The Internet, and in turn, the users who populate, is/are notorious for keeping intellectual properties alive, long past their shelf life has expired. In fact, this continuing interest helps revive many of these titles, essentially breathing life into properties that may otherwise die.

The example that leads this post is another great contribution from the user-generated pile. This time, the subject are the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and the method of delivery is stop motion animation.

The video was brought to us by Kyle Roberts, and it uses over 4000 individual images, including over 60 hand-drawn creations. Naturally, the characters used for the stop motion aspect are action figures, and considering the extensive line Roberts and his crew had to pick from, it’s easy to see why the work is such a success.

According to the YouTube page, the creation was sponsored by “the Toy and Action Figure Museum, curator Kevin Stark designed many of the pieces in the original 1990 TMNT toy line.” Is that enough for the SOPA crowd or would such a creation require the permission of Nickelodeon, the now-owners of the TMNT property? Other credits include:

With over 4,000 individual pictures, Kyle Roberts and crew wanted to recreate the nostalgic 1987 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cartoon introduction in stop motion. Artist, Nathan Poppe, created over 60 hand-drawn images to establish a bright and vibrant backdrop to complement Roberts’ use of action figures. The original TMNT theme song was covered by Oklahoma native band, The Boom Bang, in their “garage surf punk” style. Each of these pieces can stand alone by themselves, but when infused together they create a radical tribute.

Hat-tip to Best Week Ever for pointing this out.