Foreword:
The
1987 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cartoon, the one produced by Fred Wolf, had a
strange broadcast history. Some of it
aired on CBS Saturday mornings. Some of
it aired in syndication on weekday afternoons.
Some of it aired on the USA Network on weekday mornings. And some of it even got the Prime Time
Special treatment.
As
a result, the episodes were badly, badly
jumbled up from what their narrative chronology should have been. Not that there WAS much narrative chronology
for most of the show’s run. While the
bookending seasons did have legitimate serialized story arcs, the majority of
the episodes from seasons 3 through 7 were episodic with only the occasional
multi-parter and season finale to define the order of events.
Keep
in mind that TMNT had what can only be charitably described as “lax” story
editing. There are a lot of
irreconcilable continuity errors and contradictions which no amount of creative
reordering can repair. My goal was to restore what felt like the “intended” sequence of episodes with maybe a
little bit of liberal dot-connecting and imaginative bridging on my part.
Rather
than break the episodes up by season, I decided to organize them by the
location of the Technodrome or the standing of the main villains. See the Notes section at the end of the
article for explanations about the order or various anomalies.
The Epic Begins
- Turtle Tracks (review)
- Enter the Shredder (review)
- A Thing About Rats (review)
- Hot Rodding Teenagers from Dimension X (review)
- Shredder & Splintered (review)
The Technodrome in Dimension X
- Return of the Shredder (review)
- The Incredible Shrinking Turtles (review)
- It Came from Beneath the Sewers (review)
- The Mean Machines (review)
- Curse of the Evil Eye (review)
- The Case of the Killer Pizzas (review)
- Enter: The Fly (review)
- New York's Shiniest (review)
- Splinter No More (review)
- Invasion of the Punk Frogs (review)
- Teenagers from Dimension X (review)
- The Catwoman from Channel 6 (review)
- Return of the Technodrome (review)
The Technodrome at the Earth's Core
The Technodrome on the Dimension X Planetoid (European Vacation)
- Plan 6 from Outer Space (review)
- Tower of Power (review) (France)
- Rust Never Sleeps (review) (France)
- Venice on the Halfshell (review) (Italy)
- Artless (review) (Italy, Vatican City)
- The Lost Queen of Atlantis (review) (Greece)
- A Real Snow Job (review) (Austria)
- April Gets in Dutch (review) (Netherlands)
- Northern Lights Out (review) (Norway)
- Shredder's New Sword (review) (England)
- Elementary, my Dear Turtle (review) (England)
- The Irish Jig is Up (review) (Ireland)
- Ring of Fire (review) (Portugal)
- Turtles on the Orient Express (review) (France, Germany, Austria, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Turkey)
The Technodrome on the Dimension X Planetoid (Stranded)
The Technodrome on the Dimension X Planetoid (Trapped in Lava)
- The Dimension X Story (review)
- Son of Return of the Fly II (review)
- Raphael Knocks 'Em Dead! (review)
- Bebop and Rocksteady Conquer the Universe (review)
- Raphael Meets his Match (review)
- Leonardo Lightens Up (review)
- Were-Rats from Channel 6 (review)
- Funny, They Shrunk Michelangelo (review)
- The Big Zipp Attack (review)
- Donatello Makes Time (review)
- Farewell, Lotus Blossom! (review)
- Rebel Without a Fin (review)
- Rhino-Man (review)
- Michelangelo Meets Bugman (review)
- Slash – The Evil Turtle from Dimension X (review)
- Poor Little Rich Turtle (review)
- What's Michelangelo Good For? (review)
- Donatello's Degree (review)
- The Big Cufflink Caper! (review)
- Leonardo Versus Tempestra (review)
- Splinter Vanishes (review)
- Raphael Drives 'em Wild (review)
- Super Hero for a Day (review)
- Big Bug Blunder (review)
- Unidentified Flying Leonardo (review)
- The Foot Soldiers Are Revolting (review)
- My Brother the Bad Guy (review)
The Technodrome Frozen in the Arctic
- Napoleon Bonafrog: Colossus of the Swamps (review)
