Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Animated Series

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Animated Series (also known as TMNT: The Animated Series and TMNTTAS) is an American animated television series developed and executive produced by Brandon Greene, Victor Cook, and . It is the sixth animated series in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchise. In terms of overall tone and style, the series is loosely based principally on both the and original Mirage comics era of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and the , with a similar balance of action, drama and comedy. However, it also tends to blend material from all eras of the comic and cartoon's run up to that point in addition to other sources such as the live-action film series, the and comics. In a break from other series, the turtles break the fourth wall and speak directly to the audience. It also includes fantasy sequences from each of their minds.
The series premiered on Nickelodeon on May 4, 2029, in celebration of the 45th anniversary of the characters. The series received critical acclaim from critics, with praise for its faithful portrayal of the titular protagonists (along with the supporting characters and villains), the writing, and the unique character designs and art style. A feature film prequel was released on Paramount+ on August 10, 2035, following the end of the sixth season.
==Synopsis==
Four teenage turtle brothers: Leonardo, Donatello, Raphael and Michelangelo, have been raised by their Master Splinter team up with a young aspiring journalist April O'Neil and a hockey mask wearing vigilante Casey Jones, as well as many other mutants to fight in the shadows as soon they have to move out of the shadows and defend New York City from a plethora of villains, primarily the Foot Clan led by their archenemy, the Shredder, while dealing with their own teenage problems and self discovery.
==Characters==
=== Main===
*Leonardo (voiced by Yuri Lowenthal) - the rule abiding leader of the Turtles who tries to lead his brothers on the right path although he is not the best at keeping his brothers in check.
*Raphael (voiced by Benjamin Diskin) - an aggressive and rebellious turtle who often disagrees with Leo's leadership skills as his aggression often leads to him getting in trouble.
*Donatello (voiced by Danny Pudi) - a nerdy turtle with a knack for inventing who isn't the best around people although he builds numerous gadgets for the Turtles.
*Michelangelo (voiced by Dante Basco) - a goofy and fun-loving turtle who always has a smile on his face as he likes to keep things light, mainly due to believing that life is worth fighting for.
===Supporting===
*Master Splinter (voiced by Keone Young) - the master and father of the Turtles who finds them prior to their mutation and trains them in Ninjutsu. He was the pet of Hamato Yoshi and learned ninjutsu by mimicking his moves.
*April O'Neil (voiced by Tara Strong) - a confident, courageous, benevolent, intelligent, and outgoing teenage girl and Donnie's crush who encounters the Turtles and would learn that they were her father's pets at the TCRI lab prior to their mutation as she becomes their best friend and sister figure. Although she can get too weird sometimes. April would later become a reporter and journalist for Channel 6 News in Season 3.
*Casey Jones (voiced by Jason Marsden) - a cocky hockey masked vigilante who became one after the death of his father as he lets April move in with him while he battles crime and becomes a crucial ally to the Turtles and love interest of April.
*Keno Konami (voiced by Max Mittelman) - Casey's best friend, a pizza delivery boy, and martial arts expert who meets the turtles and befriends them.
*Irma Langenstein (voiced by Lacey Chabert) - April's nerdy best friend and roommate in college. She's also Mikey's love interest. Irma would later work for channel 6 news in Season 3.
*Aunt June O'Neil (voiced by Nancy Linari) - April's aunt who took care of her after her parents' death.
*Professor Jordan Perry (voiced by Greg Ellis) - a scientist who works with April's father, Robert O'Neil at the TCRI company as head scientist who test experimented on the turtles before being taken by Shredder. He was revealed to be an Utrom in the last episode of Season 2.
*Vernon Fenwick (voiced by Harvey Guillén) - April's co-worker and cameraman. He is self-proclaimed and has an ego. But when things get dangerous, he'll be the first one to run away.
*Burne Thompson (voiced by Darrell Brown) - April's stubborn and irascible boss at Channel 6 News.
*Edwin "Buzz" Buzzuro and Ezekiel "Zeke" Luther (voiced by Jameson Moss and Joel Courtney) - two bullies at Eastman High School. Buzz, the leader, was prone to dragging Zeke into wacky schemes, which usually failed miserably and ended in humiliation or injury.
* The are a team of mutant animals.
