All language subtitles for Subititulos

(pensive music)

[Narrator] Struggling
artists Peter Laird

and Kevin Eastman,

dream of having a hit
comic book of their own.

They're staying up late at night

and they're kind of
one-upping each other

with their drawings.

Eastman wanted to do something
just to make Peter laugh.

(inspiring music)

(paper rustling)

Pete, what do you think?

It could be a pretty deadly
assassin, if you ask me.

- (Pete chuckling)
- Let me see that.

[Narrator] What starts as a joke

will one day become a $17
billion multimedia franchise

and include a
revolutionary toy line

that jump-starts a flatlining
action figure market.

Could put a toy
turtle in the hand

of every kid in America, right?

For any toy line to reach a
billion dollars, at that time,

that was pretty rare.

(upbeat music)

In 1990, Target sold
more Turtle figures

than Snickers bars.

[Narrator] But the "Ninja
Turtles'" kung fu grip

on the industry is challenged.

Exactamundo, dude.

[Narrator] When a new sensation

kicks them to the curb.

"Mighty Morphin Power
Rangers" action figures

go from being a
sought-after toy...

What do you mean we don't
have enough toys for Christmas?

To a cultural phenomenon.

There's no precedent

for how many "Power
Rangers" toys sold.

[Narrator] Together,
they'll give rise

to a new kind of hero.

These two created a market
for martial-art toys.

Well, what do you think?

There's never been anybody
who's been able to stand up

and defeat the power
of the "Power Rangers"

and the "Ninja Turtles."

[Kevin] Let me finish it.

[Narrator] But for now,
Eastman and Laird have no idea

of the gold mine
they're sitting on.

- [Kevin] Ninja Turtles.
- (laughing)

[Pete] Yeah.

(dramatic music)

(fighter shouting)

[Narrator] By the early 1980s,

martial-arts films are
gaining popularity in the US,

thanks in part to late night TV.

In the '70s, TV
stations started finding

some of these old movies

that they could just
leave running overnight

and so they would use
things like monster movies

and kung fu movies.
(fighter shouting)

You began finding Bruce
Lee movies on television

and then all of the
Chuck Norris movies.

[Narrator] But despite
Hollywood's success,

the toy market can't
seem to get any momentum.

The attempts to bring
martial-arts toys to the market

had largely floundered.

Aurora had their
"Kar-aa-ate Man"

and "Big Jim" had
his kung fu academy,

but it was still a market
that was kind of ripe

if you could find the right
property to apply to that.

(pensive music)

[Narrator] For comic
illustrators Eastman and Laird,

making toys is the last
thing on their minds.

Laird was about 10
years older than Eastman

and they're these two guys
who love drawing comics.

They were working on a
character called Fugitoid,

trying to get that
off as a comic book,

and they got a lot
of rejections back.

So they were kind of, you
know, down in the dumps.

They're passing
drawings back and forth

just trying to make
each other laugh

and Kevin Eastman draws
a picture of a turtle

standing upright with nunchucks.

Pete, what do you think?

(chuckles) There's
something wrong with you.

(both laughing)

Peter decided he'd
take a crack at it,

so he drew kind of a
slightly different turtle.

And Eastman wrote at the
top, "Ninja Turtles."

[Pete] (laughs) Yeah.

Laird adds "Teenage Mutant."

- Whoa!
- (both laughing)

The slowest animal on earth

being a sort of martial arts
expert, that's just funny.

Eastman and Laird
start to think that,

hey, maybe we got
something here.

That's when Kevin
Eastman was like,

"You know what, one's great,

but how about four,
we make a team?"

[Eastman] What,
what do we call 'em?

They just kinda looked
around the apartment

to see what they had,

and they found an art book

that mentioned
Renaissance painters.

When you're creating
martial artist turtles,

you're already saying
traditional rules don't apply.

Ghirlandaio?

Looks like a Michelangelo.

[Eastman] What about,

what about something
like Leonardo?

And from there, they were
able to extract the four names

that became the "Teenage
Mutant Ninja Turtles,"

Leonardo, Raphael,
Michelangelo, and Donatello.

They start to create
a world building

around the "Teenage
Mutant Ninja Turtles."

And it takes a while
to make a comic book.

You've gotta plot it out,

you've gotta write it,
you've gotta draw it.