- Michelangelo Meets Mondo Gecko (review)
- Enter: Mutagen Man (review)
- Donatello's Badd Time (review)
- Michelangelo Meets Bugman Again (review)
- Landlord of the Flies (review)
- Muckman Messes Up (review)
- Raphael Versus The Volcano (review)
- Donatello's Duplicate (review)
- Leonardo Cuts Loose (review)
- Pirate Radio (review)
- Raphael, Turtle of a Thousand Faces (review)
- Leonardo, the Renaissance Turtle (review)
- Zach and the Alien Invaders (review)
- Welcome Back, Polarisoids (review)
- Michalangelo, the Sacred Turtle (review)
- The Ice Creature Cometh (review)
- Leonardo is Missing (review)
- Planet of the Turtleoids: Part 1 (review)
- Planet of the Turtleoids: Part 2 (review)
- Rock Around the Block (review)
The Technodrome on the Ocean Floor
The Technodrome in the Dimension X Black Hole
Lord Dregg: Friend of Humanity
Lord Dregg: Foe of Humanity
- The Return of Dregg (review)
- The Beginning of the End (review)
- The Power of Three (review)
- A Turtle in Time (review)
- Turtles to the Second Power (review)
- Mobster from Dimension X (review)
- The Day the Earth Disappeared (review)
- Divide and Conquer (review)
NOTES:
The Epic Begins
*There’s
nothing to note about the continuity of season 1. It aired as a five-part miniseries, so the
chronology is intuitive. Since the
Technodrome wasn’t “stuck” anywhere this season, I took this segment’s title
from the VHS tape that (crudely) compiled the first season into a “movie”.
*In the end, the Technodrome is sucked into Dimension X.
The Technodrome in
Dimension X
*Season 2, consisting of 13 episodes, has one major story arc with tight continuity and then a second "arc" with much looser continuity. The first arc is the Eye of Sarnath multi-parter and its continuity is intuitive (spanning "The Incredible Shrinking Turtles" through "Curse of the Evil Eye"). It's the looser second half of the season that inspired some episode shuffling, even if on the surface it might not seem like anything was needed.
*A recurring theme in the season is Irma's desire to meet the Turtles, so episodes like "New York's Shiniest" have to take place before she meets them in "The Catwoman of Channel 6".
*"Splinter No More" sees the Shredder making his first effort to open a portal to Dimension X while "Invasion of the Punk Frogs" has Splinter say that they now know the Shredder is attempting to return the Technodrome to Earth, so those two segue together nicely. "Teenagers from Dimension X" is another episode where Shredder tries to open a portal to Dimension X, so it has to take place after his first attempt.
*"The Catwoman from Channel 6", as mentioned, sees Irma finally meeting the Turtles after pining for them all season, so it should come near the end. It also features a line from Krang boasting about the Technodrome's imminent return to Earth, so it makes for a solid prelude to the season finale "Return of the Technodrome" (which ultimately sees it buried at the Earth's core).
The Technodrome at
the Earth’s Core
*Season 3 contains a whopping 47 episodes; produced in such abundance so that the series could meet the 65-episode minimum requirement for syndication (5+13+47=65). There
is very little episode-to-episode continuity in season 3 and the status quo never changes so as to break the season up into smaller arcs. That said, there was a lot of stealth continuity between episodes, although it was jumbled up thanks to the broadcast order.
*In
“The Old Switcheroo”, Donatello doesn’t recognize the Driller Module and
Splinter remarks that the location of the Technodrome is a mystery, so I felt
it ought to occur near the very beginning of the season.
*In
“Burne’s Blues”, Shredder and Krang begin a brief arc where they need to fix
the Technodrome’s air conditioner. In
“Turtles on Trial”, they steal the part needed to fix it. And in “April Fool”, the episode opens with
Shredder mentioning that even though the AC is fixed, it’s still too hot in
the Technodrome. So these episodes have to
happen in succession.
