Buzz
The iconic exclamation “cowabunga!” didn’t debut with a turtle. It was first spoken by Chief Thunderthud, a problematic character from the 1950s children’s series Howdy Doody.
Originally invented by Howdy Doody creator Edward Kean and brought to life by actor Bill LeCornec, the term kowabonga (its initial spelling) entered popular culture in 1954 as an expression of shock or frustration. It was part of Thunderthud’s quirky “native tongue,” spoken as the leader of the Ooragnak tribe—kangaroo spelled backward.
As fans of Howdy Doody matured, some adopted the phrase, particularly Southern California surfers in the 1960s. They used it to capture the thrill and adrenaline of riding massive waves, akin to shouting “banzai!” in surfing culture.
Turtle Time
Cowabunga lingered in the surfing world for decades, alongside terms like goofy foot (describing a surfer riding with their right foot forward) and shooting the curl (referring to surfing the hollow part of a wave as it breaks). Then, in 1987, when writer David Wise sought unique expressions for Michelangelo’s surfer-skater persona in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles animated series, he revived the term.
Interestingly, Wise didn’t draw inspiration from surfing culture. Instead, he recalled a Peanuts cartoon from the ‘60s featuring a surfing Snoopy using the phrase. Animator Fred Wolf loved its inclusion so much that he proposed making it Michelangelo’s catchphrase, cementing its place in turtle lore.
For several years, Michelangelo embraced cowabunga wholeheartedly, using it in films like 1990’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, where Splinter introduces it, and in games like 1991’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles In Time, where it marks level completions. He even performed a not-so-great rap track titled “Cowabunga” during the “Coming Out of Their Shells” tour, with mixed results. As the TMNT franchise soared, cowabunga appeared everywhere, from t-shirts to The Simpsons.
However, trends evolve: When Nickelodeon rebooted the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles series in 2012, they replaced cowabunga with booyakasha. This remained Michelangelo’s catchphrase for over two seasons until the “Meet Mondo Gecko” episode, where the phrase was reintroduced, and Mikey began using it occasionally.
Since then, writers have played with the phrase creatively. The 2014 film revealed Raphael had persuaded Michelangelo to tone it down. In 2023’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem, the phrase is deliberately withheld until the movie’s climax, a strategic choice by the writers to distinguish their version from the original series.
Naturally, nearly every media outlet couldn’t resist incorporating the phrase into headlines about the film and its box-office triumph. And honestly, who could fault them? As any seasoned surfer (or turtle) would agree, there’s an undeniable charm to that quirky little word.
