Why was TMNT okay but MMPR wasn't?

[agent817]

Something that has been on my mind lately. Both franchises are/were popular and are still going now. TMNT was popular from the late 1980's to sometime in the early 1990's, when Power Rangers started taking over in popularity. Personally, I had no idea that Ninja Turtles was still on when Power Rangers was on the air, but I didn't really watch CBS much during those days. Anyway, the point about the title was that I remembered people making fun of those who liked Power Rangers back in the day. Hell, I heard the "Power Rangers is for babies" line, especially from someone who were a pair of denim shorts that had a Red Ranger patch on there. I wish in hindsight I would have called him on those shorts he wore, especially with a comeback of "Said the guy with the Red Ranger on his shorts." But I don't recall people making fun of those who were fans of Ninja Turtles. Sure, the popularity declined, but even with a stigma attached to Power Rangers, popularity notwithstanding, there was never a stigma attached to being a Ninja Turtles fan. Why was it like that? The shows weren't that different in terms of story and concept, except that one had mutated turtles and was animated, whereas the other was live action but used Japanese footage and involved humans as the heroes.

[BorneAgain]

TMNT benefited from either being high concept enough that any cheesiness was charming (cartoon, games) or working surprisingly well when it did take itself somewhat seriously (first movie, the early comics). Power Rangers even to a youth audience either connected immediately or just came off corny as hell. Moreover while there probably was a bit of kid wish fulfillment to both franchises, it was a lot more blatant with Power Rangers, and as a result likely came off to a lot more obnoxious to non-fans. Turtles was out there enough that that the cynical older reaction was "oh those kids and their wacky shows" whereas even with the Ranger Powers and Zords, Power Rangers was grounded enough that the surface level response from skeptical people more often than not was "this is some cheap bulls*** for children".

[agent817]

Maybe, but I will say that I had head SOME people dissing TMNT at the time, but not as much as they dissed MMPR.

[Kevin Hamilton]

One being a cartoon accounts for a lot of it getting a pass.

Fair or not, animated talking animals are deeply burned into pop culture, and just are not gonna come across as cheesy as live action rubber suits.

[Zaq "That Guy" Buzzkill]

At the very least we can alaa gree that the two teams ended up making the greatest episode of any TV show every produced.

[Allie Kitsune]

Dec 20, 2017 12:44:19 GMT -5 Kevin Hamilton said:

One being a cartoon accounts for a lot of it getting a pass.

Fair or not, animated talking animals are deeply burned into pop culture, and just are not gonna come across as cheesy as live action rubber suits.

There it is.

Every I prefer when something Toku-genre (apologies for butchering/misusing the term) is animated (Kikaider, Skull Man) vs. Live Action.

[y4j1981]

[TWERKIN' MAGGLE]

Dec 20, 2017 13:44:45 GMT -5 y4j1981 said:

Girl turtle is abomination.

[Alice Syndrome]

Dec 20, 2017 13:44:45 GMT -5 y4j1981 said:

The thing I find amazing about that is that its cliffhanger preview is tacked onto the end of the season opener, so there's no way to actually remove it from canon.

[wildojinx]

Wasnt TMNT pretty much going down in popularity by the time MMPR debuted? I mean, yeah, the tv show was still on the air, but it wasnt getting nearly as much attention anymore.

[agent817]

Dec 20, 2017 13:54:12 GMT -5 wildojinx said:

Wasnt TMNT pretty much going down in popularity by the time MMPR debuted? I mean, yeah, the tv show was still on the air, but it wasnt getting nearly as much attention anymore.

Yes, it was. Like I said in the OP, I had no idea that it was still on during the time MMPR was popular, because I didn't really watch CBS much, let alone their Saturday Morning block. Hell, I remember after it had ended, CBS still ran repeats of it and then I tuned in and noticed this villain named Dregg and I wondered, "Who in the hell is he?"

[Malibu Stacy]

Interesting, I had the opposite experience where my peers were all about Power Rangers from kindergarten on, and I was the weirdo for finding it hokey. Nothing much was ever spoken of about TMNT.

[Zaq "That Guy" Buzzkill]

Dec 20, 2017 13:44:45 GMT -5 y4j1981 said:

Yellow Ranger looks horrified at what is trying to greet her.

[Tenshigure]

Dec 20, 2017 18:17:58 GMT -5 Malibu Stacy said:

Interesting, I had the opposite experience where my peers were all about Power Rangers from kindergarten on, and I was the weirdo for finding it hokey. Nothing much was ever spoken of about TMNT.

It's kind of a minor generational gap thing, but not by much (Gen X to Gen Y). Basically if you were right in the focus group for TMNT (around 7-12) when it first aired in '87, you were less likely to be intersted in MMPR simply because you'd be entering your teenage years and kids shows wouldn't interest you as much (same reason why I never really got into many 'kids shows' from the late 90s personally).

Of course there's the added element of actual interest or the household environment you grew up in (my wife didn't really like Sci Fi til she met me, now she's a diehard Whovian lol).

[Bang Bang Bart]

Dec 20, 2017 12:44:19 GMT -5 Kevin Hamilton said:

One being a cartoon accounts for a lot of it getting a pass.

Fair or not, animated talking animals are deeply burned into pop culture, and just are not gonna come across as cheesy as live action rubber suits.

Then there's the fact that MMPR was a bit heavy-handed when it came to its "moral of the day" stuff, especially in the early episodes.

[A Platypus Rave]

Dec 20, 2017 18:37:54 GMT -5 Bang Bang Bart said:

Dec 20, 2017 12:44:19 GMT -5 Kevin Hamilton said:

One being a cartoon accounts for a lot of it getting a pass.

Fair or not, animated talking animals are deeply burned into pop culture, and just are not gonna come across as cheesy as live action rubber suits.

Then there's the fact that MMPR was a bit heavy-handed when it came to its "moral of the day" stuff, especially in the early episodes.

yeah the early episodes especially had the tacked on knowing is half the battle style morals too.

[Clash, Never a Meter Maid]

TMNT was an early obsession of mine as a kid. I loved the show and the film, and I had a room overflowing with Turtle merchandise. When Power Rangers was the hot thing it didn't really grab me in that way. I didn't hate it (in fact I went to see the 1995 movie, and enjoyed it), but overall I thought it was a little cheesy. I was more into cape superheroes and sci-fi at that age.

Funny enough, I got into Pokémon as a teenager. Though that was mostly because me and my circle of friends liked the show and anime as a whole, and then we graduated from that to the really acclaimed anime.

[Sparvid]

From what I recall, TMNT were everywhere at the time of the second movie, but when the third movie came out two years later, a lot of kids were already like "Meh, who cares about them anymore?"

[BorneAgain]

I think long term TMNT also really benefited from its peripheral elements (video games, toys, comics) being relatively well liked long after the show itself stopped being popular. Power Rangers had some of that, but nothing compared to the media footprint the Turtles left.

Hell, its an embarrassment of riches for your franchise when a game release like Turtles in Time Re-Shelled can be controversial because it was the well liked arcade version and not the beloved SNES one.

[agent817]

Dec 20, 2017 20:10:16 GMT -5 Sparvid said:

From what I recall, TMNT were everywhere at the time of the second movie, but when the third movie came out two years later, a lot of kids were already like "Meh, who cares about them anymore?"

Good point. The third film came out in the second half of my first grade year and my interest started fading a bit. Though I did get a copy of Tournament Fighters later that year.