*"Burne's Blues" briefly introduces a recurring mobster villain named Don Turtelli, who will later appear in "The Great Boldini" and "Case of the Hot Kimono". I only mention this because he has a completely different character design in his first appearance as opposed to his later two appearances, but it's supposed to be the same guy. "Case of the Hot Kimono" originally aired before "The Great Boldini", but for reasons you'll read in a minute, actually takes place closer to the end of the season.
*I
placed “Sky Turtles” in the sixth spot of the season because of an off-hand
joke from “Enter the Rat King” where Donatello references the events of “Sky
Turtles” as episode 6. Obviously it
could not be the sixth episode of the series, but shuffling it to the sixth for
the season didn’t hurt. They’d try this
same gag later with “Slash – The Evil Turtle from Dimension X”, but in that
case the numbers will be so far off that you can’t accommodate the joke. This is me stupidly trying too hard.
*I placed "Cowabunga Shredhead" immediately after "Sky Turtles" for a reason, I promise. "Sky Turtles" features Splinter becoming concerned that Michelangelo is eating too much pizza and places him on a diet. "Cowabunga Shredhead" sees Splinter still concerned with Michelangelo's pizza-eating, even opening with him saying "You've been warned," and now resorting to using mind-control to get him to stop. So back-to-back, the two episodes work well together.
*I moved "Leatherhead, Terror of the Swamp" to after "Turtles at the Earth's Core" due to some connective dialogue about April going on vacation. In "Turtles at the Earth's Core," April says that she's trying to choose a vacation and Splinter suggests Florida. Then, in "Leatherhead, Terror of the Swamp," April and Irma are on vacation in... Florida!
*“Green
with Jealousy” ends with the Technodrome stealing a tiny bit of energy. “Return of the Fly” opens with the
Technodrome using its last bit of energy to reposition itself. The episodes were already ordered in
succession, so I didn’t have to rearrange anything. I just thought I’d point that out.
*I put "Usagi Yojimbo" and "Usagi Come Home" back to back due to how the end of the former segues into the beginning of the latter. The first episode ends with Shredder reviewing footage of Usagi and marveling at his skill. The second episode opens with Shredder reviewing the footage from the previous episode and continuing to marvel at Usagi's ability. While Krang does make a joke about "watching reruns," the two episodes segue into each other really well for this reason without "Case of the Hot Kimono" getting between them.
*On the subject of "Case of the Hot Kimono," that episode features the Turtles using both the smaller Sewer Army Tube and the larger Sewer Party Tube (which debuted earlier in "20,000 Leaks Under the City"). "Bye Bye, Fly" features Donatello introducing the Sewer Army Tube to the other Turtles as his latest invention. As such, "Case of the Hot Kimono" has to take place after "Bye Bye, Fly".
*More a thematic shift than anything else, but "Shredderville" works much better as a lead-in to the 3-part season finale. A story about "what if the Turtles weren't around to stop Shredder?" and seeing what would happen should they fail to stop their nemesis is an excellent prelude to the season's big finish (and much better than "Bye Bye, Fly," a random Baxter Stockman episode).
*“The
Big Rip Off”, “The Big Break In” and “The Big Blow Out” are a three-parter that ends with the Technodrome being banished to Dimension X once more; this time stranded on a volcanic planetoid.
The Technodrome on the Dimension X Planetoid (European
Vacation)
*These
episodes aired in Japan and parts of Europe alongside the season 4 episodes,
where they chronologically take place, but were not broadcast in the United
States until season 7 (where they aired on the USA Network). The 13 European Vacation episodes take place
after “Plan 6 from Outer Space” (the first episode of season 4), which ends
with the Turtles winning the trip to Europe.
*Going by the broadcast order, there is no logic to the way the Turtles trek across Europe. There is only minor narrative cohesion between episodes at the beginning of this arc, though there is as much DIScontinuity as there is continuity. "Tower of Power" picks up immediately where "Plan 6 from Outer Space" leaves off, but it and "Rust Never Sleeps" both see the Turtles arriving in Paris, visiting most of the same landmarks for the first time, April joining them in Paris, and Shredder learning that the Turtles are in Paris. Add that both feature a scheme in which Shredder attacks the Eifel Tower and the episodes are essentially duplicates of each other.
