The history of ninja turtles, which has conquered more than one generation of television viewers, has more than 30 years. During this period, brave heroes fought the evil aliens, fought the invasion of werewolves and vampires, saved the world from disasters, and even died and reborn. In this article you will learn how these superheroes were created and what happened to them during their existence.
How characters appeared
The story of the creation of ninja turtles began in the distant 1983. One November evening, unemployed friends, illustrators Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird, had fun drawing funny pictures. At this moment, none of them could have imagined that this fun would bring them world fame and make them millionaires.
In one sketch, Eastman portrayed a funny upright turtle with nunchaku. Laird liked the idea, and he drew up another similar character. But Eastman decided not to stop there, and immediately depicted four turtles frozen in a combat pose. Friends liked the drawing so much that they decided to try to make money on these characters, and did not lose. By the way, this first illustration from the history of ninja turtles was sold in 2012 for 71 thousand dollars.
Overwhelming success
To give the screen life to their characters, Laird and Eastman open their studio and give it the name Mirage. Friends had no money, and initially the creative workshop was an ordinary table, standing in the middle of an empty room. Laird and Eastman had to go into debt to release the first Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comic strip. The starting edition of 3 thousand copies scattered across the country and sold in just a few days. The success inspired friends, and they released another 6 thousand additional copies, which also did not lie on the bookshelves.
What did the ninja turtles remember
Rafael, Leonardo, Donatello, Michelangelo were different from ordinary superheroes. They mercilessly killed enemies, indecently expressed themselves, and they looked in a special way. In the history of young mutants, a parody of the comics popular at that time was clearly guessed: Daredevil, Ronin, Cerebus. And, most likely, this made the ninja turtles so popular.
As a result, after the sale of the first run, Eastman and Laird were able to pay off their debts and even earn some money. Although the income from the comic book release was only $ 200, and it was this amount that friends had left after paying the bills, the author of "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" Eastman realized that they had attacked the "gold mine".
Continuation of a story
The second comic book release, telling the new story of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, was released in January 1985. The starting circulation was already 15 thousand copies, not counting 30 thousand reprints of the first edition. The third issue was published already in 50 thousand copies. And every new comic raised this bar.
Of course, the authors could no longer cope with the work on their own and hired a team. The eighth edition of the comic book has already been released in its 135th edition, and this is a fairly large scale for such literature. The success of superheroes did not go unnoticed, so it was clear that soon the ninja turtles would move to another level.
The advent of the animated series
In 1987, Playmates Toys Inc approached Mirage Studios with a proposal to release Ninja Turtles toys. And in order to promote this product, you need to create the animated series of the same name. But the plot and atmosphere of the original comic book is rather a terrible tale, and not entertainment for schoolchildren. Therefore, it was decided to “soften” the characters' characters a bit, as well as “correct” the plot. As a result, the turtles became kinder, but stupid, fell out of love with beer and became ardent pizza fans, stopped cursing and got different color dressings, which was an excellent solution for updating the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchise.
The main characters of the cartoon
Eastman and Laird were fans of art history, so to name their characters in honor of the great masters of the Renaissance seemed to them a great idea. And now the names of artists and sculptors are associated with turtles. In the animated series, each of the mutants has its own character, and plays a role:
- Leonardo is an informal mutant leader. This owner of the blue bandage, makes responsible decisions and is armed with two swords - katanas.
- Donatello is the intelligence of the group. Wears a purple bandage. He is trying to peacefully resolve any conflict. In battle, uses a pole bo.
- Raphael is the main force of the detachment. He is directly involved in all battles, and wears a red bandage. In battle, uses two sai daggers.
- Michelangelo is a fun and kind man with an orange bandage. This character loves pizza, extreme and comics. He uses nunchucks in battle.
- Splinter is a mentor to mutants. In the past, the tortoise sensei was human, but as a result of an accident, he mutated into a rat.
- April O'Neill is a turtle girlfriend who works as a reporter. This girl constantly gets into unpleasant situations from which superheroes save her.
- Shredder is the main adversary of turtles. This evil ninja teacher is at the head of the Foot clan. He is the culprit in the mutation of turtles and Splinter.
In addition, the animated series “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” has acquired new characters, such as Rocksteady and Bebop, Krang and many others.
World brand
From the very first series, the cartoon has won a multi-million dollar children's audience. In a short time, turtles became not only a national, but also a global brand. The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles swept away from store shelves almost instantly. For four years of broadcasting the animated series, Playmates was able to earn more than a billion dollars. Mutant figures were second only to Star Wars and GI Joe.
A new comic book series was released based on the cartoon, but Laird and Eastman no longer had anything to do with it. Mutants were involved in almost all large advertising campaigns. During its existence, turtles have become the "face" of many firms. They were used in drug campaigns as well as in environmental materials. The history of the ninja turtles formed the basis of several movies. The first of them, released in 1990, became a hit and brought its creators about $ 200 million, despite the fact that the budget of the film was not so big - only 13 million. The next two parts of the film were not so successful.