The "Ninja Turtles" origins
are this radioactive canister

hit a jar of turtles that
this kid was carrying

and they all spilled
down into the sewers

and mutagen mutated them.

[Narrator] Then, they
give their teenage turtles

a supporting cast.

Splinter is this rat

who also is affected by
this radioactive ooze

that creates the Ninja Turtles,

and he develops this crew
into what they become.

In May of 1984, they
completed the comic

and they were self-publishing.

With maxed out credit cards

and a loan from
Peter Laird's uncle,

they were able to publish.

The comic books were
extremely violent,

geared toward an
audience just like them,

indie, alternative,
college kids.

And only 3,000 copies were made

and it's sold on the
Comics Buyer's Guide.

[Narrator] But their timing
couldn't be more perfect.

(upbeat music)

In June of 1984,
a movie comes out

called "The Karate Kid,"

and there was a lot of
hype around that movie

and it was just a phenomenon.

We started to see people

really wanting to get
into martial arts.

"The Karate Kid"
was the unlikely hero,

the relatable underdog.

That's who we wanted,
that's who we rooted for.

What kid didn't watch that movie

and start doing crane
kicks in his kitchen?

(pensive music)

They sold out of
all 3,000 copies

and that's when distributors
started to notice, like,

"Hey, let's reprint that one,

and then we want this
many copies of issue two."

So now, they're
off to the races.

Now they've got a property

and they have to
continue the story.

[Narrator] Meanwhile,
halfway around the world,

a cartoon theme song composer

is looking for the next
chapter in his story.

Haim Saban is a
very creative person.

He was a musician in Israel

and then came over
to the United States

and continued to do music

for lots of different
animated programs

like "Inspector Gadget" and
the "Masters of the Universe."

In the early '80s,

he starts looking to
start establishing his own

intellectual properties as well.

He's working in
Japan at the time,

feeling a little bit burned out,

not really sure what
his next move is,

and on the TV he sees
"Super Sentai Bioman."

Well, this is kind of
a revelation for him.

"Super Sentai" is this
long-running Japanese series

in which these superheroes are
fighting these wild monsters.

This is just an acid
trip action adventure.

It's fantastical martial
arts, huge monsters,

just this revolutionary thing

that really didn't exist
in the US at the time.

By the time Saban
sees "Bioman" in 1984,

that's already the eighth
iteration of "Super Sentai."

(actor speaking Japanese)

Not only is there a TV show
here that's already been made,

but there's already a toy line.

Someone else has already
done all the hard work.

[Natalia] Saban realizes that

there might be an
appetite for this

in the kids media marketplace
in the United States.

So he thinks to himself,

"Well, maybe this
is my next step.

This could be a big thing
if I bring it to America."

[Narrator] As
Saban gets started,

(upbeat music)

there's no stopping
the "Ninja Turtles."

Over the next two years,

Eastman and Laird
publish seven issues.

And it becomes this
big cult sensation.

Selling in the
hundreds of thousands,

which, for an independent
comic, is unheard of.

[Narrator] Their
success catches the eye

- of a licensing agent
- (knocking)

hungry for a new opportunity.

- Hi.
- Oh, hey, we're through here.

Mark Freedman is
a high-energy guy

who really has a thorough
understanding of the business.

He was doing some work for
"Hanna-Barbera" at the time,

licensing out some
of their properties.

But at this point in his career,

he's sick of making
everyone else money

and he wants to make a little
bit of that money for himself.

He created his own company
called Surge Licensing,

and his family's
putting pressure on him

to really get something going.

Mark Freedman, we
spoke on the phone.

Yeah, you're the guy who
said he could put a toy turtle

in the hand of every
kid in America, right?

I said every kid in the world,

but we'll start with America.

Mark had the original vision

of turtles being a much
bigger, better thing.

He sees something
there, something special.

It's got a humor to it,

characters that are appealing
and relatable and fun.

What Freedman did
is he actually went

to Eastman and Laird and said,
"I wanna license your property."

A licensing deal
basically allows you

to use an existing intellectual
property for profit,

and you give a portion
of your profits

back to the original creator.

Well, what do you think?

We'll think about it.

Eastman and Laird had seen
some other independent guys

that kinda got
taken advantage of,

and so they were really
leery to license stuff out.

[Mark] Thank you so
much for your time.

