All 90s kids across the globe look back on this franchise with nothing but love and nostalgia, we’re sure. The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles was one of the most wholesome cartoons a child could have been watching in the late eighties/early nineties. Criticized at times for its intensity, it was the perfect show, blending sci-fi and action, and the targeted demographic—eight to thirteen year old boys—exploded in adoration for the four human-like turtles named after four artists of the renaissance.

Yup: Leonardo, Michelangelo, Raphael and Donatello kung-fu’d their way into the home of billions and a ton of merchandise was sold. Yours truly also had quite a few of said merchandise adorning his room.

But what a lot of people don’t know is that this show started out as a comic book and it was where they first gained some notoriety.

The absolutely original concept was created by Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird. What’s most shocking is that this iconic comic was published independently, without any professional label supporting it. That’s absolutely incredible! After its huge success, it was reprinted and distributed by many comic book companies over the years and since 1984 … talk about big companies wanting to get in on the action.

Regardless, TMNT is indeed a product that 90s kids can call their own, but it doesn’t solely belong to them as the franchise is enjoying a reboot in today’s mainstream, but it no doubt holds a spot in the hearts of 30-something year olds everywhere.

Here are 25 memes that 90s kids would definitely “get” and appreciate.

25 If I Can't See You...

The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchise was a huge success in every sense of the term. It not only launched a successful comic book series, but a hit cartoon TV show that lasted for nine seasons … and that’s saying something for a children’s show.

It's rather a stretch to assume that, like most threadbare costuming laws of early superheroes, children wouldn't be able to spot the large humanoid amphibians running around town.

This meme pokes fun at that ridiculous trend. But again, even if the masks kept you from identifying a normal, human superhero, it was still ok. They're human, so the surprise isn't that great. But these are supersized turtles on two legs.

24 Don't Bug Me ... It's Saturday Morning!

To say that the TV medium has drastically changed over the last 15 years would be a grave understatement. With the spawning of Netflix, Satellite TV and the branching out of TV networks, kids nowadays have the world at their disposal.

But, for kids of the nineties, they had pretty much only one time and place to get their load of cartoon fun, and that was on Saturday mornings.

Picture this if you will: a household in the 90s, mom and dad are still asleep... It’s seven am and all that can be heard are the cartoonish sounds coming from the downstairs living room. As you’d walk into the living room, there’s little Timmy sitting quietly and enjoying the action of TMNT, maybe with his trusted Michelangelo doll by his side.

Ah! Brings back memories, doesn’t it?

23 PIZZA!

What’s wrong with pizza? Nothing. It’s got your four basic food groups built right into one. And anyone who knew the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles knew full well that pizza was indeed their favorite source of nourishment. And not only did they eat tons and tons of slices, but they inspired millions of kids to ask their parents to order up a pie from the nearest local place.

Now, pizza is indeed a commodity and places stay open later, but back in the day, if you wanted a slice of pizza at say … the middle of the night, you could only dream about having a succulent morsel hit the roof of your mouth, as most places closed pretty early.

Does anybody else have a serious craving for pizza now?

22 We Now Know More

Who can forget those “The More You Know” ads? They’d always pop up as you were watching your favorite shows, whether on daytime TV or primetime TV. Most of the time, they featured television’s brightest stars imparting a brief bit of knowledge to viewers everywhere, as they tried to school the viewing public on particular matters of importance.

What’s funny here is trying to image one of the Turtles trying to teach the general public the best way to deflect a grenade.

Cheesy, you say? Not to the multitude of 90s TV fans who had to sit through numerous “The More You Know” segments as they were trying to watch their favorite shows. All kidding aside, those segments always seemed genuine and informative.

21 What A Difference A Computer Makes

The children of the nineties had to make do. Let’s say that’s a pretty fair assessment. And please, we’re not trying to say that it was an era where the kids missed out on anything, because it wasn’t. But if we look back on the films that children were subjected to watch back in the days where torn jeans and plaid shirts tied around the waist was pretty much a uniform, they had to put up with a decent amount of cheap effects.

So when the successful cartoon franchise branched out into feature film, the cartoon characters they’d gotten used to looked entirely different.

Not to say we’re not fans of the film, because we are, but the suits looked like just that … suits. CGI animation sure has brought special effects a long way.

20 Spring Has Sprung

We must not forget the one and only lady in all of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and that's the lovely April O'Neil. She always stood by the turtles and gave the audience the opportunity for plenty of laughs.

