What happened to the production between seasons 5 and 6 of the 2003 TMNT series?
The sixth season of the 2003 TMNT cartoon marked a distinct change from the earlier series; a lighter tone, aimed at a lower aged audience (over use of catch phrases, stating the obvious etc), and with a marked change of character (not caring about destroying Cody's items in training, overly proud characters, and Splinter not being his usual wise self).
I've checked on wikipedia and there seems to be no change in the productions team, nor can I see any where online a reason for this change.
What happened?
Best Answer
Apparently there is confusion over which season is which, because the original Season 5 (Ninja Tribunal) was not aired after season 4, but instead was aired much later and then only in part. The reasons included trying to increase interest in the series and reduce violence. From Wikipedia's article on Season 5:
The "Ninja Tribunal" arc (13 episodes) was originally intended to be season five of the 2003 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles animated series, but the schedule was changed to try to increase interest in the series and "Fast Forward" became the fifth season to air on commercial TV. After the scheduling change was made, Mirage and its partners decided to finish production on the "Ninja Tribunal" episodes and release them directly to DVD. 4Kids Entertainment later signed a deal with Comcast and this season began airing on Comcast-On-Demand in August 2006. Mass confusion ensued regarding which season was officially season five and which was season six. However after airing five episodes Comcast stopped airing the episodes.
The "Ninja Tribunal" episodes were scheduled to be released on DVD sometime in early 2007, but 4Kids Entertainment later removed them from their release schedule. 4Kids started showing the episodes starting on February 9, 2008. Although the title doesn't appear in the show itself, the season was promoted in commercials as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Lost Episodes. The DVD set was released on May 20, 2008.
The "Nightmares Recycled" episode was never completed. The script was finished and some animation had begun when 4Kids pulled the plug because it was deemed too controversial and violent for a children's program (Hun and the Garbageman were conjoined twins that were surgically separated at birth by a back-alley surgeon with the Garbageman being discarded as 'garbage'). Since there was no chance of it airing, it was shelved in the early stages of production.
Pictures about "What happened to the production between seasons 5 and 6 of the 2003 TMNT series?"
Why was TMNT 2003 Cancelled?
Sadly, TMNT 2 and 3 were also axed due to the acquisition of the franchise by Viacom/Nickelodeon, leaving fans to wonder what could have been.Why did they stop making TMNT?
With the aid of Karai and Leatherhead, the Turtles, April and Casey must defeat Kavaxas and prevent him from destroying the world with his army of the undead. The Newtralizer returns to New York City, more powerful than ever before, and joins forces with a dangerous and unexpected ally.The LOST SEASON Of The 2003 TMNT | Series Retrospective (Part 5)
Sources: Stack Exchange - This article follows the attribution requirements of Stack Exchange and is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
Images: Mikhail Nilov, Tom Fisk, Michael Burrows, Michael Burrows