Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2012 TV series)

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TV Series 2012-2017), also commonly referred to as TMNT, and called Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles for it's fifth and final season, is an American 3D-rendered computer-animated martial arts action-adventure comedy drama television animated series developed by the Nickelodeon Animation Studio in the franchise of the same name. A one hour sneak peek was released on September 28, 2012, while the official premiere aired and debuted on Nickelodeon and YTV (both in Canada and the USA) on September 29, 2012 with a two-part special episode ("Rise of the Turtles"). The series premiered in the United Kingdom and Ireland on October 1, 2012 and in Australia along with New Zealand on October 8, 2012. It is the third animated Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles television series and is produced by Nickelodeon Animation Studio. Composer Sebastian Evans provided the show's score. Nickelodeon acquired the global rights to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles from the Mirage Group and 4Kids Entertainment, Inc. and announced a new CGI-animated TMNT television series.

The 2012 version is 3D rendered and characterized by anime-like iconography and emphasis on mutagen continuing to wreak havoc on the everyday lives of the Turtles and their enemies. The most animesque take yet, full of Manga Effects and other Japanese visual humor. It's somewhat younger and hipper (the Turtles act more like 16 year old adolescents and several human characters have been aged down) but it still has dark moments. Narratively, the series draws heavily from the '87 cartoon and original live-action movies, but with long-running story arcs and other story elements inspired by other continuities.The series ran for five years with five seasons from late September of 2012 until mid-November of 2017 on Nickelodeon USA.

The show proved to be popular with both audiences and critics, garnering 3.9 million viewers on its premiere night and hit a ratings high for Nickelodeon with boys 2-11, making it the network's top-rated premiere for an animated series since 2009. During its premiere weekend the series reached nearly 12 million total viewers. The premiere's success prompted Nickelodeon to order a second season on October 2, 2012 and in February 2013, the network renewed the show for a third season. On June 17, 2014, Nickelodeon ordered a fourth season of the show. On July 10, 2015, at San Diego Comic Con International, Nickelodeon announced a 20-episode pick-up for season five, as well as confirming that season four would also consist of 20 episodes.

The series makes slight changes to the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles continuity, notably Michelangelo's new catchphrase is "Booyakasha" (which Greg Cipes himself-plays Michelangelo- came up with) instead of "Cowabunga" and his brother, Raphael, also has an un-mutated pet turtle named Spike. The series follows the four Ninja Turtles living in the underground sewers of Manhattan, where they're being trained in martial arts by the ratlike Master Splinter. Merchandise based on the series includes a new line of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles consumer products and six LEGO sets.

Two video game adaptations were released in 2013 for the show, the abysmally reviewed Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows (with the Turtles' radically redesigned from their television likenesses), followed shortly by kid-friendly Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2013 (this one with the series aesthetics), which was slightly better received. A game for mobile devices has also been released, as well as a LEGO racing game on the LEGO website.

In a unique touch, each season of the show features the Turtles watching a cheesy animated show (Space Heroes) that usually foreshadows events of an episode (which was outright lamp shaded on one occasion).

Before even finishing its first season, the series was renewed for a second and third season on October 2, 2012 and February 26, 2013 respectively. The first season concluded on August 8, 2013 with 26 episodes. Season 2 debuted on October 12, 2013 and concluded on September 26, 2014 with another 26 episodes. Season 3 was released on October 3, 2014 (one week after the Season 2 finale) and concluded on September 27, 2015. Season 4 aired on October 25, 2015 and concluded on February 26, 2017, both seasons contained 26 episodes per season. The fourth season is the only season that has aired over a year, whereas the other seasons air less than a year. The fifth and final season, titled " Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles", began airing on March 19, 2017, distributing a shorter, sparser, 20 episodes in a collection of story arcs.

After a five year run spanning five seasons and 124 episodes, the show concluded on November 12, 2017    and will be succeeded by a new 2D animated reboot series (which was revealed under the title Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles), set to replace this series on Nickelodeon in September of 2018.

Synopsis
It's the turtles' fifteenth birthday and they're itching to venture up to the surface and showcase their ninja skills. Master Splinter reluctantly agrees. At first, they love the surface with its weird lights and even stranger food (like pizza). However, things go awry when they witness a girl and her father being abducted by men in a van. They try to intervene, but don't fare well during the fight, with the van getting away, only to discover that the kidnappers are really robots with living brain creatures in their chest and were carrying the ooze that made them into mutants.

Eager to learn more about this strange connection, they regroup and begin to practice fighting as a team with Master Splinter appointing Leonardo as The Leader. After storming the enemy fortress, they learn that these creatures are called "The Kraang" and have sinister plans in store. They manage to rescue the girl, April, but the Kraang still have her father. They vow not to rest until they rescue him.

Unfortunately, the Turtles' attack has not gone unnoticed by the media, which alerts The Shredder to come to New York to take on Hamato Yoshi's students himself. What ensues is the escalating war between the Foot and Hamato Clan, a Myth Arc that turns out to have been in the works for far longer than most of the cast knows, as well as the unraveling mystery of the Kraang's agenda for Earth and humankind. Booyakasha!

Season 1 (2012-13)
Ninjutsu sensei Hamato Yoshi (Splinter) is carrying his four pet turtles through the streets of Manhattan, New York City when he encounters members of an alien race called the Kraang. During an altercation with these aliens, Yoshi and the turtles are exposed to a mysterious radioactive alien chemical substance ooze called Mutagen which causes organic beings to undergo major physical transformations. Yoshi becomes (and takes of the characteristics of) a humanoid brown rat and the turtles become anthropomorphic, they take on human characteristics. Taking upon the new name "Splinter", he retreats to the New York City sewers via the subway tunnels, where he finds an underground chamber, raises the four turtles as his adopted sons and imparts to them his knowledge of ninjutsu.

Now teenagers, the Turtles (Leonardo, Raphael, Donatello and Michelangelo) venture to the surface for the first time in 15 years and learn that the Kraang are using the mutagen as part of their plan to take over all of New York City. The Turtles befriend the teenage April O'Neil after she and her scientist father, Kirby O'Neil, are abducted by the Kraang. Donatello develops a crush on April. While Kirby remains a prisoner of the Kraang, April becomes an ally of the Turtles, who try to help her locate her father. April is also trained by Splinter to be a kunoichi or female ninja.

