A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES

By Frank Paiva
Special to MSN Movies

In preparation for "TMNT," we show how four turtles from Manhattan became America's favorite crime-fighting heroes

In the cinematic pantheon of esteemed talking animals, a group that includes Babe, Francis the Talking Mule and Stuart Little, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are truly one of a kind. They have rippling muscles, they talk like a bunch of frat boys, they pig out on pizza and they fight crime. Their spiritual leader is a gigantic Buddhist rat that wears a pink kimono, and they're named after a bunch of old European artists. Not even Howard the Duck, in all his Lea Thompson-kissing glory, is that peculiar.

If there's anything Hollywood loves, it's a comic-book adaptation. As the "Fantastic Four" has proven, even a bad movie can make money if it has good action sequences and appealing stars. The recent boom of computer-animated films, many centering on talking animals, makes the big-screen return of Donatello, Michelangelo, Raphael and Leonardo a seemingly sure thing. At least we know it can't be as bad as "Catwoman."

For the uninitiated, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TMNT for short) are a quartet of anthropomorphic turtles living in the sewers of Manhattan. Using their awesome fighting skills, they help rid the city of criminals, aliens and any other evil creatures that pop up along the way. Their allies are Splinter, the aforementioned rat; April O'Neil, a saucy TV reporter; and, Casey Jones, a hockey-mask-wearing vigilante. Together, they fight the evil villain Shredder, a human fiend who wears spiky, modified samurai armor.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles began as a comic book in 1984. Although creators Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird originally intended their characters to be satirical, they soon found themselves with a runaway success that would lead to countless incarnations and spin-offs, including a nationwide, daily syndicated strip and mountains of merchandise.

As the comic's popularity grew, the demand for more turtle action increased, leading to the immensely successful 1987 cartoon TV series, a Saturday-morning staple for an entire generation of children. The show ran until 1996, on CBS and in syndication, for a total run of 193 episodes. After a failed 1997 reboot that was canceled after one season, the boys made their triumphant return to television in 2003 on the nation's No. 1 guilty-pleasure channel: the FOX Network. Currently, they can be found fighting crime in the future -- 2105 to be exact -- every Saturday morning.

"TMNT," the Turtles' fourth foray onto the big screen, will be released Friday, March 23. Their gritty and hip new look, coupled with the continued inexplicable wave of '80s nostalgia, positions the film for success. High expectations run counter to the franchise's tradition of wildly divergent quality.

Video: Watch an exclusive clip from "TMNT"

It all began in 1990 with "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles," an independently produced smash that grossed $135 million and established the boys as true international stars. In the film, actors in elaborate foam-rubber suits portrayed the protagonists. Puppets, miniatures and animatronics did the rest. Like many first films in superhero franchises, the movie went back in time to tell the original story of how the turtles came about, mutated and banded together. The film is also notable for appearances by Sam Rockwell and Skeet Ulrich, both of whom appear in small roles as thugs.