Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is a 2D-animated television series. It first aired as a special preview on July 20th, 2018, before its full debut on September 17th, 2018.[1] After the special preview, it was renewed for a second season.[2] The series ended their second season on August 7, 2020.[3] Season 3 has not yet been confirmed.
The series is initially broadcast on Nickelodeon in the United States, and then week(s) later the episodes rerun on YTV in Canada.
The series can be watched on Canadian Netflix. As of April 7th, 2021, the first 20 episodes can now be streamed on Paramount plus.
Production
Development
The new 2D series is co-executive produced by Andy Suriano (character designer for Samurai Jack) and Ant Ward (supervising producer of the 2012 TV series). The series is said to be lighter and more humor-oriented than it's predecessor series.
Synopsis
Deep in the sewers of New York City, Raphael, Leonardo, Michelangelo, and Donatello are four mutant turtle brothers in their teens who go on new adventures where they end up "tapping into mystic ninja powers they never knew existed", while learning to work together as a team and navigate the perils of the modern age and hidden realms in order to fulfill their destiny to become a team of heroes.
Plot
Season 1 (2018-19)
The Turtle brothers, along with their friend April O'Neil, meet an evil alchemist named Baron Draxum, and the dangerous Foot Clan. They also learn of their Master Splinter's secret: that he was once martial arts expert, and movie star, Lou Jitsu. They must collect pieces of an ancient dark armor to prevent the Foot Clan and Draxum from resurrecting the Shredder, a demon once banished by Splinter's ancestors.
Season 2 (2019-20)
The Turtle brothers return in this season to battle against foes old and new, redeem the warrior alchemist, and fight the Foot Clan once more, while facing off against their greatest threat yet: The Shredder.
Characters
- The Mad Dogs
- Splinter (Eric Bauza)
- Todd Capybara (Thurop Van Orman)
- S.H.E.L.L.D.O.N. (Greg Cipes)
- Baron Draxum (John Cena in season 1, Roger Craig Smith in season 2)[4][5][6]
- Meat Sweats (Johnny Rotten)
- Señor Hueso (Eric Bauza)
- Warren Stone (John Michael Higgins)
- Hypno-Potamus (Rhys Darby)
- Albearto (Tom Kenny)
- Cheery Tomato (Jill Talley)
- President Pepperoni (Eric Bauza)
- Big Mama (Lena Headey)
- Huginn (Tim Simons)
- Muninn (Sam Richardson)
- Ghostbear (Jorge Gutiérrez)
- Baxter Stockboy (Ramone Hamilton)
- Mrs. Cuddles (Eliza Jane Schneider)
- Repo Mantis (Fred Tatasciore)
- The Foot Clan
- The Purple Dragons
- Sunita (Kody Kavitha)
- Bullhop (Dave Foley)
- Jupiter Jim (Phil LaMarr)
- Piebald (Chelsea Peretti)
- Capitán Piel (Christian Lanz)
- The Sando Brothers
- Carl (Jason Mantzoukas)
- Ben (Paul Scheer)
- The Mud Dogs
- Loathsome Leonard (Seth Green)
- Malicious Mickey (Greg Cipes)
- Dastardly Danny (Rob Paulsen)
Production crew
- Alan Wan - Director
- Alexis Page - Character Designer
- Andy Suriano - Executive Producer, Character Designer
- Ant Ward - Executive Producer
- Brendan Clogher - Director
- Christine Liu - Storyboard Artist
- Erik Elizarrez - Prop Designer
- Jamie Vickers - Director
- Rob Paulsen - Voice Director
- Ron Corcillo - Staff writer
- Russ Carney - Staff writer
- Ida Hem - Character Designer
- Matt Mahaffey - Composer
- Frank Verderosa - Sound Mixer
- Chris Viscardi - Supervising Producer
- Sebastian Montes - Director
- Ian Busch - Staff writer
- Jesse Gordon - Staff writer
Episodes
Film
On February 2019, Nickelodeon revealed that a feature film based on the series is currently in development, and is set to be released on Netflix.[7]
Trivia
- According to a behind the scenes video, the show focuses on the Ninja Turtles "before they started their career as crime fighters".
- This is the first time April O'Neil is officially portrayed as an African-American, but not the first concept of April as non-white. The original Mirage's April was inspired by a biracial woman Kevin Eastman once dated, and her ethnic appearance in early issues was ambiguous and in a state of flux, but was later more consistently portrayed with a caucasian appearance.
- This is the first time Raphael is the oldest turtle and leader of the TMNT instead of Leonardo. As stated by the voice actors, the new order of the turtles (from oldest to youngest) is now: Raphael, Leonardo, Donatello, and Michelangelo.
- This is the first time that each turtle are a different species from one another:
- Raphael is an alligator snapping turtle.
- Leonardo is a red-eared slider turtle.
