4Kids TMNT (2003-2010) - Review and Analysis

The 4Kids TMNT series premiered on February 8, 2003 as part of  the FoxBox programming block (later branded as 4Kids TV) and ended on March 27, 2010. It was produced by 4Kids Entertainment in conjunction with Mirage Studios, and spearheaded by Lloyd Goldfine with significant input and approval by Peter Laird himself, co-creator of the TMNT.

Since Laird was so heavily involved throughout production, seasons 1-4 are probably the “purest” versions of the property outside of Mirage. In fact, the series is so Mirage inspired that seasons 1-4 are probably the best way to get a grip on what Mirage made without actually reading the comics themselves. Unfortunately, The stories for seasons 5-7, Ninja Tribunal, Fast Forward and Back To The Sewers are quite heavily removed from what came before, as the animation changed, characters were redesigned and the stories were less engaging. That said, season 5, the Ninja Tribunal Saga, is the best of the latter series.

The 2003 show was markedly different for mainstream, non-comic book, audiences because up to that time the turtles were remembered most as a childish, goofy cartoon of the 80's and 90's. And, again, while this show took a lot from the Mirage comic books, it is not a direct adaptation of those comics, because it never attempts to capture the grit and darkness that the original comic series had. It does however adapt several issues into episodes, so, in spirit, it is, as much as American children's cartoons can allow, the most faithful version.

The magic of this show is that it was able to blend the humor and wit of the 1987 cartoon with a more mature tone. The character portrayals were a very faithful blend of the Mirage turtles, the 1990 movie turtles and the 1987 turtles. Their take on The Shredder, however, was a new idea created specifically for this show. Firstly known as ninja-master Oroku Saki, as he was in both the original comics and the 1987 cartoon, he was later revealed to be an utrom alien known as Ch’rell. This revelation bugged me a lot at first, but later grew on me. Utrom Shredder works well for this series, but I would have preferred if he had remained a human ninja master. April not being a reporter confused me at first as well, but now, knowing the source material, I prefer her as the computer scientist/former assistant to Baxter Stockman.

There were also other major characters introduced for this show. Bishop, government agent for the E.P.F. (Earth Protection Force), Hun, leader of the Purple Dragon gang and eventual enforcer for The Shredder, as well as Angel, friend to Casey Jones. Each of these characters would go on to play major roles in the IDW comics and also appear in the later volumes of Mirage. Karai, the high-ranking Foot Clan assassin that debuted in the Mirage Comics City At War storyline, also appears here.

I remember watching a couple episodes as a teenager when this show aired but by the early 2000’s I had long been out of TMNT fandom. By the time I rediscovered TMNT and saw this show again I was blown away at how different it was from the turtles of my early childhood. When I later discovered the Mirage books I saw exactly how faithful a lot of this cartoon was to the source material.

The music of the show was very well done and fit the mysterious, action-oriented and sci-fi aspects of the show well. The majority of the show's soundtrack consists of moody oriental theme music. It's very fitting for a show about ninjas. Lighter musical cues signal when the show needs to be humorous. Occasionally, there will be lyrical songs sung during brief bits of action that give certain episodes a fun "teenage" flair too.The most annoying part of the show, however, is the opening theme, a hard-rocking piece of Saturday morning fluff that introduces the character and plot. It really undermines the otherwise mature nature of the show. In fact, once you've heard it about ten times it becomes unnecessary and painful to hear again. 

As of this writing there have been 4 cartoons. I would consider the 2003 4Kids Series to be the truest representation of what the franchise is outside of the Mirage comics. The show’s humor, action, maturity and characterization sets it apart from all other TMNT cartoons and makes the show feel less like it’s aimed at kids (despite the name of the production company) and more like it’s an all-ages show. It even went on to inspire the overall tone and atmosphere of the newer IDW comics too. My wife and I still try to binge watch this show at least every couple years, but we only really watch the first 5 seasons because the final 2 seasons were a major departure. If you’ve never seen this show, I would recommend watching it, particularly the first four seasons, and give the 5^th season a try. It will forever remain a treat for ninja turtle fans.