''Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'' (also known as ''Rise of the TMNT'' and ''ROTTMNT'') is an American

animated television series An animated series is a set of animated works with a common series title, usually related to one another. These episodes should typically share the same main characters, some different secondary characters and a basic theme. Series can have eith ...

developed and executive produced by Andy Suriano and Ant Ward, and based on the

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles ''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'' is an American media franchise created by the comic book artists Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird. It follows Leonardo, Michelangelo, Donatello and Raphael, four anthropomorphic turtle brothers (named after It ...

characters created by

Kevin Eastman Kevin Brooks Eastman (born May 30, 1962) is an American comic book artist and writer best known for co-creating the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles with Peter Laird. Eastman was also formerly the editor and publisher of the magazine '' Heavy Meta ...

and Peter Laird. The series premiered on

Nickelodeon Nickelodeon (often shortened to Nick) is an American pay television channel which launched on April 1, 1979, as the first cable channel for children. It is run by Paramount Global through its networks division's Kids and Family Group. It ...

on July 20, 2018, with premieres later moving to

Nicktoons Nicktoons is a collective name used by Nickelodeon for their original animated series. All Nicktoons are produced partly at the Nickelodeon Animation Studio and list Nickelodeon's parent company (Viacom, now known as Paramount Global) in their ...

, which aired new episodes until August 7, 2020. The series was announced by Nickelodeon on March 2, 2017, and was initially scheduled to run for at least 26 episodes. This re-imagined series has the Turtles go on new adventures as they seek to unlock the mystical secrets of

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

and their own powers to save the world from evil. On July 27, 2018, Nickelodeon renewed the series for a second season consisting of 26 episodes before the official debut of the first season. Partway into the production of this season, however, it was shortened in length to 13 episodes. The final episode aired on August 7, 2020. A

feature film A feature film or feature-length film is a narrative film (motion picture or "movie") with a running time long enough to be considered the principal or sole presentation in a commercial entertainment program. The term ''feature film'' originall ...

sequel was released on

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a ...

on August 5, 2022 following the series finale.

Plot

Deep in the sewers of New York City, four mutant turtle brothers lurk. Raphael, Donatello, Leonardo and Michelangelo (calling themselves the Mad Dogs) are in their early teen years and the brothers go on new and exciting adventures. They tap into their mystic ninja powers to learn to work together as a cohesive unit and become a team of heroes as they navigate the modern world and other hidden realms. The brothers get a whole new look, new weapons, and new powers as they discover the hidden city beneath New York and find time for a slice of their favorite pizza. In the first season, 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 called the Kuroi Yōroi to prevent the Foot and Draxum from resurrecting the Shredder, a demon once banished by Splinter's ancestors. In the second season, the brothers face new and old enemies, most notably the evil Shredder, and must stop him from destroying the world. In the process, they must also help Baron Draxum discover his own better nature.

Characters

Production

On March 2, 2017, ''Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'' was announced as a new re-imagining of the ''

'' franchise. The series was originally intended to have 26 episodes and launch in Fall 2018.

Cyma Zarghami Cyma Zarghami ( fa, سیما ضرغامی, born December 15, 1962) is an Iranian-born American film studio and former cable television executive who served as the president of Nickelodeon and Viacom Media Networks Kids & Family Group until 2018. Sh ...

, president of the Nickelodeon Group, stated in a press release:

"The Turtles is a property that has reinvention in its DNA, which keeps it fresh and relevant to every new generation while satisfying the demand from its adult fans. 'Turtles' has been an incredibly important franchise for us since we reignited it five years ago, and we’re excited for the new series to take the characters in a different direction with more humor, a younger and lighter feel, and all-new dimensions to explore".

The series logotype was revealed to the public in mid-October 2017. That November, Nickelodeon announced the official voice actor cast for the main characters on the turtles' side. In addition to this news, voice actor

Rob Paulsen Robert Frederick Paulsen III (born March 11, 1956) is an American voice actor, known for his roles in numerous animated television series and films. He received a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Performer in an Animated Program and three Anni ...

, who previously voiced Raphael in the 1987–96 TV series and Donatello in the 2012–17 TV series, served as the voice director for this TV series. John Cena was later cast as the villain Baron Draxum. Besides voice directing, Rob Paulsen provided voice work alongside fellow voice actor

Maurice LaMarche Maurice LaMarche (born March 30, 1958) is a Canadian voice actor, comedian, and impressionist. He has voiced the Brain in '' Animaniacs'' as well as its spin-off '' Pinky and the Brain'', Big Bob in ''Hey Arnold!'' (1996–2004), and a variety of ...

. The animation services for ''Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'' are provided by the Australian animation studio

Flying Bark Productions Flying Bark Productions Pty Ltd is an Australian animation studio. The studio acts as a full-service production facility across feature films, television and a diverse range of digital content. The studio was established by Yoram and Sandra Gr ...

