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| LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - DECEMBER 14: (L-R) Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg and Director Jeff Rowe attend 2023-2024 Variety Artisan Screening Series Presents "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" at The Sherry Lansing Theatre on December 14, 2023 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Jerod Harris/Variety via Getty Images) |
Producer, writer and actor Seth Rogen provided the update at
Variety’s Artisans screening series. Joined by co-writer and producer Evan Goldberg and director Jeff Rowe, Rogen recalled the filmmaking process, describing it as “one of the shortest times from inception to completion.” Rogen recalled showing the film for the first time to Ramsey Ann Naito, president of animation at Nickelodeon and Animation.
“We were so nervous and scared that we were going to show them a scene from the movie and they would be like ‘What? No.’ They loved it, and they were so supportive,” he said. “They didn’t discourage us from making it insane. They probably tried to make us cut one or two milking jokes, but we said no.”
When asked about having to cut scenes from the original and if there were any they wished they could have kept in, Rowe teased, “We’re going to use them in the sequel.” Rogen cryptically offered, “There is definitely one, and it’s a 100% already being written into the second.”
Vying for a slot in the Oscars Best Animated Feature race, this fresh take on the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles reinvigorates the franchise with hand-drawn animation meant to reflect teen sketches. It follows four mutant turtle brothers — Leonardo, Donatello, Raphael and Michelangelo — as they defeat an army of evil mutants and become heroes in the Big Apple.
Their approach was to lean into the teenage aspect of the storytelling as they felt that had never really been tackled before. “Jeff came on and really took that idea and translated it into the look of the movie, this teenage drive and raw emotionality and this yearning and desire that was the cornerstone of the story,” said Rogen.
Further leaning into the teen story was the decision to make April a teenager. Rowe explained it was important to make her one of them. Voiced by Ayo Edebiri, the idea was that she needed to be an outcast and that would make her want to hang out with the foursome. Said Rowe, “We tried to make her as much a real New York teenager as possible. Ayo is incredible, and Ayo is a great writer. The kids would improv and go off the rails and gently nudge it back.”
Rogen also elaborated on the idea of having all the voice actors in the same room rather than recording isolated vocals which is the norm in voiceover acting. “All of the comedy we have made is built on playing off of other people and playing off of their rhythms and improvisational style.” Rogen continued, “Naturalism was something that we really thought would be interesting.”
The film’s mid-credit scene shows the foursome at prom. A camera zooms out and reveals they’re being watched by villain Cynthia Utrom (Maya Rudolph). Not only does she have a housefly in a glass jar — we can assume it’s the former mutant Superfly — but she declares, “Bring me the Shredder.” Cut to the Manhattan skyline by night and the looming silhouette of Splinter and the Turtles’ most iconic enemy, The Shredder.
Rowe explained, “Shredder is the coolest villain in the TMNT lore. He is this world’s Joker, and we had considered using him for the first film, but it didn’t work for a lot of story reasons. Ultimately, it felt good to not lean into him as a character, but now we have a chance to, and we’ll see how that goes.”
As lifelong fans of the franchise, Shredder was something that had always talked about.
With the mid-credit scene specifically, he said, “It implies a sequel. I’m not one to count their eggs before they hatch. There was a moment where, ‘Will you let us do more of this? We’re going to look stupid if we do this and that’s it.’ And so that was also part of the conversation. Is it silly to imply you’re going to do more if you are not? Ultimately, the idea of including him was always something we wanted to do. Also, if they didn’t let us do it, at least we got to do one shot of him.”
Rogen and Goldberg shared that their love for the Turtles stemmed from watching the cartoon as young boys. Said Rogen, “We took karate together at the Jewish Community Center. We were obsessed with Ninja Turtles, and I was so into Michelangelo that my dad bought me nunchucks. I would f--k around with it. One time, I thought I was really good and I got in front of Evan, and there was a giant lighting fixture in my living room, and I shattered it everywhere.”
As for the nod to the 1986 classic, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, there was a lot of discussion about what that film would be. “We just love this image of them watching from afar and having this longing and this yearning,” Rogen said. They knew it had to be a high school movie.
Among the films were The Breakfast Club, House Party and even Stephen King’s Carrie, but it was Ferris Bueller that sat perfectly. Said Rogen, “It’s one of our favorite films of all time. It’s from around the same era as the Ninja Turtles. As lovers of high school films, it’s nice to nod to the people who did it, and John Hughes for sure was someone that we were referencing a lot as we were writing the movie.”
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