The Dark Side of Donatello suiting...
Hello, I'm Donatello. My suit is comprised of 1/4" upholstery foam, liquid latex, green paint, hot glue and rubber cement, EVA foam and fabric. As you can imagine, it gets very HOT. I mean, sauna-suit hot. The breathability factor is zero. This isn't by design, of course. There are all sorts of cooling systems out there that can assist in keeping someone cool. The problem is, it doesn't keep you from sweating.
The suit is pretty flexible and allows me to do a lot of different things. However, it also limits my senses. Not being able to touch or feel anything through the suit makes holding on to anything a real trial. More on that in a minute. Vision was severely limited because the slit I was supposed to see through ended up being covered with the fabric that was my mask. Every time I took a breath in, the slit would open a little and I could see again. However, I had to continually take a deep breath in just to see and it ended up being a flap of sorts. This has been corrected now, but definitely a reason to bring a emergency repair kit with you wherever you go.
You'll notice at the bottom right of the photo, the foot wrap is beginning to become loose. This was a serious problem later on because I couldn't stop to tie them back on, what with having only three fingers. Luckily, I had a handler. ALWAYS have a handler. They will save your turtle butt big time.
The little fellow in the green turtle shirt holding the sword was the reason I was at the hospital that day. That's Angelo and he has kidney cancer. He had one removed when he was smaller, and is currently kicking cancer's ass with chemo. This is very hard on him and he was scheduled for his next session about an hour after I left.
A big part of turtlesuiting is everyone and their brother, sister and cousins, aunts and uncles wants to take a picture with you. I love taking photos with people because not only does it increase the awareness of your event, charitable or otherwise, it also brings a smile to people's faces. What's not to like about that? Well, I'll tell you. I spent a lot of time taking group photos, one on ones and glamour shots standing in silly poses. I did it mostly because Angelo, my main reason for coming to the hospital, got a kick out it. The lady in the black shirt in the front and the one in the purple shirt to my left were there to make sure I didn't breach any HIPPA privacy laws. Believe it or not, there are some people who do not want to be visited by a turtle, ninja or other wise.
If you decide to wear a costume to the hospital to entertain the kids, whatever you do, don't just show up. Contact the marketing department and ask for a liaison to help you out. They usually have someone that can help you do the right thing and get to where they need you to go. Around holidays are especially a good time to go, namely, Halloween or on the eve of a big movie (like The Ninja Turtles). But it certainly isn't necessary.
The glee is obvious on Angelo's face and I was very happy to be there. Looking at these photos after the face made me realize that there were several issues with the suit that needs to be addressed. First, my neck is showing. While not visible from the ground, it was pretty obvious from pretty much every other angle that the fleshy tones stood out from my latex green exterior. I need to come up with some sort of neck cover to fix this. Next, I need some sort of microphone built into the head with speakers. People just couldn't hear me. And, worse yet, I had a hard time hearing people. So, my sense of sight, speech, hearing and touch were severely compromised.
That darned staff was a real pain to carry. It only weighed about 1#, but when you have difficulty holding on to anything when your hand has been forced into the vulcan salute to fit the shape of the glove, it takes a real toll on the muscles in your hand. I regretted carrying this around because I lost control of it several times, even though I had a death grip on it. It also just got in the way a lot and I couldn't really hug anyone.
I don't want to sound like a whiny baby. I just want to point out some things that need to be considered before my next outing.
This is a photo of my about 15 seconds after taking off my mask. The gloves I was wearing aren't equipped with any drain holes so they were full of my... how can I put this quaintly... my sweat. I couldn't lift my arms any higher than my elbows or a deluge of effluvience would have cascaded out and drenched those standing near me. Likewise my feet, although open on the bottom, allowed all the sweat from my torso and lower extremities to funnel downwards. Wearing a suit like this is physically draining and if you do it, be sure to drink a protein shake and an electrolyte laden beverage afterwards or at the very least water.
I love kids, love trotting around in costume entertaining them and acting like a clown. There are a few things I'll remember the next time I put on this suit.
I hope this helps you during your outing as well.
Grimwood
