The Turtles have had a long, sordid history with Pizza Hut.

In the first movie, Mikey cheats on them by ordering out from Domino's in the scene where he slips the nervous pizza delivery guy the money through a sewer vent.

All was forgiven, however, in 1990 when Pizza Hut put up $20 million of their money to sponsor the horror known as The Coming Out of Our Shells Tour, an actual 40-city touring concert launched at Radio City Music Hall in New York City. Sweaty performers lip synched and pretended to play real instruments (like Donny on keyboard) through exaggerated movements in their rubber suits to screaming Turtle fans. We were incurable, us Turtle fans.

When a kid went to Pizza Hut that year to order a personal pan pizza, he or she could also carry on until their parents bought them an official tour guide, poster, and an audio cassette tape (remember those?) for $3.99 extra (a $12.99 retail value!).

Why sell music soundtracks at Pizza Hut? As Raph put it so elegantly in a 1990 Pizza Hut commercial as he's walking off stage to a sold-out crowd with jazz saxophone in hand, "'CUZ THEY DON'T SELL PIZZA IN RECORD STORES, DUUUDE." A valid point, Raphael, but you really didn't have to shout.

By October of 1990, more than 2 million copies of the Coming Out of Their Shells soundtracks passed into little hands of unsuspecting children at the pizza chain restaurants.

The Behind the Music VHS tape, the official Turtles Tour video, was released around this time and is literally littered with Pizza Hut pizza boxes. They made no attempt to hide that Pizza Hut was the real captain behind the wheel. Even Senior Vice President of Marketing for Pizza Hut, David Novack, appeared to deliver a press statement midway into the video on Pizza Hut's behalf.

"We're just absolutely thrilled to get the world's most famous pizza eaters to hook up with the number one pizza company in the world. Pizza Hut will launch the most aggressive promotion ever done in the record industry to support the Turtles' new music, which I'm sure all of America will love."

Cut to Michaelangelo: "What are all these suits doing here? Talking BUSINESS?"

Like you don't know, Michaelangelo! Sell out!

Speak of the devil, this unassuming plastic rhinestone-encrusted piece of fabric actually used to make up part of Michaelangelo's flashy outfit as seen in The Making of The Coming Out of Their Shells Tour direct-to-video mockumentary. It would have been glued onto Mikey's bandana (some glue residue still remains). Mikey's a total turtle fashionista!

The bandana eye star can be seen when the Turtles perform outdoors on top of the marquee at Radio City Music Hall.

After Jim Henson's Creature Shop decided not to make the Coming Out of Their Shells Tour costumes, the outfits were quickly put together by another studio in 5 weeks' time.

"Fashion's my passion, dude!"

"Do I have something in my eye?"

"I can't see where I'm going!"

Mikey fishing for a compliment from Richard Simmons.

Later touring costumes ditched the eye star and used running shoes and spandex pads to help the actors move around during the two-hour-long live show. (The original costumes also had bulky shells, but were later replaced with light jean vests after rehearsals.)

The eye star was acquired from the HMS Creative Productions Prop House Garage Sale held in North Hollywood, California. HMS has created props for theme park attractions, television, and movies. They designed the time travel staff from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III.

Although I somehow managed to escape the pull of seeing the Turtles live on stage, Pizza Hut had me right where they wanted me when they made one more Turtle deal in the winter of 1990—to appear all over the sequel of the best-selling Nintendo game, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Arcade Game.

Pizza Hut smeared its tomato sauce fingers over half of the ten levels (Scene 1; Scene 2, Part 1; Scene 3, Part 1; Scene 3, Part 2; and Scene 5) in the game.

There's even an advertisement for Pizza Hut in the apartment level, you know, the one that's completely on fire. Because, of course, an apartment building engulfed in flames and burning to the ground subliminally makes you want to call for the delivery of a piping hot Meat Lover's Stuffed Crust Pizza.

If the in-game ads weren't enough to get you into a Pizza Hut, the tease on the front of the game's box surely would:

COWABUNGA! Coupon for FREE PERSONAL PAN PIZZA from PIZZA HUT Inside.
Void in Quebec and Mexico
Not Sponsored by Nintendo

This was a big deal for a kid. A really big deal. A free pizza with a new Turtles Nintendo game? This was too much temptation for anyone, let alone a small, impressionable boy like myself.

The pizza promotion was well advertised, appearing even at the end of the commercial for the video game. You could find the coupon for a free personal pan pizza at Pizza Hut on the back of the game's instruction manual. You had about a year to butcher the back flap of the manual to remove the coupon and redeem it because the thing expired on December 31st, 1991. After the cut-off date, all traces of the free pizza offer were removed from the box and manual.

Pizza Hut made sure to put a dine-in or carryout restriction on the promotion so that smart ass kids couldn't call up the local Pizza Hut and ask for their free Turtles game pizza without ordering anything else. Goddamn smart ass kids ruining everything.

Despite my stance against in-game advertisement, this time it worked, it sure worked on me. I ate at Pizza Hut more than anywhere else as a kid. And I don't doubt for a second that the Turtles didn't have something to do with my pizza preferences. I even ate Pizza Hut pizza while playing this very game back in the day. Whenever I went over to a friend's house for some two-player Turtle action, he'd always ask his mother to call out for Pizza Hut. We weren't satisfied until the controllers were slick with grease.

Since 1990, the genius behind this promotion, Novack, went on to become Chairman and CEO of Yum! Brands, Inc., the Fortune 500 corporation that owns Pizza Hut as well as KFC, Taco Bell, and Long John Silver's.

And since 1990, I would go on to order my pizza exclusively from Aldo's Pizzarama in Northeast Philly. I suppose the posted health inspection report that identified roaches in the local Pizza Hut's kitchen area soured whatever remained of my yearning for sugar-filled pan pizza.