Attack of the Mousers (2003 TV series episode)

“Attack of the Mousers”
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2003) episode
Season Code:	S01E03
Episode:	3
Original airdate	February 22, 2003
Written by	Eric Luke
Supervising Producer	Lloyd Goldfine
Producers:	Gary Richardson
	Frederick U. Fierst
	Al Kahn
	Norman Grossfeld
	Thomas Kenney
Directed by	Chuck Patton
Story Editor:	Lloyd Goldfine
Episode chronology ← Previous Next → "A Better Mousetrap" "Meet Casey Jones"

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Season 1 February 8, 2003 - November 1, 2003 List of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles episodes

Episodes: Things Change A Better Mousetrap Attack of the Mousers Meet Casey Jones Nano Darkness on the Edge of Town The Way of Invisibility Fallen Angel Garbageman The Shredder Strikes, Part 1 The Shredder Strikes, Part 2 The Unconvincing Turtle Titan Notes from the Underground, Part 1 Notes from the Underground, Part 2 Notes from the Underground, Part 3 The King The Shredder Strikes Back, Part 1 The Shredder Strikes Back, Part 2 Tales of Leo The Monster Hunter Return to New York, Part 1 Return to New York, Part 2 Return to New York, Part 3 Lone Raph and Cub The Search for Splinter, Part 1 The Search for Splinter, Part 2 Season 1 – Season 2 – Season 3 – Season 4 – Ninja Tribunal – Fast Forward - Back to the Sewer

"Attack of the Mousers" is the third episode of the 2003 TV series. It first aired on February 22nd, 2003. It had 2.12 million on the 4kids website as of 2007.

Synopsis

April befriends the Turtles and together they take a trip back to Stocktronic Industries, determined to stop Baxter Stockman and his Mouser robots from robbing the city blind.

Appearing in Attack of the Mousers (2003 TV series episode)

Major Characters

• April O'Neil (Veronica Taylor)
• Baxter Stockman (Scott Williams)
• Donatello (Sam Riegel) (mutates in flashback)
• Leonardo (Michael Sinterniklaas) (mutates in flashback)
• Michelangelo (Wayne Grayson) (mutates in flashback)
• Ch'rell (Scottie Ray)
• Raphael (Frank Frankson) (mutates in flashback)
• Splinter (Darren Dunstan) (mutates in flashback)

Minor Characters

• Chet (debut)
• Foot Tech Ninja Team (debut)
• Hun (debut)
• Police
  • Officer Frank
  • Sarge
• Reporter (Kathy Borland)

Species

• Human
• Mutant rat
• Mutant turtle

Objects and vehicles

• Mousers

Locations

• Bank vault
• Oroku Saki's Tower
• Sewer tunnels
• Stocktronics lab
• Y'Lyntian outpost lair

Episode

Voice-over introduction

---

Michelangelo: "A very wise frog once said, "It's not easy being green," but believe me, he didn't know the half of it. In the past 48 hours my brothers and I have been attacked by killer robots, had our home caved in on us, and had a serious butt-kicking ninja battle with some deadly ninja assassins.

We made a shell-raising escape in an armored car, found a new place to live..."

Michelangelo: "This is beyond awesome!"

Michelangelo: "...and were attacked by even more killer robots. Oh, and we also managed to perform our very first ninja rescue. This is the closest any of us have ever been to a human being, and it raises one very big question:"

Michelangelo: "Can we keep her?"

Plot

---

From the last episode, the Turtles have taken the unconscious April back to the lair and have explained to Splinter that they had no other choice. As this discussion is going on April wakes up, thinking that what she saw was just a dream. But when she notices the Turtles looking at her, she freaks out again, and passes out at the sight of Splinter.

Mikey scares April when they first meet

In the meantime, the Mousers are breaking into a bank vault from underground and stealing all the contents, cash, stocks, bonds, jewels, etc. When the police finally arrive and get the vault door open, all that is left is wreckage and a hole in the floor. Back at the lair, April has finally awakened and decided that the giant talking turtles and rat are real and she had better deal with them. Splinter retells the origin story for her, with appropriate accompanying animation. He was an ordinary rat once, who witnessed a child rescue a blind man from a runaway truck filled with a strange glowing fluid. A canister of the fluid fell out just as four baby turtles were dropped into the sewer. Splinter rescued the baby turtles and put them in a coffee can, only to wake up with greater mental and physical faculties the next morning. The Turtles also grew and learned to speak, so he decided to raise them as his children and teach them ninjutsu. How he knew ninjutsu is not yet explained.

