THE GREEN PARTY

TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES: MUTANT MAYHEM Seth Rogen reboots the heroes in a half shell.

- JORDAN FARLEY

Emboldened by the success of Spider-Man: Into the SpiderVerse, 2023 has turned into a banner year for stylistically experimental animated movies. Next up is TMNT: Mutant Mayhem, a striking new take on the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles from writer-producer Seth Rogen, writer-director Jeff Rowe (The Mitchells vs. the Machines) and co-director Kyler Spears. ‘[Spider-Verse] convinced studios that you can make money, win awards and be successful,’ says Rowe, ‘all while being different.’

1. TEENAGE KICKS

There have been six movies and at least five Turtles TV shows but, for the first time ever, Leonardo, Michelangelo, Donatello and Raphael are played by age-appropriate young adults. ‘We’re delivering on “teenage”!’ Rowe exclaims. To harness the inimitable chaos that ensues when teenage boys hang out, all four young actors recorded their lines together. ‘We tried to capture the improvisational nature of them making fun of each other, and talking over each other. It’s that real kind of teenage energy. Our postproduction sound people wanted to murder us for the amount of messes they had to clean up.’

2. TOY STORY