Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1990 film)
The turtles weren't cartoons anymore — they were full-scale animatronic suits in a 1990 film that upended what kids thought they knew. New Line Cinema's take was grittier and darker, pulling from the early comics rather than the toy-aisle sweetness of the animated series. Shot for $13.5 million, it became a sleeper phenomenon, earning over $202 million worldwide. The turtle suits were built by Jim Henson's Creature Shop — one of Henson's last projects before his death just weeks after the premiere.