Ninja Turtles: The Next Mutation

"Next Mutation" redirects here. For the Space Quest game, see Space Quest V: The Next Mutation.

Ninja Turtles: The Next Mutation
Format	Action-Adventure-Comedy
Starring	Kirby Morrow Jason Gray-Stanford Matt Hill Lalainia Lindbjerg Saffron Henderson Stephen Mendel
Country of origin	United States  Canada (filmed locations)
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	26
Production
Running time	25 minutes
Production company(s)	Saban Entertainment Mirage Studios
Distributor	Saban Brands MarVista Entertainment
Broadcast
Original channel	Fox Kids (USA)
Original run	September 12, 1997 – March 20, 1998

Ninja Turtles: The Next Mutation (abbreviated to NT:TNM) or Saban's Ninja Turtles: The Next Mutation is an American live-action television series produced by Saban Entertainment, which ran on the Fox Kids network from 1997 to 1998. The short-lived series was based loosely from Mirage Studios' Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.^[1] As of September 16, 2011, The series is currently distributed by Saban Brands and MarVista Entertainment, as Saban has recently regained the rights to the show from Disney.^[2][3][4]

The series introduced many new elements to the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles saga, including new central antagonists, an army of humanoid dragons known as "The Rank" led by the vicious Dragonlord. It was touted (in some of the promotional material) as a continuation of the 1987 TV series, but by the period of time it aired it turned apparent that this was not the case. Instead, the series apparently followed the continuity of the live-action films. The Turtles lived in the same abandoned train station featured in the second and third films, and Splinter's ear is slashed as it was in the original film. However, most fans tend to regard the films and the series as two separate entities, citing differing styles, The Shredder being alive (and no longer Super Shredder), the absence of April O'Neil and Casey Jones.

In a departure from other TMNT continuities, Leonardo states in the second episode that the Turtles are not blood-related, while other media either explicitly states that the Turtles are biological siblings or avoids the issue altogether.

The most prominent new element was the inclusion of a female mutant turtle called Venus de Milo; named after the famous statue. Other notable differences were found in the Turtles' weapons; Leonardo carried one double-bladed ninjatō instead of two katana (though he was shown to own two in a few episodes); Raphael's twin sai could combine to make a staff; and because nunchaku are outlawed in several places, Michaelangelo's signature weapon in this series was a pair of tonfa. Similarly, the name of the series was amended in several countries to Hero Turtles: The Next Mutation under censorship ruling.^[5][6]

Cast

Turtles & Allies

• Leonardo (portrayed by Gabe Khouth, voiced by Michael Dobson):
• Michaelangelo (portrayed by Jarreed Blancard, voiced by Kirby Morrow):
• Donatello (portrayed by Ricard Yaw, voiced by Jason Gray-Stanford):
• Raphael (portrayed by Mitchell A. Lee Yuen, voiced by Matt Hill):
• Venus de Milo (portrayed by Nicole N. Parker, voiced by Lalainia Lindbjerg):
• Splinter (portrayed by Fiona Scotty, voiced by Stephen Mendel):
• Chung I (portrayed by Chong Tseng, voiced by Dale Wilson): Venus de Milo's adopted father.

Enemies

• Shredder (portrayed by Patrick Pon): The Shredder appeared in the five-part episode "East Meets West" when he and the Foot discovered the Turtles' hideaway. When Venus de Milo came into view, she uses her shinobi abilities to defeat the Shredder presumed for good and the Foot was disbanded. His alias of Oroku Saki was later found on the streets when Dragon Lord's soldiers attack him in order to obtain a ninja amulet. After Dragon Lord's forces were busy fighting the Turtles, Oroku Saki was defeated and later seen in an deserted alley with the amulet in his possession where he has appeared to have unlocked the power of the ninja amulet and laughs maniacally. Yet the series was cancelled before another season revolving around this can be made.
• Dragon Lord (portrayed by Gerald Wong, voiced by Christopher Gaze): Leader of the Rank and the King of all Dragons. He and his forces were trapped in an enchanted glass years ago and have now escaped.
  • Wick (portrayed by Adam Behr and Bill Terezakis, voiced by Lee Tockar): A small dragon who is Dragon Lord's sidekick.
  • Rank Lieutenant (portrayed by Andrew Kavadas): The head of Dragon Lord's army.
  • Dr. Cornelius Quease (portrayed by Simon Webb): A world renowned scientist and expert on mutation. He works with Dragon Lord to find out what made the Turtles big.
• Silver (portrayed by Gary Chalk): The last of the Yetis. Instead of living on top of the mountain, he makes his life by going into the crime business and starting a gang of humans who think of him as the smartest boss around.
  • Monkey Thief Mick (portrayed by Michael Dobson): One of Silver's henchmen.
  • Monkey Thief Dick (portrayed by Ronnie Way): One of Silver's henchmen.
• Vam-Mi (portrayed by Kira Clavell, voiced by Saffron Henderson): A 10,000 Year Old female vampire from China. She was previously defeated by Chung I who tore out her heart plunging her into a long sleep. Her henchmen Bing and Chi Chu used a magic potion to awaken her.
  • Bing (portrayed by Justin Soon, voiced by Colin Musback): A small vampire and one of Vam-Mi's henchmen.
  • Chi Chu (portrayed by Lauren Attadia, voiced by Sherry Thorson): A female vampire and one of Vam-Mi's henchmen.
• Simon Bonesteel (portrayed by Scott McNeil): A big game hunter who specializes in hunting endangered animals. He has collected things off of endangered animals like elephant ivories, baby seal pelts, dolphin hides, and mountain gorilla skulls. He considers the Ninja Turtles endangered species as well since there are only five of them. In the four-part episode "Unchain My Heart," Simon Bonesteel is also known for hunting supernatural creatures when it came to Vam-Mi and her vampire henchmen.

