How Ninja Turtles Look

The new TMNT movie has just recently come out, and for it the turtles themselves have been re- imaged. They look quite a bit different than they did the last time we saw them, actually, though they were still essentially the same four heroes in half-shells. However, this is not the first time the turtles have been seen looking completely different. In fact, pretty much every time a new turtles show or movie comes out, they look completely different! Its tradition! To illustrate this point, we shall take a look back - spanning the ages (over 20 years now! Wild!) To see exactly how many changes the TMNT have undergone.

Our first image of the turtles comes from 1984 with their debut comic series. Though the original comics were black and white, we learn some interesting things about their looks within the text, and in later colourized versions. For one, all the turtles wear red masks. They look pretty bad-ass in them too. Also, the turtles are more awkward looking. They look chubby, yet somehow also look gangly. Im not sure how they pull it off. Also, Im pretty sure they are NEVER seen without that trademark double-grit going on with their mouths at this point. Over the next few years of the series, their looks change, but only slightly. They look somewhat more persony but otherwise stay the same.

1987 saw the turtles in the way that they are probably most well known. They are more rounded out - more kid friendly (which also goes for their nicer attitudes and less killing people behavior). All 4 now have different colored masks (with Raph being allowed to keep red) and all their other bands get the same treatment (before they were all brown, but now they match the mask color). They retain the double-grit most of the time, occasionally trading it for the single- grit, or just smiles. They didnt smile all that much in the comics (at least, not so much the ones I read... well, Mikey smiled a fair bit I guess). Its really hard to explain this look of them. Its like describing the sky. Its just the way it looks. Except, Im pretty sure with TMNT it has little to do with light refracting off water particles. Well, maybe with Leo. Over time, they would look slightly more raggedy, like in the movies, but thats when this series started to suck. The BIG thing here was the colors. And eye-balls. This would change the world.

My world would change in 1990 when the TMNT movie was released. I was pleased as hell to actually see LIVE-ACTION NINJA TURTLES! Thats such a cool thing to say, and it was even cooler when I was 9. This is probably the most realistic the turtles would ever look - the skin looks real, the eyes look real, everything looks pretty damn real. And they finally made the turtles look at least somewhat different from one another. Other than the figures (which made them different colors for some reason despite the fact that they really werent in ANYTHING I had ever seen) they were always nearly identical. It was nice to see some subtle differences. Their knee-pads and everything went back to brown (something that would last through pretty much every series to follow it), but the different masks stayed. I dunno why they made Donatelo the star in most of the pictures/covers really. The movie was clearly about Raph. I dunno. I guess he WAS played by Corey Feldman. I guess that helps. A movie about Donnie would suck though. Seriously. 2 hours about that thing that makes coffee, but really just blows cups off saucers? I dont think so.

Other than the original cartoon series, this is my favorite version of the turtles. 1991's The Secret of the Ooze was a wicked movie. The make-over the turtles were given in this one was actually a fairly slight one. They made their eyes a bit bigger, and made their heads shaped slightly more like the cartoon versions (they were almost human-looking in the first movie... but you know... a really messed up human). Basically, a slightly more kid-friendly version. Which made sense. This movie was a LOT less dark/brooding. It was just really fun. They didnt really fight among themselves, no one came close to dying, no one traveled back in time, and so on. A generally light movie, so the turtles reflected that. Also, they made them a lot more spotty in this one. A neat effect - it made their skin more turtley, but a trend that would start to go overboard after a very short period.

If I have to say one bad thing about the ninja turtles, its TMNT 3: Turtles in Time. This movie was retarded. I mean - equal masses?! What the hell is that crap?! But, this article is not to take-apart the silly plot. No, its to take apart the silly costumes. And yes, in this version they look like costumes. In the first 2 movies, I would have honestly thought they went out and found skinny sea-turtles, taught them to talk and gave them weapons. In this movie, I honestly thought they went out and found 4 kids on Halloween and based a movie on them. You cant really tell in that picture, but I remember watching this and saying Hey, how come you can see through a hole under Leos arm? Yes, they were just that shotty. And the spots! Good lord! They looked like friggin leopards! I have a figure from the movie (which was actually a pretty cool series, purely because they were rubbery and you could pull their limbs off without ruining them) and the ENTIRE back of him is covered in yellow and black spots! What the hell is that?!

I lied. If I had to say TWO bad things about the ninja turtles, I would mention Turtles 3. If I could only mention 1, it would go to Ninja Turtles: the Next Mutation. A live-action series about the Ninja Turtles where they look NOTHING like theyre supposed to (why the hell are both Leo AND Donnie wearing friggin bandanas?! Theyre not Zorro!). Also, Im pretty sure their ninja belts arent supposed to be made of felt with stone buckles! And their was a chick turtle! WHAT?! She had friggin boobs! Her shell bulged and they gave her boobs! Why?! And a further question - why the hell is she wearing blue!? Theres already a blue turtle! Hes the damn leader! She should wear pink! Its just a damn power-rangers rip-off at this point anyways, why not go all the way with it?

2003 would see the return of TMNT on a regular series (Next Mutation lasted for about a year, so it had been a while). This one was WAY more true to the original comics than any other series before it. They were a lot more built than they ever were before - they looked actually threatening. They all looked essentially identical again, but that too is okay. The biggest thing about this one that connects it to the very original? No more eye-balls. Just creepy looking whiteness. These turtles were friggin tough as hell, and it showed. Again, this made sense. The series WAS a fair bit darker than the original cartoon series, and there was a LOT more fighting. Like, legitimate fighting. Not spraying people with fire-hydrants or throwing pizza. They had to have great big arms to friggin slice stuff up.

Which brings us to the newest version of the ninja turtles - the one seen in TMNT (the 2007 movie). The first CGI version (other than the video games... crap, should I go back and include those?) of the 4 brothers sees them, actually, going back to very close to their original image from the comics. They look quite gangly, yet still built. Theyre short. Their heads are more elongated (again, a trait from the original). A big one is the distinct differences between these guys and humans. For one, they have GIANT forearms. Like, friggin Popeye forearms. Not really a thing too common with people. And, while they DO have eye-balls, when they really wanna scare people (say, from the darkness or in a silhouette), their eyes simply shine white. Best of both worlds!

And that is all for our look at the looks of our lean, green fighting machines. What does the future hold for us? My guess is giant robot-turtles. Maybe just one that personifies all three, so they only have to hire one voice actor who can kinda do all 4 voices. Man, I would really, really love it if there was a Metal-Head movie. Him and Krang should do a buddy-cop movie. That would be so awesome.