Get unlimited access to everything VICE has to offer.

Turn off all ads on VICE.com

Exclusive New VICE Documentaries

Member Exclusive Features & Columns

Turn off all ads on VICE.com

Exclusive New VICE Documentaries

Member Exclusive Features & Columns

Turn off all ads on VICE.com

Exclusive New VICE Documentaries

Member Exclusive Features & Columns

4 Magazines Delivered to Your Door

The Bizarre Reason Britain Removed the Word ‘Ninja’ From ‘Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles’

British censors worried about violence and ninja weapons, leading to a renamed cartoon and cuts involving Michelangelo’s nunchucks.

Share on X (Opens in new window)X

Share on Facebook (Opens in new window)Facebook

Share using Native toolsShareCopied to clipboard

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles fans in the UK were no doubt confused when a big-screen adaptation of the popular animated series hit theaters back in 1990. You see, while the movie version went by the same name as the show in the U.S., British viewers called the cartoon Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles. This strange change stemmed from the British government’s strong opposition to violence in children’s programming. Around that same time, the British Home Office had also banned the sale........

© Vice