Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Getting Massachusetts Manhole Tribute Funded by Pandemic Relief Money

Northampton, a city in Western Massachusetts serves as the home of Kevin Eastman’s Mirage Studios, has committed $20,000 in community-renewal funds to a quartet of custom manhole covers based on the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. The $20,000 is part of a $4 million stimulus package Northampton is receiving from the American Rescue Plan, a COVID-19 pandemic stimulus package. The idea is to “invigorate downtown arts” by celebrating the local celebrities. Eastman and co-creator Peter Laird have reportedly contributed millions to the local economy through local philanthropy.

ARPA was signed into law in March 2021, opening the door for states, counties, and municipalities to receive $1.9 trillion. Of course, manholes are a big part of TMNT lore, since the characters live in the sewers. the movie poster for the 1990 live-action Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie actually featured the heroes in a half shell peering out from under a New York City manhole.

“I am truly proud of these grant awards for community recovery and confident that the mix of projects selected will serve Northampton well using these one-time resources,” Northampton mayor Gina-Louise Sciarra said in a statement last February.

The Turtles started as a comic book by Eastman and Laird in the ’80s, but quickly became a multimedia sensation after their first animated series and its accompanying toy line blew kids away. Since then, the Turtles have been in action — both in animated and live-action forms, plus video games, comics, and other merch — more or less nonstop.

Earlier this week, Paramount — whose Nickelodeon division purchased the Turtles from Mirage in 2009 — released a trailer for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem, a stylish new animated film from Seth Rogen.

According to the official synopsis, “In Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem, after years of being sheltered from the human world, the Turtle brothers set out to win the hearts of New Yorkers and be accepted as normal teenagers through heroic acts. Their new friend April O’Neil helps them take on a mysterious crime syndicate, but they soon get in over their heads when an army of mutants is unleashed upon them.”

Jeff Rowe (The Mitchells vs. the Machines) directed Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem. Nickelodeon Movies and Point Grey Productions’ Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg, and James Weaver are producing the film, Nickelodeon’s first-ever CG-animated theatrical production, in partnership with Naito and Jason McConnell for Nickelodeon. Grey Point’s Lukas Williams is co-producing and Josh Fagen is overseeing. Paramount Pictures will distribute the film worldwide. It opens in theaters on August 4th.