Growing up in the ‘80s my go-to cartoon was the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, as I just loved everything about them. While He-Man holds a special place in my heart, and I enjoyed G.I. Joe enough, those pizza loving turtles are the ones who took center stage above all else. Over the years they’ve gone through plenty of changes, and I actually revisited an episode from the original series a handful of years ago and…well, it just doesn’t hold up. It’s not terrible, it’s just not something that I found entertaining. Of course, I’m much older, but that’s more of a numbers thing over actual maturity.
Realizing this didn’t ruin my childhood or tarnish it in any way, as the teenage foursome brought me loads of joy growing up and nothing will change that. In the end the show just didn’t speak to me like it used to and that’s okay. Now, after that I discovered Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles on Nickelodeon and I took to it like a mutated reptile takes to pizza. Now, the style is different, the look of the turtles is different, Kraang is now the Kraang, an alien species invading earth, and a number of other changes.
The heart of the show remains the same, with the turtles helping April O’Neil out of the gate and them all becoming friends. My personal favourite, Donatello, gets to enjoy a side story where he’s in love with April. It’s great to see Donnie get some extra character here and not simply be the guy who provides the team with countless gadgets throughout the series – though he still does plenty of that too. The vibe of the show itself is just fun. The style of humour may not be for everyone, but I personally love it. It’s witty, quick, unexpected and sometimes ridiculously silly. It’s just an absolutely enjoyable show from start to finish. The voice actors are having a blast and it translates wonderfully throughout every episode.
On the animation side of things it’s a computer-animated show that has an anime vibe and stylings to it at various times. This creative choice suits the storytelling that the show is doing and boosts the laughs for gags taking place as well. There are some more seriously themed episodes, but as a whole this is a very lighthearted and often hilarious take on the turtles. The changes made to characters or backstories may be too much for some, but I think that it’s fine – and often better – to put their own spin on things if you’re going to make a new show with beloved characters.
The series lasts five seasons and 124 episodes, all of which are spread out over 20 discs. It’s a massive collection that’s held together nicely in the case provided. While there may be ways to better house the series, this case fits the nearly two dozen discs in a package that will fit nicely on your DVD shelf without requiring a crazy amount of real estate. I do get that not everyone will be a big fan of the casing, as the organizational side of it leaves a bit to be desired, but I’ve got my fair share of collector’s sets and full series, and having them all in a package that isn’t awkwardly sized is a bonus in my opinion.
Now, I do wish the discs had numbering on them, as these are more or less just taken from the individual DVD releases and placed into this singular case, so while it’s clear which disc contains which arc thanks to the titles on said discs, if they get mixed up for one reason or another it’ll take a bit more time to get them back in their proper order due to this. Odds are you’ll also have to consult the slipcase that comes with the set as well, as on the back of it there’s an index of every episode of the series and the order they’re to be viewed in. Again, this doesn’t bother me personally, but the disc numbering would’ve been nice and is my only complaint with the packaging if I had to have one.
That all said, this is a fantastically priced set! You get the entire run of the show, clocking in at 47 hours of entertainment for under $40. That’s less than a dollar per hour! That’s radical pricing dude! I get that some may feel that they’re betraying the original series if you check this one out, or that another iteration of the mutated ninjas is where your heart belongs; but if you’ve been holding out on giving this series a chance for whatever reason, or if you’re a fan of the Nickelodeon version and hoped they’d release a full set like this then it’s time to grab yourself a copy, order yourself a pizza, hunker down in your half-shell and enjoy! Cowabunga – or should I say, BOOYAKASHA!
Overall Rating: 5/5
Video and Audio Review
The show looks solid arriving on DVD, though I’m sure plenty of fans will wish that the show had received the Blu-ray treatment for its 10-year anniversary. Still, as mentioned above, for those who don’t own the series or may have missed it, this box set is a great chance to pick up the entire series for a fantastic price. Visually things look good, and the animation works well in this format without any real distraction. Would an HD offering be welcome? Of course! But for now this does the job well and fans should be satisfied.
On the audio side of things the box set also delivers, with crisp, clean audio mixed in with a fun score and great sound effects. The theme song is one – if not my favourite – of the theme songs from the multitude of TMNT television shows, as it’s just a lot of fun, much like the show itself. As a whole, thumbs up on both audio and video, and now we can just hope for a Blu-ray release some time down the road to take things up another notch.
Paramount Pictures Presents Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Complete Series (2012). Created by: Ciro Nieli, Joshua Sternin. Starring: Sean Astin, Rob Paulsen, Greg Cipes, Mae Whitman, Hoon Lee, Seth Green, Kevin Michael Richardson, Josh Peck, Nolan North, Jason Biggs, Kelly Hu, Clancy Brown. Running time: 47 hours. Rating: PG. DVD Box Set Released: Dec. 6, 2022.
