Blast from the Past

“Blast from the Past”
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1987 Cartoon) episode
Season Code:	03
Episode:	29
Original airdate	November 2, 1989
Written by	David Wise
Producers:	–
Episode chronology ← Previous Next → "Beware the Lotus" "Leatherhead: Terror of the Swamp"

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 1989 Season September 25, 1989 - Feburary 9, 1990 List of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles episodes

Episodes: "Beneath These Streets" "Turtles on Trial" "Attack of the 50-Foot Irma" "The Maltese Hamster" "Sky Turtles" "The Old Switcheroo" "Burne's Blues" "The Fifth Turtle" "Enter the Rat King" "Turtles at the Earth's Core" "April Fool" "Attack of Big MACC" "The Ninja Sword of Nowhere" "20,000 Leaks Under the City" "Take Me to Your Leader" "Four Musketurtles" "Turtles, Turtles Everywhere" "Cowabunga Shredhead" "Invasion of the Turtle Snatchers" "Camera Bugged" "Green With Jealousy" "Return of the Fly" "Casey Jones - Outlaw Hero" "Mutagen Monster" "Corporate Raiders from Dimension X" "Pizza by the Shred" "Super Bebop & Mighty Rocksteady" "Beware the Lotus" "Blast from the Past" "Leatherhead: Terror of the Swamp" "Michelangelo's Birthday" "Usagi Yojimbo" "Case of the Hot Kimono" "Usagi Come Home" "The Making of Metalhead" "Leatherhead Meets the Rat King" "The Turtle Terminator" "The Great Boldini" "The Missing Map" "The Gang's All Here" "The Grybyx" "Mister Ogg Goes to Town" "Shredderville" "Bye, Bye, Fly" "The Big Rip-Off" "The Big Break In" "The Big Blow Out" 1987 Season – 1988 Season – 1989 Season – 1990 Season - 1991 Season – 1992 Season – 1992-1993 Vacation in Europe sideseason – 1993 Season – 1994 Season – 1995 Season – 1996 Season

Blast from the Past is a season 3 episode of the 1987 TV series.

Appearing in Blast from the Past

Major characters

• Leonardo  (Cam Clarke)
• Donatello  (Barry Gordon)
• Michelangelo  (Townsend Coleman)
• Raphael (Rob Paulsen)
• Hamato Yoshi/Splinter  (Peter Renaday)
• April O'Neil (Renae Jacobs)
• Oroku Saki/Shredder  (James Avery)
• Krang  (Townsend Coleman)
• Bebop (Barry Gordon)
• Rocksteady  (Cam Clarke)
• Shibano-sama (Rob Paulsen) (debut)

Minor characters

• Cameraman (flashback only)
• Chet
• Director (flashback only)
• Krang (Pat Fraley) (archive footage)

Species

• Human
• Mutant rat
• Mutant rhinoceros
• Mutant turtle
• Mutant warthog

Objects and vehicles

• Transport Module

Locations

• Asian-American Cultural Center
• Technodrome
• Turtle Lair

Plot

Down inside the Technodrome, Krang is arguing with Shredder about going to the surface. Shredder declares that he has a plan to turn Rocksteady and Bebop into unbeatable ninja warriors, and heads to the surface with an ancient scroll in hand.

Meanwhile Splinter and the Turtles are enjoying their success in martial arts and pizza-making, before settling down before the TV. April O'Neil reports from the Asian-American Cultural Center, where a burial urn for someone named Shibano-sama is on display. Splinter is immediately agitated by this news, and declares that they must get there before Shredder does. On the way, on foot, he informs them that Shredder must have taken the Foot Clan's sacred scrolls with him when he left Japan, and now he plans to use them to gain power. This is possible because Shibano-sama was the founder of the Foot Clan.

Shredder knocks out all five of them with a gas grenade, and summons Shibano-sama with an incantation from the scroll. The ghost of the ancient ninja appears, and Shredder beseeches him to make his minions invincible ninjas. He claims to be the true leader of the Foot, but is interrupted by the Turtles, who proclaim Splinter to be the true leader. Unfortunately, the gas had an unexpected side-effect: Splinter can't remember who he is.

Raphael volunteers to stay while the other Turtles take Splinter back home, hoping to find a way to restore his memory. Unfortunately, Raphael is immediately frozen by a beam of light from Shibano-sama.

Back at the lair, Leonardo gives his master a potion that will restore his memory, but the process will take awhile. To jog his memory, Leonardo begins telling Splinter his life story, and how he was once the head teacher of the Foot clan, how he was dishonored and driven out of Japan, how he lived in the sewers with rats and pet turtles, and how they were all mutated. Splinter asks what happened to Oroku Saki, and Donatello begins recounting how they met April, how their mutations were due to Shredder, the origins of Bebop and Rocksteady, and that Shredder and Oroku Saki are the same person.

Meanwhile, Shibano-sama orders Bebop and Rocksteady to attack a target: Raphael. The two mutants are infused with great ninja knowledge and capabilities, which they turn against the Turtle.

Splinter starts to remember, slowly asking more questions about what has happened. Leonardo is confident that if Splinter can remember who he is, he can easily prove his status as the Foot Clan's true leader, using something called the Kur-Li Maneuver. If Splinter does so, Shibano-sama will turn against Shredder.

Michelangelo takes his turn at story time, explaining to Splinter about Krang and Dimension X, his alliance with Shredder, the battle they fought against the newly-enlarged Krang, and how Splinter gave up his opportunity to be human again in order to save his students.

That last story finally returns all of Splinter's memories to him, and he immediately rushes off to the Cultural Center to prove his identity. He demonstrates the Kur-Li Maneuver (based on Three Stooges schtick) on Shredder, which brings Shibano-sama's wrath down on Shredder, Bebop and Rocksteady. They flee back down underground, all superhuman abilities stripped away.

Splinter suggests that Shibano-sama return to his rest, and as the ghost fades away, it exhorts them to honor their master, remain virtuous... and "save the last slice of pizza for me!", which shocks them all.

See also

• Blast from the Past/Gallery
• Blast from the Past/Transcript

Trivia

• Features flashback clips from Season 1's "Turtle Tracks" "Enter the Shredder" and "Shredder & Splintered". 
• Leonardo claims that Hamato Yoshi named himself Splinter, however in "Turtle Tracks" Splinter says the Turtles are the one who nicknamed him.
• The Foot Clan's secret move, the Kur-Li Maneuver, was a reference to Curly Howard of The Three Stooges.

Home media releases

VHS

• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles vs. Rhinoman
• The Biggest Ever Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles Video

DVD

• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Volume 5
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Season 3
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Complete Classic Series Collection