2003 reasons Teenage Mutant Turtles 2012 should be More Awesome

Go Ninja Go Ninja GO!Sorry, force of habit...

As much as I like this new series in my opinion, the 2003 version of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is the best incarnation of the series so far. I would like to see some elements from that series brought to this 2012 series as it continues…

Interesting Storylines: The Shredder Strikes Back, Turtles in Space, Return to New York, and the Battle Nexus storylines were really impressive. I hope the series tries to go there and at least make it a little dramatic, since this version is more of a kids show.

More Characters: As much as the series can operate alone with the turtles, their friends, the alien race the Krang, and the Shredder, at least bring in some more characters that seem to have interesting personalities. Like the robotic Fugitoid or the warrior Usagi Yojimbo.

Every time I see the Rabbit Ronin make an appearance in the show, I sometimes wonder if there will ever be a spin-off starring him and his cast of characters from a comic series based on his adventures. The character alone is a delight to watch, and his universe is very interesting. I wish the Turtles would visit there more often. It would make some pretty awesome episodes. The Triceratons should be another band of alien invaders that would battle the Turtles. Also, Agent Bishop is another character that should be featured as well. The deadly superhuman government agent provided a unique challenge to the Turtles. He was a really awesome bad guy.

Choreographed fight scenes: I can tell that they try to keep the fight scenes kid friendly, but a history of cartoons has always proven that there are no limits to great animation. Even Jackie Chan Adventures showed fight scenes that were fierce but kid-friendly. Fight scenes can be made as intense as possible without going overboard, gory, or brutal. I mean look at Young Justice. It proves just that. *Note* Bad quality and spam sorry...

More Ninja to the name: I would really like to see the Turtles spend some time in Tokyo, at least for the first half of a season. Make them explore more about Ninjitsu or ancient Feudal Japan. Also an origin story between Master Yoshi (Splinter) and the Shredder and none of the Ninja Tribunal storyline; it felt really out of place during the last series. Maybe the upcoming series Secret History of the Foot Clan could be featured in the future…

That’s how I feel. Hope the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles of 2012 continue to be awesome...Turtle Power!

Very nice blog post. I agree it needs to take a leaf out of the 2003 series but the new series is pretty good all the same.

I like the new Turtle series 'cause it's something I'll be able to watch with my son...when he gets a little older. The 2003 series seemed geared towards a more mature audience, which I'm sure long-time fans appreciated. That being said, I prefer my cartoons to keep kids in mind. That's one of the reasons I could never get into the Direct-to-DVD DC movies. I just feel ridiculous watching them.

A bit of a double-standard I know, because I have no qualms with reading a graphic novel that's labeled for mature readers.

This. It is much too kid friendly. They even dumbed down Mike, just so he could make kids laugh. Whatever happened to Sokka? He was funny, but wasn't catered to 6 year olds.

I loved the 2003 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. It was the perfect mix of seriousness and comedy. It was interesting for almost all audiences, not just kids.

@YourNeighborhoodComicGeek said:

I loved the 2003 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. It was the perfect mix of seriousness and comedy. It was interesting for almost all audiences, not just kids.

@YourNeighborhoodComicGeek said:

I loved the 2003 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. It was the perfect mix of seriousness and comedy. It was interesting for almost all audiences, not just kids.

Also this too.

@YoungJustice said:

This. It is much too kid friendly. They even dumbed down Mike, just so he could make kids laugh. Whatever happened to Sokka? He was funny, but wasn't catered to 6 year olds.

I'm 27 years old and I think Mikey is hysterical. Just because jokes are lighthearted in nature doesn't mean they're just for kids. And I say this as someone who went into the show extremely skeptical.