DVD Season Set Review: "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Fast Forward: The Day of Awakening"

Rated: TV-Y7 for fantasy violence Starring: Mike Sinterniklaas, Wayne Grayson, and Sam Riegel Year Released: 2007

Synopsis: Those infamous turtles--Michaelangelo, Donatello, Raphael, and Leonardo--have gotten zapped into the year 2105, but, as the theme song says, "The more things change, the more they stay the same!" Though new technology abounds, the villains are as cunning as ever, and only four mutant reptiles, as well as their new friend Cody and his robot servant Serling, are all that are standing in the way of the bad guys wreaking all sorts of havoc.

Story: 4.5/5
As a superhero lover, I couldn't help but "geek out" with this series.  Sure, we know the Turtles will always win, but each episode's yarn is so involving that I just had to see it through.  The only complaint in that area is that some storylines felt slightly rushed because of the singular-episode time constraint. 

Production Values: 4.9/5
This was really surprising.  After sitting through some badly made modern television cartoons, such as Codename: Kids Next Door and the original version of Star Wars: The Clone Wars, having a modern Saturday morning animated program with animation and graphics this amazing was simply flooring.  Not only that, but the action was very frenetic, even on the small screen of my iPod touch; "Turtle X-Tinction" was especially good on that front.  The voice actors all did a wonderful job, as well.  In fact, the only reason I can't give a perfect rating in this section is because the otherwise wonderful animation had a rough spot or two, which is unfortunate.

Moral Content: 4/5
As Saturday morning fare, you'd probably expect this to be kid-friendly, and it is...for the most part.  Though the "fantasy violence" mentioned in the TV rating is seen throughout every episode, there is zero blood or gore to be seen, and only one character--not a hero--actually dies.  You also won't find one bit of sexual content, and drug use is limited to seeing bad guys hanging out at bars.  However, there is a bit of bathroom humor--which young boys will probably laugh at--and, the biggest caveat, some language issues.  You won't hear any actual profanity, but hearing the Turtles use the word "shell" as an expletive--i.e., "Let's get the shell outta here!"--is rather unnecessary.  Also, some of the monsters might scare younger children; one episode that involves a baddie inflicting a virus that turns people into hideous beings could freak some kids out. On the positive side, certain episodes illustrate positive moral concepts such as loving your enemies, forgiving others, and sacrificing yourself, and Splinter, the Turtles' mutant rat leader, shared some very wise sayings.

Conclusion: Frankly, when I saw this DVD at a local yard sale, I had no idea why I was buying it; now, I believe it was divine intervention, because it has officially made a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles fan out of me.  The first episode drew me in so much that I finished the series in a mere twenty-two days, even watching it on my iPad and iPod Touch while en route to work and during my breaks to get it finished.  I've really got to find other DVD season sets of this series; my one complaint is that I was missing this amazing series this whole time.

Final Score: 4.6/5