The first and so far only live-action tv series starring the
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, produced by
Saban Entertainment.
It lasted from September 12, 1997 to March 20, 1998. While supposedly taking place after the
1987 cartoon series, in reality, it follows the
live-action film continuity. Confused yet?
The series begins with some familiarity: The four iconic anthropomorphic reptiles do battle with the Foot Clan and its leader, the Shredder. The turtles' master, Splinter still aids his sons with advice, and Leonardo and Raphael bicker amongst themselves. Suddenly, Splinter's spirit is rat-napped by an army of dragon warriors called the Rank. Led by their ill-tempered dictator, the Dragon Lord, the Rank ruled the world before they were banished to the Realm of Dreams by a mystic mirror. Splinter's friend, Chung I., a Shinobi master from China, was killed by the Rank, but not before telling his apprentice Mei Pieh Chi of her origins.
Turns out Mei Pieh Chi is really a pet turtle from Chinatown in New York who was covered in mutagen and became an anthropomorphic, 5 foot tall, talking turtle. Mei returns to New York, meets the other four turtles, uses her Shinobi magic to
Mind Rape the Shredder right off the bat, effectively leaving the Foot without a leader, and rescues Splinter's spirit. Unfortunately, she accidentally helps the Rank escape, who take up the mantle as the new major threat to the turtles. Mei joins the four brothers and is given the nickname Venus de Milo.
The show only lasted 26 episodes, and was canceled after the end of the first season, with any hope of a second season permanently scrapped. Reception was not great, as fans of the first show and to an extent,
the original comic didn't like that the Shredder and the Foot Clan were
Put on a Bus and no other established characters besides Splinter and the Turtles themselves made any appearances, or that the Turtles were frequently overshadowed by Venus' mysticism. The
characters created for the show, i.e. Venus and the rogues gallery, took the brunt of the fan backlash, with
TMNT co-creator Peter Laird personally hating Venus for ruining the brotherhood dynamic of the turtles. Combine all of that with the hefty price-per-episode thanks to the animatronics required for most of the characters. Of all the
Ninja Turtles shows, this usually stands as both the least successful and least remembered.
The show ended up in
Disney's hands when they bought Saban Entertainment, but Saban Brands has now got the show back, along with the other Toei collaborations (
Power Rangers,
VR Troopers,
Beetleborgs, and
Masked Rider). The franchise itself is owned by
Nickelodeon. As of 2011, the show is now available on Netflix. Shout!Factory will begin releasing the series on DVD in September 2012. Prior to that, the series had previously seen a Region 2 DVD release, although in a heavily edited form (and under the "Hero Turtles" banner, as the word "Ninja" was a no-no in Europe at the time). For some odd reason it got back on the airwaves in 2013 via
The Hub.
For more details on the
TMNT franchise in general, visit the
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles page. For a list of some of the characters in the series, and the tropes that apply to them, visit the franchise
character page. For the old cartoon, see
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1987) for the second cartoon see
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2003) and for the latest cartoon see
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2012).
Now With Character Page Under constructionNinja Turtles: The Next Mutation provides examples of:
- Aborted Arc: Finding a way to put the Dragonlord and his army back to the enchanted mirror they escaped from, Oroku Saki resuming his role as The Shredder.
- Action Girl: Venus de Milo
- Actor Allusion: Actor Gary Chalk, who plays Silver, an ape in Next Mutation, also plays ape/Transformer Optimus Primal.
- Berserk Button: Bonesteel hates it when he is called "Bonehead".
- Big Bad: The Dragon Lord. (No relation.)
- Black Best Friend: Andre for Splinter.
- Blind and the Beast: Splinter is friends with an elderly blind man named Andre. The two of them play Chess together and Andre even lived with Splinter and the Turtles when he was evicted from his apartment.
- Blunt Metaphors Trauma: Venus. Well, she is new to American culture.
- Canon Discontinuity: Laird despised this show to the extent that as far as he's concerned, it doesn't exist. Kevin Eastman is at least open to talk about Venus, or was until he sold his half of the Turtles' rights to Laird's. Of course, all rights of the franchise now belong to Nickelodeon.
- Canon Foreigner: Venus is the most notable, but also Dragon Lord, Wick, Silver and Bonesteel.
- Crossover: With Power Rangers in Space. Probably the only thing most fans remember about the show.
- Clip Show: TWO episodes in just one season. One focus on Raph and Leo while the other was about Venus.
- Co-Dragons: The Dragonlord had three Dragons: A small dragon sorcerer named Wick, the Rank Lieutenant, and Dr. Quease. While Dragonlord himself is literally a dragon, he is not an example of this trope.
