Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles was an iconic show during the 1980’s. The series followed a group of turtles whom are trained in the way of ninjas.

Little did we know when this odd cartoon debuted in the 80s that it would turn out to be a massive hit spawning everything from movies, toys, and spin-offs for decades to come.

History Of The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

The origin of this popular 1980’s show can be traced back to the time when Playmates Toys had some doubts about the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles fans. This happened around the time that the characters first appeared in comic book form in 1984.

The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comic was created by Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird. The characters came out from a drawing that Eastman did and watching television with Laird. With a loan from Kevin’s uncle and a tax refund, Kevin and Peter self-published a single issue featuring Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

In 1987, Playmates Toys was approached to create a toy line that was based on the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comics.

At the time, the company wasn’t sure if they want to take the risk of making an action figure line based on the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

In order to help abbreviate the risk, the company wanted a television deal to be completed. By December 1987, the Popular 1980’s Cartoon-Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles debuted.

The show originally started in a miniseries format. It was broken down into five parts. The pilot episode of the first episode for the series was called “Turtle Tracks”.

After the five part miniseries of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles debuted, Playmates Toys released the first of its Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles action figures.

By 1988, the second season of the show debuted. By this time, the series became a Saturday morning cartoon that was very popular with the mainstream audiences, particularly children. The show’s success allowed it to become syndicated, and the show expanded to a five day a week showing during weekday afternoons.

Unlike the matured comics that originally debut the characters, the television show took a different approach. On the show, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles were shown to be fun, yet serious ninja superheroes.

They were responsible for fighting against the evil forces that plague their beloved city of New York. The Popular 1980’s Cartoon – Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles introduced Leonardo, Raphael, Michelangelo, and Donatello to the world.

The Popularity For The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

To say that the cartoon was a smashing success would be an understatement, and in reality in was also responsible for shaping pop culture at the time. The show introduced popular catch phrases such as “Cowabunga!” and “Turtle Power” among a slew of other slangs we associate with the 1980s.

They also introduced children to surfer lingos that the characters used like “bummer” and “radical.” These phrases became a well known characteristic of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and really changed the way kids talked in the 1980s.

The 1987 animated show was responsible for helping the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles reached its cult status. The animated show remains the most popular take on the characters, and the rest as they say is history!