The Turtles also learn that Splinter's long-time archenemy Oroku Saki (Shredder) has come to New York City and has ordered his Foot Clan to track down Splinter and his sons, and put an end to their clan. This family feud eventually earns the coincidence of two of Shredder's disciples, martial arts star Chris Bradford and Brazilian street thug Xever Montes, getting mutated into Dogpound (later Rahzar) and Fishface. Furthermore, Shredder recruits former TCRI inventor and mad scientist Baxter Stockman after his mousers cross paths with Dogpound threatening some Purple Dragons to hack into April's phone (the Turtles are successful in rescuing April's phone...in pieces), but consistently threatens the scientist due to Stockman's incompetence and his ulterior motives. The Turtles also encounter (and defeat) Dr. Victor Falco, also known as 'The Rat King', who, along with having an army of New York rats, tried to brainwash Splinter into joining the dark side.

Learning about the Kraang's presence through his (adopted) daughter Karai, Shredder enters an alliance with the aliens to destroy their mutual enemies in the Hamato Clan. At one point, Karai considers offering an alliance with the Turtles to annihilate the Kraang once she sees the seriousness of an alien threat and informs them that Shredder blatantly disregards their presence, in addition to offering them secret access to a shipment of weapons (especially a rocket launcher) at the dockyard to take down the UFO, but this comes after she peskily stalks and duels with the Turtles (mostly Leonardo, who realizes that he may have feelings for her), and tracking them down to a facility where a major battle ensues before treacherously and selfishly abandoning them to fight a mutant she slyly, heedlessly and intentionally created (furthermore, Karai was so untrustworthy, that she was agreeing with Raphael that she poses a menacing threat. Karai also blatantly disregarded Leo's offer of redemption, and using his feelings for her against him). Because of her recent betrayal (and her deceitful nature), the Turtles are initially skeptical, but later come to an agreement with her. However, when they sneakily ambush Shredder at the docks, it costs the Turtles (especially Leonardo) her friendship, when they learn that she considers Shredder as his 'father'. Afterwards, Shredder interrogates a captured Kraang droid, who speaks sufficient English to inform him that the Turtles are sheltering April, who is key to the alien's plot. Shredder sends Karai to capture and abduct April (possibly to lure Splinter and/or the Turtles to him) while the Turtles battle the Kraang in an underwater facility (when they learn that the Kraang want to infect the city's water supply). Eventually Turtles are successful with thwarting this Kraang plot. Meanwhile, April narrowly eludes Karai after a lengthy chase (and after the two girls duke it out in an alley). Upon returning to Splinter and the Turtles, April decides to take shelter at the Turtles' underground sewer lair for an extended time to train with Master Splinter while the Turtles face double the threat, as Shredder begins to ally himself with the Kraang.

The Turtles discover that the Kraang (led by Kraang Prime with Kraang Sub-prime as his second-in-command) are a corrupted extraterrestrial race of Ultroms from outer space. They have invaded Earth many years ago and have come to Earth from Dimension X and built their headquarters with a company called the TCRI high rise. They are plotting to use the mutagen (along with a unique set of Kraang-like telekinetic psychic powers that April was born with) to annihilate mankind and to mutate/terraform the Earth (and all it's life forms) into a planet (another Dimension X) in order effectively trans-mutate the human race into fellow Kraang that will be suitable for their race. The Kraang needed April's unique mental energy, and they tried to use it to perfect the planetary mutation mechanism to the Turtle's reality (as it was mentioned earlier that the mutagen didn't work like the Kraang thought it would on Earth). After the Turtles rescue Kirby, the Kraang invade New York, but the Turtles and April emerge triumphant when they are able to send the Technodrome crashing into the sea (the Atlantic Ocean). Leonardo makes a heroic sacrifice, trying his best to hold off Kraang Prime and is seemingly killed, but also emerges alive and ultimately unharmed, having narrowly escaped at the last second. Meanwhile, Splinter battles Shredder and learns that Karai is technically his (Yoshi's) own long-lost birth daughter, Miwa who was kidnapped by Shredder and who believes that Splinter killed her mother. Unable to fight her, he retreats in sorrow. The first season ends with Turtles and April celebrating their victory over Kraang as Splinter hides this secret of Karai's true identity of Miwa from them, but promises to divulge this information for another day. Meanwhile, on the sea bed, the crashed Technodrome relights, indicating that the fight isn't over yet...

Season 2 (2013-14)
Some time after their victory in the Season 2 premiere, the Turtles continue to lazily and over-confidently party, much to Splinter's dismay, as he orders them to be alert. The group soon learns that The Kraang have survived their previous attack, and a Kraang UFO is delivering a shipment of mutagen canisters to Shredder, who has teamed up with the Kraang to eliminate their mutual enemies. While the Turtles successfully infiltrate the Kraang UFO and thwart this mission of the mutagen reaching Shredder, their inept incompetence causes a flurry of mutagen canisters to rain down on the city, much to their horror.

The Turtles struggle to contain an outbreak of mutations that occurs thanks to the leftover mutagen from the thwarted Kraang invasion. Kirby is among the victims of the outbreak, and a misunderstanding leads April to hate the Turtles and break off their friendship. However, the Turtles are able to earn her forgiveness when Donnie saves her from Karai, (who has taken temporary command of the Foot while the Shredder is away in Japan) resumes hunting her down with the help of The Kraang. Having finally reconciled with the Turtles, April once again decides to seek shelter at their lair to undergo some more training with Splinter, while the Turtles continue searching for the missing mutagen but also be on the lookout for the Foot army. The Hamato Clan also gains a new member when April's new friend Casey Jones helps repel an assault on the Turtles' lair. After several more adventures, which involve the Turtles and April storming TCRI, where they gain another human ally named Jack J. Kurtzman (a scientist who has studied the Kraang for years), with the group learning more about the Kraang's backstory and why April is a crucial element to the Kraang's plot as well as the return and revenge of The Rat King (who Splinter eventually defeats in the undercity), Master Splinter finally confesses to the Turtles (first Leo, then to the other three) the shockingly horrible secret about Karai's true identity he had been harboring, that she is his own long-lost birth daughter, and that she mistakenly believes that Splinter killed her mother, whereas it was really Shredder which is why she is filled with fanatical hatred towards them.

Meanwhile, The Shredder returns from Japan with the mutated Japanese bounty hunter Tiger Claw, who becomes the Shredder's new second-in-command, much to Karai's rebellious chagrin. During a battle with the Turtles, Tiger Claw is later sent through a portal inside a worm to the 1987–1996 animated series reality. Additionally, Karai is informed of the truth about her life by Leonardo (who became secretly smitten with her since they first met), however, she flatly distrusts Leo and harshly rebuffs this, even goes as far as brutally slaying the tortoise for his repeated "lies". But she is later shown eavesdropping on the group by hiding behind a billboard and overhears the group gossiping about her. Despite still being skeptical, she finally becomes intrigued by their conversation and begins to doubt her lopyalty towards Shredder.

