Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem is an American computer-animated superhero film directed by Jeff Rowe (in his feature directorial debut) and co-directed by Kyler Spears, from a screenplay by Rowe and the writing teams of Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, and Dan Hernandez and Benji Samit. Produced by Nickelodeon Movies and Point Grey Pictures, and distributed by Paramount Pictures, it is based on the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles characters created Peter Laird and Kevin Eastman and serves as a reboot of the film series. The film features an ensemble voice cast including Micah Abbey, Shamon Brown Jr., Hannibal Buress, Rose Byrne, Nicolas Cantu, John Cena, Jackie Chan, Ice Cube, Natasia Demetriou, Ayo Edebiri, Giancarlo Esposito, Post Malone, Brady Noon, Seth Rogen, Paul Rudd, and Maya Rudolph. In the film, the Turtle brothers set out to win the hearts of New York City and be accepted as normal teenagers through acts of heroism, leading them on a hunt after a mysterious crime syndicate, but things quickly go south when they are confronted by an army of mutants. 
Nickelodeon first announced the film in June 2020, with Rogen, Goldberg, and James Weaver producing under their Point Grey banner, and Rowe attached as director. Spears joined the project as co-director soon after. Seeking to explore the teenage aspect of the Turtles more than previous versions, the filmmakers drew inspiration from teenage coming-of-age films. The majority of the voice cast members were announced in March 2023, with the roles of the Turtles given to teenage actors (Abbey, Brown, Cantu, and Noon) for the first time. The cast recorded their dialogue together in groups rather than independently from one another, a move that allowed them to employ a lot of improvisation in their voice performances. The film's animation was provided by Mikros Animation in Montreal and Paris, and Cinesite in Vancouver.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem debuted at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival on June 12, 2023, and was theatrically released in the United States on August 2 the same year.
==Premise==
After years of being sheltered from the surface world in the sewers of New York City, four Turtle brothers set out on a quest to be accepted as normal teenagers through acts of heroism. With the aid of their human friend April O'Neil, the brothers' biggest challenge puts them in the crosshairs of a mysterious crime syndicate and an army of mutants.
==Plot==
One night, an evil Techno Cosmic Research Institute (TCRI) executive named Cynthia Utrom sends a squadron to hunt down rogue scientist Baxter Stockman, who has created a mutagen to form his own mutant animal family, starting with a housefly. Stockman is interrupted by Utrom's strike force and killed in the resulting explosion, while the mutagen vial falls into the sewers of New York City.
Fifteen years later, a teenage girl named April O’Neil had her moped stolen by a gang of criminals and chased them into the chop shop where she found the criminals defeated by unknown figures. She soon found them and discovered that they were humanoid turtles named Leonardo. Michelangelo, Donatello and Rapheal. April began to learn from them that they were ordinary baby turtles who transformed them into humanoid mutants by Stockman's mutagen years ago and were kept hidden from humans and lived with their adopted rat father, Splinter believing that humans would hate them and milk their blood. 
April explained to them that she is a journalist and said that she has been investigating a series of robberies of TCRI Technology by a criminal named Superfly. They agreed to help and the girl told them to meet her at Eastman High.
As the turtles leave the sewer, Donnie said that they could stop Superfly and become heroes if the humans accept them. Leo is concerned that Splinter won’t allow it so he, Mikey and Raph should go with Donnie’s plan. The next night, the turtles arrived at April’s school and showed them around.  Once there, April explained that she has been struggling to move past an embarrassing viral incident of vomiting on camera because of her anxiety and showed them that the chop shops are run down by their bosses.
So the turtles began to take down every chop shop and learn that Superfly is gonna be under the Brooklyn bridge tonight. Once they are about to go, the turtles receive a text from Splinter. The rat had put up a little party and brought the human world to them. However, the turtles said that they have important errands to run and begin to leave.
As Leo and his team arrive at the Brooklyn bridge, they discovered that he is not only a mutant himself, but leader of a mutant gang, a warthog named Bebop, a rhino named Rocksteady, a bat named Wingnut, an aligator named Leatherhead, a frog named Genghis Frog, a lizard named Mondo, a stingray named Ray Fillet and a cockroach named Scumbug. Ecstatic to meet fellow mutants, the Turtles bond with Superfly and the others, and he explains that they were created by Stockman, evading TCRI and living on an abandoned ship in Staten Island. Like the Turtles, they were attacked by society, and an embittered Superfly has stolen TCRI technology to weaponize ooze to mutate all wildlife on the planet into the new dominant species and enslave humanity.
