Guess Who I'm Standing Next To

I found out that for the last dozen years or so I had been living about 3 hours away from Chiodo (key-oh-doh) Bros. Productions, Inc. As you might have guessed from the picture, they were the creative force behind the costumes for Ninja Turtles: The Next Mutation. I had always assumed that if Venus' suit existed at all anymore, it would be in Vancouver or scattered across the globe like most official TMNT costumes. But, at some point I found out that Venus 'herself' was at that particular location. I guess I should mention that there were three Venuses in all, and this one isn't the 'action' one used in filming, but it was still really cool nonetheless. One thing that surprised me is how tiny she is, I'm sorta bent over but I'd say she's about 5ft tall, tops. Which means the actor was even smaller.

Anyway, I wanted to know if I could 'visit' her and was astonished to find out that not only was I allowed, but they offered to give me a tour. I got to see costumes, maquettes, props, etc. from such things as Killer Klowns from Outer Space, Team America, Willice and Crimbles (from The Simpsons), Next Mutation (they also had a full Mikey, as well as Don and Leo's heads), and all kinds of things I never knew about. Everything there was incredibly fascinating; it makes me wish I had lots and lots of money to commission things from them.

The tour was given by Edward Chiodo (one of the three eponymous brothers) who actually worked with Kevin Eastman back in the day and constantly referred to how fun it was. One thing he laments though is when the higher-ups decided to cut corners like how the costume for Silver was essentially just his head. He even confirmed that the reason the show was cancelled was because it cost more than Power Rangers and Saban didn't like sharing profits with Mirage. Well, that's the oversimplified version, but I'm sure you've already heard fans ranting about how it was the most popular Fox show that season and stuff; I always assumed it was just a conspiracy theory.

Also I got to see some things they're working on now, which I assume I'm not supposed to talk about, but he didn't really give me many details anyway. And before you ask, it wasn't about the movie; the only thing he knows about TMNT 5 is that his company hasn't been signed on to make the costumes. It doesn't rule out the possibility of it happening in the future, but I'm going to have to wait for Nick to announce what they're doing just like everybody else. Anyway, I bet all three of Venus’ fans online are totally jealous of me now.