Hiro (AEG)/Behind the Scenes

Background Information
Hiro is a fictional standard gauge tender locomotive created by Sharon Miller and John Lee.

Hiro first appeared in the first series episode Overnight Stop, which first aired in 2021.

2D animated rigs
Hiro in All Engines Go uses a series of complicated 2D rigs created by Nelvana Studio. These rigs are made up of different assets, which can be stretched, squashed and posed to create the desired movements and poses. Hiro's movements are handled by an animation team, with a posing team to create specific poses as required for certain shots.

Hiro's 2D design has undergone many changes from the design used in the original series:
 * He lost one set of his driving wheels, making him a 2-6-2 instead of a 2-8-2.
 * Some merchandise from the original series, such as Take Along/Take-n-Play and TrackMaster, also depicted Hiro with a 2-6-2 chassis.
 * Hiro's name has been removed on both sides and replaced with a blank gold nameplate.
 * While it is unknown the exact reason for this change, it is most likely so that the English names for the characters will not appear in other dubs.
 * He now has brown irises.
 * His knuckle coupler has been replaced with a chain-link coupling.
 * His tender is now connected by buffers and chain-link couplings.
 * His handrails have been removed.
 * His brakepipes have been removed.
 * He is now taller.
 * His funnel is longer.
 * He no longer speaks with a Japanese accent in the US dub.

Voice Actors

 * Dai Tabuchi
 * Kintaro Akiyama
 * Jesús Cortés
 * Keikou Sakai
 * Santiago Salorio
 * Ênio Vivona
 * Stany Mannaerts
 * Joachim Kretzer
 * Morten Bergheim
 * Mikael Regenholz
 * Jukka Voutilainen
 * Jari Salo
 * Michael Elo
 * Andrzej Chudy
 * Mario Ivanov
 * Hwang Dong-hyun