The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are a pop culture touchstone which has withstood the test of time. The Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird franchise has been surprisingly durable, from its start as a parody of grim-dark comics of the early eighties to its incredibly kids-friendly late-eighties cartoon to movies, musicals and newer television series which have had to strike a balance between the “Cowabunga dude” ethos of the iconic cartoon and newer ideas and vernacular that are not as dated and silly.
A great way to chart how the Turtles have changed over the years is to look at the models of Leonardo, Michelangelo, Donatello and Raphael themselves. The Turtles have gone through plenty of model re-designs from some which look super serious and threatening to some which look ready made to be stuffed animals and HalloweenCostumes.com put together a great infographic of how your favorite mutated fighting turtles have changed over the past three decades.
If nothing else, it definitely proves that Michael Bay’s version of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, with their odd noses and lips (WHO THOUGHT IT WAS A GOOD IDEA TO GIVE MUTATED TURTLES HUMAN-LIKE LIPS), is the worst.
