The Autistic Turtle Has Taken Over My Life: Review of Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

[@pluffering6661]

The second season was cut in half because Nickelodeon handled the show TERRIBLY, and put everyone on the ROTTMNT team under a lot of pressure to squeeze in an entire season into half a season. And yes, they did have the entire second half of the second season, and a third season planned and storyboarded. It makes me so upset thinking about it.

[@mentalvoid7045]

After seeing some scrapped storyboarded episodes I'm so mad they cut it in half. Plus the season 2 obviously felt super rushed

[@justice8718]

@@mentalvoid7045 It's even more depressing when you realize that someone is missing in Splinter's family, and she never knew him.

[@Anonymous-ml8qb]

Exactly! I blame Nickelodeon for this, the team did a fantastic job with Rottmnt >:(

[@Viasom]

Sponge bob is the only reason why Nickelodeon is as popular as it is

[@mirrortarget5729]

Yeah I really wanted Draxum's redemption arc to be more fleshed out, and I wanted to know more about Foot Recruit's motivations, but I understand why they couldn't have done it, and it makes me sad. This show is a diamond in the rough

[@imjustasconfusedasyou]

i love how all your complaints about rise was like “the producers fucked it up and the creators rush it” also i’ve never actually thought about it but yeah, the She-Ra gang treat Ebtrapta so badly, especially at the beginning. i love her though

[@hyenaholicproductions9033]

Donnie isn't just 'Autism with personality'. He's also 'Accurate Autism Behaviour'. Donnie's Gifts is exactly the sort of presents an Autistic person would give to show his brothers how much he loved them and wanted to keep them safe. People always see the gifts at surface level, never taking into account that Donnie was JUST about to tell his brothers how things worked and it's not like the shock collar was locked on. It's more about Donnie not understanding personal space than him being some kind of sadist. And yes, an Autistic person would aboslutely put trackers into their brothers without asking, not as a method of controlling but because frankly you're okay with the trackers on your phones why wouldn't you be okay with trackers in your shells?

[@Thatscrazy_anyway]

Ah leo says one bad word because the writers only got one bad word pass, and honestly I didn't even know it was a bad word to kids until fans started talking about it 😅 I worked at an elementary school and kids already use and know that word 🤣

[@katherinequin1060]

I also fell down the ROTTMNT hole through skulltrot. I am so in love with this show and cannot wait to watch it. I hope that the fandom can bring it back.

[@bilgeakaln6335]

Good to hear skulltrot introduced a lot people (including myself) to the series. Not only rising TMNT but also ... rising awareness eh!? eheheh. - I'll let myself out

[@one-onessadhalf3393]

I was introduced via heybuwan, who has a somewhat similar video essay

[@LilySimons-zm3ht]

I'm just like Donnie and I am undiagnosed with autism because my parents don't think I have, so when I watched ROTTMNT, I cried because I finally found someone, well, someturtle like me.

[@brianrosenblatt2583]

What an insightful and informative video! I’m so happy to see more content from you too!

[@partycat10]

"Orgasmic choreography" Not me dying over how relatable that statement was😂

[@froggers803]

Fun fact: studies show that skulltrot enjoyers are actually hot babes and chads wow that’s crazy

[@tessleblanc8050]

Yesss!!! Ive only watched a couple of episodes before seing this, and it just,,, UGH!!! Its so perfect. It scratches such an itch!

[@gourmetchocolatemilk9639]

YUP this is.. exactly how i found the show too, from researching autism in media and watching skulltrot's video lol WOW! I was already kinda interested in the show but then the movie came out, it got really popular, and i found skulltrot's video and didn't want spoilers, so i watched the whole show + the movie and then watched the video 😂

[@MechanizedAngelz]

That's exactly what I did too, the video popped up in my recommended, and I decided to watch the show because of it, and I'm so happy I did... it has become one of my hyperfixations very quickly, and I'm currently getting into the 2012 show which I _barely_ remember, and don't recall any episodes of, and plan to watch the new movie coming out for the series... I don't care what iteration of the turtles they are, I've become attached regardless.

