The Corner Penthouse

Paramount Home Entertainment recently released the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2012): The Complete Series DVD. Read on to find out more about it...

[ SYNOPSIS ]

Emerging from their hidden lair in the sewers, teenage bros Leonardo (Jason Biggs/Seth Green), Donatello (Rob Paulsen), Michelangelo (Greg Cipes), and Raphael (Sean Astin) face off against the most dangerous baddies and the most delicious pizza in New York City! The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are martial arts masters-in-training on a mission to defeat all enemies, protect the innocent, and make it home in time to chill. With the help of powerful pals like April O'Neil (Mae Whitman), Casey Jones (Josh Peck), and Ice Cream Kitty (Kevin Eastman) - plus the expert teachings of Sensei Splinter (Hoon Lee) - it's bros vs. foes when the heroes in a half shell take on Shredder (Kevin Michael Richardson), the Kraang (Nolan North), and the Foot Clan - one awesome attack at a time!

[ EPISODES ]

The 20-disc set includes all 124 episodes of the five seasons that aired on Nickelodeon from September 28, 2012 to November 12, 2017. However, the episodes on some discs are not in the same order as originally aired. I believe that the episodes are unedited, other than the 60-second show opening being edited out of these 15 episodes on the first four discs: "Turtle Temper", "I Think His Name is Baxter Stockman", "Metalhead", "Never Say Xever", "The Gauntlet", "Mousers Attack!", "It Came from the Depths", "New Girl in Town", "The Alien Agenda", "The Pulverizer", "TCRI", "Baxter's Gambit", "Karai's Vendetta", "The Pulverizer Returns!", and "Parasitica".

This "Complete Series" set collects all 14 individual DVD releases, with the exact same discs, right down to having the same titles on the discs. (If you already own all 14 of those releases, there is nothing new for you here.)


Paramount should have re-labeled them as "Disc 1" through "Disc 20", especially since that's the way the discs are named in the episode list printed on the reverse of the case artwork.


How do they expect anyone to use this list when it doesn't match what's written on the discs? Here is a list of what disc number each disc is. Big thanks to the Nickelodeon Wiki for this helpful show videography.

Disc 01 - Rise of the Turtles
Disc 02 - Enter Shredder
Disc 03 - Ultimate Showdown, Disc 1
Disc 04 - Ultimate Showdown, Disc 2
Disc 05 - Mutagen Mayhem
Disc 06 - The Good, the Bad, and Casey Jones
Disc 07 - Showdown in Dimension X, Disc 1
Disc 08 - Showdown in Dimension X, Disc 2
Disc 09 - Retreat!
Disc 10 - Return to NYC!
Disc 11 - Revenge!, Disc 1
Disc 12 - Revenge!, Disc 2
Disc 13 - Beyond the Known Universe, Disc 1
Disc 14 - Beyond the Known Universe, Disc 2
Disc 15 - Earth's Last Stand
Disc 16 - Super Shredder, Disc 1
Disc 17 - Super Shredder, Disc 2
Disc 18 - Wanted: Bebop & Rocksteady
Disc 19 - The Final Chapters, Disc 1
Disc 20 - The Final Chapters, Disc 2

To make your life easier, you should do what I did: Grab a black Sharpie marker and neatly write "Disc 1" through "Disc 20" on the discs (under the specs on the right). It will look like this when done:


[ SPECIFICATIONS ]

The show is presented in a 1.78:1 aspect ratio in anamorphic widescreen. (The first two discs are mislabeled as "Full Screen".) The show is Not Rated. Audio languages include English on all discs, with Spanish and French on Disc 2 only. There are no subtitles on any of the discs.

[ SPECIAL FEATURES ]

All of the content listed below can be found on the stated DVD discs. "The Mutation of a Scene" feature presents one scene from that episode in a split-screen storyboard and animatic form, after which the complete scene is shown in its final form. Ideally, this feature should have been done with DVD multi-angles. Also, the "Animated Comic Books" that are found on Discs 2 & 4 seem to just be still frames, and not animated at all. Discs 13, 15, 16, 17, 19, and 20 are the only discs that don't have any special features on them.

