The Seth Rogen-produced film "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem" was a tremendous commercial and critical success when it hit theaters in 2023. Building on that momentum, Paramount+ is bringing this newest iteration of the turtles back in a brand-new limited animated series. "Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" will hit the streaming service on August 9, the first new series in the franchise since 2018's "Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles."

The creative pedigree behind the show is significant. Between them, showrunners Chris Yost and Alan Wan have worked on every animated incarnation of the turtles since 2003.

In Wan's case, he's been moving up the production ladder with each subsequent show with which he's been involved. He started out as a storyboard artist for the 2003 Ninja Turtles show developed by 4Kids Entertainment. For the 2012 CGI Nickelodeon show, he was a director for individual episodes. By the time "Rise" came around in 2018, he was a supervising director and producer, given a more global sense of the entire structure of that series. "As far as my current role," he told IndieWire, "it's almost an extension to what I did on 'Rise,' but I'm much more involved. I'm in the recordings, I work with Seth Rogen's team, work hand in hand with Chris on these stories, develop the art style, that sort of thing."

Yost, on the other hand, returns to the franchise after stints as a freelance writer for seasons 3 through 5 of the 2003 show. "I would come in and pitch stories, but never really did anything beyond scripts," he said, "so I didn't deal with boards or directors or anything like that. I did one episode of the 2012 show because I knew [showrunner] Ciro [Nieli] and Brandon Auman, the head writer, and I was a fan and really wanted to write an episode because it looked like so much fun. Then I came on board 'Tales,' which has been an amazing experience and has allowed me and Alan to touch every single aspect of the production of the show from beginning to end."

In short, these guys know their Ninja Turtles.

The duo did have a certain template with which they had to work, as "Tales" is a direct continuation of the recent film. This puts it in a unique position among Turtles shows.

"Both [the] 2012 [show] and 'Rise' were developed as series first, but this is the first time where we are using the 'Mutant Mayhem' movie as a guiding map," Wan said, "almost like we're continuing that story from the movie into the series. I think that's the biggest difference. We are taking ingredients from the movie, but we are allowed to 'cook them' in that sense, like we can make our own 'meal' out of them."

"Having worked on many versions of [the Turtles], it's really just turning the dial on it, so to speak," added Yost, "making adjustments to make sure that we live in the universe, vibe, tone, and feel of what Seth, Evan [Goldberg] and Jeff [Rowe] did on the movie, really making sure that it's true to the Turtles more than anything else."

Even though the film set the direction of the new show, the duo was given the freedom to play around with the world, as well as incorporate other elements from the Turtles universe.

"Obviously, there's certain things that the movies have planned and want to do," said Yost. "But the great thing about the Ninja Turtles universe over 40 years is that there's a lot of different 'toys' you can play with. We've also had the liberty and freedom to create new things as well, so you're going to see a mix of all kinds of stories in this series."

"I think 'Mutant Mayhem' created a good sandbox," Wan said. "As long as we stay within that sandbox, we can do a lot with it."

The first of the two ordered seasons of "Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" features the titular turtles separated from one another as they deal with various threats to New York. In the first half of the season, they're on the run from longtime franchise antagonist Bishop, who, in classic Bishop fashion, is on a mission to hunt down and destroy all mutants with her army of Mechazoid robots. During the second half, the Turtles team up with the Mighty Mutanimals to take on the East River Three, a trio of water-based mutants. Along the way, they'll encounter other classic friends and foes from franchise mythos, such as the Purple Dragons, Leatherhead, and Genghis Frog -- all with unique spins that make them fit within the established "Mutant Mayhem" universe.

As Wan noted, this universe is a bit more grounded than what Turtles fans have seen in previous series. "The locations are real," he said. "We don't go to any very extravagant place. We don't time travel. All of it is within New York. Even with the action choreography, the mutants are strong, but we didn't make them with ninja magic and that sort of stuff."

"Beyond the existence of mutagen, it's pretty much just our world," said Yost. "So, what's a more grounded, 'Seth Rogen' take on the Purple Dragons? On robots? In the case of the Mechazoids, robots do sort of exist in this world -- like the Boston Dynamic robots, the weird dog-looking ones that people are always trying to kick over. What if that was the thing hunting our heroes down? All of these things are real threats, but they all have that sense of 'groundedness' and fun to them as well."

That extends to the show's main protagonists as well. One of the most praised aspects of "Mutant Mayhem" was how much the film played up the "teenager" aspect of the turtles, going so far as to have actual teenagers voice them for the first time ever. "Tales" leans into that element.

"It's been amazing to have actual young people portray the turtles," Yost said. "They bring so much personality and fun to it. I think the other thing the movie did so well that we were very happy to carry on is that, first and foremost, these versions of the characters are teenaged. They like what kids like, they watch the same TV and movies and TikToks and Instagrams and all that. They're almost indistinguishable from regular kids. Some of the fun of putting them in the adventures and challenges is, how does an actual teenager react to fighting with an army of robots or dealing with a bunch of river mutants that are trying to pull off a heist?"

Between the teenage voice actors behind the turtles reprising their roles from the film and the wide variety of new and returning characters, "Tales" is looking to be absolutely stacked on the talent front. Viewers will also hear the voices of Rose Byrne, Post Malone, Pete Davidson, Alanna Ubach (who stars as Bishop), Timothy Olyphant -- and for good measure, how about Danny Trejo as a mutant seahorse?

"It's insane, the level of talent that we've been able to bring into the show, and I think the fun that they're having really shines through," Yost said. "From the top down, we've really been blessed with one of the best crews out there."

"Mutant Mayhem" featured a highly stylized CGI style reminiscent of sketchbook art, and the "Tales" crew went to great lengths to translate that sketchy style to 2D. "If you look at the current slate of action animation, they're usually drawn [with] really sleek, precise, perfect line edges," Wan said. "Everything almost feels surgical. For us, we actually lean into something that feels less produced but more like it's 'made.' If you look at our animation style, if there's a rougher line, if it looks unfinished, we actually don't go in and clean up. We embrace that rougher, almost indie animation look. There's an almost 'punk rock' element to it."

With the show's close connections to "Mutant Mayhem," some may wonder if they need to watch the film before checking out the show.

"It's not a requirement," Wan said, "but I think it definitely helps to watch 'Mutant Mayhem' first, especially since every Turtles property right now is on Paramount+."

Yost agreed. "The first episode is gonna give you a little primer on what went down. I think you can watch this show and enjoy it without having seen the movie, but do yourself a favor. Watch the movie, because it is really good."

Regardless of one's Turtle experience, "Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" promises to be a show that everyone can enjoy.

"We emphasize the fun, which is embedded in the Ninja Turtles franchise DNA," said Wan. "For the older fans, they're going to see their favorite hero performing something that's close to what they know, but different. For the newer fans, they're really intrigued by the designs, by the brotherhood aspect. There's also the action, adventure... I think it's a show that's made for everyone.

"Our beginning, middle, and end goal is to entertain," Yost said. "If we can put a smile on your face with these four pizza-loving brothers, then our mission is accomplished."