- The Corrupter: Dragonlord. He was once the only bad member of the Rank, until he turned the rest of them against mankind.
- Expository Theme Tune: It really wouldn't be TMNT without one, but the Next Mutation theme gets major points just for starting with the line "FOUR GREEN TURTLES!"
- Followed by - "Check it out, another one found, made her way to Chinatown..."
- Eye Scream: Though it's played up. Dr Quease TORE ONE OF HIS EYES OUT FOR A SCOUTING ROBOT. He later has to destroy it to get Venus' DNA. This just seems to merely annoy him since he just clones a new one. An earlier episode had Dragonlord threaten to suck out the eyes of one of his minions.
- Five-Episode Pilot
- Five-Man Band
- Getting Crap Past the Radar: In one episode, the Dragonlord yells at the turtles that he will have their shells for defeating him, which takes on a different meaning when you remember that the turtles have said "kiss my shell". The word "shell" was used in place of "ass".
- In "All In The Family", Venus tells Michelangelo that he must have a talk with Splinter about the birds and the bees after he asks her how she knew the baby turtle was female.
- The episode "Turtles' Night Out" featured a gang called The Unknowables, the leader of which resembled Alex DeLarge. Another member of the gang crudely flirts with Venus by asking her what she has under her shell. Michelangelo also hosted a radio show where one of his callers asked about "getting high".
- Due to the turtles wearing little more than knee pads, elbow pads, and bandannas, there are frequent shots of Venus's ass whenever she is viewed from behind.
- Hypno Fool: "Banana!"
- I Call It Vera: Bonesteel has many weapons with girl's names. The Turtles even lampshade it.
- Lady of War: Venus.
- Left Hanging
- Idiosyncratic Wipes: Ninja weapon based.
- Intercontinuity Crossover: With Power Rangers in Space
- Kid Appeal Character: Mikey
- Mad Scientist: Dr Quease
- Market-Based Title: It's called Hero Turtles: The Next Mutation in the UK.
- Mook Lieutenant: The Rank Lieutenant, leader of the Rank, differs from the other dragon soldiers in that he wears a magenta veil over his mouth in contrast to the others' purple veils.
- Mythology Gag: Several to the 1987 cartoon: The turtles wear buckles with their initials on them as well as bands on their arms and legs matching the colors of their bandannas, their taste for weird pizza toppings, and they ride in a van with a license plate that reads "TRTL PWR"(Turtle Power!)
- Non-Mammal Mammaries: Venus, but it's more like her shell is curved in.
- Non-Mammalian Hair: Dragon Lord when he's not wearing his helmet.
- Not Blood Siblings: Not the first continuity to suggest it, but the one that is remembered for outright saying it. Apparently, they made a point of saying this specifically so Venus could play love-interest to the brothers.
- Our Vampires Are Different: A three part arc dealt with the turtles having contend with a vampire queen whose out to restore her heart so she can fully recover. Aided by her two childlike servants. They seem to be based on the Chinese mythos with some American concept thrown in (afraid of sunlight, can turn into bats, etc).
- Painting the Medium: At one point, Leo almost seems startled by the Sword Idiosyncratic Wipe and rushes out of frame.
- Power-Up Food: The Dragonlord wants to eat the turtles, so he can have the "magic" that made them what they are, believing it will make him stronger.
- Sealed Evil in a Can: The Dragonlord and his army of dragon warriors were imprisoned in an enchanted mirror before breaking free in the Five-Episode Pilot. The "Unchain My Heart" episodes introduced a vampire named Vam-Mi, who was locked in her casket by Chung I 17 years before the events of the series.
- Scooby-Dooby Doors: In Going Ape.
- Sixth Ranger: Venus
- Spot the Imposter: In the clones episode.
- The Starscream: Wick became this to the Dragonlord in the episode "King Wick" after accidentally drinking a potion that gives him new powers. He uses his new powers to steal Dragonlord's powers and become the new leader of the Rank, but eventually is tricked into losing his powers.
- Suspiciously Similar Substitute: Dragon Lord has many traits and characteristics in common with The Shredder. Dr. Quease is also similar to Baxter Stockman, namely in that both are mad scientists.
- Title Theme Tune: Though the words "Next Mutation" aren't in the song, it does mirror the omission of the words "Teenage Mutant" from the title.
- Theme Tune Rap
- Villainous BSOD: The Shredder, post-Mind Rape.
- Vocal Dissonance: Vam-Mi's minion Bing looks like a young boy, but has a deep and gravelly voice.
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