When I started watching the show when I was 10 years old, I immediately enjoyed it. It should be aired more often.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
(Rated TV-Y7-FV, Children, cartoons, & animation, Starring Michael Sinterniklaas, Frank Frankson, Wayne Grayson, Where to watch: CW, DVD, Online)
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Is it age appropriate?
About our ratings -
Is it any good?
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Common Sense says
Mediocre actioner is mostly OK, dude.
Why We Rated This 
for Ages 7 and Up
The good stuff
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Educational value:
What to watch out for
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Role models:
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Violence & scariness:
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Sexy stuff:
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Language:
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Consumerism:
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Drinking, drugs, & smoking:
What Parents Need to Know
This review of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles was written by Scout Davidson
Parents need to know that this is a fairly violent show about four turtle brothers who work together to battle monsters, gangsters, aliens, and just about any other villains you could think of. Characters are beaten, stabbed, maimed, and clearly shown to suffer. The brothers get along as well as any siblings do, whether they're teaming up to defeat evil or trading quips and punches to prove how manly and macho they are. (Note: Different seasons of this show have been promoted/known by different names, including Fast Forward and Back to the Sewer.)
Families Can Talk About
Talk to your kids about the media in their life. We have more tools and tips that can help
- Families can talk about the importance of teamwork in accomplishing goals. Do the turtles work well together as a team?
- Scientific-minded kids might enjoy figuring out how, exactly, these turtle creatures came to be -- what does it mean to mutate, and is it realistic to think such characters could exist?
- On a completely different note, the characters, named for classic Italian artists, could provide a good starting point for a discussion of Renaissance art and history.
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More on Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
What’s the Story?
Over the years, the TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES have had many incarnations. Their comic book origins led to their first animated series in 1987 and a few live-action movies in the early '90s. This show, which premiered in 2003, is closer to the original comic books. The animated series features the amphibious foursome -- Leonardo (voiced by Michael Sinterniklaas), Michelangelo (Wayne Grayson), Donatello (Sam Riegel), and Raphael (Frank Frankson).
Is It Any Good?
The animation makes the show less irritating than the live-action films, but only barely. The amphibious brothers still talk like southern California skater dudes (except one who, strangely, has a New York accent), and are still differentiated only by the color of their eye-masks, making them virtually indistinguishable to adult viewers. Taking its pacing and approach from Japanese anime (though not its animation style), TMNT is quite violent, filled with nunchucks, throwing stars, swords, and many, many fight scenes punctuated by flashes of blinding light and characters flying sideways through the air to land crippling kicks. Though the Turtles are ninjas, studying under a sensei named Splinter (a giant rat, natch), they're surprisingly materialistic and Western in their overall thinking.
The program's overall messages purport to be positive ones -- working as a team to overcome evil, for instance -- but the underlying themes aren't as encouraging. The brothers use violence to achieve their goals, unapologetically chopping, stabbing, maiming, and beating their enemies to within an inch of their lives; their friend Casey (Marc Thompson) has a cousin who shows up with a machine gun in order to steal an inheritance (to pay off his gambling debts!); one of the Turtle brothers is brooding and uncommunicative for no real reason; and so on. This is a show that will definitely appeal to younger viewers, but because of the violence, a preview would be a good idea.
Our Members Say
See all 7 member reviews
Most Recent Reviews
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I rate this title on for age 7 and give it
Good for all ages!
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I rate this title off for age 14 and give it
OH NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO
This show is keeping children away from believing turtles to be cute and cuddly pets. Actually, after this TV show came out, the population of un-adopted turtles in pet stores soared to high levels. I believe that is because children are afraid the turtles in this show will "hurt them" and so will any other turtle. I found my 12 year old grandson watching this one day, and he was close to tears! I asked what was wrong and he said,"Maxie my turtle is going to kick my butt!"
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I rate this title on for age 0 and give it
*snorts*
Flippin Retarded
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I rate this title on for age 0 and give it
pretty good
Dude, the reviewer really has it in for the turtles don't he (or she or it whatever)? I my self really enjoy the show. I love how they have serial story lines that allow more complex plots, well they did at the begining of the show anyway. It's almost as good as the original cartoon.
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I rate this title on for age 0 and give it
Neat Show!!!
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is one of the greatest cartoons ever!!! If you liked 1987 TV series or the 1984 comics, this is for you!!! For those who watched the original cartoon, you might be in your 20's or 30's by now and still love TMNT!!! For adult TMNT fans, your kids will love it!!! There were TMNT clones in the 1980's, 1990's and 2000's like Battletoads, Avenger Penguins, Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers, Danger Rangers (it also has a turtle character (Burt)), 3-2-1 Penguins, Wonder Pets, just to name a few.
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