Can the turtles go inside their shells?

Question

It's been a while since I read the comics or watched the animated show, or the original movies, but have the turtles ever been able to retreat into their shells like normal turtles do?

Truth be told, I can't figure out how their long legs, hands plus head would go into that shell......but they do — j4rey, May 12 '16 at 05:41

Valorum · Accepted Answer · 2019-05-29T21:19:49.923

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They certainly can in the films;

In the original 1990 Ninja Turtles film, Michaelangelo shows this ability, before quipping about how much he loves being a turtle.

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Leonardo also does this in the 1993 sequel, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III: Turtles in Time

enter image description here

And in the latest 2014 Ninja Turtles reboot, Michaelangelo and Raphael withdraw all of their extremities in order to disguise themselves as ~~a gigantic product placement~~ Behati Prinsloo's breasts. And no, I'm not kidding. I wish I was.

enter image description here

We also see them do it in the original cartoon TV series.

edited May 29 '19 at 21:19

answered Dec 31 '14 at 14:33

Valorum

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+1 for pretty pictures. Plus, I had completely forgotten about that 1993 one. – Omegacron Dec 31 '14 at 15:49
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@Omegacron How could you forget about the sequels? Go ninja go ninja go! – KSmarts Dec 31 '14 at 19:10
@KSmarts - well, I have "The Secret of the Ooze" at home. I just forgot about the Japan/time-travel one. Maybe on purpose, don't remember. – Omegacron Dec 31 '14 at 19:31
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In the last GIF, in the closeup, they don't seem to have their extremities inside their shells. – Arturo Torres Sánchez Dec 31 '14 at 21:11
@ArturoTorresSánchez - It's more that they're putting the shell over their extremities and then crouching. Po-tay-toe, po-tar-oe – Valorum Dec 31 '14 at 21:19
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@Richard If I tuck my arms in tight in front of me, I can hide them beneath the bulk of my torso. That isn't the same as being able to suck them into my body though. It's less potato/potato, more potato/elephant. – doppelgreener Jan 02 '15 at 00:57
@doppelgreener - Are you able to completely hide your head as well? Because if you are, i'd like to see that. – Valorum Jan 02 '15 at 08:17
@Richard Say what? My point is just that the turtles hunching their limbs in close in the last gif isn't the same as withdrawing them into their shell, even by potato/potato standards. (They just get a bigger shell to hide their extremities behind when they stick their head forward and bring their limbs in close.) – doppelgreener Jan 02 '15 at 08:20
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That last GIF is ... really something else :-O – Rand al'Thor Mar 10 '16 at 23:05

score 21 · Answer 2 · answered Dec 31 '14 at 12:58

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in the original movies there is a scene where at least one of them pulls their head into his shell

and I believe the final scene of turtles 2 they float back to the surface of the water completely pulled into their shells although I could be wrong

answered Dec 31 '14 at 12:58

revenant

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With the memorable quote "I love being a turtle!" – Daniel Roseman Dec 31 '14 at 13:09
Now that I think about it, I do remember those scenes. Thanks. – Robert Dec 31 '14 at 13:12
They did that a couple of times in the original cartoon as well. – System Down Dec 31 '14 at 16:10
As much as I hate to downvote, In Turtles II you don't see whether their extremities are retracted. All you can see is the tops of their shells in the water. – Valorum Jan 01 '15 at 10:43
@Richard how about when they dodge the cannon shot in Japan? I saw it over 10 years ago, but I remember this scene. – Zikato May 12 '16 at 14:14
@Zikato - Yes, that occurs in Turtles *III* as I've indicated in my answer below. There doesn't seem to be any instance in Turtles II where they go into their shells. – Valorum May 12 '16 at 14:46

score 14 · Answer 3 · edited Jun 16 '20 at 09:31

Comics:

I think they all do it at least once, but I could be wrong.

In Image Comics Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Vol. III; #1, Donatello retracts his head into his shell during a long fall:

2012 Nickelodeon Cartoon:

Raphael does this at least once, when one of Leatherhead's booby traps flies at his head.

Michelangelo also retracts completely into his shell at least once.

And pulls only his head into his shell at least twice:

Leonardo does it unintentionally:

They've even released a line of toys based on the 2012 cartoon series called "Head Droppin' Turtles"

1990 Movie Series:

In the first movie, Michelangelo does it once.

In the second movie, they all do it at least once:

2014 Movie:

As Richard notes, they also do it in the recent reboot.

For example, Leonardo:

Real life:

I'll just leave this here:

score 3 · Answer 4 · edited May 12 '16 at 05:23

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In the older Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cartoon, all 4 of the turtles withdrew their entire bodies into their shells, but only for comedic reasons (such as being afraid of a roach), rather than defensive ones (such as avoiding being crushed). The turtles, despite their ability to speedily use this ability, usually don't withdraw into their shells for any reason.

withdrawal

In the first Ninja Turtles movie, when Michelangelo put his head in his shell, they achieved the illusion of withdrawal by raising the shell itself -- the actor in the green body suit didn't move. This may or may not have been the method used in the third movie.

edited May 12 '16 at 05:23

Wad Cheber

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answered Mar 10 '16 at 22:51

Curtis

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Also on Ninja Turtles 1 the movie when Michelangelo put his head in his shell I've always wondered how they were able to do that I actually found out that during that particular scene right when he put his head in the shell it was actually a body with a green bodyno shell was attached to the body someone was holding the shell the person in front of the shell didn't do anything all they did was raised to shell up to make it look like heis head inside the Leonardo on Ninja Turtles 3 I do not know how they did that one I would like to know – Curtis Mar 10 '16 at 22:55
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A little bit of sentence structure? PLEASE? – Rand al'Thor Mar 10 '16 at 22:58

score 2 · Answer 5 · edited May 12 '16 at 05:24

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Raphael does this in the 2012 series when Mikey shows him a cockroach. But that time, he actually hides his whole body in its shell.

edited May 12 '16 at 05:24

Wad Cheber

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answered May 11 '16 at 23:30

Temperamental Octopod

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I think the downvotes are a little bit rude for a newcomer, so you have my +1. And welcome to SF.stackExchange! I guess you got some downvotes because you didn't provide any precise reference (photo, or maybe the title of the episode), hopefully if you can give some, the downvotes will disappear. – Taladris May 12 '16 at 04:33
Not sure why this got down voted, it actually provides just as much of an answer than some of the ones that were upvoted – Robert May 14 '16 at 12:41
@Robert, I up voted. It takes a bit for new comers to see what constitutes a thoroughly thought out answer. Wait a second, I still am a noob myself. – KyloRen Jun 05 '16 at 04:27

Joe L. · Answer 6 · 2014-12-31T13:03:14.447

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In real life, the ability and extent of a turtle's ability to pull into it's shell varies widely. Some can, some can't, some only partially. Given that the TMNT's shell is fairly small relative to the size of their limbs, the TMNT's probably can't fully retract their limbs.

edited Dec 31 '14 at 13:03

answered Dec 31 '14 at 12:57

Joe L.

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I'm not asking about real life, but a real turtle's ability to do that is why I asked this question. – Robert Dec 31 '14 at 13:03
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"Actually, we’re fresh water turtles! I suspect we’re derived from the diamondback terrapin but it’s possible we’re common box turtles…" - 15-yo Donatello in Nickelodeon's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2012), contradicting adult Donatello's "Red-eared slider" memory in Tales Vol 2 #18. – Cees Timmerman Jan 01 '15 at 20:06

Can the turtles go inside their shells?

6 Answers6

Comics:

2012 Nickelodeon Cartoon:

1990 Movie Series:

2014 Movie:

Real life:

Linked