“There’s a punk side”: the Ninja Turtles return in an animated series [interview]

Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles takes up the torch. Meeting with the co-showrunners.

One year after the pleasant surprise Ninja Turtles: Teenage Years, Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles takes up the torch with a supercharged animated series. While a cinema sequel is in preparation (where Shredder will be the big bad), we meet the co-showrunners, Christopher Yost and Alan Wan, Ninja Turtles veterans.

You both have already worked on several other animated series Ninja Turtles. How does this one stand out?
Christopher Yost : The big difference is that this series is more “realistic”, if we can say that about the Ninja Turtles (Laughter.) Let's say that the characters really behave like teenagers, but who find themselves confronted with things that are beyond them. And we fully accept being a sequel to Ninja Turtles: Teenage Years. It's the same universe and the atmosphere has not changed.

Alan Wan : Visually speaking, there is a punk side inherited from the film that we did not seek to erase, quite the contrary. But we also wanted to put our touch on it: it's the same DNA, except that we perhaps leaned even more on this artisanal, handmade side of the designs.

CY : We are in a series whose stories are told by the Ninja Turtles themselves. So that got us wondering what they would look like if kids were drawing them. Obviously, it's a little more stylized and polished than that (Laughter.) But it had to look like sketches, drawings that a high school student could make in his notebook when he's not listening to classes.

The continuation of Ninja Turtles: Teenage Years is in preparation. How much freedom do you have scriptwriting-wise, and how much of a headache was it not to encroach on the story of this future film?
CY : Oh, it was a classic puzzle, we've seen others (Laughter.) A series Ninja Turtles is always a challenge, but in reality there are a million stories to invent that are not going to work on the basis of films. Freedom of movement remains enormous.

A.W. : At no time did we feel like we were being handcuffed.

What was the main idea of ​​the series?
CY : The basic concept was to ask what would happen if the turtles were separated. We are used to seeing them constantly together and working as a team. But what if that were no longer the case? For the first time, we see them deal with their loneliness and question who they are individually. Who is Leonardo without a team to lead? Who is Raphael when his strength and anger are no longer enough? It was really fun to invent.

A.W. : A good Ninja Turtles story is always a balance between action, comedy and tenderness. The theme of family is at the heart of the franchise, and when we started discussing the possibilities that separating the turtles offered us, we immediately imagined how it could help highlight their imperfections, the way they complement each other. each other. Once the characters are well defined, the stories almost write themselves.

CY : Our job is to have fun. And if we have fun, then the public will have fun.

The first comics Ninja Turtles were very dark and violent. Can you explain why, 40 years later, we are completely opposite?
CY : This is a discussion we often have among ourselves. Indeed, when Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird, the creators of the Ninja Turtles, drew these characters on a napkin four decades ago, they were far from suspecting what it would all become. I believe that this evolution is linked to the fact that everyone can find themselves in the personality of one of the turtles. It's something very powerful, which pushed the franchise to evolve into something else.

A.W. : The basic concept is so strong that you can absolutely do anything with it. The Ninja Turtles went into space, into feudal Japan… You can put the turtles in any universe or situation and the story still works. It's a blessing.

Are you already working on a season 2?
CY : Who knows? (Laughter.) We will already wait to see what the public thinks of this season 1 and we will see then. If people like what we did, then we'll be there. But unfortunately, it's not me who will decide on a renewal on my own!

Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, visible on the Nickelodeon channel and from November on Paramount+.