Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TV series)

Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Genre	Science fiction Superhero
Based on	Characters by Peter Laird and Kevin Eastman
Showrunners	Chris Yost Alan Wan
Voices of	Micah Abbey Shamon Brown Jr. Nicolas Cantu Brady Noon Ayo Edebiri
Theme music composer	Matt Mahaffey
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
Production
Executive producers	Chris Yost Alan Wan
Production companies	Nickelodeon Animation Studio Point Grey Pictures
Original release
Network	Paramount+

Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is an upcoming American animated television series developed for the streaming service Paramount+. Based on the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles characters created by Peter Laird and Kevin Eastman, it is set in the universe of the film Mutant Mayhem (2023) and serves as a bridge between the film and a planned sequel. The series follows the Turtles as they navigate their dual lives as both teenagers and heroes in New York City. Chris Yost and Alan Wan serve as showrunners.

Micah Abbey, Shamon Brown Jr., Nicolas Cantu, Brady Noon, and Ayo Edebiri reprise their voice roles from Mutant Mayhem. During production on the film, its producers Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg were granted approval to develop a canon streaming television series. Yost was approached by Rogen, and Wan joined the production soon after. The series was announced in July 2023, with Yost and Wan attached as showrunners. It is produced by Nickelodeon Animation Studio and Point Grey Pictures, and Titmouse provides animation.

Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is set to debut on Paramount+ on August 9, 2024.

Set two months after the events of the film Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem (2023),^[1] the series follows the Turtles as they navigate their dual lives as both teenagers and heroes in New York City.^[2] In the first story arc, the Turtles are separated while facing Bishop, a villain who plans to eliminate all mutants. They must deal with being alone for the first time and reunite to save mutant kind.^[3][4] In the second arc, the Turtles clash with a group of aquatic mutants known as the East River Three.^[4]

• Micah Abbey as Donatello^[5]
• Shamon Brown Jr. as Michelangelo^[5]
• Nicolas Cantu as Leonardo^[5]
• Brady Noon as Raphael^[5]
• Ayo Edebiri as April O'Neil^[5]

• Rose Byrne as Leatherhead^[5]
• Natasia Demetriou as Wingnut^[5]
• Austin Post as Ray Fillet^[5]
• Alanna Ubach as Bishop^[5]
• Pete Davidson as Rod^[5]
• Christopher Mintz-Plasse as Pigeon Pete^[5]
• Timothy Olyphant as Goldfin^[5]
• Jillian Bell as Lee the Eel^[5]
• Danny Trejo as Mustang Sally^[5]
• Carlin James as Hun^[4]
• Jamila Velasquez as Angel^[4]

According to Chris Yost, during the middle of production on Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem (2023), producers Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg were granted approval to develop a canon streaming television series. Yost was then approached to see if he would be interested in meeting Rogen, and after agreeing, the two discussed what the series could be. Alan Wan was brought in to work with Yost.^[1] Together, the two had experience working on the 2003 Turtles series, the 2012 Turtles series, and the 2018 series Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.^[8]

In July 2023, Variety reported that a film sequel and a 2D animated television series follow-up for Mutant Mayhem had been greenlit.^[9] The series, titled Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, was reported to act as a bridge between Mutant Mayhem and the film sequel,^[9] which has been scheduled to release in theaters in 2026.^[10][11] Yost and Wan were announced as executive producers and showrunners.^[9] Lukas Williams was set to oversee production for Point Grey Pictures which co-produces with Nickelodeon Animation Studio.^[9] Production for Nickelodeon was overseen by Claudia Spinelli, Senior Vice President of Nickelodeon Animation, and Nikki Price, Director of Development and Executive in Charge of Production.^[2]