Some time later, Kirby is eventually restored to his human form when Donatello finally manages to synthesize and concoct a Retro-Mutagen, which causes organic beings to reverse their major physical transformations, and help keep it away from former T.C.R.I inventor Baxter Stockman, who gets mutated into Stockman-Fly while under Shredder's employ.

After Tiger Claw, who later returns to the 2012 reality, enlists her in a devious scheme to find the Turtles' lair, Karai succeeds in deceiving April, Donnie and Leo by pretending to trust them about Splinter. She is taken to the lair, much to Raphael's ire. As the brothers argue, Karai sneakily schemes an ambush by slyly activating her tracking device, leading Tiger Claw to the lair. However, after she finally (and genuinely) does realize the truth herself (thanks to Splinter showing her photographs of himself as a man with Tang Shen and Karai as an infant), her feelings towards Splinter and the Turtles (especially Leonardo) change. Realizing the enormity of her treacherous schemes and cruelty towards the Turtles and Splinter, she joins forces with them and disowns Shredder and Tiger Claw (for real this time) by leading Tiger Claw to an old, underground meat processing factory. After the battle that ensues, she is captured by Tiger Claw, taken back to Shredder's lair where Shredder confesses the truth, and imprisoned. Repeated attempts to free Karai by Leonardo ultimately succeed, but the Shredder captures Karai again and uses her as bait to kill the Hamato Clan. However, despite the best efforts from the Turtles and Splinter to rescue her once more, Karai ends up mutated into a feral and predatory purple-and-white serpent after her cage falls into a pool of mutagen containing snake DNA (a trap that was meant for the Turtles), to everyone's horror.

This goes against Shredder's plan, so he is contacted by Kraang Prime to propose a risky alliance and a solution. After negotiating, the two come to an agreement: Shredder and his forces will help the Kraang capture April and conquer all of New York City, and then the world in exchange for the Kraang robots helping Shredder capture and destroy the Turtles and Splinter, as well as restoring Karai back to her normal human form.

Over the next few weeks, the Turtles, April and Casey scour the city in search of Serpent Karai in the hopes of mutating her back to normal, but their search turns up nothing. Afterwards, Donnie must put aside his differences with Casey when some Purple Dragon gangsters steal and open an ancient Chinese dagger unleashing an evil ghost which tries to sap April's psychic powers while Leo, Raph and Mikey undergo an evil possession, becoming Ho Chan's henchmen.

When the Kraang perfect their previously unstable mutagen, the Turtles travel through a portal (artificially made by Donnie) into Dimension X, scouring this weird alien land and battle rock monsters to rescue Leatherhead, who is being tormented by his Kraang captors and sends a holographic distress message through an orb. But only Mikey can figure this place out. They are successful in this mission, and escape back to Earth just before the Kraang's facility explodes, postponing their invasion for months (in Dimension X time), meaning days (in Earth time units). This gives the Turtles some more time to prepare their defenses, and Donnie some time to finish construction on the Turtle Mech.

Despite all this, The Kraang launch a second invasion of New York, starting by trashing the Turtles' lair (April mistakenly leads Irma there, and Irma reveals herself to be Kraang Sub-Prime). Although Splinter and the Turtles eventually fight off Kraang Sub-Prime, most of their lair is trashed, forcing them to abandon it. The Kraang begin mutating New York City's populace, including Kirby, despite the efforts of Earth's military and the Turtles. A falling-out between Leo and Donnie jeopardizes the mission when Leonardo is accidentally and mistakenly separated from the rest of the team as more Kraang continue to invade, leading Donnie to lead. Leo is left to single-handedly battle Shredder, Tiger Claw, Dogpound, Fishface and the entire Foot Clan army (a hoard of Footbots) but despite his valiant efforts, Shredder and his thugs gang up on the tortoise. Leo is gravely injured and knocked unconscious, as is Splinter after a battle with the Shredder, who, after defeating Leatherhead, ruthlessly flushes the unconscious rat down a sewer drain. The Turtles, April, and Casey are forced to flee to the O'Neil family's summer home in Upstate New York as the Kraang (and Shredder's forces) successfully conquer the whole city of Manhattan. Meanwhile, Splinter is rescued by Serpent Karai, who recognizes him and is left on a ledge underground in the sewer to recover.

Season 3 (2014-15)
The group takes refuge at the O'Neil family's summer home upstate in Northampton, Massachusetts in order to recuperate from their loss at the hands of the Kraang and the Foot Clan. Leonardo takes an extended amount of time to recover, but guided by an apparition of Splinter, is able to overcome his physical and mental wounds.

The group eventually returns to New York with the goal of finding Splinter, Karai, Kirby, and their other missing allies and liberate the city from the Kraang. They are successful in finding Splinter (who is completely feral), and, after restoring his humanity and memories, set up a temporary base in the abandoned Antonio's Pizza restaurant. Donatello begins work on new samples of retro-mutagen as the search for Kirby and Karai continues. Shredder later captures and mutates Anton Zeck and Ivan Steranko into his latest mutants (a mutant warthog and rhino) which Mikey dubs as 'Bebop and Rocksteady' after the duo are seen hunting down Serpent Karai while the Purple Dragons gain Hun as their leader. The Turtles, after outwitting Bebop and Rocksteady, manage to spray some retro-mutagen on Serpent Karai but it has no effect. Slowly losing her mind, she bids farewell to the Turtles, April and Casey before escaping into the sea before getting captured by Shredder, who promises to restore her back to normal.

The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles even run into the The Mighty Mutanimals (consisting of Slash (who has redeemed himself), Leatherhead, Tyler Rockwell, and Pete). Together, they manage to banish the Kraang back to Dimension X and free New York, but the effect of the invasion eventually earns Shredder cemented control of the city's criminal underworld for his efforts to create a mind-control serum meant for the turtles, Mutanimals and especially Serpent Karai, who gets brainwashed and begins hunting Splinter, the Turtles, April and Casey down. Meanwhile, Leo is taught an ancient healing technique to counteract the lethal venom.

