When a person thinks about an action movie about teen brothers trying to rid their city of an evil group of ninjas, puppets and prosthetics are probably the last things that come to mind. Now add in the fact that these brothers are also genetically mutated humanoid turtles and the idea becomes even stranger. While the concept behind The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is undeniably strange, it's also totally fun in all of its many iterations. This series has seen many comics, video games, animated series, and even feature films since its inception. Standing tall among them to this day are the original live-action films.

What exactly makes the live-action films such a blast? There are many reasons, but ultimately it's a combination of these factors that makes these films so memorable. It's also important to note that these films stand the test of time that subsequent films in the franchise likely will never be able to fully match, especially on a longer timeline. This is a look at the original live-action trilogy of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle movies, from a closer look at their practical effects, action, as well as their pitch-perfect humor. So hold the anchovies- here's what makes these films their own slices of bodacious pizza.

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There's a reason that movies that utilize Jim Henson's puppets have stood the test of time. What the puppets lack in realism, they make up for with personality in spades. Take for example movies like Labyrinth, in which the legendary David Bowie dances and sings along with Henson's puppets, enchanting audiences to bop their heads and sing along all these years later. Or, in a more obvious way, The Muppets. Kermit and friends have continued to be brought back in one way or another over the years, and usually they are brought back in their original puppet form.

The puppets in the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles follow this trend, adding a level of humor and cartoonish expressiveness in a way that CGI iterations of the turtles have not been able to recapture since. The puppets also contribute to the standout practical effects of these original films.

In addition to the puppets and costumes of the original films, Ninja Turtles, one aspect that has held up is their excellently choreographed fight sequences. While the more recent films released and produced by Michael Bay that featured the heroes in the half shell opted for CGI fighting and effects in almost all aspects, the originals gave the world raw, realistic fights. The Michael Bay turtles tried to keep the audience's attention by constantly switching their location, throwing them into situations like having to fight while also sliding down a snowy mountain. Bay also basically turned Shredder into a Transformer, with a suit full of gyrating metal parts.

The original films doubled down on the ninja part of these characters, pitting them against actual ninjas from the Foot Clan and having them actually use martial arts. There's also the gritty setting of the city that adds to the intensity of these scenes. Whether the turtles are pitted against the Foot Clan within their hideout or battling against them on rooftops in broad daylight, the fights feel raw and dangerous. This helps to accentuate the need that the turtles have of each other, as they are often outnumbered and rely on teamwork in the original films, with instances like Raphael going off on his own leading to trouble. While the films certainly have intense action and darker, more violent moments, they also make sure to contrast these with plenty of humor and heart.

One of the things that viewers may find surprising upon revisiting the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is how many laughs they elicit. The first movie is especially funny, with moments like the turtles dancing to 'Tequila,' to doing impressions of Scarface and Humphrey Bogart. In addition to sometimes being gut-bustlingly good, the humor is also pitch-perfect.

For a better understanding of how perfectly this humor captures the turtles and their personalities, one need only look back to the point in the first film when Michelangelo is ordering a pizza and hassling the person taking his order on the phone, stating, "Oh, and I want no anchovies. And I mean, no anchovies. You put anchovies on this thing and you're in big trouble, okay?!" The combination of attitude, sarcasm, and childish glee is on full display here. When the pizza man arrives, he has to deliver the pizza by turning it sideways and sliding it down a storm drain. He's understandably quite confused, and also doesn't get as high of a tip for being late with the delivery.

There's also a better dynamic between the turtles and their friends. These relationships are played up for humor as well. The turtles respect master Splinter but are constantly testing his patience with their adolescent attitudes. They have a great partnership with April O'Neill but bewilder her due to the oddity of their existence mixed with their incredibly friendly attitudes. Casey Jones and Raph get off to a rough start but eventually form a believably funny relationship due to their rivalry and bro-like quips. Everything has an endearing quality to it that makes it feel like funny moments between friends, and that's exactly what these films are; friends that deserve to be revisited all these years later.

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