*"Venice on the Halfshell" opens with April leaving Paris to join the Turtles in Venice, so we know they start in France and then go directly to Italy. Since "Artless" also takes place in Italy, it can be grouped with this one. However, beyond this there are no more direct continuity references between episodes, so everything after is a toss-up.
*The order I went with in my chronology is totally made up on my part. My goal was to follow a circular path around the continent, beginning with France ("Tower of Power") and also ending there ("Turtles on the Orient Express"). Incidentally, "Turtles on the Orient Express" feels the most like a finale to this arc, as the Turtles take a marathon tour across 7 European countries, concluding with a (brief) showdown between Splinter and Shredder.
*All that being said, my order is still debatable. "Tower of Power" takes place on Bastille Day (which is July 14). In "A Real Snow Job", April says that "it's the middle of winter" (taken literally, that's February 3). The instinct would be to place "A Real Snow Job" last in sequence, but that would also mean that the Turtles were on vacation for over 6 months! So I take April's line as being a hyperbolic figure of speech and not a serious statement about the season.
*Incidentally, this arc features a depiction of Atlantis ("The Lost Queen of Atlantis") that would be completely contradicted by a DIFFERENT depiction of Atlantis later on ("Atlantis Awakes"). So it's important to remember what kind of continuity we're dealing with, here.
The Technodrome on the Dimension X Planetoid (Stranded)
*15 episodes of season 4 aired in Syndication (beginning with "Plan 6 from Outer Space") while 26 episodes aired on CBS (beginning with "Son of Return of the Fly II"). The 13 European Vacation episodes which take place immediately after "Plan 6 from Outer Space", as mentioned before, aired in America during season 7 on the USA Network.
*One other general note: The syndicated episodes use the first title sequence with episode title cards, while the CBS episodes use the second title sequence with episode title overlays. So mixing syndicated and CBS episodes to restore narrative continuity will unfortunately result in some jumbled title sequences
*All but one of the syndicated episodes take place prior to the volcanic eruption that traps the Technodrome in hardened lava (more on that later). It can sometimes be hard to tell due to the inconsistencies in the background paintings of the Technodrome that serve as establishing shots, but the Technodrome is generally depicted in these episodes as sitting on the side of the volcano, sometimes amid a rockslide. The lava situation is never referenced via dialogue in any of these syndicated episodes, with the lone exception being "Super Hero For a Day" (which aired two months later than the rest of the syndicated episodes). So with that being the case, most of Shredder and Krang's schemes in this arc involve finding a way to transport the stranded Technodrome to Earth.
*"Four Turtles and a Baby" works well as an opener for this arc, with the Turtles mentioning that they haven't heard from Shredder in a long time, while also establishing a slight change to the status quo of the villains. In this case, Krang dispatches the Rock Soldiers to lay siege to the homeworld of the Neutrinos, which makes them unavailable to the villains throughout this arc (whereas they made regular appearances during the European Vacation arc). "Peking Turtle" and "Rondo of New York" involve Krang trying to create new armies, ostensibly to fill in for the absent Rock Soldiers.
*Also, "Four Turtles and a Baby" introduces Donatello's interdimensional TV tuner which will make a few appearances this season. I shuffled “Beyond the Donatello Nebula”, a CBS episode, into this arc because it features a subplot where Donatello is searching for alien turtle life. “Planet of the Turtles” opens with him having found it via the TV tuner, so the episodes make sense in this order. "Beyond the Donatello Nebula" does not feature Shredder and Krang, so the lava status of the Technodrome is not an issue.
*"Turtles of the Jungle" features the Technodrome getting caught in a space junk storm. "Name That Toon" opens with the Shredder and Krang declaring that they found debris from an alien spaceship which they can use as a weapon (albeit never saying where they found it, the debris being part of the space junk storm makes a lot of sense). And "Menace Maestro, Please" concludes that storyline with the alien getting the remains of his ship back. So these three episodes work well as a brief "arc".
