May 5, 1984: The 1st issue of the comic book Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles appears, starting a new entertainment franchise.
To me, then as now, the name sounded like somebody was picking out words at random to string together, hoping to hit on a winning formula, and it worked. Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird, each a writer and an artist, were the co-creators.
It started out as a comic book, which led to action figures, which led to a syndicated TV series in 1987 (bought by CBS in 1990, and aired on them until 1996), a video game in 1989, and the 1st movie in the franchise, in 1990.
In most versions, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are created when four baby turtles are exposed to radioactive ooze, mutating them into humanoids. They fight evil in New York City, where they reside in the sewers. As far as I know, Art Carney, who played Ed Norton on The Honeymooners, was never reached for comment.
The Turtles are named for Renaissance artists. Leonardo, the leader, is the most disciplined and skilled turtle. An expert swordsman, he wields two katana blades and wears a blue bandana. Raphael, the strongest and most quick-tempered turtle, wears a red bandana and uses a pair of sai.
Donatello uses his intellect to invent gadgets and vehicles -- making him the group's equivalent to Star Trek's Scotty, Mission: Impossible's Barney Collier, the Green Hornet's Kato, or Battle of the Planets' Tiny. He wears a purple bandana and uses a bō staff. Michelangelo is the least disciplined and most fun-loving, and is usually portrayed as the fastest and most agile. He wears an orange bandana and uses nunchucks.
The names are usually read aloud as "Leonardo, Michelangelo, Donatello and Raphael," just as The Beatles are almost always read aloud as "John, Paul, George and Ringo."
Splinter is a mutant rat who is the wise adoptive father of the Turtles and teaches them ninjutsu. In some iterations, he was once the pet rat of ninja master Hamato Yoshi; in others, he is Yoshi, mutated Yoshi. The Turtles are assisted by April O'Neil, who is variously depicted as a news reporter, lab assistant or genius computer programmer, but it otherwise a normal human woman. In most versions, she is pursued romantically by Casey Jones, a hockey mask-wearing vigilante who usually becomes an ally of the Turtles.
The Turtles' nemesis is the Shredder, a criminal mastermind in samurai-like armor, who leads the ninja clan known as the Foot Clan. His real identity is usually the ninja Oroku Saki. In most versions, the Shredder's second-in-command is Karai, a skilled martial artist; in some iterations she is the Shredder's daughter.
In some versions, the Shredder allies with Baxter Stockman, a mad scientist, and Krang, an alien warlord from Dimension X. Created for the TV series were the Shredder's buffoonish henchmen, Bebop and Rocksteady, a mutant warthog and rhinoceros, respectively.
By 2016, there had been 6 films, with the occasional reboot, and another is set for 2023. In the 1st film, in 1990, the 1st performers to play the characters were: Leonardo, David Forman in the suit and Brian Tochi providing the voice; Michelangelo, Michelan Sisti as body and Robbie Rist as voice; Donatello, Leif Tilden as body and Corey Feldman as voice; Raphael, Josh Pais as both body and voice; Splinter, Kevin Clash (also the original puppeteer of Elmo on Sesame Street) proving the puppetry and voice; April, Judith Hoag; Casey, Elias Koteas; and Shredder, body by James Saito and voice by David McCharen.
In a 2014 episode of Epic Rap Battles of History, "Artists vs. Turtles," series creators "Nice" Peter Shukoff and "Epic" Lloyd Ahlquist provided the voices of all 4 Turtles, with Lloyd wearing the suits for all 4. They met their namesakes, the Renaissance artists: Rhett & Link (Rhett McLaughlin and Charles Lincoln "Link" Neal) played Donatello di Betto Bardi and Leonardo da Vinci, respectively; while the duo Smosh, Ian Hecox and Anthony Padilla, respectively, played Michelangelo Buonarroti and Raphael Sanzio.
