Introduction of "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle" (TMNT)

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle

(or simply Ninja Turtle and abbreviated TMNT), in Chinese "忍者龜") are a fictional team of four anthropomorphic turtle mutants, who are trained by their sensei, Master Splinter and Princess Sophie, to become skilled ninja warriors. From their home in the sewers of Manhattan, they battle petty criminals, evil megalomaniacs, and alien invaders, all while remaining isolated from society at large.

The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle originated in an American comic book published by Mirage Studios in 1984. The concept arose from a humorous drawing sketched out by Kevin Eastman during a casual evening of brainstorming with his friend Peter Laird. Using money from a tax refund together with a loan from Eastman's uncle, the young artists self-published a single issue comic intended to parody four of the most popular comics of the early 1980s: Marvel Comics' Daredevil and New Mutants, Dave Sim's Cerebus and Frank Miller's Ronin.^[1]

Much of the Turtle s' mainstream success is owed to a licensing agent, Mark Freedman, who sought out Eastman and Laird to propose wider merchandising opportunities for the offbeat property. In January 1988, they visited the offices of Playmates Toys Inc, a small California toy company who wished to expand into the action figure market. Accompanied by the popular Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle animated series, the TMNT were soon catapulted into pop culture history. At the height of the frenzy, the Turtle s' likenesses could be found on a wide range of children's merchandise, from PEZ dispensers to skateboards, breakfast cereal, toothpaste, school supplies and cameras.

Today, there is a resurgence in the Turtle s' popularity with the success of the recent animated series, a new line of Playmates action figures, Konami and Ubisoft's video games, and a computer-animated feature film.

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