*“The Turtles and the Hare” and “Once Upon a Time Machine” are a two-parter. Combined, they formed the “Awesome Easter”, as it was called on VHS. These episodes aired in syndication between seasons 4 and 5 so as to premiere around Easter (but are cataloged as season 4). However, they have the original title sequence and title cards which were discontinued after the syndicated episodes of season 4, and also feature establishing shots of the Technodrome not embedded in lava. As such, these episodes take place in this arc. The two-parter also works as a "big" finale, with the second half seeing Shredder conquering the future (for a few minutes).
The Technodrome on the Dimension X Planetoid (Trapped in Lava)
*The episode "The Dimension X Story" features the Technodrome getting trapped in hardened lava, a conflict that will drive most of Shredder and Krang's schemes throughout the season. As such, "The Dimension X Story" should happen at the start of the arc. It is written as a season-opener, with lots of dialogue re-establishing the status quo of the series for new viewers on CBS.
*However, "The Dimension X Story" aired near the end of the CBS season 4 episodes, likely due to production delays. "Son of Return of the Fly II", which was the first CBS season 4 episode, takes place immediately after the events of "The Dimension X Story", opening with Shredder and Krang reeling from the volcanic eruption and trying to get a status report on the Technodrome.
*The episode "Poor Little Rich Turtle" references Donatello's portal generator blowing up and needing to be repaired. That happened in "The Dimension X Story" which, as just mentioned, was broadcast after "Poor Little Rich Turtle" but takes place well before it.
*A
recurring character named Donald J. Lofty appears in 3 episodes this season,
but the order of his appearances was screwed up. His first appearance should be in “The Big
Zipp Attack” (where the Turtles save him and his skyscraper). His next appearance is either “Rebel Without
a Fin” (where he tells the Turtles, “You’ve done it again”) or “Slash – The
Evil Turtle from Dimension X” (where he tells the Turtles, “This isn’t the
first time you’ve helped me”). “Slash –
The Evil Turtle from Dimension X” aired before the other two, hence why I had
to rearrange them.
*Incidentally,
in the season 6 episode, “Donatello Trashes Slash”, Michelangelo jokingly
mentions that they first met Slash in episode 74. Unfortunately, there’s no manner of shuffling
that can force “Slash – The Evil Turtle from Dimension X” into the #74 spot;
not without messing up existing continuity.
So I couldn’t pull a “Sky Turtles” with this one.
*Just in case you care, "The Big Cufflink Caper" aired in primetime as a TV special (despite there not being anything very special about it). This episode also introduces a new mobster villain named Big Louie, despite the Turtles mentioning that they've met him before. You didn't miss an episode, this just sometimes happens in this series (see "Night of the Rogues"). Incidentally, another mobster villain, Anthony 'The Butcher' Vivaldi makes his second appearance in this episode, having previously appeared in "The Maltese Hamster". Except he's never referred to by name, has a different voice actor, and acts as one of Big Louie's goons rather than the leader of his own mob. So this could just be a case of a character model being recycled by the animators.
*"Super Hero For a Day" is the only syndicated episode that references the lava and thus has to take place after "The Dimension X Story". It aired two months later than the rest of the syndicated episodes, possibly because it takes place so much later in the storyline than the others. Incidentally, it aired on the same day as the CBS episode "Beyond the Donatello Nebula", which as already mentioned, takes place earlier in the storyline. So the two episodes can essentially swap places.
*"The Foot Soldiers are Revolting" aired as the second-to-last CBS episode in season 4, but always felt like a much better season finale than "Unidentified Flying Leonardo". It is a somewhat "big" story, with a new villain seizing control of the Foot Soldiers and shaking things up for Shredder and Krang (momentarily). So I shuffled it down one slot.
*And another thing about "The Foot Soldiers are Revolting" is that none of the establishing shots of the Technodrome show the solidified lava. In fact, the Technodrome is not even on the side of the mountain on the planetoid like it should be, but in a featureless Dimension X wasteland similar to where it was stuck during season 2. Donatello mentions that his portal generator is still broken, so the episode has to take place after "The Dimension X Story". The anomalous establishing shots can be chalked up to inconsistent background painting details which were common during the season 4 run of episodes.