** Jabari / Jagwar (voiced by James C. Mathis III) - an honorable African warrior who left his homeland and got hit with a canister of mutagen, turning him into a mutant jaguar. He is the leader of the Mutanimals.
** Slash (voiced by Alan Tudyk) - a class pet box turtle who got mutated by the ooze. He started off as an enemy of the turtles but later became their ally and gain intelligence.
** (voiced by Ron Perlman) - a Cajun Sewer alligator that was mutated by a pair of TCRI Utroms, but soon got separated from them.
** Jason / Mondo Gecko (voiced by T.J. Miller) - a popular high school skateboarder who while skating was hit on the head by a canister of mutagen that was accidentally dropped from the sky by Krang. He mutated into a mutant Gold dust day gecko due to his pet gecko being on his shoulder at the time.
** Jack Finney / Ray Fillet (voiced by Ron Funches) - a marine biologist who worked at the Burroughs Aquarium in New Jersey. He was exposed to the mutagen after he climbed into a pipe on Bayview Beach that was polluting the water. He mutated into a manta ray.
** Bunnie Tùzǐ (voiced by Nancy Cartwright) - a mutant cyborg rabbit with a Southern accent. Half of her body was roboticized, leaving her left arm, right ear, and both legs mechanical. She is skilled in martial arts and and shows her affection with folksy slang like "Hon'" or "Sugah" (similar to Rogue from X-Men). She is based on Lucy Liu.
** Herman (voiced by Bill Fagerbakke) - a mutant hermit crab who was created by Old Hob to serve in his mutant army. The dumpster on his back is filled with a variety of heavy weapons.
** Jacques (voiced by Rob Paulsen) - a mutant raccoon with a French accent whose awkwardness often places the others in danger. He has some difficulty speaking English. He has romantic feelings for Bunnie, and attempts to impress her. However, his selfishness hinders this goal. Raph often teases Jacques over his shortcomings.
** Wingnut and Screwloose (voiced by Diedrich Bader and Scott Menville) - a mutant bat and mosquito who were originally hired by Agent Bishop to capture the Turtles and other mutants, but would later become their allies. They are a parody of Batman and Robin.
* The Punk Frogs (voiced by Green Day) are a punk rock band of mutant frogs who after being mutated were used to make a profit.
** Attila the Frog (voiced by ) - the lead singer of the Punk Frogs.
** Napoleon Bonafrog (voiced by ) - the guitarist of the Punk Frogs.
** Rasputin the Mad Frog (voiced by ) - the bassist of the Punk Frogs.
** Genghis Frog (voiced by ) - The drummer of the Punk Frogs.
===Antagonists ===
*The is an evil criminal organization of ninjas dating back to the ancient Japan. 
**Oroku Saki / The Shredder (voiced by Andrew Kishino) - the ruthless leader of the Foot Clan, arch-enemy of the Turtles and Splinter, and the main antagonist of the series. He was Hamato Yoshi's brother-in-arms until he has grown a pure hatred for him, killing him and taking over the Foot Clan as he learns of Yoshi's pet, Splinter and the Turtles, and wants to create a mutant army to destroy them all. Kishino reprises his role from .
**Karai (voiced by Grey DeLisle) - the Shredder's adopted daughter and an expert kunoichi. In Season 3, she would later become an ally of the Turtles when she found out that she's the biological daughter of Hamato Yoshi and Tang Shen, and that Shredder killed them.
**Hattori Tatsu (voiced by Eric Bauza) - Shredder's second-in-command and most loyal enforcer in the Foot Clan.
**Hercules (voiced by Antony Starr) - a mutant African lion and Shredder's top assassin. Once he was a 24 year old football player with a bright future ahead of him, however he was mutated into an anthropomorphic African lion by Krang, afterwards he was cruelly rejected by his parents, brother and mostly his beloved girlfriend, who was pregnant with his child at the time. After being found by Shredder, he went under intense training for two years before returning to America with Shredder and the Foot.
**Peter and Kevin (voiced by Jack Champion) - Hercules' identical twin sons. They were born shortly after their fathers mutation, however Hercules was banned from their lives due to his mutation. However one night Hercules, Shredder, Tatsu and several Foot Ninjas attacked their mother and stepfathers house and snatched them. Peter and Kevin were then raised as members of the Foot Clan, Peter is a Foot ninja with dreadlocks and is the boyfriend of Karai, whilst Kevin is a member of the Foot Elite and has short hair.
