TurtleTracksPodcast

Get your tickets now for Granite Con 2026, which runs from September 19 to 20, 2026 at the Doubletree by Hilton and the SNHU Arena in Manchester, NH ( https://www.granitecon.com/ ). In this Turtle Tracks episode, host Brian VanHooker is joined by Chris Proulx, one of the co-founders of Granite State Comic Con, a must-see destination for fans of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, as it takes place n...

On the day of the grand opening of the TMNT Pizzeria in Los Angeles, founder Andy Nguyen joins host Brian VanHooker to talk about the origins of the restaurant. An old-school Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles fan, the TMNT Pizzeria has been the dream project for Nguyen for an entire decade and its now finally happening! Sound engineering by Ian Williams. Follow TURTLE TRACKS PODCAST on Instagram: https...

In this episode, host Brian VanHooker chats with the guys at Frothy Beard Brewing Company about their TMNT-inspired beers they've offered over the years, including "Shadow Sessions" which is now available for preorder. Owner Michael Biondi and in-house artist Chris Miller chat about the history of the brewery and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles-inspired beers they've offered since 2020, as well a...

In this episode, host Brian VanHooker is joined by Tim Stahl, head of marketing at Wonderland Amusements, who are releasing a new TMNT Pinball machine now available for Preorder. Sthal talks about the history of Wonderland Amusements and working with IDW comics artist Mateus Santuolouco on designing the newest TMNT pinball machines, designed to be an affordable alternative to conventional pinball...

For my work at Polygon Magazine, I got a first look at the upcoming preschool TMNT show, TEENY MUTANT NINJA TURTLES. Check out the first 6 stills and an exclusive video clip here: https://www.polygon.com/exclusive-first-look-at-the-next-tmnt-show/

For the 35th anniversary of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze host Brian VanHooker interviewed Kurt Bryant and MArk Ginter, the guys who performed inside the suits of Tokka and Rahzar. This was a part of an interview you can find here: https://www.polygon.com/35-years-tmnt-2-tokka-rahzar-interview/ Sound engineering by Ian Williams. Follow Turtle Tracks Podcast on Instagram:...

In this episode, host Brian VanHooker welcomes back Pat Linden, the VP of Boys Marketing at Playmates Toys, who brings some breaking news to the podcast. Find out the final TMNT releases for Playmates Toys before they are done with the license after 40 years at the end of 2026. This includes the SDCC exclusive and other previously unannounced releases. Sound engineering by Ian Williams. Follow TUR...

In this episode, host Brian VanHooker is joined by Archie Comics TMNT Adventures artist Chris Allan and Virgil Cardamone, the owner of Mahoning Drive-In theater in Lehighton, Pennsylvania. Mahoning Drive-In is the last full-time 35mm Drive-In theater in the world and on June 5th and 6th 2026 they will be hosting a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles-themed weekend showing the first two films from the 199...

In a very special 200th episode, host Brian VanHooker welcomes Brian Henson to the program. The son of Jim Henson, Brian Henson played a huge role in the 1990 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles film, including being its lead puppeteer and its second unit director, Here, Henson shares stories from the set of the film and what the process was like building the TMNT for Jim Henson's Creature Shop. Sound en...

In this episode, host Brian VanHooker welcomes back a man integral to early TMNT history, Ralph DiBernardo. Beginning in the early 1980s, Ralph DiBernardo was friends with Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird, who would frequest his comic book business at a New Hampshire flea market. When Eastman and Laird created the first Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comic, Ralph bought 500 copies and debuted the comic...

In this episode, host Brian VanHooker chats with Gene Luen Yang, current writer of IDW's ongoing TMNT series, as well as Tom Waltz, who wrote the first 100 issues. This was for an interview conducted for Polygon: https://www.polygon.com/idw-teenage-mutant-ninja-turtles-comics-interview-gene-luen-yang-tom-waltz/ Sound engineering by Ian Williams. Follow TURTLE TRACKS PODCAST on Instagram: https://w...

In this episode, host Brian VanHooker chats with Ace St. Germain of Cortopia Studios, the company making the first-ever TMNT VR game: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Empire City. The two discuss why Karai is the main villain and how the game is developing. This interview was originally for Polygon. Read the article here: https://www.polygon.com/tmnt-empire-city-vr-preview/. Sound engineering by Ian...

