TurtleTracksPodcast

This week, host Brian VanHooker welcomes a genuine animation legend onto the Turtle Tracks Podcast, Sue Blu. Having played characters like Arcee in 'Transformers' and Nanny Smurf, Blu moved over to voice direction where she became one of the most prolific voice directors of the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s. Among the many, many shows she's been a part of is the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cart...

In this episode, host Brian VanHooker chats with Sean Sevestre, an artist who was in the visual development department of the 2023 film Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem. Sevestre talks about creating the first painted representations of the characters designed by Woodrow White like Superfly, Bebop and Rocksteady and designing the Laird building in the movie and the process of lighting a...

In this episode, host Brian VanHooker welcomes artist Khary Randolph onto the podcast. Randolph wore several different hats for the 2003 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles series, originally working on licensing art and then on the series and its finale movie, Turtles Forever. Years later he returned to the TMNT via IDW comics working on a variety of projects including recent covers for the ongoing seri...

In this episode, host Brian VanHooker chats with Julio Galvez, owner of WE CAN BE HEROES COMICS in Chatsworth, California and founder of COMICS & COCKTAILS, a quarterly event in Burbank, CA. On June 21, 2025, Comics & Cocktails will be themed as TURTLECON 2025 bringing fans together with TMNT creators from the past and future, including Ken Mitchroney, Ben Bishop, Tom Waltz, Ciro Nieli, Mateus San...

The second of two back-to-back Super7 interviews with Associate Art Director Kyle Wlodyga. In this interview with host Brian VanHooker, Wlodyga goes through the new 2003 TMNT line by Super7 including wave one of the four Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and the recently revealed Wave Two. Sound Engineering by Ian Williams. Follow TURTLE TRACKS PODCAST on Instagram: www.instagram.com/turtle_tracks_podc...

The first of two back-to-back Super7 interviews with Associate Art Director Kyle Wlodyga. In his interview with host Brian VanHooker, Wlodyga goes through a series-by-series breakdown of the toys highlighting the unique challenges and experiences with each wave. And, he talks about whether we'll ever see Undercover Donatello and Heavy MEtal Raphael. Stay tuned to the next episode episode where the...

In this episode, host Brian VanHooker is joined by writer Tom Waltz and artist Ben Bishop who discuss IDW's The Last Ronin II: Re-Evolution. In a spoiler-filled discussion on the entire five-issue series, Waltz talks following The Last Ronin with this next chapter and that shocking death at the end of the series. Meanwhile, Bishop shares the process of developing the new TMNT for the series. Sound...

In this episode, host Brian VanHooker chats with TOKKA, an artist and a die-hard Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Super-Fan. In addition to his artwork being featured in Mirage's second volume of "Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles," TOKKA has been dubbed "The Jackson Pollock of the Ninja Turtles" by Nickelodeon. Here he talks about his journey with the TMNT and why TOKKA is such a profoundly i...

In this episode, host Brian VanHooker chats with TMNT veteran Christopher Yost, a writer on TMNT 2003 and 2012 and the showrunner/co-executive producer of the new series Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, now available on Netflix. Yost explains how they adapted the Mutant Mayhem Turtles for the small screen and including characters like Bishop, Hun. Angel, Kitsune and Pigeon Pete. Sound en...

In this episode, host Brian VanHooker revists the era of TMNT that many fans find to be their favorite: TMNT 2003 and the wonderful film "Turtles Forever." Lloyd Goldfine was the executive producer and showrunner on the 2003 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles series and in this interview he details the early development of the show with Peter Laird and how things like Utrom Shredder came about. He also...

For the very special 150th episode of Turtle Tracks, host Brian VanHooker invites voice actor Greg Cipes onto the program. Cipes provided the voice for Michelangelo in Nickelodeon's 2012 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles series and here he talks about some of his favorite episodes, his love for ice cream kitty and he reveals that he will soon be returning as Michelangelo in a video game and perhaps eve...

Host Brian VanHooker welcomes back Richard Usher from Partners in Kryme, the hip-hop legend behind "TURTLE POWER" from the 1990 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles film. Under the new name PIK1, Richard has released the new song "Turtle Power XXL" check it out here: https://partnersinkryme.hearnow.com/ and follow PIK1 here: https://www.instagram.com/partnersinkryme_now_pik1/. Sound engineering by Ian Wil...

