Headscratchers / Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1990)

• How come Raphael is the only turtle with a New York accent?
  • 'Cause he's just that tough.
    • I just assumed it was because he seemed to be the one who spent the most time above ground, thus acquiring the accent from the people he observed, overheard, etc. The other turtles learned English from either TV or Splinter but never really mixed with citizens from New York as much as Raph.
    • That's the most likely explanation. Also makes sense for the others. Leonardo tends to speak clearly and properly, like someone who's deliberately avoiding using an accent... he probably wants to sound "mature" for Splinter or something. Michelangelo talks like a surfer dude because he spends a lot of time watching TV, he probably learned Totally Radical speech patterns from that. And Donatello just speaks like someone who's intelligent enough to want to speak clearly without excessive slang or accent.
  • The real life answer is that it was a spur of the moment idea made while filming the movie, and everyone loved it.
    • This is exactly correct, Josh Pais (Raph's suit actor) was a New York native and they loved his thick Brooklyn accent. Michlean Sisti almost made it for the same reason but they wanted Mikey to sound younger.