The turtles are later offered by future time sorceress Renet to time travel to the past, where they meet up with a younger Hamato Yoshi and Oroku Saki, as well as Yoshi's late wife and Karai's mother, Teng Shen. During the battle between Yoshi and Saki inside the burning Hamato Clan dojo, Shen is accidentally killed by Saki, who meant to kill Yoshi instead. Saki leaves the dojo after his hair burns off from the fire and kidnaps Yoshi and Shen's baby daughter Miwa, vowing to raise her as Karai and leaving Yoshi to die. After his escape, the turtles save Yoshi, as they were "always destined to" before traveling back to the present with Renet.

When the Kraang return to Earth, the Turtles discover that the Kraang have another enemy from Dimension X in the form of the Triceraton Empire. Despite their best efforts and Shredder violating the Foot Clan's temporary truce with the Turtles by backstabbing Splinter during the fight in cold blood, the ruthless Triceratons activate the Heart of Darkness, a black hole-creating machine which annihilates both the Kraang, sucks up the Earth, and everyone on it. But just as it comes to the worst for the Turtles, April, and Casey, they are rescued by a friendly robot by the name of Professor Honeycutt (a.k.a. the Fugitoid) who uses a spacecraft to take the Turtles, April and Casey to a journey into outer space.

Season 4 (2015-17)
After the Turtles, April, and Casey are saved from the destruction of Earth, the Fugitoid uses his spacecraft the Ulixes to turn back time to six months earlier in order for him and the Turtles to prevent the Triceraton Empire led by Emperor Zanmoran from assembling the three components of the Heart of Darkness that are scattered throughout the universe before everything on Earth is lost. Besides fighting the Triceratons, the Turtles also face new enemies in outer space like Lord Vringath Dregg of the planet Sectoid and the bounty hunter Armaggon, and even have an adventure with their interdimensional 1987 series counterparts and their enemy Krang who is an exiled relative of Kraang Subprime. Despite the efforts of the Turtles, the Triceratons are still able to collect all three pieces of the Black Hole Generator, only for the present Turtles to return to Earth (in the past) and join forces with their past selves to warn Splinter's past self before he is killed by Shredder's past self, stop the detonator of the Heart of Darkness, and defeat the Triceratons. The present Fugitoid destroys the Black Hole Generator near the Triceraton space fleet, causing to explode, presumably killing the Triceratons. In the aftermath of the fight against the Triceratons, the past versions of the Turtles, April, and Casey leave Earth with the past Fugitoid in the Ulixes while the present Fugitoid's head reactivates in Earth orbit.

At one point, during their adventures throughout the cosmos, April is given a fragment of the ancient Aeon's mystical Sol Star (containing the very essence of power and life itself), and which helps her in further developing her psychic abilities as well as drastically increasing them to incalculable levels; also due to the several training sessions she had with the Fugitoid.

Weeks later following the Triceraton Invasion being thwarted and the Foot Clan's disappearance, April is promoted to kunoichi at the time when the witch Shinigami arrives and is revealed that she is Karai's friend as they plot to rebuild the Foot Clan and dispose of Shredder who is still recuperating from his last fight with Splinter. While Karai and Shinigami have some ninjas on their side, the Foot Clan strengthens the Footbot army by creating the Elite Footbots. Furthermore, some other crime organizations have been plotting to take over the Foot Clan's territory, and a crystal fragment of immeasurable mystical power (which April had received from an ancient benevolent race of aliens known as the Aeons) is beginning to exert quite a baneful influence on her. However, she eventually succeeds in overcoming its vast mystical power and shatters it. She then apologizes for her not disregarding the universal influence the Sol Star fragment had on her, but assures everyone that she now has a better understand of how to control her increasingly powerful psionic abilities on her own.

Using a special mutagen formula, Oroku Saki recuperates and becomes the Super Shredder in order to take back control of the Foot Clan from Karai, finish off Splinter and the Turtles, and even goes far enough to inject more unstable mutagen into himself. He ends up killing Splinter by stabbing him after so long, and is thrown into a garbage truck to be left for dead by Casey and April. However, he survives and begins to hunt the Turtles once again. Having had enough, the Turtles decide to end the long feud once and for all. After many obstacles the Turtles face against Shredder, and Leonardo ends it by killing him.

With Splinter avenged and Shredder dead, the Turtles and their friends wonder about what lies ahead. Knowing the foot isn't over yet and there are still enemies out there, the heroes prepare for the road ahead, knowing that Splinter is still with them, in spirit.

Season 5: Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2017)
After the death of their father and master, and defeating the Shredder once and for all, the turtles try to adjust to the changes in their lives. With Splinter gone, Leonardo is given the responsibility of sensei, which adds more pressure onto him while Karai (who has now become the rightful heiress to the Foot Clan) decides to take charge of the clan and rework it. Meanwhile, Tiger Claw has been leading a gang of underground mutated bandits that follow Shredder (they all harbor thoughts and memories of the fallen Super Shredder), and summons a demodragon named Kavaxas to bring Rahzar, and Shredder back to life.

Some time later, the Turtles are then joined by the revisit of Raphael's Salamandrian girlfriend, Mona Lisa, and her fellow Salamandrian, Sal Commander, to defeat the Newtralizer, who has returned and possess an ability to travel through and absorb electricity. He is later backed up by his old ally, Lord Dregg. As a result, Raphael must convince Bishop to work with the Salamandrians to defeat Newtralizer and Dregg. After the demise of the two extraterrestrial villains, the Turtles embark on a few more adventures, such as being whisked away to an alternate dimension, where they befriend Myiamoto Usagi and the pug child Kintaro from the evil wizard and wolf-demon Jei, a flashback to when Hamato Yoshi was first mutated into Splinter and began raising Leo, Donnie, Raph and Mikey as his adopted sons (set during the Turtles' boyhood shortly following their mutation, before the series premiere), an adventure featuring a possible and hypothetical future ruled by mutant animals, and another adventure involving the return of Savanti Romero where he collaborates with Universal monsters to make Earth more habitable for monsters. After Casey and April turn into vampires the Turtles and Renet escape to Ancient Egypt. After unsuccessfully thwarting Savanti from awakening a powerful mummy pharaoh from it's tomb, they travel to Transylvania where Savanti awakens Count Dracula from his tomb and allies himself with the vampire lord, who returns the favor by turning Vulko (a Romanian traveler) into a werewolf and Raphael progressively turns into a vampire, both of the vampirized victims escape to 1818 Germany where Savanti recruits Frankenstein's monster and plans to unleash his creatures on 21st century New York City, where the ultimate monster mayhem showdown occurs. Raphael, Donatello, Casey, April and the rest of the New York's populace are restored back to normal after Mikey fatally impales Dracula, and the epidemic is lifted.