- Thank you.
- Take care.

[Narrator] Ultimately,
a few weeks later,

Eastman and Laird agree to
license their comic to Freedman

under one condition.

(tense music)

Let's see if this
guy is really worth it.

We're gonna give him 30 days
to try to pull this off,

which is next to impossible.

Mark Freedman's under a huge
amount of financial pressure,

but he thinks he's got
something special on his hands,

something that could really hit.

So he took it to all the big
players and they all said no.

The action figure
category was at a low point.

That hook won't stop He-Man.

A lot of the bestselling
lines, such as "Masters,"

were on the decline.

Everybody just looked
at it and thought,

"What the heck? What is this?

How could this
possibly be popular?"

[Daniel] So you just
kinda lick your wounds

and move on to the next company.

You really can't fault companies

for passing on these
violent, mutant turtles.

It really seems like a
wild, farfetched concept.

[Narrator] With
only three days to go,

Freedman is down
to his last option.

(tense music)

It was an absurd idea

to just think you're going to
get that deal in one month.

One of his friends
had just started

at a company called Playmates,

but Playmates was not in
the boys action world.

It wasn't something
that you would think,

"Well, that's a great fit."

When he finally reaches
out to his friend,

he's burned several
weeks of his month.

Richard Sallis, please.

[Daniel] This is his Hail Mary.

[Narrator] With time
running out to make

a "Ninja Turtles" deal, Mark
Freedman is betting it all

on a company that's never
made an action figure.

Playmates was
founded in the '60s

and manufactured a lot of dolls.

"Cricket," which was an
animatronic interactive doll,

followed up by "Jill",

and then we were looking
for a new opportunity.

Playmates Toys,

this is actually a Hong
Kong-based company.

They've got a
division in the US,

they wanna start getting
into the boys toys market.

Richard Sallis felt like
this would be a great fit

for where the
company wanted to go,

even though, quite
frankly, none of us,

other than Richard, knew
anything about action figures.

Richard's a quiet guy behind
the scenes, but he's smart.

He knows what he sees and
he knows what he likes.

Confident in their potential,

Sallis inks a deal to bring
the turtles to toy shelves.

They pay $150,000.

Definitely not what Mark
Freedman had been hoping for,

but more than Eastman and Laird

ever thought that
they would get.

And at that time, Eastman
and Laird are very much focused

on keeping the comic going,

because that's all they
know is the guarantee.

[Narrator] Now, Playmates
needs to figure out

how to turn the
turtles into toys.

The first big challenge
was to translate a comic book

that did skew older
to a younger audience.

The comic book was dark, it
was violent, it was, you know,

it was set in New
York, it's gritty.

We still make toys
for kids, right?

We do, so make 'em kid friendly,

but still cool.

A lot of the people at Playmates

don't see what
Richard Sallis sees.

They think he might've
made a huge mistake here.

Sallis, his entire
career is at stake.

These turtles
are gonna be great.

[Austin] He knows
Freedman and he trusts him.

However, he's putting
it all on the line.

[Narrator] While Sallis
takes a huge gamble,

(tense music)

Haim Saban places his bet
on a groundbreaking concept.

He decides, aha, the
martial arts scenes

are super complex,
super expensive to film.

I'll keep those as they are.

I'll just recast the rest of it

with good-looking
American actors.

This is revolutionary.

No one's seen this
in the States.

He can take all of
this footage from Japan

and make an American
kids' TV show

for less than half the cost.

It's pretty crazy.

The show is already made,
the toys are already there.

That makes it so economical
for importing it to the US.

[Narrator] Saban uses
his contacts in Japan

to get a meeting
with Toei and Bandai,

the companies who co-produce
"Super Sentai" and its toys.

Saban said, "I want your
old toys and your programming

in perpetuity."

They had to assume
this guy is crazy.

I'm quite sure Toei believed

there's no way this
is going to work.

Japan is more concerned
about their sales in Japan.

If he thinks he can pull it off,

then they're willing
to cash the checks.

[Narrator] With a license
from Toei and Bandai secured,

all Saban needs now is to
convince a US network to buy in.

(tense music)

Meanwhile, back in the US,

the Playmates' designers
are stuck in neutral.

Struggling just to
find the overall voice

of what this is gonna be,

just how far we're gonna
deviate from the comic designs.

