Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1990) Animatronics

Film 90's report on the animatronics by Jim Henson's Creature Shop for the 1990 movie Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
(re-uploaded for copyright reasons)
#TMNT

[@richielopez2897]

For a 90's movie, these animatronics are suprisingly far more advanced than I thought they'd be

[@comet206]

the 90's were actually the peak of animatronics. it was pretty much as good as it got before everyone turned to cgi. to be honest with you, i think they should resort back to some of the animatronic stuff. mainly for "creature features". the cgi just doesn't work good for that. you can always tell, even in 2023. i remember when the remake of "it" came out, i didn't even make it passed the sewer scene before turning it off. the cgi was just so bad it was pointless to keep watching.

[@acesanders5035]

@@comet206 FAAAAACCCCTTTTTTS i totally agree....

[@Ribbo]

lol the 90s werent the middle ages you know. 😂

[@seanchukwuezi3079]

This should have gotten an oscar for best visual effects

[@stacks9079]

Far better than any CGI. This is fascinating.

[@Johnlindsey289]

Agree

[@BenJabituya]

I wholeheartedly agree. I had a book of the craze. They even talked about how the controls for puppeteering those turtles felt similar to playing a video game.

[@firestrikerii810]

No it isn’t. That’s enough. Any CGI is far better than this crap and any other outdated effects

[@firestrikerii810]

@@Johnlindsey289 disagree

[@firestrikerii810]

@@BenJabituya DISAGEEE

[@paulod27]

They look so lifelike in the first movie. The cinematography in that movie was just amazing!

[@starlight381a]

Those in the video are from the second movie 🐢👆🏻

[@loughlin14]

We need that movie magic back on this decade!

[@southlondon86]

Alexander Dillard It will happen! Believe in it.

[@thomasreactions871]

southlondon86 hope so. I want this cgi era to die.

[@ThePowerpointMaster]

Thomas' Reactions why do you want it to die? They point of movies is too make it feel as real as possible not for you to be cumming at the behind the scenes videos

[@JanetStarChild]

@@ThePowerpointMaster Your counter-argument is nonsensical. Practical, movie-magic effects will always look more realistic than CGI.

[@riley.g.tierney4569]

Yeah lol

[@JDLeeArt]

Superior in every way to the modern TMNT movies.

[@godzpeedx7ii75]

No it isn’t. The modern tmnt is superior in every way to the classic tmnt. Fact

[@JDLeeArt]

@@godzpeedx7ii75 you're joking right?!

[@Johnlindsey289]

Godzspeed only like modern garbage like the new turtles movies which sucked

[@justingadowski9419]

@@godzpeedx7ii75 responding to all the people who hurt your feelings. Just take a seat let the men talk because your obviously a child with those opinions.

[@wljj56]

Agreed

[@ChrisCoelho]

absolutely incredible, this movie deserves so much more love. It really did well in the 90's but to this day its easily the best TMNT movie we have had and because of the suits it still holds up beautifully.

[@adventurebon4219]

Back when the turtles looked like turtles

[@godzpeedx7ii75]

No they didn’t they looked terrible

[@Johnlindsey289]

They looked good and better than those ugly chuds from that piss poor reboot

[@shf5998]

What no this is impressive but they don’t look realistic at all

[@JoeCab]

And didn’t look like roided out shreks with junk duck taped all over their bodies.

[@robbiemoon2207]

Even in the early 90's this must have eaten up a huge portion of the budget

[@Mario_N64]

Oh, yes, it was a huge expense, and a low budget. But Jim Henson was a guarantee of quality work.

[@yosefdemby8792]

@@Mario_N64 And Steve Barron knew it. He was Henson's chief director on "The Storyteller"!

[@jdude9365]

Jim Henson’s involvement cost around $4 million for the production.

[@dick8997]

this is the epitome of movie magic

[@senateboy0909]

This is a million times more impressive than CGI.

