Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Fans Celebrate Live-Action Film's 30th Anniversary

The world of comic book movies has changed dramatically even in just the last decade. Hollywood went from regularly producing movies like Spider-Man 3 and Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer to the start of the "it's all connected" Marvel Cinematic Universe, the World of DC and its billion dollar dramatic movies like Joker, and even the outright ending of 20th Century Fox's X-Men series. Even with all of the offerings that we have now thanks to advancements in visual effects and studio interest in investing huge budgets into comic book properties, sometimes you just can't beat the original, like the first live-action Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles film which debuted in theaters thirty years ago today.

It's hard to imagine that no studio wanted to make the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie in 1990, but it's true. Disney, Columbia, Warner Bros., and Paramount (who would eventually fully acquire the brand back in 2009) all passed on the project fearing that they would make the next Masters of the Universe or Howard the Duck. They'd all be jealous when the box office returns back in early April of 1990 though as the film would go on to become the highest grossing independent movie of all time after its theatrical run. After bringing in $202 million, the film would hold that title until another earth-shaker was released: 1999's The Blair Witch Project.

With thirty years now in the rear view mirror, fans of the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie have taken to social media to pay tribute to the film while showing off how much of an impact it has had on them in the decades since. We've collected the best for you to read below!