Seth Rogen channeled Pumbaa for TMNT’s Bebop

Seth Rogen, who is voicing Bebop in the upcoming TMNT movie Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem, channeled another warthog of his, Pumbaa, who he portrayed in 2019’s The Lion King remake, taking lessons from that session to up the authenticity of his TMNT venture.

While voice actors typically record in separate booths and/or sessions, that wasn’t always the case on The Lion King, which allowed for a looser production and more natural voices (at least, as natural as a warthog talking to a meerkat can be) when Rogen shared a booth with the likes of Donald Glover (Simba) and Billy Eichner (Timon). That, too, helped Seth Rogen get into the mindset (at least, assuming Bebop has a mind) for TMNT. Speaking with The Hollywood Reporter, Rogen said, “We really went out of our way and bent over backwards on Ninja Turtles to try to capture that improvisational energy that you get when a lot of people are in the same place at the same time. I actually saw how helpful it was from doing Lion King, and if that’s the tone and style you’re going for, then it is a great thing to chase.”

But Seth Rogen wasn’t the only one sharing a booth during the making of TMNT, which he did with John Cena, who voices rhinoceros Rocksteady. “On Ninja Turtles, it was lovely because we were able to control the process a lot more. For every session, we lumped people together. So every time the four turtles recorded, they were together. Me and John Cena were Bebop and Rocksteady, and we recorded together. Ice Cube has a bunch of scenes with the kids, and they recorded together.”

In addition to Seth Rogen, John Cena and Ice Cube, the new TMNT has a pretty stacked voice cast, with the likes of Jackie Chan, Hannibal Buress, Maya Rudolph, Paul Rudd, and more. Seth Rogen has kept his distinct voice in business as of late, also playing Donkey Kong in this month’s The Super Mario Bros. Movie. Hey, at least he doesn’t have tusks!

Are you looking forward to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem? Let us know what you’re hoping for in the comments section below!