[@Luka1180]

than the recent movies’ CGI.*

[@AmberSantana-is3dq]

@@Luka1180 duh

[@justsnuggle]

Saw this movie recently and was amazed at the facial movements and had to know how they did it. Thanks for posting this video

[@brodrickrobertson3459]

One of the best suits ever created! I even wandered this as a kid! Amazing!

[@HeavyMetalTurtles]

i love Jim Henson's Creature Shop.

[@Johnlindsey289]

Even Dark Crystal franchise, Labyrinth, Storyteller, Dinosaurs and Farscape?

[@gdjones6325]

Animatronics is the best. CGI should only be used when necessary like it was in Jurassic park.

[@RaptureMusicOfficial]

Exactly!

[@Joshua_N-A]

That transition from animatronics to CGI when Rex attracted to the light that the kids made in the car. Plus dark, night scene really helps mask the CGI well.

[@freddylopez4259]

I agree a 99% +1%

[@Garother]

It usually goes the other way around. Animatronics are used when necessary. Which it was back then. Just like stop motion died when animatronics became better. They were even more work to do.

[@yosefdemby8792]

@@Garother Not true! While Jim Henson did experiment with CGI puppetry back in the 1980's (kzbin.info/www/bejne/nIGTdqqCZqaAfLM ), and his company experimented and developed it further, they've still used animatronics and puppetry. Have you forgotten The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance?

[@kingyup447]

I remember these films but I never knew the level of technology involved, seems like something they'd struggle to do today.

[@tenacious645]

Good luck getting this type of effort anymore.

[@soioioioioioio34]

tenacious645 everyone too lazy with cg

[@kryoboy1966]

@@soioioioioioio34 but just imagine how they would look with today's animatronic technology.

[@sm3dium]

Why is this comment such gold ?

[@Johnlindsey289]

Check out Dark Crystal Age of Resistance, Shape of Water, Child's Play 2019 and more using practical

[@sonicthehedgehog1109]

What does it even matter though??

[@RaptureMusicOfficial]

Yes, this was and is pure movie magic! In early 1991 it was in German Theatres, I was 12yo and it was the best theatre experience I ever had! Such an exciting cinema time! Pure movie culture! And oh yes, practical effects over CGI anyday!

[@JoshuaModerwell]

If I had the skills to make the best realistic Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles costumes for Halloween, I would do it the same way they did at Jim Henson's Creature Shop and I would use the 1/4 scale action figures that were released from NECA (National Entertainment Collectibles Association) to have something to go by.

[@tmntforever2684]

OMG I remember watching this back in the day! Thankyou Jim Henderson you will always be a legend 💕

[@blacksapphire04]

Hensen

[@bossyboss1619]

@@blacksapphire04 Yall both spelled it wrong. JoHN HENSON.😄😁😄😁😄

[@shawnlittle3091]

WHY AFTER ALL THESE YEARS WE DON'T HAVE SPECIAL FEATURES LIKE THIS FOR THE DVDS, BLUE RAY OR SPECIAL ANNAVERSURY EDITION.

[@moton410]

Probably, because it would just be a bunch of people running around in front of a Green screen😩 lol

[@Johnlindsey289]

Shout needs a special edition blu and 4k

[@tombruncker7013]

The Turtle suits in the first two TMNT films are among some of the best practical effects ever put to film, especially the suits in the first film

[@MINI_91]

It's still impressive to this day.

[@ozzyrocks666]

They don't make em like this anymore

[@RaptureMusicOfficial]

Yes, but they should imho!

[@Joshua_N-A]

Probably Japan still doing it. I see a lot of modern toku still keeps the tradition of practical effects. They just adapt.

[@claytonmurphy3203]

This holds up so much better than cgi

[@Johnlindsey289]

Avatar has aged like milk where animatronics and puppets feel timeless even by Jim Henson

[@culturageekyartesmarciales1169]

@@Johnlindsey289 mmmmm no

[@Johnlindsey289]

@@culturageekyartesmarciales1169 What do you mean?

[@Skazellino]

This is so much more impressive than CGI.

[@poordolt6482]

the best tmnt movie!