The series sees the Turtles being split up and having to work alone. This idea was conceived by Yost and Wan during discussions with Rogen and Goldberg early during the series' development, as a way to distinguish from previous Turtles series by exploring each Turtle's personality and growth outside of their relationships with each other.^[12] The series is presented from the Turtles point of view. Yost said that they sometimes think of it as "Tales by the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles", adding that there was a bit of an unreliable narrator element to it.^[1] Inspirations for the series include the film Superbad (2007), which the team studied in order to understand the series' juvenile tone.^[13] Despite reportedly being greenlit for two seasons on announcement,^[9] Yost later said in an August 2024 interview that he was unsure if there would be a second season but said they had plenty of ideas.^[1]

Along with the series' announcement in July 2023, Micah Abbey, Shamon Brown Jr., Nicolas Cantu, and Brady Noon were confirmed to reprise their voice roles as the four Turtles.^[9] Ayo Edebiri was later confirmed to reprise her role as April O'Neil in February 2024.^[2] In June 2024, Alanna Ubach and Pete Davidson were confirmed to guest star in the series as Bishop and Rod respectively.^[7] In July 2024, Rose Byrne, Natasia Demetriou, and Post Malone were confirmed to reprise their roles from Mutant Mayhem, with Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Timothy Olyphant, Jillian Bell, and Danny Trejo joining the cast as new characters.^[14][5] Later that month, it was announced that Carlin James and Jamila Velasquez voiced Hun and Angel.^[4]

Unlike with Mutant Mayhem, in which Abbey, Brown, Cantu, and Noon recorded their voice roles together, for the series, they recorded independently from one another in separate booths. The actors felt that the decision affected the way they performed and helped them dig deeper into their respective characters.^[15] Ubach was unaware of what her character, Bishop, looked like until the first day of voice recording. Upon seeing a picture, she instantly knew what direction she wanted to take her performance in.^[16]

Independent animation studio Titmouse provides the animation for the series.^[1][17] Like with Mutant Mayhem, which took an unconventional approach to its CG animation, Wan wanted the series to take an unconventional 2D animation look. He wanted to capture a "punk rock" feeling and described the style as rough and raw.^[15] Wan felt the artstyle paid homage to the original Turtles comics by Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird.^[18] The series uses comic book drawings by Leonardo as a framing device, which the showrunners also added as an homage to the comics.^[13] For the action sequences, the team drew inspiration from various iterations of Turtles, including Mutant Mayhem, the 1990s live-action films, and Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.^[18] The series' opening theme was composed by Matt Mahaffey, who previously composed the score for Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and its 2022 film continuation.^[12]

Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is set to debut on Paramount+ on August 9, 2024, and consists of 12 episodes.^[7]

Two teaser trailers were released on February 8, 2024 and April 25, 2024, respectively.^[19][20] An official trailer was released during the IGN Live event on June 7, 2024.^[21] Becca Caddy of TechRadar praised the humor and visuals, and felt that the series would "deliver the beloved mix of colorful action, sharp wit, and humor" associated with the franchise.^[22] Wes Davis of The Verge said that the series looks to be "just as gorgeous as the 3D-animated movie it sprang from", and Joey Paur of GeekTyrant remarked that "this looks like it’s going to be a totally radical show!"^[23][24] The series' title sequence debuted at San Diego Comic-Con in July 2024.^[12] James Whitbrook of Gizmodo called it a "really cool, stylish riff on transitioning the film’s aesthetic to a 2D form".^[25] A first look at action figures by Playmates Toys was unveiled in March 2024.^[26][27]

Tyler Robertson of IGN gave the series an 8 out of 10 rating, praising the voice performances, animation, and action but criticizing the pacing and "downgrade" in the score and soundtrack. They concluded that while it does not reach the heights of Mutant Mayhem, it still retained many of its best elements.^[28] Mike Thomas of Collider gave the series an 8 out of 10 rating and commended its performances and character work. He however criticized the pacing and occasionally stiff animation, comparing the latter unfavorably to Mutant Mayhem and Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.^[29]

• Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles at IMDb
• Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles on Paramount+