A special announcement for TMNT fans! On March 19, 2026, Dimension X Toys ( @dimensionxtoys ) will be hosting an online art show on Instagram featuring over 100 artists and their TMNT-inspired work!

In this episode, host Brian VanHooker chats with French artist and toy designer Sylvain Plantier, also known as SNZ Toys. The two discuss what Turtle-Mania looked like in France as well as how his designs for a custom Playmates Toys-style robotic Tokka and Rahzar ended up in NECA's cartoon line. Sound engineering by Ian Williams. Follow TURTLE TRACKS PODCAST on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com...

In this episode, host Brian VanHooker chats with Colin Stein, the author of "The Art of Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. The 320 page book by IDW Publishing tells the making of the short-lived Nickelodeon series as well as the Netflix movie which concluded it, Availbe for pre-order until 3/9/26 and releasing on 4/14/2026. https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/796421/the-art-of-rise-of-...

In this episode, host Brian VanHooker chats with voice actor Frederick B. Owens, who supplied the voices of Leatherhead and Traximus in the 2003 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Series. Here, Owens shares the history of his voice acting career and memories from working on various Fox Box series for 4Kids Entertainment. Sound engineering by Ian Williams. Follow TURTLE TRACKS PODCAST on Instagram: https...

In this episode, host Brian VanHooker chats with an art director at his favorite clothing company, RSVLTS! Ian Glaubinger, a lifelong Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles fan, talks about his designs for the clothing brand, like the famous TMNT Tiki shirt and more! Sound engineering by Ian Williams. Follow TURTLE TRACKS PODCAST on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/turtle_tracks_podcast/

Reporting live from Toy Fair 2026, host Brian VanHooker chats with Claudio Paola of McFarlane Toys to discuss their IDW TMNT line.

Reporting live from Toy Fair 2026, host Brian VanHooker chats with Trevor Zammit, the TMNT brand manager of NECA Toys. Here he discusses the new reveals from the 2012 line, the 1987 and the new Fortnite TMNT figures.

Writer Andrew Joustra returns to Turtle Tracks Podcast to chat with host Brian VanHooker about writing Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles for IDW comics. Joustra takes over writing duties with issue #4 of the series, beginning a brand new story featuring Fugitoid and Zog! Presale for Tales of the TMNT issue #4 end 2/9/26. Sound engineering by Ian Williams. Follow TURTLE TRACKS PODCAST on In...

In this episode, host Brian VanHooker is joined by Doug Molitor, the writer of four classic episodes of the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cartoon. Here, Molitor discusses the Season Three episodes "The Four Musketurtles," when Leonardo thinks he's a musketeer and "Beware the Lotus," which introduced the character of Lotus Blossom. He also discusses his two episodes from the European Vacati...

In this episode, host Brian VanHooker chats with Mike Kazelah , the main artist on Archie Comics' Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles spinoff comic "The Mighty Mutanimals" from 1992. Kazelah's fun take on the Mutanimals were featured in seven of the comic's nine-issue run and Kalzelah shares his memories from that time, including working with fellow artists Ken Mitchroney and Garrett Ho, as well as write...

In the first episode of Turtle Tracks for 2026, host Brian VanHooker chats with choreographer Myrna Gawryn, who developed the dance routine for Vanilla Ice's "Ninja Rap" featured in "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze" in 1991. She talks about how she developed a dance routine that worked for the Turtle suits and working with Vanilla Ice. Sound engineering by Ian Williams. Fol...

In another Christmas-themed episode, host Brian VanHooker chats with Kent Seki, the director of the new theatrical short "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Chrome Alone 2 – Lost in New Jersey," which is attached to the new SpongBob film. The two discuss this continuation of the Mutant Mayhem universe and its anti-AI message, as well as Seki's work as cinematograher on Mutant Mayhem. Sound engineering...

In this Christmas-themed episode, host Brian VanHooker chats with Andrew Joustra, the screenwriter of the new theatrical short "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Chrome Alone 2 – Lost in New Jersey," which is attached to the new SpongBob film. The two discuss this continuation of the Mutant Mayhem universe and its anti-AI message. Sound engineering by Ian Williams. Follow TURTLE TRACKS PODCAST on Inst...