Trivia Facts (IMDb)

Robin Williams was a big fan of Ninja Turtles.  He provided Judith Hoag information about her character as April by showing her his comic book collection.

The movie made $135 million nationally; another $65 million in foreign markets, making this the most grossed independent movie until the Blaire Witch Project took that spot in 1999.

There were ideas early on about the movie being live-action with the 1987 animated version of the Turtles interacting with live characters, just like in Who Framed Roger Rabbit.  Instead, the final idea was to pursue fighting performances in turtle costumes, created by the Jim Henson Creature Shop.

The actors who played as the Turtles in their costumes also had cameo roles throughout the movie:

• Josh Pais, who plays Raphael, also plays as cab passenger going to the airport.
• Michelan Sisti, who plays Michelangelo, also is the pizza delivery guy.
• Leif Tilden, who plays Donatello, also is the Foot messenger that meets and slaps April in the subway.
• David Forman, who plays Leonardo, is also the gang fighter who wears red boxing gloves and spars with Tatsu in the Foot warehouse. 

To help disguise how cumbersome on how slow the Turtle characters, in costume, how slow they are, the movie was shot at 23 frames per second during dialogue and edited to be at 24 frames per second.  The fight scenes were shot at 22 frames per second.

The hideout of Shredder and his Foot Clan was actually a cement factory called the Ideal Cement Factory, which was abandoned and located in Castle Hayne, North Carolina.

In early scripts and the novel version of the movie, the teenage Foot Soldier boy who gets beaten up by Master Tatsu after the battle at April's apartment was to die, which is in the French version of the movie.  The sounds of the boy breathing and another guy saying he'll be alright was included because of objections to the idea of the boy being killed.

The stuntman's, who plays Raphael when Casey Jones knocks him into a trashcan, nose broke and was replaced by a Foot Soldier stuntman named Kenn Scott. 

Josh Pais, who plays Raphael's voice and character, it was his idea to him a Brooklyn accent.

This was Jim Henson's last theatrical involvement before his death a month after the movie's release.  In the sequel, The Secret Of The Ooze, there's a dedication in the opening to Jim Henson.

According to actor Josh Pais, on a podcast called I Was There Too, director Steve Barron was fired near the end of production as the producers thought the film would become too dark. It is uncertain how different the film would have been if he had final cut. However, fans are still curious about what the differences would've been.

Corey Feldman, who voiced Donatello, said he was only offered $1,500 for the voice role.  Corey accepted, believing the producers who told him that this was only a small low-budget independent film, hoping that it would have moderate success on VHS, if they were lucky. The movie ended up making millions of dollars at the box office.

Josh Pais is the only of the Turtles actors to play both the costume and voice of the Turtle as Raphael; the other actors either played the costume or voice of the other three Turtles, but not both.

Jim Henson was upset that his costumes were in a movie with the level of violence it had.  Even though he was alright about helping out with the project, he still stated that the violence was not his style, pointless and excessive.  

Judith Hoag didn't reprise her role as April O'Neil in the sequels because she didn't like the six-day shooting schedule and the level of violence in the movie.  April will be performed by Paige Turco in the next two sequels.

The movie takes place in New York City, but mostly filmed in North Carolina, however with some famous New York City landmarks.

The movie portrays Hamato Yoshi as Splinter's master/owner and Splinter learnt his ninja skills through observing and mimicking him. This is true to the original TMNT comics, but was the first time this version of Splinter's origin was seen. In Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1987), which was the first ever adaptation of TMNT, Master Splinter IS Hamato Yoshi and became a rat after being exposed to mutagen.

Originally, when Raphael exits the movie theater, he was going to say "Cool car, stupid costume."  This is a reference to the Batman movie was in theaters at the time of this movie's production.

Originally, Steve Barron wished to replicate April O'Neil's jumpsuit look from the early Mirage comics and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1987) cartoon. The look was going to more closely resemble the cartoon with a yellow colored jumpsuit and a big head of red hair (as opposed to a green jumpsuit and brown hair). However, Judith Hoag found the jumpsuit "horrifying" and the idea was nixed. The yellow raincoat April wears in the beginning of the movie is an homage to the yellow jumpsuit she wears in the 1987 cartoon.

