| “A Foot Too Big” | |||||||
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| Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2012 TV series) episode | |||||||
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| Season Code: | 302 | ||||||
| Episode: | 54 | ||||||
| Guest stars | Diedrich Bader Jesse Ventura | ||||||
| Original airdate | October 10, 2014 | ||||||
| Written by | Doug Langdale | ||||||
| Producers: | Vladimir Radev | ||||||
| Brandon Auman | |||||||
| Directed by | Michael Chang | ||||||
| Voice Direction | Andrea Romano | ||||||
| Supervising Director | Ciro Nieli | ||||||
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"A Foot Too Big" is the second episode of the third season of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2012 TV series), and the fifty-fourth episode overall in the series. It first aired on October 10th, 2014.
Synopsis
The Turtles discover Bigfoot in the woods, and Donatello befriends it, insisting they protect Bigfoot from a hunter that is after it.
Characters
Major Characters
- April O'Neil (Mae Whitman)
- Bigfoot (Diedrich Bader) (debut)
- Donatello (Rob Paulsen)
- The Finger (Jesse Ventura) (debut)
- Michelangelo (Greg Cipes)
- Raphael (Sean Astin)
Minor Characters
Plot
The episode opens late at night. Stalking through the woods, a hunter who calls himself, The Finger, is on the hunt for a creature he has been after for years. Chatting with Mom (which is a shrunken head), The Finger assures her that this time he will finally catch his target. Pulling out a bow and an explosive arrow, The Finger draws back on the string, when suddenly a large figure jumps down from a tree and roars at him from behind. The scene shoots back to the forest and we see an explosion rise above the trees.
Meanwhile, busy at work in the barn the next morning, Donatello is preparing a little gift to present to April; a hand-made music box, with his picture serving as the mirror for the top. Mikey claims for the gift to be 'perfect', yet when Donatello presents to April, she quickly dodges the romantic move and escapes outside claiming she has to get some ninja training in. Mikey tries to comfort Donnie, while Raphael, who secretly watched the whole event tries to persuade his brother that the love thing between him and April ain't just gonna happen. She's a human girl, while Don is just a talking mutant turtle.
Ready to get his brother's mind off of the lovey-dovey stuff, Raphael gets both Don and Mikey to engage in a little forest ninja training, which the two younger turtles miserably fail at, since they keep on bumping into trees. Leo is watching the whole training session from up on a hill, and seems pleased with Raph's handiwork. When he suggests the Turtle Hunt exercise, and Raph asks him to attend, Leo is eager to go until his injuries make him decline and he tells Raph to go ahead. Raph explains the Turtle Hunt exercise to Mikey and Donnie: the latter two have to stay hidden in the forest from Raph for at least an hour or be forced to clean the chicken coop. Not wanting to clean the coop out, Mikey and Donnie take off in a hurry.
When climbing a tree to hide from Raph, Mikey spots a giant, hairy ape-like creature above angrily staring down at them. It roars and the two jump down from the tree drawing their weapons. The creature rips a tree trunk out of the ground, effortlessly mimicking the way Donnie spun his staff. Donnie identifies the creature as Bigfoot before it sends them flying with the tree trunk. The brothers get up and run away with Bigfoot on their heels. They run into Raph who doesn't believe their screaming ("BIGFOOT!") until Donnie turns him around. Raph and the other two prepare for some "real training", but Bigfoot effortlessly beats them via sheer strength, size, and the mimicry of their respective weaponized fighting styles (Raph notes that "Bigfoot's got some skills."). Donnie manages to catch a glimpse of Bigfoot's right arm and sees that the creature is wounded. He tells the others that it's hurt and likely doesn't want to fight and is scared. Raph is shocked when Bigfoot reveals it can talk (albeit in broken English). Donnie offers to take Bigfoot back to the house so he can patch its arm up and the creature accepts. Unbeknownst to them, The Finger had been spying on them the whole time and tells "Mama" that Bigfoot had found himself a couple of freaks, but even "little green aliens" wouldn't stop him.
Back at the house, Donnie introduces Bigfoot to the rest of the group, although Leo and Casey are less than thrilled to meet it. April bandages the creature's arm and it tells her and Donnie that it is being hunted by a "very bad man" called "The Finger". It turns to Donnie smiling, hugging him tightly stating that Donnie is a good man, that it loves Donnie, and that it is a lady. Casey and the others--sans April--all begin laughing at Donnie's misfortune.
