How TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES: MUTANT MAYHEM Will Embrace Teenage Side of the Characters
One of the things that I really like from the footage I’ve seen from the upcoming film Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem is how the Ninja Turtles characters actually come off as being actual teenagers. They are playful, silly, and fun, and they do the kinds of stupid things that only teenagers would do.
Paramount Animation and Nickelodeon Animation president Ramsey Naito recently sat down for an interview with Deadline, and she talked about how producers Seth Rogen and Jeff Rowe wanted to put a heavy focus on the “teenage” side of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. She said:
“[Seth and Jeff] really wanted to tell a story that embraced the teenage part — and to our surprise there hadn’t been any stories told about the teenage part which was weird. Jeff in particular gravitated towards teenage doodles, high school doodles that kids start doing in their notebooks… Those doodles are infused and inspired and embraced by raw budding hormones and dreams of empowerment and the desire of being accepted.”
She went on to say:
“All of those things combined really inspired the look of the film which is so tactile, and ended up also then along the way of being infused with the spirit of New York — the smells of the subway, grit, grime, energy. It has so much energy look-wise. The development was born out of the teenage part of TMNT that was really organic. And because of the coming-of-age part of it, Seth being the comic genius that he is through these unique characters brought voice and comedy and heart.”
One of the other things that was done to get the teenage authenticity down is that they brought all the young teen voice actors together in recording studios and let them have fun riffing off each other, just acting like normal silly teenagers. This movie is going to be a good time!
In Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem, after years of being sheltered from the human world, the Turtle brothers set out to win the hearts of New Yorkers and be accepted as normal teenagers through heroic acts. Their new friend April O’Neil helps them take on a mysterious crime syndicate, but they soon get in over their heads when an army of mutants is unleashed upon them.
When previously talking about the tone of the film, director Jeff Rowe revealed the vibe they were going for: “We wanted it to be like Stand By Me and Lady Bird. But, you know, with Ninja Turtles.”
The voice cast of the film includes Micah Abbey as Donatello, Shamon Brown Jr. as Michelangelo, Nicolas Cantu as Leonardo, Brady Noon as Raphael, Jackie Chan as Splinter, John Cena as Rocksteady, Seth Rogen as Bebop, Ice Cube as Superfly, Rose Byrne as Leatherhead, Natasia Demetriou as Wingnut, Ayo Edebiri as April O’Neil, Giancarlo Esposito as Baxter Stockman, Post Malone as Ray Fillet, Paul Rudd as Mondo Gecko, and Maya Rudolph as Cynthia Utrom.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem hits theaters on August 2nd.