Review - Nickelodeon's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles!

The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles have officially debuted on Nickelodeon and they have gotten off to a good start. Though there has been several shows on the Turtles, none have lived up to the much loved 90s cartoon. Let's take a look at the newest incarnation of the Turtles.

*Possible spoilers ahead.

The premiere for Nickelodeon's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles was an hour which was definitely the right move. I think a half hour just wouldn't have been enough to sell the show. The show itself was better than I had expected. This pilot was titled 'Rise of the Turtles' which perfectly describes the clean slate the show starts from. From the start, the animation looks clean which is a definite plus. You'll notice a few different animation styles throughout the show including CG, matte-painted backgrounds and storyboard-esque flashbacks. The use of different styles keeps the show feeling fresh and unique. Also, there are a lot of great details on the Turtles themselves that I really like such as the tape on their fingers, small cracks in their shells from sparring each other or skin features such as Michelangelo's spots on his cheeks. These kind of details really distinguish the characters as individuals that you can identify without looking at their colored masks. Well done!

The show starts off with a nice sparring sessions that shows off the Turtle's fighting abilities as well as personalities as Leonardo spars against Michelangelo and Raphael against Donatello. Shortly after Splinter walks into the scene and I must say that I was a little surprised at his look. With his tall stature he more looks like a human with a rat's head than a full rat.

The show then kicks off into the new theme song which is ... interesting. It's not terrible and I like that they still acknowledge the 90s theme by keeping the tune alive in the background of this theme. However, this theme's main focus is the rap song that tells you about the Turtles. I just can't see fans walking about singing this theme song like they did with the 90s one. So this theme is just okay. Definitely not great but maybe it'll grow on me. (And the Turtle's new catchphrase of "Booyakasha!" is just a bit ridiculous. Give me Cowabunga any day.)

The show starts off on the Turtles' 15th 'Mutation Day', so it's fun to see them young and starting from scratch. Being young, all the jokes that you expect to be in a TMNT show are definitely there which is great! Because of their age we see Splinter act as their protective father and treat them as children. Splinter shares their origin story which seems to have been kept in tact which is definitely nice. Fans do not have to wait long to see the Turtle's first experience leaving their sewer home and going to the surface. During this trip to the surface we get to see their first encounter with the world above and most importantly their first encounter with pizza! (Which they reluctantly try and then wind up loving it.) At the moment the Turtle's personalities are somewhat child like but given that they are 15 and have no experience with the surface it is understandable. However, how long will fans be willing to accept this child like persona will be the real question. One thing that surprised me was the Turtle's jumping ability. They have always been able to jump across rooftops but I felt it was a bit exaggerated this time around. Jumping neighboring rooftops is fine but jumping to a rooftop clear across the street seemed a little much. Maybe this is just me, I don't know. One other thing that seemed a little odd was how the Turtle's eyes would change depending on the scene. When they are in normal conversation and everyday life they have regular eyes with irises. However, when they are in battle their eyes turn completely white and have no irises. I assume this is to give them a more fierce look while fighting but its odd change back and forth. Two small things that I really liked was 1) the look of the "ooze" which had a spectacular look and flow to it and 2) the fact that Raphael has a pet turtle that he loves very much. Even though you only saw it in a small scene it creates good balance with his "tough guy" persona.

The show introduces a few other important characters in the Ninja Turtle universe in this episode. We get to meet April O'Neil who is a teenager herself in this show. She is brought into the show through a kidnapped family member and later becomes friends with the Turtles. We also get to see Krang (evil leader from Dimension X) but this is where the show introduces some new elements. In this episode we actually get to see many different 'Krangs' which are positioned inside the abdomen of a robot soldier and all call each other Krang. We are apparently seeing an alien race of Krang rather than having it be one individual. They have kept the trademark 'brain look' that Krang has always had. Their evil organization is also called "The Krangs". So it'll be interesting to see how this all unfolds. Shredder is slightly introduced through Splinter's origin story. Apparently, Oroku Saki (Shredder's true name) had already taken on the persona of "The Shredder" because during the telling of the story Splinter refers to him as both Oroku Saki and Shredder. Shredder's true reveal in the show's closing scene was great. Sitting in a throne where he is slightly hidden in shadow and flanked by two Foot Soldier guards his appearance definitely made me smile.

Overall, this is a promising start to a new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles show. The animation looks clean and the jokes are there. All the major character that you would expect to make an appearance in the first episode were present which was nice. I think once the Turtle's gain experience being on the surface and get a little wiser the show will take off for fans of all ages. The child like persona may scare off some older fans but only time will tell where the writers take our favorite turtles. I recommend at least checking this show out and giving it a chance. It definitely has potential and I hope that this show continues to get better and better.