Scary Things You Never Knew About The TMNT Movies
The '90s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movies are regarded as childhood classics, but they're actually incredibly dark. On the surface, they seem like action-adventure movies starring wisecracking, pizza-loving heroes. Underneath, the Turtles live in a world dealing with some intense economic problems and a society that's about to collapse due to astronomical amounts of crime. Grab a slice of pizza, dude, because here are some surprising things we bet you never noticed about the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles films.
The Turtles' questionable sources of income
How does a giant turtle get money, exactly? In the first TMNT film, Michelangelo pays the pizza guy with money he shouldn't have. Also, it's suggested that the Turtles regularly order pizza, and they are familiar enough with the outside world to know about getting it for free if it's not delivered in 30 minutes or less. Ralph even goes to the movies at one point. Somehow, the Turtles have a regular supply of money available, despite the fact that they don't work. They must be robbing all the bad guys they knock out. There's no other explanation. Sure, maybe they occasionally find some cash in the sewers, but enough to order pizza all the time and go out to see movies? We don't think so. They're armed ninja warriors and have a suspiciously large supply of cash. It doesn't take a genius to figure this one out. Better call Casey Jones.
Ninja weapons are shockingly easy to get
Imagine that you want to go out and buy a bunch a ninja weapons. Even with the powers of the Internet, it's not the easiest thing in the world. Sure, the Ninja Turtles live in the sewers, and they get a lot of stuff by collecting what people throw away, but that really shouldn't include any ninja gear. How many people are getting rid of swords by dropping them into sewer grates. How about Raphael's sai, Michelangelo's nunchucks, or Donatello's bo staff? Was '90s New York really that bad to the point where ninja weapons were being regularly disposed of in the sewers?
The Police Chief controls the Press
April is constantly getting scolded by her boss for questioning the Police Chief about the rise in organized crime in the city. The thing is, April isn't making this up, there actually is a crime wave. Not only that, the police are in fact refusing to do their jobs. It's a story, she's a reporter, and that's her job. She's not doing anything illegal, so the police have no reason to complain. Still, the Chief is able to get April fired, which is downright terrifying. She works for a major news network. When the Police Chief tries to bully the station and force them to fire an employee, couldn't they just report that? Instead, it appears that police are so powerful that they control the media. Worst of all, after the police get April fired, her place burns down, and she disappears. Nobody found that suspicious at all? Even though the police didn't murder her, it sure looked that way, and that story should have been all over the news. Either April's boss is super incompetent, or the police are basically the mafia.
Nobody seems to care about runaway teens
In most iterations of the TMNT, the Foot is an ancient ninja clan. In the original movie, however, Shredder comes to NYC with one or two pals from Japan. They start recruiting teenagers, training them how to fight and steal. Seriously, that was his whole plan. Ignoring the obvious flaw of having an army of poorly trained youths take on one of the biggest police forces in the country, how come nobody seemed to care about the growing number of runaway teenagers? Danny is the son of Charles Pennington, April's boss at the TV station. When Danny ran away, no one cared—the same applies for all the other runaway teens of NY. In fact, most Foot Clan members are young enough to still be impressed by being able to get cigarettes and play free arcade games. Youth disappearances and crime are both abundant throughout the five boroughs, yet no one cares. That's downright dystopian.
The city's sewers are horrifically neglected
The Turtles' sewer hideout was like the ultimate clubhouse, filled with really cool junk. Sure, it should also be full of waste and dirty water, and it probably floods every time it rains. No place is perfect though. For four giant turtles and their elderly rat master, it was a pretty sweet setup. However, it should be disconcerting that the city is apparently completely ignoring their plumbing system. The sewers aren't just big, empty tunnels built for decoration. City workers should be down there on a regular basis, performing maintenance and repairs. There's also the scene where Mikey gets a pizza delivered to the sewer. The pizza guy wasn't even concerned that there are people living in the sewers. That can't be a good sign for the state of the city's economy. Oh, that brings up another strange point.
City services seem abandoned
During the climax of the first movie, Splinter defeats Shredder by dropping him off a roof. Shredder lands in a garbage truck, which Casey Jones nonchalantly turns on, supposedly crushing the villain to death. Ignoring the fact that Casey Jones casually tries to murder an unconscious man, there's another, darker aspect at play here. There's an abandoned garbage truck, full of trash, just sitting around. This isn't a fluke, either. In the second movie, the Foot Clan set up their new headquarters at the city dump. That's city property. Shouldn't the sanitation workers call the cops? The Foot Clan even made a laboratory there without anybody noticing. No wonder the Turtles go above ground so much.