When getting this movie started, Mark Friedman knew it would have to offer a significantly different experience from the Fred Wolf produced animated TV show. Therefore, an effort was made to make this movie stay as close as possible to the vision co-creators Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird presented in their original comic book series.

Pizza Hut engaged in a $20 million marketing campaign tied into the film (despite that Domino's Pizza was used as product placement in the film). Items included advertising in print, radio and television, and several rebate coupons. Pizza Hut also sold a music album of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles' debut album, Coming Out of Our Shells, featuring songs by the Turtles, Splinter, and April O'Neil.

Actor and martial artist Ernie Reyes Jr. was brought in to replace an injured Hong Kong stuntman who had initially performed Donatello's stunts. Reyes said the suit got so hot during filming, that he had to drink a gallon of water a day just to keep hydrated.

The motors that were built into each Turtle head to create facial expressions were packed very tightly into it and very uncomfortable for the performers in the suit. Josh Pais has described the noise 'like being in Grand Central Station at rush hour with a tin can over your head'.

Because the interior scenes in Wilmington were shot close to a nearby airport, this presented problems to the turtle performers' radio controlled animatronic heads would receive signals from the control tower, causing their facial expressions to go into involuntary spasms.

Toward the end of the movie, one of the street punks tells the police chief to "Check out the East Warehouse over on Lairdman Island." The creators of the Ninja Turtles were Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird.

Brian Tochi (the voice of Leonardo) and Robbie Rist (the voice of Michelangelo) are the only actors who appeared in all three live-action Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movies.

The Turtles themselves were created by Jim Henson's Creature Shop in London. Jim Henson said that the creatures were the most advanced that he had ever worked with. The creatures were first made out of fiberglass, and then remolded out of clay. They were produced as molds to cast the whole body in foam rubber latex. The work at the Shop was completed within 18 weeks.

All three newswomen seen or mentioned in the film are named after a month: April, May, and June.

The script is based mainly on the early Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comics, including the stories of the turtles' origins, rooftop battle, sojourn to the farmhouse, and battle with Shredder. Elements were taken from the 1980s animated series, such as the Turtles' colored bandanas and love of pizza, elements of Michelangelo's character, and April O'Neil as a television reporter instead of a lab assistant.

All of the shirts that Danny wears in the film have a picture of Sex Pistols bassist Sid Vicious on them.

The Foot Clan is a parody of the Hand, a clan of ninjas from the Daredevil comics from Marvel.

It took three puppeteers to operate the Splinter puppet. Kevin Clash performs the puppet while the facial expressions are remote controlled by another puppeteer and the arms are controlled by the puppeteer who works along with Kevin during the performances of the puppet.

In the original trailer, there is a shot of the turtles rising up from what looks like a swamp. The shot was cut from the final release but is part of a longer scene that was later used near the end of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze (1991).

According to the audio commentary on the German version of the DVD the movie was originally planned to be made and released in the mid-1980s, before the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1987) cartoon was on the air. The movie was intended to be a direct comic book adaption.

In the Foot Warehouse, the boxes in the foreground near the skate half-pipe read Mirage. This is a reference to Mirage Comics, the comic book company that originally published Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird's "Ninja Turtles" comic.

In the comics and the cartoons, the turtles are around 4 feet tall. However, for obvious costuming reasons, the turtles are the same height as the human characters.

Josh Pais, who plays Raphael, suffers from claustrophobia; so after filming Raphael's scenes, he would have to take the helmet off very quickly.

The original opening of the film contained the turtles' giant shells mysteriously emerging from the river at night, before engaging on a long, complicated tracking shot through the city. Budget constraints caused this to be replaced by the scenes of the Foot gang committing acts of theft during daylight. The shells emerging from water shot did make it briefly into the trailer. Similarly, the scene in which the turtles attack the teens mugging April with the light being knocked out was a result of the production not having the time to choreograph another fight sequence.