[@bradyanderson8654]

Russian Boy except it missed out on donatello's lab.

[@LiLgPnoy15]

Hell yea , best of the franchise!!!

[@RaptureMusicOfficial]

Indeed!

[@JanetStarChild]

@@Martyspage8607 2014? Fuckin' really? ...Kid, you are made of cringe.

[@NobaraGamezzz]

@@Martyspage8607 bruh 2014 turtles are not the turtles we know and love. You're full of cringe.

[@PaddyMcMe]

You know you've stuffed up when an animatronic suit from 1990 looks infinitely better than your 100-200m CGI TMNT film over 25 years later. God the new CGI turtles are ugly, the ones in the 1990 film looked awesome.

[@PaddyMcMe]

@@Martyspage8607 That's true. The old ones do only look better because the new ones don't look good.

[@forrestgumball]

Damn. All this awesome tech in 1990!

[@cessarflom8664]

That's genius!!!.damn.

[@williamtootle2764]

This movie was way beyond it's time best tmnt movies hands down

[@colinthecartoonist]

These green icons inspired the jim henson company to make the TV sitcom "dinosaurs" Not the momma

[@allamerican0973]

This is what made movies awesome!! Not all the CG crap!

[@culturageekyartesmarciales1169]

Nah.

[@dondiablo5583]

This are the best times, these days animations and rest of the fake shit are nothing compare with these hard working people

[@Angivel]

I grew up with these films and loved them. I'm 36 and they were insanely important to my childhood. But growing up to become a film geek, with far greater insight into special effect and their possibilities/limitations than I had then, even More impressed today than I was as a kid.

[@Gameday_7]

Wow yo still to this day these are the best!! 🔥

[@thebman80]

So want an animatronic head and a full costume to go with it. It would make the best Halloween costume ever.

[@simonRTJ]

I am one of those people whom Jim Henson influenced and The very company I got my first break, the youngest person I recall to work at he sons @ the ripe old age of 14

[@leocovitz1847]

Wait were you a puppeteer? I think so because children can’t be janitors or do certain jobs. Children can only work if it’s for their parents, a freelance job, or for creative things like acting.

[@creativeguy1138]

Nothing, especially the CGI monstrosities has ever beaten these original suits.

[@coreyhill681]

One of my favorite movies of all time, I love watching The Ninja Turtles, even the cartoons of the Ninja Turtles were damb amazing, I had some of their toys once, of their toy Ninja Turtles home as a toy, I loved playing with it

[@teezo2917]

They were so ahead of their time

[@jameshowlet5533]

3:26 COM TRUISE!!!!!

[@patrickkavanagh7371]

This should be on the bluray .

[@armandor.garcia6208]

This is the coolest shit ever.

[@russiangravy3870]

They were costumes? My childhood was a lie.

[@senateboy0909]

I'm shocked the advancements of technology they had back then to make this happen.

[@horrormoviescreamqueen13]

I just finished watching all 3 movies today. Its been years since I've seen them. The turtle costumes are so cool

[@cjlaster7660]

I’m more impressed with this than CGI by far!

[@AndrewsOpinion15]

AWESOME TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES (1990 ) FILM FILM ANIMATRONICS !!!!

[@jthrilla84]

Man I love animatronics! Was always fascinated with it ever since i was a kid. The first time seeing animations was either at Disney land or universal studios. I wanted to do this for a living but my math skills were subpar lol.

[@ookingramseyoo]

Got to appreciate the amount of time & effort that used to go into movies back in the day. Now all they do is CGI bullshit.

[@ImNobodyDah]

King Ram

[@LiLgPnoy15]

Dude, you absolutely said it best right there. I try not to watch new movies now because they rely so much o CGI. Use it for sure, but don't overuse it.

[@thomasreactions871]

Yes because Hollywood got lazy.

[@ThePowerpointMaster]

King Ramsey you fucking dumbass you know the effort put into this is the same effort put into cgi? Why do you have to shit on months of work just to appreciate someone else’s months of work

[@Wafuller84]

Hollywood uses CGI on everything now because it is cheaper to produce.