The Turtles try to intervene, but the gang escapes with the equipment while a tracker allows TCRI to capture the Turtles.  While April goes to find Splinter,  the Turtles regained consciousness in TCRI HQ, strapped to a machine where they met Cynthia who tells them that they needed their blood to make a stable mutagen and make super soldiers and take over the world. The machine starts, and the Turtles are painfully "milked" for their mutagen. They begin to share their final moments, regretting before they will get milked to death. But then, April arrives with Splinter to rescue them. Splinter scolded his sons that they disobeyed him while April told him that they lied. The rat angrily told his sons that they had to fix the mess and decided to help his sons, but made them promise that they would stay in the sewers forever. 
At the gang's hideout,  the machine is built, but the other mutants are having second thoughts about killing every human. Splinter and the Turtles convince most of them that their plan for domination will make them no better than the worst of humanity, and together they turn on Superfly. Angered that his siblings betrayed them, Superfly activates the machine, not until the mutants battled him to prevent the fly mutant to press the button. Superfly asked the mutants why they are turning against him, and angrily urged them to listen to him. Splinter realized what he had done and started to help the mutants push Superfly to the machine, destroying it. However, the ooze combines Superfly with other nearby wildlife into a gigantic whale-like kaiju and attacks the city. Realizing that he doesn't want to be like Superfly, Splinter reconciles with his sons and tells them that they can stop the monstrous mutant and make the people love them. April called them and said that she has an anti-ooze on her scooter and told them to meet her here. As they make it to shore, the Turtles and other mutants attempt to stop him but are assumed by the public to be fellow monsters. While this initially hurts them, they decide saving the city is more important than being accepted. Mikey wondered how but Leo said that he has the gift of improvisation, Donnie’s intelligence and Raph’s rage while he found his voice as a leader. With renewed confidence, they head to put the anti-mutagen in Superfly's blowhole.
Meanwhile, April makes her way into Channel 6 News,  overcomes her anxiety and commandeers a news broadcast to explain the mutants’ good intentions and the citizens of New York come to their aid. Superfly grabbed the Turtles and started to crush their shells as Splinter watched in horror. The citizens began to gather around and recognize that he is with the Turtles. Overcoming his hate of humans, Splinter told the people that he needs to get the anti-ooze to his sons and they decide to help him. Their actions distract Superfly long enough for the Turtles to free themselves and manage to throw the canister inside Superfly, turning him back into a collection of normal animals. Reconciling with Splinter, the Turtles, April, and the mutants are celebrated by the city. The other mutants soon move into the sewers with them, Splinter and Scumbug fall in love, and the Turtles enroll at April's high school, where they are all embraced as heroes.
In a mid-credits scene, the Turtles enjoy high school life: Donatello has found the computer club, Raphael is on the wrestling team, Michelangelo takes up improv comedy, and Leonardo — who has developed a crush on April — joins her investigation into TCRI to stop Cynthia Utrom and her agents from creating super soldiers, who escaped during the rescue. While the five of them enjoy themselves at prom, they are under surveillance from Utrom (holding the now unmutated Superfly captive), who plans to recapture the Turtles and even though it is hard to capture them, she decides to call an old acquaintance.
