Lost TMNT Movie Edit (Japan/Korean) - Phelous

Talking about some of the modifications made to the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie made in some regions. Including a weird seemingly lost version from Japan which renamed it Hero Turtles and took out all Japanese references.
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#TMNT #TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles

[@garrettcarter5622]

I'm not gonna lie, "Many years ago, I lived in Korea," is probably one of the funniest edits I've ever heard.

[@SuperCosmicMutantSquid]

For me it was the "I've been talking with a lot of-! *ASIAN AMERICANS*. "

[@jellywillreturn]

“A secret band of ᔆⁱˡᵉⁿᵗ thieves who once operated out of ᵏᵒʳᵉᵃ.”

[@Magitek1112]

I honeslty thought the German version was just a Phelous edit at first.

[@nozoto]

Or somehow, the producer of this dub saw Adam West's Batman and thought going by gag sound effects was the way to go. Yah, I Don't know either, pal 🤷

[@jackmcslay]

Most of the german dubs are soo stupiiid

[@GermanLeftist]

@@jackmcslay Not really. We usually have very good dubs. But just not for stuff like this. Germany is pretty much still caught in the idea that something is either for children or adults. If something is more for pre-teens and little bit more edgy the people working in the dubbing industry usually seem to be completely out of their depth and often simply decide to make it more cartoony and hence more child-friendly.

[@tultsi93]

Watching clips from German dub is like watching a Golden Films movie.

[@SoramimiKeiki]

@@GermanLeftist I think another reason in this case might be, that they wanted to keep the rating down, so more children of lower age groups could watch the movie in cinema, since the sounds made it more cartoony and goofy and so took the seriousness out of the scenes.

[@danstiver9135]

I think the Korean edits must have been meant for a version to be sold in Korea. Japanese culture is generally edited out of all foreign media sold or broadcast in South Korea, because of resentment due to Japan’s occupation of Korea in World War II. It’s still bizarre that this would be on a VHS that was sold in Japan. My guess is that they put the Korean version on by accident, or else they didn’t have access to the original version and only had the Korean version in English when they were making the Japanese VHS. Still, it’s very strange.

[@KasumiKenshirou]

"It was an accident" is the only theory I've read here that makes any sense. I've read that when the translators in that era made Japanese subtitles, they often didn't have scripts and just had to listen to the dialog. That would explain why the subtitles used the Korean names rather than the normal localized Japanese names for these characters. Tang Shen is not a Japanese name, though. I wonder why they changed that one?

[@jimtaylor294]

Japan controlled Korea for decades prior to WWII; having annexed it after victory in the Russo-Japanese War. S-Korea's government has long used anti-Japanese rhetoric as a P/R crutch, whilst the DPRK... well they hate everybody XD.

[@theangryholmesian4556]

@@jimtaylor294 Anti-Japanese rhetoric? You mean asking Japan to actually acknowledge its crimes against humanity? Also they didn't annex it. They occupied it. You're whitewashing and softening Japanese history with your rhetoric.

[@KairuHakubi]

@@theangryholmesian4556 everyplace in asia did horrible atrocities to everywhere else in asia for centuries. the fact that it's now limited to china, north korea, and southeast asia, and their governments doing it to their citizens instead of spreading it somewhere else, doesn't change the broader perspective.

[@KairuHakubi]

@@KasumiKenshirou Right? but I guess Korea hates China too, so..

[@Drowzeeking04]

UK: Watership Down and Plauge Dogs : Fine UK: Ninja Turtles : Way too violent!

[@pferreira1983]

The BBFC was really cracking down on ninja related stuff so TMNT was affected.

[@ImaNerdANDaGeek]

@@pferreira1983 Ninja specifically? Did they have something against japanese culture?

[@pferreira1983]

@@ImaNerdANDaGeek They had a problem with Ninja movies and the violence it could cause in real life. It was relaxed in 2002 so the 2003 series was unaffected.

[@ZionKraze]

And Bruce Lee films.

[@pferreira1983]

@@ZionKraze Yeah.

[@loneshewolf74]

"Many years ago, I lived in Korea". They should have called them The Tae Kwon Do Turtles.

[@MLBlue30]

Koreans are known for their ninja warriors that specialize in combat.

[@thetaytheist]

@@MLBlue30 japanese*

[@thetaytheist]

wait where does that happen in this vid? I missed it

[@ShockMe1994]

The Own 14:30 it shows the original & then Korea.

[@thetaytheist]

@Demiclea gonna have to cite that breh

[@genyfear]

Soo...Leo could keep his swords but nunchucks were too far. Makes perfect sense.

[@ElvenRaptor]

Not to mention using a grappling hook as a weapon sounds very... fatal. Like, if that hook took hold of someone's stomach and Mikey pulled... instant guts EVERYWHERE.

[@BATCHARRO]

No worries kids can't be inspired to anything dangerous by grappling hooks.

[@ElvenRaptor]

@@BATCHARRO I'm going to have to beg to differ.

