1 of 5 | The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Splinter return to theaters Friday. Photo courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures
LOS ANGELES, Aug. 14 (UPI) -- The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles have appeared on movie screens seven times in the franchise's history. The original 1990 live-action film, returning to theaters Friday, remains the most impressive.
Inspired by the '80s comic books by Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird, TMNT included a popular weekday afternoon animated show and toy line by 1990, making a movie a foregone conclusion. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Movie became a phenomenon in the pre-summer movie season.
The film, directed by Steve Barron, introduced anthropomorphic turtles Michelangelo, Leonardo, Donatello and Raphael in a realistic New York City. The brothers live in the sewers and fight crime in the shadows.
The Foot Clan, led by Shredder (James Saito), recruits kids to commit theft on his behalf. The group kidnaps the Turtles' master, Splinter, leading the TMNT to team up with reporter April O'Neil (Judith Hoag) to rescue him.
