Word: ninjas
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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Step aside, Superman. Get back, Batman. Make way for the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the latest superheroes to make the big leap from comic books to the silver screen. The who?, you say. Then you haven't been paying attention. The Turtles -- four wisecracking, pizza-guzzling reptile masters of the martial arts -- are already the biggest animated adventure act to hit television since Ghostbusters cartoons. Kids adore their hip and slightly naughty sense of humor ("Let's haul shell out of here"). "I like Michaelangelo because he's a smooth dude, a party animal," says Michael Serio, a 7-year...
This week, just in time for school break, the tough-shelled quartet makes its feature-film debut in a $12 million movie named, you guessed it, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, complete with a rap-music sound track. Turtlemaniacs may be surprised to find their cartoon heroes are portrayed by actors in high-tech ! turtle costumes (their computerized masks, with facial expressions that change by remote control, were designed at Muppeteer Jim Henson's Creature Shop). But the rest is familiar: the jokes are campy, the ninja feats daring if a little silly, and the Turtles still squabble noisily over practically...
...merchandising spin-offs ranging from breakfast cereals to skateboards snapped up more than $100 million in sales last year. "They have just taken over the toy and entertainment industry," says Lynn Hejtmanek, director of marketing for Ultra Software Corp., which has sold more than 1.4 million copies of a Ninja Turtle game for Nintendo...
...newspaper in Northampton, Mass., when the editor of a local comic magazine suggested that he collaborate with Eastman, an amateur cartoonist who was working as a short-order cook. One night in 1983 -- and neither can remember why -- inspiration struck. Eastman drew a humanized turtle wearing a ninja mask and carrying a katana blade. The idea of a slowpokey turtle as a swift and wily ninja cracked them up. By the end of the evening the artists had created four tortoises. Eastman quickly christened them the Ninja Turtles, but then, in an absurdist wink at two of the most popular...
...state of excitement, he sets up his G.I. Joe Strategic Long-Range Artillery Machine, hollers commands and launches missiles across the room. "A direct hit!" he screams. A few feet away, his older brother sits in front of the TV, joy stick in hand, mesmerized by a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles video game. Bouncing in his seat to the beat of the programmed music, he keeps hitting the ATTACK button. "Yeah!" he finally cries. The enemies are all dead, and the game is won. All is well...