles, who was credited as Christopher C. Adams) the great grandson of Casey Jones and April O'Neil (and sole heir to the "vast" Jones / O'Neil fortune).

In a July 25, 2006 press release 4Kids TV (TM) described the series as follows: "The year is 2105. The place - New York City. Super architecture, gravity cars and jump shuttle taxis are part of a world where humans and aliens live together in peace and harmony. And now, thanks to a strange twist of fate, this futuristic society will be visited by the four Ninja Turtles - Michelangelo, Leonardo, Raphael and Donatello. Conflict and comedy, adventure and humor, fast and fun!" [1]

According to Playmates Toys (makers of the show's corresponding toy line) the series will consist of (at least) 26 stand alone episodes, will be "lighter and funnier-than-ever," and won't feature the Shredder. [2] However, a recent episode has a minor appearance of him.

[edit] Episodes

Main article: List of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2003) episodes

Season	Ep #	First Airdate	Last Airdate
Season 1	26	February 8, 2003	November 1, 2003
Season 2	26	November 8, 2003	October 2, 2004
Season 3	26	October 9, 2004	April 23, 2005
Season 4	26	September 10, 2005	April 15, 2006
Season 5	12	August 7, 2006	TBA
Season 6 (Fast Forward)	TBA	July 29, 2006	TBA

[edit] See also

• List of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2003) episodes

[edit] External links

• Official Ninja Turtles website
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2003) at TV.com
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2003) at the Internet Movie Database
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2003) at the Big Cartoon DataBase

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The TMNT Franchise
Comics: Eastman and Laird's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles | Tales of the TMNT | Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures | Daily comic strip TV series: 1987 cartoon (episode list) | The Next Mutation | 2003 cartoon (episode list) Films: TMNT (1990) | TMNT II | TMNT III | TMNT (2007) Games: Role-playing games | Video games Other related articles: Food tie-ins | Action figures
The TMNT Universe
Characters: Leonardo | Michelangelo | Donatello | Raphael | Splinter | April O'Neil | The Shredder | List of characters Races and organisations: Foot Clan | Utrom | List of races and organisations Objects and places: Battle Nexus | Dimension X | Magical objects | Planets | Robots | Technodrome