[@afoolishfopdoodle3284]

Mine wasn't skulltrot's, it was heybuwan's, but I love it either way

[@bilgeakaln6335]

İt's unbelievable how this happens this often... but ME TOO! I literally saw the video, watched first 5 minutes of it, went and watched the show, watched the movie. Now (for the past month) Im here searching every ROTTMNT content I can salvage from the fanbase

[@StarryFishStew]

same! i was researching autism (mainly bcs i was wondering if i should get an assessment) and wanted an accurate depiction instead of the common demonization of many autistic traits and people. then i found that video and it led me to one of my most aggressive hyperfixations ever- i love this show, and it's one of my main sources of comfort (mainly donnie. i love donnie. he's so me)

[@Drunkonlife_Squid]

Also for people to know, season two is on Canadian Netflix!!! I don't think many people know this enough! Because I see people begging for a second and it always made me confuse until I realize it was only on Canadian Netflix

[@A_Baguette_]

This is one of the most straightforward and easy to understand video essays I've come across. Great job!

[@sweetnsaltie_8774]

9:13 OW holding back tears legitimately bc my inner child is coming in bc i didnt get that )":

[@ccproduction1230]

That is exactly how I leaned about ROTTMNT!(I watched the same video) And actually how I leaned I’m probably autistic. When I fist started watching the show (and even still now) I was so happy to see a character like me and he really is good representation

[@jigglyfruit09]

I really love this not only because I love Donatello but because I can relate to Donnie just a little bit I sometimes don't really feel empathy to those who feels stuff and don't really understand emotions and I'm so mad that I slept on this masterpiece and I will miss a season worth of Beauty😅😆😆💯💜💜🤩🤩🤩

[@ArcTrooper269]

AWESOME ESSAY

[@sweetnsaltie_8774]

6:52 LITERALLY SAME FOR BOTH AND NOW TMNT IS MY SPECIAL INTEREST HALP

[@goldndoodlz2192]

I LOVE THAT VIDEO YOU REFERENCED IVE REWATCHED IT SO MANY TIMES

[@ToontownAndCpenguin]

