Ramsey Naito, the Exec Behind ‘Ninja Turtles,’ Is Helping Build Paramount’s Animation Future

During its CinemaCon presentation this past spring, Paramount Pictures made animation the center of its showcase, showing off a slate of seven franchise films over the next two years that kicks off today with “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem.”

Leading this colorful charge is Ramsey Naito, a veteran animation exec with past stints at Nickelodeon, Cartoon Network and Blue Sky and who, under Paramount CEO Brian Robbins, was appointed to be the president of both Paramount Animation and Nickelodeon Animation.

“Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem” sees Paramount join in what has become a very competitive market for theatrical animation. Disney and Pixar, once the undisputed box office kings, have hit a rough skid in the past couple of years while Universal and Sony have yielded hits like DreamWorks’ “Puss in Boots: The Last Wish,” Illumination’s “Minions: The Rise of Gru” and “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” and Sony Animation’s “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.”

Those films aren’t just connected by their animated status. They are also films with reported production budgets of $100 million or less. At a time when several live-action summer films have seen their costs rapidly inflate, studios are finding a greater return on investment with animation as “Mario” and “Spider-Verse” currently stand among the top 3 highest grossing films of the year.

Paramount could get in on that with “TMNT: Mutant Mayhem,” the first “Ninja Turtles” theatrical film since the Michael Bay-produced, live-action/CGI title “Out of the Shadows” in 2016. While that film was made on a $135 million budget, “Mutant Mayhem” came in at roughly half that with $70 million and has earned the most positive reviews of any “TMNT” film thanks to its unique animation style and its breezy humor.

Naito spoke with TheWrap about where her animation division fits in the bigger picture for Paramount, why “Mutant Mayhem” fits into what she’s always loved about working at Nickelodeon, and how her studio has a simple, three-word philosophy: “No House Style.”

The interview below has been edited for clarity.

“Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” is a series that has been repeatedly reinvented over the past four decades. Do you think that history gave Jeff Rowe, Seth Rogen and their team the confidence to make bold changes with how “Mutant Mayhem” reinterprets these characters?

Well, I believe that there’s an incredible amount of nostalgia factor with “TMNT” that resonated with Jeff, Seth, Evan [Goldberg, writer-producer] and James Weaver [producer]. What we all had in common on this project was this inclination to zig when everyone zags, and “TMNT” was really asking for that too.

So we wanted a reinvention that felt original and fresh, that spoke to the fans, but invited a new generation into this amazing title. So Jeff, Seth and Evan really grabbed ahold of what they love about these characters and rooted them in a teenage coming-of age story.

There’s still some of those original roots of “TMNT,” with the subway, the graffiti and the sewers of New York City, but there’s also this true teenage spirit and this common theme of wanting to be accepted as we’re growing up. Put that all together and it’s a recipe for what I think is an animation masterpiece. Really, what I think they delivered is incredible.

We’ve seen with movies like “Puss In Boots: The Last Wish” and “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” that audiences are really responding to films with a distinct animated style. Is delivering that sort of unique style part of your philosophy as head of Paramount Animation?

Absolutely. It’s been almost two years since we combined Paramount and Nickelodeon Animation under one roof. Nickelodeon has always embodied this creator spirit that is irreverent, left of center and comedic, and our mission when the studios joined together was to make killer films that embody that spirit and speak to today’s audience.

We also want all of our movies to look and feel very different. We do not want to have a house style. As we progress through our slate which runs through 2025, I think everyone will see that with films like “Transformers: One,” which is being directed by “Toy Story 4” Oscar winner Josh Cooley.

We have a “Smurfs” film directed by another Oscar nominee Chris Miller [“Puss In Boots”], and films based on “Spongebob” and “Avatar: The Last Airbender” in the works. These are all projects where we are working with different animation vendors that add to how striking and unique each of these films look.

It’s clear from your CinemaCon presentation this past spring that animation is going to be a big part of Paramount’s theatrical plans for the next several years. What can you tell us about meeting with Brian Robbins about this plan and what it was like for you to be handed the keys to all these big franchises?

Well, I can tell you it was a dream come true, but it was also a dream I never thought of. I started my career at Nickelodeon in the in the late 90s and worked on films like “Jimmy Neutron,” the first “Spongebob” movie and “The Wild Thornberrys.” Then I went off to work at many other studios and produce “The Boss Baby,” and then came back to Paramount where I was reunited with Brian.

When he asked me to come and work at Nickelodeon, I jumped at it not just because I loved my previous time there, but also because Brian was a really big voice in defending the brand and what I loved about Nick. When Nickelodeon and Paramount came together it was a moment that was delivering on a conversation we had probably at the very beginning in 2018. Brian loved Nickelodeon and really had a vision to make it a world class studio that not only was known for TV series but also known for theatrical film and originals and giving new voices their first chance at telling stories.

“Mutant Mayhem” carries a production budget that’s less than half of many of the tentpole films we’ve seen this summer, and it is probably safe to assume that “Transformers: One” will have a similar cost that will make it much cheaper to make than past “Transformers” films. At a time when studios are trying to get budgets for four-quadrant films under control, what can animation provide in terms of making these franchise films studios want but at a lower cost?

Well, for us at Nickelodeon, it goes back to that “no house style” approach. We four-wall our production plan around our filmmakers and their process. We are talking with them from the very beginning about making these films at the right price and how we can support and empower the filmmakers to make the best story.

That’s what we did with “TMNT” and with Jeff and Seth’s team at Point Grey Pictures, and it is what we are doing with “Transformers” and with Josh Cooley and [producers] Mike Vahradian and Lorenzo di Bonaventura. They know these characters and this franchise and we’re on track to deliver a great film with an impressive look.

What I’ll also say is that “Transformers: One” takes place on another world that we’ve never seen before in past “Transformers” movies, one that would have faced too many limitations to make in a live-action movie. With animation, we are free from those limitations, and we can present this world in any way that we want.

Franchises define the announced slate for Paramount, but are there original films in development?

Originals have always been in our plans. They were in our plans at Nickelodeon and they still are now. We haven’t announced them yet, but we’re working on films with fresh voices, new worlds and narratives that speak to a modern audience in a way that only an original film can. And of course, those films end up becoming additions to our legacy library. So yes, there’s a number of original films in development that we’re trying to make in the near future.

What you’ve said about combining filmmaker vision with a beloved IP sounds quite similar to what execs at Warner Bros. told us about why they believe “Barbie” is such a huge hit. As that film has had a huge box office run, did it boost your confidence in “TMNT: Mutant Mayhem”?

I love “Barbie” and I love Greta Gerwig, and I am so happy for their success. But yes, I feel similar about “TMNT” when it comes to the spirit by which we developed it, supporting our filmmakers to present the Turtles in their own way. Seeing “Barbie” succeed did feel validating, knowing that such an approach is what wins.

I think that above all else, even the visual style, what is really going to win over audiences is that “Mutant Mayhem” taps into that desire to feel like you fit in, to be accepted. That is what the Turtles and April and everybody in this film really wants more than anything, and that’s going to resonate with “TMNT” fans of all ages much like how “Barbie” resonated with its audience.

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