Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Television Program

Michaelangelo, Raphael, Donatello and Leonardo--the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles--are crazy about pizza but a fast-food hamburger chain, Burger King, scored possibly the biggest commercial coup of Turtlemania. Burger King made a deal with IVE to sell four previously unreleased Turtle animated videos exclusively at its restaurants for $3.49 each with a purchase. IVE is shipping 7 million copies of the Turtle tapes, according to IVE's marketing vice president Lauren Becker.

Move over, SpongeBob SquarePants. Some mutant ninja turtles are headed your way. Viacom Inc.'s kids' cable network Nickelodeon has struck a $60-million deal with Mirage Group and 4Kids Entertainment Inc. to acquire the rights to "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles," which was one of the biggest children's shows of the 1980s and even spawned a successful movie franchise. Nickelodeon will produce a new cartoon series that it hopes to premier in 2012, and sister studio Paramount Pictures will release a new feature based on the series.

Unlike some 3-year-olds, Derek Wong of West Los Angeles rarely fussed in the morning about having to go to day care. Part of the reason, acknowledge his parents, Debbie and Rholan Wong, was Derek's beloved ritual. First, he would switch on the television and settle down to watch the "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" cartoon over breakfast. Then he would pull on one of his six Ninja Turtle T-shirts, put on Turtle socks and shorts, and grab a stuffed Turtle toy or a Turtle sword.

Move over, SpongeBob SquarePants. Some mutant ninja turtles are headed your way. Viacom Inc.'s kids' cable network Nickelodeon has struck a $60-million deal with Mirage Group and 4Kids Entertainment Inc. to acquire the rights to "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles," which was one of the biggest children's shows of the 1980s and even spawned a successful movie franchise. Nickelodeon will produce a new cartoon series that it hopes to premier in 2012, and sister studio Paramount Pictures will release a new feature based on the series.

It was only 11 a.m. on a recent day in Montebello, and already the heat was oppressive. Shade trees are few in this careworn neighborhood of newly arrived immigrants, and fear keeps many from opening their doors to strangers. But Lydia Cardenas has adapted to the hardships of her job. When people refuse to open their doors, she shouts her message through the keyholes. "I'm from the health department . . . . Are there children living with you?"

Unlike some 3-year-olds, Derek Wong of West Los Angeles rarely fussed in the morning about having to go to day care. Part of the reason, acknowledge his parents, Debbie and Rholan Wong, was Derek's beloved ritual. First, he would switch on the television and settle down to watch the "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" cartoon over breakfast. Then he would pull on one of his six Ninja Turtle T-shirts, put on Turtle socks and shorts, and grab a stuffed Turtle toy or a Turtle sword.

Michaelangelo, Raphael, Donatello and Leonardo--the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles--are crazy about pizza but a fast-food hamburger chain, Burger King, scored possibly the biggest commercial coup of Turtlemania. Burger King made a deal with IVE to sell four previously unreleased Turtle animated videos exclusively at its restaurants for $3.49 each with a purchase. IVE is shipping 7 million copies of the Turtle tapes, according to IVE's marketing vice president Lauren Becker.