This is not just about taking
a two-dimensional comic book

and turning it into a
three-dimensional figure.

You gotta figure out how the
kids are gonna play with it.

How do you want them to look?

What are their features?

The first thing we had to do

was understand that we
could differentiate them.

It was a black and white comic,

and you could only
tell them apart

by what weapons
they were holding.

You've gotta make
these four guys different

and as different as
you possibly can.

[Narrator] But the heroes
aren't the only problem.

There's always a
challenge with your villains

because, inherently, they're
not as popular as the heroes.

And one of our big problems
was that the turtles only had

two real bad guys,
Shredder and The Foot,

and all The Foot
looked the same.

They're having to develop
new villains for them.

Let's just take people
that lived in New York City,

a plumber, a chef, firefighter,
and let 'em turn bad.

And we developed a lot
of funny characters.

We had a guy that had a
double-barrel snot gun,

it was plugged into his nose.

We had a guy named Mr. Badwrench

that had a a twirling wrench,

but it was a little
too close to home.

They had to keep going
back to the drawing board

to make these violent
toys somehow kid-friendly,

and that was a challenge.

We were getting a
lot of frustrated notes

because no one felt like

we were necessarily going
the right direction.

This isn't it.

Hong Kong is not
approving a lot of things,

they have notes
they're sending back.

Eastman and Laird are
looking at things,

they're trying to figure
out if they like the tone,

they're sending notes back.

[Narrator] Making matters worse,

time is not on their side.

One of the milestones that
they really want to try and hit

is to make sure they have
some kind of product to show

at Toy Fair, which
is February in 1988.

How soon can we start
cutting the molds?

With these changes, not
until after Christmas.

Playmates want these toys
on the shelves in 15 months,

and that means the molds have
to be ready in 10 months.

Producing a toy, no matter

if you're producing it
in 1984, 1994, 2024,

time works the same way,

and you don't have enough of it.

They're taking this
story 180 degrees

from where it begins.

He's gotta budget a lot
of money towards this.

He's gotta, you know,
bring his team along

to understand his vision.

This is an enormous
professional risk for Sallis.

(pensive music)

(tense music)

[Narrator] After
securing the rights

to the "Super Sentai" TV show

and shooting new scenes
with American actors,

Haim Saban is finally
ready to pitch it

to a major US network.

I know you guys are gonna love
this new idea that I've got.

It's got martial arts,
monsters, giant robots,

everything that
a kid could want,

and it comes with great toys.

The meeting was
in a nice boardroom,

there's guys with suits on.

Saban does his salesmanship,
which he's great at.

Yeah, watch.

(suspenseful music)

Seeing that for the first time,

it probably looks really
low budget and cheesy

to someone he's trying
to sell it to, right?

'Cause they basically just
overdubbed it and cut it up.

It was campy, it was
a little bit corny,

but that was the charm.

They watch it with
just blank stares.

They have no idea
how to absorb this,

they don't know what it is.

(suspenseful music)

[Executive] It's not for us.

And they tell him no.

Well, thank you for your time.

They just weren't seeing
that same kind of future

that he could see in this
show and with these toys.

It's gotta be really
stressful and frustrating

to see the vision and
no one's buying into it.

You know you could
knock it out of the park

if anyone would just
give you a chance.

Because he believes
in this property,

Saban keeps paying this
licensing fee year after year.

[Narrator] As more networks
continue to tune Saban out,

(pensive music)

Sallis and Freedman tune
in to a new opportunity.

Mark Freedman
and Richard Sallis,

looking at these
initial designs,

realize that this is not
gonna get off the ground

without a cartoon to basically
be a commercial for the toys.

♪ Transformers

Cartoons and toy lines

were kind of just
interchangeable in the '80s.

[Announcer] All the
vehicles and planes.

"Transformers," "G.I.
Joe" reboot, "GoBots,"

all of these are
linked to cartoons,

and that's what sells toys.

Can't move units without a
toy-based cartoon in the 1980s.

It was deemed essential to
have that animated series.

And Playmates Hong Kong
agreed to give him $1.5 million

to go create an animated series

for the "Teenage
Mutant Ninja Turtles."

They have six months to
put together this cartoon

and really build out
the world for kids

and get them excited.

[Narrator] The cartoon
has another crucial upside.

