Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is the 1990 live-action film based on the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchise. The film was followed by three sequels, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze in 1991, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III in 1993, and TMNT in 2007. This film presents the origin story of Splinter and the Turtles, the initial meeting between them, April O'Neil and Casey Jones, and their first confrontation with Shredder and his Foot Clan. The film's core plot closely follows that of the first published TMNT story, from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #1.

When the NYPD is unable to stop a severe crime wave caused by the Foot Clan, four new vigilantes, Leonardo, Michelangelo, Donatello and Raphael, will come forth to save the city. Under the leadership of Splinter and together with their new-found allies April O'Neil and Casey Jones, they will fight back and take the battle to Shredder.

The film kept very close to the dark feel of the original comics with only few elements making it in from the cartoon. The film received positive reviews, was the highest-grossing independent film of all time when it was released, a huge hit at the box office, and became the fifth highest grossing film worldwide of 1990 and the most successful film in the series.

Through contact with a mysterious substance, called Ooze, 4 little turtles in the canalization of New York mutate to giant turtles. They can speak, walk upright and love pizza. The wise rat Splinter becomes their mentor and educates them to Ninja fighters. Their arch-enemy is the bad, bad guy Shredder, who struggles to gain power over the world. Of course the ninja turtles will do everything to stop him. Written by Tom Zoerner

Four turtles and a rat are transformed into a humanized state by a mutagenetic gel in a sewer. The rat becomes their mentor, and teaches them all he knows regarding Jinjitsu. The turtles use their newfound skills to combat the crime in New York City. But when their mentor is captured by an enemy from the past, can they hold true to what they've learned, and stay together as a brotherhood? Written by Anonymous