**Foot Ninja's (Various) - ninjitsu based thugs who serve as the backbone of the Foot Clan's forces.
**Foot Elite (Various) -
*Krang (voiced by Tom Kenny) - an evil rogue Utrom who despises his pacifistic brethren and was banished from Dimension X and brought Ooze with him, as he wakes up in New York and teams up with the Shredder, wanting to turn the city into his own playhouse, clashing with the Turtles.
*Bebop (voiced by Gary Anthony Williams) - a sarcastic gangster who, along with Rocksteady, is one of Shredder's henchmen. Prior to meeting Shredder, he once was a member of the purple dragons alongside Rocksteady. After his constant failure, he gets mutated into a warthog-like mutant. Williams reprises his role as from .
*Rocksteady (voiced by John DiMaggio) - a Russian gangster who is Bebop's partner and one of Shredder's henchmen. Originally a Russian member of an unnamed street gang, Rocksteady was exposed to the mutagen after coming into contact with a black rhinoceros that was stolen from the zoo, transforming him into a humanoid black rhinoceros.
*Dr. Baxter Stockman (voiced by Sam Richardson) - a mad scientist and creator of the mousers and CEO of StockGen who has a god complex and is obsessed with power. He was forced to work for the Shredder due to him being the only one mad enough to fund him, but after either betraying or failing the Shredder, he would get mutated into a fly as punishment.
*Agent John Bishop (voiced by Wally Kurth) - the head of the EPA who deems any mutant or extraterrestrial as a threat. He is an enemy of both the Turtles and Shredder. He would later become an ally of the Turtles when he was forced to team up with them to stop the Shredder.
* (voiced by Robert Englund) - a scientist working at StockGen on an experiment involving mutagen and rat DNA. After Mikey threw a pizza at him, he was exposed to a neurochemical during an accident that deformed him into a corpse-like state while enabling him to control rats and took on the name Rat King. The explosion that caused this also took his sight, leaving him blind and enabling him to see through his rats.
*Hun (voiced by Travis Willingham) - the intimidating leader of the Purple Dragons who killed Casey's father and has plans to become the undisputed king of New York's underworld, clashing with and occasionally even working with the Shredder.
*Tokka and Rahzar (voiced by Dee Bradley Baker) - a mutant alligator snapping turtle and gray wolf with the mind of infants employed by Shredder and enemies of the Ninja Turtles. Tokka was once Bebop's pet and Rahzar was a Bronx Zoo animal before being taken by Krang.
==Episodes==
Main article: List of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Animated Series episodes
Seasons	Episodes	Originally aired 	Originally aired
Seasons	Episodes	First aired 	Last aired
1 	20 	May 4, 2029 	April 12, 2030
2 	26 	July 12, 2030 	June 4, 2031
3 	26 	September 7, 2031	December 14, 2032
4 	26 	April 16, 2033 	January 11, 2034
==Production==
On March 2, 2027, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Animated Series was announced as a new re-imagining of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchise. Brandon Greene, the co-creator of Zippy, serve as one of the supervising producers on the show. Thirteen episodes were ordered for the first season. According to , the series features a "redefined" TMNT, and a combination of frequent guest stars loosely based on the original Mirage Comics, and the , such as the origins of some heroes and villains. Actor Andrew Kishino reprises his role as the Shredder from the film . Notable voice actors include Yuri Lowenthal reprising their roles as Leonardo from the TMNT short Pizza Friday and Dante Basco as Michelangelo.
The series depicts the Turtles using their ninjutsu training to fight enemies in New York City, while staying in the shadows not to reveal themselves to the public. Villains such as Krang, Bebop and Rocksteady, Baxter Stockman and the Purple Dragons were seen in a trailer shown at the 2028 San Diego Comic Con.
The show premiered on May 4, 2029, on Nickelodeon in the United States, as part of a 45th anniversary celebration.
