I got a chance to ask TMNT cartoon guru and all-around good guy Lloyd Goldfine some questions regarding his work at 4Kids Entertainment... and here's the results!

DAN: Let's start with the most basic of basic questions, what's your job title at 4Kids Entertainment?

LLOYD: Well, I'm the Supervising Producer and Story Editor for TMNT. Go figger..!

What does your work day involve?

The truth is that everyday is different on the Turtles production. We have lots of stuff happening concurrently, so there's a lot of juggling to do. Today for example, I've reviewed and made notes on the first draft script of TMNT episode 49, entitled "The Big Brawl," mixed episode 25 ("The Search for Splinter"), locked picture on a new alternate ending for episode 16 ("Kirby"), worked on a rough outline of the story arc for season three, reviewed and made notes on the storyboard for episode 44 ("The Golden Puck"), looked over several new character and background designs, listened to the full cast recording for episode 40 ("City at War" pt.1), and had a phone conference with some fellow named Peter Laird. And it's only 3 in the afternoon!

Impressive! So how'd you get the gig?

Many people say I got the job because I'm Peter Laird's bastard son, but it's just not true (at least Pete denies it).

So how does the creative process begin for an episode?

We usually skip the creative process. It's just faster that way.

Uhh... well, imagine that there is a creative process...

Oh, okay... I get it!

Well Dan, the way the creative process <WINK! WINK! NUDGE! NUDGE!> begins for an episode of TMNT is that we start with an overall plan for the season - a story arc. The story arc breaks out what's going to happen episode by episode for 26 episodes. I usually take a first pass at this and then I'll take it up to Mirage for a meeting with Pete and Gary Richardson (CEO of Mirage), and we'll thrash the arc around until everyone's pretty damn excited about the stories we'll be telling!

Once the season-long story arc gets approved, we start writing. I will take the story arc and begin to expand on each individual episode as much as I can. For season two, the next step would be to pass this document over to Michael Ryan, our season two story editor extraordinaire, and he'll take it from there, polishing up the stories and passing out the writing assignments.

How many writers are involved with the show?

"Writers?" What is this strange word "writers?"

You know... the people who write the scripts for each episode?

Oh... right. I just refer to those guys as "the-guys-who-make-$#!%-up!" I didn't realize there was another term for them...

Well, normally they're called "writers..."

Okay. I'll take your word for it.

We have a group of very talented "writers" on our show. On bass we have Marty Eisenberg and his snappy dialogue. On rhythm guitar we have the ever-inventive Eric Luke. On the kazoo is our newest member of the band, Ben Townsend. We've also been fortunate enough to have Greg Johnson (oboe) and Dean Stefan (triangle) sitting in from time to time. And there's also Mike Ryan (lead vocals) ... and myself (ukulele).

To get back to the script process for a minute, once the story arc is approved and distributed, then Mike Ryan, the writers and I work out an outline. The outline lays out beat-by-beat what happens in an episode, where and what the act breaks are, what some of the dialogue will be, etc. It's really the blueprint for the final script.

Once the outline is approved, we begin to draft the full up script. We go through several full drafts of the script, tweaking and clarifying story points, polishing dialogue, strengthening characters, and accommodating notes from Pete, Gary, our esteemed Animation Director Chuck Patton, our venerable Producer JoEllyn Marlow, and Fox Broadcast Standards and Practices (just to name a few).

In order to produce the adventures of the TMNT on a weekly basis, we have to finalize a new script every week!

How involved is Peter Laird?

Peter who?

Pete's been extremely involved in the new series, and he seems to be really digging it! Pete gives notes on every premise, every outline and every draft of every script (when he's not out riding his Segway, that is). He's made himself and the talented guys at Mirage very available to our production. I've been having a blast working with Pete.

Could you explain the process of creating an episode of the cartoon?

I wish I could, but I'm sure I'm just as baffled as the rest of you out there...

~ sigh ~ You must have some idea? You're Supervising Producer, right?

<JUST STARES BLANKLY, UNBLINKING>

Could you venture a guess?

Well... okay. Here goes nothing...

After the script is approved it goes into production. Thanks to our Executive in Charge of Production, capable Carole Weitzman, and our serious-butt-kicking Producer, jazzy JoEllyn Marlow, we here at 4Kids have an amazing, talented, overly-medicated production team that mobilizes and attacks every new script as soon as it comes in.

Leading the charge is General Chuck Patton, our Animation Director. Chuck, along with our Storyboard Supervisor Otis Brayboy, goes through each script making detailed notes and "thumbnail" drawings (small drawings of how they envision certain key shots or sequences which they draw in the margins of the script) that will later come in handy when the script is sent to the storyboard artists.