[@BATCHARRO]

@@ElvenRaptor What's the worst that can happen? They die from having too much fun grappling?

[@python1972]

Specifically it's because Conservative parents believes kids may see shurikens and nunchuks as something not super dangerous and considering how easy it is to make fake ones, that's what happened. There's no point banning swords or guns though because obviously a kid knows a sword is dangerous

[@MJFERMEZLA]

I may have an explanation for the Korean stuff. In France, when we dub an american movie with a french character with A LOT of jokes about the accent and some language barrier, we change his nationality to "Italian" to keep the joke as much as we could. Pepe le Pew for example is Italien in the french version, the scene of The Mask where he transforme to a french guy is now talking italian and making italian reference instead of french references. So... it's probable than the Japanese version of this movie did the same to keep the dynamic of imigrant characters... wich is weird for a non dub version and a movie clearly not having this kind of problem, but it's just my theory.

[@kawaiiconcept7479]

Reminds me of stuff anime tries in their english dubs when they are learning english they either change it to French or Brittish/Fancy

[@fats3342]

It might also have to do with the rough relationship the two countries have.

[@coreylineberry8557]

@@fats3342 Yeah, China, Japan and South Korea basically have a "Triangle of hate." Everyone hates everyone. Though I think the hate for Japan is justified because of the Japanese Empire that led to them being a major member of the Axis Powers in World War 2. I can see where the bad blood would come from.

[@JanetStarChild]

@@fats3342 I could see that. The US made that monstrous terrorist attack on Japan, then proceeded to appropriate Japan's culture for decades.

[@punchy207]

@@JanetStarChild serves them right

[@magustg1]

That Japanese version was most likely the Korean version purchased for distribution in Japan. It was probably cheaper to get it licensed out of Korea than America because copyright fuckery.

[@redkingrauri3769]

The only explanation that I could get about the anti-Japan Japanese version is that version might have possibly been for Korea and Japan just imported it and changed the subtitle track. Even that seems like a stretch.

[@JackOfen]

Or maybe China. China hates Japan a lot

[@redkingrauri3769]

@@JackOfen So does Korea. Far as I know, Japan's relationship history with most other Asian countries is pretty bad.

[@JackOfen]

@@redkingrauri3769 Oh my, didn't know that they also hated Japan.

[@redkingrauri3769]

@@JackOfen Yeeeaaah public opinion isn't exactly high.

[@Tareltonlives]

@@JackOfen Japan invaded Korea TWICE, the last time in 1910, occupying it the last time for 35 years.

[@danstiver9135]

So nunchucks are too violent to show to children, but a SAMURAI SWORD is perfectly fine, yeah okay.

[@tinycrimester]

well, kids are gonna find out about knives SOMEhow but maybe we can lie to them about blunt force trauma until they're 18.

[@nozoto]

I have long renounced to understand the incoherent motivations of censors. This people walk with their hands instead of feet. Just like the political correctness clique raging nowadays 🤷

[@Boltscrap]

Well, a sword is a sword.

[@nozoto]

@@Boltscrap B-But. You can't show brawling people to children, either. Or else it will encourage fights in the playground (If we applied the logic of these morons earnestly)

[@BBBHuey]

Most likely because it's easier to hurt yourself with nunchucks.

[@StrobeFlashLite]

Obligatory reminder that when TV Tokyo finished up airing TMNT '87, Neon Genesis Evangelion took over its timeslot

[@freakfoxvevo7915]

That is way too funny "Thanks for watching Mutant Turtles, Coming next week, Mindfuck: the anime"

[@TimTE01]

Ironically, we managed to f--k up the Dubbing and Release on that one for them.

[@jimtaylor294]

Oh if only CBBC had done the same XD. I remember when Channel 4 - if memory serves - broadcast Evangelion in about 1999... at age 10 I got educated in why not all animation is for kids. Saw Gundam around the same time, which was quite dark by western standards. (that scene between Amuro & the just orphaned Fraw... brutal...)

[@JomasterTheSecond]

As we know, *_SILENT_* thieves are very famous in Korea.

[@WillKeaton]

Korea has, or had, a bunch of laws against movies and TV shows where Japanese culture is portrayed, which means no Samurai or Ninjas. I think it's possible that the Japanese version you saw was derived from the Korean version with the Japanese references removed, and then the subtitles changed from Korean to Japanese.

[@sugarskullbyte3773]

The fools! They should’ve censored the *real* terrifying thing: TEENAGE!

[@Zero-hopper]

My god yeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

[@briskguy7399]

Random fact of the day: Ghostbusters has, like, 5 spanish dubs. Two of them are nigh identical, except the actor dubbing Venkman dubbed Stanz and vice versa.

[@JohnPannozzi]

TMNT is usually called "Mutant Turtles" in Japan, although the 2nd and 3rd movies were branded "Mutant Ninja Turtles" there. Kevin Eastman said in an interview a few years back that Japan actually had a problem with the word "Ninja" being used to describe heroic characters. I guess that eventually changed, like it would in Europe.

