Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Plot

Hey everyone, this post will be a bit short today since I'm still working on the other categories. But enjoy what I've got so far! I'll be looking at the plot of each series.

Plot

TMNT 1987

Source: rottentomatoes.com

The plot of this show is relatively simple. Once the turtles were established as mutant ninja turtles, the show follows a basic formula for each episode: The Shredder, or another evil villain would have some plan to destroy the world, or to steal some great scientific tool in order to take over the world. April would often go to investigate and get herself into trouble, and then the turtles would have to go and save her and stop the villain through various crazy ways. Often the turtles will have someone helping them out, such as Casey Jones, or Usagi.

Everything is usually resolved by the end of the episode and there aren't many story arcs that go beyond one episode. It was your basic action cartoon plot. While, fun, the plot never really went anywhere, which meant none of the characters really developed. Also, characters that seemed important would show up once and never be seen again. I'll be honest, I think the plot is where the show is at its weakest, and I feel that the show had potential that never really was fulfilled.


TMNT 2003

Source: turtlepedia.wikia.com

This plot is a lot more complex and many story arcs follow those in the original comics. While there are stand-alone episodes with the turtles facing against random foes, there is definitely more of a theme going on, particularly within the seasons.

The first season was mainly about facing off against the Shredder, the second was about the turtles' adventure in space and the Battle Nexus, the third was dealing with the space invasion and the final battle with Shredder, the fourth season was dealing Bishop and his plans, and the fifth season was all about the demon Shredder.

Sometimes the plots would get a little crazy and convoluted, but it made things very interesting and helped give more character development to the turtles and their friends and foes.

Often certain episodes in one season will relate to another season, and story arcs would tend to relate to previous arcs. As a result, the amount of characters and story can get a bit complex. There were definitely some glaring plot holes and some things that didn't get quite resolved by the end of the series, but overall, this show does pay more attention to the plot than its predecessor.


TMNT 2012

Source: tmnt2012series.wikia.com

The plot of this show is more similar in style to the 2003 series, even though it is taking several characters and origin stories from the 1987 series. Most of the episodes are generally resolved at the end, although there are often hints to something bigger that is going on. These hints all lead up to the season finale with the Krang Invasion.

It's difficult to say whether the plot is complex from just one and a half seasons, but based on the episodes, the plot is looking to be much more complex than the 1987, though maybe not as complex as the 2003 series. Time will tell with this series. It seems that, like the 2003 series, each season has an overall theme/enemy for the turtles to focus on.

Well that's all for today. Tomorrow, I'll be talking about music and fighting sequences/animation. Until later folks!