Producers Originally Wanted 'Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles' (2012) to End After Four Seasons

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2012), the first TMNT series spearheaded by Nickelodeon following Viacom acquiring the complete rights of the iconic franchise in 2009, is still a favorite among fans young and old. The series, the first 3D CG-animated TMNT series, ran for 124 episodes over five seasons, telling the crime-fighting exploits of the legendary Heroes in a Half Shell - Leonardo, Raphael, Donatello and Michelangelo. However, Athena Portillo, who worked on the series, has revealed that producers had originally wanted to wrap the series after only four seasons!

Speaking during a roundtable interview, Portillo (Star Wars Resistance) revealed: "I used to work on [Nickelodeon's 2012 version of] Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. And we were planning to wrap it up at Season 4. And then [Nickelodeon was] like, 'No, no, you're getting Season 5.' We're like, 'No!" So we had to do these like Tales of the TMNT," he recalled. "We were [hoping] we don't have to keep going [on Resistance]. Because it's really nice to have the opportunity to say this is the story to tell."

Season five of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles ended up being an anthology series entitled Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, which followed the Turtles through a variety of action-packed and bizarre adventures that have never been seen before, capturing seven distinct stories from the hero brothers’ past and future, including their early days in New York City, encounters with villains and friends, and a peek into their distant, but wild future. Throughout the season, fans saw both new and familiar friends and foes as each tale unfolded. The season also paid homage to legendary Universal monsters such as the Mummy, Dracula, the Werewolf, and Dr. Frankenstein, in which the Heroes in a Half Shell faced-off against some of their most nightmare-ist foes yet.

Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, which aired in 2017, was the final season of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2012) before Nickelodeon relaunched the franchise in 2018 with it's latest iteration, Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, which is currently airing on Nick channels globally. A series has been renewed for a second season, and a Rise of the TMNT movie is currently in production for Netflix.

The latest manifestation of the show finds the four turtle brothers discovering new powers and hidden realms as they fight villains on the streets of New York City. While Rise holds onto aspects of earlier shows that fans of the Ninja Turtles love—big action scenes, cool lingo and strong brotherhood—it also brings to light a more youthful side of the half-shell heroes.

More Nick: 'Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles' Co-Creator Kevin Eastman Teases a Mature Netflix Type Live-Action Show | Nick at SDCC 2019!

Additional source: Wikipedia.

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