ABSTRACT
This chapter considers the various capacities in which the film Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TMNT) can be considered independent. Using the film and the larger franchise of which it is a part as case studies, I address how the definition of independence changes based on the dynamic relationship between independent cultural products and mainstream culture industries. Specifically, with regard to the film, I examine the shifting business practices within the independent film sector that favored types of films and distribution models typically associated with mainstream Hollywood. I begin by situating the film within the history of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchise with an emphasis on the independent status of the original comic book series and the subsequent licensing of the Turtle characters for a popular toy line and children’s television series. In regards to TMNT’s status as an independent film and its impact on the industrial landscape of American independent cinema, I pay particular attention to the significance of its independent distributor New Line Cinema and how the film’s record-breaking box office precipitated subsequent changes in New Line’s fortunes, including the development of a new specialty division and its eventual acquisition by the media conglomerate Turner Broadcasting System.
