The original 1987 “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” animated series is coming to Nickelodeon after the cabler acquired global rights to the show.
All 193 episodes of the original ten-season series that ran from 1987 to 1996 will debut digitally on Nickelodeon-owned and operated channels like YouTube and Pluto TV later this month in the United States.
That will be followed by Nickelodeon-branded channels and digital platforms internationally. The news came as part of Paramount Pictures’ Hall H presentation for the new film “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem” at San Diego Comic-Con today.
Director Jeff Rowe and franchise co-creator Kevin Eastman were on hand to preview the film which is one of the only major titles getting a presentation at this year’s convention. Eastman said during the presentation:
“We just found out today – this is breaking news – Nickelodeon and Paramount have secured the rights to broadcast the original cartoon series.
[It was] the beginning. The first time those characters came to life with voices and movement, and Chuck Lorre wrote an amazing theme song for us back in the day before he was Chuck Lorre.
It’s so fantastic. We’re so excited to announce this, so congratulations to all of us. We get to see it again!”
Eastman also had high praise for Rowe’s new film take on the franchise with ‘Mutant Mayhem’:
“I’m so proud of what you guys have done. This movie is brilliant. Fifteen minutes in, I go, ‘When are you starting the sequel?’ Now I look at it and the way it’s come to life, it reminds me of the underground comics style that Peter [Laird, ‘TMNT’s’ co-creator] and I started. There’s just so much life and energy and weight.”
Around twenty minutes of footage from the film was shown off detailing the Ninja Turtles’ origin story and the foursome conducting a grocery run along with watching an outdoor screening of “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off”. A brief 30-second clip has also been released online and can be seen below.
“Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem” opens in cinemas everywhere on August 2nd.