*“My
Brother the Bad Guy” is the season 5 premiere and sees the Technodrome frozen in an Arctic chasm.
The Technodrome Frozen in
the Arctic
*Most
of these episodes are from season 5. "Napoleon Bonafrog: Colossus of the Swamps" features a lot of expository dialogue from Michelangelo at the beginning, mentioning the Technodrome being sent to the Artic and believing Shredder was gone and things had gotten dull. Shredder and Krang also initiate a plan to steal antifreeze to keep the Technodrome operational now that it's trapped in the Artic. All this being considered, the episode feels like it was meant to be an immediate follow-up to "My Brother the Bad Guy".
*For most of season 5, the Technodrome is lodged in the bottom of a dark, icy chasm. In “The Ice Creature Cometh”, it briefly escapes from the chasm and into the light of day, only to be frozen in place by a melting ice monster. Since "Leonardo is Missing" and "Planet of the Turtleoids" all take place together at the end of the season (more on them later) and are the only episodes that show the Technodrome in the light of day and not in the chasm, it makes sense to move "The Ice Creature Cometh" to near the end of the season.
*"Landlord of the Flies" introduces a new handheld, projector-style version of Donatello's portable portal generator. This unique version of the portal generator is later destroyed in "Muckman Messes Up" and it never gets repaired (Donatello goes back to the original portal generator in later seasons). As such, "Landlord of the Flies" needed to be moved to before "Muckman Messes Up".
*Regarding that episode, “Landlord
of the Flies” is one of those episodes with irreconcilable continuity. It takes place after “Son
of Return of the Fly II” but will be ignored completely by the season 7 episode
“Revenge of the Fly” (which will also pick up where “Son of Return of the Fly
II” left off). This is what I have to
work with here, people.
*“Leonardo
is Missing” is a season 6 episode, but it features the Technodrome in the
arctic, so it takes place during season 5. The establishing shot shows the Technodrome out in the open and not in the chasm, placing it after "The Ice Creature Cometh".
*I
had a little trouble with “Planet of the Turtleoids”. It was a primetime special that aired at the
start of season 5, then was broken into two-parts and rebroadcast on Saturday
mornings in the middle of the season. Even more confusing, it is officially cataloged as being the finale of
season 5. The establishing shot sees the
Technodrome lodged in rocks, rather than ice, though the villains still use
Driller Modules to get around, so they aren’t in Dimension X or anything. It’s a weird anomaly, but since the
Technodrome is in the light of day and not at the bottom of a chasm, I guess
it goes at the end of the season (as it is cataloged).
*Like
season 4, season 5 didn’t have a real finale (since “Planet of the Turtleoids”
never actually aired as a finale). So
“Rock Around the Block”, the season 6 premiere, is the one that waylays the
Technodrome on the ocean floor for the next stretch of episodes.
The Technodrome on
the Ocean Floor
*The
Technodrome remained on the ocean floor for seasons 6 and 7. I already mentioned that the European Vacation
episodes aired during season 7 on the USA Network and are officially cataloged as season
7 episodes, but they aren’t part of the “real” season 7. “Night of the Dark Turtle” is the first
episode of season 7, at least as it was broadcast on CBS.
*As mentioned before, the European Vacation episode “The
Lost Queen of Atlantis” and the season 7 episode “Atlantis Awakes” feature two
completely different depictions of Atlantis.
And neither episode is aware of the other.
*"Night of the Rogues" introduces Antrax and Scumbug, but treats them as though they are established recurring villains. No, you didn't miss an episode, the show just does this sometimes (it happened before with Big Louie in "The Big Cufflink Caper").
*Tokka and Rahzar appear in "Dirk Savage: Mutant Hunter" and it is explained that they were mutated when Shredder released mutagen in the local zoo. In case you're confused, that happened during "Planet of the Turtleoids, Part 1".