Throughout the day, Bigfoot relentlessly follows Donnie around wherever he goes, trying to get the brainiac turtle's attention which only succeeds in making Donnie uncomfortable. Raph has Bigfoot take Donnie and Mikey into the woods to help them work on their camouflaging abilities while Raph cleans out the bathtub (Bigfoot went #2 in it). While in the middle of the session, the Finger appears and fires at Bigfoot, but she grabs Mikey and Donnie and makes her escape.
That night, in the kitchen, Bigfoot has proceeded to make an awful-smelling (and awful-looking) soup for Donnie and asks April for help in getting a makeover. After April is finished, Bigfoot approaches Donnie with the soup and makeup on and again tries to make a pass at him, but Donnie hastily makes an excuse and runs away, leaving her sad. Donnie complains to Raph about Bigfoot and that she has been following him around everywhere "like a lovestruck puppy". Raph, while playing a video game and without turning around, simply iterates, "Now you know how April feels." Donnie, although initially irked, immediately realizes that Raph is right and hangs his head, filled with guilt and remorse.
Outside, Casey and Leo are in the barn talking and laughing about how Bigfoot has been pestering Donnie and Casey asks if she's Don's type. Leo thinks it's possible "after a shave" and the two begin laughing again. They hear whimpering and turn around, seeing that Bigfoot had been listening in on their conversation. Upset and hurt, Bigfoot runs off into the forest sobbing. Mikey yells at Casey and Leo (who didn't mean any harm) for being so insensitive and him and Donnie chase after Bigfoot. Unfortunately for them, Bigfoot has been captured by The Finger in a net and when Don and Mikey get there, they are knocked out by a booby trap. After the two wake up, they find themselves tied up and dangling from a tree branch by a single strand of rope. Donnie informs Mikey that The Finger has been debating on how to finish them off. When The Finger decides to stuff them right there, Donnie escapes from his restraints by insulting his "Mama", angering The Finger, and causing him to shoot at Donnie, who dodges the arrow, causing it to cut the rope instead. Donnie cuts Mikey loose and the two engage The Finger in combat. Unfortunately, the Finger gets angry after a brief spell of getting pummeled, causing the turtle's attacks to have no effect. He effortlessly pounds them into the dirt until Donnie throws an explosive arrow into the quiver strapped to The Finger's back, causing the other forty-two arrows to explode on him. When the smoke clears, a soot-covered The Finger states that if he's going down, he's taking Bigfoot with him. At that moment, Bigfoot, still with the makeup on, pops her head out of the net, causing The Finger to realize that Bigfoot is a lady. He apologies to "Mama" saying that he didn't know and that he "can't shoot no lady" before sobbing profusely. Bigfoot picks The Finger up trying to comfort him and, after seeing his soot-ridden face, falls in love with The Finger (to the shock of Mikey and Donnie) and Bigfoot carries the "sad man" off into the woods to take care of him.
The next morning, April is chopping wood with an ax and Donnie approaches her, telling her that he won't bother her with music boxes anymore because he realized that what Bigfoot did to him, he was doing to her. April is surprised by what Donnie is saying and looks at him sympathetically. Donnie hangs his head in heartbreak and sadness stating that he's "just a mutant." After a brief pause, April coyly smiles and says that Donnie isn't just a mutant. She leans toward him saying that he's her mutant before she gently grabs him and pulls him toward her, planting a brief but affectionate kiss on his lips, much to Donnie's shock. She turns around smiling, and walks away, leaving Donnie--still in shock and extremely confused--to mention that he "understands nothing".
Trivia
- This episode has a similar premise to Harry and the Hendersons a 1987 film (which originated a TV series of the same name), where Bigfoot moves in with a family and causes them a lot of trouble.
- The Finger is somewhat of a parody of Kraven The Hunter, a super-villain of Spider-Man in the Marvel Comic universe. His appearance resembles Zangief, a Wrestler from the Street Fighter franchise.
- Jesse Ventura, the voice actor for The Finger, had the nickname "The Body" as a wrestler.
- In a subtle nod to this, The Finger uses a few wrestling moves in hand-to-hand combat.
- The way The Finger pretends his dead mother is talking to him is similar to Norman Bates in the film Psycho.
- Leonardo and Raphael appear to be playing video games on a Coleco Vision.
- Bigfoot is the second cryptid to be voiced by Diedrich Bader, this first being Fiskerton Phantom, a Gorilla-Cat in The Secret Saturdays.
- Mikey's Imaginary Banjo-playing spider wears the same overalls as the Creep, and it has a tag embroidered on it that says "Vorhees Overalls. The real Deal"
- When Raph puts on a mask to clean out the tub, the sound effect of Darth Vader's breathing is heard.
Errors
- Raph calls April a human girl: however, in The Kraang Conspiracy, she was revealed to be a Half-Kranng mutant Hybrid.