The Mutant Ninja Turtles Gallery

The Mutant Ninja Turtles Gallery

The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (or simply Ninja Turtles, and previously known in the United Kingdom, Germany, Austria, Ireland and Scandinavia as Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles) are a fictional team of four mutant turtles, who were trained by a giant, talking rat sensei, Master Splinter, in the art of Ninjitsu. From their home in the storm sewers of New York, they battle petty criminals, evil megalomaniacs, and alien invaders, all while remaining isolated from society at large. The characters initially appeared in comic books before being licensed for toys, cartoons and film adaptations. During the peak of its popularity in the late 1980s through early 1990s, the franchise gained considerable worldwide success and fame.

For many parents in the late 1980s, the Ninja Turtles phenomenon represented the latest in a series of shrewd cartoon-toy marketing strategies, a trend that had proven very profitable with Masters of the Universe, Transformers, Thundercats and a host of other "good vs. evil" action-adventure franchises. Parents often found themselves at odds with children who demanded scads of toys and accessories after being subjected to so-called "30 minute commercials" delivered via after-school television. On April 10, 2008, students at Rutgers University broke the Guinness World Record for the "Largest Gathering of People Dressed as Ninja Turtles." 786 members of the University community gathered at the recreation center in Piscataway, NJ to accomplish this feat.