TURTLES FOREVER

The Ninja Turtles have saved New York from the likes of Shredder,

Krang, and a dozen more bad guys for almost 40 years. They can go another 40, easy. But Mutant Mayhem marks the first time these crime fighters take a few hard left turns, even in a franchise that always reinvents itself. By staying true to the first word in its name that is often overlooked, Mutant Mayhem features a new way of seeing these icons of childhood.

“There’s an emotional center, that is, what does it mean to be a teenager? That’s why we focused on it,” says Weaver. “We knew we could really connect with the audience. There’s a quick read to it. There are high stakes and high emotions when you’re a teenager. Everything feels absolute, even though it ultimately is a period of time. It feels forever.”

Says Rogen, “We tried to do these characters justice. We loved Ninja Turtles. This was made by people who have a genuine love for these characters. We wanted to make the best movie we could, so if you love them already, you’re getting something new and additive. If this is your introduction, hopefully, you’ll get on board right away and love them as much as we did.”

Playing with Ninja Turtles toys as children led Jeff Rowe and Seth Rogen to careers telling stories— stories that were sometimes gross but always heartfelt. “There are things [in the movie] that would excite me and make me want to play in that world and pretend I was in that world,” says Rowe. “The Turtles are funny. They’re not stuffy superheroes who fight for ideas you can’t understand, like justice. They feel like human beings, friends you want to hang out with.”

A teen slant to the Ninja Turtles echoes Rowe’s own adolescence. After growing up with the TMNT, Rowe found anime, an art form that doesn’t look down on its youthful audience.

“For the first time in my life, I was like, ‘This doesn’t feel like this was made for kids,’” he says. “That felt thrilling and exhilarating. This movie, by not trying to be all the ways animation traditionally is, hopefully it’ll inspire kids in the same way and make them feel seen.”

GET TO KNOW THE CAST OF TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA

TURTLES: MUTANT MAYHEM, FROM THE CORE FOUR

WHO ARE THE FIRST TO PUT THE “TEEN” BACK IN THE NAME, TO BELOVED ALLIES LIKE APRIL O’NEIL, AND BIG BADDIES SUPERFLY AND BEBOP.