==Reception==
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Animated Series received critical acclaim, with praise being aimed at the exploration of surprisingly mature themes, the faithfulness to the source material, the vocal performances from the cast, the unique character designs and art style, the animation, and the use of clever writing while paying homage to classic stories from the comics and cartoons. Before the series premiere, Duane Capizzi interviewed some of the TMNT: The Animated Series development team at WonderCon 2029 after a preview screening and stated: "This new Ninja Turtles series truly is ONE SHELL OF A TIME... surpasses all of the previous incarnations with ease. If you are a Turtles fan you will not want to miss this."
Early in the series' run, Alan Kistler of ComicMix called the series "one of the best superhero adaptations I've ever seen (and trust me, I've watched more than anyone will probably consider reasonable). It's fun, it's smart, it's mature, it's witty and every episode leaves me wanting more."
IGN stated that Greg Weisman "has only cemented his reputation for quality television animation with his work on TMNT." IGN named Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Animated Series #50th in the Top 100 Best Animated TV Shows in January 2031. The series was also awarded Best Animated Series in both 2029 and 2030 with the series' version of the main character being named TV's Best Hero in 2029.
==Film==
Main article: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Veterans of the Night
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Veterans of the Night was released on Paramount+ on August, 2035, by Nickelodeon Movies and features the voices of Jack Black, Nicolas Cage, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Stephanie Hsu, Samuel L. Jackson, Simu Liu, Craig Robinson, and Michelle Yeoh as new characters. The film, a prequel to the series, tells the origin story of the Turtles, how they became friends with April O'Neil and Casey Jones and their first encounter with the Shredder. The movie received a rating of 65% at review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, with praise for it's animation, action, humor, and it's combination of the original cartoon and Mirage Comics, while there was some criticism for the violence involved.
== Toys and merchandise ==
 created a new line of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles consumer products to go along with the show.
In mid-2029, Playmates Toys released their first wave of basic Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Animated Series action figures which consisted of "hero figures" Leonardo, Donatello, Raphael, Michelangelo, Splinter, April O'Neil and Casey Jones as well as "villain characters" Shredder, Krang, Bebop, Rocksteady and a Foot Soldier. In early 2030, Playmates released series 2 which consisted of the new hero characters Herman the Hermit Crab, Bunnie Hunt and Jacques the Raccoon, as well as villains Tokka and Rahzar. In April 2030, the third wave appeared which included the "anti-hero" character Leatherhead as well as villains Karai and Baxter Stockman. Wave four was released in early August and it featured the villains Rat King, Agent Bishop and Hun 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. October saw the final release of 2030 with wave six which included two new villains: Wicked Jack and a newly sculpted Shredder figure featuring a removable helmet and cape. Wave seven first appeared in February 2014 with figures for Metalhead, Slash, Jagwar, Ray Fillet, and Mondo Gecko.
IDW Publishing released a spin-off comic series titled based on the series featuring original adventures set between episodes of the TV series starting July 2030. After 24 issues, the series was relaunched as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shell Shocked Adventures in August 2032.
== Gallery ==
File:TMNTTAS- The Turtles.png|The Turtles
File:TMNTTAS- The Allies.png|The Allies
File:TMNTTAS- The Villains.png|The Villains
== Trivia ==
* It is the fourth cartoon in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchise to be released on Nickelodeon (the other four being: (2012), (2018), and Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2024).
* It was originally going to be called "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shell Shocked".
* The show is is an amalgamation of the and the original . Elements were taken from the 1980s cartoon, such as the Turtles' love of pizza, Shredder and Krang using the Technodrome, and the appearances of mutant allies and villains. Some of the episodes are even loose adaptations of the original comics.
*In this version of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the Turtles were previously owned by April O'Neil prior to their mutation, similar to the .
*Dante Basco (Michelangelo) and Grey DeLisle (Karai) previously worked together on as and Azula.
*Basco (Michelangelo), Keone Young (Master Splinter) and John DiMaggio (Rocksteady) previously worked together on the Disney Channel animated show as Jake Long, Luong Lao Shi and Fu Dog, respectively.
*Brandon Greene stated that he always wanted to do his own version of the Ninja Turtles, he even gave the Turtles tails.
*It is the only version of TMNT show where the Turtles have tails.
*Leonardo's voice actor Yuri Lowenthal and April O'Neil's voice actress Tara Strong both voiced Ben Tennyson from the .
*Krang's voice actor Tom Kenny and Herman's voice actor Bill Fagerbakke both worked together on SpongeBob SquarePants as the title character and Patrick Star.
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