 Kids wanted to see a big screen version of the cartoon. We got the opposite. And we loved it. And still loved it. Yeah. Hello, and welcome to another edition of Frightfully Forgotten's Tales from the VHS Vault. Today, we're going to talk about a very important movie in our childhood, and that is Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Yeah, 1990. We, of course, grew up with the cartoon before the movie came out. The cartoon was everything. It was like it had all the wicked characters, Cran, the Technodrome. Yeah. I remember the toys. Did you have a Technodrome? No, I never had the Technodrome. Rich kids had the Technodrome. Yeah. The fucker was huge. You were a rich prick if you had a fucking Technodrome. Yeah. I remember I wanted it, and I knew a kid who had one. I can't remember which one. I seem to remember a kid having one, like. Yeah, and it actually wasn't as good as you thought it was, though. It was like, you know, yeah, I could do without it. I had the car, that Cadillac car from the people from the Planet X. That thing was cool. That was a cool toy. Yeah, it was kind of neat. And we kind of used to use it if we'd play a Back to the Future game. We kind of double it as a DeLorean, because there was no DeLorean toys at the time. Yeah, because the tires folded in. Like in Back to the Future part, too. Yeah. I had the Turtle Blimp. Yeah, you had a lot of Turtle toys. I didn't have so many. I had a couple. You had the Turtle Van. I had the Turtle Van. Of course, all the originals first run. But my favorite Turtle toy was always Donatello in the trench coat. Oh, yeah. For some reason, that was just like a special toy for me. I like that toy so much. Yeah, yeah. And they got silly near the end, right? Like they had like the robot samurai toys. They're all shiny. Remember those? Yeah, I remember them. I think I had one, too. Yeah. And like the aquatic ones, too. Yeah. The ones with their on vacation. They got the sunglasses and everything, the surf boards and shit like, what? It doesn't even happen in the cartoons. Like they're just coming out with generic shit. And you had, I think, the first couple of episodes on VHS. I still do. The first two will get it. What'd they be, though? I see Ninja Turtles 2 VHS right over there. Behind the shells, making of. Oh. I got that from Jeff. So I always remember that episode in particular because we were able to watch it over and over again. The pilot. It was at our disposal because you had it. So that episode, like, I know like the back of my hand. Throw the bum out. Yeah. So out of all those Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle toys, what do you still have left? I just have the communicator left. And it kind of always pissed me off that that was the only communicator they released. Yeah, the April O'Neill one. That's April O'Neill's communicator. The turtles had a different one. Yeah. And I wanted that. Yeah. It's funny, like, how much of this thing probably cost. Look how shitty this really is. I don't know if the price tag is still on here, you know? I think they did have the turtle ones too last. I don't think they actually have a turtle version. So then, you know, we invested in the cartoon, loved the cartoon. Then the movie comes out. Yeah. Oh, man. And I remember that poster, the teaser poster, where it was just them all peeking out of the sewer, out of the manhole, and just thinking, this is going to be the best thing ever. Yeah. Yeah. Ever. So do you remember the first time you saw the movie? Yeah. Was it in theaters? Yeah. Yeah, we went together. Did we go together? Yeah, we went, your dad drove us in his van. Remember? I remember, I don't remember you being there, though. Yeah, I remember going. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, your dad drove us. That's when he had that different van with that long back. That big blue van. Yeah. With all the exposed, that old insulation. All the insulation is all exposed in the back. Yeah. I remember your mom sitting on the floor with us, too, and everything. Oh, my mom went, because they were divorced at that time. Yeah, your mom was there. You're sort of almost scared. You don't know what to expect in the movie. Yeah. And I remember, because you don't see, you don't see the Ninja Turtles for a bit. They show all the theft and the crime and stuff like that. And then I remember being a little disappointed and a little scared. And then you see Raphael Psi go up and hit the light bulb on that lamp. And you're like, that's Raphael Psi. Yeah. Yes. They tease you perfectly. Yeah, right? Yeah, because as a kid, you're like, well, where are the Ninja Turtles? You want it right away. Right away. Yeah. And you're like, well, where are they? And what are they going to be like? And then you see that Psi. And it's like, OK, this is a Ninja Turtles movie. Like, we're going to get something. Yeah. Yes, yes, yes. This movie is a great example of how instant gratification isn't