Originally created in 1985 by Korean student (and future rock singer) Seomoon Tak, "Turtle Ninjas" was a grade school project that developed into a pop culture phenomenon stateside. Seomoon's original effort was a two paragraph, double-spaced report on box turtles, though her fascination with martial arts led her to draw blue cartoon ninja versions of the reptiles on the front cover. Disgusted by the poorly-drawn animals and crudely-worded report, the teacher tossed her report in the trash and made Seomoon start from scratch. Eventually, the crumpled paper was discovered by a vacationing Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird during an overseas trip later in the month...and the rest is history. Running with the reptile-ninja concept, Eastman and Laird adapted the drawing into a comic book, animated series and eventual merchandising juggernaut. The main change was that they were green instead.

Once the series made its way back to Korea, the finished product was adapted into a cartoon-documentary hybrid after legal protest from the original creator, who intended her original concept to be educational in nature. Infusing the newly-dubbed, color-corrected episodes with footage from vintage and modern wildlife footage (below left), the end result---Turtle Ninjas, loosely translated---aired for three seasons before KBN TV pulled the plug. Ironically enough, the Americanized version also ran for three seasons. Once Eastman and Laird scooped up the rights for Turtle Ninjas (hoping to rekindle interest in the original series), the Korean episodes were shown on American networks during late-night timeslots as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Seasons 4 and 5. Seomoon was paid handsomely for the rights, which she used some of to buy a Turtles-themed monster truck (below right). She drives competitively but has voiced interest in retiring within the next three years.

Of course, the Americanized Turtle Ninja experiment only lasted for two years before fan interest dwindled, leaving the remaining season in the Eastman-Laird archives for over a decade. Thanks to the magic of DVD, however, this lost batch of episodes can now be "enjoyed" by fans on both hemispheres. This final season ran a bit short (in fact, only 12 episodes were produced), but it's highly evident that Seomoon Tak's original vision has been left intact. The series itself is a wonderful combination of educational footage and action-packed adventure, paired smartly with the purely American invention of comedy relief...so if you've never seen Turtle Ninjas before, you're in for quite a surprise. The complete episode listing is as follows:

Complete Episode Listing
(16 full-length episodes on 2 single-sided discs)

Disc One:
"Return of Return of Shredder"
"Michael Angelo's New Hat" [sic]
"Life In A Glass Bowl"
"There Will Be Mutagen"
"Go, Green Machine!"
"Turtle Eating Habits"

Disc Two:
"Donatello's In Trouble"
"Turtle Mating: Parts 1 & 2"
"Pizza, Pizza Everywhere"
"April O'Fool"
"Turtles Souped"
"Smelly Sewer Surprise"

For the most part, these episodes hold up nicely...with some exceptions, of course. American viewers may balk at Raphael's cross-dressing, but it's not a huge deal after a few episodes. Splinter is also butt-nekkid. The American toilet humor has been kept intact, thankfully, as well as 95% of the wildlife footage (which looks a bit rough around the edges, but more on that later). In fact, the only live-action material altered from the original broadcast is during Episode #8; the infamous "mating montage" obviously didn't make it past the Korean DVD censors, so black bars have been inserted during the more offensive bits. Aside from the music replacement (again, more on that later), there are no other major issues to report.

The DVD itself is a real letdown, though, featuring a poor technical presentation and a major error in the extras department. Combine this with a sky-high price tag, and you've got a recipe for angry Turtle fans worldwide. Let's take a closer look, shall we?

Presented in their original 1.33:1 aspect ratios, these episodes look like five miles of bad road. The turtles' blue skin (again, the original creator's intent) appears greenish at times, image detail is generally soft and the live-action portions are awash with dirt and noise. Still, this is probably the best we'll get for awhile, so them's the breaks.

The audio is equally disappointing, as the more traditional ska-infused soundtrack has been replaced with generic 1990s-era hip-hop tracks due to rights issues. On top of that, the only language available is Esperanto, a far cry from Turtle Ninjas' original Korean/English dub. Aside from these issues, though, the 1.0 mono soundtrack comes through loud and clear. Unfortunately, no subtitles or Closed Captions are offered during the episodes.

Short-lived but memorable, Turtle Ninjas (and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, of course) enjoys second life on DVD thanks to these newly-found episodes. They're a bit dated in some respects, but the stories are still action-packed, education and filled with plenty of comedy relief. Unfortunately, the technical presentation is a mess, and the bonus features...well, they're barely worth mentioning. Only the most die-hard fans of the franchise will tolerate such problems (and the ridiculously high price tag), but most will be better off with a once-over. Rent It.