[@BloodrealmX]

Could have been leftover attitude from the days of imperialism.

[@brandonlyon730]

Odd considering popular shows like Naruto started out over there.

[@KeybladerDef]

they could of changed the name to teenage mutant saumuri turtles or something.

[@JohnPannozzi]

@@brandonlyon730 Naruro (and most other kid-centric Japanese properties about Ninjas I can think of) came later, so maybe attitudes changed over time.

[@CinemaniacCollector]

Kind of makes sense in a way if you think about it. Historical ninjas were spies and assassins who committed secret operations and that must have not been seen as very heroic in a society like Japan, where stuff like honor is very important. So makes sense that the concept of the ninja and even the term ninja would have been seen as negative and not fitting for heroic protagonists. It probably changed with newer generations who, ironically, were probably influenced in a huge way by the western depictions of ninjas as badass heroes, skilled fighters and protagonists. If you ever watch old anime from the 80’s and early 90’s and pay attention you can kind of see what appears to be the point where the Japanese views on the ninjas started to change and how they developed gradually because they often feature ninjas as bad guys, neutral characters and sometimes even as protagonists. By the time stuff like Naruto came along (late 90’s), those opinions had changed so much that you could make a popular franchise where the heroes were ninjas.

[@Hardman5509]

"Oh, a fellow Combat Warrior, eh?"

[@ManaAdvent]

Sonya: KOMBAT TIME!

[@VerdantRange]

Man, that anti-Japanese release in Japan was weird. The only possible explanation I could think of for the movie ending up like this is that Towa video decided not to buy the US cut of the film, but the Korean cut. After WWII, Korean had a lot of anti-Japanese policies for a long time, so stuff like this censorship was common. This is why when Super Sentai was being dubbed over there, they skipped over the ninja and samurai based seasons until the recent Shuriken Sentai Ninninger.

[@desmondmalone438]

That explains this 14:35

[@theangryholmesian4556]

And there's a good reason for it. Comfort women anyone?

[@U014B]

So the German edit is just the Uwe Boll "Funny" Version. Also, it's interesting that Towa used people that look and sound Japanese to play Korean characters.

[@Sean_Bird]

This sounds fairly interesting for a movie about a bunch of Adolescent Abnormal Shinobi Reptiles. Also, when are you gonna rip The Next Mutation a new one?

[@tonymata8070]

I second on this too. 😎

[@MrZerothejedi]

It has begun.

[@chrispetty6956]

I watched the first episode on Netflix with my friend a while back, and it was so bad. I lost it when Splinter came out with a bo staff, and he had his derpy mouth open so the stuntman could see.

[@diegodankquixote-wry3242]

@@chrispetty6956 I'm not really a fan of tmnt, just like to hear phelous talk about it. However I did *make* him watch the first episode of next mutation with me as a joke, and it was hilariously bad. We both had a good laugh.

[@JohnDoe-wq5eu]

I was never a super fan of any version of TMNT of the last 30-plus years. (I keep meaning to go back and read the original comics though they seem so dark and cool) That's said I remember when the next mutation was on TV and it was horrible. It was like they took inspiration from the three live-action movies and just ruined it in every way possible. Luckily the weirdly super accurate TMNT of the early 2000s was coming, it was oddly one of the few cool things to come out of the 4kids era on Fox.

[@mathieuleader8601]

The Japanese voice for Raphael is Bin Shimida the voice of Broly and the dubbed voice of Troy McClure & Krusty the Clown

[@flightlesschicken7769]

Cool

[@TommyDeonauthsArchives]

I'd write a Simpsons joke in Japanese, but... I barely speak the language.

[@bigvibesyo412]

Splinter shares the same English voice actor as Elmo

[@Shadamyfan-rs8xc]

@@bigvibesyo412 i headcanon that Elmo will sound like movie Shredder when he's old. 🤣🤣

[@steamboatwill3.367]

@@TommyDeonauthsArchives ) Homer saying D'oh! in Japanese.

[@SemiJuggaloNumber2]

I wonder how many British people thought that the nunchaku censorship was incredibly stupid?

[@albionprincess2306]

Me and my friends thought it was stupid back when we watched the series, and I still think it's stupid, even though I know why it was done.

[@chriswilson3126]

Pretty much all of us.

[@i.m.evilhomer5084]

It was pretty much thanks to paranoid moral guardians in Europe. However, certain Asian territories like Korea had Japanese cultural references banned for many years due to Japanese occupation in WW2. This weird print of the film that removed any mention of Japan or anything Japanese was probably meant for these markets, but got in the hands of the Japanese distributors by mistake.

[@pferreira1983]

It's most noticeable watching the How It All Began video.

[@flightlesschicken7769]

"was [soooo] stupid" FTFY

[@Zinervawyrm]

Splinter: Many years ago, when I lived in Korea… You know come to think about, I'd pay to see a bootleg movie where Splinter has to escape from North Korea and the Shredder being a government goon hunting him down.