• DISC 01 - The Mutation of a Scene - Includes "Rise of the Turtles, Part 1" (3:05), "Rise of the Turtles, Part 2" (8:17), "Turtle Temper" (8:50), "New Friend, Old Enemy" (10:27), "I Think His Name is Baxter Stockman" (9:30), and "Metalhead" (10:06). There is no Play All option.
• DISC 01 - Theme Song Karaoke Music Video (1:02) - The show opening with theme song lyrics on-screen.
• DISC 02 - Animated Comic Books: Tales from the Lair, Parts 1 & 2
• DISC 02 - The Mutation of a Scene: "New Girl in Town" (9:18) - This is the only episode on the disc to get this feature.
• DISC 03 - The Mutation of a Scene - Includes "The Pulverizer" (11:14), "TCRI" (15:02), "Cockroach Terminator" (10:40), and "Baxter's Gambit" (13:40). There is no Play All option.
• DISC 04 - Animated Comic Books: Tales from the Lair, Parts 3-6
• DISC 05 - The Mutation of a Scene (33:16) - Includes "The Mutation Situation", "Follow the Leader", "Invasion of the Squirrelanoids", "Mutagen Man Unleashed", "Mikey Gets Shellacne", and "Target: April O'Neil".
• DISC 05 - Channel 6 News Special Report: Creatures of the Night (3:10) - A local news report on all of the mysterious creatures that go bump in the night.
• DISC 06 - The Mutation of a Scene (36:57) - Includes "Slash and Destroy", "The Kraang Conspiracy", "The Good, The Bad, and Casey Jones", "Fungus Humungous", "Metalhead Rewired" and , "Of Rats and Men".
• DISC 06 - Meet Casey Jones (2:50) - The animators discuss the character.
• DISC 07 - The Mutation of a Scene (30:31) - Includes "The Manhattan Project", "Mazes & Mutants", "The Lonely Mutation of Baxter Stockman", "Newtralized!", "The Wrath of Tiger Claw", and "Pizza Face".
• DISC 08 - The Mutation of a Scene (35:28) - Includes "The Legend of the Kuro Kabuto", "Plan 10", "Vengeance is Mine", "A Chinatown Ghost Story", "Into Dimension X!", and "The Invasion".
• DISC 08 - Channel 6 Special News Report: Ooze-Gate 2014 (3:00) - A local news report on the green ooze that has been seen all around the city.
• DISC 09 - The Mutation of a Scene (34:22) - Includes "Within the Woods", "A Foot Too Big", "Buried Secrets", "The Croaking", "In Dreams", "Race with the Demon!", and "Eye of Chimera".
• DISC 10 - The Mutation of a Scene (27:26) - Includes "Vision Quest", "Return to New York", "Serpent Hunt", "The Pig and the Rhino", "Battle for New York", and "Casey Jones vs. the Underworld".
• DISC 11 - Metal Mutants Battle Royale: Season 4 Sneak Peek (7:20) - The animators discuss some of what fans can expect to see in Season 4.
• DISC 11 - The Mutation of a Scene (28:20) - Includes "The Noxious Avenger", "Clash of the Mutanimals", "Meet Mondo Gecko", "The Deadly Venom", "Turtles in Time", and "Tale of the Yokai".
• DISC 12 - The Mutation of a Scene (24:29) - Includes "Attack of the Mega Shredder!", "The Creeping Doom", "The Fourfold Trap", "Dinosaur Seen in Sewers!", "Annihilation: Earth!, Part 1", and "Annihilation: Earth!, Part 2".
• DISC 14 - TMNT: Kicking Shell and Taking Names (20:20) - The animators discuss the show and the franchise.
• DISC 18 - Ice Cream Kitty Music Video (3:51) - This is the same music video that is also seen at the end of the episode "Wanted: Bebop & Rocksteady" (on the same disc), where it was used to pad out the episode's length. Kinda pointless to include it twice on the same disc.

[ ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ]

No digital copy code voucher is included inside the thick clear multi-stacked budget case that the studios commonly use these days, which I deplore, but have made my peace with. While I may detest this case, it's certainly a much better option than 14 DVD cases. There is no slipcover.

[ NOTES ]

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2012): The Complete Series is available right now on DVD for about $30. While it would be great if the series was released on Blu-ray, this DVD set is way cheaper than buying the 14 individual releases, and the case takes up far less shelf space. The only thing somewhat related to the 2012 animated series that isn't included here is the 44-minute Half-Shell Heroes: Blast to the Past special, so you might want to buy that DVD, too.

If your Turtles collection is lacking, there are several more television shows and movies that are readily available on disc. The 1987 animated series is available on DVD in a budget case (just like this set) and a more expensive turtle van case.

The original three live-action movies (1990-1993) and the 2007 animated film have been collected in a Four Film Favorites set on Blu-ray (alt listing) and DVD (alt pkg). The Blu-ray set was also released in Pizza Box Packaging, but it's out of print, and is the same discs as the other releases.

The two theatrical live-action films with Megan Fox are available on Blu-ray in a Turtle Van Lunchbox or with a Raphael Statue. (There is no U.S. release with the two movies together without the swag.)

The complete series of the live action Next Mutation series (the one with the female turtle) can be purchased in one DVD set or split across Volume 1 and Volume 2.

The animated film Batman vs. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2019) - yes that is a thing - is available on 4K UHD, Blu-ray, and DVD.

I'm not going to link to any releases for Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2018-2020), as I can't stand that animated series. It was a poor follow-up to this 2012 series, and I don't even think it has been released "complete" on DVD. I don't know much about the 2003 4Kids animated series, other than it being released on way too many DVDs to list here.

For you old school Turtles fans, it saddens me to report that the Coming Out of Their Shells live stage show and the Making of special are still only available on VHS. I guess Shout Factory doesn't want to give us a Special Edition DVD. On a positive note, the related audio cassette is available on Amazon as Digital MP3s.

Finally, I'd be remiss if I didn't point out all of the connections between TMNT and Ghostbusters. Not only has this series made several references to Ghostbusters, but the Turtles teamed up with the Ghostbusters in an IDW comic book series: Vol. 1, Vol. 1 UK, Vol. 1 Deluxe, and Vol. 2. There was also a line of "Ninja Ghostbusters" action figures released by Playmates Toys in 2017, which featured the four turtles cosplaying as one of the Ghostbusters. The figures were released exclusively in Target, so they're out of print now and probably quite expensive on aftermarket sites.

This item has been provided by Paramount Home Entertainment for review on this site.