Weeks following the Monstrous Tales saga, the Turtles, April, Casey, Karai, Shinigami, and the Mighty Mutanimals soon teamed up with the 1987 counterparts of the Ninja Turtles where they face the return of the 2012 Bebop and Rocksteady where they are recruited by the 1987 counterparts of the Shredder and Krang to conquer Earth of both the 1987 and 2012 realities with a fully powered 1987 Technodrome after their versions of the 1987 Bebop and Rocksteady were accidentally left behind. While the Turtles and their allies fight off a horde of Foot Soldiers from the 1987–1996 series reality and the 2012 Rock Soldiers led by Traag and Granitor, Bebop and Rocksteady discovers Shredder and Krang's treacherous scheme to destroy the Earth and choose to become heroes in order to save the planet.

Season 1 (2012–13)
The episodes aired with their working titles outside North America.

Season 2 (2013–14)
Main article: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2012 TV series) (season 2)

Season 3 (2014–15)
Main article: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2012 TV series) (season 3)

Season 4 (2015–17)
Main article: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2012 TV series) (season 4)

Season 5: Tales of The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2017)
Main article: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2012 TV series) (season 5)

Shorts
Notes: Tokka vs. the World" and "Tale of Tiger Claw" first aired on December 17, 2016 in South Korea. Requiem and Owari first aired on December 30, 2016 in South Korea.

"Raphael: Mutant Apocalypse" (The Wasteland Warrior, The Impossible Desert and Carmageddon) along with the 4-episode Monsters and Mutants story arc ("The Curse of Savanti Romero", "The Crypt of Dracula", "The Frankenstein Experiment", and "Monsters Among Us") all aired on Nicktoons instead of Nickelodeon.

Viacom purchase
After Viacom purchased the rights to the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchise in October 2009, a press release was issued unveiling that Nickelodeon would be developing a new CGI-animated television series slated to air in 2012. Though the franchise was brought out from Mirage Studios, the company is still able to publish up to 18, 48 paged black and white TMNT comics a year. Additionally, toy products would continue to be made through Playmates and the rumors of a new live-action TMNT movie were put to rest as the company also revealed that they'd be making a film for 2012 with Paramount Pictures, though the date has seen been pushed back.

Development
At the time, details on the series were scarce. From March 2011, new details about the show were released to the public. Ciro Nieli, executive producer, cited that the series would be slightly different than past incarnations. The turtles will now have "more individual attributes" that will tell them apart, were as previously they could only be distinguished by the color of their masks, the color of their skin and their weapons. Also, Michelangelo's traditional nunchaku would be replaced by kusarigama. Along with this wealth of new information, a first glimpse of the show was released alongside an initial promotional image.



More information was unveiled at an invite-only fan event in March 2010. These details, however, were from a work-in-progress version of the series, and have the opportunity to change in the final product. Some details that have been made known, however, including a teenage April O'Neil, Hamato Yoshi becoming Splinter, and The Kraang, an homage to many different entities in TMNT lore (Kraang/Utroms/Foot Soldiers ). The series is said to have the dark elements and intense action of the 2003 TV series, but still have the jokes of the 1987 series while still being something of its own.

Images of the Ninja Turtles, Master Splinter, April, Shredder and the Kraang have all been revealed. Some confirmed changes to the series are Donnie having a crush on April, Master Splinter being younger and having a more active role in the series, and Splinter training April to be a ninja so she can go out and battle enemies with the turtles. Mikey and Don can also extend their weapons into blades. Leo will also still be the skilled leader, albeit younger than Don and Raph, who will still be a hot-head.

Sometime in March 2011, a micro site for the new series was leaked on Nickelodeon's website. The micro site revealed pictures of April, Shredder, the Kraang, and Splinter with bios for all of them. The site was shut down for some time, but as of June 2011, it is back up and features a personality quiz, bios for the turtles, a newsletter, a new game called Dark Horizons, and the new trailer for the series. Merchandise for the series is already starting to get made, including action figures from playmates which will be released in August 2011, a set of stickers, Halloween costumes, and books based on the series.

An official trailer was released on June 23, 2011 and aired on Nickelodeon the following Saturday. The trailer revealed the turtle's new voices, the animation, and that the theme song of the series would be a remixed/remade version of the original theme song from the 1987 series. A new trailer was revealed on June 21, 2012, on Nickelodeon USA.

Casting
Jason Biggs originally voiced Leonardo during the series premiere. However, due to unspecified reasons, Biggs departed from the show after the 19th episode of Season 2 and was temporarily recasted by Dominic Catrambone for the rest of Season 2 (nonetheless, Leo's voice still sounds very similar). In June 2014, it was announced that Seth Green would replace Jason Biggs and Dominic Catrambone as the voice of Leonardo from Season 3 onward until the fifth and final season. The change of voice is explained by the character wounding his vocal chords.

Rob Paulsen, who voiced Raphael in the 1987 series, portrays Donatello. In June 2011, it was confirmed that Sean Astin would be playing Raphael and Greg Cipes would be playing Michelangelo. In August 2011, it was revealed that Mae Whitman would be the voice for April O'Neil. In April 2012, it was announced that Phil LaMarr would be playing the role of Baxter Stockman and Nolan North would be playing the race of aliens known as the Kraang. Actress Kelly Hu confirmed her role as Karai in May 2012.

Episodes
Nickelodeon has ordered five seasons, all of which will have 26 episodes (except Season 5 which has only 20 episodes). Season 1 premiered on September 29, 2012. The premiere of season 2 was on October 12, 2013. Season 3 has been announced on February 26, 2013, premiered on October 3, 2014 and concluded on September 27, 2015. Season 4, which was announced on June 17, 2014, had premiered on October 25, 2015 and concluded on February 26, 2017. Season 4 is the only season to air over a year, whereas the other seasons have aired for less than a year.

Season 5 has been announced on July 10, 2015. It was also the final season, titled "Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles".

Half-Shell Heroes: Blast to the Past
On November 22, 2015, Nickelodeon aired a 2D animated special, Half-Shell Heroes: Blast to the Past. In the special, the Ninja Turtles are accidentally transported back to the Cretaceous period by an ancient meteorite and must work together with Rocksteady and Bebop (along with some newly befriended dinosaur allies) to get back to their own time, while simultaneously fending off would-be predators and a faction of the Triceraton Army led by General Zera (voiced by Kate Mulgrew), coming to prehistoric Earth. Random House also released a book based on the special while Playmates released new dinosaur toys in the fall to coincide with the program. The special was seen by 1.41 million viewers. It was released on DVD, through Nickelodeon and Paramount Home Media Distribution, on March 15, 2016.

