As someone who grew up on the original TNMT cartoon and avoided so many of the less than good attempts at creating another cartoon show I was a bit skeptical when Nickelodeon was creating a new TMNT cartoon series. However after giving the show a look I rather quickly came to enjoy it. I felt the main characters had been treated with the proper respect they deserved. The writers were able to update the characters to make them relevant to current times and still have the easily identifiable characteristics that made them both recognizable and loved. What made the show a true pleasure to watch was the writing, which I thought was fantastic. Good plot lines were created to form brand new stories and borrowed from story lines found in the previous incarnations, both comic books and cartoon series. It was great to see some of my favorite characters make appearances on the small screen once more or even for the first time.
Now after 5 seasons of TMNT (one even titled Tales of the TMNT) the current series is seemingly coming to an end. It is however being replaced with another 2D animated series. From the little I have read and the one trailer I have watched I do not expect this new series to hold the same place in my heart, in fact I am not sure for how long I will give this new series a chance. From what I have seen they are drastically changing all of the characters, Ralph will now be leader, Leo is not the serious character he has always been, and April will be completely different from any other version we have seen, just to name a few of the changes I am not looking forward to; not to mention they art style is not one I am a fan of. The current series has been one that I feel could be enjoyed by people of all ages (at the least its bearable to adults who never enjoyed TMNT). Given the new art style and the little of the story that has been shared, it seems this show is very much geared for a much younger audience. Now to be fair this new series is being called RIse of the TMNT, and is supposed to be an exploration of the slightly younger years of the TMNT; so a change in the characteristics does make sense as they will not have grown to the characters we know and love.
I am not quite sure why this change was made, but I am somewhat surprised by the change. WIth the potential to tell so many other stories using the current incarnations of the characters the change is rather puzzling. But only time will tell how good or bad this show will be and where it ends up ranking in the pantheon of TMNT lore. I would like to hear other fans opinions of the treatment of TMNT by Nickelodeon.
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