At the same time, JoEllyn, ably assisted by our ace Production Manager super Sarah Nesbitt, get the rest of our production gears in motion. One of the first things JoEllyn does when a new script comes in is to break down the script to see what Characters, Backgrounds, and Props need to be created for each new episode. Remember, every single thing called out in a script, whether it be a robot-monster, a planet-sized port-a-john, or a spork, an artist will need to design it!

And boy, do we have a great bullpen of artistic talent! The amazing Adrian Barrios is our chief Character Designer, bringing such twisted personages as the GarbageMan, the Monsters from the Underground, and the "ever-shrinking" Baxter Stockman to life! Our Background Supervisor, mild-mannered Keith Conroy, along with his stalwart comrades in arms dashing Denny Fincke, and cantankerous Chris Palesty, oversees the creation of the worlds that these characters inhabit! Everything from the Entity's underground dominion to the labyrinthine interiors of Utrom's TCRI building came from the sweaty pencils of these men (Ew! Did I really just say 'sweaty pencil?' Sorry everyone..!). And last but not least, rounding out our design team supreme is sturdy Steve Blevins, prop designer to the stars (and for us too!). This small, rough and ready band of artistes, designers, philosophers and mental-ward fugitives are responsible for every single thing in every single episode of TMNT week after week. Give 'em a round of applause ladies and gentlemen..! (And let's not forget our Design Coordinator, notorious Nate Rulli, who, assisted by Jolly Jannica Choi, helps keep track of the whole crazy process!)

That's all very interesting. Now could you tell us...

Hang on. I'm not finished yet...

Once all the designs for an episode have been approved by Peter Laird, a design pack is made and, together with the director's thumbnailed script, is sent out to the storyboard artists.

The storyboard is a visual document (which in some respects resembles a newspaper comic strip) that, when finished, will supply tons of key information for our animation studio overseas. Storyboard panels are drawn for every single shot needed to communicate the story. Typically, one four-act storyboard for a TMNT episode runs approximately 350 pages, an average of 1,050 drawings! Because this document is such an overwhelming undertaking, it is usually split up between three different storyboard artists. Using the designs in the model pack and the script with Chuck and Otis' thumbnails, the storyboard artists will then proceed to block out an entire episode (consisting of the preview, Acts 1, 2, 3 & 4, and the profile).

I think we get the idea. Now, can you tell us how the voice actors are...

Patience, dude! We're not even halfway through the process yet!

When all the storyboard pages come in, the board is assembled and sent out to the usual suspects for notes. At the same time, Chuck, Otis, and our crack team of in-house storyboard revisionists, eager Edwin Nebres, dapper David Rodriguez and heroic Jose Velasco, begin to tighten up and improve on the board. And helping to keep the whole storyboard process as sane and manageable as possible is the lovely Lemon Krasny, our Storyboard Coordinator. Getting the storyboard into shape takes a Herculean effort, but our top-notch gets the job done, and done amazingly well, week after week and show after show!

Now, once the storyboard is finalized, we do the voice record for the show. We like to have the final board before we record so that our cast and our voice director, sassy Sue Blu, can clearly see the action in each scene (for example, Raph talking to Leo across a huge underground cavern) and adjust the performances accordingly (Raph should be yelling).

Genial George McClain, our TMNT Talent Assistant sets up our recording sessions and contacts our talent. We usually do a table read, where cast, voice director and Chuck sit around and work out how the various scenes should be played. Then it's on to the recording studio just down the hall to do the actual record.

Fascinating. Now, about the voice actors...

Excuse me... still answering your question here!?

After the show has been recorded, we send the finalized board and the audio track (the voice recording) to the "Slugger." The Slugger goes through the storyboard panel by panel and makes timing notes on every action and every line of dialogue. For example, the timer will specify that it takes 8 frames for Leo to take one step and it will take Leo 5 steps to cross over to where Raph is standing, and then it takes him 3.3 seconds for him to say his dialogue, "Enough with the hothead routine, Raph... let's go!" The Slugger will indicate how long each action will take for every single panel (approximately 1,050, remember?) on the storyboard.

That's really something. Thanks. Now, how do you go...

Almost there, Dan. Hang in big guy, you can do it..!