Cartoon was very important
in establishing to the kids

who these turtles were
and their personalities,

give voice to them.

I think that helps Playmates
start to make things

more fun and more light.

That's it, look how bright
it is and it's fun, right?

This is the point
where the turtles

really start to take shape.

And let's see if you can prepare

something new today by 2:00.

Secret sauce and the
unique element was the humor,

and we brought it to
life in various ways.

So they give them these
laid-back surfer dude attitudes

and personalities.

Playmates leans more
into that teenage aspect.

They love pizza

and they're gonna do a lot
of skateboarding, you know?

Things teenagers love.

(upbeat music)

But they need to be color-coded,

that's how we can
tell them apart.

Donatello had
the purple bandana,

Raphael had red,

Michelangelo, or
"Mikey," had orange.

And Leonardo had blue.

Exactamundo, dude.

[Narrator] Designers
also looked to the cartoon

for ideas on how to bring
the villains to life.

We were looking at the show,

so we thought let's
go into the zoo

and mutate some
other characters.

And so for whatever reason,
we picked a rhinoceros

and a warthog.

We tried to strike
the balance of,

this character has to
look menacing, edgy,

look like a threat
if it's a villain.

So you try to make them

so that clearly they
lead to great conflict

with your heroes,

but they're also hilarious
as personalities.

It's good work.

[Narrator] Finally on the
right track with their designs,

they're ready to
start sculpting.

In those days, before
the advent of digital,

you'd start off with
a wire armature.

You'd then put clay around that,

starting to get the
body proportions down.

Let's see what we can do

in changing the head
frame around like that.

There you go.

You then would mold
an output in wax,

where the sculptor could start
putting in all those details.

The facial expressions, veins,

battle scars on the shells
that would be noticed by kids

as they played with it.

They feel more confident
in the direction of design,

but now they've got four months,

and it just doesn't feel like
it's doable on that timeline.

I had doubts that
we could get it done

with all of the details
that had to be accomplished.

The first five episodes
of the turtles' TV show

came out Christmas 1987,

and we were all on
pins and needles

because for turtles
to have any future,

as a TV show or as a toy
line, it needed to work.

It's released in syndication,

which means that it's
not on the same channel

everywhere in the country.

It wasn't blockbuster,

but it was good enough for
the stations to re-run it.

[Narrator] As the cartoon
struggles to break through,

the toys debut at Toy
Fair, ready or not.

Playmates has already
sunk over $2 million

in the development
of both the property

and the animated series,

and Toy Fair '88 is
kind of a disaster.

They don't have a lot
of prototypes to show.

The response was
lukewarm at best.

There were a couple guys
who showed interest,

and there were others that said,

"Just stick to dolls
and preschool.

Why are you bothering?"

How are the sales going?

Well, we finally
got one, Toys R Us,

but they only want 6,000 units.

[Narrator] With so much
money already invested,

Richard Sallis needs a
miracle to turn a profit.

The future of Playmates
Toys is on the line.

They are sinking
millions of dollars

into "Teenage Mutant
Ninja Turtles."

If they fail, they
could tank the company.

[Narrator] With their
deadline weeks away,

the Playmates sales team
struggles to hook retailers,

while the design
team rushes to finish

the "Ninja Turtles" toys.

The entire time that
we were getting ready

to launch the turtles,
I felt the pressure.

We might go back and
forth a dozen times

reviewing the sculpting.

There were thousands
of decisions,

thousands of drawings,

thousands of notes to make
this product line happen.

And then Kevin
and Peter bless it,

then we would mold
an output in resin,

and that's the character
you would send over to Asia

to start cutting steel.

(intense music)

The "Ninja Turtles" finally
came out in June of 1988.

The original line was
actually quite compact.

It consisted of
the four turtles,

April O'Neil and Splinter.

Bad guys were
Shredder, The Foot,

Bebop, the warthog,

and Rocksteady, the rhino.

Well, when Turtles
first came out,

the action figure category
was at a low point.

The ironic part is that's
usually the best time to get in

with a new brand, and
that's what happened.

They blew through those
6,000 units in no time

and Toys R Us requested
another 50,000.

But you can't just
wave a magic wand

and those next 50,000 appear.

July 1988.

Going and seeing
those empty shelves,

from there, we just
played catch up.