In this episode, host Brian VanHooker chats with artist Terry Hinkle, the former owner and creative director of Hinkle and Company, who did the art for many Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles food products. Among the products Hinkle worked on was the TMNT Cereal, Hostes TMNT Pies, Crunchabungas, TMNT Cookies and more! Sound Engineering by Ian Williams. Follow Turtle Tracks Podcast on Instagram: https://...

In this episode, host Brian VanHooker dives into some would-be TMNT history with artist Joel Naprstek. Naprstek was a professor to Mirage-Era Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles artist Michael Dooney and even worked with Mirage on a few would-be TMNT projects including a book about Donatello restoring a WWII plane and a would-be book for Kevin Eastman's Tundra. While he was working for Macy's in the 2010...

From Toy Fair 2025 in NYC, host Brian VanHooker chats with Trevor Zammit from NECA about the new Stan Sakai Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Archie TMNT 5th Turtle April and the upcoming 2012 toyline. Sound engineering by Ian Williams. Follow TURTLE TRACKS PODCAST on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/turtle_tracks_podcast/

From Toy Fair 2025 in NYC, host Brian VanHooker chats with Pat Linden from Playmates about the upcoming retro TMNT releases as well as stuff from Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Sound engineering by Ian Williams. Follow TURTLE TRACKS PODCAST on Instagram: www.instagram.com/turtle_tracks_podcast/

From Toy Fair 2025 in NYC, host Brian VanHooker chats with Claudio Paola from McFarlane Toys about the upcoming IDW Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles toys. Sound engineering by Ian Williams. Follow TURTLE TRACKS PODCAST on Instagram: www.instagram.com/turtle_tracks_podcast/

In this episode, host Brian VanHooker revisits the early days of TMNT history by talking with John Handy, formerly of Playmates toys. A retired toy industry veteran, Handy was at Playmates Toys when the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles were first pitched to the company and he recalls many formative details about the franchise, like when they got their different-colored bandanas and how the villains de...

In this episode of Turtle Tracks Podcast, host Brian VanHooker talks with Kenn Scott who played Rapahel and several Foot Ninja ijn the first two Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles films. In his book "Teenage Ninja to Mutant Turtle" Scott outlines how he went from playing a Foot Soldier to performing Raphael's stunts in the TMNT 1990, then how he became the performer inside Raphael for TMNT: Secret of th...

In this episode, host Brian VanHooker continues his coverage of "Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" with design supervisor Joey McCormick. The two discuss many of the series backgrounds as well as what it was like adapting the look of "TMNT: Mutant Mayhem" into 2D. Sound Engineering by Ian Williams. Follow TURTLE TRACKS PODCAST on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/turtle_tracks_podcast/

In this episode, Brian VanHooker chats with Neave Lifschits, lead animator on the the 2023 film Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem. Working for the VFX company Cinesite, Lifschits oversaw several sequences in the film, including Splinter's fight scene in the TCRI building and when Splinter throws a party for the Turtles. Sound engineering by Ian Williams. Follow TURTLE TRACKS PODCAST on I...

In this episode, host Brian VanHooker is joined by penciler/painter Fero Pe and colorist Luis Antonio Delgado to chat about the artwork of IDW's Nightwatcher comic book series. Starring the fifth turtle Jennika in the armor, Nightwatcher has been an exciting continuation of IDW's Turtleverse and here to discuss it are the guys behindf the artwork. Sound Engineering by Ian Williams. Follow TURTLE T...

In this episode, host Brian VanHooker chats with artist Bryce Collins, character designer on "Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" and character design lead on "Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles." They discuss the design differences between the two shows and what it was like to adapt the look of "TMNT: Mutnt Mayhem" into 2D. Sound engineering by Ian Williams. Follow Turtle Tracks Podc...

In this episode, host Brian VanHooker chats with Jeff Goodwin, who was the makeup artist on the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles film and is the author of the new eBook, "Continuity of a TMNT Movie." Goodwin discusses applying makeup to humans vs the turtle suits and what it was like to work on both TMNT and the 1993 Super Mario. Sound Engineering by Ian Williams. Follow Turtle Tracks Podcast...

With the new cartoon "Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" now on Netflix, host Brian VanHooker reached out to art director Andrea Fernandez and color supervisor Mark Anthony to chat about the making of the series. They discuss adapting the look of "TMNT: Mutant Mayhem" into 2D, the new villains and the fresh takes on classic villains (including Bishop). Sound engineering by Ian Williams. Fo...