When we get the slugged storyboard back from the Slugger, we use it, along with the recorded dialogue to edit together an Animatic. An Animatic is basically the storyboard and the voice track edited together to get a rough feeling of how the episode is going to feel, how the action times out, how the story plays. The Animatic is assembled using the Slugger's timings. Reviewing this assembly quickly lets you see everything that's right and everything that's wrong with the show! Story problems, poorly written or badly acted dialogue, rushed (or too slow) action, characters disappearing from scenes they should be in, jokes that ain't funny, episode length (often too long, seldom too short), etc., all these things (and more) become painfully apparent upon the viewing of the Animatic! Fortunately, with the aide of our awesome Animatic Editor, terrific Tom Kartelias, the Animatic process also let's us adjust and address all these issues. New shots can be added, new lines can be inserted, timings can be adjusted, etc. All the last minute adjustments that we make in the Animatic (and there are tons of 'em) have to be notated and adjusted on the storyboard as well. These final storyboard art revisions are handled by our last line of defense, jaunty Jason Navarez, assisted by our Storyboard PA, impish Ivy McCormick. The final revised storyboard, now complete with new art and new timings goes on to the Sheet Timers.

The Sheet Timers are a cloistered cabal of specialists responsible for final timing of action, mouth exposures, etc, for every frame of animation! The Sheet Timers transfer all this detailed information onto X-Sheets (exposure sheets). Final timing adjustments (and a whole flotilla of other tiny details) are addressed by our Timing Supervisor, rampaging Ray Kosarin, and his assistant daring Darcy Vorhees!

With the new timings (from the animatic) and the revised, finalized storyboard, we can now ship the episode overseas to our amazing animation studio Dong Woo.

Meanwhile, all the character, prop and background models designed and approved earlier still need to be colored. Color goes a long way in helping to set the tone and mood of a scene. Chuck works with bashful Beatriz Ramos to finalize all the color styling for each episode. These new color models are sent out for approval, and then overseas to Dong Woo.

Dong Woo, our afore mentioned amazing overseas animation studio, now has 14 weeks (sometimes only 13 weeks!) to animate the entire episode and get it back to us (a ton of work in a very short amount of time, believe me!).

Meanwhile, Chuck, JoEllyn, Sarah and the rest of the crew begin the production process all over again on the next episode!

Which brings me to post-production!

Oh no!

Oh yes!

Once the show comes back from Dong Woo, our Post Production Supervisor, rollicking Roland Gonzalez, snaps into action. He and our preeminent picture editor, radiant Richard Kronenberg, have two days to "lock picture." To "lock picture" means to edit the new animation into its final format (a preview, four acts, a profile) and it's proper running time. This includes fixing animation mistakes editorially (cutting around them) or calling for "re-takes" (request that the animation studio reanimate the problem scene), creating flashback sequences and recaps from previously completed episodes, slowing down or speeding up certain shots, etc. Once the picture is "locked" it can't (shouldn't) be altered (ergo "locked").

The locked picture can now be distributed to the Music and Sound Design departments. We do a music spotting session with our Music Producer, jovial Julian Schwartz and our Music Editor, smiling Sue Shufro, where scoring, important musical themes and key moments in the episode are discussed.

Julian hands out assignments to our roster of outstanding composers while Sue begins to expertly edit exiting music (key pieces such as the Turtles main theme, for example) into exciting new sequences.

We also do a spotting session with our Sound Design team, led by jumpin' John Bowen, where we have discussions such as "What does an eight foot tall, 600 lb., dinosaur-looking alien's footsteps sound like," or "Is that a hover-type-craft or a jet-engine-type-craft?" We also sit around and make a lot of mouth-sound-effects!

Another stage that helps bring the final episode together is ADR. ADR stands for Automated Dialogue Recording, but what it really means is "dubbing." Here we get to re-record our actors, adding missing elements (screams, groans, grunts which we refer to as "walla'), re-reading certain lines of dialogue for different emphasis, and even recording new or rewritten lines to clarify certain story points or tweak a joke.

Once the locked picture, final music and sound design, and ADR are finished and approved, we do the final mix! Our outstanding Sound Mixer, joltin' Jon Dickson (a.k.a Mixin' Dickson) expertly puts all the pieces together and gives the show a final polish that really helps bring it life!

After that, we marry the final mixed audio to the final locked picture and ship it out for broadcast!

Pretty simple, huh?!

Um... are you done now?

Did I mention our amazing graphics team, led by raging Ryan Kelly, that creates our bumpers and adds slick graphics and awesome special effects to the animation to give the show a little extra "cool factor?"

You did just now. Anything else?

Um... no. I'm done. That's a pretty brief overview.

All done?

Yup.

Really?

Really.