I thought I was the only one who saw the similarity between Rise & Eddsworld in the style, my mind kept going back to that as I was watching the show, funny that others see it too. I've been an Eddsoworld fan ever since early 2007, I remember the shift in style when the animation was taken over... yeah, I've been a fan through a lot of things. Figured since I had been a fan for so long, it was just my mind making the comparison automatically, glad I'm not the only one. As for not knowing about this show previous, I don't blame you, first time I learned about it was through Splatoon 2, I took part in the ROTTMNT splatfest, btw, I was teams Leo, Donnie, Donnie. Back then, I knew so little about the TMNT franchise, I just knew purple is my favorite color so obviously I was going to side with Donnie when it got to his splatfest which he won both of. At the time, I didn't even realize the 2012 series had ended, it still felt new, time moves differently the older you get & since the 2010's was my young adult years, it felt short, like stuff in 2018 still feels recent enough to 2012. I was surprised there was a new series already & when the internet critics started reviewing them, during that time, they were harsh & unfair. This is a series that you need to actually sit through enough of to appreciate it & actually, re-watching some episodes after knowing everything plus seeing past iterations changed my perspective a lot, I found more joy in it. Nickelodeon dropped the ball on advertising this thing, seriously, if it weren't for Splatoon, this thing wouldn't of been on my radar enough to even consider watching any reviews of it & maybe it would of been a good thing to avoid the early day reviews since they weren't kind. When it comes to the shock on Leo's language in the movie, I swear somebody likes getting away with some questionable language when it comes to writing TMNT, the 2012 series, ohh wow. Mikey, oh dear Mikey, he got away with so much in the 2012 series. He called something the Grass Kicker, he outright says "kick some Jurassic" I think, I could be remembering the wording wrong but close enough. There's a moment when Donnie comments on a massive asteroid & Mikey calls him out on his language. Need I mention the sex joke he made? Oh, I'll bring it up. There's a creature from Dimension X swimming around in the water around a base the turtles needed to get to. It kept circling the submarine they were in & I'll admit, my mind kinda was already in the gutter here because I was reminded of a story from a drive through zoo where a rhino mistook a car for ummm, yeah, let's just say he has interesting tastes. The creature started lovingly hugging the submarine & oh my goodness, Mikey, why did you have to say this line? "We're not that kind of sub!" If I were drinking something, that would of been a spit take for sure! I had to pause, process, breath, laugh once I realized what I thought I heard, rewind, listen again, pause in disbelief that I heard correctly, & then laugh again. It took me like 10 minutes to get past that scene because I was having the hardest time processing it. Maybe I took it in wrong but I'm positive he meant that, his collection of human underwear among many questionable lines he's had in the show tells me that safe search was not activated on his t-phone. So when it comes to anything in Rise getting away with some questionable stuff, I don't question it, 2012 got away with so much worse that I just can't be surprised anymore. I watched Rise first & moved onto 2012 because I was starving for more content. Has me wondering if some people pulled Animaniacs level stuff where they put in way worse jokes the sensors would flag so they miss the smaller stuff. I love the humor, amazing it can slip in. Absolutely adore how Donnie is written in ROTTMNT, I went in not knowing at all & so happy I did, so many moments when I was like "that's me!" Will say though, I had that with a lot of Mikey moments too, I have traits from all 4 turtles but more strongly relate to Donnie & Mikey. I hate physical touch, I willingly touch people I know & love but if I can avoid touching people, I will. Although, I'm not low empathy, I am indeed on the spectrum, diagnosed when I was 8, & a lot of what we did in my special ed classes were learning about emotions & how to use them & expected responses to give to certain things & while some of it I didn't understand at the time such as having to follow unwritten rules of society, I always understood putting others' emotions first, actually, my problem is that I'm always trying my best to be hyper aware of how other people feel so I have an issue in the opposite direction. I'm usually the person that brings in the heart, the moral support in my friend groups which is one of the ways I can relate to Mikey, actually I do roleplaying & a lot of my characters end up defaulting to being like Mikey. I convinced my GM to watch Rise & I asked him to give me updates as he goes along, I'm just waiting for him to say, "why is Mikey most characters you've played in my campaigns?" He hasn't asked that yet but I feel like he's going to. I could probably go on & on comparing myself to the turtles, mainly Donnie, like how we both get hyperfixated on things, we love purple, we've had times when we felt useless like what he said about being the tech guy & feeling like the mystical powers thing devalues him, I've felt like that a lot but that's also where I kinda fall into the camp of Leo, the inferiority complex & how I want to prove myself, I don't react in the same way as Leo all the time like I definitely don't cover it with pride, I instead cover it with humor & constantly joke on how I bring nothing to the table which isn't entirely true, I try my best to be compassionate & understanding, I listen when my friends have problems even when my mind ends up drifting, I still turn it back around to focus on what's important. I'm also great with kids, despite not liking being touched, I have an easy time communicating with them & have worked at an after school center before. So I'm not entirely useless but I do have a nice large bag of useless talents that will never come in handy like ever use one of those rebound balls? Every day, I go outside for about an hour & practice doing tricks with one with my theme songs playlist going. Why is a person in their 30's playing with a toy they bought at the Dollar Tree years ago in the backyard, singing along to Ducktales, Pokemon, & ROTTMNT theme? It helps me focus. I have a hard time organizing my thoughts but when I'm out there practicing tricks, singing along to music that brings back happy memories of watching shows I love, I can more accurate concentrate on particular thoughts & I feel better afterwards. Is rebound ball a skill that will ever come in handy in life? No. It's useless but fun. I'm full of it, useless but fun stuff. So if I feel I'm not good enough, it's because I legit am not but hey, I bring to the table what I can. Jeez, sounds more like I'm comparing myself to Leo & Mikey now. Like I said, I see a lot of myself in all 4 turtles. Something I like about Donnie is that he reminds me a lot of a friend of mine except I think my friend's love for pink goes beyond Donnie's interest in purple. This friend often times struggles to connect with people, we had mutual friends that don't talk to him anymore because they don't understand him. He's genuinely a nice person, just has a hard time expressing it sometimes, there's the fact he often speaks in sarcasm which puts people off. So I'm not a tech person, where Donnie's love for tech is would be like my love & obsession with other things such as Pokemon & Toontown but this friend, he's tech savvy, he's helped me out a lot of the time with tech problems I had like when I was trying to get all the games I wanted before the eshop closed down, I didn't have the space on my 2DS so my friend helped me move the information from one sd card to a bigger one so I was able to purchase & download the games I wanted. He also struggles with emotions but I see it, I know when he shows concern even though it sounds like he's uncaring, I know he's not & that he means well. It might be due to me spending most of my school life in special ed classes & most of my friends being on the spectrum that caused me to be more understanding of this friend since I know others with similar things as him. Ha, remember when the youtube comments section had a much smaller character limit? Those were dark times. Sorry if this was long, I figured I shouldn't continue talking about my life because there's so much more I could say but I won't. Personally, I just love talking & this has been my current obsession. I always end up getting a hyperfixation that takes up my life & this just ended up being the one I'm experiencing right now.