*“Escape from the Planet of the
Turtleoids” ends with the Technodrome stealing a little bit of power. “Atlantis Awakes” sees the Technodrome using
its last bit of power to attack Atlantis.
I figured much like “Green with Jealousy” and “Return of the Fly”,
they’d go together fairly well so I shuffled them that way. I also moved “Atlantis Awakes” down to just before
“Shredder Triumphant” because the active Technodrome seemed like a good primer
for the season finale.
*The season ends with the Technodrome getting launched back into Dimension X, but stranding Shredder and Krang on Earth.
*In case you consider it canon, the IDW comic book series TMNT: Saturday Morning Adventures takes place between seasons 7 and 8.
The Technodrome in the Dimension X Black Hole
*Season
8 is the beginning of the “red sky” era where the series got a redesign and a
more “serious” edge. This season, and
all that follow, have a strict episode-to-episode continuity so there’ll be no
more reorganizing from the cataloged order.
*This season features Shredder and Krang as the main villains (save a three-parter featuring the terrorist group H.A.V.O.C.), trying to get the Technodrome out of Dimension X (where it is lodged in a black hole). In the end, they're banished to Dimension X and the Technodrome is destroyed for good.
Lord Dregg: Friend
of Humanity
*Season
9 is the first of the seasons to see Lord Dregg as the primary antagonist.
*In this season, he pretends to be a friendly
alien out to help the Earth. Of course,
he just wants to take it over. April
exposes him in the finale.
Lord Dregg: Foe of
Humanity
*Season
10, the final season, features Dregg forgoing any pretenses of deception and
trying to take the Earth by force.
*Shredder and Krang return for a three-parter, but are ultimately banished to Dimension X once and for all. By the series finale, Dregg's followers abandon him, the
Turtles succeed in defeating him and they graduate from ninja training as Splinter's equals.
Other Stuff
*There
have been appearances from the 1987 Turtles outside of the TMNT series
proper. I didn’t include these
appearances because most of them are a bit too, uh, “meta”. Yes, even by this show’s standards.
*For
example, “Cartoon All-Stars to the Rescue” features Michelangelo, yeah, but in
the “real world” where he teams up with Alvin and the Chipmunks, Garfield,
Slimer and Alf to convince a teenager that marijuana will destroy him
and his entire family. Just… no.
*The
“Turtle Tips” PSAs aired during season 4 as a bridge between episodes (TMNT was
broadcast in a one-hour block during that season). I mean… I GUESS those PSAs could take place
during the show, but they feature the characters talking directly to the
audience. I mean, more so than usual.
*The “Mutant Turtles: Superman Legend” anime OVAs, a two-episode series, feature
some incompatible continuity… even between their two episodes. The first episode features the Technodrome
underground, the second episode has it in Dimension X. The OVAs were released after Japan stopped
dubbing the American cartoon, so I view them as a splinter timeline branching
off from “Donatello’s Badd Time” (the last episode dubbed in Japanese).
*All
that being said, I would definitely say the 4Kids-produced “Turtles Forever” film and the various cameos/crossovers with the Nickelodeon TMNT cartoon are
“canon”. However, the writers for those stories play very loosely with continuity that would contradict or impact the Fred Wolf timeline.
*For instance, “Turtles Forever” concludes with the Technodrome returning to the Fred Wolf universe, but retaining the upgrades the 4Kids Shredder imposed upon it.
*The cameo in the Nickelodeon season 2 episode “Wormquake!” could really take
place anywhere between Fred Wolf season 3 (because Casey Jones appears) and season 7
(because the Turtles are drawn in their pre-“red sky” designs). The Nickelodeon season 4 episode "Trans-Dimensional Turtles" is in a similar boat, though it features a completely revised origin for the Fred Wolf incarnation of Krang. The Nickelodeon season 5 multi-parter "Wanted: Bebop and Rocksteady" features the Technodrome underground, which would seem to set it in Fred Wolf season 3, but it ends with the Technodrome being destroyed, Shredder and Krang being captured, and Bebop and Rocksteady turning over a new leaf. You just kind of have to roll with it.
