When the animated TV series about 4 mutaded Turtles with a ninja combat training was sold to publishers in the UK to be aired on television, the British seemed to dislike the word "ninja" - probably they didn't find it pedagogical enough. Therefore the word was taken out of the episodes as well as the title. They re-named the series to Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles. Additionally, they had to cut out any scenes that involved Michelangelo using his nunchucks (due to censorship laws).
Unfortunately, Germany (and probably also other if not all the other European countries) imported the shortened version from the UK and therefore also aired the censored version of the series.
In march 2009, NewKSM released the first Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles DVD box-set including the first 25 episodes. In May 2010 they released the second box including the following 25 episodes. The third box includes 30 episodes on 6 DVDs. Just as for the first 2 box-sets, they again decided to include the shortened versions (along with the German dubbing) as well as the original US version (in English) on the DVDs.

There's a special fact that has to be mentioned. Episodes 67 through 79 (episodes 2 trhough 14 of the 4th season) were re-titled in Germany ("Vacation in Europe) and always take place in different European countries. From a chronological point of view they included the episodes in the right order on the DVDs. However, when the episodes first aired in America, these "European" epsiodes were aired 2 years after all the other episodes of season 4.

The here compared episode is part of the so-called "Vacation in europe" season.

It's also noticeable that they cut out far less scenes than before. Michelangelo very often uses a rope or a hook (or something similar) instead of his nunchucks.


Differences that only result from changing the word "ninja" to "hero" or from cutting out minor scenes/parts of scenes that were cut out along with a black screen will not be mentioned in this report.

For this comparison, the shortened German Version (which is based on the UK cut of the episodes) was compared to the uncensored Original Version. Both of these Versions were included in the DVD Box 3 released by NewKSM.


Since the original Version runs a little faster than the original Version (due to the problem of PAL-speedup) it is a little harder to compare the exact differences in time. Therefore, it is very much possible that the time designations are not one-hundred percent accurate.


3 cuts (black screens not included) = 7.32 sec.

Thanks to NewKSM for providing us with the DVD box-set!

Time designation: UK Version/US Version

Intro:

For the UK Version of the series, the intro was lavishly re-cut. If you want to have a look at a more detailed report about the intro, have a look at the report for the very first episode of the first season of "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" on our website. Also, you should have a look at the report about episode 3 which has a more detailed description about the 2 changes that were made for the German DVD's version of the intro.


Episode:

6:14/6:14-6:18
The scene where Donatello and Michelangelo approach the alien was cut out of the UK version. Michelangelo waves his nunchuck around.
Donatello: "Back off. This one's mine."
Michelangelo: "I saw her first, dude."
4.12 sec.

7:00/7:05-7:09
At this point the US version shows a black screen.
4.36 sec.

8:35/8:44-8:45
The crowd throws fruits at the Turtles. For the UK version they cut a short shot of Michelangelo out where he parries the fruits off with his nunchucks.
1.08 sec.

14:29/14:39-14:42
At this point the US version shows a black screen.
3 sec.

19:28/19:41-19:43
Michelangelo approaches the alien. Meanwhile he waves his nunchuck around.
2.12 sec.