Short films
A series of short films were released during the course of the series, including: Turtles in Time, Teenage Mecha Ninja Turtles, TMNT Team Up: The Short Series.

Teenage Mecha Ninja Turtles focuses on the eponymous group, four human teen mecha pilots trained by an aged Michelangelo (with Greg Cipes reprising his role from the series) set in a futuristic New York City (circa 2090) inhabited both by humans and anthropomorphic animals, including a Scruff McGruff-like police chief. The four children each pilot colored turtle like mechs, and consist of the following: team leader Frida (voiced by America Young) pilots the red, Raphael-like mech; the blue mech with cloaking abilities that resembles Leonardo is piloted by Frida's antagonistic teammate Jackson (Eric Artel); the battle happy Kusama (Tania Gunadi) pilots the Michelangelo-like orange mech; and the purple mech, which is heavily armored and wields a bo staff that can transform into a hammer, is piloted by the nerdy and somewhat anxious Basque (Khary Payton). The short features the Mecha Turtles subduing a group of anthropomorphic thieves resembling Hyenas and other canines, consisting of wolf-like leader Grimm, spotted hyena-like members Jester Joe (both voiced by Eric Bauza) and Jester Jim (voiced by David Kaye, who also voices the armored police officer Sgt. Swat), and several other silent members.

Home video
The series has also been released to home video, mainly DVD. Nickelodeon's typical Region 1 DVD release schedule is to release each season across three volumes, consisting of four DVDs totally, with each disc containing about 6-7 sequential episodes.

Comics
Similar to the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures series from Archie Comics, which spinoff from the original TV series, IDW Publishing released a spin-off comic title named New Animated Adventures featuring original adventures, starting July 2013. The series was cancelled after 24 issues, and was succeeded by a revised story program entitled Amazing Adventures, which was launched in August 2015. One of the main reasons for this revision was the inclusion of the Shredder as a vital character into the comic stories, which had been neglected in New Animated Adventures. Amazing Adventures was published until September 2017, with a total of fourteen regular issues, one special story guest-starring Carmelo Anthony, a three-issue story arch titled Robotanimals, and the crossover miniseries Batman/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures.

Toys
Playmates Toys created a new line of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles consumer products to go along with the show.

In mid-2012, Playmates Toys released their first wave of basic Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles action figures which consisted of "hero figures" Leonardo, Donatello, Raphael, Michelangelo, Splinter and April O'Neil as well as "villain characters" Shredder, Kraang, and a Foot Soldier. In early 2013, Playmates released series 2 which consisted of the new "hero" character Metalhead as well as new villains Dogpound and Fishface. In April 2013, the third wave appeared which included the "hero" character Leatherhead as well as villains Snakeweed and Baxter Stockman. Wave four was released in early August and it featured the villains Rat King and Spyroach as well as new "Stealth Tech" versions of the four turtles. Wave 5 was released in October with a 7 pack of Mousers as well as four baby versions of the Turtles (Turtles in training) October saw the final release of 2013 with wave six which included two new villains: Spider Bytez and a newly sculpted Shredder figure featuring a removable helmet and cape. Wave seven first appeared in February 2014 with figures for Kirby Bat, Squirrelanoid, Casey Jones, and Mutagen Man.

The Lego Group released a Lego theme of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles between 2012 and 2014.

In July 2014, Build-A-Bear Workshop released a series of plush versions of the Turtles, as well as other TMNT themed apparel including an outfit of Shredder, along with items such as the Turtles' signature weapons.[citation needed]

In April 2014, Diamond Select Toys unveiled the first series of Minimates mini-figures based on the Nickelodeon series. Two unpainted promotional figures were given away at Comic-Con International 2014, and Series 1 was released in fall 2014 as blind bags at Kmart and comic shops, and in 2-packs at Toys "R" Us. Each location had one or two exclusive characters in addition to their shared characters. Series 2 was released in comic shops in early-2015 and at Toys "R" Us in mid-2015, again with both shared and exclusive figures. Series 3 is scheduled for both locations for the fall of 2015. A Series 4 has been confirmed.

Video games
In 2013, Nickelodeon released Rooftop Run for iOS devices such as the iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch.

On August 28, 2013, Activision released Out of the Shadows, a downloadable 3D beat 'em up game, for Xbox 360 and Microsoft Windows. On April 15, 2014, a version was released for the PlayStation 3. The game features an online multiplayer co-op for up to four players.

Activision also released a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles video game based on the series for Wii, Xbox 360, and Nintendo 3DS on October 22, 2013.

On September 4, 2014. Activision announced there being a second game based on the show called Danger of the Ooze. The game was released on October 28, 2014 for the Nintendo 3DS and Xbox 360, and the PlayStation 3. The game was developed by Wayforward.

Main Characters

 * Leonardo (Jason Biggs, Seasons 1-2), (Dominic Catrambone, rest of season 2), (Seth Green, Seasons 3-5)
 * Donatello (Rob Paulsen)
 * Raphael (Sean Astin)
 * Michelangelo (Greg Cipes)
 * Hamato Yoshi/Splinter (Hoon Lee)
 * April O'Neil (Mae Whitman)
 * Casey Jones (Josh Peck)
 * Hamato Miwa/Karai (Kelly Hu)
 * Foot Clan
 * Oroku Saki/Shredder/Super-Shredder (Kevin Michael Richardson)
 * Chris Bradford/Dogpound/Rahzar (Clancy Brown)
 * Xever Montes/Fishface (Christian Lanz)
 * Baxter Stockman/Stockman-Fly (Phil LaMarr)
 * M.O.U.S.E.R.S
 * Tiger Claw (Eric Bauza)
 * Ivan Steranko/Rocksteady (Fred Tatasciore)
 * Anton Zeck/Bebop (J.B. Smoove)
 * The Kraang (Nolan North)
 * Kraang Prime (Roseanne Barr, Rachel Butera)