Episode guide

Ep #	Episode Name	Air date	Synopsis
1	"East Meets West, Part 1"	September 12, 1997
2	"East Meets West, Part 2"	September 19, 1997
3	"East Meets West, Part 3"	September 26, 1997
4	"East Meets West, Part 4"	October 3, 1997
5	"East Meets West, Part 5"	October 10, 1997
6	"The Staff of Bu-Ki"	October 17, 1997
7	"Silver and Gold"	October 24, 1997
8	"Meet Dr. Quease"	October 31, 1997
9	"All in the Family"	November 7, 1997
10	"Trusting Dr. Quease"	November 14, 1997
11	"Windfall"	November 21, 1997
12	"Turtles Night Out"	November 28, 1997
13	"Mutant Reflections"	December 5, 1997
14	"Truce or Consequence"	December 12, 1997
15	"Sewer Crash"	December 19, 1997
16	"Going Ape"	January 9, 1998
17	"Enemy of My Enemy"	January 16, 1998
18	"King Wick"	January 23, 1998
19	"The Good Dragon"	January 30, 1998
20	"The Guest"	February 6, 1998
21	"Like Brothers"	February 13, 1998
22	"Unchain My Heart, Part 1"	February 20, 1998
23	"Unchain My Heart, Part 2"	February 27, 1998
24	"Unchain My Heart, Part 3"	March 6, 1998
25	"Unchain My Heart, Part 4"	March 13, 1998
26	"Who Needs Her"	March 20, 1998

Power Rangers crossover

Outside of The Next Mutation, the Turtles also guest-starred alongside the Power Rangers in Power Rangers in Space. The end of the episode "Save Our Ship" leads directly into "Shell Shocked," where the Turtles are summoned and brainwashed by Astronema to fight the Rangers. Her control over them is later broken, and they team-up with the Space Rangers to battle Astronema's forces. Before returning to New York, the Turtles have one request from the Rangers: space surfing on the Galaxy Gliders.

Venus de Milo

Main article: Venus (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles)

The show's most notable contribution to the Turtles mythos was a fifth mutant turtle, a female named Venus de Milo (initially named Mei Pieh Chi), was skilled in the mystical arts of the shinobi and wears a light blue mask that was braided in the back, giving the appearance of a ponytail. Venus was portrayed by Nicole Parker and voiced by Lalainia Lindbjerg.

Cancellation

The show was cancelled in the summer of 1998. The cancellation of the show marked the first time that the Turtles were off TV screens for a protracted period since the animated series debuted in 1987. A new animated series would eventually begin airing in 2003.

DVD Release

The complete series of the heavily-edited "Hero Turtles" version has been released on DVD in the UK by Jetix Films. The series in divided between 2 Volumes, containing 3 discs each. Volume 1 was released in July 2007 and Volume 2 was released in February 2008. At the moment there is still no plan for any US release. However, some foreign territories have released the full-length form of episodes only in their native languages, including Germany, France, Israel, Poland and Italy.

References

1. ^ "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles On TV". IGN. http://uk.tv.ign.com/articles/774/774796p1.html. Retrieved 2010-08-15. 
2. ^ "Programming Catalog: Ninja Turtles: The Next Mutation". MarVista Entertainment. http://www.marvista.net/programing-catalog.php?n=2&id=313&cat=1. Retrieved September 16, 2011. 
3. ^ "Cynopsis: Kids! 09/19/11". Cynopsis. September 19, 2011. http://www.cynopsis.com/editions/kids/091911/. Retrieved September 19, 2011. 
4. ^ Pickard, Michael (September 16, 2011). "MarVista picks up live Turtles". C21Media. http://www.c21media.net/news/detail.asp?area=4&article=62705. Retrieved September 19, 2011. 
5. ^ Ninja Turtles: The Next Mutation at the Internet Movie Database
6. ^ Milleniumeffect.co.uk

External links

• Ninja Turtles: The Next Mutation at the Internet Movie Database
• NextMutation.com, unofficial Ninja Turtles: The Next Mutation site with forum.
• TVShowsOnDVD.com, vote for Ninja Turtles: The Next Mutation to be released onto DVD.
• NinjaTurtles.com, the official TMNT website.
• Henshin! Talk, a message board to discuss Superhero shows.
• view episodes