Jump to content
The mkiv Supra Owners Club

Teenage mutant Hero turtles


The Raven

Recommended Posts

OK. Ive been having a long running disagreement with the wife and her brother.

 

When they first brought out the cartoon in the 80s it was called Hero turtles here. It never aired here as Ninja until much much later.

 

Ive been told time and time again that they where ninja turtles and they changed to hero ones later.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Upon TMNT's first arrival in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Poland, Austria, Germany and some other countries in Europe, the name was changed to "Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles" (or TMHT, for short), since local censorship policies deemed the word ninja to have excessively violent connotations for a children's program. (In Ireland, however, the first season aired as "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" before changing to "Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles").[15] Consequently, everything related to the Turtles had to be renamed before being released in these nations (comic books, video games, toys, etc.) The lyrics were also changed, such as changing "Splinter taught them to be ninja teens" to the "Splinter taught them to be fighting teens."

 

The policies also had other effects, such as removing use of Michelangelo's nunchaku (which were at the time banned from appearing in 18-rated movies) and generally toning down the usage of all the turtles' weapons. After many seasons of never using his nunchaku, they eventually disappeared entirely, replaced by a turtle shell shaped grappling hook called the "Turtle Line".[16]

 

However, when the live-action movie came out in 1990, the "Ninja" of the title was kept even in the UK. In time, nunchaku scenes were retained in previously-censored movies such as those of Bruce Lee. The same went for the PAL releases of the early video games, which had Michelangelo's weapon of choice fully visible and usable.

 

By the time of the 2003 TV series, these censorship policies had been abolished, and no changes have occurred in the content of the show. The name "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" remained unchanged for the 2003 TV series. As a result, in the UK, the 1987 TV series is still called Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles and the 2003 TV series is called Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, hence a disambiguation between the two TV series.

 

On May 25, 2009, Lionsgate Home Entertainment released the 25th Anniversary Collectors Edition on Region 2 DVD in the UK. This 3-Disc set contains all the episodes of Seasons 1 and 2 and 4 episodes from the final season, as well as a 1-Disc DVD with the first few episodes of Season 1. This release features the original, unedited episodes under the Ninja Turtles title, and also marks the first time the show has been released uncensored in the UK.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Simple answer is UK didn't like the word Ninja as it sounds violent, so Ninja everywhere else in the world, Hero in england. Until we realised that by calling them ninjas it doesn't mean kids instantly become evil ninjas out to beat people up, then we joined the rest of the world and changed hero to ninja.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I showed them wiki, to which i was told.

 

No its wrong we saw it.

 

It's definitely correct, I remember seeing ninja turtles when we were on holiday in the US as a kid before it was even out in the UK.

 

When it did come out over here I was like, WTF??!?1! where are teh ninjas?!one!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Who? What countries version was that? :innocent:

 

Bangladesh :D

 

same bed sheet as the one now? who's spitter?

 

SHREDDER OR SPLINTER!!!

 

Yep & I have never even washed it!

 

Sorry, I mean't Splinter... Shredder gives me nightmares still :(

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest jdwals

That ninja thing is mad - all the time they were worried about the use of the word ninja Storm Shadow and Snake Eyes in Action Force/GI Joe were openly running about the place as ninja's and I think one action figure, Quick Kick I think, came packaged with his very own little set of nunchuks.

 

Sorry, as good as the turtles were, Storm Shadow would have kicked their butt's on his own!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...

Why are nunchaku so evil, yet a katana acceptable? A ninja blade, or two pieces of wood linked by a chain?! Hmmm?! And why didn't Leonardo ever use them properly?! Years of cartoon non-violence I put up with and he never so much as cut anyone's finger! :D He may as well have just had two mini-bos and whacked people like donatello!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Restore formatting

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue. You might also be interested in our Guidelines, Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.