[@EveyBailey]

Bro I was SO HAPPY WATCHING ROTTMNT AND THE AMAZING REPRESENTATION OF AUTISM. LITERALLY CRIED IN SOME PARTS. I WAS LIKE- dude he is me HE. IS. ME. DONNIE IS MY BELOVED AND I ADORE HIM S O MUCH BECAUSE OF HOW MUCH I RELATE TO HIM😭😭

[@bilgeakaln6335]

I really loved your video and enjoyed every minute of it. Don't worry about using clips from Skulltrots's video the boss already analyzed everything. But it's always cool and exciting to see people loving the series and wanting to talk about their own experiences of the show. Overall I agree, Donnie is if science and theater had a baby. He is just so intelligent yet his password is Bootyyshaker9000 bc he loves to dance. I also love how his love for musicals is shown often and he's owning to his passions.

[@jabreakitjubawtit4748]

So glad you discovered tmnt, specially rise! The more people supporting the show the better. Im a huge fan of the show and movie and more people need to see the show for that, not oh it’s different so it bad

[@neonisity]

didnt know what alexithymia was coming into this video, looked it up and it is 100% me 😭

[@Voidforged86]

YAAAAAAAAAS YOURE BACK

[@DO77IE]

hahaha great, you love Donnie too! he's in my top fav characters up there with Abed... Rise was such a great show but i gotta admit i stuck to it mostly bc my fondess of Donnie! Great video btw, love your content!

[@anxiousoptimism5517]

I already liked TMNT having seen some media and I thought that the trailers I saw, despite not seeing many, seemed cool. Then later on I started watching more about rise and clips of rise and fell in love. When I learned that Donnie has autism like me that was also pretty cool and made so much sense.

[@popburnsy3207]

Ok, so it took me a few days to watch this. Thanks for the video

[@nanonashi3258]

LFLS hurts so much... why did you have to remind me :,)

[@SCREW_TITLES]

THERE WAS SUPPOSED TO BE 7 SEAONS 😭

[@MisakiSatsuki1]

😢😢😢😢wwhhaaaaaaaat!!???! 😭😭😭😭nnnooooooooo

[@FunDipOneDip]

WHAT 😡😡😡😭😭

[@nooneasked6379]

7:00 LITERALLY ME OMFG!!

[@lou_lou6479]

6:41 Like Father Like Son on AO3

[@annabeatrizdossantoslucena]

💜💜💜💜💜💜

[@wereallnerds2246]

OK lesson Donnie is actually a child from a nerd and a theater kid because that’s what actually happened in the show if you don’t get it but you didn’t watch the sale

[@Dustinlove102]

9:05 Ffffffffffffffff, I can’t unsee that now ☠️☠️☠️

[@hybridvenom9]

Me too i also want now 3rd season mountain canceled by the way so the movie blowing up and so is the show all we needed to do we just rewatch it like so much and then that would work that would work but i think that would work

[@malaksafa4074]

Nick cut the season in half, not the team.

[@aleynamcpherson9923]

I have no empathy either so(btw there’s a theory that Donnie and Leon are twins)😂

[@tonedzeus95]

I love Donnie 😻 fox approved

[@Random_aroace]

4:09 where is this and how to I watch it

[@bigtub1101]

it's a lil scene in the first seasons finale. unfortunately it's quite a short clip

[@Pretzels_Slap]

BUT WHERE DO I WATCH SEASON 2 I CANT FIND IT😪

[@MisakiSatsuki1]

Paramount+ has it!

[@a_dumb_artist1460]

You've read LFLS, haven't you?

[@bigtub1101]

i honestly have no idea what this is referring to. assuming it's a fic and the answer is probably yes but i can't remember what it's about lol

[@a_dumb_artist1460]

@@bigtub1101 yes, it's a fic- the whole "angst potential" thing. Like Father Like Son is my go to comfort fic, which is weird because it's like sad and emotional and all that bs.

[@consume_arsenic]

6:40 NOO MY LFLS PTSD 😭

[@ivyinkwell1754]

FR that fanfic ruined me, and I'm one of the tougher ones! It took me temporarily leaving the fandom to get over it! I probably should've finished the fic, gotten to the comfort bit and all but I stopped at the chapter where "Leo" gets his "new fit". (no spoilers in case anyone's brave enough to read it, but let me just say: characterization of Mikey especially is amazing and accurate as hell)

[@consume_arsenic]

@@ivyinkwell1754 the fic isn't finished yet unfortunately, so we're all just. suffering

[@imalittleweirdo]

My only question is … who is leon (lol)

[@Sprout8467]

Leon Neon, Leo’s stage name

[@imalittleweirdo]

@@Sprout8467 … oh my god im such an idiot

[@Sprout8467]

@@imalittleweirdo Nah you’re ok, I didn’t get it at first either lol

[@Dustinlove102]

❤️🧡💙💜