[@brklly]

Wow! this is so much research. I find these TMNT/Ghostbusters differences so baffling and interesting. Thanks for all your work. It is appreciated!

[@ShockMe1994]

14:30 “Many years ago I lived in Japan” “Many years ago I lived in Korea” 😂😂😂😂😂😂🤦🏻‍♂️😂🤦🏻‍♂️🤦🏻‍♂️

[@SumTr011]

Probably one of my favorite endings to a Phelous video

[@KrystineBrown]

This is great. Censorship is always interesting. In NYC we use Koreatown or KTown now

[@JohnDoe-wq5eu]

This isn't even like censorship in the traditional sense. It's just so weird, it's more like when they change massive amounts of things in the dub process with anime. Though it isn't even what I'd call a localization it's just random changes made for reasons that don't make sense.

[@karmakeld]

Perhaps they just succeeded with the 'Basil Faulty attempt' of not mentioning THE WAR.. They're Japanese.. What ever you do, don't mention Japan or Ninja..

[@scitechian]

South Korea goes through periods of being outraged at the very existence of Japan for one reason or another (to the point that the Korean dub of Pokemon removes all references to Japanese culture), and I can easily imagine that South Korea was one of the most promising markets outside of North America for TMNT.

[@theangryholmesian4556]

@@scitechian For a very good reason. Japan committed crimes against humanity.

[@skyblueblazes9332]

TURTLES GET SLIGHTLY EDITED, CENSORED AND/OR ALTERED WITH HONOR!!

[@rpm297]

As Splinter: "Many years ago, I lived in Sheboygan. In the home of my master, Gus Polinski !"

[@moreedcola6837]

“Many years ago, I lived in Italy, as a pet of my master, Mario Mario.”

[@goob_goob_gooby_goob]

"Are you telling me how to do my job?!"

[@Shadamyfan-rs8xc]

Yes

[@goob_goob_gooby_goob]

@@Shadamyfan-rs8xc understandable, have a great day

[@Shadamyfan-rs8xc]

@@goob_goob_gooby_goob thank you

[@goob_goob_gooby_goob]

@@Shadamyfan-rs8xc You're very welcome :)

[@steamboatwill3.367]

How long was that?

[@hammerman1758]

No need to make a "All fights in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles but with cartoon sounds" video: Germany already got us covered!

[@JackOfen]

"Ist doch Ehrensache" 😉

[@Alucard-A-La-Carte]

They probably changed "Japan" to "Korea" in Japan to keep up the feeling that things were happening in a foreign land. Since it was originally set in America, all the Japanese stuff was 'exotic' and 'foreign,' so they changed it to Korea to keep up that general feel.

[@BloodrealmX]

I'm wondering if that version ever specifically mentions taking place in New York. If not, they may have been attempting to imply the movie took place IN Japan.

[@dcflake5645]

Wow, being British seeing these alternate takes are weird. And yes I remember that awkward as hell fight with Shredder, It's the first time I've heard Splinter's full speech.

[@InfernoScorpion14]

And it's such a great speech isn't it?

[@JohnDoe-wq5eu]

Weird versions, changes and edits are my thing. The 80s we're especially notorious for this apparently. But for some reason I'm always super into this weird random extremely obscure information. It's like stuff that as people living anywhere outside Japan or Asia a lot of times it's something you were never meant to see and seeing it is like seeing something that was like classified.

[@BabysitterSky]

So swords were fine....but nunchaku were bad? 80s logic.

[@nathanmarshall745]

Swords would be fine in the UK The Knights of the Round Table centered on a guy with a sword, right?

[@Phos9]

I think the idea is that kids can get ahold of nunchucks or something similar to them, but swords are harder to come by.

[@kimifw58]

It was purely political. In the 1970s, there was a gang in the U.K. who used nunchucks, so a bill was passed to make those illegal, and that stayed in effect throughout the 1980s.

[@Etherman7]

@@kimifw58 the US had a similar panic and they're still illegal to carry anywhere but to or from dojos in several states.

[@flightlesschicken7769]

@@Etherman7 Which is very funny considering they do not make effective weapons

[@wstine79]

I think nowadays most films will have alternate versions filmed so that it can play naturally for different countries and not look silly.

[@TimTE01]

That's true...to a certain extent. It's mostly making changes like 'Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs' to 'Cloudy with a Chance of Falafel.'

[@BlackBloodCombatClub]

"Many years ago, I lived in Never Neverland" *ENTER SANDMAN INTENSIFIES*

[@mikethegrunty5968]

More fun with phelous and tmnt? Absolut gut!

[@dubuyajay9964]

Ser gut, mein Herr.

[@Rick-Raven]

If they change it to "Many years ago, I lived in China". Will they have to be called Teenage Mutant Lin Kuei Turtles?

[@kaimcdragonfist4803]

Maybe they’d be able to stop the cyborg initiative

[@Zinervawyrm]

I'd personally go for Teenage Mutant Xiaolin Turtles! Or maybe Xuan Wu Turtles.

[@TheSmart-CasualGamer]

"I Am nOt NInjA, I aM LiN KUei!"

