Remembering "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" (1987 VS. 2003)

I don't deny that Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1987 version) is part of my childhood. However, not every kiddie show that I enjoyed as a child is worth rewatching as an adult... at least for me! Like Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers - I think the 1987 version of TMNT hasn't been really worth rewatching IMHO. The 1987 version of TMNT was considerably lighter than the comics where most villains tend to be rather stupid. Then I remembered college came and the TMNT (2003) which proved that nostalgia wasn't always the best thing. It's just like how I ended up disliking Power Rangers in favor of Super Sentai.

The 1987 Cartoon

The first one in my memory is the 1987 version. Yup, this is the one I watched as a child while I watched the 2003 version as an 18-year-old college student. I could remember the whole show being funny and child-friendly. Perhaps the most hilarious stupidity with the uneasy alliance between Shredder and Krang. I had an obsession with TMNT to the point I once had a small birthday party based on it. It was back when ABS-CBN used to be a lot cooler than what happened in my adult years. I remembered watching it on Friday nights though I ended up starting to ditch it aside in favor of Saban's X-Men: The Animated Series, there was also Batman: The Animated Series, and later Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers which became an old shame alongside TMNT (1987).

The Shredder was probably one of the most hilarious villains. Krang the overlord of Dimension X (and de-facto Big Bad) was also the Big Bad Duumvirate (or Duumbvirate because Shredder and Krang are VERY STUPID). I always felt that Shredder was the main villain as he was meant to be but always had Krang constantly boss him around. Pretty much, the partnership was always meant to be wrecked one way or another. Krang wasn't given a movie version except in Michael Bay's version of the movie. Shredder was the sole main antagonist of the two live movies which I watched as a child and in no way related to the 1987 cartoon.

The cartoon actually continued on and on because of its popularity. I compare the deterioration similar to what happened to MMPR. MMPR had 150 episodes. TMNT (1987) had 190 episodes. You can tell how both shows were overmilked by their respective owners. Not surprisingly, Haim Saban managed to gain the rights to TMNT and The Next Mutation which I haven't seen at all and was surprised to learn it happened.

So, the whole show started to change its theme. Shredder and Krang were demoted to clowns in favor of Lord Dregg. Lord Dregg could be considered the Lord Zedd of TMNT except that he was probably eviler. However, like every cartoon villain, he always had to be stupid in some way during the last three seasons. I didn't easily accept the change either. Seeing Shredder and Krang becoming clowns in favor of Lord Dregg was probably a result of the drop in ratings. The final episode was probably not much worth watching either.

2003 version

College days came and I was still watching cartoons to a certain extent. Heck, I still had friends who were still watching Power Rangers so I had to tell them about Super Sentai. This one had a darker, more serious atmosphere while maintaining its child-friendly status. In my case, I watched this on Cartoon Network Philippines after it had chosen better shows than what it had during the 90s. Back then, I started to hate Cartoon Network due to too much Hanna Barbera. Picking up better shows was the start and this one was certainly one of them.

So, I was kinda surprised to learn that Hamato Yoshi isn't Splinter here like in the movie. The 1987 version merged Splinter and Hamato into one person. Here, they're separate again. What was very interesting to learn is that there's more serious personalities and less comedy. The darker animation was there from the start and seven seasons with different settings were made - something that made it easier to watch than the 1987 version. I'd say that this one just made me somewhat cringe over the 1987 version.

One interesting rehash is the Shredder in this version. He has an interesting history while there's Tengu Shredder (the original Shredder) and later Cyber-Shredder. The most recurring Shredder is known as the Utrom Shredder. This was basically merging Krang and Shredder into a more malevolent being. The Utroms are generally peaceful brain-like race while Chrell (not Krang, but I'd still prefer to name the villain Krang) became the malevolent criminal. Pretty much, it's a bloody take on Krang so why Utrom Shredder's real identity is not named Krang is beyond me. This Shredder had more brains than the 1987 version and Krang could hope for. He was a truly menacing villain that was truly worthy of being feared. The 1987 Shredder was pretty much like the 1980s Cobra Commander.

The Utroms were presumably inspired by Krang's flashback in the 1987 cartoon. Krang's race was once portrayed to be a race of brains. However, later episodes, Krang's clones develop reptilian bodies which would be somewhat contradictory or not. I only theorize that Krang's race could develop bodies if they choose to. The Utroms are portrayed  to all look like Krang. One joke even had a joke saying "SHUT UP KRANG!" even if wasn't a villain. Did the producers and writers want to make a nod to Krang's flashbacks? Again, why not just name Utrom Shredder's real identity as Krang? 

I haven't finished the series either. What was interesting was that the series (like the original) was also milked on its popularity. After Utrom Shredder was supposedly destroyed - his adopted daughter Karai becomes the new Big Bad. Then you have other villains such as the Tengu Shredder and the Cyber Shredder for the finale season. So far, there's been a more interesting build-up for the 2003 series in contrast to the 1987 version.