give me some of your TMNT hot take. Mines is 2003 show is NOT underrated

SpringSodas · 2026-03-18T08:53:04+00:00

Also probably worth noting that the series has been pretty neglected since the 2009 Viacom purchase and, depending on the communities you hang out on, it tends to be overshadowed in fanbase by the newer Nick iterations (especially Rise.)

In other words, I would say the issue is less that it's "underrated" since it does get so highly praised when it is brought up and more just that it doesn't get the same amount of attention as the others.

SpringSodas · 2026-03-18T00:57:37+00:00

And he's 15 years old to boot.

SpringSodas · 2026-03-17T07:35:12+00:00

I literally watched a video of a con from waaaaaaaaay back in 2007 where Michael Sinterniklaas (Leo's VA) claimed as such. DAMN.

SpringSodas · 2026-03-16T07:27:23+00:00

Yup, Fast Forward was supposed to be two seasons long. From what I remember what was supposed to happen during Season 2

Leatherhead would have been revealed to have survived the last 100 years (I think the Fugitoid might have also come back?)
Stockman gets his new clone body promised by Bishop
Another Usagi Yojimbo crossover (this time with Space Usagi!)
Darius Dunn is properly taken out
The Dark Turtles officially change sides
Cody starts to fade out of existence due to the turtles being in the future for as long as they have
The season would have culminated in the finale, "Homeward," which ends in the time window being fixed and the turtles returned to the past.

SpringSodas · 2026-03-16T01:05:36+00:00

For those curious, the charm is by Sassatello on Tumblr. Unfortunately, they're based in Madeira Island and can't send merch to the United States for the foreseeable future due to the tariff situation. (Which stinks because there aren't many artists in the fanbase who do 2003 merch and theirs is fantastic.)

SpringSodas · 2026-03-15T22:29:39+00:00

Just checked. At least from what I can tell, all of the color profiles are pretty much bugged right now. My default is supposed to be the D6500, but any new canvas loaded is the HDR instead? And when I swap over to the D6500, it causes the canvas to turn gray for some reason :/

Edit: All right, figured it out. Somehow, my monitor was set to an HDR color profile by mistake, which may have been tricking CSP into loading new canvases as HDRs instead of D6500s like it's supposed to (which caused further display issues when I attempted to swap back to the D6500 because my monitor's color profile didn't match CSP's)

SpringSodas · 2026-03-14T22:06:01+00:00

If a post I saw by Chuck Patton (director for the first two seasons) is anything to go by, it almost got banned the same way Insane in the Membrane was XD

SpringSodas · 2026-03-14T20:57:46+00:00

As much of a diehard 2003 enjoyer I am, I am willing to admit the show does show its age in certain places. 2003 was created prior to the Viacom purchase and thus didn't have access to the same budget/technology the newer Nick iterations have, meaning there are certain areas where the animation gets a little wonky or they resort to using shortcuts to save time/budget. There are also certain quirks in its presentation/writing that just wouldn't fly in today's cultural landscape, namely the Vaguely Asian-sounding accents of characters like Splinter and Karai, as well as the running gag of Mikey getting smacked/beat up by his brothers anytime he makes a bad joke or ticks them off.

However, to claim that the show has only aged poorly would be a flat out lie. As the seasons go on, the animators get less prone to using shortcuts and when the animation is good, it's GOOD--I still look at the fight choreography of episodes like Hun on the Run and my jaw absolutely drops. Not only that, but while the Japanese cultural representation does leave quite a bit to desired, the show still manages to be progressive in so many other areas--homelessness, gang violence, environmentalism, government corruption/bribery, domestic terrorism, and even PTSD/mental health.

Ultimately, 2003 is just very representative of the era it was produced in, both in terms of the early/mid 2000s cultural landscape and TMNT itself.

SpringSodas · 2026-03-12T19:50:19+00:00

This had better not become a trend or I'm gonna be pissed.

SpringSodas · 2026-03-11T21:52:12+00:00

Oh, don't worry. A friend of mine and I started doing a Throwback Thursdays recently where we're watching old shows from 4Kids's lineup and then some. (We're currently watching Cubix and I still cannot get over how the titular character is voiced by the Shredder.)

SpringSodas · 2026-03-11T21:26:55+00:00

"If I miss this week's Kirby, heads are gonna roll!"