For the flashback of the turtles growing up, Steve Barron was going for a retro look and decided these scenes would be shot on Super 8 film. Because these scenes used real turtles as well as a mini puppet young Splinter and young Turtles, they were time consuming scenes and were given to the second unit under second unit director Brian Henson.

Director Steve Barron and head puppeteer Brian Henson both admitted the film would not be made today because the Ninja Turtle suits and masks were so hot for the performers and stuntmen to wear, even in sets involving flames that burn gel was applied all over the suits.

In the beginning sewer scene, a Domino's Noid toy can be seen in the water.

The movie's budget was just over 13 million. To produce a special effects blockbuster, the studio had to spend money carefully. Unexpected help from the state of North Carolina who offered to help with work permits to drum up business for the bankrupt Dino De Laurentis studios in Wilmington, North Carolina which had been taken over by the state. Establishing shots of iconic elements like the New York City skyline and its subway systems were filmed on location in New York City, as they couldn't easily replicated on a North Carolina soundstage.

Much of the production took place in North Carolina, with a couple of location shoots in New York City during the summer of 1989 to capture famous landmark areas, such as Times Square, the Empire State Building, and the Hudson River. Filming in North Carolina took place at the North Carolina Film Studios, where New York rooftop sets were created. Production designer Roy Forge Smith and his art director, Gary Wissner, went to New York City four months prior to filming and took still photographs of rooftops and other various locations. While in NYC, Smith and Wissner were allowed to explore an abandoned Brooklyn subway line, as they could not gain access to a city sewer, but the structure of the subway had the same principle as a sewer. They also went to a water tunnel which had large pipes running through it.

In the UK and Ireland, due to legacy issues with earlier depictions of Ninjas and Martial Arts, the 1987 television animation series, which was being shown in children's programming, was re-packaged as "Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles". With episodes edited, title graphics changed, and the theme song lyrics revised to replace 'Ninja' with 'Hero', the merchandise and all related products were amended accordingly also. Though the UK version of this film went through edits and cropping (particularly in the use of nunchakus), it was nonetheless released in cinemas and on home video with the 'Ninja' title intact, possibly to differentiate between the film and cartoon, and to emphasize its darker tone and PG rating.

The film's budget was $13.5 million.

There are also numerous deleted scenes (mostly on the farm) that give the four turtles much more character development, expanding on April and Casey's romance, and would put later scenes into a different context:

• Casey Jones would have been introduced much earlier, watching the news report of the crimewave before getting his hockey mask.
• The sticker book for the movie features scenes that were cut - Raphael's fight with Casey leading into an alley and April leaving the burning apartment followed by Leonardo carrying Raphael.
• Shredder sparring with the Foot Clan and mopping the floor with them without even standing up. This is especially notable as this is an actual ninja tactic called fudoza, or immovable seat, and he used actual ninja techniques for the scene.
• April and Casey's reaction to Mikey's "turtle wax" joke was originally one of relief after he goes through a severe depression where he destroys a punching bag and part of the barn's wall.
• An extended training sequence where Leonardo proves a point by turning his mask around and fighting blind followed by the other Turtles taking turns doing the same. The scene rather famously has Donatello sporting a straw hat.
• Various scenes of the Turtles training on their own or in pairs trying to master the technique Leonardo shows them earlier.
• Some of the April and Casey scenes involve him trying to help her with a stuck truck door while she declines and exits on the driver's side. Another leads into the scene of the two of them talking on the porch swing where the night before she shows him her drawings the Turtles but tries to hide the one she did of him in a beanie, they both share a laugh over it.
• A game of "ninja hot potato" where the Turtles toss around an apple and the holder has to defend against the other three while taking a bite out of it. It makes the later scene where Raphael finishes off an apple after defeating a squad of Foot ninjas a call back.
• Had director Steve Barron and editor Sally Menke had their way, the film would've adapted the original comics' origin story that featured Oroku Nagi verbatim. This plot line found its way into the novelization and comic adaptation of the film, giving them the distinction of being the only TMNT adaptations that adapt the original origin story word-for-word.