People are calling Playmates,
they're calling Toys R Us,

they're calling other stores
that didn't carry them

to ask for them.

It's a big hoopla that
Playmates is having to deal with

while they're trying to get
more product on store shelves.

[Narrator] While Playmates
rushes to fill empty shelves,

Saban is still empty handed.

He schlepped that "Bioman"
pilot tape all over town

to every network possible.

You're trying to pitch this show

and everyone's like,
"Yeah, I don't think so.

Yeah, I don't like it."

It was almost an
impossible task.

He's told no over and
over and over again,

but he keeps going.

And the only way you
get something made

is to forget about the no's
and keep pressing for the yes.

[Narrator] While the noes
keep piling up for Saban,

Playmates tries to
keep up with demand.

There was nothing like
the turtles at the time.

It's a perfect mix
of action and absurdity

that's really
resonating with kids.

It's not just whether or
not your kid likes a toy,

it's whether or not
they have to have it.

We sold roughly 30-something
million dollars in 1988,

and then it went up to
140-something million

the next year.

That third year
was the peak year,

that's when it was $570
million just in the US.

(intense hip hop music)

[Narrator] On the heels
of the toy line's success,

Freedman looks for even
more opportunities.

We're starting to see
lunchboxes and the bedsheets

and you know, just everything
that goes with licensing

a property like this.

Ninja Turtles were everywhere.

It hit you from every angle.

It was just this onslaught
of, like, everything turtles

at the same time.

Freedman thinks a live
action movie is the next step.

Playmates is a lot more
hesitant about that,

but he moves ahead, he gets
funding and he makes this movie.

Playmates only has
a stake in toy sales.

They have nothing to
do with the movie.

Obviously, they're
really concerned.

What if this movie fails?

What does it do
to our toy sales?

They have to trust that
Freedman knows what he's doing.

Mark talked to
a number of people

and eventually ended up
working with Golden Harvest,

who did a lot of kung fu movies.

The Jim Henson Creatures Shop
signs on to do the costumes

for the turtles.

Mark shows it to Playmates,

and there's a screening

that people are just walking
out of shaking their heads.

They don't understand,
they think it's too goofy.

They think that this
might be the thing

that takes down
the turtle empire.

(tense music)

The Turtle movie
comes out in 1990.

We didn't know what to expect.

We were hiding under our sheets

thinking that it was
gonna be a disaster,

but it does gangbusters.

(triumphant music)

I don't think a lot of
people thought the live action

"Teenage Mutant
Ninja Turtles" movie

was gonna do as well as it did,

but it was sort of gritty and
goofy all at the same time

and kids loved it.

It became a huge cult classic.

It was the fourth highest
grossing film that year

at 200 million.

Yo, Shredder got killed
towards the middle of the movie.

It was just exciting.

[Narrator] The movie's success
also benefits someone else.

(tense music)

Haim Saban is finally able
to point to this other success.

Clearly, this is
something that kids want,

that combination of goofy
humor and martial arts.

Let's watch it.

Saban is looking for another
person to pitch this idea to.

In 1990, Margaret Loesch
ends up at Fox Kids.

Wait, I know this.

(pensive music)

She knows "Super Sentai."

She was the former CEO
of Marvel Productions

and she herself had
tried pitching it

with Stan Lee in the '70s!

So when Saban said,
"This is my pitch,"

she already was on board
that this is a great idea.

She's really excited
by the fact that

there's already a lot shot,

there's already a toy tie-in.

She's like, "I'll take it."

That's great.

One little wrinkle is that
Margaret makes this promise

without actually talking
to her bosses about it.

(tense music)

So, what do you think?

The upper management hates
it, absolutely hates it.

Executives were very cautious.

This is a live-action
show, it's untested waters.

[Margaret] If it
bombs, it's on me.

There hadn't been a lot of
live-action adventure shows

targeted to kids.

It's a big risk.

Who knows if it'll really take
off with American children?

Margaret Loesch may
believe in the idea,

she may believe in Saban,

but if this is a flop, Margaret
Loesch is out of a job.

[Narrator] After eight
years of rejection,

Haim Saban finally
gets the green light

for his "Super Sentai" show,

but there's a lot at
stake for Margaret Loesch.

If you're the executive who
green lights something wild

and out of the box
and it's a hit,

you're a visionary.

