The journey among the souls who kept us company in the 80's continues with the legendary ones Ninja Turtles to the rescue. In previous appointments we have remembered anime such as Holly and Benji, Mila and Shiro, the Tiger Man and The Great Mazinger. Now it's up to the adventures of Leonardo, Raphael, Donatello and Michelangelo led by Master Splinter.
Ninja Turtles to the rescue, the plot
"Four turtles, always ready and always alert: as a ninja." Thus began the theme song sung by Enzo Draghi and Alessandra Valeri Manera with which one of the iconic animes of the 80s and 90s was introduced. It airs in Italy on the Fininvest networks (today Mediaset) and has four anthropomorphic mutant turtles as protagonists. They grew up in the sewers of New York and were trained in the martial art of ninjutsu by Hamato Yoshi, Alias Splinter, a former martial arts master.
Transformation and training
But how did 4 normal turtles become superheroes? Years before the beginning of the story, following a car accident, a dangerous radioactive sewage it dispersed in the sewers of New York. The dangerous substance came into contact with the four missing turtles. The process of contagion and transformation is slow but radical: the protagonists begin to assume both physical and intellectual humanoid characteristics. However, the four turtles are not the only ones infected. With them also an old rat, who took care of them from an early age, teaching them everything he knew.
The rodent, called Splinter, it once belonged to the Japanese immigrant Hamato Yoshi, whose ninjitsu training he had observed for years. It is thanks to these teachings that he educates the turtles, helping them to become real warriors, in combat and honor. Furthermore, due to his innate passion for animals, Splinter decides to adopt the young turtles and, being an art lover, entrusts them with artists' names. He chooses four of them belonging to the Renaissance: Leonardo da Vinci, Raffaello Sanzio, michelangelo Buonarroti e Donatello. The turtles, fearful of being pointed to monsters by the human population and discriminated against, remain in the sewers. When they rise to the surface they often use disguises to avoid being recognized.
The battle against Shredder
Together the four turtles fight the villain Shredder, Splinter's old rival, who subsequently became archenemy of the Turtles. The supervillain wears metal armor full of blades, inspired by that of the Japanese samurai. Shredder is the head of the clan of the foot, an army of ninja robotici and he gets help from Krang, a wicked amorphous alien with a very high intellect. The goal is to conquer absolute power.
The friendship of the turtles with April O'Neil
In their adventures, ninja turtles can count on the help of April o'neil, a human journalist, who often turns to her very important information. Over time, our four cute heroes come out of isolation by making friends with other humans as well, like April's colleague, the careless Irma.
The differences between anime and manga
Let's start by saying that this anime has very few similarities with the original comics. In fact, in order to adapt the story to a very young audience, cheerful and never uneducative tones have been inserted and the characters have been totally modified. Ninja Turtles, from warriors forged for battle alone, they become four valiant heroes full of sympathy.
Raffaello, who has always been the troubled and violent teenager in comics, gets a role from comic shoulder together with Michelangelo. To avoid the murder of Hamato Yoshi, the producers opted for the mutagen with the property of transforming humans. In the anime, all references to the ninja, considered a too violent model for young spectators. The fight scenes have been considerably reduced and those in which Michelangelo uses his have been removed nunchaku.
As for the antagonists, the adaptation widely scoffs Shredder. Beside him two mutant criminals, Bebop e Rocksteady. The latter combine cooked and raw, assuming the role of comic shoulder of the supervillain. Karai, on the other hand, disappears and was replaced by the mercenary kunoichi Lotus, with whom Leonardo seems to fall in love. The command of this group passed to the alien Krang, inspired by the Utroms of the comic. Eventually the producers decided to fill the episodes with countless mutants from both sides.
The Italian acronym
Ninja Turtles to the rescue is the first animated series about ninja turtles, which aired in the United States from 1987 to 1996, for a total of 193 episodes divided into ten seasons. It was broadcast in Italy in December 1989. The Italian theme song of the series: Ninja Turtles to the rescue, is written by Enzo Draghi and Alessandra Valeri Manera and sung by Giampi Daldello.
The Ninja Turtles series
Ninja Turtles to the rescue: this is the first animated series, which aired in the United States from 1987 to 1996, for a total of 194 episodes divided into ten seasons. It's the series we've covered in this article.
Ninja Turtles - The adventure continues: it is instead a show produced in 1997 that lasted two seasons. It re-proposes the style of the cartoon but with substantial differences, from clothing to masks that differ not only in color but also in shape.
Ninja Turtles: is a series made in 2003 by Mirage Studios in collaboration with 4Kids Entertainment and 20th Century Fox. The show goes back to the origins, those of the comics: abandoned the censorship of the first series, here we find the dark tones and the strong battles of the written pages.
And at the cinema ...
Ninja Turtles to the rescue is the first film about the four turtles, shot live with costumed actors.
Ninja Turtles II - Ooze's Secret is the second film and focuses on Shredder's return. We are talking about an event that, within the comics, is a fundamental supporting event of the comics, and the discovery of the origins by the four brothers.
Tartarughe Ninja III, the third film that marks a clear departure from comics, taking on the cheerful and carefree characteristics of the cartoons of the moment.
TMNT: directed by Kevin Munroe, it is partly the sequel to the previous films and partly to the recent series.
The main characters
Leonardo
michelangelo
Raffaello
Donatello
Master Splinter
April o'neil
Irma
Vernon Fenwick
Burne Thompson
Shredder
Rocksteady
Bebop
krang
Baxter Stockman
Casey Jones
King of mice
Leather head
Carter
Lord Dregg
Ninja Turtles Collection (Box 2 Dvd)
- Fox, Arnett, Linney, Amell, Fisher, Howard, Ploszek, Ritchson, Perry, (Actor)
- Audience Rating: G (audience generale)