This meme likes to remind us that flowers aren't the only nice thing about the 4th month of the year.

This cosplayer, although unknown has taken the necessary steps to ensure we all recognize the hard-nosed reporter from TMNT. We can certainly see why the boys liked to keep her around!

19 A Lasting Impression

Of course every generation will scorn the next and be left with a want to defend their own. This is the inevitable case for fans of music and film. So when speaking about an era in terms of pride and nostalgia, the 90s most definitely have their place.

The 70s were a rich period in history for that period’s own valid reasons and the same can indeed be said about the 80s, but the 90s cannot be excluded from that list, as so many political, cultural and iconic movements found their birth in that era and time.

Today, the 90s are looked back upon as the era that bread fantastic rock music from Seattle, great film stars who found their place in the world and … last but not least, the Turtles.

18 Night And Day

First of all, we’ve gotta say that computers and the technological advancements made so far in this century are indeed awesome and have helped the world in so many ways.

What we can say, as always, is that society has indeed lost the ability to find a balance with both the technological world and the world of the past.

Children of the nineties can remember passing a multitude of hours playing with toys, or even going to play outside. Today, such a large portion of our youth is nose diving into cell phones, either texting or chatting with friends. That’s of course fine, but whatever happened to toys like The Turtles pictured? Will they forever be forlorn and left to collect dust at the back of the shelf?

17 Feldman

Name a movie from the 80s that didn’t have Corey Feldman in it. It’s hard, isn’t it? The Burbs, Gremlins, Stand By Me, Lost Boys, The Goonies, License To Drive and the list goes on. He and Cory Haim found success in that era of film and justifiably so. They both took part in some huge productions that have stood the test of time and become classics.

Yet, as can occur with most stars who find success at such a young age, that success may dwindle. Such was the case for Feldman, but fans of the TMNT franchise no doubt recognized him as the voice of Donatello in the feature TMNT films released in the 90s. His raspy, surfer-like voice was unmistakable in the film and it was refreshing to hear him through his hilarious voice over as the action unfolded.

16  Getting Used To An Ever-changing World

It’s safe to assume that every generation has had to go through changes and has had to adapt to those changes accordingly. The world has indeed come a long way since 1989 and if you doubt us, just think back to the first time you got a touch screen phone and didn’t know how the heck to use it … don’t lie.

It must have been equally difficult for the generations before us, so to them, our hearts can go out.

Getting used to the multitude of drastic changes we’ve seen over the years can be difficult for some, and that’s really understandable. Just think … every now and again, a flip phone can still be seen in and around your world and with that image should come the thought of how far we’ve actually come.

15 Super ... Nash!?

Well, we’re sure that most of you figured it out, and if there are indeed any WWE fans out there, especially from the 90s, it was no secret that Kevin Nash played Super Shredder in the 90s live action films.

Kevin Nash, a professional wrestler who got his start in pro wrestling in WCW, but made a name for himself in WWE as Diesel has indeed had an illustrious career both in the ring and in feature films. In 1996, he returned to WCW and started one of the greatest factions to rock the wrestling world in the form of the NWO. His iconic status in wrestling only pushes him further into the echelon of wrestlers who indeed made a difference in the sport.

He also played The Russian in The Punisher.

14 An Era Full of Character

The 90s were definitely full of character and exciting departures from what earlier generations had gotten used to. The music had drastically changed as had the films and products and we won’t even get started on the fashion sense of people everywhere.

And to say that music influenced film and TV would be yet another glaring understatement.

As far as music was concerned, the 90s were saturated with a multitude of bands and acts that were just trying to find a fresh idea that hadn’t been done yet and the world sure got a lot of bands that premiered trends and styles that have today become iconic.

But can anyone remember The New Kids on The Block and how huge they actually were. At the height of their popularity, they were definitely as big as the king of pop himself and that’s saying something.

13 Surfing The Net

Channel surfing was big in the 90s. Often times, cable TV provided the viewer with a bunch of channels, but what many of you will most certainly remember is that sometimes … there wasn’t a heck of a lot on, leading the TV viewer to flip through channels, resting in between for maybe a few seconds before moving onto the next, repeating the whole process.

These days, people surf the net and the process is indeed a lot faster and a tad more interesting, having the world at your disposal, the sky is the limit. TV has changed and has become similar to the internet experience as well nowadays, but think back to those lazy Sundays if you will …

Chanel 1, 2, 3, 4 … then back again.

