Rise of the TMNT Character Designs

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It's Rise of the TMNT day!

Here are the final character designs for the new show, launching later this year!

Raphael (Omar Miller) is now the leader and oldest brother, a snapping turtle who brandishes twin tonfas as his weapons.

Leonardo (Ben Schwartz) is a red-eared slider who boasts "irreverent charm and a rebel heart." Weapon of choice: ōdachi sword.

Box turtle/skateboarder/artist Michelangelo (Brandon Mychal Smith) is the youngest brother — and dangerous with a kusari-fundo.

Soft-shell turtle and tech hero Donatello (Josh Brener) rocks a tech-bo staff and impressive coding skills.

The first African-American April O'Neil (Kath Graham) is a savvy New Yorker and first human ally of the turtles.

Splinter (Eric Bauza) is part father figure, all sensei to the turtles.

Behind-the-Scenes Video with New "Rise of the TMNT" Voice Actors

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Just a day after announcing the new principal voice actors in next year's new "Rise of the TMNT" series, Nickelodeon has released a short video with clips of the new cast. If you pay attention, you can also see Rob Paulsen in the director's booth, doing his new directing thing!




"Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" stars Kat Graham as April O’Neil, Josh Brener as Donatello, Omar Miller as Raphael, Brandon Mychal Smith as Michelangelo, Ben Schwartz as Leonardo, and is expected to premiere in Fall 2018.

"Rise of the TMNT" Voice Cast Announced

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With an article published by The Hollywood Reporter this morning, we now know the core voice cast of next year's "Rise of the TMNT" series, as well as a few more details about the show.

From left to right, Kat Graham is April O’Neil, Josh Brener is Donatello, Omar Miller is Raphael, Brandon Mychal Smith is Michelangelo and Ben Schwartz is Leonardo. Additional talent in the cast includes Eric Bauza as Splinter, and Omar Miller and Ben Schwartz in unnamed roles.

While April, Donatello, and Michelangelo are described familiarly to how we've seen them before, an interesting detail from the article is the statement that "Raphael, the oldest and physically biggest brother ... is now the Turtles' leader" and "Leonardo [is] the self-professed "coolest" brother."

We can expect to see 26 episodes of "Rise of the TMNT," which is described as a "reimagining that follows the band of brothers as they encounter new allies and villains and discover a mystical world they never knew existed beneath the streets of New York City." Chris Viscardi, senior vp production and development, animation, at Nickelodeon, adds, "We have reimagined the series to be filled with humor, loads of action and a dynamic look, and it's packed with all-new heroes, villains and cityscapes for the Turtles to explore."

One really neat detail provided is that Rob Paulsen, previously Raphael in the original cartoon and Donatello in the 2012 Nickelodeon series, will be directing this new series.

"Rise of the TMNT" is co-executive produced by Andy Suriano (character designer, Samurai Jack) and Ant Ward (supervising producer, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles).

Everything We Know About "Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles"

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In March, Nickelodeon announced that the current TMNT CGI series would be replaced next year by a new 2D-animated series, "Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles." The series will be headed by Andy Suriano (character designer for Samurai Jack) and Ant Ward (supervising producer of the 2012 series). "Rise of the TMNT" is said to be lighter and more humor-oriented than the 2012 series.

There has been a blurry reveal of the new logo via Twitter user @TMNTfan86:

❗️ First look at the logo for 'Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles' (from a #BLE2017 promotional item) #TMNT ❗️ pic.twitter.com/LpjUquzmfw

— TMNT Fan 86 (@TMNTfan86) October 13, 2017

UPDATE: The first official details, including the voice cast, have been revealed! Read about it here!

NOTE: The following 4chan "leaks" are confirmed FAKE by Nickelodeon Animation Studios. I am keeping it posted here to keep clear what is and isn't confirmed.

A couple of 4chan users, who are said to have inside knowledge of Nickelodeon studios, stated we can expect:

• 2D animation, said to be in the vein of Motorcity, FLCL/Gainax
• More humor oriented than the last one, no clue to what extent
• The turtles are going to have some sort of mystical powers. Think Ninja Tribunal from the 4kids series. It ties into their origin somehow, which is supposedly pretty different. They have stones in their belts that help them channel their energy. Probably a toy gimmick
• The turtle designs are like Mirage meets the Michael Bay movies. They all look pretty similar except for Donny’s goggles, Leo’s got some armor, Raph has the du-rag like in the new movies, and Michelangelo’s got some “cool” accessories
• Splinter plays a much lesser role
• April is a teenager again, looks a bit like the current version but with really puffy pigtails and she’s sorta chubby. And she has a sword
• There is no Shredder in this series. Not sure if that’s just at first or a permanent thing
• Pizza is literally the turtles’ biggest weakness now. They have to deal with how it negatively affects their focus and physical condition
• No word on voice cast yet

This supposed character design for Donatello is also 100% fake. The new designs are actually said to be nothing close to this.

Expect the new designs to be officially revealed next February during Toy Fair.