Cowabunga, Dude! This week, Tidbits checks out the facts on the multi-billion dollar franchise known as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
• Back in 1983, two comic book artists, Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird, were drawing silly cartoons in an attempt to make the other laugh. Eastman drew a parody of a superhero, a masked turtle standing on its hind legs, armed with nunchucks, a traditional Asian martial arts weapon. The pair had a good laugh when Laird added the label “teenage mutant.” Realizing they might be on to something, Eastman and Laird tweaked the drawing and began developing the image into a comic book.
- One turtle expanded into four brothers, with the storyline of baby turtles being exposed to radioactive goo, which mutated them into humanoids, with the mission of fighting evil in New York City. The Turtles live in the city’s sewers and are famous for their love of pizza.
- When it came to naming the turtles, the artists initially considered Japanese names, but settled on the names of four Renaissance artists – Leonardo, Donatello, Raphael, and Michelangelo.
- Each has his own particular fighting style and color-coded mask. Leonardo, the leader, wears a blue bandana, and is a skilled swordsman who brandishes two “katana,” Japanese swords with a curved, single-edged blade used by the Samurai. Donatello’s bandana is purple. His skill is a keen intelligence that enables him to invent specialized gadgets and vehicles. His weapon is a “bo,” a long hardwood staff. Raphael, who wears a red bandana, is the strongest turtle, but also quick-tempered. He carries a “sai,” a three-pronged Japanese weapon. The fastest and most nimble turtle is Michelangelo, a fun-loving personality, who wears an orange bandana and is skilled with nunchucks consisting of two wooden sticks connected at the ends by a short metal chain. Each turtle also wears a belt buckle emblazoned with his first initial.
- Eastman and Laird combined their resources -- a $500 tax return, a bank balance of $200, and a $1,300 loan from Eastman’s uncle – to create an at-home comic book company they named Mirage Studios. There was enough money for a 3,000-copy run and an ad in the Comic Buyer’s Guide. The ad led to orders from distributors, and all 3,000 copies were gone within a few weeks. The orders kept coming, so the men printed an additional 6,000, which sold out nearly immediately, generating enough profit to pay back the uncle and split $200.
• Eastman and Laird intended the Turtles to be a one-time comic book, but gave it another try in January, 1985. The results were immediate orders for 15,000 of Issue #2, and another 30,000 reprints of the first issue. Issue #3 followed with 50,000, and by the time they reached issue #8, orders were for 135,000.
- In 1987, the characters were licensed to Playmates Toys for a collection of action figures. Over the next five years, more than $1.1 billion worth of Turtles toys were sold. Only G.I. Joe and Star Wars figures had more sales. By 1994, merchandise sales had exceeded $6 billion.
- An animated TV series came along in 1987, followed by a feature-length movie in 1990, the year’s fourth-highest grossing film. There are Turtle-themed rides at the Meadowlands amusement park and at Minnesota’s Mall of America. In 1990, there was even a musical album entitled “Coming Out of Their Shells,” followed by a concert tour, with Leonardo on bass guitar, Donatello on keyboards, Michelangelo on guitar, and Raphael on drums and saxophone, with music provided by several studio musicians.
- That original 1983 drawing sold at a May, 2012 auction for $71,700.
