TMNT: Mutant Mayhem Trailer Sneaks In The Classic Cartoon Theme Song (& A Nod To The 90s Films)
Producers Evan Goldberg and Seth Rogen are taking their talents for making hilarious coming-of-age comedies like "Superbad" and applying them to the animated world with this summer's "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem." The team that brought you "Sausage Party" has set their sights on the heroes in a half-shell residing in New York City's sewers, but it's unclear if Donatello will wield his controversial sausage nunchucks from 1991's "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2: Secret of the Ooze."
The new trailer for "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem" does feature a number of homages and callbacks to the original two live-action movies from the 1990s and an Easter egg from the 1987 animated series which ran for seven seasons and spawned a successful action figure toy line (that I may have played with). The TMNT franchise has become a multi-generational affair consisting of new animated shows from Nickelodeon, and the turtles have even received the Michael Bay treatment with two action-pounding, ridiculously over-the-top live-action reboots. For kids and adults, it's always nice to see the return of Rafael, Leonardo, Donatello, and Michelangelo for a dose of nostalgia and a healthy heaping of juvenile crime fighting.
The original "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" theme song from the cartoon is probably the main thing that people remember most, though, with a close second probably going to Vanilla Ice doing The Running Man while singing "Go, ninja, go ninja, GO!" at the end of "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2: Secret of the Ooze."
Incredibly, that theme song was written by Chuck Lorre, creator of "Two and a Half Men" and "The Big Bang Theory." In a subtle nod to the classic tune, the opening sequence of the "Teenage Mutant Ninja Trailer: Mutant Mayhem" teaser plays a few notes of the melody that references the opening scene from the 1990 original and its sequel.
How the opening of the Mutant Mayhem trailer pays tribute
The opening sequence of the "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem" trailer starts with establishing shots of the Manhattan skyline before zooming in on an NYC sewer manhole cover. Before the needle drop starts blasting the hip-hop classic "Can I Kick It?" by A Tribe Called Quest, an acoustic piano quietly plays the opening notes from the original theme song from the animated series.
Of course, it has to be a brooding, melancholy version because sad song covers in movies are all the rage, nowadays. This may become a trend, seeing how the new trailer for the "Super Mario Bros. Movie" features Mario and Luigi singing the first verse of the 1989 "Super Mario Bros Duper Show!" cartoon.
Clearly, Seth Rogen and the higher-ups at Nickelodeon and Paramount wanted to pull at the heartstrings of long-time turtle fans. The song is just as much a part of the TMNT legacy as New York City is. The original black-and-white comic from Eastman and Laird is much darker than the Saturday morning cartoon version, but the comic firmly establishes the Big Apple as a character.
"Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem" wants to pay respect to that and make sure to shout out the original films. The opening scene of the 1990 film opens exactly the same way as the teaser for "Mutant Mayhem" with daytime establishing shots of NYC. Reporter April O'Neil is heard reporting on a terrible new threat to the city, namely Shredder and his army of ninjas.
The "Secret of Ooze" sequel starts with night shots of Times Square with literally everyone enjoying a slice from Roy's Pizza. It's these little connections to the originals that show how Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg still have a fondness for the originals that should make "Mutant Mayhem" feel like part of the TMNT universe while still offering something new and fresh.