4Kids Season 1 – Episode 012 (The Unconvincing Turtle Titan)

EPISODE TWELVE

“The Unconvincing Turtle Titan”
Written by Marty Isenberg

Original Air Date: May 3, 2003

Supervising Producer: Lloyd Goldfine
Producers: Gary Richardson, Frederick U. Fierst, Al Kahn, Norman Grossfeld, Thomas Kenney
Supervising Director: Chuck Patton
Story Editor: Lloyd Goldfine

MAJOR CHARACTERS:
Donatello (Sam Regal)
Leonardo (Michael Sinterniklaas)
Michelangelo (Wayne Grayson)
Raphael (Frank Frankson)
Splinter (Darren Dunstan)
April (Veronica Taylor)

SECONDARY CHARACTERS:
Silver Sentry
Dr. Malignus

MAIN LOCATIONS, VEHICLES AND ACCESSORIES:
New Lair
Sewer Tunnels
City streets and rooftops
Riverside Warehouses

Synopsis:

Intro: Mikey is dressed in a weird looking “superhero” costume and he tells us about his exciting superhero team-up adventure with the Silver Sentry. (This basic scene repeats itself later in the main action).

The TMNT are out on a training exercise above ground and Mike is talking about how peaceful it has been since they kicked Shredder’s butt. Further, he thinks the Turtles should be doing more to enhance the greater good of mankind. The other Turtles think this is a funny notion and tell Mike to get serious and to quit reading so many comic books.

A little further into the exercise, the Turtles come upon a burning building where a child is trapped on one of the upper floors. Mikey wants to rush in and save the kid, but Leo tells him the fire department has it covered and Mike should stay put. Before Mikey can grumble too much, in flies the Silver Sentry, a well-known local superhero. The Silver Sentry saves the child and puts out the fire, receiving a round of applause from everyone in the vicinity. Mike is awestruck at seeing one of his heroes in action and he tells his brothers that they should become super heroes, wear costumes and help the city in a more open way. The rest of the TMNT tell Mikey that he has really lost it now. Mike shuts up… but he doesn’t forget.

Back at the lair, Master Splinter is training Leo, Don and Raph, but rather than paying attention to his exercises, Mike is doodling some sketches of costumes that the TMNT might wear as super heroes. Splinter is upset with Mike’s lack of attention to the lesson, and Raph grabs the sketchbook and the guys all have a big laugh when they see Mikey’s designs. Mike appeals to Master Splinter that the Turtles should become super heroes so they won’t have to hide in the shadows, but the Sensei once again cautions against being seen or drawing attention to themselves. Splinter explains that there are different paths that one must walk – and Michelangelo must choose his. Mike gathers up his sketches and heads topside, where he seeks the advice and help of April O’Neil.

April tells Mike that he should follow his dreams, and she helps him develop a superhero costume, by using articles from her second-hand shop. Mike settles on a costume that consists of a cape, a ski mask and a shield. He proclaims himself “Turtle Titan”, and paints a TT on his chest.

Wearing his Turtle Titan costume, Mike heads out on patrol. However, every time he tries to do a good deed something goes wrong and he ends up looking guilty or silly. Also, the people that Mikey tries to help are all in trances until a robotic bug is seen scurrying away from them, at which point the people return to normal with no knowledge of what just happened and they get angry or afraid of Mike. At the end of his last heroic misadventure (with a bus driver being mind-controlled by the strange bug-like device), the Silver Sentry swoops in to save Mike’s shell. Mikey is initially awestruck at the chance to meet his hero, and the pair have a discussion about the perils of super heroics. As Silver Sentry prepares to leave he tells Mike to leave the superhero stuff to him because someone could get hurt – and it will probably be the Turtle Titan. However, just before he leaves, Mike tells him he should take a look at one of the robot-bugs that he caught. After examining the bug, Silver Sentry concludes it’s the work of his arch enemy, Dr. Malignus.

Silver Sentry takes off to follow the robot-bugs communications signal to Dr. Malignus’ lair, and Mikey follows along on foot, trying to keep up. Even though Mike falls far behind he does see the warehouse Silver Sentry goes into. When Mikey enters the building he discovers that one of Malignus’ bugs has attached itself to the Silver Sentry and Sentry is doing Malignus’ bidding!

Malignus has Sentry attack Mike, and things look pretty desperate for the hapless Turtle Titan – and Mike decides that Master Splinter was right (again) and it’s time to remove his costume and handle things as he was trained to – as a ninja! Unfortunately the Silver Sentry’s super abilities once against allow him to gain the upper hand in the battle, but then Mike remembers the training move that Splinter had been teaching them earlier and uses it to avoid an attack and then hop onto the Sentry’s back and remove the bug. Mike then teams up with Sentry to defeat Malignus.

Once Malignus has been locked up and taken away, Silver Sentry thanks Mike for his help, but he still warns the ninja to leave the superhero stuff to trained professionals. After the day’s activities, Mike thinks this is good advice and he heads back to the lair feeling like being a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle is just fine. When Mikey gets back to the lair, the guys tease him and he walks silently to the TV area and grabs the remote, turning on the evening news. We see the Sentry being interviewed, and he thanks the Turtle Titan for his help. Leo, Don and Raph look upon the screen in shock and ask Mikey if it was him who helped the superhero. Mikey stands up and states that he’s a Turtle, not a titan – and then asks Splinter to renew their training session.

Master Splinter

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