The True Story Of How The Ninja Turtles Became A Rock Band 30 years ago, the first TMNT movie debuted. Not long after, the unthinkable happened: The Ninja Turtles became a rock band. Here's how it happened. May 19, 2021 at 10:10PM PDT It was August 1990, and there was no more popular franchise than the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. The comic book that two creators--Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird--created as a joke and printed in their garage had spawned a hit animated series and, now, a blockbuster movie. Following a March 30 release, the first Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie went on to earn over $202 million at the box office. The sky was seemingly the limit on what could be done with this property. Then the next step for the franchise was revealed: The Ninja Turtles were becoming a band and going on a live stage tour that would eventually take them around the world, pitting them nightly against their archnemesis The Shredder and his gang of Foot Clan thugs in an attempt to save rock and roll.