[@Shadamyfan-rs8xc]

Teenage Mutant Karate Turtles

[@FrenchPaul1988]

Wouldn't working with Sub-Zero potentially cause them to go into hibernation ?

[@juliagoodwin3461]

I never understood what people had against the word “ninja”. Or nunchaku. Freaking pansies...

[@LostArchivist]

REPORT REPORT REPORT!!!! YOU ARE GOING TO HARM IMPRESSIONABLE CHILDREN WITH YOUR FILTHY OBSCENITIES!

[@sdm47]

The Archivist I’m pretty sure you were joking but you might wanna make that more clear before some random douche desires to troll your ass

[@trevingrayek8292]

We can’t have children finding out about things from other cultures. It would cause their stupid little heads to explode! Best throw those in the garbage with the pointy glasses.

[@Magitek1112]

From what I recall, the word "ninja" and nunchaku were bascially taboo in the UK because of kids buying them and using them as weapons..I think?

[@pferreira1983]

@@Magitek1112 That's about right.

[@grandadmiralzaarin4962]

Fascinating that censors and edits find the chucks bad but swords, knives and staffs are fine lol

[@wstine79]

The weird edit I remember was the Shredder death scene. Shedder lands in the back of the garbage truck, Casey pulls the lever, then ir cuts back to the turtles hugging splinter in slow motion, then back to Shredder's helmet crunched.

[@mikemayberry7121]

I can't imagine what it was like growing up and knowing them as HERO Turtles. I wouldn't be surprised if those kids still called them "Ninja Turtles" colloquially and the censorship was only superficial. I hope one day we get a definitive home release of this movie with every last bit of alternate and missing scenes. I wish this video was ten hours long. I find this endlessly fascinating. A+, Phelous! I'm definitely sharing this on all of my social media.👍👍

[@neilstewart2811]

I love how you always go into such detail about shows and or movies or toys

[@Amesang]

♫ _"Go, hero! Go, hero! Go!"_ ♪

[@lunayoshi]

Criminy, I was popcorning through this entire video. I have the American VHS and watched it to death as a kid. Seeing all these changes are fascinating because I know the original like the back of my hand. The new scenes and alternate shots are like brain candy. Thank you, Phelous! This is my new favorite video of yours.

[@JamieSwitzer]

Your delivery of Stern's line at the end was GLORIOUS!!

[@Menjoood]

Last time I was this early I still lived in tHe HoMeLaNd.

[@koenvandamme6901]

Turtles 1.5: Secret of the Editor

[@CommanderZx2]

I don't think I could make it through the German version, those cartoony sound effects are just too much. I wonder if the version that cut all mention of Japan was specifically made to be sold to the Chinese.

[@lunayoshi]

That's kind of what I'm thinking because I don't see how the Japanese would want, like, EVERY reference to their culture removed.

[@soko4710]

That would only make sense if that version was intended for the Chinese population that lives in Japan and can understand Japanese, which, needless to say, would be extremely weird. Chinese people who can't read Japanese would not understand it. Yes, Chinese and Japanese both use Kanji, but they are extremely different languages otherwise, and the average Chinese person would not understand the subtitles any better than the average monolingual English-speaker.

[@AgentSmartnumber86]

I never imagined that they made so many weird and awkward versions of the 1990 ninja turtles movie. Still though thank you phelous for showing us this it's interesting yet somewhat enjoyable lol

[@VidweII]

"What does katana mean?" "Korean sword."

[@starschwar]

I want (Warrior) Cop's head on my piano!

[@JackieTheBold]

If they had such a big problem with "ninja" then I kinda wish they had taken a page from bootlegers and named one of the movie edits Karate Turtles Warriors or something.

[@koenvandamme6901]

What about... Teenage Mutant Krav Maga Turtles? "Oy vey Refael, we can't fight today, it's the shabbat!" Damn, now I want someone to make this.

[@littlebearbradick9263]

I gotta say, Shredder running at Splinter and then just flying off the roof is one of the hardest laughs I've had in a long time.

[@macuna1995]

Man, the details they changed are just insane. Those cartoon sound effects were just not needed, lol.

[@bryanegelhoffsanimationtec257]

Screw Michael Bay. THIS and maybe TMNT2 were super entertaining.

[@diegodankquixote-wry3242]

*Many years ago, I lived in Korea.*

[@tommydeonauthstheouterids9641]

Indeed.

[@awesomeperson531]

The earliest I’ve been, and it’s a TMNT video. TURTLE POWER

[@TheMellowFilmmaker]

0:52 I guess you could call that version the 3 Ninjas edit.

[@JohnDoe-wq5eu]

The late 80s early 90s we're just littered with weird kids movies based on ninjas. There was 3 ninjas, surf ninjas and so many more that I just can't bother to remember.

[@baalfgames5318]

"Well, if it isn't the 3 Ninjas. Larry, Curly and Moe."

