The popularity of the original black and white comic book published by Mirage Studios prompted TMNT creators Peter Laird and Kevin Eastman to expand to broader horizons. In 1987, the duo brought their creation to Playmates Toys in order to market action figures of the Green Team. Playmates was very interested in the idea, but without an animated series to familiarize their target toy audience were reluctant to persue the costly mass-marketing of any merchandise.

The first step was to get a television show based on the comic book. So Eastman and Laird went to work setting up an animated series with Murakami Wolf Swenson Productions. The first three episodes were created for a television mini-series. Hopefully, the show would be a hit, and networks would order up more episodes. They did...

:: Enter the Cartoon Library ::

In just three years, the TMNT had expanded from a small locally published book to a full blown phenomenon. The toy line was booming, the animated series was four seasons running, and a second color, more kid-friendly comic book from Archie Comics was becoming more and more popular. Kids wanted anything and everything from the TMNT...

Hollywood, here we come!

:: The Feature Films ::

From 1984 to 1996, the TMNT were nothing but gold. Still under contract for toy manufacturing, Playmates' TMNT action figures were a hot commodity. But it was time for the creators to move on to something else. Permission was granted for the newly-popular Image Comics to print the third volume of TMNT. CBS also planned to scrap their Action Pack Saturday cartoon combo for educational children's programming.

The Image series, although just as graphic and adult-oriented as the Mirage run, was the only form of TMNT in the media at the time. FOX Kids expressed interest in a more grown-up live-action version of the TMNT. Although there were some artistic differences between the creators and the network execs, an agreement was made to produce an entire season of the show. It was something TMNT fans everywhere looked forward to...

:: The Live-Action Series ::