But if you're the one who
takes a gamble and it fails,

heads have to roll.

Saban's fortunes
are on the line,

Margaret Loesch's job and
reputation are on the line,

all through this
television property

that everyone has decried as
too violent, it's too hokey.

[Narrator] And to give
them a fighting chance,

they'll need a new name.

Saban goes back to Bandai
for a little bit of help

translating the original title.

Not every word has a direct
one-to-one translation,

there's nuance and subtlety.

So for "Super Sentai," they
come up with "Power Rangers."

(dramatic music)

They think this is good,
but it's not enough.

"Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles"
was the king of the hill,

and that came out to four names.

So they just keep
playing around with that

until we get "Mighty
Morphin Power Rangers."

[Narrator] Now, all
Saban needs to do

is turn the "Super Sentai" toys

into "Mighty Morphin
Power Rangers."

One element that
was very integral

to Saban's plan
with "Power Rangers"

was this working relationship
with Bandai America

to keep producing these toys

and to get those
toys on shelves.

And for a small company, at
the time, it was a big step.

Bandai America was
doing $4 million a year

in terms of annual sales.

They were in need
to find a big hit.

For comparison,
Hasbro and Mattel

are generating $2 billion each.

It's a goldfish versus
two blue whales.

It was like, either we're
gonna succeed at this

or Bandai America may not exist.

(tense music)

One easy way to
save money on toys

is just to use one mold
as much as possible.

They're all going to
be from the male molds.

Saban recognizes that
there's some risk involved,

but he's gotta get
this out to market.

Paint one pink, paint one
yellow, those are the girls now.

(tense music)

In the US market at this point,

there's sort of an
established 3 3/4 inch scale.

In Japan, those are gonna
be in a larger scale.

The eight-inch action figure,

something that's gonna stand out
on the marketplace immediately.

When you have an eight-inch toy,

it seems like something that
you're supposed to love.

They weren't things that
would go out and do missions.

[Narrator] And their
unconventional size

makes repackaging
them a challenge.

Also, the toy packaging
was your standard rectangle.

It was either a blister
card that you hung on a wall

or a box that you
put on a shelf.

We set out to come
up with something

that would make
this toy stand out

and show that it's different,
it's something special.

We kind of sketched out
this idea of a triangle box.

(suspenseful music)

Just because it allowed you to
be a little closer to the toy

because of the angles of it,
and it's also very different.

How are we going to give
some distinction on the shelf?

And that was when we came
up with the lightning bolt,

which was emblematic of
the transformational energy

of the "Power Rangers."

That lightning bolt became
the keystone element

on the packaging.

[Bob] The "Mighty Morphin
Power Rangers" logo

wraps nicely over
the triangle shape.

That lightning bolt is right
at the apex of that triangle,

which really kind of captured

the power of the
"Power Rangers."

[Narrator] Finally, after
almost a decade of hustling,

on August 28th, 1993,

(intense music)

Saban's "Power
Rangers" hits the air.

It was live action

and they mashed up
the American elements

with the Japanese elements,

and we thought it was
kind of bat-(bleep) crazy.

It hits the airwaves
early Saturday mornings

and it's a phenomenon.

It takes the world by storm.

In the first weekend, the
Nielsen ratings were coming in

and people are
doubting the numbers

'cause they're that good.

And Nielsen is charged with,

you need to recheck these
numbers 'cause this,

this cannot be right.

It's gotta be amazing
for Margaret Loesch.

She's sitting in a room

feeling awfully
good about herself,

and she has every reason to be.

The show initially debuts
at 7:30 AM on Fox Kids,

and it's so popular

it's quickly moved to
the 3:00 PM time slot.

Oprah was queen of that
time slot in the afternoon.

I mean, absolutely no
one could touch her.

By October, the "Power
Rangers" surpassed Oprah.

(intense music)

There's a "Power
Ranger" for every kid.

There are young people
that look like them

who are dealing with
the same problems

that they're dealing with,
and that's hugely powerful.

[Narrator] Fans can't get enough

and the show makes the toys
the hottest ticket in town.

Bandai America releases
50 different product tiles

and you can't find
them anywhere.

They are sold out
instantly, everywhere.

(scanner beeping)

And the demand for them in 1993

was making headlines
alongside a tsunami in Japan,

bombings of the
World Trade Center,

and primetime news is covering

how parents can't get the
Red Ranger action figure.