==Voice cast==
** Micah Abbey as Donatello
** Shamon Brown Jr. as Michelangelo
** Nicolas Cantu as Leonardo
** Brady Noon as Raphael
** Ayo Edebiri as April O'Neil
** Maya Rudolph as Cynthia Utrom
** John Cena as Rocksteady
** Seth Rogen as Bebop
** Rose Byrne as Leatherhead
** Natasia Demetriou as Wingnut
** Giancarlo Esposito as Baxter Stockman
** Jackie Chan as Splinter
** Ice Cube as Superfly
** Paul Rudd as Mondo Gecko
** Austin Post as Ray Fillet
** Hannibal Buress as Genghis Frog
** MrBeast as Times Square Guy
** Derek Wilson as Spider
** Lukas Williams as Curious Goon
** Michael Badalucco as Bad Bernie
** Dempsey Pappion as Bald Bronson
** John Capodice as Cab Driver
** Andia Winslow as TV Anchor
** Raechel Wong as News Anchor
** David Faustino as Normal Nate
** Daniel Mastrogiorgio as Toupee Tom / Police Officer
** Noel Gibson as Responding Police Officer / Military Advisor
** Myra Owyang as Short Sharon
** Kevin Eastman as Good Human
** Alex Hirsch as Bossy Goon / Scumbug
** Michael Rianda as Wants a Paycheck Goon / Chop Shop Boss / Ratatouille Guard
** Bobby Wagner as Man Who Thought a Giant Rat Was a Big Cat But It Was Actually a Rat
** Greg Levitan as Gecko Goon
** Illya Quinteros as Helpful Construction Worker
** Natalie Canizares as Sign My Baby Mom
** Kyler Spears as Apologetic Goon
** Jeff Rowe as Man Who Loves Being Young and Free to Go Places
*
==Production==
===Development===
In June 2020, Deadline Hollywood reported that Nickelodeon Animation Studio was developing a computer-animated Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles film for Paramount Pictures. The film marks Nickelodeon Animation's first CG-animated theatrical production. Jeff Rowe was hired to direct the feature, with Brendan O'Brien writing the screenplay, and Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg, and James Weaver producing through their production company, Point Grey Pictures. Ramsey Naito and Josh Fagen were overseeing production for Nickelodeon and Point Grey, respectively. 
In an interview with Collider in August of that year, Rogen said that the film would heavily lean into the teenage element of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. He stated: "As a lifelong fan of Ninja Turtles, weirdly the 'Teenage' part of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles was always the part that stuck out to me the most. And as someone who loves teenage movies, and who’s made a lot of teenage movies, and who literally got their start in their entire profession by writing a teenage movie, the idea of kind of honing in on that element was really exciting to us. I mean, not disregarding the rest, but really using that as kind of a jumping-off point for the film."
In June 2021, Rogen revealed a teaser image through his Twitter page, which contained school notes written by Leonardo, the film's original release date, and other details. By October 2021, the film was under the working title Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Next Chapter. Production designer, Yashar Kassai, elaborated on the project: "You anchor yourself enough in the familiar elements of it so that it is easily recognizable, but then you either add to or enhance some of the existing charm of the franchise." The title Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem had been finalized by August 2022. Kyler Spears had joined the feature as co-director by that point. J.J. Villard, creator of King Star King, was commissioned to design the film's logo. 
===Writing===
Credit for the screenplay ultimately went to Rogen, Goldberg, and Rowe, as well as writing team Dan Hernandez and Benji Samit. From early in development, Rogen wanted the film to emphasize the teenage aspect of the Turtles. Rowe compared Mutant Mayhem to the coming-of-age films Stand by Me (1986) and Lady Bird (2017) and remarked that his goal was to make "the ultimate teenage coming-of-age film." He described the Turtles as having "a lot of that inauthentic confidence that teenagers have", adding that "when you’re a teen, you don’t know any better, so you operate with this hyped-up sense of, ‘We can do anything!’"
===Casting and voice recording===
On March 4, 2023, during the Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards, Rogen revealed that actors Micah Abbey, Shamon Brown Jr., Nicolas Cantu, and Brady Noon (all of whom were in attendance) had been cast in the voice roles of the Turtles: Donatello, Michelangelo, Leonardo, and Raphael respectively. Other cast members revealed in their respective roles in the ceremony include Hannibal Buress, Rose Byrne, John Cena, Jackie Chan, Ice Cube, Natasia Demetriou, Ayo Edebiri, Giancarlo Esposito, Post Malone, Paul Rudd, Maya Rudolph, and Rogen. Cena, who voices Rocksteady, previously voiced the villain Baron Draxum in the first season of the television series Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2018–20).
Abbey, Brown, Cantu, and Noon are the first teenage actors to portray the Turtles. Rogen initially stated that they would cast teenagers for the parts in June 2021. He felt that the decision made Mutant Mayhem stand out from previous versions of Turtles, saying that "something very intuitive became something that really opened up our version; it feels like it makes it feel very unique. Things like that, I think, are exciting ways to get into this stuff."
