10 Ways To Make Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2 Not Suck

8. Look To The 2003 Series

The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles animated series from 2003 is the gold standard for Turtles adaptations, and all other adaptations should take a cue from it. Not only was the animation superb, but the writing and voice acting were all excellent. Moreover, it managed to find the perfect balance between the extremes of the Turtles. For the uninitiated, the Mirage comics that started everything were actually pretty dark and violent. Many fans were shocked when they saw the 1987 animated series, because it was such an extreme departure from the source material. But the first movie managed to find something of a balance between the two. The 2003 series did so even more, and the CGI film followed in the same vein. Unfortunately, the €™87 cartoon is so dominant in the collective consciousness that pretty much every single adaptation uses it as a template. Which means lots of goofy humor and a very lax approach to storytelling. Rumor has it that Bebop, Rocksteady, and possibly even Krang will be in the sequel; all of which would be a huge mistake. Stop borrowing elements from the €™87 series and look to the 2003 version. The 2003 series is one of the best version of the Turtles. It still kept some of the humorous elements as the €™87 series, but it also had a bit of a darker edge that was closer to the comics. The characters all had individual personalities as well, just as in the comics, and both April and Casey were more accurately represented. This is what future filmmakers should look to if they€™re struggling to figure out how to balance the very different interpretations of the Turtles.