Embracing imperfection is one of the main lessons we keep learning all through adolescence. Whether it’s acne breakouts, unexplained breakups, or breakdowns from failed math tests or failed attempts to chat up that pretty girl in the cafeteria, growing up is messy… but still fun. And the biggest breakthrough a teenager can make in their ascension to adulthood is accepting that very fact. That same sentiment served as the guiding star in Nickelodeon Animation’s groundbreaking production of the all-new animated series, Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
“This series is supposed to be Leo's take on things, and you really feel that because of the animation,” says young actor Micah Abbey who plays one of the TMNT brothers, Donatello, in the series alongside Nicolas Cantu (Leonardo), Brady Noon (Raphael) and Shamon Brown Jr. (Michelangelo). “The animation definitely looks like something I would draw in a sketchbook, though I'm definitely not as good an artist as the people on the animation team.”
The 2D series – which acts as a bridge between Jeff Rowe’s 3DCG feature Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem and the film sequel that’s scheduled to release in theaters in 2026 – explores the adventures of everyone's favorite pizza-loving teenage heroes as they emerge from the sewers onto the streets of NYC. Leo, Raph, Donnie and Mikey are faced with new threats and team up with old allies to survive both teenage life and villains lurking in the shadows of the Big Apple. Produced by Nickelodeon Animation and Point Grey Pictures, Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is executive produced by Chris Yost (The Mandalorian, Thor: Ragnarok) and Alan Wan (Blue Eye Samurai, Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles [2012 Series]) and debuts on Friday, August 9, exclusively on Paramount+ in the U.S. and Canada, and on Saturday, August 10 in the U.K. and Australia.
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“Having worked on the other Turtles projects, it’s easy to highlight how different this project is because of how much we lean into the turtles being teenagers,” shares Wan. “The way the characters behave and the voice acting from our actors does feel like real kids and the show feels more grounded as a whole.”
Yost, who worked on Lloyd Goldfine’s 2003 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles animated series, adds, “The screenwriters, Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg and Jeff Rowe created something so fun and really pushed the idea that this is basically Super Bad but with mutant kids. And we wanted to continue that. We wanted to honor that and keep that heart going more than anything else. We've got action, mutants, and an army of evil robots. But, really, the focus of the show is on these kids, individually and together.”
Mutant Mayhem was the youngest depiction of the turtle brothers in TMNT’s nearly 40-year history, with the turtles acted by teen actors Abbey, Brown, Cantu and Noon. The film captured teen angst through and through, with rough 2D scribbles layered on top of jagged, rough-edged 3D animation. Characters were drawn as if they were doodles from a middle school notebook come to life and the performances included all the nuances of rowdy, rough-housing teen boys.
“We had just done work on that movie, and then got word that there was this series coming and we were going to be able to spend more time with these characters,” remembers Cantu. “I was surprised and super excited.”
“How could we not be?” adds Abbey. “I love working with these guys.”
Naturally, the film’s corresponding series, Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, would include the same raw aesthetics and acting. But translating all that into a 2D series was a challenge.
“But, at the same time, I think some of the fun of it really has been figuring out that style,” notes Yost. “The movie was a 3DCG film that maintained those scratchy scribbles of 2D animation. So now that we're doing a 2D show, we had to ask ourselves, ‘How do we stand out? How do we come up with a cool vibe and look that is producible for series animation?’ And, largely, we did okay. I can't think of anything else on the air that looks like it. Our background artists, storyboard artists, everybody all the way to colorists have been phenomenal. This has been one of the best teams I've ever worked with, and I think it shows up on the screen.”
The secret, according to Wan, was to embrace the unapologetic characterization of everything and everyone, just as Mutant Mayhem had done.
“The CG on that film had its own flavor and moved away from that Pixar look, where everything is super polished, and went with bolder choices,” says Wan, referring to not only the bold brushstrokes but also the edgy, comedic and even, at times, unflattering depictions of humans, certain mutants, and settings. “For the show, we embraced the imperfection of that style. There's no really clean line work.”
It’s fitting, because there’s nothing neat and clean when it comes to experiencing those chaotic teen years.
Wan continues, “We really want it to feel rough, and that there's a hand-drawn quality to it, but not like it’s drawn by a super skilled master artist. We wanted this show to look like it was drawn by a teenager.”
In the opinions of Cantu, Noon and Abbey, the animation team “truly killed it.”
“Working on the movie and loving the visual style, I was excited to see what the show was going to look like,” says Cantu. “I recorded at Nick Animation one time, and I asked one of the producers, ‘Can I see what you guys got going on?’ I got to walk the floor where they were working, and it was great. Having these motifs brought back from the 3DCG world put into this 2D animation looks so good, and I couldn't be more happy with how it turned out. It looks awesome.”
And Noon says the animators didn’t miss a beat when it came to replicating the ways teen boys move during those moments when emotions and energy levels are running high.
“I don't know if we had cameras in the room when we were recording and our animators were just spying on us the whole time, but, when we're arguing or shoving in the script, we'll actually flail our arms and talk back and forth in the booth and the animators matched that exactly. Or, when we’re recording fight scenes, we are actually throwing punches and the way they animate it in the show looks exactly like how we move. Every time I watch it, I think ‘This is so sick.’ [Yost and Wan] envisioned something for this show that’s never been done before, and they brought that vision to life.”
Artists were given ample creative freedom during production and Wan even noted that this was the first time he’d “truly let go and embraced the animator’s touch” in a project. Though the series has been getting positive responses within the production team, the true test will come in a couple of days.
“The tone has been a balancing act of comedy and action, humor and heart,” says Yost. “How do you put all that in the blender and come up with magic? Knock on wood, we'll see on August 9 if we managed to do it.”
Victoria Davis is a full-time, freelance journalist and part-time Otaku with an affinity for all things anime. She's reported on numerous stories from activist news to entertainment. Find more about her work at victoriadavisdepiction.com.
