New Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Animated Series Coming

Nickelodeon's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles animated series is about to enter its fifth season later this month. But it appears that season 5 will mark the end of the Turtles' run in 3D animation. But there are a few things certain in this world, and one is that there will pretty much always be a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cartoon on the air somewhere, so when the door to one sewer lair closes, another opens. 

The new TMNT animated series scheduled to kick off in 2018 on Nickelodeon has a working title of Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and this one is going back to 2D animation, something that seems to be coming back into fashion with Disney's upcoming DuckTales reboot (which looks great) and the impending return of Samurai Jack on Adult Swim. In fact, one of the executive producers on this show is Andy Suriano who has worked on character design on Samurai Jack, and he's working with Ant Ward, the supervising producer who has helped make the current series a critical success.

Here's the official synopsis, courtesy of Nickelodeon:

Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles will follow Leonardo, Raphael, Donatello and Michelangelo on all-new adventures as they seek to unlock the mystical secrets of New York City.  From the tallest skyscraper to the dankest sewer drain, the Turtles will encounter absurd new mutants and battle bizarre creatures all while enjoying their favorite slice of pizza. Tapping into mystic, ninja powers they never knew existed, the four brothers must learn to work together and navigate the perils of the modern age and hidden realms in order to fulfill their destiny to become a team of heroes.

So, on the one hand, this sounds like standard Turtle fare. On the other, it sounds like they're leaning on some mystical elements a little more heavily than in previous versions of the franchise. The return to 2D animation (where arguably the Turtles have had their greatest success historically) and the creative team involved mean this will certainly be worth a look.

“The Turtles is a property that has reinvention in its DNA, which keeps it fresh and relevant to every new generation while satisfying the demand from its adult fans,” said Cyma Zarghami, President, Nickelodeon Group in a statement. “Turtles has been an incredibly important franchise for us since we reignited it five years ago, and we’re excited for the new series to take the characters in a different direction with more humor, a younger and lighter feel and all-new dimensions to explore.”

I have to confess, I missed the boat on the current TMNT series on Nick, but by all accounts it's a solid show that blends the best elements of Turtle history together. I'll get caught up eventually, but I'm looking forward to getting in on the ground floor of a new series.

The main image of this article is, of course, from the 1987 animated series, and not indicative of what we might see from Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, but we're looking forward to seeing those designs! I'll update this with more information as it becomes available.