Recurring Characters

 * Purple Dragons
 * Hun (Eric Bauza)
 * Fong (Andrew Kishino)
 * Sid (Andrew Kishino)
 * Tsoi (James Sie)
 * Mr. Murakami (Sab Shimono)
 * Kirby O'Neil (Keith Silverstein)
 * Metalhead
 * Mighty Mutanimals
 * Spike/Slash (Corey Feldman)
 * Leatherhead (Peter Lurie)
 * Dr. Tyler Rockwell/Monkey Brains (Frank Welker, Tom Kenny)
 * Muckman and Joe Eyeball (Grant Moninger)
 * Jason/Mondo Gecko (Robbie Rist)
 * (A.J. Buckley)
 * Ice Cream Kitty (Kevin Eastman)
 * Chompy Picasso
 * Shinigami (Gwendoline Yeo)

Supporting Characters

 * Dr. Victor Falco/Rat King (Jeffrey Combs)
 * Timothy/The Pulverizer/Mutagen Man (Roger Craig Smith)
 * Carlos Chiang O'Brien Gambe (Jim Meskimen)
 * Fungus Humungous (Fred Tatasciore)
 * Snake/Snakeweed (Danny Jacobs)
 * Victor/Spider Bytez (Lewis Black)
 * Mrs. Campbell (Cassandra Peterson)
 * Newtralizer (Danny Trejo)
 * Justin
 * Spy-Roach
 * Traag
 * Parasitica Wasp
 * Biotroid (Nolan North)
 * Squirrelanoids
 * Chrome Dome
 * Irma (Kate Micucci)
 * Jack Kurtzman (Robert Forster)
 * Kraathatrogon
 * 80's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
 * Donatello (1987 TV series) (Barry Gordon)
 * Leonardo (1987 TV series) (Cam Clarke)
 * Michaelangelo (1987 TV series) (Townsend Coleman)
 * Raphael (1987 TV series) (Rob Paulsen)
 * 80's Krang (Pat Fraley)
 * Sir Malachi (Paul Reubens)
 * Antonio/Pizza Face (John DiMaggio)
 * Granitor
 * Rocktopus
 * Long-Tongue Worms
 * Living Atoms
 * Knight/Kraang Subprime (Gilbert Gottfried)
 * Ho Chan (James Hong)
 * Creep
 * Bigfoot (Diedrich Bader)
 * The Finger (Jesse Ventura)
 * Mrs. O'Neil Clone (Renae Jacobs)
 * Punk Frogs
 * Attila the Frog (Maurice LaMarche)
 * Genghis Frog (Kevin Michael Richardson)
 * Napoleon Bonafrog (Jon Heder)
 * Rasputin the Mad Frog (Maurice LaMarche)
 * Frog Soldiers (Rob Paulsen, Josh Peck, Kevin Michael Richardson)
 * Dream Beavers
 * Dire Beaver (Robert Englund)
 * Dark Beaver (John Kassir)
 * Dread Beaver (Robert Englund)
 * Dave Beaver (John Kassir)
 * Speed Demon (Steve Blum)
 * Dr. Cluckingsworth
 * Chimera
 * Don Vizioso (Brian Bloom)
 * Fulci Twins (Eric Bauza)
 * Renet (Ashley Johnson)
 * Savanti Romero (Graham McTavish)
 * Lord Simultaneous (Jim Piddock)
 * Tang Shen (Minae Noji)
 * Hamato Yūta (Hoon Lee)
 * Son of Snakeweed
 * Fugitoid (David Tennant)
 * Triceratons
 * Zanmoran (Michael Ironside)
 * Mozar (Michael Dorn)
 * Zog (Lance Henriksen)
 * Lord Vringath Dregg (Peter Stormare)
 * Armaggon (Ron Perlman)
 * Sal Commander (Keith David)
 * Mona Lisa (Zelda Williams)
 * Wyrm (Dwight Schultz)
 * Vrax Belebome (Charlie Murphy)
 * Neutrinos
 * Utrom High Council
 * Queen (Cassandra Peterson)
 * Bishop (Nolan North)
 * Pawn (Nolan North)
 * Rook (Kate Micucci)
 * Hiidrala (Lucy Lawless)
 * Cthugga
 * Tokka
 * Antrax
 * Scumbug (Ted Biaselli)
 * The Hammer (Eric Bauza)
 * Wingnut (Daran Norris)
 * Screwloose (Jeff Bennett)
 * Monoculus
 * Skullface McGillin (Fred Tatasciore)
 * (Minae Noji)
 * Kavaxas (Mark Hamill)
 * Tatsu (Michael Hagiwara)
 * Miyamoto Usagi (Yuki Matsuzaki)
 * Jei (Keone Young)
 * Akemi (Brittany Ishibashi)
 * Sumo Kuma (Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa)
 * Kintaro (Evan Kishiyama)
 * Tanuki
 * Joroguma (Brittany Ishibashi)
 * Verminator Rex (Nyambi Nyambi)
 * Mira (Jessica DiCicco)
 * Imperius Reptilicus (Keith Morris)
 * Pharaoh (Grant Moninger)
 * Vulko (Dimitri Diatchenko)
 * Esmerelda (Dana Delorenzo)
 * Dracula (Chris Sarandon)
 * Frankenstein's Monster (Grant Moninger)
 * Victor Frankenstein (Grant Moninger)
 * Igor (Grant Moninger)


 * 80's Shredder (Kevin Michael Richardson)
 * Foot Soldier

Mentioned Characters

 * Koga Takuza
 * April O'Neil's Mother

Production Crew

 * Andrea Romano (Voice Director)
 * Ciro Nieli (Executive Producer)
 * J.R. Ventimilia (Executive Producer)
 * Joshua Sternin (Executive Producer)
 * Sebastian Evans (Composer)
 * Kenny Byerly (Staff Writer)
 * Russ Carney (Staff Writer)
 * Ron Corcillo (Staff Writer)
 * Peter DiCicco (Script Coordinator)
 * Michael Chang (Animation Director)
 * Alan Wan (Animation Director)
 * Ant Ward (Supervising Producer)
 * Alex Deligiannis (Art Department)
 * Juan Jose Meza-Leon (Animation Director)
 * Rie Koga (Animation Director)
 * Sebastian Montes (Animation Director)
 * Brandon Auman (Staff Writer)
 * Gavin Hignight (Staff Writer)
 * Randolph Heard (Staff Writer)
 * Nadia Vurbenova-Mouri (Art Director)

Background
On October 21, 2009, a press release was made indicating that Viacom had bought the complete rights of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchise from Peter Laird for $60 million, and would be developing a CGI animated TV series for its Nickelodeon family of channels for broadcast in 2012. A feature film, released by Paramount Pictures (also a division of Viacom), debuted in 2014.

