Steve Barron (director): [Hong Kong production company] Golden Harvest didn’t know whether to use creature suits or hand-drawn animation like Who Framed Roger Rabbit. The cartoon series was becoming quite popular so they thought: “Maybe the cartoon characters could come into a live-action film?” I thought: “No. This has to be real and in the sewers where it’s moody.” I didn’t get anything cinematic from the cartoon. I did from the comic book.
Josh Pais (Raphael): They flew us to London to get body casted. I was in the back room of Jim Henson’s Creature Shop with my arms out to the side suspended by ropes. They started covering my body in plaster and did the back of my body first. Then they started my front, neck and my face. They put straws in my nose so I could breathe. The plaster gets warm as it sets and everything was heating up. I couldn’t hear and things started accelerating so I went inward. Later, they said they kept me in longer than they needed to see if I’d freak out.
Leif Tilden (Donatello): I had no idea what it took to create these creatures. It was like the Nasa of puppetry. Falkor’s head from The NeverEnding Story was lying in the corner. Characters from The Dark Crystal and Labyrinth were hanging from the ceiling. I was down the rabbit hole.
David Forman (Leonardo): I did a lot of animal work. If you wanted a bear or gorilla, you’d come to me. A talking character was a challenge. Design-wise, we had creases and stretch in our joints. It was designed so we could kick, punch and have full dexterity. The costumes were built in stages. There was a chest piece, leg, feet and hand pieces. We married them together with elbow and knee props.
SB: Jim [Henson] was worried about the weapons and fighting. It took a bit of persuasion but after a while he trusted me. I said: “I’m going to keep the spirit warm and tender and the tone will be something you’ll be proud of.” Luckily, he went for it. I don’t think it could have been done without him.
Michelan Sisti (Michelangelo): I happened to be at the Creature Shop when Dave did his first test in the full suit. I remember him rolling around and doing all this stuff. After about 30 minutes, I asked him: “What’s it like?” He said: “Not good,” and he was in fantastic shape. He knew about the pain to come.
DF: I was used to working in heavy suits. Sweating, working blind, knowing my 360 degree markers. I did struggle with the weight of the costume because we had so many batteries in the shell to work the servos in the head. There was a lot of weight on our hips and lower backs. We were literally on all fours most of the time, looking like turtles, but in pain.
LT: The suits were sculpted to our physical shape precisely so even the subtlest movement would move them. Also, you had to develop ways of living in a different temperature.
SB: They knew these suits were going to be heavy and hot but they didn’t know how hot or heavy, until we were in North Carolina shooting. The heat was intense. Poor Josh was the only actor of the four who hadn’t done performance costumes before and he found it difficult. It brought on a bit of claustrophobia.
JP: It felt like your blood was boiling. One of us would lose it and shout: “Take the head off! Take the head off!” Our heads were a separate piece and glued on so it wasn’t a simple process. They had to undo the glue. Sometimes, if one of us had that freak out, others would too. It was like a fever. The producers weren’t happy because it slowed everything down.
DF: There’s very little oxygen in the head so between takes, we had blowers pointed at our open mouths to get some more air into us.
MS: I was the experimental turtle. Everybody was overheating so they tried cooling vests designed for astronauts. I had one that circulated liquid. They put it on and asked me to work up a sweat. They turned on the pump and I immediately got an entire body cramp and fell over. The pump said, “Do not put ice in” and somebody put ice in it. The temperature change to my overheated core nearly killed me.
JP: They created a room with plastic sheathing around it with air conditioners in. It had benches we would sit at with our arms up and heads down.
SB: We built a wooden horse for them to sit on that they could drape their arms over. There was a fan in the middle that’d blow air through the mouth. Looking at all four of them on that was like a Damien Hirst sculpture.
LT: The first time the four of us were together for the opening “Cowabunga” sewer scene was a jungle of challenges. The art director created a sewer that was so realistic. It was moist and very slippery.
JP: We were dying. There was water running under our feet. We were all having vision problems. If one of us stopped, we’d smash into each other. It was a relatively simple 45 second sequence but it took at least 12 hours. Everything kept going wrong.
MS: The sewers were treacherous. Every time we jumped around the corner, one of us would slip and fall. Eventually, somebody suggested taking the bottoms off our legs and wearing sneakers. If you slow down the video when Dave comes into frame, you can see his legs as he jumps down.
SB: It would’ve been a lot easier if there were only two turtles, that’s for sure.
SB: The turtle faces were radio controlled by nearby puppeteers. In North Carolina, sometimes a plane would land a mile away right in the middle of a take and suddenly, the turtles’ faces would twitch and start going crazy.
SB: The campfire scene where they connect with Splinter is a big one. Michelangelo is crying and it’s clear how much they care for their father. There were a few underlying themes but the strongest was family.
LT: We were stoned out of our minds. I smoked half a joint before we did it.
JP: Leif pulled out a blunt and we were like: “Yeah. Come on!” We’d all been through so much. It gives me chills thinking about it. It was a spiritual experience and the buzz took it deeper.
DF: That was a wonderful sequence. Connecting with our father, Splinter, and the whole ambience of that scene.
DF: The fans are so grateful we kept in touch. They constantly thank us for being there for them in the 1990s. Grown adults say: “You were my childhood hero.” It’s helped all sorts of people for different reasons.
JP: People come up to me with tears in their eyes saying: “You helped me through my childhood.” A lot had anger issues like Raphael and say watching the movie over and over made them see they weren’t alone. It’s an adult film for kids. It doesn’t talk down to them. It challenges them to step up within themselves.
SB: Many more people have stayed connected to it than I expected. Youngsters have carried it into their 40s. Lots of people come forward saying this was the best adaptation. You take it with a pinch of salt – but it’s nice to hear.
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Movie is in US cinemas from Thursday 28 August. Lose Your Mind: The Path to Creative Invincibility by Josh Pais is published on 30 September.
