The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles have seen countless iterations over several decades. These different versions each bring something new to the table. Many people remember the 1990 TMNT and the 2007 TMNT as influential movies in the TMNT canon. But which movie captures the TMNT better? Keep reading to find out what there is to consider.

Capturing The Silly But Serious Tone

The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles High-Five in 1990
New Line Cinema

A little-known fact about the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is that they were conceived as a Daredevil parody. Many of the names and concepts in TMNT are joke versions of the ones in Daredevil. In Daredevil, the master is named Stick; the ninja clan is named The Hand; and Daredevil gets his powers from a radioactive waste truck accident. In TMNT, the master is named Splinter; the ninja clan is named The Foot; and the turtles get their powers from that same radioactive truck accident. The creators, Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird, conceived the turtles as a silly parody taken seriously.

The 1990 movie accomplishes this tone through the use of comical costumes and slapstick humor while simultaneously keeping the villains menacing. There are periods of serious action and many silly moments in the film. In contrast, the 2007 TMNT has a much darker tone and does away with many of the silly aspects of the turtles. The freedom of CGI allows the 2007 TMNT to get away with more realistic violence and harder hits compared to the 1990 version. Many fights in the 1990 version of TMNT include slapstick fighting that softens the movie's tone. The 2007 TMNT lost a bit of the parody fun from the turtle's conception, which means that the 1990s movie captures the TMNT tone better. The original film was also a perfect family-friendly watch.

Related: Why The Last Ronin Should be the Next Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Movie

Staying True to the Comics

The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Gather Together
New Line Cinema

The TMNT comics are filled with extremely wacky storylines. These include things like space worms reviving people from the dead; the creation of cyborgs, people turning into mutant bats, and references to pop culture icons like Oprah Winfrey. Oprah Winfrey previously had the cast of the 1990 film on her show. Both the 1990 TMNT and the 2007 TMNT stick close to comic storylines. However, the 2007 TMNT skips the origin story of the turtles in favor of more comic-inspired plotlines that show off the outlandish TMNT plots. The 1990 TMNT spends a good amount of time on the turtle's origins, making it feel like a smaller and more contained story. If someone is looking at which movie captures the wacky plot lines of the comics better, the 2007 version of the turtles definitely has a leg up.

Animated vs. Live-Action

TMNT_2
Warner Bros. Pictures

Perhaps the biggest difference between the two TMNT movies is how they were made. The 1990s version was filmed in live-action with actors in rubber costumes, whereas the 2007 version is completely CGI. These two different approaches to filmmaking have different strengths in portraying the turtles.

In the 1990s turtles, the rubber costumes may look goofy, but they were state-of-the-art special effects. The rubber costumes make everything the turtles do look sillier, which improves the effectiveness of the film's comedy. One moment in 1990, a cab driver almost ran over a turtle who was rushing by while commenting, "That looked like a big turtle in a trench coat." The live-action delivery captures New York's color in a way that wouldn't work in CGI. Surprisingly, although the film feels very New York, the majority of the film was actually shot outside of New York. This just speaks to how well the film is able to portray the essence of 1990s New York.

Funnily enough, the live-action version feels much more cartoony and quippy than the CGI version. The rubber costumes make many of the action scenes in the 1990s TMNT feel awkward. This awkwardness makes them feel more endearing and down-to-Earth. According to Kevin Eastman, the rubber suits did very well in retrospect.

The 2007 TMNT takes full advantage of the CGI technology of the time. This technology allows the film to produce clean-looking and spectacular action scenes that are impossible in live-action. The turtles also have more angular eyes and appear more serious as a result. The cleaner look of the 2007 TMNT is great for dynamic action, but it also drains some of the soul and character from the movie. The film seems to be aware of this change, giving much more run-time to action scenes and less time to character scenes. While this is not necessarily a bad thing, it does mean that the essence of the TMNT is missing, making the turtles more like generic action heroes.

Related: Mike Patton Unleashes His TMNT Theme Song for Shredder's Revenge Video Game

Input from Creators Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird

TMNT 1990
New Line Cinema

Another thing that sets these two TMNT films apart is the role that the TMNT creators had during their production. In the 1990s TMNT movie, the creators of TMNT had an active role in making the movie. They were also given a large amount of freedom to do what they wanted with the characters, which led them to be much closer to their comic book versions. Kevin Eastman has kept up with the TMNT over the years and has cited that the 1990 TMNT is the best version.

Final Verdict

Leonardo of The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
New Line Cinema

When it comes down to it, the 1990s TMNT just captures the spirit of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles better. The 1990s TMNT stuck closer to the creator's vision and had a slapstick tone closer to that vision. You get a sleeker and more action-packed product with the 2007 TMNT, but in exchange, you lose the self-referential humor that makes the turtles unique. Don't let this top you from liking whatever version of the TMNT that you like. Kevin Eastman himself has said that he is always excited to see new interpretations of the characters.