Filming began in July 1989.  Two months were allocated for filming and the production came together much faster than a typical Jim Henson project.

In the scene where we first visit the foot soldier hideout one of the kids is smoking a cigar and playing billiards in the same angle and fashion as the children on Pleasure Island from the Disney animated film Pinocchio.

In the movie Michelangelo hates anchovies on a pizza, but he likes them in the 1987 cartoon.

This movie was distributed by New Line Cinema, while the animated movie TMNT (2007) was distributed by Warner Bros.; New Line's future owner.

Produced with no studio backing, then shopped around to various distributors. One studio that rejected the film was Paramount, who would end up distributing the 2014 and 2016 films after Viacom, which bought the studio in 1994, bought the rights to the franchise through Nickelodeon in 2009.

Actresses, Jennifer Beals, Marisa Tomei, Sandra Bullock, Nicole Kidman, Melanie Griffith, Sean Young, Lorraine Bracco, Winona Ryder, & Brooke Shields were all considered for the role of April O'Neil.  The part was given to Judith Hoag.

This is the first time that the Turtles use their shorten names, being Leo for Leonardo, Donny for Donatello, Raph for Raphael, and Mikey for Michelangelo, which they generally refer to themselves in Every Incarnation but the Original Comics and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1987).

About at the 57 minute mark, there is a box labeled "Archie Comics" visible in the Foot's warehouse. The company published Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comics in the 1980s and 1990s.

Mark Freedman strongly felt that a theatrical release for the Turtles was necessary if the property was to maintain its popularity.

Michelangelo speaks only once during the entire farmhouse sequence, when the turtles are meditating together. This is because, in the original script, Michelangelo was supposed to go through a marked change in character due to Splinter's abduction, becoming less of a wisecracking comic relief and more vengeful and dark. This character arc was dropped after the filmmakers felt that the farmhouse sequence was dragging on too long, but evidence of it can still be seen in the final cut of the film. For instance, when one of the turtles is on top of the barn shouting Splinter's name, it's clear to see that he's holding Michelangelo's nun chucks instead of Raphael's sai.

Danny Pennington's Sid Vicious t-shirt was added at the advisory of director Steve Barron who wanted the film to have a punk rock soundtrack. The producers wanted something a bit more commercially friendly, which is why we got a soundtrack that included M.C. Hammer and songs like "Turtle Power."

Actors, Johnny Depp, Keanu Reeves, Christian Slater, Lou Diamond Phillips, Emilio Estevez, Kiefer Sutherland, Jason Patric, Brian Austin Green, Alex Winter, Gary Daniels, & River Phoenix were considered for the role of Casey Jones.  The role went to Elias Koteas.

At one of the first story meetings, director Steve Barron had met with Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird to go through the comics. Barron told them "the movie's right there" to which the co-creators approved. Todd Langen was hired to write the final script.

The movie's title logo, seen in the sewer on pause, is the same title logo used in the 1987 animated TV show.

Casey never once addressed April or the Turtles by their names through out the movie.

With the exclusion of Josh Pais, all the actors who voiced the Turtles in this film later voiced characters in TMNT shows.

• Brian Tochi (Leonardo) would appear in an 1993 episode of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1987).
• Robbie Rist (Michelangelo) would play Mondo Gecko in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2012).
• and Corey Feldman (Donatello) would play Slash in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2012).

When April is kissing Casey, Donny yells, "9.95!" The song '9.95' by Spunkadelic plays in the film's credits.

In the movie, April is a reporter for Channel 3, but Channel 6 in the 1987 animated show.

Live Entertainment Inc. announced that the film would go to VHS via its Family Home Entertainment label, at the time the home video distributor of the 1987 cartoon, on October 4, 1990. The suggested price was $24.99 per cassette.

