Thirty-five years ago, some comic book fans left the theater absolutely disappointed, while a group of cartoon fans left utterly thrilled. These two groups both claimed to be fans of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and both had a deep appreciation for the adventures of Leonardo, Michelangelo, Donatello, and Raphael. But those who came to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze hoping for a faithful adaptation of the indie comics by Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird were frustrated in the spring of 1991, while those who loved the cartoon were satisfied.And both were right. Yes, the Ninja Turtles made their debut in gritty black and white comics that parodied Frank Miller‘s Daredevil run. But they became pop culture sensations because of the kid-friendly cartoon show and the toy line that preceded it. And more comic book properties would do well to remember their youngest audience members.cnx.cmd.push(function() {cnx({playerId: "106e33c0-3911-473c-b599-b1426db57530",}).render("0270c398a82f44f49c23c16122516796");});From Comic to CartoonFew characters split their audience like TMNT. On one hand, the series started as a riff on a decidedly harder-edge take on a Marvel hero. Miller reinvigorated Daredevil by importing elements from hard-boiled fiction and Manga, resulting in bloody scenes of Bullseye and Elektra beating each other to death. The first Ninja Turtles comics that Eastman and Laird self-published as Mirage Comics followed suit, with the heroes killing their enemies and crushing the Shredder to death.That said, the first turtle truly appeared when Eastman doodled a picture of a turtle with ninja weapons expressly because he thought it was funny and he wanted Laird to laugh. Because, you know, they’re turtles. It’s silly.Of course, the first comics and the 1990 film didn’t completely forget the goofier side of the turtles. It takes only a couple issues before the comic starts introducing alien brains and alien dinosaurs and other wonderfully weird aliens. Less extreme but no less goofy, the movie pauses so Mike, Leo, and Don can riff on cool catch words to share during their victory.But Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II goes even further, fully becoming a childlike romp. Secret of the Ooze sends away serious Canadian actor Elias Koteas as Casey Jones and replaces him with young martial artist Ernie Reyes Jr. as Keno, the human lead. While Reyes gets to do the fight scenes, which play more like karate exhibitions than they do actual battles, the Turtles indulge in bits. Sure, they get in some kicks and punches, but the camera devotes more time to Mikey (puppeteered by Michelan Sisti and voiced by Robbie Rist) whipping around a yo-yo or Donatello (performed by Leif Tilden and voiced by Adam Carl) doing a Three Stooges gag.Even the film’s overall plot borrows heavily from the cartoon and sillier parts of the comic book series, albeit presented slightly askew. Seeking more information about the green slime that made them into ninja teens, the Turtles investigate Professor Jordan Perry (David Warner) of TGRI, which plays like an off-brand of cartoon and comic elements Baxter Stockman and TCRI. The movie brings Shredder (played by François Chau and dubbed by David McCharen), gives him a pair of mutant monsters in Tokka and Rahzar (animal sounds provided, of course, by Frank Welker), and turns him into the hulking Super Shredder (wrestler Kevin Nash)—all derivations of concepts from cartoon.A Childlike MutationSome could argue that Secret of the Ooze went the most cynical route for its adaptation. It left aside the edge of the first movie to embrace the most-kiddie parts of the franchise. But instead of doing the cartoon or even the Archie Comics series, the movie throws up some reasonable facsimiles and assumes kids are too dumb to notice the difference.Yet, that attitude doesn’t account for the level of artistry on screen. The Turtle suits designed by Jim Henson’s Creature Shop may be a bit more janky than those for the 1990 movie, but they still look great, and the performers still make them believable. That’s even more true for Tokka and Rahzar, which are incredible and intricate puppets, expressive and genuinely frightening when they need to be. Even the fight scenes, which are mostly flatly lit and accompanied by the tackiest synthesizer music, look great. Reyes can do all of his character’s moves, which means that we get to see Keno actually flipping and punching and kicking the bad guys, without the hyper-editing or CG crutch that we get in modern movies.In fact, the creatures are so good that we forgive the movie for showing no interest in a coherent story or thematic depth. Sure, the script by Todd W. Langen gestures toward ideas about identity and destiny, and, yes, director Michael Pressman sometimes slows things down to let two characters talk like people. But mostly the movie shuffles from set piece to set piece, because it really exists as a showcase for cool puppets and karate moves.Nowhere is that more clear than the most infamous element of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: the part where the fight spills over into a Vanilla Ice concert, inspiring the one-hit wonder to come up with “Ninja Rap.” Is the song good? Absolutely not. But is it exactly the sort of extremely obvious pop culture reference that would appear in the average Saturday morning cartoon show? Yes!Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II gave the kids exactly what they wanted, hand-waving the things that grown-ups care about (theme? emotions? nah!) and going straight to the sugary nonsense that the target audience craves (martial arts! puppets! hip hop!). And today’s comic book movies need to remember that lesson.Kids FirstIn some cases, it’s absurd to say that modern comic book movies need to keep the target audience in mind. Peacemaker has his own TV show, Spider-Man‘s about to team up with the Punisher and the Hulk to save Jean Grey, and Daredevil runs around each week in a costume that comes directly from a specific run of the comics. But those are examples of movies/shows taking the comics seriously, not examples of them being silly.None of those are really for kids. Daredevil and Peacemaker are filled with F-bombs and graphic violence, and even the PG-13 MCU Spider-Man movies have plenty of mid-level curse words and punishing beatings. Worse yet, they’re about what the superhero feels and big ideas about masculinity, responsibility, and sacrifice. Kids don’t want to see that. They want to see people in bright costumes do cool things.Even if it went too far in one direction, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze knows that superhero stories are fundamentally for kids. It embraced that truth and built the movie around it, all puppets and high kicks and novelty songs. The movie’s never as rewarding as, say, a Christopher Nolan Batman movie, but it will fill a kid with a sense of wonder, just like it’s been doing for 35 years.The post Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II Is a Silly Superhero Kids Movie, and That’s Still Okay appeared first on Den of Geek.