Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - Season Five
Studio: Lionsgate StudiosYear: 1991US Rating: Not RatedFilm Length: 414 MinutesAspect Ratio: 1.33:1Audio: Dolby Surround (2.0 Audio)Subtitles: N/A
US Release Date: August 7, 2007
The Show -
out of
The Show -
out of "What's the matter, dude? Haven't you seen four foot tall turtles before?”
While I may have been a teenager when the half-shelled heroes exploded in popularity, I was never swept up in the fervor that surrounded their comic book adventure origins or their more modulate appearances in TV cartoons. But their impact on pop-culture and their recognition quotient, found even today, stands as quite an achievement.
The TMNT had extremely humble origins, first appearing in a limited edition comic of only 3000 prints, that was self-funded and published by creators Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird. Originally intended as a spoof of sorts; a parody of some of the more popular comics from the early 1980’s, these mutant heroes managed to strike a nerve. The unique beginnings soon led to a lucrative merchandising deal, sealing the fate of the teenage ninja heroes and making the creators quite wealthy.
These green teens, who serve the city by fighting the megalomaniacs and criminal simpletons that threaten peace and justice, are made up of four turtles, each distinct with different skill sets and temperaments. The unofficial leader of the pack is Leonardo, followed by Raphael, the angrier and quick to fight member of the team. Donatello, the cultured brain of the group, is an inventor, scientist and philosopher and lastly, we have Michelangelo, clearly the dullard of the four. If these were not muscle-ridden superheroes, the surfer-dude sounding Michelangelo would be the slow, fat friend to the other slightly more savvy and accomplished turtles. These shelled ninjas have help in human form from the TV reporter, April O’Neil. Somehow, she always manages to be covering the story that sparks the criminal plot. And finally, the TMNT's are guided, spiritually and physically, by their Sensei Splinter, a Ninjutsu Master that was mutated from a great warrior’s pet rat (or the ‘rat-like mutation of the original great warrior’ depending on what you accept as canon).
In season five, our four pizza chugging crime fighters face a variety of foes; from the malevolent Krang, their longtime nemesis Shredder, the silly Muckman and the hayseed stereotypes in the Badd Family. The stories are all simple, briskly paced and rely upon constant expository dialogue, a factor that is the most obvious sign that this incarnation of the TMNT universe was targeted to an audience of kids & teens. The second sign of a creative bent toward that younger demographic is the limited use of weapons and violence in the action sequences. These episodes are not devoid of weapon combat, but it is fleeting and pacified, dulling any real hope that these episodes might somehow appeal to an edgier crowd.
The Turtles are an interesting band of heroes, and the pervasive self-referential humor throughout the show adds a layer of novelty to a franchise whose true peak had just about been reached. The jokes in the show are reasonably strong for the target demographic and witty in a way that almost balances the simplification and blunting of the action and fights.
Season five aired in 1991, roughly halfway through the shows ten-year run from 1987 to 1996.
The Episodes
According to the episode listing found on the official Ninjaturtles.com website, this three disc set is missing the episodes ‘The Turtles and the Hare’, ‘Once Upon A Time Machine’ and the 'Planet of the Turtleoids' two-parter. Also, according to the site, the episodes on the discs are not in the original production/airdate order.
Disc One -
1. Donatello's Bad Time
2. Donatello's Duplicate
3. My Brother, the Bad Guy
4. Enter Mutagen Man
5. Napoleon Bonafrog: Colossus of the Swamps
Disc Two
6. Michaelangelo Meets Mondo Gecko
7. Michaelangelo Meets Bugman Again
8. Leonardo Cuts Loose
9. Muckman Messes Up
10. The Ice Creature Cometh
Disc Three
11. Zach and the Alien Invaders
12. Raphael VS the Volcano
13. Turtle of a Thousand Faces
14. Pirate Radio
15. Landlord of the Flies
16. Leonardo, Renaissance Turtle
17. Welcome Back, Polarisoids
18. Michaelangelo, the Sacred Turtle
The Video - 
out of
out of Lionsgate brings us 18 episodes from season five, each presented in the original aspect ratio of 1:33.1. The image is dirty, dusty, speckled and generally pale throughout the episodes. Admittedly, some are better than others, but overall the quality is decidedly weak. While I can hardly expect these episodes to go through any restoration process to clean them up, I am a little surprised that that they are as spotted and lukewarm as they are.
Fans of the show may simply be happy to have them in hand, but with the recent CG adventure, these older episodes could not look any more dated than they do here.
The Sound - out of
out of Each episode comes with a Dolby Surround track and sounds somewhat flat and lifeless. All the sound is concentrated across the two front speakers and some mild distortion is present. Again, I may be expecting too much from a 16 year old children’s cartoon produced en mass during the merchandising madness at the height of the Turtles popularity, but the audio quality is, at best, underwhelming on this three disc set.
The Extra’s - out of
out of Under the Shell: Yosugi Yojimbo - (2:54) – A very brief conversation with Townsend Coleman, who provided the voice for the Yosugi (Rabbit Bodyguard) character. There isn’t much to say about this ‘extra feature’ as not much was provided by it.
Under the Shell: Baxter Stockman - (3:25) – This isn’t so much an extra feature as it is a bad mini clip show. We have been provided three and a half minutes of Baxter Stockman (aka The Fly Guy) clips getting up to no good and set to a more energetic piece of music than you find in the original TV show.
It feels thrown together to simply up the number of extras on the set.
Note to Lionsgate - Quality vs. Quantity!
The Turtles: A Ninjatastic Look Back - (17:55) – This is the only special feature on this fifth season set of any substance and it is surprisingly informative. Each of the original voice-cast is interviewed. Rob Paulson, the voice of Raphael; Barry Gordon, voice of Donatello; Cam Clarke, Voice of Leonardo and Townsend Coleman, voice of Michelangelo are all here providing some insight on life during and after their time as the half-shell heroes voices.
Trailer Gallery - (3:48) – Previews for Doctor Strange, 24 X 24, Dish Dogz and The Invincible Ironman.
Final Thoughts
Somehow, these innocuous and placated adventures of four teenage mutant ninja turtles from the early 90’s hold a charm even today. Perhaps it is the cheesy jokes that have you rolling your eyes, the genuine attempts at wisdom that sneak in to the episodes from time to time or the rampant self-awareness that pervade their outings, but there is something to like about this show. I can’t say I ever need to hear that theme-song again, but as long as you are not looking for cartoon with high production values or good video/sound quality, you might do okay with this set. The pizza box package design is innovative but a little overdone. If you are a TMNT fan, you probably already own this. For others out there who may be looking for a cartoon from the late eighties/early nineties where no-one dies and the fun is innocent, these episodes might be for you. Those familiar with the Turtles as they have been represented in this decade, will no doubt be disappointed, so buyer beware.
Overall Score - out of
out of Neil Middlemiss
Kernersville, NC
