We chat to the producer, director and story editor of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Nickelodeon cartoon series…
In 2016, there are three main runningTeenage Mutant Ninja Turtlescontinuities.
Ive writtena lot of articlesabout the show because I think its excellent.
Id argue that its the best new take on the Turtles since the 1990 live-action film.
Heres how our chat went.
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I wanted to start with how you write the show.
Brandon Auman:Well, Ciro and I get together.
Usually we dont have a lot of time during the week because we have so many meetings.
But we get together and talk over stories.
Ciro Nieli:Usually over lunch, right?
BA:Usually its over lunch.
We dont have a lot of time.
Ciros got a lot of meetings.
Fortunately I have less, so I can get more writing done.
So we discuss it and then Ill start writing up a beat sheet.
And from there I generally rewrite everything (laughs).
Or at least, I rewrite a lot.
It goes back to the writer and they have two weeks to deliver roughly a 26-27 page script.
And then from there it gets assigned to the board artists, it gets turned into an animatic.
Ciro and I tend to do a lot of revisions during the animatic stage.
Sometimes well come up with new story ideas or new dialogue.
Not usually story ideas, the storys usually pretty set, but well alter certain scenes.
Sometimes well add dialogue where it feels a little empty.
From there it gets sent out to be animated.
And I think thats everything, right Ciro?
CN:Pretty much.
How much time do you spend on each thing?
Then it becomes this whole juggling act of what do we cut?
Or do we rework a whole sequence?
But it does get complicated.
Thats probably the hardest part, for me.
Brandon does a lot of the writing so I dont know how hard that is for him.
I mean, weve had shows where weve recorded almost half of the whole show twice.
Or actually weve done even more.
Weve restarted a show that weve done completely.
We did a lot of work, because it takes like 6000 drawings to get a show done.
And you guys are doing 26 of those a year.
So its 6000 drawings, 26 times a year.
CN:Its a lot.
We have an army of people doing it.
BA:Generally we dont usually change the stories too much.
Usually its just a matter of chopping down.
We dont usually change a lot when it comes to story.
A lot of times it feels like we go a little overboard.
Generally what we chop down is the action, which I prefer.
So its a delicate balance.
When did you start talking about space, with regard toNinja Turtles?
BA:I think we started working on the space episodes two years ago.
Because that was the genesis of season four, so it was probably two years ago.
Space was something we always knew we were gonna do.
It was just the extent to which we didnt know quite yet.
Was there no temptation to make any of these stories longer?
Its a programming thing.
We dont really have the ability always to do shows that are longer than one episode.
Like, we dont have any guarantee on programming.
Youve got to understand, Nickelodeon has its bread and butter in making stories that are 11 minutes.
The comedy shows, theyll take a half hour show and split it into two stories.
BA:We attempt to take these stories and spread them out.
You know, all the space stories are kind of interlinked.
Even then, it gets difficult because Nickelodeon kind of discourages serialized shows.
Theyd rather have complete standalones that can play even out of order.
They dont really like the fact that were telling these linear serialized stories.
Its kind of difficult.
Wed love to tell more in some of these arcs, but it just gets really difficult.
CN:laughs
Is it ridiculous?
CN:It was pretty ridiculous.
Space was pretty hard.
We kind of adopted a little bit of an originalStar Trekseries model.
So we had to kind of absorb the time in design.
Its not that easy, you cant just add more people to the show.
We had the Ulysses, which is Fugitoids ship for instance, rebuilt two and half times.
It was redrawn completely twice.
And then, once it was built in CG, we went through and kind of kept resculpting it.
That was all done on the fly, very late.
We had to build the bridge, hallways, living quarters, the food replicator.
That was just to have a place for them to sit and talk.
Not the easiest show to make.
You want to do it, creatively.
Nickelodeon definitely wants to do it.
But it doesnt necessarily mean its that possible or feasible.
So yeah, we got a little tired from that one.
What was the process of reimagining that character?
BA:We wanted to make him like a super badass bounty hunter/space assassin.
Hes from the Archie comics.
The original Archie comics version, he just didnt seem as interesting.
CN:I just liked the idea of a giant space shark.
And then that evolved into, well maybe its his armour and he can wear it all the time.
It was very muchJawsinspired.
Its a pretty badass visual.
Just sounding badass and growly.
But he really loved the character.
Like, he got into it.
When he actually saw it and did the ADR to it, he nailed it.
BA:That character is great.
CN:I worked with Ron when he was Slade onTeen Titans.
That guy is great.
The way he paces around and stuff.
Hes a pretty intense individual.
He was kind of perfect for that character.
I think hes my favourite guest youve had so far.
Watching back on TV and DVD, you lose so much animation detail.
I wondered if there was any chance of a bluray release?
CN:Its not something that they generally do.
There was some talk that it was gonna happen last year and then it just goes away.
Were waiting actually, as well.
BA:I thought it was released on bluray overseas.
For some reason I thought it was only the American release on DVD.
I do check online a lot and Im not aware of any international bluray releases.
Its a shame because hearing your stories here, I kind of want commentaries on the episodes!
CN:Oh my god, Brandon and I could talk forever about each show.
I dont know if Nickelodeon would like some of our commentaries.
BA:Yeah, no kidding.
CN:Theres some serious backstory to some of the smallest, dumb things we do.
If we were to actually talk about some of that stuff it would be pretty hilarious.
We would sidebar a lot.
But thats part of the charm, I think.
Everything has an origin, in a way.
BA:I actually found a little space turtle on a lava planet with Ciro.
CN:Remember the time you were making out with that lizard girl?
BA:Yeah, that was back in Philly.
Do you have a favourite toy based on your show?
BA:The Revoltech figures.
CN:Yeah, those are amazing.
Theyre so accurate and they have those swap-out heads.
Those ones are Japanese made and theyre exactly on-model to our show, which is really refreshing.
They have full mobility and expression.
BA:Those toys are incredible.
CN:The same company also made aFriday The 13thJason Voorhees.
I have that, its pretty awesome.
BA:Theyre a great toy company.
Oh yeah, I have those.
CN:I know.
I would love to have a Splinter and a Casey Jones, an April and a Shredder.
Those four, I would be so happy.
A Splinter at that level would be just phenomenal.
At Den of Geek we ask everyone we interview their favourite Jason Statham film.
I have yours, Ciro, from last time we interviewed.
So Brandon, Id like to get yours.
BA:I think my favourite Jason Statham movie is eitherLock, StockorSnatch.
And if we cast him as anyone… man, thats a tough one.
CN:Would it be from scratch or someone new that we could add in?
BA:Are we casting for the live action movie?
However youd like to interpret it.
CN:Hed almost be great as like a Casey Jones or Raphael.
In our show itd be great if showed up as an actor.
Id actually just cast him as Jason Statham.
BA:Or theyd mutate him.
Jason Statham ends up mutated with a potato or something.
(collective, solid laughter from all parties)
CN:I think thats it.
A Statham potato would be horrifying, but amazing.
BA:A Statham (Englishing up his accent) po-ta-to.
Ciro Nieli and Brandon Auman, thank you very much!