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May 5, 1984 was a Saturday. These Major League Baseball games were played that day:
* The New York Yankees lose to the Milwaukee Brewers, 2-1 at Milwaukee County Stadium. Dave Righetti blew a shutout for Ron Guidry in the bottom of the 9th inning, and then Curt Brown gave up a single to Robin Yount, driving Jim Gantner in with the winning run in the bottom of the 10th.
Yount was 2-for-5. Paul Molitor was injured and did not play. Dave Winfield was 0-for-5. Don Mattingly was 1-for-4 with a walk. Willie Randolph was 3-for-5.
* The New York Mets lost to the Houston Astros, 10-6 at Shea Stadium. Walt Terrell started, Ed Lynch blew a lead, and Jesse Orosco ended up as the losing pitcher. Keith Hernandez went 3-for-4 with an RBI, but the rest of the Mets got 6 hits. Future Yankee José Cruz Sr. and former Yankee Jerry Mumphrey hit home runs for the Astros.
* The Montreal Expos beat the Atlanta Braves, 2-1 at the Olympic Stadium in Montreal. Doug Flynn singled Terry Francona home with the winning run off Gene Garber in the bottom of the 10th inning, making Andy McGaffigan the winning pitcher, and ending what had been a good pitcher's duel between the Expos' Bryn Smith and the Braves' Len Barker.
* The Chicago White Sox beat the Boston Red Sox, 8-5 at Fenway Park in Boston. Richard Dotson outpitches Dennis "Oil Can" Boyd. Wade Boggs goes 2-for-4 with a walk.
* The Philadelphia Phillies beat the Cincinnati Reds, 11-2 at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia. Jerry Koosman was the winning pitcher, while Reds starter Bruce Berenyi didn't retire a batter. Mike Schmidt hit his 396th career home run.
* The Toronto Blue Jays beat the Kansas City Royals, 10-1 at Exhibition Stadium in Toronto. George Brett did not play.
* The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Los Angeles Dodgers, 8-7 at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh. Marvell Wynne singled Amos Otis home with the winning run in the bottom of the 10th inning.
* The Detroit Tigers beat the Cleveland Indians, 6-5 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium.
* The Chicago Cubs beat the San Diego Padres, 6-5 at Wrigley Field in Chicago. Ron Cey singled Ryne Sandberg home with the winning run in the bottom of the 10th inning. Tony Gwynn went 1-for-3 with 2 walks and an RBI. This turned out to be a preview of the National League Championship Series, although the Padres won that.
* The Minnesota Twins beat the Oakland Athletics, 5-4 at the Metrodome in Minneapolis. Rickey Henderson went 0-for-4 with a walk.
* The San Francisco Giants were leading the St. Louis Cardinals, 7-0 after 5 innings at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis, when the game was called due to rain. Official, it became a Giant win.
* The Baltimore Orioles beat the Texas Rangers, 7-5 at Arlington Stadium in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas. Eddie Murray went 4-for-5 with a home run and 2 RBIs. Cal Ripken went 1-for-5.
* And the California Angels beat the Seattle Mariners, 3-1 at the Kingdome in Seattle. Reggie Jackson went 1-for-4 with an RBI. Rod Carew went 3-for-5 with 2 RBIs.
There were 3 games in the United States Football League:
* The Tampa Bay Bandits beat the Jacksonville Jaguars, 31-13 at the Gator Bowl in Jacksonville, Florida.
* The Los Angeles Express beat the Pittsburgh Maulers, 20-12 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.
* And the Oakland Invaders beat the Denver Gold, 20-17 in overtime at the Oakland Coliseum.
There was 1 game in the NBA Playoffs: The New Jersey Nets beat the Milwaukee Bucks, 106-99 at the Brendan Byrne Arena at the Meadowlands.
There was 1 game in the Stanley Cup Playoffs: The New York Islanders beat the Montreal Canadiens, 4-1 at the Nassau Coliseum.
And in English soccer, the team I would eventually support, North London team Arsenal F.C., went to the Birmingham area, and beat West Bromwich Albion, 3-1 at The Hawthorns.