12 Favorite Drink

All-Sport was all the rage in the nineties, as were a lot of other sports drinks. Gatorade has predominantly taken that market, but in the nineties, people couldn’t avoid coming across the carbonated sports drinks at their local 7/11s.

These days, the All-Sport market is considerably smaller as are many products that dominated the scene in the 90s. This is because society moves on from the old to bigger and better things. Gatorade moved on with the times, adapting to the changes made in society and its needs, as they always have. All-Sport was unable to make the necessary changes as can be seen in their sales.

Products also lose steam for any other number of reasons, including the simple fact that no matter how popular it is for a time, consumers eventually get tired of particular brands.

11 A Lost Language

The way we speak defines us. In fact it has the power to define generations, as it most certainly has in the past. Today, people have a particular way of expressing themselves, and in the past, it was no different. The generation a particular person comes from can be pinpointed by simply listening to their vernacular.

These days, it seems perfectly normal, but if the words or expressions, “gnarly,” or “grindage,” or “cool” as opposed to “awesome,” then it’s safe to assume that we’re dealing with a person bred in the 90s.

The 90s vernacular as it was, was pretty much based on the surfer way of speaking. That’s not to say everybody and their cousin was a “Gremmie” per say, but the words used in that era definitely had a lot in common with the surfer lifestyle.

Cool?

10 Good Old Casey Jones

The viewers of 90s film and television are most definitely nostalgic for simpler times, as we’ve read and will continue to read in this article, therefore the stars that acted in our most favorite films and shows indeed hold a special place in our hearts.

In the live action Ninja Turtles films that were released back then, the only actors we can remember can be counted on one hand, and Elias Koteas was one of them. Born in Montreal, Quebec, Koteas is no stranger to film and some epic roles.

In his early days, people called him the next De Niro and he has definitely amassed a number of film credits worth bragging about. He acts with a deep conviction, as can be seen in his multitude of roles. Some credits include Collateral Damage with Arnold Schwarzenegger and Fallen with Denzel Washington and John Goodman.

9 An Eternal Fanbase

The Turtles would have found the future totally radical, we’re sure. Can you picture them in 2018, surrounded by constant Avengers merchandise? Wait... That's not right!

The Hulk may be green, but he's certainly not part of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. This meme is poking fun at the clearly confused merchandising team over at TMNT headquarters.

If y'all wanted better brand recognition and a stronger 2010s presence, y'all shouldn't have gone with Michael Bay - EYYYYY.

8 Live Action

Despite a lot of people claiming that the TMNT film franchise from the 90s was “cheesy” it sure made a lot of green when it came to the box office!

Of course in retrospect, people will say anything, but the franchise spawned sequel after sequel and three reboots that also did very well.

The films that were released in 1990, 1991 and 1993 respectively were actually very solid films and can hold their own amongst any film of the era. If looked back upon now, all these years later, it can clearly be seen that they were original and different from a lot of films back then. Besides, it was a way to see the Turtles in live action and what could seem better to a 90s kid?

7 Popular Campaigns

Once again, to all you wonderful children of the 90s … can you remember the “Got Milk?” campaign? Of course you can. They would often show famous celebrities donning the famous milk mustache, holding milk and the ever famous question “Got Milk” would be present in bold print. These ads often either ran on TV, but also in famous magazines from that time. It was indeed a successful ad campaign, but before it came the slogan: “Milk does a body good.”

You 90s dudes and dudettes will most certainly remember as the slogan made its way into the mainstream pretty easily and kids were saying it to each other when they saw a rather good looking person. You know it’s true … remember when you hadn’t seen old Sally Jensen from down the street in a whole summer, and when she came back from that family vacation in Wisconsin, what did you tell your buddy Charlie when you saw her walking up the street? That’s right!

Original art by Nicollini.

6 Quirky Characteristics

The Turtles were definitely given their quirky characteristics and telling qualities when they were created, and no doubt acquired many more new interesting features as their characters developed further and their stories unfolded on the screen and on the page.

Hence, their penchant for pizza and their individual characters became a way for fans and viewers to identify with them and relate to them in many ways. Example … which kid hates pizza? Probably not one. That’s like asking who hates, who hates money.

The Turtles each had their own strengths and weaknesses which was very interesting to see. Leonardo was the leader, Donatello was the brains of the operation, Michelangelo was the comic relief and the brooding Raphael was the one with the temper.