[@Poever]

I’m guessing these ninja movies skipped out on the UK entirely

[@randalgraves6979]

@@baalfgames5318 🤔 I thought it was Colt, Rocky & Tum Tum.

[@baalfgames5318]

@@randalgraves6979 ... It was a joke

[@nova_beam]

It’s strange that there are so many changes to the Japanese version. I can’t tell if it’s because they wanted the Turtles movies would be more interesting if it was anther culture other than their own , or they were afraid they offered some one. This was a research heavy episode and I really appreciate all that went into it.

[@rai_harn98]

Oh yeah, the TV Tokyo cast of the Japanese 87 Turtles dub is the same as the Super Turtles OVA

[@skabcat242]

I never understood why nuncuks were such a bid deal. Seemed like too much of an hassle for all that editing.

[@kingkoopa3000]

This is fascinating - being from the UK, I was aware of changes made for uk and european versions of the turtles movies, but the version with dubbed in references to korea is new to me ! Good stuff.

[@jp3813]

Mikey's nunchucks were also barely seen in the TMNT (2007) movie.

[@hammerman1758]

"But what if we just add a bunch of cartoon sound effects to make the fights extra goofy?" Then you basically have the Next Mutation

[@jackmcslay]

Oh yes, then can keep the much more dangerous swords, staff and sais but those nunchuks have to go!

[@GarthTheDestroyer]

Of course. Why take unnecessary risks of kids playing with nunchucks when they can have those pointy grappling hooks instead?

[@handsomebrick]

@@GarthTheDestroyer Or what if a group of four kids go around beating people up?

[@Horzuhammer]

I guess the idea was that nunchakus are easy for the kids to make for themselves. I at least made several pairs when I was a kid. :D

[@jackmcslay]

@@Horzuhammer As opposed to staves which you can make by simply taking the brush off a broom?

[@GuruSUPERmaster]

@@handsomebrick if there's a penis involved, they don't care about weapons.

[@cameronstone4495]

"He was one of Japan/Korea's greatest shadow warriors." He could play the PAL version of Ninja Gaiden like no man ever before!

[@The-Plaguefellow]

Presumably, the Japanese-version English dubs changed many of the references of Japan to Korea and "ninja" to "combat/warrior" so that Japanese audiences, of whom would most likely be more familiar with _actual_ ninjas and the history behind them, would still be able to suspend disbelief instead of immediately noticing the Western Romanticized "ninjas" we're familiar with.

[@strugglesnuggledslime7040]

A less optimistic mind might just come up with the assumption that someone wanted to insert their own politics and associate anything "negativ" with Korea instead of Japan. Someone else be the judge of what is more likely.

[@SuperCosmicMutantSquid]

So they sort of reversed 4Kids the movie; editing out cultural differences not so much to make it 'local' but to keep the audience from noticing the Americanization of their own culture?

[@oz_jones]

@@strugglesnuggledslime7040 Or you know, it was licensed from Korea because it was cheaper.

[@Zinervawyrm]

IDK, I feel Japan already romanizes their own culture without our help here in America.

[@dazwannawzad9272]

Its like they wanted the german version to fail, if I would have heard those sfx when I was 10 I would have walked out of the theater. I still cannot believe nunchucks were banned and SWORDS were not. That edit of Splinter moving out of the way for Shredder to fall to his death is hilarious. Still one of my favorite films, and by far the best TMNT film to date. Ty for the video!!!

[@pferreira1983]

The UK had that Shredder fall as well.

[@dazwannawzad9272]

@@pferreira1983 That is a shame. Although its kinda funny, it seems worse to me that Splinter would let him fall lol and its out of character for Splinter as well.

[@pferreira1983]

@@dazwannawzad9272 I actually saw a pirate copy of the movie before it was even released back in UK cinemas. Was disappointed when they showed it on TV years later and it was edited like that. Yeah it was funny but frustrating as I'd recorded over the pirate copy.

[@mathieuleader8601]

the singers of the German turtles intro sound they like they all have laryngitis

[@matthewdunk]

I have laryngitis at the moment, so I can empathise.

[@strugglesnuggledslime7040]

Thats Frank Zander alright. Actually kinda hard to listen to the american version if you grew up with that smokey whiskey voice,hah.

[@JackOfen]

@Mathieu Leader Don't diss my man Frank Zander. He is a legend and made a lot of songs for children in the 80's and 90's

[@mathieuleader8601]

@@JackOfen I'm not I'm just not use to germanic speech patterns

[@JackOfen]

@@mathieuleader8601 Okay, it's cool. Well, to be fair, he *does* have a gruff voice. But that's really his normal voice.

[@tonymata8070]

This was very bizarre and weird look in to the complicated censorship and edits to TMNT, I also was laughing really hard by your comments and ending skits. Keep up the good work man. 😊

[@gokigenyou9524]

In Brazil they removed "teenage mutant" and rename it into "As Tartarugas Ninjas" - "The Ninja Turtles". The opening theme for the cartoon still in american english (and the logo), but there is a narration bit saying "As Tartarugas Ninjas" , and since small kids don't speak english, it's just "The Ninja Turtles" over here. For the movies they actually translated the logo but without the turtle texture.

