The cartoon series Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, which as the name suggests features four mutated ninja turtles, was first shown in the US in 1987 and became an instant TV-hit. Because of its big success, the British were soon eager to buy the series, but due to a strict “protection of minors” law, the series had to be censored there. For the most part only scenes showing Michelangelo using his nunchucks were edited or removed. Furthermore, dialogues were edited to turn the word ninja into hero. However, sometimes complete scenes are missing due to the use of that infamous word! In addition to that, sound effects were added in fighting scenes to make them sound funnier and less scary.

Comparison between the censored German version and the uncensored original US-version .
The German version of the complete Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles series is based on the censored UK-version and can therefore be used as a reference for the censorship of that version. However, it is possible that there are still minor changes between the two European versions, which are not listed here.

Both, the censored version and the original version were taken from the DVD-box released by KSM in Germany. The German version is played slightly faster, which makes it difficult to compare the two versions. Therefore, the time references might not be 100% accurate.

This episode was cut 5 additional times, which amounts to a running-time of 12,16 seconds. Furthermore, one dialogue was changed. Two cuts include fade-outs.

The Intro

The running-time of the Intros is 01:00.352 min. During the Intros many scenes were changed or edited.
A detailed comparison of those changes can be found in the censorship-report of episode 1.
For the German DVD release the title of the series was changed back to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and some images in the intro are also different. This is not really of interest here. However, if you are interested in those changes, go to our German language version of this censorship-report for more details.

Comparison of the episodes

8:22
Here, a fade-out was removed. Some frames from the previous scene were also lost.
4,16 sec.

8:45
Raphael and Michelangelo fight with Shredder‘s foot soldiers. Again the evil nunchucks are shown.
2 sec.

13:25
A shot of the Turtles from further away. Only Donatello is missing. The Turtles draw their weapons to fight Krang in his new body. However, the part in which Michelangelo uses his nunchucks is missing in the censored version. In order to bridge the original dialogue, a scene in which Leonardo and Donatella talk with each other was inserted. This scene is shown again later and doesn’t really match, since Donatello appears out of nowhere and hasn’t drawn his weapon. The alternative scene from the censored version is slightly longer.
-0,04 sec.

original version:	censored version:

14:01
The black screen before and the repeat of a scene after the commercial break are now missing. The enlarged Krang wants to crush the Turtles and lifts his leg.
4,28 sec.

21:28
In a TV-report April uses the phrase Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, which was changed into Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles in the censored version.
no time difference

21:58
After the TV-host has announced the Sci-Fi film "The brain from Dimension X", The Turtles draw their weapons in disbelief. The part where Michelangelo spins around his nunchucks was again removed. Only after he has put them away again does the censored version continue.
1,76 sec.