(upbeat music)

I had never seen
pandemonium for a toy

the way I saw it
with Power Rangers.

Kids went berserk.

[Child] I want one!

It was a phenomenon
I have not seen since

and that's the honest
truth, it's crazy.

There were riots,

there were people
waiting in parking lots,

there were people
bribing employees.

To watch it from the
outside, (chuckles)

It was kind of
incredible to see.

Bandai America does not have
enough toys to put on shelves

and Christmas is
around the corner.

(pensive music)

(tense music)

What do you mean we don't
have enough toys for Christmas?

Saban is like,
"We sold too many?

How is that possible?

How can you sell too many?"

We're two months
away from Christmas

and now, you have
people lining up

at five o'clock in the
morning at Toys R Us

waiting for the "Power
Ranger" shipment to come in.

The appetite for these "Power
Rangers" toys is so intense

that people are fighting.

It's kind of reminiscent of
the "Cabbage Patch" riots

almost a decade earlier.

Steven Spielberg
called our offices

because his son was
turning eight years old

and he needed a white ranger,

which was very hard to come by.

It's so unprecedented that
they had to go to a step

of issuing an apology.

(intense music)

Bandai America produced
an astounding 4 million toys

and it still wasn't enough.

They opened up 11 new factories

just to keep up with the
demand for "Power Ranger" toys.

And that still was not enough
to fulfill the appetite.

(intense music)

Christmas '94 was
even more disastrous

because by this point,

production of the
toys has increased,

but so has demand.

You could go into
stores that would have

Japanese box "Power
Ranger" toys,

because they couldn't buy
the American ones to sell,

but they could find
the Japanese ones.

By 1994, they have 40%
of action figure sales.

That's astounding.

[Narrator] In its
first three years,

"Power Rangers" generates
over $1 billion in sales,

taking a big chunk out of
"Ninja Turtles" profits

in the process.

By 1996, the "Ninja
Turtles" franchise

was at its lowest point
since it had been created.

"Power Rangers" was the
dominant children's franchise

on television.

The animated series
had been canceled.

The toy line was winding
down after over 300 figures.

It lasted a good nine years.

I think one of
the biggest issues

is that the TV show did kind
of stick to their formula.

It felt like you were
watching the same episode.

(pensive music)

[Saban] Gentlemen.

So in 1997, the turtles
are not doing so well.

The "Power Rangers" are
still doing amazing.

So, what do you say
we bring these turtles

- back to life, huh?
- Yeah.

And Saban decides
he wants to revitalize

the "Teenage Mutant
Ninja Turtles."

- They come up with "Ninja
Turtles: The Next Mutation,"

which is a live-action show,

very much in the vein
of "Power Rangers."

- It's a fresh start.
- Brand new character.

They introduce a fifth turtle,

a female turtle
named Venus de Milo.

It feels a lot more
like "Power Rangers"

than "Ninja Turtles"
and it did not succeed.

It only lasted one season.

It needed a rest,

especially when you have
something that burned so hot

that it really needed
to take some time off.

[Narrator] A few years later,

the turtles are revived
for a new generation

and are still
going strong today.

"Ninja Turtles"
found great success

in finding new iterations
and versions of the turtles

to make you want to
keep buying them.

When you're looking at
how profitable this was,

to think, in the first four
years, they got to $1.1 billion.

For any toy line to reach a
billion dollars at that time,

that was pretty rare.

It's been 35 years
and "Ninja Turtles"

still has a major
place in the culture,

the comics, movies,
action figures everywhere.

- It's morphin' time!
- Yeah!

Yeah!

The "Power Rangers"
has basically become

yet another evergreen
property, like "Hot Wheels,"

like "Barbie,"

the thing that toy
manufactures can only dream of.

(upbeat music)

The legacy that Saban has made

with bringing "Power
Rangers" to American audience

is stick to your guns.

He never gave up on it

and we have that now as
part of American culture.

The "Power Rangers" brand is
a multi-billion dollar brand

at this point in time.

These two shows created a
market for martial-art toys.

Turtles started that fire

and "Power Rangers" just
dumped gasoline on it.

There's never been anybody
who's been able to stand up

and defeat the power
of the "Power Rangers"

and the "Ninja Turtles."