Before computer generated visual effects became the norm in Hollywood, there was really only one way to convincingly bring fantastic creatures to life on the big screen: animatronics. And as seen in the video below, it was animatronics technology that was responsible for bringing the live-action versions of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles to the big screen in three theatrical adventures between 1990 and 1993.

Instead of CGI, actors donned electronics-filled reptile heads, while puppeteers off camera controlled the character's facial expressions using complex remote controls. And don't forget the use of then-state of the art software like Windows version 3.1!

See also: 'Ninja Turtles' creator slams Megan Fox

Combining the fields of robotics, character design, and puppetry, animatronics have been used to create realistic special effects and monsters in movies and theme parks since the 1960s. (Unsurprisingly, the technology was first developed by Disney.) Animatronics have given moviegoers everything from the great white shark in “Jaws” and the dinos in “Jurassic Park,” to the titular alien creature in “The Thing,” the walking cybernetic death of “The Terminator,” and the slug-like crime lord Jabba the Hutt from “Return of the Jedi.”

Muppet creator Jim Henson's famed Creature Shop designed and built the costumes and animatronic heads for the first two Ninja Turtles movies (essentially making the heroes in a half-shell some of the most sophisticated Muppets ever built), while the All Effects Company (creators of the Energizer Bunny and the Johnny 5 robot from "Short Circuit," among other characters) took over the animatronics work for "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III."

See also: Michael Bay's 'Ninja Turtles' reboot is still happening

While Hollywood still employs animatronics in movies these days (see Ridley Scott's "Prometheus" or basically any movie by "Hellboy" director Guillermo del Toro), the use of the tried-and-true special effects technology is definitely in decline. Seeing a video about the inner workings of an iconic animatronic character like a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle is like watching a lost art come alive again.