- Donatello is a spiny softshell turtle.
- Michelangelo is an ornate box turtle.
- This is the second series in which a Turtle utilizes tonfas as a weapon, with Raphael using them in place of his double sais, the first being Michaelangelo in Ninja Turtles: The Next Mutation.
- Leonardo and Michelangelo also don't use their traditional weapons in this series. For instance, Leo wields an Ōdachi sword instead of double Katana blades, and Mikey wields a kusari-fundo instead of double nunchaku.
- It is revealed in "Mystic Mayhem" that the Turtles were given their original weapons by Splinter, only for them to be destroyed by Baron Draxum's guardsmen in the same episode. They originally find replacements in Draxum's weapons vault, but they take their new mystic weapons instead. Donnie was offered a new weapon, but chose to stick with his bo staff, which he had technologically enhanced into a tech bo.
- Unlike previous incarnations, the Turtles are all in different ages[8]:
- Raphael is 15 years old, and is the first incarnation to be older than Leonardo.
- Leonardo and Donatello are both 14 years old.
- Michelangelo is 13 years old.
- The four turtles still mutated into half-humans at the same time. During the time period of the first episode, "Mystic Mayhem", they had been mutants for less than thirteen years.
- This is the first time in any incarnation of the Turtles that some or all of the Turtles consistently call themselves or each other by nicknames other then their most common and well-known ones.
- Raphael is still called Raph, but Splinter usually just calls him Red.
- Leonardo is still called Leo, but is also at times called Leon or Nardo, and Splinter usually just calls him Blue.
- Donatello is still called Donnie or Don, but is also at times called Donald, and Splinter usually just calls him Purple.
- Michelangelo is still called Mikey or Mike, but is also at times called Angelo, Michael or Miguel, and Splinter usually just calls him Orange.
- "Mystic Mayhem", the pilot episode, premiered as a sneak preview of the series on July 20th, 2018, after Nickelodeon's Kid's Choice Sports.
- This is the first series to not initially show how the Turtles and April first met. It is also the first series to not include the Shredder right away.
- This is also the first series to have an extended edition of its theme song. The extended version was released on September 11th, 2018, and after two days the theme song had over 100,000 views.
- The extended theme was later made available on iTunes and Google Play on May 8th, 2020.
- Unlike previous incarnations, these Turtles have powers which they gained from their new mystic weapons (except for Donnie, whose weapon is technological):
- Raph has a power called Smash-jutsu.
- Mikey has a power called mystic whip.
- Leo has the power to create portals.
- There was a DVD released on March 12th, 2019, with seven early episodes.
- a second DVD was released on February 4th, 2020, with six more episodes.
- Unlike past incarnations, the Turtles have a (partially) biological relationship with Splinter by sharing his DNA.
- This is the first series with a female Casey Jones. Although there is other female Jones named Shadow Jones in Mirage comics.
- Justin Bieber canonically exists in this show's universe. See episode "Al Be Back" for reference.
- A reference to this series was made in the show Brooklyn99 Season 7 episode 10 "Admiral Peralta". The character Jake Peralta a TMNT fan mentions the new reboot with a new take on Splinter and Krang's backstory.
- A counter argument for this reference is that Jake mentioned Krang, a character that had yet to make an appearance or mention when the B99 episode aired. Krang would only make an appearance five months later during Season 2 finale and in the upcoming Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Movie.
Awards
| Year | Award | Category | Nominee | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | Annie Awards | Best Animated | Show | Nominated |
| 2019 | Annie Awards | Outstanding Animated Effects | Jeffrey Lai | Nominated |
| 2019 | Annie Awards | Outstanding Storyboarding | Kevin Molina-Ortiz | Winner |
| 2019 | Nick. Kids Choice | Favorite Cartoon | Show | Nominated |
| 2019 | Daytime Emmy | Outstanding Children's Animated Series | Show | Nominated |
| 2020 | Annie Awards | Best Animated | Show | Nominiated |
| 2021 | Annie Awards | Best Direction | Alan Wan | Nominated |
| 2021 | Annie Awards | Children's Media | Show | Nominated |
Source: Twitter and Wikipedia
Videos
References
- ↑ Variety 2 March 2017 - Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles’ CG Animated Series Gets 2D Reboot at Nickelodeon
- ↑ https://mobile.twitter.com/SuspiciousAnna/status/1291902711718277125
- ↑ Newsarama 11 January 2018 - John Cena Joins Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
- ↑ Hollywood Reporter January 11 2018 - John Cena to Voice 'Ninja Turtles' Character, Produce Competition Series for Nickelodeon
- ↑ Comicsbeat 11 January 2018 - "Rise of the TMNT" Cartoon Recruits John Cena as New Villain
- ↑ Nickelodeon to Make 'Loud House,' 'Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles' Animated Movies for Netflix
- ↑ Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Ninja Power (D. Lewman, 2018)