One Of TMNT: Mutant Mayhem's Best Easter Eggs Was A Last Minute Addition

"Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem" may dig considerably into the massive assembly of mutant characters from the franchise's long history in various media, but when it comes to referencing the other movies that have come before it, the Easter eggs are few and far between. Thankfully, it feels like director Jeff Rowe and his team focused more on making a movie that appealed to both longtime fans of "TMNT" and those who have zero nostalgia for the characters at all. However, co-writer Seth Rogen couldn't help but sneak one amusing reference into "Mutant Mayhem" as a last-minute addition. 

The original 1990 live-action "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" is the gold standard when it comes to the comic book franchise on the big screen, but the sequel "Secret of the Ooze" does have some memorable moments. Chief among them is a silly sequence when the turtles square off with the new mutant villains Tokka and Rahzar in the middle of a Vanilla Ice concert. But that's not the silliest part. When the fighting breaks out in the concert, Vanilla Ice seemingly improvises the song known as "Ninja Rap," which was created specifically for the movie. Well, that signature song can briefly be heard in the middle of another action sequence in "Mutant Mayhem."

In "TMNT: Mutant Mayhem," the turtles track down a thief who steals April O'Neil's moped. This leads them to a shady auto shop with even more criminals and stolen items, and the turtles suddenly find themselves in their first fight. They're a bit clumsy at first, but they're agile, inventive, and their training with Splinter and various VHS tapes pays off. 

In the middle of this sequence, Michelangelo dives into a nearby unoccupied card. While fending off an attacker, the car's radio suddenly turns on, and you can hear the refrain of "Go ninja, go ninja, go!" a few times before fading into the background. Co-writer and producer Seth Rogen was asked about this amusing nod to "TMNT" history, and here's what he had to say to CinemaBlend:

"That was an embarrassingly late-in-the-game decision. We were trying to find a joke to put there, we wanted a song on the radio, and we had picked some piece of like adult contemporary music from the 80s, and it just wasn't right."

You can easily see that moment being used for a punchline where a song that doesn't fit the moment suddenly fills the air. While the use of "Ninja Rap" also works as a punchline, it's better as a cute nod to one of the sillier moments in the franchise's big screen history. Though it does have us wondering exactly what the impetus of the song would be in a world where it's not improvised while watching mutant turtles fight off a bipedal wolf and snapping turtle.

Director Jeff Rowe credits the needle drop to Rogen, explaining, "Then Seth texted me like late at night one night [Seth Rogen impression] 'We should put the Ninja Rap there!' And it was, like, perfect!"

And the rest is history. "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem" is playing in theaters everywhere now.