The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TMNT) were inspired by a comical doodle created by Eastman during a casual evening of brainstorming and crappy television with Laird. 1)
The TMNT are known to have been named after Renaissance painters. However, did you realize that the original names were spelled differently? Raphael was referred to as “Raffaelo”, while Donatello was referred to as “Donato”. Initially, the designers botched Michelangelo's name — they named him “Michaelaneglo”. 2)
The TMNT were darker in the original comic version than most people believe. Splinter originally trained them for one goal only: to kill the Shredder. 3)
Did you know that the design of his armor was inspired by a cheese grater? Eastman allegedly got the idea for the Shredder after accidently putting his arm through a rectangular cheese grating while cleaning the dishes one night. 4)
Eastman planned to name the figure “Grater” or “Grate Man” after this cooking equipment, but Laird recommended “Shredder” instead. 5)
Ninjutsu is the martial art discipline practiced by the TMNT. It is a strategy and tactics of unconventional and guerilla warfare that originated about a thousand years ago in Japan. 6)
Aside from the United States, TMNT were especially popular in the United Kingdom, where the Army & Navy Store in London devoted their whole basement to anything turtle-themed, including games, films, toys, costumes, and other goods, in the run-up to Christmas. 7)
When the TNMT first came in the UK, the name was altered to “Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles” (or TMHT) because local censorship rules regarded the word “ninja” to have sufficiently violent implications for a children's show. 8)
The regulations had additional consequences, such as eliminating the usage of Michelangelo's weapon nunchaku (which were banned in 18-rated movies back then). Instead, Michelangelo was given a grappling hook known as the “turtle line”, which he used as his hallmark weapon for the remainder of the show's run.9)
Because the turtles were known for their pizza weakness, the TMNT craze swept across the pizza business like never before, resulting in a violent war between the pizza titans. Pizza Hut was able to obtain a $20 million marketing campaign with the film, but Domino's was given the honor of feeding the turtles in the film. 10)
April O'Neil, a television reporter and ninja turtles fan, was also altered. She was most likely African-American, as evidenced by several of the early comics' events. 11)
Despite the fact that the first film is set in New York City, it was only shot there for four days. The majority of the film was really shot in Wilmington, North Carolina. 12)
The outfits created for the film were exceedingly hefty (70 pounds). 13)
The TMNT outfits have to be big enough to fit all of the animatronics. As a result, the costumes were too large to fit through a standard-sized manhole. As a result, the producers had to design custom manholes for the film. 14)
The clothing caused significant problems for actor Josh Pais (Raphael). He had to remove his turtle mask after each shot because he suffered from severe claustrophobia. 15)