TMNT Behind the Scenes from Mark Viglione on Vimeo.
Are you ready to be Shell Shocked?
Nickelodeon's most anticipated show of the year, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, is coming soon!
The show kicks some serious butt, literally, and we went behind the scenes with the
shows creators to get the inside scoop!
Ciro Nieli (Executive Producer): You know, it's really interesting with a property like Ninja Turtles, you know, it's existed for over 25 years now, and you get to kinda look at everything that's been done, and see where it has and hasn't done well. So, I feel like the fighting that we have on our show is a lot more heads up.
We've worked with martial artists to kind of get it more authentic.
Jeff Ventimilia (Executive Producer): What I really like about the new look and style of these guys is that their all individuals. In previous incarnations of the property, every Turtle looked identical. It was very hard to tell who was who.
But one of the things we set up in the beginning to do, was make sure these guys all had unique personalities, and it showed in who they were.
Ciro Nieli: The way we brought the Turtles back to life for Nickelodeon was that we looked at the core of who these characters were. And we said to ourselves "What really is at the heart of these characters?", and to me, I thought it was
the comradery. That kind of bond that brotherhood has.
[Leonardo: Raph, be quiet!
Raphael: Not till Mikey says it!]
As a kid, I think that's what I really liked about the Turtles, that there were a special group that I wished I could be apart of.
They have four characters who are so distinct, that it's really hard as a viewer not to find one that you relate to.
Jeff Ventimilia: Leonardo is still the leader, but he's also a 15-year-old kid who's learning to grapple with the responsibility of being in charge of his three brothers.
[Leonardo: When Ninja's are on surveillance, they are supposed to be SILENT!
Michelangelo: Sorry Leo.]
Donatello is the inventor. He's a little Obsessive Compulsive, he's a little high strung.
[Donatello to Michelangelo: She's not my girlfriend, Mikey! She's a girl, who's a friend, who's dad got kidnapped by the same aliens who are going to break into that lab., and we're gonna stop them!]
Raphael. He's the same guy you've always known and loved. The sarcastic, tough guy who really wants to fight.
However, he's also a little vulnerable. He's got a pet [turtle] named Spike, which is kind of his confidante, and the guy he can open up to.
[Raphael to Spike: Chew on your leaf if you understand me.
[Spike chews on his leaf.]
Raphael: Though so!]
And Michelangelo, of course, the big party guy. He's kind of the baby brother. They're all the same age, but he's sort of the most immature. But when he turns on, he's just really brilliant.
[Michelangelo: I wish this moment could last forver.]
Ciro Nieli: The leader of their group, Master Splinter, who has always been their sensei, is back, of course, And, er, this time, he takes the role of, not only their Master, but also as a little bit more of a father figure.
[Master Splinter to Raphael: Stand up.
Michelangelo: Somebody's in trouble!]
Instead of playing on the idea that he was this kind of frail, Yoda-like master, [...] had a lot more fun with him. He's a strong anchor to the group.
Jeff Ventimilia: We've got a lot of great new characters for this show, as well as recurring ones. Shredder, for example, is actually much more darker and scarier in this version than he was, say, in the original cartoon. He's a ninja who's almost obsessed with the idea of wiping out his enemy. And he's brought into that a team of villains, people who are [...] who end up becoming mutants themselves!
[Michelangelo: I don't like the sound of that!]
One of my favourite villians is actually Spider Bites [Spiderbites].
He's a character who's very obnoxious. He's really sort of crass New Yorker kind of guy, who really gets under Raphael's skin.
[Raphael growls]
Ciro Nieli: The look and style of the reinvented Ninja Turtles show really started with the first comic book. We really got into the graphic look of that first issue, and we really wanted to capture the city almost like a character. And, that kind of evolved into a lot of shadow play. It really made for a lot better storytelling.
[Raphael: Sounds good to me.]
So specific things in the show that are just so much better now. The one thing that I really envy is, er, is the Turtle's lair. Like I really wish that I could somehow have an apartment in New York City that was very similar to their lair.
Jeff Ventimilia: So I think that's really been exciting, the CG-elements of it just makes it come alive in a way that we've never seen before.
Ciro Nieli: The hardest part has been to get the animation to not even look like CGI-Animation. We're trying to make the characters in a little more realistic level.
[Leonardo to Raphael: You are serously twisted.
Raph: Thanks!]
Ninja Turtles is multi-generational. At it's core, it's a show about heroes, and everybody loves heroes.
[Mikey: It's go time!]
I think fans will be really happy to see their favourite characters come back, but really be played [...] and [...].
[Spider Bite: It's the Kung Fu Frogs!
Raphael: We're not Kung Fu Frogs. We're Ninja Turtles!]
Don't miss the series premiere of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, only on Nickelodeon!