[@dcflake5645]

Last time I was this early Hamato Yoshi was still alive.... Oooo too soon?

[@handsomebrick]

shredded

[@autobotproductions1244]

MunchJrGames unless it’s the 2012 one

[@autobotproductions1244]

MunchJrGames yes he does

[@Omaru1982]

When the film finally released on DVD in the UK we got the uncut version, as a kid I thought it was stupendously ridiculous that Shredder just charged and flipped over the building.

[@themastera.z5418]

1:45 xD u picked that scene because Scott McNeil aka waspinator plays BoneSteel didn't you?

[@legoking6165]

Wouldn't be surprised if he did.

[@RettMikhal]

April O'Neil with that soft sexy Japanese voice is giving me all sorts of new feelings.

[@CthulhuianBunny]

I wonder if there's an edit out there that corrects Partner's In Kryme's stupid "Raphael, he's the leader of the group" line and nothing else.

[@handsomebrick]

Leo isn't a real leader anyway, he only exists because Raph doesn't have the balls to rebel against the team's actual leader, Splinter. It's just like Cyclops and Wolverine.

[@JurassicRod]

Luckily thanks to the Hero Turtle edits in the UK, no one ever uses nunchucks in England to hurt each other. We just stab each other.

[@wstine79]

23:05 Shredder lost his left shoulder blades.

[@joefrew1614]

I love learning about different edited versions of movies in other countries around the world

[@Horzuhammer]

Yeah, those Japanese dubs aren't alone in being affected by the censorship-weirdness. I've got a bunch of Finnish VHS-tapes of the '87 cartoon. The label says 'Hero' - but the opening theme is the original American one with 'Ninja' - and in the Finnish dub, the word _ninja_ is used frequently. No one ever called them 'hero Turtles' - but I guess that's what they officially were. The games were also 'Hero Turtles,' as were the Image comics - but then again I've got a Finnish poster of the movie from 1990... and you guessed it, it's 'Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.' Very confusing.

[@emilyapricot1313]

If sensors can completely eliminate all mention of a country, it shows their power and danger...

[@mrdoctorgilmore]

I grew up watching TMNT, yet I never realised it had been changed to hero turtles here in the UK. My Copy of How it all began had the US original theme and titles and didn't see much of the old show outside of that Tape so I just got used to the American version. Plus I had just started watching the 2003 series at the same point which kept the normal title.

[@Drachenhannes]

they might have censored Ninja out of the german version but holy balls did they swear a lot in that dub even dropping the F-bomb at one point. German Hero Turtles is a treat!

[@renamon5658]

I loved when shredder said they're babies!!!!!

[@francescagonzalezramos9442]

Anyway who's want to watch Grimgar of Fantasy and Ash!?

[@spmscout]

How much do you wanna bet that Saban hired the same drunk sound mixer/editor from the German dub of the 1990 TMNT movie to do the sound for Ninja Turtles the next mutation.

[@TheMellowFilmmaker]

I wonder why Britain had a problem with Nunchucks, but not swords.

[@ystin]

getting a sword in the uk is hard tying rope to two blocks of wood err isn't

[@cartilaginous.studios8817]

yerpalhal Okaaaay. Why wasn’t Donnie’s bow staff problematic? All you need for that weapon is a stick. Censorship is weird.

[@ystin]

@@cartilaginous.studios8817 i know right i always wondered that myself

[@SagaSagaVGM]

If I had to take a wild guess, this is a Korean print of TMNT that was released in Japan. And the Japanese dub is a overdub of that. Korea had a hard ban on all things Japanese during this period. So that would explain a good number of the changes. But I guess only New LIFE Cinema/TOWA Video know for sure.

[@thedazedbandman]

I clicked this hoping for a Japanese dub, but got so much more-thank you!

[@jacobfelger5684]

Actually, thinking about it, what MIGHT have happened was that the Japanese edit was actually originally intended for the European market. After production of the movie had wrapped, the studio probably realized the Hero Turtles predicament in places like the UK, and very quickly start work on a re-edit, to where all mentions of ninjitsu, and Japan (presumably just by association), were removed. They might have gotten some of the actors to re-dub lines, but not all (as would sometimes be the case in situations like this), hence why some sound very similar. However, after that was mostly done (I'll get to the mostly in a second), the American cut must've somehow been mostly approved by the European film censors (sans nunchakus, obvs), and they just put the re-edit away....until Towa Video got the rights to the film, where they somehow sent them the re-edit print by accident, and Towa just rolled with it. As for the "mostly" part, I imagine they were going to remove Michelangelo's nunchaku scenes towards the end of the making of this re-edit, but just forgot once they decided to shelve the whole thing.

[@Magitek1112]

I'm guessing that weird Asian version is either for China, Korea, or maybe Hong Kong.

