In 1969, a young boy was carrying four baby turtles home from the pet shop. A blind man was crossing the road when a truck labeled "T.C.R.I." almost ran him down. A young man behind the boy with the Turtles ran out to save the blind man, bumping the boy with the turtles and knocking the jar from his hands. The jar broke when it landed in the gutter, and the Turtles were washed down a sewer drainage grate. As the truck swerved, the back doors flew open. A container of green glowing goo fell out and was subsequently washed down the drain with the baby turtles. The turtles landed safely, until the jar of goo fell beside them, coating them with its contents.

Oozey
<sarcasm>Hmmm...Yes, it definately tastes like ooze.</sarcasm>
Moments later, Splinter came across the babies, gathering them into a can. He didn't realize he was coating himself with the green goo as he gathered them up. In very little time, Splinter and the turtles evolved and mutated into anthropomorphic beings with intelligence and emotion rivaling that of a human. Their mutation near completion, and educated, the rat named the Turtles after Renaissance artists - Leonardo, Donatello, Michaelangelo, Raphael. For the next fifteen years, Splinter raised and instructed the young turtles, his sons, in the martial arts in order avenge his master.