Virtual heroes
Computer games "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" began to appear in 1989. Of course, not all virtual mutant adventures can be called successful. For example, the project of the Konami Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles studio, despite the rather advanced graphics at that time, did not win the love of gamers. The fact is that in the game there were some especially difficult levels, which only real experts could pass. Gamers were not pleased with the strange labyrinths and crowds of strange enemies. In general, the project turned out to be unprofitable and was quickly turned off. And there are many such examples, because many developers wanted to unwind on the name of the mutants. But at the same time, several great Ninja Turtles games were released. These include actions such as The Hyperstone Heist, The Manhattan Project, Turtles in Time.
Anime "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles"
During its existence, the animated series about the adventures of the mutants has undergone many changes. For example, in the European version, episodes were cut out in which the characters used weapons. Special changes were made to Michelangelo. This mutant used the nunchucks, and in those days they were shown only in adult films.
But Japan went the furthest in the transformation of the plot. Initially, the usual version of the animated series was broadcast, but since the mid-nineties, Takara Corporation decided to launch its line of toys. And for the promotion of this product was drawn a new show in the style of "Sentai". The anime “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” was not particularly successful, so only two episodes saw the light of day.
Success in Russia
The series appeared on the screens of our TVs in 1993, and from the very first issues, the mutants won popular love. Ninja turtles were played in almost every yard, and any self-respecting boy would create nunchucks to resemble his favorite characters. The image of mutants appeared on a huge amount of goods: from chewing gum to dishes and clothes.
Moreover, some far-sighted people immediately realized what benefits love for turtles can bring. After some time, hardcover books about the adventures of favorite superheroes appeared on store shelves. And even though they had little to do with the franchise scenario, having at least one copy of such stories was a matter of honor for every fan.
Superheroes Sunset
By the mid-90s, the popularity of turtles began to decline. At the top was the new animated series Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. And in order to overcome the competitor, the creators decided to change the format of the show. The new series “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” did not become a breakthrough, although it was different from the previous version. Despite all the efforts of the animators, the project did not enjoy the love of the audience and it was closed immediately after the first season.
Another failure was the television series released in 1997. Here the turtles were portrayed by actors dressed in costumes. There were practically no fights in adventures. They were replaced by some unconvincing jumps and rifts. The script itself was boring and stupid, and the project was turned off a few months after the release.
New comic books about ninja turtles continued to be released. In 1998, Image Comics bought the rights to the story and the characters have changed even more than in any cartoon. Now Donatello became a cyborg, Splinter became a bat, Leonardo lost his hand, and Rafael took the place of the main villain.
Restart
In 2003, the Mirage studio decided to revive their favorite characters. Fox took over, and the new animated series was released. This film adaptation turned out to be very close to the original: Splinter again became a mutated rat, and April became a laboratory assistant at Stockman. And, despite the complaints of fans that the turtles cannot see the eyes, the cartoon was a success. The characters have become more mature and thoughtful, stupid jokes that sound every five seconds in the earlier versions have disappeared. The visual style acquired some gloom, which gave the image solidity.
“New Adventures of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” was released for 6 years. The last series was the apotheosis of history. It lasted an hour and a half and talked about the meeting of heroes from the 80s and 2000s. Moreover, at the end of the film, their comic black and white prototypes joined the turtles. It would seem that this will end the story of the young mutants, but in 2009 the world-famous channel Nickelodeon bought the rights to the franchise and immediately announced the release of a new animated series.
Modern Superheroes
Now the ninja turtles were modeled on a computer. In addition, the plot and style of adventure again changed and began to resemble little comics or the original series. There was no less criticism for this cartoon than for the nightmare television project of 1997. But the problem is rather that the adult generation of fans who grew up on one cartoon cannot perceive another. There is nothing critical in the fact that the turtles look and act differently. Indeed, new times present their demands on superheroes. And if you consider that the animated series is quite popular and Nickelodeon has launched the third season, then we can say that the turtles will be fine.
Mutants on the big screen
In 2014, the franchise turned 30 years old. By this momentous date, a new story of ninja turtles in 3D format was shot. The film was quite successful, despite complaints from fans. Many did not like how the main characters began to look. And on the one hand, they can be understood, because the faces and bodies of the new ninja turtles are completely different from the cute faces familiar from the animated series. Superheroes more likely resembled pumped up bodybuilders than loved mutant teenagers. The rest of the film turned out pretty good - a lot of action, fights and jokes. The picture collected a decent amount at the box office - about $ 500 million. At the same time, the budget of the film was a little over 100 million.
The reboot was considered successful and decided to release the second part of the adventure. The new film was shot in a year, and all the same actors played in it. Despite the fact that many critics recognized the sequel to be more successful than the original, this film raised a lot less money. The budget of the film left 135 million, and the rental - 245. To date, there is no suggestion whether the next part of the adventures of the mutants will be released. Although it is known that all the actors signed a contract for three films.