The World Trade Center as the TMNT Saw It

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Ten years ago today, the skyline of New York City changed forever. As the Turtles have always called New York home, that lost skyline was often seen throughout all the mediums in which TMNT stories have been told. To reflect on the time before September 11, 2001, here's a look at some of the reminders we are left with of the World Trade Center, as seen through the eyes of a TMNT fan.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1990)

The Twin Towers silently established the location of all three live-action TMNT movies.

TMNT 2: The Secret of the Ooze (1991)

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 3 (1993)

In the original TMNT cartoon, the Towers were seen several times as part of the background. Sometimes, the resemblance was unmistakable.

"Enter: The Fly"

"Enter: The Fly"

However, due to the nature of cartoons, sometimes the resemblance was a little more abstract. But there is no question as to what these unnamed buildings are intended to represent.

"Sky Turtles"

"Sky Turtles"

The episode "The Big Blow Out" featured the World Trade Center as a focal point of the plot. Shredder and Krang used the towers to project a giant dimensional portal into the sky, into which the Technodrome was eventually pulled.

"The Big Blow Out"

"The Big Blow Out"

"The Big Blow Out"

"The Big Blow Out"

Ninja Turtles: The Next Mutation used a lot of different familiar New York sights as establishing shots, the World Trade Center buildings among them.

Ninja Turtles: The Next Mutation

Ninja Turtles: The Next Mutation

The Towers also had many appearances in the various TMNT comic book series. The next image was used as the inside cover for all three parts of the "Return to New York" storyline from the original TMNT comic book from Mirage Studios.

"Return to New York" - TMNT Vol. 1, #19-21

In 1992, this next eerie image was the title page used in the first issue of the 13-issue story arc, titled "City At War."

"City At War" - TMNT Vol. 1, #50

And in the Archie and Image comics series.

TMNT Adventures, #9

TMNT Vol. 3, #11

Later in the TMNT Adventures series from Archie comics, we were introduced to a New York City 100 years in the future. The city was decrepit, the streets had become rivers, and there really wasn't much good to be found in it. But, in some ways, this New York was more optimistic than reality would turn out to be. The Twin Towers still stood proud and tall.

TMNT Adventures, #62

Somewhat surreally, despite the show starting in 2003, the World Trade Center appeared in the 4Kids TMNT cartoon series. When this episode first aired, I was somewhat upset with this shot because it was just a lie. But the 4Kids studio was in New York, and I can't imagine this was an accident. Perhaps it was a show of defiance against what was taken from the city by some of the people most directly affected by that day.

"Darkness on the Edge of Town"

102 Minutes That Changed America is a documentary film by the History Channel that I highly recommend watching, as it shows the events of September 11, 2001, in real time through the eyes of witnesses who, by chance, had a video camera with them that day. Among the people interviewed, and whose video is used, is Sam Riegel, the voice of Donatello in the 4Kids TMNT cartoon.

Illustration by Michael Dooney, 2010