The first season of the American animated television series Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is based on the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles characters by Peter Laird and Kevin Eastman. Serving as a spin-off of the 2023 film ', it follows the Turtles as they navigate their dual lives as both teenagers and heroes in New York City. The season was produced by Nickelodeon Animation Studio, Point Grey Pictures, and animation studio Titmouse, with Christopher Yost and Alan Wan serving as showrunners.
Micah Abbey, Shamon Brown Jr., Nicolas Cantu, Brady Noon, and Ayo Edebiri reprise their voice roles from Mutant Mayhem. During production on the film, its producers Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg were granted approval to develop a canon streaming television series. Yost was approached by Rogen, and Wan joined the production soon after. The series was announced in July 2023, with Yost and Wan attached as showrunners. The showrunners used the film as a guiding map in development.
The season was released on Paramount+ on August 9, 2024, and consists of 12 episodes. It received positive reviews from critics for its voice performances, animation, and action sequences, as well as five Annie Award nominations. A second season was picked up alongside the first and debuted on Nickelodeon and Paramount+ in 2025.
According to Christopher Yost, during the middle of production on ' (2023), producers Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg were granted approval to develop a canon streaming television series. Yost was then approached to see if he would be interested in meeting Rogen, and after agreeing, the two discussed what the series could be. Alan Wan was brought in to work with Yost. Between the two, they had experience working on the 2003 Turtles series, the 2012 Turtles series, and the 2018 series Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
In July 2023, Variety reported that and a 2D animated television series follow-up for Mutant Mayhem had been greenlit. The series, titled Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, was reported to act as a bridge between Mutant Mayhem and the film sequel, which has been scheduled to release in theaters in 2026. Yost and Wan were announced as executive producers and showrunners. Lukas Williams was set to oversee production for Point Grey Pictures which co-produces with Nickelodeon Animation Studio. Production for Nickelodeon was overseen by Claudia Spinelli, Senior Vice President of Nickelodeon Animation, and Nikki Price, Director of Development and Executive in Charge of Production.
Along with the series' announcement in July 2023, Micah Abbey, Shamon Brown Jr., Nicolas Cantu, and Brady Noon were confirmed to reprise their voice roles from Mutant Mayhem as the four Turtles. Ayo Edebiri was later confirmed to reprise her role as April O'Neil in February 2024. In June 2024, Alanna Ubach and Pete Davidson were confirmed to guest star in the series as Bishop and Rod respectively. In July 2024, Rose Byrne, Natasia Demetriou, and Post Malone were confirmed to reprise their roles as Leatherhead, Wingnut, and Ray Fillet. Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Timothy Olyphant, Jillian Bell, and Danny Trejo were announced to play new characters, Pigeon Pete, Goldfin, Lee the Eel, and Mustang Sally. Later that month, it was announced that Carlin James and Jamila Velasquez voiced Hun and Angel.
Unlike with Mutant Mayhem, in which Abbey, Brown, Cantu, and Noon recorded their voice roles together, for Tales, they recorded independently from one another. The actors felt that the decision affected the way they performed and helped them dig deeper into their respective characters. Splinter, who was previously voiced by Jackie Chan in Mutant Mayhem, only speaks in a gibberish language called "vermin" in Tales. Fred Tatasciore provides the voice and is credited as "Splinter Vermin". Ubach was unaware of what her character, Bishop, looked like until the first day of voice recording. Upon seeing a picture, she instantly knew what direction she wanted to take her performance in.
Unlike previous Turtles series, which were developed as television shows first, Tales is a continuation of a film. This meant the showrunners had to use Mutant Mayhem as a guiding map in development. Just like with the film, the showrunners emphasized the teenage aspect of the Turtles. The series is presented from the Turtles point of view. Yost said that they sometimes think of it as "Tales by the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles", adding that there was a bit of an unreliable narrator element to it. Yost frequently watched the film Superbad (2007) in an effort to capture the teenage voice for the series. The showrunners described the world presented in the series as being more grounded than those of previous incarnations of Turtles.
The series sees the Turtles being split up and having to work alone. This idea was conceived by Yost and Wan during discussions with Rogen and Goldberg early during the series' development as a way to distinguish from previous Turtles series by exploring each Turtle's personality and growth outside of their relationships with each other. Yost wanted to do a different take on Bishop, a character who first appeared in the 2003 Turtles series. In addition, he sought for the Turtles to deal with a villain very different from Superfly, the villain of Mutant Mayhem, and wanted robots to be involved. Their end goal was to create a version of the character that was unique from the original 2003 take, but one that still ended up in a "weirdly similar place". The team made efforts to integrate April O'Neil into the stories and make sure she did not feel too distant from the Turtles.
Independent animation studio Titmouse provides the animation for the series. Like with Mutant Mayhem, which took an unconventional approach to its CG animation, Wan wanted the series to take an unconventional 2D animation look. He wanted to capture a "punk rock" feeling and described the style as rough and raw. The showrunner felt the series' more crude art style helped to distinguish it from its more clean-looking action cartoon peers. Wan also felt that the art style paid homage to the original Turtles comics by Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird. The series uses comic book drawings by Leonardo as a framing device, which the showrunners also added as an homage to the comics. For the action sequences, the team drew inspiration from various iterations of Turtles, including Mutant Mayhem, the 1990s live-action films, and Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles debuted on Paramount+ on August 9, 2024, with all of its ordered 12 episodes. The first season was released on DVD and Blu-ray on November 12, 2024, by Paramount Home Entertainment.
Two teaser trailers were released on February 8, 2024 and April 25, 2024, respectively. An official trailer was released during the IGN Live event on June 7, 2024. Becca Caddy of TechRadar praised the humor and visuals, and felt that the series would "deliver the beloved mix of colorful action, sharp wit, and humor" associated with the franchise. Wes Davis of The Verge said that the series looks to be "just as gorgeous as the 3D-animated movie it sprang from", and Joey Paur of GeekTyrant remarked that "this looks like itâÂÂs going to be a totally radical show!" The series' title sequence debuted at San Diego Comic-Con in July 2024. James Whitbrook of Gizmodo called it a "really cool, stylish riff on transitioning the filmâÂÂs aesthetic to a 2D form". A first look at action figures by Playmates Toys was unveiled in March 2024.
Rotten Tomatoes reported 100% approval with an average rating of 8.0/10 based on 9 reviews. Tyler Robertson of IGN gave the series an 8 out of 10 rating, praising the voice performances, animation, and action but criticizing the pacing and "downgrade" in the score and soundtrack. They concluded that while it does not reach the heights of Mutant Mayhem, it still retained many of its best elements. Mike Thomas of Collider gave the series an 8 out of 10 rating and commended its performances and character work. He however criticized the pacing and occasionally stiff animation, comparing the latter unfavorably to Mutant Mayhem and Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Tim Stevens of The Spool gave the series a 7.2 out of 10 rating, referring to it as a "decent Saturday morning-type spinoff of Mutant Mayhem". He commended the action sequences and voice performances but ultimately felt that the series was a step down from its film predecessor.
Angie Han of The Hollywood Reporter referred to the series as a "worthy follow-up" to Mutant Mayhem. She commended the animation, action, character work, and familial themes, though felt the show was limited by its younger skewing target audience. Manuel Betancourt of The A.V. Club gave high praise to the show for its entertainment value and character work for each of the four Turtles. Sayantan Gayen of Comic Book Resources gave the series a 9 out of 10 rating, praising it for its worldbuilding, character work, animation, and heart. He felt it retained Mutant Mayhem<nowiki/>'s best elements and gave the franchise a solid foundation to stand on and build upon.