3 Ninjas

3 Ninjas arrived in 1992, directed by Jon Turteltaub and released through Disney's Touchstone Pictures. Three brothers — Samuel 'Rocky,' Jeffrey 'Colt,' and Michael 'Tum-Tum' — train each summer with their grandfather Mori Tanaka (played by Victor Wong), then put their ninja skills to work outwitting a gang of inept criminals. The mix of slapstick, kid-empowerment, and martial arts hit squarely with its young audience.

Made for around $6.5 million, it grossed roughly $29 million domestically — a modest hit big enough to launch a franchise. The formula was catnip for the era: kids who were smarter and tougher than the adults chasing them, plus enough karate to make every viewer want to sign up for lessons.

Three sequels followed — 3 Ninjas Kick Back (1994), 3 Ninjas Knuckle Up (1995), and 3 Ninjas: High Noon at Mega Mountain (1998), the last featuring Hulk Hogan. None matched the original, and critics savaged the later entries, but the franchise remains a fond, faintly ridiculous cornerstone of '90s kid cinema.