Cowabunga! Our Favorite Pizza-Loving Turtles Turn 25

By Perri Nemiroff: 2009-06-29 20:44:00

There’s some major turtle power hitting stores on August 4th. All you Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle fans brace yourselves because Warner Home Video is releasing the 25th Anniversary Collection on DVD and Blu-ray.

Most people don’t know the franchise first began with a comic book created by two guys who financed the project using a tax refund and family loans. When the turtles fell into the hands of licensing agent Mark Freedman, things really took off. Thanks to Dark Horse Miniatures, figurines went into production. Next up was a full line of action figures accompanied the TV series we all grew to love. To top it all off, our favorite crime-fighting turtles were brought to life in four films.

Thankfully I never owned a real turtle when I was younger because I might have tried to feed it pizza. When they were just tiny little creatures, Donatello, Leonardo, Michelangelo and Raphael were exposed to a slimy green substance that transformed them into ninja superheroes with attitudes. With the help of Splinter the Rat, the guys kept the city safe from Shredder and his Foot Soldiers.

This release really hits home for me. My childhood was packed with ninja turtle action figures, VHS tapes, Halloween costumes and video games. If there’s any entertainment series from my past that I’d love my children to experience it’s the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

If only the series came with the cartoon, it’d be perfect. How can you have a 25th Anniversary Collection and not include such a vital piece franchise? Yeah, the set comes with all four films including Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Movie, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III: Turtles in Time and TMNT, but what about the animated series? At least the Blu-ray version comes with some cool bonuses like pizza box packaging, a reproduction of “TMNT: The Movie” comic book, a sketch with creator Peter Laird’s autograph, collectible character cards and a TMNT beanie hat. The DVD version perks include a collectable tin with four turtle masks and temporary tattoos. I’ll never say no to cool collectables, but when you get older remembering your favorite childhood series means more media, not more junk. WHV should have ditched the toys and included the animated show.

The DVD comes at a fairly modest of $39.92, but if you opt for the BD version you’ll be dropping a hefty $84.99. If I’m going to spend that kind of cash on a complete collection, I’d rather pay more and really be getting the completeTMNT fix. It kicked off on April 23rd in New York City and featured a TMNT-branded Party Bus complete with media, memorabilia and interactive experiences. If you want to get shell shocked with other fans, click here to see when the tour invades a town near you.

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