Jason Biggs originally voiced Leonardo and Rob Paulsen voices Donatello. In June 2011, it was confirmed that Sean Astin is playing Raphael and Greg Cipes is Michelangelo. In August 2011, it was revealed that Mae Whitman would be the voice for April O'Neil. In April 2012, it was announced that Phil LaMarr would be playing the role of Baxter Stockman and Nolan North would be playing a race of aliens known as the Kraang, while Roseanne Barr was confirmed to voice their leader, Kraang Prime. Actress Kelly Hu confirmed her role as Karai in May 2012. Corey Feldman has been confirmed to play the role of Slash. Recurring TMNT character Casey Jones began appearing in the second season, and is voiced by former Nickelodeon star Josh Peck.

Production art was leaked on the Nickelodeon website before it was taken down. The images showed the designs of all four Turtles, Shredder, Splinter, a teenage April O'Neil and the Kraang, an alien race that combines elements of both Krang and the Utroms. A trailer for the series was released on June 21, 2012, on Nickelodeon USA. In June 2014, it was announced that Seth Green would replace Jason Biggs as the voice of Leonardo in season 3.

Merchandise
Playmates Toys created a new line of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles consumer products to go along with the show.

In mid 2012, Playmates Toys released their first wave of basic Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles action figures which consisted of "hero figures" Leonardo, Donatello, Raphael, Michelangelo, Splinter and April O'Neil as well as "villain characters" Shredder, Kraang, and a Foot Soldier. In later 2012, Playmates released series 2 which consisted of the new "hero" character Metalhead as well as new villains Dogpound and Fishface. In April 2013, the third wave appeared which included the "hero" character Leatherhead as well as villains Snakeweed and Baxter Stockman. Wave four was released in early August and it featured the villains Rat King and Cockroach Terminator as well as new "Stealth Tech" versions of the four turtles. Wave 5 was released in October with a 7 pack of Mousers as well as four baby versions of the Turtles (Turtles in training) October saw the final release of 2013 with wave six which included two new villains: Spider Bytez and a newly sculpted Shredder figure featuring a removable helmet and cape. Wave seven first appeared in February 2014 with figures for Kirby Bat, Squirrelanoid, Casey Jones, and Mutagen Man.

The Lego Group released a Lego theme of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles in 2013.

in July 2014, Build-A-Bear Workshop released a series of plush versions of the Turtles, as well as other TMNT themed apparel including an outfit of Shredder, along with items such as the Turtles' signature weapons.

Video games
In 2013, Nickelodeon released Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Rooftop Run for iOS devices such as the iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch.

On August 28, 2013, Activision released Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows, a downloadable 3D beat 'em up game, for Xbox 360 and Microsoft Windows. On April 15, 2014 a version was released for the Playstation 3. The game features an online multiplayer co-op for up to four players.

Activision also released a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles video game based on the series for Wii, Xbox 360, and Nintendo 3DS on October 22, 2013.

On September 4, 2014. Activision announced a second game based on the show called Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Danger of the Ooze. The game was released on Nintendo 3DS and Xbox 360, and was also released on the PlayStation 3 instead of the Wii. The game was developed by WayForward.

Broadcast
The series debuted on Canadian channel YTV on September 29, 2012. It also premiered on Nickelodeon (UK and Ireland) on October 1, 2012. Then Nickelodeon (Australia and New Zealand) debuted the show on October 8, 2012. It aired on Nickelodeon (Canada) on September 2, 2013.

Reception
IGN has given the show positive reviews, with many episodes reviewed being given the "Editor's Choice" title. "Invasion" has received the highest rating of 10/10. The series premiered in the U.S. to 3.9 million viewers.

Variety has praised the show, saying "...handsomely produced effort, with a strong vocal cast, considerable humor and scads of high-spirited action. If the goal was to introduce the Turtles to a new generation — amphibious mission accomplished.

Trivia

 * This is the first series in which each turtle has a definitive spotting detail, beyond the colored masks, skin color, and weapons
 * Michelangelo has freckles, a childlike face, and is the shortest.
 * Donatello has diastema (a gap between the front teeth), and is the tallest and leanest of the brothers.
 * Raphael has a lightning bolt chip broken off on the top right of his plastron. He is also the 2nd shortest.
 * Leonardo has, for the most part, been unchanged, but if you look closely, you can see that his skin is a darker shade of green from the others, and he's also the second tallest.
 * They all have different mask lengths, in order from longest to shortest: Raphael, Donatello, Leonardo, and Michelangelo.
 * The turtles all have distinct eye colors. Raphael has green, Donatello has red/brown, and Michelangelo and Leonardo have blue eyes, though Mikey's are a lighter blue.
 * On another note, they all have pupils except when they become serious in some segments, to when they have white, empty eyes.
 * Each turtle's head is distinctly shaped.
 * All the Turtles have their own skateboard, which was shown in a trailer.
 * The Turtles are 15 years old in this series, though it is obvious Leonardo is the oldest, with Raphael and Donatello in the middle and Michelangelo being the youngest.
 * They have three toes on each foot instead of two as in previous incarnations.
 * They don't have visible tails unlike in some previous incarnations.
 * They have different color wraps on their feet and wrists with Leonardo having light peach, Donatello having golden brown, Michelangelo having light brown, and Raphael having dark brown.
 * Leonardo's favorite television series, Space Heroes, has similar art and story to the Filmation Star Trek animated series. However, it was replaced in the second season by SRMFF.
 * The romantic element of the story is more emphasized in this series, where Donatello develops a crush on April and fight with Casey over her affections, Leonardo develops feelings for Karai, Michelangelo forges a relationship with Renet and Raphael and Mona Lisa even became a couple.
 * This is the second incarnation of Shredder to be voiced by an African-American actor. James Avery was the villain for most of the 1987 series' run, along with Dorian Harewood, who voiced him for several Season 3 episodes. This Shredder is played by Kevin Michael Richardson.
 * The show tends to shift into 3 different styles, mainly the mouth movement.
 * The show's opening ends with the turtles in the same poses as the original turtles on the cover of the first issue of the Mirage comic book.
 * In the 1987 series and the 2003 series a young boy purchased the Ninja Turtles, but in this version, it's Hamato Yoshi who bought them.
 * This is the first TMNT series that uses anime-style expressions.
 * Except for the IDW comics, this new series uses elements from all incarnations of TMNT.
 * This is the third TV series to show the Ninja Turtles as kids.