[@Takeshi357]

The more I watch this video, the more I'm convinced that it's actually a localized dub for one of the east-asian countries that still speak primarily english, and whoever was responsible for it's release there was just feeling particularly patriotic or at least anti-Japanese. The fact that this is the dub that ended up on the Japanese release is just weird tho.

[@nozoto]

@@Takeshi357 Singapore, maybe? Philippines primarily speak English aside from Tagalog, but I don't picture them having an obvious patriotic anti-Japanese sentiment, despite their world war 2 past.

[@Takeshi357]

It's possible, since english language also would imply that they used to be part of the British empire, which Singapore falls under. However, this still doesn't explain to go with Korea specifically as the replacement. Korea also was, as far as I know, never colonized by the British.

[@Takeshi357]

Well, you know the old saying, "your guess is as good as mine". Right now we don't even know the name of the production company behind the dub, or even if such a thing existed because it's not even a dub, just some redubbed dialogue. All we got is a Japanese home video release utilizing a version of the movie that is extremely unlikely itself to be Japanese in origin.

[@Magitek1112]

@@Takeshi357 Hong Kong also used to be part of the British empire (and still was at the time the movie came out, as the movie came out in 1990 and Hong Kong stopped being a British colony in 1997), but yeah, it still doesn't explain the Korea thing.

[@grantmoore8228]

Can someone explain the ninja censorship to me? Sure, censoring Nunchucks makes a stupid kind of sense but why censor the word ninja? It's a historical word that doesn't have much weight in this world because it's not like the turtles are commiting assassinations. This would be like if they retitled "Pirates of the Carribean" into "Sailors of the Carribean"

[@RealKaiserRyu]

Hey Phelan when are you finally gonna do Next Mutation? It was a patreon goal and got reached a couple years back.

[@BloodrealmX]

I think he's doing it once Defenders of the Realm is done.

[@RealKaiserRyu]

That was my guess too.

[@BulletTooth504]

The stress of spending so much time dealing with Next Mutation just to make one review was probably too much for Phelous's psyche to handle.

[@BloodrealmX]

@@BulletTooth504 One review? I figured it would be a series retrospective like the Mortal Kombat ones.

[@i.m.evilhomer5084]

I feel like the weird Japanese VHS release that removed any mention of Japan & ninjas was probably made either for the European or Asian markets that had tougher film ratings for children's films or laws banning Japanese cultural references (like in Korea). It was probably got accidentally sent to the Japanese distributors by mistake.

[@BugsyFoga]

Nobody: Raphael:"DAMMMMMMMMN"

[@KasumiRINA]

2:30 Because swords and daggers are TOTALLY kid-friendly weapons, it's two pieces of wood that are scary things... BTW, I actually made my own nunchucks as a kid, several, in fact! xD Also fixed a few sticks to make Donatello's bo, and also and a wooden bow with arrows after Robin Hood. Bladed weapons were out of question, however.

[@ironbison1357]

That was the best line to end this video on! LOL'd for a good 3 minutes

[@RichardWatt]

My country's censors were so stupid back then; yet violence was okay in soap operas.

[@BioticPlatypus]

I don't even care about TMNT, I just like when Phelous documents stuff like this.

[@ColeHomeVideo]

In the UK in 2003, we actually got a theatrical re-release of the 1990 film and they advertised the shit out of it being the first time it was fully uncut here. It might have been because of the restarted popularity from the 2003 cartoon? Since then, the film (along with 2 & 3) are now available uncut.

[@MaverickKayPrime]

Okay, so I think I have a theory as to why the Japanese version of the first TMNT movie is so, well, anti-Japanese. In the past, Korea had this disdain for a lot of Japanese things. I'm not sure if this disdain still exists today (I don't think so), but it lead to a lot of interesting changes whenever there was an overtly Japanese theme or character who was brought into Korea. The first one that comes to mind for me is the character Mitsurugi from Soul Calibur. He's a Samurai straight up, katana and everything. When the first Soul Calibur game was released in Korea, Mitsurugi was replaced with this blond Englishman named Arthur. He was totally just an edit of Mitsurugi, but he wasn't a samurai. It was a bit confusing. Now I've heard Mitsurugi was replaced mainly because Korea doesn't like samurai's in general, and it might not just be a dislike of Japanese culture as a whole. Whichever one is true, is it to much of a stretch to think that they don't like ninja as well? My theory is that the Japanese edit isn't meant for Japan, but was instead meant for Korea, and that somehow someone sent the wrong edited tapes over to Japan, and Japan just rolled with it. It would probably explain why there's such a heavy emphasis on Korea as oppose to any other Asian country, and why they are called Ninja Turtles in the sequels with no changes, but not in the first one. But, hey, it's just a theory. I could be wrong, and for some reason, Japan just really dislikes Japan in the first movie. Personally, I find that more hilarious.

[@theangryholmesian4556]

There are very valid reasons why Korea doesn't like Japan. Like crimes against humanity for example!

[@RoyalKnightVIII]

Oh it still happens, i don't think it's a legal issue anymore but this is one reason why the samurai season of super sentai was totally skipped