Cowabunga – the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie turns 30 years old today! Originally released in theaters on March 30, 1990, the film is directed by Steve Barron using a screenplay by Todd W. Langen and Bobby Herbeck. It is the first http://horrorgeeklife.com/tag/teenage-mutant-ninja-turtleslive-action adaptation of the original comic book and cartoon series of the same name, and for many fans, it remains the best one of them all.
on this day 30 years ago, the original TMNT movie premiered pic.twitter.com/bt1ZPwvtuF
— TMNT (@TMNT) March 30, 2020
Of course, the series featured all four of our favorite turtles: Leonardo, Donatello, Raphael, and Michelangelo. As with the other iterations, the turtles are taught their craft by the master, Splinter, who just so happens to be a giant rat. Also represented in the film are their pals, television reporter April O’Neil and the hockey mask wearing vigilante Casey Jones. Together, the “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” must use their ninja training to defeat The Shredder and his villainous crew known as the Foot Clan.
One of the brightest qualities with the TMNT movie is with the appearances of the turtles themselves. That’s in part because they were designed by Jim Henson’s Creature Shop, serving as one of Henson’s very last projects. There’s just something charming about this version of the live-action turtles, and for many fans, they’re much more visually appealing than the rebooted turtles we were given in the 2014 reboot – despite the 24-year difference in technological advancements.
For fans of the cartoon and comic books, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie was about as perfect as a live-action movie adaptation could get. All of characters looked great, and it’s wonderful that they kept the film faithful by maintaining several notable details – from Casey’s hockey mask to April’s yellow jacket. Even Shredder looked amazing and just as he did in the source material, and all he was missing was Bebop and Rocksteady by his side. The fight scenes are also comical in nature and rather fun, and the comedy shines as each of the turtles are hilarious – not to mention Splinter, who insists he “made a funny” in the ending of the movie.
Based on the success of the first TMNT movie, two sequels would follow: TMNT II: The Secret of the Ooze in 1991 and TMNT III in 1993. The popular movie also even spawned a literal concert tour featuring the four turtles performing rock music live on stage for thousands of fans. Sponsored by Pizza Hut, the “Coming Out of Their Shells” tour was also aired on pay-per-view and released a studio album of ten songs including “Pizza Power,” “Cowabunga,” and “April Ballad.” Having personally caught the show as a 6-year-old in 1990, I can attest that it was one of the most amazing moments of my childhood.
In any case, happy 30th anniversary to the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles! Right now is certainly as good a time as any to revisit the movie, which still holds up very well three decades past its premiere. Fortunately, you can do so anytime by heading on over to Netflix. Be sure to watch the film in its entirety later, but for now, you can pay a quick revisit to the movie by watching the trailer below!
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