"Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" 35th Anniversary!

On August 17 and August 20, the Dietrich Theater will be having a few special 35th anniversary screenings of the popular “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” 1990 movie. The movie adapts the early “TMNT” comics, with several elements taken from the animated series airing at the time. It grossed $202 million worldwide on a budget of only $13.5 million, making it the 9th highest grossing movie worldwide of 1990.

In New York, mysterious radioactive ooze has mutated four sewer turtles into talking, upright-walking, crime-fighting ninjas.

The intrepid heroes - Michelangelo, Donatello, Raphael and Leonardo - are trained in the Ninjutsu arts by their rat sensei, Splinter. 

When a villainous rogue ninja arrives and spreads lawlessness throughout the city, it’s up to the plucky turtles to stop him.

The 1990 “NInja Turtles” movie is another childhood favorite of mine that I haven’t seen in quite some time. And, once I saw that the Dietrich Theater will be showing this movie as part of their Dietrich Flashback Features, I knew I had to revisit this movie! Quick side note: Since I did miss “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” and “Sunset Boulevard” (which were also part of their Features), I will add them onto my review line up either during the awards season or when they are available on streaming.

“TMNT 1990” still does a great job keeping die hard fans of the “Ninja Turtles” highly entertained. The first live action TMNT movie is a great blend of family-friendly entertainment and some dark elements. With the movie combining the

lightheartedness and colorful personalities of the cartoon with the darker tone and action sequences in the Mirage comics, this movie is enjoyable for both kids and adults.

While some younger viewers are familiar with the CGI Turtles in the current iterations, I still love the animatronic turtle costumes that were used in this movie. There’s even a quick blink and you’ll miss it moment during the scene where Raphael is waking up from being knocked out and you very briefly see the person controlling the Donatello costume while the character is laughing.

This movie also delivers some entertaining action moments mixed in with some wit. While some of the Turtles fight with the Foot Clan are really fun to watch and, at times humorous, it’s their introduction to Shredder during the final battle that really stands out and is easily one of the most iconic moments in the 1990 movie.

Sure, the Turtles costumes are a bit dated. But, this movie’s ability to balance the fun, lighthearted aspects of the “Turtles” with some serious storylines (particularly around themes of family and identity) contributes to its enduring appeal.

Trivia: This movie marked the last theatrical movie that Jim Henson was associated with, he died about a month and a half after the movie’s release. One of the early ideas floated around that the movie would follow a similar approach to “Who Framed Roger Rabbit” in which the actors would be interacting with animated versions of the turtles. However, this idea was quickly scrapped in favor of pursuing performances in turtle costumes from Jim Henson’s Creature Shop.

The script is based mainly on the early TMNT comics, including the stor

ies of the turtles’ origins, rooftop battle, sojourn to the farmhouse, and battle with Shredder. Some elements were also taken from the beloved animated series. The success of this movie led to the production of two sequels: “TMNT II: Secret of the Ooze” (1991) and “TMNT III” (1993). Though each sequel grossed less at the box office, they were still financially successful.

MPA: Rated PG   (runtime 93 minutes)

The Dietrich Theater will be showing “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles on August 17 (1 pm and 7 pm) and August 20 (7 pm).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=67rRgzw0vi4

• Robin Williams, who was a big fan of the franchise, provided Judith Hoag with information regarding her character through his comic book collection; the two were co-starring in Cadillac Man (1990) when the Turtles film went into production.

• This was the highest-grossing independent film until The Blair Witch Project (1999), having made $135 million in domestic box office and $66 million in the foreign box office.

• One of the early ideas floated around that the film would follow a similar approach to Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988) in which the actors would be interacting with animated versions of the turtles. However, this idea was quickly scrapped in favor of pursuing performances in turtle costumes from Jim Henson's Creature Shop. Luckily, Jim Henson and his team were up to the challenge.

• The last theatrical film that Jim Henson was associated with, he died about a month and a half after the film's release.

• Judith Hoag did not reprise her role as April in sequels because she didn't care for the six-day shooting schedule and the movie's violence.

• The film was set in New York City, but actually much of the filming took place in North Carolina, with only a couple of location shoots done in New York City to capture famous landmark areas.

• The Foot Clan is a parody of the Hand, a clan of ninjas from the Daredevil comics from Marvel.