Cowabunga! The original 1987 animated series “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” is coming to Nickelodeon.
Ahead of the theatrical release of “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem,” Nickelodeon has acquired global rights to the storied Fred Wolf series, which follows the adventures of the heroes in a half-shell — Leonardo, Donatello, Raphael and Michelangelo.
Under the deal, all 193 episodes of the original “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” — which ran from 1987-1996 — are slated to debut digitally on Nickelodeon later this month in the U.S., followed by Nickelodeon-branded channels and digital platforms internationally.
The acquisition was announced Thursday at San Diego Comic-Con during Paramount Pictures’ Hall H presentation for “Mutant Mayhem.” The popular kids franchise’s latest installment hits theaters on Aug. 2. “Mutant Mayhem” director Jeff Rowe and franchise co-creator Kevin Eastman were on hand to preview the new movie, repping for the “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle” crew at the slimmed-down Comic-Con in the wake of the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes, which prevented writers and actors from attending the convention.
Eastman — who made a surprise appearance on the panel — announced the news to the Hall H crowd.
The comic book legend (who was celebrating his 38th convention appearance) also shared his praise for Rowe’s take on the turtles in the new movie. “I’m so proud of what you guys have done. This movie is brilliant,” Eastman said, recounting the first time he saw footage of the movie. “15 minutes in and I go, ‘When are you starting the sequel?’”
Produced by Nickelodeon Movies and Point Grey Productions’ Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg and James Weaver, “Mutant Mayhem” marks Nickelodeon’s first-ever CG-animated theatrical production. The film follows the Turtle brothers — Leonardo (Nicolas Cantu), Donatello (Micah Abbey), Raphael (Brady Noon) and Michelangelo (Shamon Brown Jr.) — who, after years of being sheltered from the human world, set out to “win the hearts of New Yorkers and be accepted as normal teenagers through heroic acts.” With the help of their new friend April O’Neil (Ayo Edebiri), the Turtles take on a mysterious crime syndicate, but they soon get in over their heads when an army of mutants is unleashed upon them.
“Mutant Mayhem” also features a star-studded supporting cast, including Rogen, Hannibal Buress, Rose Byrne, John Cena, Jackie Chan, Ice Cube, Natasia Demetriou, Giancarlo Esposito, Post Malone, Paul Rudd and Maya Rudolph.
Created in 1984 by Peter Laird and Kevin Eastman, “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” debuted as a comic book series and then became a global mega-hit with the animated 1987 Fred Wolf series. A live-action TV series “Ninja Turtles: The Next Mutation” followed, as well as numerous film adaptations, including 1990’s “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles,” its two sequels and the 2007 CGI movie “TMNT.” Nickelodeon brought new life to the franchise in 2012 with the CG-animated series followed by the 2D-animated series “Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” in 2019, while Paramount rebooted the project on the big screen in 2014 with “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” and its 2016 sequel “Out of the Shadows.”
“Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem” is produced by Nickelodeon Movies and Point Grey, in partnership with Ramsey Naito and Jason McConnell, who are overseeing production for Nickelodeon. For Point Grey, Lukas Williams is co-producing and Josh Fagen is overseeing as an executive producer.