Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Review - The Mutant Mayhem Continues

In this new animated series follow-up to the Seth Rogen-produced TMNT film, the Turtles get some solo adventures.

Though there have been many Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles animated series so far, they almost always signal yet another reboot of the franchise. By comparison, Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is notably different in that it’s part of a previously established story. The new Paramount+ series is a direct continuation of last year’s excellent feature film, 2023’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem, serving as a bridge between that film and its upcoming sequel, with Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg — who were writers and producers on the film — returning as executive producers here. 

Six of the show’s 12 episodes were provided for review and what stands out is that those first six episodes tell a fairly complete story, making me curious how the second half is structured. The show’s title is a bit misleading, since it suggests more fully standalone adventures than what is presented here, which is an interconnected story in which the mutant-hating Bishop (voiced by Alanna Ubach) sends her robot Mechazoids after the Turtles, which results in Leonardo (Nicolas Cantu), Michelangelo (Shamon Brown Jr.), Raphael (Brady Noon) and Donatello (Micah Abbey) being separated. Structurally, the show then takes an interesting tactic, giving us four kick off episodes devoted to each of the four turtles on their own following that first encounter with Bishop and the Mechazoids, finding themselves interacting with different characters and different threats, while trying to make their way back to each other.