If you’re an ’80s or ’90s baby, then the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles might just have a special place in your memory bank, and maybe your heart (there are some die-hard fans out there). TMNT has been one of the more successful non-Marvel hero franchises, for the last 20 plus years.
The long-awaited TMNT film, which is the first time the turtles have been on the silver screen since 1993, debuted Friday (Aug. 8). The bad reviews haven been pretty merciless, but so far the movie has pulled in $4.6 million, which means that audiences are still willing to throw their bread to the Turtles. That’s a good thing for the movie studios and for the TMNT lovers. It means that the Ninja Turtles will be around for a while, even though they’ve gone through a few cosmetic changes.
It’s even more interesting if you know how the Turtles even came to be.
To commemorate the TMNT movie opening we pulled up some facts about the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchise, from their inception, to merchandise, televisions, and films.
Check them out in the gallery below.
— Photo: YouTube
Tax Bread The first Ninja Turtles drawing started out as a joke between illustrators Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird that turned into a business idea. They later used Eastman’s $500 tax refund, $1300 loan from his uncle, and Laird’s $200 in savings, to produce the first copies of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comic book.
Marvel Comics The original TMNT story was inspired by Marvel Comics like Daredevil, The New Mutants, and Ronin.
T.V. Time The first Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles television show premiered in December 1987. The cartoon was called Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles in parts of Europe, due to censorship issues (the word “ninja” was deemed too violent for some audiences overseas). A new, more computerized, TMNT television show premiered on Nickelodeon in 2012.
Fresh Prince James Avery, aka Uncle Phil from the Fresh Prince of Bel Air, voiced Shredder in the T.V. shows from 1987-1993.
Merchandise TMNT toys were among the top-selling during their heyday. The brand was especially popular in Europe, and continue to do well for Playmate as of their 2013 revenue report.
Flicks There are now four TMNT movies on record. The first three, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles flicks made more than $320 million.
Knockoffs TMNT parody comics like Adolescent Radioactive Black Belt Hamster and Pre-Teen Dirty-Gene Kung Fu Kangaroos, were a thing.
New Beginnings Mirage Studios sold the TMNT franchise to Viacom in 2009 for $60 million.
