EXCLUSIVE
TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES: MUTANT MAYHEM Seth Rogen reboots the heroes in a half shell.
Emboldened by the success of Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, 2023 has turned into a banner year for stylistically experimental animated movies. Next up is TMNT: Mutant Mayhem, a striking new take on the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles from writer-producer Seth Rogen, writer-director Jeff Rowe (The Mitchells vs. the Machines) and co-director Kyler Spears. ‘[Spider-Verse] convinced studios that you can make money, win awards and be successful,’ says Rowe, ‘all while being different.’
1. TEENAGE KICKS
There have been six movies and at least five Turtles TV shows but, for the first time ever, Leonardo, Michelangelo, Donatello and Raphael are played by age-appropriate young adults. ‘We’re delivering on “teenage”!’ Rowe exclaims. To harness the inimitable chaos that ensues when teenage boys hang out, all four young actors recorded their lines together. ‘We tried to capture the improvisational nature of them making fun of each other, and talking over each other. It’s that real kind of teenage energy. Our postproduction sound people wanted to murder us for the amount of messes they had to clean up.’
2. TOY STORY
‘I remember learning how to think, and then I remember learning how to love the Ninja Turtles,’ says Rowe, a lifelong fan. But it wasn’t the cult Kevin Eastman/Peter Laird comic books, or even the many animated and live-action film and TV adaptations that Rowe latched on to as a child. ‘Really, the most time I spent with the Turtles was playing with the toys, and creating stories and worlds,’ he says. ‘That toy line was so inventive and creative, and there were so many details sculpted into every character model, and each character told a little story. I think it was hugely influential.’
3. THE GREAT MUTATION
While Rowe won’t be drawn on whether Shredder will appear in the film, there will be ooze-mutated animals aplenty. ‘We have so many mutants in the movie, and we’re really using the capabilities of animation to deliver on these unhinged character designs.’ Some of the potential highlights: Ice Cube as Superfly, Rogen and John Cena as Bebop and Rocksteady, and Paul Rudd as Mondo Gecko. ‘[While writing the script] Seth and I would talk, and we would be like, ‘Oh, yeah, remember that toy? Remember the gecko guy?’ There was a lot of that.’
4. FRESH START
Describing the film as a coming-of-age and origin story in ‘technical movie terms’, Rowe is aiming to ‘reinvent the [TMNT] franchise’ with Mutant Mayhem. ‘We ar