In contrast to the norm for animation, the cast recorded their voice roles together in groups rather than independently from one another. A single recording session could include up to seven actors. This environment allowed for the cast to play off each other as well as employ a lot of improvisation in their performances. Rogen was partly influenced to apply this approach to Mutant Mayhem from his experience recording The Lion King (2019) with Donald Glover and Billy Eichner. He described the process as follows: "For every session, we lumped people together. So every time the four turtles recorded, they were together. Me and John Cena were Bebop and Rocksteady, and we recorded together. Ice Cube has a bunch of scenes with the kids, and they recorded together. So we really went out of our way and bent over backwards on Ninja Turtles to try to capture that improvisational energy that you get when a lot of people are in the same place at the same time."
Rogen directed particular praise towards Abbey, Brown, Cantu, and Noon and said that they tried to "capture the way they actually interacted with each other" in the film. He recalled an account of one recording session with the quartet and how "they would all hang out together in the kitchen of the recording studio, and they would all just talk over each other and make fun of each other; screaming at each other". According to him, the event was what pushed them to start having the four record together, as he felt that the energy was right for the film.
===Animation and design===
The film's animation was provided by Mikros Animation in Montreal and Paris, and Cinesite in Vancouver. Mikros worked on the film's animation and style for over two years. Rowe was inspired by sketches he made in school notebooks as a teenager and how they tend to have a lot of exaggerated features, spikes, and random effects lines, and wanted the film's animation to reflect a similar feeling.
===Music===
In February 2023, Rogen said that Rowe compared the film's soundtrack to that of the Tony Hawk's video game series and revealed that it would incorporate songs from the 1999 original title. He described it as a "random assortment of music" that fits together well and shares the "same energy and spirit."
==Release==
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem will debut at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival on June 12, 2023, and is scheduled to be theatrically released in the United States on August 2, 2023, by Paramount Pictures. It was originally scheduled for release on August 11, but was later pushed a week forward, before being pushed forward again by 2 days.
===Marketing===
Rowe discussed the film at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival in June 2022, where a brief bit of animation was shown. Rafael Motamayor of /Film compared the film's visual aesthetic to Arcane, both having a "punk" style that he described as fun. To accompany the title announcement in August 2022, a mural promoting the film went up in New York City. In December 2022, PeaTos and Paramount Consumer Products announced that PeaTos' Crunchy Pizza Rings would feature Mutant Mayhem branding in a promotion timed to the film's release.
Along with the cast announcement, a sneak peek was shown at the Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards on March 4, 2023. Sixteen promotional images featuring logo artwork for each of the film's main characters were shared on social media. A teaser trailer was released online on March 6, 2023, set to A Tribe Called Quest's "Can I Kick It?". Charles Pulliam-Moore at The Verge gave the trailer a positive review and called the animation "gorgeous," highlighting its "sketch-like art direction and the gritty / grimy texturedness." Writing for The Escapist, Matthew Razak similarly praised the trailer and noted the Turtles' more youthful nature compared to previous portrayals, saying that "these Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles actually sound and look like teenagers."
Extended footage from the film was shown at CinemaCon on April 27, 2023. It was positively received by critics for its humor, animation, and voice performances. An official full-length trailer was released on May 31. Gizmodo's James Whitbrook appreciated that the trailer gave "a little more downtime with the Turtles and their yearning for a life a little more normal than the one provided by being a mutant ninja teen." He also highlighted the character of Superfly as a possible new threat for the Turtles.
A line of action figures, vehicles, and role-play toys by Playmates Toys is scheduled to release on June 25, 2023. An official Roblox video game developed by Gamefam is set to release alongside the film.
==Future==
In June 2022, Paramount Pictures CEO Brian Robbins said that there were plans for multiple animated Turtles films.
== Gallery==
TMNT Mutant Mayhem teaser.jpg
Mutant_Mayhem_poster.jpeg
TMNT Mutant Mayhem alt poster.jpg
===Videos===
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles- Mutant Mayhem - Teaser Trailer (2023 Movie) - Seth Rogen
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles- Mutant Mayhem - Official Trailer (2023 Movie) - Seth Rogen
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles- Mutant Mayhem - Final Trailer (2023 Movie) - Seth Rogen-2
==Trivia==
*In the film’s teaser trailer, the Turtles are called "little Shreks” by a thug eating a snack out of a bag. This references the Ninja Turtles from Michael Bay-produced, live-action TMNT film duology by Paramount Pictures, and how their designs compare to Shrek (character). This is also a reference to the Baby Shreks that appeared in Shrek the Third.
==References==
==External links==
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