. The major main-characters art designs were announced and revealed by Nickelodeon in February 2018. This occurred during a

Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dust ...

event, which was broadcast live that day. On March 23, 2018, the first trailer for the series was released by Nickelodeon. Each episode consists of two 11-minute carts and each of them tell self-contained, standalone stories with hints of a larger plot. The show aired as a sneak peek after the 2018 Kids' Choice Sports in July and later premiered on Nickelodeon on September 17, 2018. On July 27, 2018, Nickelodeon renewed the series for a 26-episode second season. However, the season order was later reduced to 13 episodes.

Episodes

Series overview

Season 1 (2018–19)

Season 2 (2019–20)

Shorts

Broadcast

The series premiered on

in the United States on September 17, 2018. By that time, the series had already premiered as a sneak preview on YTV in Canada on July 27 the same year and was premiered officially on September 21 that year. In the UK, the show airs on

and Channel 5. Episodes have also sometimes aired on both channels at the same time for terrestrial rights.

DVD

and Paramount Home Entertainment are currently releasing single-volume DVDs of the series, each containing 6-7 non-sequential episodes.

Awards and nominations

Film

On February 5, 2019, it was announced that a feature film based on the series was in production for

, along with a feature film based on ''

The Loud House ''The Loud House'' is an American animated television series created by Chris Savino that premiered on Nickelodeon on May 2, 2016. The series revolves around the chaotic everyday life of a boy named Lincoln Loud, who is the middle child and only s ...

''. ''Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Movie'' follows

Leonardo Leonardo is a masculine given name, the Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese equivalent of the English, German, and Dutch name, Leonard. People Notable people with the name include: * Leonardo da Vinci (1452–1519), Italian Renaissance scientist ...

forced to lead his brothers Raph, Donnie, and Mikey against alien invaders known as the

Krang Krang (also spelled Kraang) is a fictional supervillain appearing in ''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles''-related media, most frequently in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1987 TV series), 1987 animated series and its associated merchandise, suc ...

Casey Jones John Luther "Casey" Jones (March 14, 1863 – April 30, 1900) was an American railroader who was killed when his passenger train collided with a stalled freight train at Vaughan, Mississippi. Jones was a locomotive engineer for the Illinois ...

makes his debut and is voiced by Haley Joel Osment. The film had been slated to release in 2021, but ended up landing an August 5, 2022 release date.

Merchandise and media

Comics

IDW published a

comic book A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are of ...

based on the series, beginning in July 2018. The comics concluded with an introductory issue (#0), a five-issue main story and a Halloween Comicfest special. After a period of inactivity, it was continued with a three-issue story arc titled "''Sound Off!''" from July to September 2019.

Toys

On February 16, 2018, the first toys based on the series were presented during the New York City Toy Fair. The first ''Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'' toys were released on October 1, 2018. In August 2018, the American fast-food chain

Sonic Drive-In Sonic Corporation, founded as Sonic Drive-In and more commonly known as Sonic (stylized as SONIC), or "The Drive-In," is an American drive-in fast food restaurant Chain store, chain owned by Inspire Brands, the parent company of Arby's and Buf ...

released a set of kids' meal toys based on the series, which were available in their Wacky Pack meals.

Video game

During the months leading up to the series' launch, Viacom and

Nintendo is a Japanese multinational video game company headquartered in Kyoto, Japan. It develops video games and video game consoles. Nintendo was founded in 1889 as by craftsman Fusajiro Yamauchi and originally produced handmade playing cards ...

collaborated to market ''Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'' via a special limited-time online multiplayer event for the 2017 video game ''

Splatoon 2 is a 2017 third-person shooter game developed and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo Switch. It was released on July 21, 2017, and is a direct sequel to ''Splatoon'', which includes a new story-driven single-player mode and various onli ...

'', in which Inklings can participate in a Splatfest tournament, battling over which of the four brothers is the best. Donnie won overall, beating Mikey in the first round, and Raph (who had in turn beat Leo) in the finals.

References

External links

* * {{Portal bar, Cartoon, Television, United States, Speculative fiction 2018 American television series debuts 2010s American animated television series 2010s American children's television series 2010s American comic science fiction television series 2010s Nickelodeon original programming 2020 American television series endings 2020s American animated television series 2020s American children's television series 2020s American comic science fiction television series 2020s Nickelodeon original programming English-language television shows Anime-influenced Western animated television series American children's animated action television series American children's animated adventure television series American children's animated comic science fiction television series American children's animated superhero television series American children's animated science fantasy television series Television shows set in New York City Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles television series Animated television series reboots Nicktoons Animated television series about turtles Animated television series about teenagers Teen animated television series Television series about revenge