Cowabunga! In YouTube’s ‘kidslop’ era, ‘Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles’ could be a perfect fit.

The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are returning to YouTube, except this time, they won’t be voiced by Nice Peter and EpicLLOYD. As part of a broad expansion of the TMNT franchise, Paramount is launching a kid-friendly animated series that will premiere on YouTube.

The YouTube series, titled Teeny Mutant Ninja Turtles, will be a prequel that will follow Leonardo, Donatello, Michaelangelo, and Raphael during their days as ninjas-in-training. Nickelodeon Digital Studio is producing the show, which will initially run for 30 four-minute episodes. In the same vein as Disney’s Spidey and his Amazing Friends, the Teeny-sized series will put a cute, kid-friendly spin on familiar pop culture characters.

Teeny Mutant Ninja Turtles is part of Paramount’s multi-pronged strategy for its sewer-dwelling heroes. Other upcoming initiatives include a new toy line, children’s books, and even a chain of TMNT-themed pizza restaurants. “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is full of action, humor, and heart, and showcases relationships that have resonated with generations of fans worldwide,” said Paramount President of Global Products and Experiences Josh Silverman. “Continuing the Turtles’ adventures through products and experiences enables consumers to embark on their own journey.”

TMNT is hardly the first kid-friendly franchise to expand onto YouTube — a Reading Rainbow reboot offers another recent example of that trend — but the long-running reptilian saga is a perfect fit for the current era of YouTube. On YouTube Shorts, we’ve witnessed the rise of a genre I’ve dubbed “kidslop.” It consists of colorful videos that put creators, athletes, and fictional characters into an IP supercollider and smashes them together in nonsensical fashion.

We haven’t seen TMNT characters in many of the top kidslop videos, but other 90s franchises like Sonic the Hedgehog have recently climbed toward the peak of our Top 50 rankings. As a 90s cultural touchstone with colorful costumes and recent films that have drawn in a new generation of fans (just like Sonic), TMNT is well-positioned to become the next big thing in kidslop.

That might not be Paramount’s explicit goal with Teeny Mutant Ninja Turtles, but I can already imagine the fan edits that are going to draw in millions of views on Shorts. All we can do is yell cowabunga and come along for the ride — wherever it takes us.