always a good thing. Because I think all of us kids who went into that movie weren't instantly gratified. Yeah. Because we're like, what is this? It's dark. Where's the Technodrome? Where's Bebop and Rocksteady? You're like, this is nothing like the cartoon. And that's my first thought, right? This is nothing like the cartoon. But as soon as the movie starts unrolling, you forget about that very quickly and you don't give two shits. And this is nothing like the cartoon because it doesn't need to be. Because it's awesome on its own at the standalone movie. It's more like the comics. Yeah. It's dark and gritty like the comics. Great way for them to kind of force the tone of the comics on us kids who are used to watching the cartoon. Yeah, yeah. And it's funny, it's a different time too back then because back then it was a lot, you know, it was 1990. So it's essentially still the 80s. And they didn't treat kids like idiots back then. That goes for this movie. It's a dark movie. It feels like it takes place in the real world. Yeah. Even though it's got mutant ninja turtles in it. And it feels plausible. The way they do it, the way the movie plays out, feels very plausible that these turtles can exist. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. What a stupid fucking title for a stupid idea of a movie. I remember my dad even being after the movie. Yeah, that was a pretty good movie. Like probably not expecting it to be that good. Because what the hell kind of movie is this going to be? Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, you know, it's stupid. The cartoon is silly. It's a solid movie that anybody can watch. Polls at your heartstrings with Splinter being kidnapped and you're sad about Splinter. There's the story to tell too, right? There's the morals. You know, about theft and about kids running away from home, troubled kids. Getting involved in gangs. Regular or menthol. Yeah. It touches on real world issues, right, from kids at the time. Which works way better than a technodrome under the earth or on Planet X or whatever. Like this movie is way more relatable than anything in the cartoons because, yeah, like Danny, like you relate with Danny, he's a troubled kid. Find solace in the gang. Yeah, right. Like way, way deeper than anything in the cartoon. So even though at first when you watch the movie as a kid, you're like, ah, this is nothing like the cartoons. Where's the theme song? Where's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles? Where is that? It's not there. They did go more cartoony for the second one and it did not have the same effect. No. It feels jokey and stupid the second one. And it is. Yeah, and it is. And it doesn't have the same poignant effect. It doesn't have the same story to tell. This movie holds up so well. A good movie. It's a good film. It's a good film. And it had no right to be really better that they went to the source material with the comics rather than basing it off the cartoon. All those kids wanted to see a big screen version of the cartoon. We got the opposite. And we loved it. And still loved it. Yeah, I love how they didn't cop out. They just went for it. And it worked. They didn't even bend on one scene at all. Like nothing. They had their vision and they just ran with it. They stuck to it. Yeah. And beginning to end. And it was perfect. It was perfect. At the very least, you can respect everybody who's involved in the movie for just that alone. Having a vision and sticking to it and not bending because you know the main general audience being the kids probably wants to see the cartoon. Fuck the kids. Yeah. It's like good. I'm glad they said fuck the kids. Yeah, because if they would have only made it for kids, I don't think we'd be watching this now. We wouldn't be. Because that's what they did with part two. They made part two for the kids. And honestly, I haven't seen it since the theaters. Yeah, neither have I. The dialogue is so good and witty. And original interactions with Casey Jones and everything. Like fucking Casey Jones is just awesome. Yeah, like Casey Jones is such a minor character in the cartoons. And here he's like a main character. And he needs to be. You need that other human. You need that human that they can interact with. And man, he's so good. The casting is so good with Casey Jones. And the turtles themselves are awesome. Before CGI, real people inside the suits. Done by Jim Henson Studios. And yeah, you got Corey Feldman. That's funny. I have a story about that. About Corey Feldman. Because he does a voice for Donatello. I never really knew that, even though you grew up watching the Goonies and Lost Boys and Stand by Me. I never put two and two together for the longest time that that was Corey Feldman doing Donatello. So good at it. Yeah, I know. He should be doing more voice acting. Anyways, my story is, I went to the shoe store. And I was talking to the woman. And she's like, you sound like somebody. I'm