Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Season 1 Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		0.0
Overall		3.0

Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Season 1 Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Martin Liebman April 11, 2025

"Franchise." Franchise, franchise, franchise...and milk it for all it's worth. And if one doesn't stick, try, try again. These words and ideas seem to be at the heart of today's entertainment landscape, with various franchises being resurrected, and reworked, and reimagined, and resurrected again...and again...and again....with ever increasing promises of "getting it right" and "for the fans" and "we really mean it this time" as the calling card mantras and the hopes of moviedom the world over. That certainly seems to be the case with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, a franchise that has been around for the better part of my life and has seen numerous big- and small-screen adaptations over the years, and to various levels of success and in varying formats and styles at that. Here is the latest TV outing, Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, a direct successor to 2023's acclaimed big screen adventure Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem. It follows in story and tone but not exactly in visual style, but it manages to piece together a solid exploration of the Turtles as individuals and as a team, cleverly finding a way to really dig deep into the characters without digging too much, or too exclusively, into their pasts.

In the aftermath of the Turtles' adventure in Mutant Mayhem, they've become the toast of the town. En route to a very special party, the foursome finds itself attacked and separated by a new, nefarious villain known as "Bishop" (Alanna Ubach) who has a grudge agains the turtles, and against mutants in general (in a storyline that is fairly reminiscent of something from X-Men). Each turtle, over the first four episodes, is chased down by Bishop's robotic thugs known as "Mechazoids." They are put to the test, forced to fend for themselves, find themselves, and see a fresh perspective on their friendship, all the while fighting for survival against a super powerful, and highly motivated, foe.

This is a somewhat strange series. It follows Mutant Mayhem in many ways, but it doesn't follow it in every way. It's a continuation of the world, but not necessarily the story. It's a small screen follow-up to a big-screen hit. It's presented in a comfortable and familiar yet still different animation style that maintains the spirit and some of the general aesthetics of the movie but it's far from the same thing. So it's sort of its own thing, what might be called a "spiritual successor," and sort of a legitimate sequel at the same time. But it'll help sell toys and raise franchise awareness, which is probably just as important to the studio as good storytelling. At least the series does get the latter.

To be sure, this is a really, really solid show. It's quick, zippy, and fun. It finds its stride early on, especially when it does the unfathomable, which is to separate the turtles and force them to find their own footing rather than fight alongside one another, as they have done (with a few exceptions....Raphael has been known to go solo-sulking from time to time). But this actually affords the show, and the franchise, a fabulous opportunity to explore the characters without having to share the spotlight, without having to give attention to the group rather than the individual. It gives the audience a chance to get to know them, to seem them fighting solo, and get to know their personalities a bit better. But it also proves richly rewarding when they finally get back together and the truth of not just strength in numbers, but strength in fellowship and brotherhood, are revealed to be at the heart of what makes them a fearsome fighting team. It's a nice angle, and the show gives these solo adventures plenty of early season screen time. It's a delight, and one of just many reasons to give the show a spin.

One of the ways in which the series maintains footing with the feature film is the return of the four actors who voiced the turtles in Mutant Mayhem. Leonardo (voiced by Nicolas Cantu), Donatello (voiced by Micah Abbey), Raphael (voiced by Brady Noon), and Michaelangelo (Shamon Brown Jr.) maintain credible connection to the feature film because of this which is vital to not just continuity but heart and soul. There's nothing like not just a new voice, but a different connection to the character, to break continuity, and it's nice to see that the creatives were able to regroup the core four, who did such a great job in the film, here. The glaring absence is Jackie Chan as Splinter, but that omission has been "solved" by voicing Splinter with gibberish (or "Vermin") which sort of reminds of the teacher in Peanuts. But the big difference is the "sort of" animation style departure. The show maintains many of the unique characteristics of the film, but the animation style is just as much Mutant Mayhem as it is Saturday Morning Cartoon. But I think that maintaining voices and recreating spirit are much more important than holding the line on visual style, and with the good overarching story and the solid individual notes, the shift in look is far superseded by everything else the series gets right.

Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Season 1 Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Paramount's 1080p Blu-ray release of Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Season 1 delivers a rather striking image, defined, mostly, by its intensity of color output. Colors present with high yield output, and not only the usual suspects in a Turtles outing, like green and the four colors of mask. No, here, the entire spectrum is alive and kicking, with a wide range of colorful colors around the city, ranging from bright interiors to dim alleyways and everything in between. Even flat urban colors find plenty of life, usually in contrast some some really bright hues as well. But no matter the place or time, there's no shortage of color excellence on display. Black levels are very good, too, showing appreciable depth and accuracy in low light environments. Detail is excellent. The 1080p resolution is more than enough to present every animated detail with all of the crispness and definition one could possibly want. There's no city texture left underpowered or less than dynamic and clear, again whether down in the sewers or up on city streets or considering interiors or exteriors; every detail is alive with all of the clarity and detail that the animators have put into the material. Viewers will never be left wanting. There are no obvious encode shortcomings, either.

Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Season 1 Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Season 1 arrives on Blu-ray with a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless soundtrack. The track is lively and satisfying, with a wide front stage presence to core elements and excellent detail to all content. Whether it's city ambience, music, or action, the sense of space is obvious and the detail is always rich and realistic, at least as "realistic" as can be in a show of this setting and style. The surrounds carry a nice balance and blend of content, too, with seamless integration and support to, again, the core elements of action, ambience, and music. There's plenty of discrete content and effortless stage traversal, drawing the listener into every shot, scene, and sequence as necessary. Dialogue is clear and well prioritized from a natural front-center home.

Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Season 1 Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

No supplements are included on either Blu-ray disc. No DVD or digital copies are included with purchase. This release does not ship with a slipcover.

Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Season 1 Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

This may not be a revolutionary animated program, but it's a fun and breezy follow-up to the latest animated film, albeit with a somewhat different animation style that does not abandon movie aesthetics but that does have a somewhat more "traditional" animated base, at least. It's definitely its own thing, which is a good thing. Who needs more cookie-cutter animated TV? With a good story and returning voice actors (for the most part), this is a nontraditional, but welcome, sequel. No bonus materials are a downer, but the quality video and audio presentations make this a hit where it counts. Recommend!