Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Seth Rogen Says Franchise Is Why He Took Karate

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles writer Seth Rogen says that the franchise is the reason he ended up taking karate as a kid. In a recent feature with Empire Magazine, the comedian explained how the adventures of Leonardo, Donatello, Michelangelo, and Raphael made him pick up some nunchucks. However, the life-long love of these characters led him to make Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem. It seems pretty clear from all the interviews he’s given so far, the creative team wants to channel that kind of youthful chaos throughout the new movie. If the turtles are anything like Rogen was when he was a kid, then they’ve done their jobs well!

“Part of the reason I did karate was because of the Ninja Turtles,” says Rogen. “Me and Evan both did karate together. My dad got me nunchucks that I cracked my head open with, because I was obsessed with the Ninja Turtles, and Michelangelo specifically.”

Seth Rogen Had Karate Mishaps As A Child

Later in the interview, Evan Goldberg talked about his friendship with Rogen. It turns out that the comedian ended up completely shattering his parents’ pricey chandelier with the nunchucks he received during the karate days. These kinds of youthful stories are always a treat when you get to work on a dream project. The love for weird martial arts media comes through when you’re so excited to show off your skills that they spark massive trouble for yourself and your buddies.

“Seth had just got these nunchucks,” Goldberg shared. “He was like, ‘Yo, check this out, I want to show you this awesome move!’, and just immediately shattered a huge chandelier from his parents’ house into a billion pieces. It took us, like five hours to clean.”

Rogen chuckled, “It was instantaneous. It was as though what I was trying to show him was my abilities to destroy a lamp.”

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem Channels Youthful Energy

From the moment a lot of fans laid eyes on Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem, it was clear we were dealing with a very different set of characters. Mostly, it was because they’re more like teenagers than any other interpretation of the turtles. Part of this is achieved by the young actors voicing the brothers. But, the writing also leans heavily into the idea of all four turtles being awkward and learning to fin their place into the world. Here’s what Rogen had to say.

“The film itself is permeated with this teenage energy – where you don’t stay in the lines, and you’re pushing harder on the stuff that you like, and you’re impressionably scribbling in the background,” Rogen explained.

“We started to write to the animation style,” he added. “It needed to capture that – we can never have boring scenes, because the movie itself just seems to be crackling with energy.”

Did you start karate because of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles? Let us know in the comments!