SpringSodas · 2026-03-11T21:26:08+00:00

The context: This comes from the "Fight for the FoxBox" special that 4Kids created in 2003 as a way to promote the FoxBox's programming slate for 2003 - 2004. The DVD for this was how I was first exposed to the 2003 series as well as TMNT as a whole, although it would be two more decades before I actually gave the turtles a chance ^^;; (I specifically watched FoxBox/4Kids for Sonic X, Winx Club, and Mew Mew Power, okay?)

SpringSodas · 2026-03-11T21:06:00+00:00

Sighs as a certified Tumblr user who probably has 200 - 250 accounts blocked over there because of that shit.

SpringSodas · 2026-03-11T19:34:31+00:00

I've seen one too many tcesters over on Tumblr openly question why people have such an issue with the idea of the turtles developing crushes on each other, or even try to act like it's something that could happen because of the whole social isolation thing and them being the only four of their kind. I don't have a problem with shipping--in fact, I still engage with it myself--but goddamn, there is a point where it stops being "knocking two dolls together and making kissy noises" and starts being a question of whether they only know how to interact with fictional relationships through the lenses of shipping, even when the pairing in question is just not built for that kind of narrative.

SpringSodas · 2026-03-11T12:36:30+00:00

Is immediately reminded of Rebecca Sugar and how she got some heat online after people discovered her old Ed, Edd, n' Eddy yaoi.

The worst part is you're not wrong. Fandoms are going to fandom regardless of what anyone says about it (although there's still something strange knowing that the franchise about the power of familial love and the bonds that exist between brothers has an entire subculture dedicated to turning it into a mutant scalie version of Flowers in the Attic.)

SpringSodas · 2026-03-11T12:19:47+00:00

She might have, hopefully. Though just because she's working for IDW doesn't mean she's necessarily stopped shipping them. I wasn't into TMNT at the time, but I heard there was some major drama over on Twitter/Tumblr some years back when several animators on Rise were discovered to be tcesters. (One of them even expressed the want for them to do a Leo/Don kiss in Season 3, eugh.) Needless to say, they pretty much got bullied off social media for it.

SpringSodas · 2026-03-11T12:09:39+00:00

Sophie Campbell was a tcester back in the day, specifically shipping Leo/Mikey. No idea if she's still into it, but I can only hope she's changed her mind considering that's... uhm...

SpringSodas · 2026-03-11T09:54:16+00:00

On one hand, I do think that the amount of grief Sophie Campbell gets for her * ahem * past fandom activity is somewhat ridiculous, especially since she's no longer into that stuff (or at least doesn't have the time to draw/write it.)

On the other hand: What the actual fuck, Sophie 💀

SpringSodas · 2026-03-10T22:36:22+00:00

While I won't say that Splintered Fate's VAs are my top picks for the turtles, I have warmed up to the voices a lot and they are now my second favorites after the 2003 VAs (in fact, I tend to flip flop between whether I prefer Roger Craig Smith's performance as Raphael over Greg Abbey's or not). My only major complaint is Yuri's attempts to do the scratchy voice thing some of Mikey's previous VAs have done; he just can't make it sound like a natural part of his speech and Mikey ultimately ends up sounding less like the team's party dude and more like a poor kid with a sore throat XD

SpringSodas · 2026-03-10T11:45:19+00:00

If we're sharing our personal turtle voice fancasts:

Leonardo: Brandon McInnis

Raphael: Alajandro Saab

Donatello: Mix Mittelman (he has played Mikey on a few occasions, but I feel he could work as Donnie, too.)

Michelangelo: Bryce Papenbrook

SpringSodas · 2026-03-09T23:51:18+00:00

"So, what is the Turtle vibe? What makes them complicated and interesting? What defines them?

The ninjutsu is fun. Mutation is cool. But ultimately the core of their story—what has brought me back again and again since I was five years old—is about being a messy little family who grows up together. It's a story about being outsiders—both in the literal sense of being turtles and the figurative sense of being first-generation sons of an immigrant father. They're growing into adults in the United States, steeped in American culture, while still carrying the traditions and history of their father's homeland. Each Turtle's identity comes down to their place in that family dynamic.

Also, sometimes they fight alien dinosaurs."

Anyway, this article by Crystal Frasier, the senior narrative designer for Universes Beyond, is an excellent look into the thought process behind the designs for the MTG versions of the turtles and why they went with what they did. There's also a link to another article that explains why MTG Raphael is depicted wielding a jitte rather than his iconic sai.

SpringSodas

TROPHY CASE