[@wwechampion9032]

I remember having the book with stickers one of my favorites

[@mostafafarweez3161]

That's Beautiful. I love Behind the Scenes of things like that. BTW.. The 1st Ninja Turtles Films, This 1 and Secret of the OOZE r THE BEST Ninja Turtles films ever. Especially the 1st because of it's tone and story :) What do u think?

[@ThePowerpointMaster]

Mostafa Farweez the first one is the best the rest are terrible

[@theman6705]

The Powerpoint Master Agreed

[@ThePowerpointMaster]

Cody Luis D reasons why the rest a terrible: They don’t use their weapons Cartoonish action Less grounded and less realistic experience More cartoonish and childish appearances And more...

[@jesseallen1657]

I COMPLETELY AGREE! I love those movies and grew up with them!

[@ThePowerpointMaster]

@svin Exactly, I was on a binge watch the first time I learnt there were TMNT movies before 2014, I saw the first one absolutely loved one, saw the 2nd one's opening scene and just paused it, damn 90s parents always ruining franchises.

[@BenJabituya]

2:39 shows how manning the controls for animatronics felt similar to playing a video game.

[@starlight381a]

Aside from the fact that these animatronics are from the second film and not the first, these from the secret of Ooze are the best ninja turtles ever brought to the screen, apart from the film.🐢

[@danieletrombin]

Class 1986.. These four dudes were my life! :)

[@DOCHD20]

The technology is amazing for the time, we still don't have robots these days with facial expressions like this, imagine how much easier it would be with modern facial tracking tech.

[@RaptureMusicOfficial]

I booked a small movie theatre in 2012 and showed Turtles (1990) and Turtles 2: The Secret of the Ooze (1991) there 5 of my friends and me! (via Bluray to projector/beamer), that was awesome to have organized e a private theatre performance! It was the same suburban cinema I've seen both movies in the early 90s btw! :) Cheers!

[@chuckcrean983]

R.i.p Jim henson, gone but not forgotten.

[@schattentaenzerin]

I miss these kinds of amazing animatronics in movies. TMNT, The Thing, Neverending Story. They looked so real because they WERE real. Casting shadows, interacting. Not just an actor being told to "pretend this tennis ball and empty space is a huge troll. We'll add the CGI later" The difference really shows. Also, these are so much more advanced then I would have guessed. Incredible work!

[@alphantom0657]

Still holds up all these years later albeit the mechanical bits that show up in Donnie's mouth in that one scene. I'm sure the actors loved the opportunity, but I can only imagine how uncomfortable those suits were to wear for extended periods of time.

[@itsplug1681]

That was actually the actor's face

[@v.beggar8544]

Very cool. Getting a bit nerdy here, but this is not from the 1990 film; it's from the 1991 film. Although the clip that they put in there was from the first film, the actual behind the scenes footage was from the second. The costume designs are slightly different between the 2 movies and Henson wouldn't have been talked about in the past tense were this a making of feature from Turtles 1. He passed after it's release not during the making of it.

[@Skibbitypappappa]

No shit

[@rmbanimator5001]

@@Skibbitypappappa I didn’t know that so that no shit is just you

[@DoryenChin]

i'm relatively certain this is not from the 1990 film, but maybe one of the sequels. in the original film, the turtles didn't have the big dark spots all over their heads, their complexion was much more solid.

[@NobaraGamezzz]

The spots were not visible in the first movie but they were there. These are the 1990 suits for sure.

[@DoryenChin]

@@NobaraGamezzz they are nowhere near as pronounced in the 1990 suits. sure they have spots and texture, but in SotO they’re basically cartoony polka dots in comparison.

[@DoryenChin]

i think they combined bts footage from the 1991 film with promo clips from the 1990 film to make this documentary.

[@v.beggar8544]

@@DoryenChin You're 100% correct

[@Luka1180]

@@NobaraGamezzz I can see them on the blu-ray version.

