The 2012 series also includes a few appearances by the 1987 Turtles with their old voice actors intact (and Rob Paulsen, who voiced Raphael in this show, regularly voices Donatello in the 2012 one). The 2012 series is essentially a modernized reboot of the 1987 series since it utilizes and/or modifies characters and elements from it. Thirteen years after its end, the series was revisited in Turtles Forever, a crossover between this incarnation of the Turtles and their counterparts from the 2003 series, though contractual issues meant that these Turtles had new voice actors. The series continues to influence the franchise today, with every later incarnation of the turtles maintaining at least part of the tone of the series, as well as multiple nods to it. This new direction lasted for three 8-episode seasons, until the series' end in 1996.ĭespite-or perhaps because of-the numerous changes made to the source material, the series became wildly popular, providing the thrust behind a massive toy line, inspiring the Teenage Mutant Samurai Wombats cartoon subgenre, and even getting a two-part OVA in Japan. Reactions to the "red sky" seasons remain mixed while some appreciate the shift, others believe it took away from the series' strengths. The palette was darker, the Shredder and company were eventually Put on a Bus and were replaced by the alien Lord Dregg and his posse, and the tone became less humorous. Yoshi decides to raise the turtles, name them, and train them in the martial arts.Īfter seven seasons, the series was retooled in an attempt to make them more serious. Soon, he finds the turtles growing to humanoid size, and himself turning into a humanoid rat the ooze, which had been spilled by Saki in order to kill Yoshi, was a mutagen that would grant an organism traits from the previous organism it had come into physical contact with. One day, Yoshi finds the turtles immersed in pink-colored ooze, which he gets all over himself while trying to clean it off. Escaping to the New York sewers, Yoshi eventually makes pets of rats living there, as well as four baby turtles which happened to fall inside. Out of jealousy, Saki compromises Yoshi's position in the clan and forces him into exile. The story goes something like this: Hamato Yoshi and Oroku Saki were members of the Foot Clan. It lasted from 1987 to 1996 the first three seasons and for half of Season 4 it aired in syndication via Group W/Westinghouse, and after that it moved to CBS' Saturday morning lineup, and ironically, CBS and Westinghouse merged in 1995. The first animated series starring the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and the one responsible for the worldwide phenomenon spurred by the franchise.