The 1990 film Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles was more than just a movie; for myself at least, it captures a moment in time. I still remember how excited my brother and I got when we first found out about it. There was a short clip from the film at the end of an episode of Entertainment Tonight, and we just lost it. It was already our favorite cartoon at the time, and to see it come to life blew our little minds.

We had high expectations.

Fast forward to the opening weekend. We got there early for the first show. Not early enough. We didn't anticipate just how big it was going to be, and when we got to the theater, there was literally a line of people down the street and around the corner. No exaggeration, this was likely an 800 foot line up. We waited forever to get to the door. When we were about 60 feet from the steps to the entrance, the manager came out to let everyone know that both shows had sold out.
We had to wait another week to try again. To say we were disappointed was an understatement. The next weekend, we tried again and after yet another long wait in line we finally got tickets.

It was worth the wait. It blew our expectations out of the water. It had everything we wanted and a few surprises. It was so much fun. There was humor, action, drama, danger, emotion and swearing Turtles! Okay Raphael just said "Damn" but we weren't expecting it, haha! We left that theater wanting to watch it again immediately. No movie since has quite captured the way that movie made me feel as a kid. And every time I watch it, I still feel the same way.

The movie itself was a labor of love for those involved. It was a tough shoot, and they didn't secure a distributor until the last minute. No one wanted to take a risk on it due to the disappointing box office performance of the live action Masters Of The Universe movie prior to this production. But they found a small company to distribute it. And it paid off. The Turtles had become the #1 grossing independent film of all time. A title it held until it was finally dethroned by The Blair With Project, 9 years later.

It also featured Jim Henson's most advanced animatronics and creature effects to that date, and was some of his finest, and unfortunately, final work as he passed away from pneumonia shortly after.

As you can see, I'm a bit passionate about this film. I'm passionate about cinema in general. This is why my goal is to do what I can to rally for the preservation of this film. The studio that acquired the rights to the film have let it fade away. The film still has a massive fanbase and any merchandise or related products that have been released over the years flies off the shelves and sells out almost instantly. Yet the people who have the rights to the film itself are disinterested in doing anything with it.

The 30th anniversary passed in 2020, and there was nothing at all. Instead, Judith Hoag the actress who played April O'Neil (and the best April O'Neil) was the only one to attempt to pay tribute to the beloved film and its fans. She hosted a YouTube reunion of cast and crew, including the actors, writers and director to talk about the film and even perform some in-character script readings with the cast. It was awesome to see them all reminisce.

If you've made it this far... thank you, and sorry, haha.

And now finally, to the purpose of all of this. I've initiated this petition to Warner Bros. Motion Picture Group to grant the licensing rights to Arrow Video to perform a full 4k restoration of the 1990 film and premium release, to preserve the film and hopefully some of that magic I felt as a 10 year old boy, for future generations, and to also hopefully reach into the archives and tell the rich behind the scenes story of the little film that no one believed in but that a small group of artists put everything they had into, and ended up creating a cultural phenomenon and a massive success story.

The 10 year old in me won't rest until it sees the light of day.

If you could, it would help massively if you can take a moment to sign this petition, and if possible, share it wherever you can to reach other chronologically advanced 10 year olds as well. It would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks for attending my TMNT Ted Talk and cowabunga! (IYKYK).