Turtle Con 2025 Information from Ciro! There's some TMNT stuff in here too.
Disclaimer: Ciro was on 3 hours of sleep and said that he has not watched the show in a long time and does not remember things. He joked that when he rewatches the episodes then he can answer questions. I asked if he was gonna do an AMA and he didn't answer.
Character Heights, he gave some numbers but it was more spit balling than serious
Chiro: 4'10"
Regular Jinmay: "a little bit shorter than that"
Giant Jinmay: 120 ft
Monkeys: 1'6" is still reasonable
Skeleton King: 7 ft
Alchemist: 6 ft
Super Robot: 125 ft
Is Krinkle alive?
"I like to think so".
Does he know of any figures from the Hasbro toyline that where scrapped/unreleased? or just unreleased merchandise overall.
He mentioned the Fist Rockets, maybe saw a prototype for the Brain Scrambler, and the Super Robot. I think he was aware of Slingshot and Skeletal Droid.
He owns some of the prototypes of the figures, but not all.
Were there any other voice actors he considered to voice the monkeys before he settled on the finalized voice cast?
Joey Adams was who voiced Nova in the pilot and he liked her, but doesn't exactly remember the reason why she didn't end up Nova. He thinks it's because she became unavailable due to her being in a movie.
He actually asked me if I saw the pilot first, so I think he is aware the pilot is up or just didn't think it mattered if it was.
Was Lords of Soturix 7 originally supposed to be a season 1 episode?
His initial answer was no, but when I asked about the contradiction of him learning to use the Inner Primate after Hidden Fortress/Skeleton King, he said he does not remember and would need to fact check.
Were any episodes that changed order like they were originally supposed to be in a certain spot but ended up moved?
He doesn’t know or remember, but he mentioned that some episodes didn’t really matter if they changed the order of.
"It's been years".
What does Ciro remember the most about working on SRMTHFG? What was the most memorable/fun/enjoyable part of working on it for him?
He said he remembered it being really hard 😅 He also mentioned how he worked to get the budget up to 262k per episode and how he had to work double time to make things work.
The most memorable/fun/enjoyable part was living in Japan for the first season of the show.
Art book/Behinds the scene information?
An artbook would probably be impossible because of Disney
He has a lot of art and stuff he could potentially put up, but he doesn't have a lot of time.
Was Jinmay one of the robots that The Alchemist managed to build with his workmates or is there another mastermind with the same purposes?
No, another mastermind was behind Jinmay. He seemed pretty definite that Jinmay wasn’t built by the Alchemist.
Was Chiro's early days with the monkeys ever a planned storyline that never padded out?
He just responded that it sounds interesting, so it sounded like it wasn’t particularly planned
Does Mandarin or Antauri have an inner primate form like Chiro does? Since we never see them use it in the show.
He actually said that we sort of saw it for Antauri when he sacrificed himself in I, Chiro.
He mentioned it would be interesting to see for Mandarin and also the rest of the monkeys.
How much time did you have to revamp the show from the pilot to the completed version?
He said they rolled right in.
Did he have any influence on the season 1 finale of Earthspark and if SRMTHFG would have followed something similarly?
No, he was mostly brought in as management and was already gone when they got that far. He didn't have much to do with it.
How did the show switch from flash animation to traditional animation?
He didn't want it to be flash and switched it and he got in trouble for it.
Is there an IP you would like to work on?
Evil Dead.
Was Valeena always planned to be such a prominent villain in season 4?
No, I don't know, it's nice to have someone to talk to.
Clarification on Antauri's transcendance on touch, taste, breath, temperature.
"He's not a full robot". He's elevated to a different state.
"Maybe, guess not, not in a normal sense".
Does Antauri miss those sensations?
Ciro looked like he was thinking very hard over it.
"He's beyond all that. He doesn't need a physical body to feel".
Were there any ideas for Mandarin that wasn't used?
No, he has a "complete arc". You would have to see more through flashbacks.
Does he know about the sacrifice theory?
No.
After I explained it to him, he said it sounded interesting and cool, but not real.
He's not familiar with other fan theories.
Was there any more lore on the Beings that chose Chiro and Skeleton King/created the Dark Ones engaged in cosmic good vs evil war or was that going to remain a mystery?
No, they didn't get to it.
Are Chiro's parents currently in Shuggazoom City?
No, they're not in the city.
It's hard to say if they're on the planet.
Did the Verons and Ah-fei understand the monkeys pre-translator?
No, they didn't need to speak.
Are there regular populated cities on Shuggazoom other than Shuggazoom City?
Yes.
Don't need to explore all the cities; Shuggazoom City represents it.
What are the monkeys' thoughts towards the Alchemist before memory erasure?
They liked him and thought of him like a father.
Did the monkeys know the Alchemist was turning into Skeleton King and that they would have to fight him?
No, they did not know they were going to fight him.
What was up with Weird World of Wyrm? (2k12 TMNT episode that was basically Meet the Wigglenog)
Brandon did it. They were super busy and they both loved Meet the Wigglenog and wanted to do it better and so did it again.
What is his favorite character to draw?
For TMNT: He said the turtles are fun, but he's drawn them so much. Splinter is nice.
For SRMT: Otto and the Super Robot.:
Why didn't they make a musical episode?
He said that sounds like a season 5 episode, but it sounded like a joke haha.
Why were numbers added to celestial bodies? Does Shuggazoom have its own system for naming them or was it developed elsewhere?
I don't know. It's to sound cool.
Why do the monkeys have breathing gear underwater but nothing in space?
Well, they can't have water in their lungs...
But they can have nothing in space?
He was exasperated and said he was in his 20s when he made the show and that these were riddles, not questions.
So they can breathe in space but not underwater???
He joked that was correct.
Which was your favorite episode to direct and write?
I, Chiro maybe.
Other:
The two Mandarins in The Grip of Evil was a mistake.
Chiro wears a mask.
Nothing was cut out of the show during production due to Disney.
Nova's name was inspired by the star, but not specifically. Don't know if "Nova star" is in that universe.
Otto's name just suits Otto. He said it was a sound thing.
The monkeys are able to use each others' weapons.
2k12 TMNT was supposed to be 2D, but Nickelodeon made it CG and CG wasn't at the level Ciro wanted yet.
He's hoping he can do a backdoor thing for a monkey team sequel.
He views all the companies he worked for as the same.
Antauri is drinking sprite from his soda hat and it's a gag to not be taken seriously.