Professor Toru Tanaka was originally considered for the role of Master Tatsu before Toshishiro Obata got the part.

One of the writers, Bobby Herbeck, wrote Casey Jones to have a cricket bat after attending a Cricket game with director Steve Barron. The cricket bat was not in the original Raphael #1 comic.

After design sketches were created, the construction team used the studios' backlot to create some of the sets. There were problems with the manholes that led to the turtles' home, in that an eight-foot square room had to be constructed beneath them, but found water at about five-feet, and thus had to pour concrete into the underground rooms to keep the water out. In order to make the sewer authentic, a tide-mark was given, and it was covered with brick, plaster and stucco paint to give the walls a realistic look.

Each of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle's weapons reflect what Splinter thinks is their greatest weakness:

• Leonardo is the ethical and heroic of the turtles. He wields katanas, the only bladed weapon of the four and the most lethal by default. This is to teach him that ultimately, despite his ideals, he may be forced to take lives to protect people and must never fight battles needlessly.
• Donatello is the most intelligent and tech-savvy of the turtles. He wields a bo, a simple wooden staff. This is to teach him creativity and making do with what he has.
• Raphael is the most hot-headed and violent of the turtles. He wields sais, a traditionally defensive weapon used in peace-keeping. This is to teach him patience and discipline.
• Michelangelo is the most scatter-brained and playful of the turtles. He wields nunchaku, a weapon infamous for it's complexity and ease of injuring the user. This is to teach him focus and not to take combat lightly.

The character of Danny Pennington and Charles Pennington only appears in this movie. He is never seen again or heard from in any other variant of the Ninja Turtles history.

Partners In Kryme, the rap duo responsible for the song, "Turtle Power", knew absolutely nothing about the TMNT franchise, when they were approached by studio executives to create the finale song, therefore they were given full copies of the final movie script, and wrote, produced and recorded their first demo of the song in one weekend, with the final release of the track reaching #2, on the Eurochart Hot 100, and #2 on the US Billboard Rap Charts, and reaching #1 in the UK Singles Chart.

Baxter Stockman was originally one of the side villains in early drafts back in the mid-80s.

The Partners in Kryme song "T-U-R-T-L-E Power" contained a mistake.  Part of the song is "make up the team with one other, Raphael.  He's the leader of the group."  Leonardo has always been known to be the leader of the Turtles.

Early in the film, Raphael is seen exiting a movie theater showing Critters on the marquee. Critters and this film were both produced by New Line Cinema.

Benny Urquidez & Richard Norton were considered for the role of Casey Jones & were also considered to do fight choreography for the movie as well.

Nowhere in this movie or its sequels is mentioned the word "mutagen", it's referred to as a strange glowing green ooze. Even though mutagen is a word used to describe why the turtles are mutants.  The word is used a lot in the 1987 TV series.

Jeff Imada, James Lew & Kam Yuen were considered for fight choreography on this film.

Elias Koteas (Casey Jones) shares a birthday with Rob Paulsen who did the voice of Raphael in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1987) cartoon.  March 11th.

In the original ending, after the Turtles have defeated The Shredder and they are celebrating on the rooftop, a scene was to follow where April and Danny go to a comic book publisher to pitch an idea of walking talking turtles. The publisher rejects the idea, thinking the idea is too far fetched, all the while unknown to him the Turtles are watching through the building window. Michelangelo seems to fall, but it's revealed he's hanging on the ledge, commenting on what he just heard. The clip can be seen online, featuring the voices of the on set performers for the Turtles, before their voices were dubbed for the final cut. This ending was retained in the comic book adaptation of the film.

The old farmhouse that April, Casey, and the Turtles hideout in (after the fire in the antique store) is really located in Northampton, Massachusetts, which is the city, where Kevin Laird and Peter Eastman actually met, who are the creators of the "Turtles" franchise.

Raphael was given a quick-tempered, foul-mouthed personality that would often conflict with Leonardo. It was later used in other adaptations of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle comics. In the original animated series he was given the personality of "Cool but rude."