Okay... moving on... could you tell us how the voice actors are chosen?

Best two out of three falls, usually.

Oh, and we also held pretty extensive auditions.

We write up short audition scripts for each character and then we call in as many talented actors as we can get our hands on. In the beginning of the voice casting process we would bring actors in and let them read for all the parts. That was great because you'd get a chance to see what these folks could really do. Someone would read for Michelangelo, then do Splinter, then do Shredder, and I would be amazed at just how many voices were bottled up in this one person!

I remember Micheal Sinterniklaas coming in (he crashed the auditions - meaning he snuck in on his own initiative) to read the Turtle parts, and when I described Leonardo's character to him he told me, "Yeah, well I'd make a sucky Leonardo... but I think I'd be good for one of the other guys."

Of course, Mike became our Leo.

When trying to decide who should play Michelangelo and who should play Donatello, I kept switching those parts between Sam Regal and Wayne Grayson; one day Sam would play Mike and Wayne would be Don, but then I'd hear them messing around in the recording booth, doing each other's lines, and I'd think, "Hey... that sounds really good!" and so I'd switch 'em! I couldn't make up my mind! But finally it all crystallized; Sam became Don and Wayne became Mikey.

About a year earlier I had been planning to cast Frank Frankson in a lead role in another show I was working on at the time. Frank had made it through the audition process and was about to be given this lead role when another opportunity came up for him and he suddenly found himself moving out to California! Fortunately, Frank returned to New York, and he's a great Raph!

I really feel we lucked out with the entire cast! Darren Dunstan as Splinter hits that perfect balance between wise old sage and beleaguered single parent! Scottie Ray makes the Shredder the bad-ass he was always meant to be! Mark Thompson makes Casey loopy but lovable! And Veronica Taylor is letter perfect as April... every time!

We're really lucky. We have a great cast.

Agreed!

Continuing to move along, the story line has followed the original tales of the TMNT by Eastman and Laird, will this continue in season two? (Note: this interview was conducted before the story synopses arrived).

I actually love bringing the original comic stories to life! I have great respect and fondness for the original TMNT comics. There's a lot of great material to still be mined from those books, and it's a real kick to bring those stories to life, and really do them justice. But it's also great fun to come up with new stuff to add to the Turtles' saga, or to come at some of the classic bits of the TMNT mythology from a new, slightly skewed angle. One thing that has really impressed me is the amount of creative freedom that Peter Laird has allowed us to have with his "babies." Pete has been very open and receptive and supportive of new ideas and new stories; he's really allowed us to play in his Turtle-sandbox to an unprecedented extent, and I think that's kind of a rare thing to find.

Can you give us any hints (or confirmations) about which characters we'll be seeing in season two?

I wish I could (Triceratons), but I've pretty much been sworn to secrecy on that account (Karai). However, I can tell you (LeatherHead) that long time fans of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Fugitiod) will not be disappointed (Usagi).

Is there a long term plan for the TMNT? If this series makes it to season three and four, are there any ideas being tossed around on what might happen?

One of the things we really love doing in this series is to seed in little bits and pieces of story that can take on greater significance as the series progresses. As I mentioned earlier, I've recently been spending a lot of time working out the story arcs for TMNT season three, and you can bet that events that will shape season three have already been snuck into episodes of season one and two. Heh heh heh!

So, yeah, we've definitely got some cool-as-shell long term plans for the green boys.

Alotta folks are always asking me this, so I'm gonna ask you: who are your favorite characters on the TMNT show and why?

I know this is a terribly clichéd thing to say, but I really do love all the TMNT characters (even Stockman!). If I was forced at katana-point to pick ONE turtle, I might blurt out Leo's name, because I really admire his conviction, his discipline, and his desire to be a force for good. I think of all the Turtles, he's picked the hardest path. But then, right after I blurted out Leo's name, Mikey would say something that'd crack me up, Don would do something absolutely brilliant, and Raph would grumble and storm off, and I'd be right back to loving them all again!

Finally, do you have any advice on how folks can break into the animation business?

Right now I'm trying to figure out how to break OUT of it, so I can get some sleep! Ask me again later after I'm rested?

Thank you very much for your time, Llyod! You Rock!

Anytime Danny-boy! Anytime!

And I must say, there is a striking resemblance between Peter and yourself...

Mum's the word.

There you have it - tons of great info in there for any of you wondering what goes on in the crazy animation biz! We're very grateful to Lloyd for taking time out of his hectic schedule to answer these questions, and hopefully we'll be able to pester some more folks at 4Kids for interviews on down the line.