like, what? I sound like somebody. He's like, yeah, like a famous actor. And you sound like an actor. Like, what? Really? Who? She's like, she's thinking about it. She's like, that guy from the Lost Boys. I'm like, what? Like, who, like Kiefer Sutherland? Like, no? She's like, no, Corey Feldman. You sound like Corey Feldman. You sound just like him. And she was like, you sound just like, there's Adam and you're just like Corey Feldman. I don't think I sound like Corey Feldman. Not at all. And to be that Adam and about it too, like Jesus. You sound like Corey Feldman. I don't think she knew who Corey Feldman was. There's no way you could be that Adam and about that. And the insult she sold me, where the shits and hurt my feet more than it did to it. There's that too. She wasn't thinking about you after. She was thinking about Corey Feldman. The interactions between Casey Jones and April O'Neill. Come on. Yeah, it's awesome. Yeah, it's like, toots. They're always fighting and everything. And oh, fuck, yeah, it's great. It brought zealots. Yeah, yeah. Cutting up those onions, whatever, the legionauter was big served. He's all eating that apple on that swing thing, and it falls. Yeah. Go sleep in the truck. Yeah. That old scene. You're claustrophobic. Hey, I never even looked at another man before. Yeah, like the comedy work. You don't get that line as a kid. I'm not going to take this. I'm going to sleep in the truck. He's all claustrophobic and rolling down the windows. This movie invokes so much emotion, too, between when Raphael gets the shit knocked out of him. He's unconscious. Yeah, he's in the tub, and April O'Neill comes in. She's squirting that water on his shell and everything. You don't think he's going to pull through. Yeah, and the other turtles are really upset. You actually think, watching this for the first time as a kid, that he might die. Yeah, and you're upset by it the way that it all plays out. And then when he comes, too, you're like, yeah. And then there's a training montage, right? Yeah, perfect pacing. The way they make you feel sad and depressed, that this puppet, this rubber puppet, is unconscious in the tub, perfect movie making. And then you've got Splinter, too, and he's all strung up. But he still manages to get the point across, too. Still manages to get through to Danny that he's making the wrong decisions. You have no family. Yeah, me. I bought it on Blu-ray, and I still haven't watched it yet, because I'm kind of waiting for the perfect moment to watch it. And I've heard that some things don't translate so well on Blu-ray, because you can see more of the suits, seams, because that's why they shot it so dark, so you don't see all the seams in the suits and stuff like that, right? Yeah, yeah. Apparently, that's a bit more evident in the Blu-ray, but I don't care. I'd much rather see that than some stupid 3D animated bullshit tacky, no soul movie. This movie's got so much soul, and that's why it stands a test of time. So much heart in this movie. There is, yeah. It really tugs at the heartstrings. We quote it all the time, you know? Whoops. Yeah. If you're watching this and you haven't seen it since back in the day, check it out, and it's going to hold up better than you think it's going to hold. Yeah, exactly. Yeah, it's a movie you can put on all the time. Acting is solid. The effects are great. The puppets, the music, the story, the atmosphere, the settings, it's all picture perfect. Yeah, everything. I remember, too, when the turtles were all the rage. My mom took me to the coming out of their shells world tour or whatever when they played the music live, and it's all those poor guys are all like almost died doing that on a heat exhaustion. They're doing a bunch of Beach Boys songs and shit, too. It was stupid delivery. It was a good idea, but very few people know about that, though, that that was a thing. I remember it. I never went, but I remember the commercials seeing the commercials for Turtles on Tour. Yeah, coming out of their shells. And then, yeah, it's like the only evidence that I have to prove of that is a little sticker off a toy that I had, and I lost the toy, but I kept a sticker. Yeah, watch the documentary about that on YouTube, and those poor performers, they almost died out of heat exhaustion and dehydration and all that stuff, because the suits were so heavy, and you couldn't breathe in that thing. Yeah, they tip the boots over and just sweat would pour out. It's like, oh, poor bastards. So that's our little VHS tales about growing up with the Ninja Turtles movie, and being very happy, it was not like the cartoon, even though that's not what we wanted going in, but we were glad that's what we got going out. Yeah, and the movie still holds up to this day, and it's something that still tugs at the hard strings. You still get emotional. You still shed a tear over some fucking puppets. Yeah, yeah. That's movie making, baby. Till next time, keep drinking.