[@ComptonChuckz88]

They put a lot of heart into these movies and it came out badass

[@otaking3582]

Of all the clips they could've used for this British program, they chose the kricket scene. Genius.

[@jswatch9270]

i love the movie

[@christianfiguroa7147]

Wow they need to keep that alive and enhance it it makes the movie look way more real from those 80s and 90s movies but still advance in the high tech graphics to look realistic as possible in fantasy as well

[@1superflyguy1]

Hella genius to create da whole turtle face movement

[@pericoperico9869]

I seen this movie in VHS before when l was a kid in Obregón city Sonora México But thank very much for upload this video in KZbin AND Is Many nostalgy

[@HonkeyKong54]

If they made a new movie with actual costumes they should use silicone instead of latex

[@SgtSega]

I used to watch these behind the scenes videos on recorded VHS tapes when I was a kid. I remember watching one for The Empire Strikes Back ALOT. Also the local library had them.

[@trickerdgaming]

This movie was way better than part two.

[@adencreative7897]

God I wished they suits were actually saved and preserved, pretty much all of them are just rotting somewhere

[@NJRangerGeorge]

I wonder with the tech we have now how the mask would look like and move. Would be cool to see

[@rickysantana2136]

Thanks we really apreciated!

[@capame3737]

2:38 My mind is racing on how to adapt that to modern times. 1 way is using modified joysticks like "Virpil controls" + software like "Joy2Key". Couple it with ur output program that transmits ur inputs to translated outputs to the puppet. Whether it's live action, cgi or 2d. This artform of animation looks like fun.. It shouldn't die. It should be reinvented and expanded on with current tech advances/upgrades.

[@ESUTERURE]

Great tech and this was back in the day.

[@l3layze]

I feel like if this type of movie was created today, the suits would be way lighter, cooler, and easier to remove. I really want a new movie with turtle costumes again.

[@Jam7300]

Ces costumes du premier film étaient vraiment les meilleurs des 3 films ! Ils paraissaient tellement plus réalistes que pour les 2 films suivants.

[@CainNuke]

Bring animatronics back!

[@Luka1180]

Has been back for many years LOL.

[@handlemonium]

I might just make an animatronic mask like that for a cosplay...........

[@lececamara]

LOve this movie!! Those suits look incredible!!

[@yosefdemby8792]

Mak Wilson later served as the facial puppeteer of Earl Sinclair on Dinosaurs, replacing Dave Goelz after twelve episodes.

[@LeanMan82]

This is really cool. I don't think this type of film making could match to today's film making.

[@Justin-Hill-1987]

This is why we saw the puppeteer's mouth inside Donatello! >(O=O) {--O--}

[@Alrightmaboy]

This is amazing, need much more movies

[@gingerhead666]

The puppeteers are the real stars

[@Luka1180]

And the suit performers, who also do martial arts. In suits that weigh a motherload!

[@DragonStar731]

Very interesting. Thank You.

[@Pranks313]

How did they see out of the masks?

[@ryanhartman3512]

There was small slits or slots under the eye masks. If you look closely, you can see them.

[@amybittick7092]

This is super cool!

[@Dan.50]

Back when Hollywood created magic.

[@MarkRodenburg]

2:39 i love it

[@drewdowns7128]

i love this so much

[@MickeRamone]

Best TMNT movie still

[@TMNTRAPHAEL-nn5vx]

hey i saw myself in this video😄

[@brodrickrobertson3459]

Did you act as a turtle?

[@TheJohnnyLucasFilmHouse]

I hope they saved the molds from the first movie.

[@Luka1180]

I hope so too! I wanna see a fourth movie :D And a TV show!

[@antonybullock2240]

The days before CGI. Given that this wasn't a great film, it was a film that they actually put effort into it. Things that are severely lacking from modern films.

[@AlvaroTalavera]

Gold!

[@lm7913]

Of course Jim Henson has passed away, but any idea on re creating the turtles, this crew should be called

[@lorenzapickett9158]

Like most things classic it's worth the effort