Reinventing classic characters — animated ones especially — is extremely important towards the longevity of a franchise. Whether instinctually or by conscious design, stewards of the characters do this so every generation has a particular iteration of that character. Nostalgic fans eager to relive their childhood often bemoan when their “classic” morphs and transforms into something completely different. However, in order for these characters to survive, they need to have staples that upcoming generations can latch onto. This means that evolution, and often drastic evolution, should never be looked at as a bad thing even if there is backlash from the fan base.
A great example of this is the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Over the years, the turtles have had many different adaptations beyond the comics. This goes for both live action and animated. A show comes out that is watched for a couple years by a generation before a new show is released that can be watched by the next. At the same time, each generation going all the way back to the original cartoon show can consider each version their turtles.
Regardless of the quality of the content, the simple fact that new TMNT shows and movies are constantly being produced means that the franchise has always been in the conversation. Sure, fans have negatively criticized some versions over others, but that’s fine. Older fans were already hooked into the franchise and the goal is to appeal to new fans. Younger generations have a blank slate with turtles, so as long as content is being produced, they have something to relate to. And if it doesn’t hit with them that time, the next up-and-coming version is another opportunity. The point being that keeping characters and versions of those characters stagnant makes it harder to grow the fan base year after year. Evolution, good or bad, needs to happen for these long-lasting characters to remain long-lasting.
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