Baxter Stockman argues with his mysterious benefactor.

As Splinter is wrapping up the tale of the Turtles, Mikey sees a report on TV about the bank robbery and calls everyone over to watch and listen. It does not take but a second for everyone to figure out what caused all the damage and robbed the bank. April then proceeds to tell all she knows about Baxter Stockman, and the Mousers. After hearing April’s tale, the Turtles decide to raid Stocktronics and put an end to the Mousers for good.

April helps the guys break into the Stocktronics lab. After making their way past all the guards and security devices, the Turtles and April find themselves in the Mouser storage area, surrounded by currently de-activated Mousers. Just as the silence is getting creepy, things start to get active and a light comes on in the control room to reveal Stockman at the Mouser control panel.

After an exciting battle, the Turtles manage to escape the lab floor and break into the control room, capturing Stockman inside. After Stockman deals with the shock of four giant talking ninja turtles, he activates a program to have all his mousers descend on the control room and destroy everything within. As we hear the Mousers closing in, the Turtles and April try to override the system instructions, but nothing seems to be working. With everyone distracted by the Mousers, Stockman manages to escape the lab.

Just as it looks like it is curtains for our heroes, April manages to stop the Mousers, but only by activating a self-destruct sequence. There is no time to waste, and the Turtles and April rush out of the lab back into the sewer tunnels, leaving Stockman to be dealt with at another time. Meanwhile, as Stockman is running from the lab, he is collared by Oroku Saki's huge enforcer Hun.

The episode ends with April being welcomed into the Turtles' family and Stockman feeling the wrath of a severely disappointed Saki. Saki then orders that Stockman pay the price for this failure. The only thing Stockman can provide of any value is a hazy thermal image of the Turtles. This leaves Saki wondering about this new and unexpected problem before slashing the image with his tekagi-shuko claw.

See also

• Attack of the Mousers (2003 TV series episode)/Gallery
• Attack of the Mousers (2003 TV series episode)/Transcript

Quotes

Michelangelo: "Can we keep her?"

[April begins waking up in the lair] April: Ah man, what a dream. Turtles fighting robots...did I fall asleep watching TV again? That was the [realizes the Turtles are looking at her]...weirdest. thing. I've. ever. seen. Michelangelo: Hi! April: [screams in terror] AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! Michelangelo: [screams back in shock] AHHHHHHHHHH! Please don't do that, I almost jumped outa my shell! April: It has...three...fingers! *puts pillow over her head* I'm asleep! I'm asleep! I'm asleep! I'm asleep! Donatello: This isn't going very well. Michelangelo: Hey, c'mon! We don't have much practice talking to humans. It's gonna take a little time!

[Mikey is listening to music while he waits for April to wake up.] Raphael: Hey! Hey, Earth to Mikey! Michelangelo: Ow! What? Raphael: She woke up. Leo made her some tea and she's ready to consider that we might be real. Michelangelo: Awesomely radical, dude! Raphael: You keep talkin' like that, she's gonna pass out again. Michelangelo: Hey!

April: It won't be easy. Stocktronics is rigged with the latest up-to-the-minute security tech. Michelangelo: Pfft, bring it on! Allow me to introduce our very own secret weapon. The techno-turtle himself, Donatello! Take a bow, Don! Donatello: [Flattered] Ah, cut it out!

Raphael: This is it. It's been fun, guys. Michelangelo: Even me, Raph? Raphael: Even you, Mikey. Especially you.

Notes and errors

• After Leonardo says "here's to the new team" Donatello's bandana looks just like Raphael's bandana.

Trivia

• This episode is based on issue #2 of the Mirage Comics.
• This episode is ranked #6 on the TMNT Top Ten.
• The young Turtles grow strong by eating pizza. Pizza was the only food the Turtles were seen eating in the 1987 cartoon.
• Michelangelo's line "can we keep her?" when talking about April is originally from the first TMNT movie.
• This is the second episode where Mikey says "Cowabunga!", albeit in a flashback.
• Michelangelo's first line of the episode was "a very wise frog once said", referencing the world famous Muppet, Kermit the Frog. Jim Henson, creator of the Muppets and Kermit's original performer, provided the costumes and Splinter puppet for the 1990 film through his creature shop as one of his final projects. The sequel, which also featured costumes and puppets from his creature shop, was dedicated to Henson's memory.
• This episode has Mikey's first girly scream after he scares April, and in return April scares him.
• When Mikey says "Can we keep her?" it may have been a mistake because in the previous episode he said "Can I keep her?".

External links

• "Attack of the Mousers" at The Official TMNT Web Site