As a franchise, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are one of the most iconic and surprising to have come out of the comic book medium. Initially, an indie comic series, the brand skyrocketed thanks to the '80s animated series that brought younger eyes to a world that was once black and white and more violent than anything on screens right now. Even though these two worlds have appeared separate from one another, 1990's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles film showed that both styles could coexist and create something truly spectacular.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles was a film that took its mainline story of four mutated turtles that knew ninjutsu and managed to tell a largely faithful film filled with heart, humor and tangible stakes, but this wasn't a magical creation that appeared overnight. In fact, it took some important creators like Director Steve Bannon, Producer Kim Dawson and writers Todd W. Langen and Bobby Herbeck to craft a story that had modern humor and action for a wide demographic, but none of it would've been possible without the original comic creators, Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird.
RELATED: Rise of the TMNT: The Movie Has the Worst Leo - and It Almost Broke Them
In a recent interview with CBR, Eastman helped showcase just how perfect the conditions were to offer a film that could work on so many levels without compromising the integrity of the story. According to Eastman, "Steve Barron, as the driving force, really read and loved the original black and white comics, and he completely understood the animated version of the turtles." Culminated with the work of the writers, producers and Jim Henson's creature Shop, it was also explained how Bannon managed to blend so many facets together in a franchise that covered so many styles of storytelling.
The original comics were dark, brooding and focused more on the discipline the turtles learned that made them efficient ninjas. As a result, the more family-friendly humor wasn't very prevalent. However, the cartoon made up for that in spades and showed how a world could be fleshed out through lovable characters and a constant stream of allies and enemies for them to interact with. "He came up with that perfect balance of a story written with a heart and a soul that wasn't insulting to the adults that had to sit through it, to the original comic book fan," Eastman said, "so when you watch that movie, you could see your turtles, if you will, and the kids could see the antics and the humor and all that stuff from the cartoon series." What made this work even more was how the characters helped to sell both styles of the characters.
RELATED: TMNT Artist Breaks Silence on Hurtful Backlash Over Michael Bay's Reboot Designs
In terms of capturing the cartoon, the turtles did so perfectly with comedic timing and youthful excitement that made them as occasionally overwhelming as kids but equally lovable. For the darker tone of the comics, villains like The Shredder and allies like Casey Jones and April O'Neil offered a degree of maturity that forced the turtles to grow more by the conclusion. This helped greatly with the perfect storm as older fans could see their favorite villains send a wake-up call to the fun-loving turtles, forcing them for a moment to revert to their darker roots.
In the end, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles has always been a concept that shouldn't have worked on paper, but no matter the medium, the creators behind it knew this was a property that could be something special, and as a result, it worked perfectly. Since then, no film has managed to reach the level of cult classic that the 1990 film has, and while it may not be explained why, it's likely that it was the perfect storm Eastman mentioned. If so, it's hard to say when another could come again.