| “Unidentified Flying Leonardo” | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1987 Cartoon) episode | |||||||
| |||||||
| Season Code: | 04 | ||||||
| Episode: | 39 | ||||||
| Original airdate | December 8, 1990 | ||||||
| Written by | Sean Roche | ||||||
| Supervising Producer | Fred Wolf | ||||||
| Producers: | Walt Kubiak | ||||||
| Supervising Director | Bill Wolf | ||||||
| |||||||
Unidentified Flying Leonardo is a season 4 episode of the 1987-1996 series.
Appearing in Unidentified Flying Leonardo[]
Major characters[]
- Leonardo (Cam Clarke)
- Donatello (Barry Gordon)
- Michaelangelo (Townsend Coleman)
- Raphael (Rob Paulsen)
- Splinter (Peter Renaday)
- April O'Neil (Renae Jacobs)
- Burne Thompson (Pat Fraley)
- Vernon Fenwick (Peter Renaday)
- Dr. Davens (Pat Fraley)
- Billy Jim Bob McJames (Pat Fraley)
- Scoop Oliver (Townsend Coleman)
Minor characters[]
- First Man in diner (Peter Renaday)
- Second Man in diner (Barry Gordon)
- Documentary Presenter (Rob Paulsen)
- Police Officer
- Farmer (Cam Clarke)
Species[]
Objects and vehicles[]
- Channel 6 newsvan
- UFO helicopter
- Dr. Daven's truck
- Garbage pickup truck
- Turtle Blimp
- Turtle Van
- Turtlecom
- Vita-Ray Beam Gun
Locations[]
- Davens' farm
- Garbage dump
- Greasy Spoon Diner
- High Falls
- Turtle Lair
Plot[]
The Turtles learn that April O'Neil is heading to a small upstate town where UFO sightings have been seen. Splinter has a bad feeling about it, so Leonardo decides to tag along to make sure she's okay.
He parks in a cornfield just outside the town, only to be shocked when the cornfield suddenly grows to terrifying heights. He also spots a flying vehicle leaving the field, which is also spotted by a local named Billy Jim Bob. Billy Jim Bob mistakes Leonardo for an alien and flees into the town. Though the locals disbelieve him at first, an accidental photograph of the Turtle convinces them, and they soon form a mob and start hunting for Leonardo. After being accidentally kidnapped by a garbage truck, a beleaguered Leonardo finds himself in the dump.
In the meantime, Dr. Davens watches the hubbub, with a mysterious large object placed on the bed of his truck. He says enigmatically that he's going to "a little hunting of my own" as he leaves.
As Leonardo hikes back from the dump, giant stalks of celery suddenly appear and chase him. He's assaulted by giant fruits and vegetables of all kinds... until it's revealed to be a dream of Splinter's. He tells the other Turtles that they must help April and Leonardo, but unfortunately none of them know which town they're at.
April is abducted by the mysterious helicopter, and Leonardo is unable to save her. Even worse, the posse hunting him turn up, chasing him into a tree, a barn, and a pasture with a hostile bull. Fortunately he's rescued by Billy Jim Bob, who is all too happy to protect the "Martian." Billy Jim Bob also lets slip that the alien "spacecraft" is mostly seen around Dr. Davens' place, and Leonardo demands to be taken there.
That mysterious craft is unsurprisingly revealed to belong to Davens, who has created a "Vita-Ray" that instantly makes plants enormous. But when Davens sees Leonardo peeking in at April, he chases the Turtle away with Vita-Ray blasts that create enormous weeds. Leonardo manages to get aboard the helicopter and pilot it away.
Meanwhile, Raphael asks Vernon Fenwick to tell them where April is, but Vernon refuses. Burne Thompson has to interrupt to tell them.
April triggers the Vita-Ray, trying to tip off others by creating giant plants all over Havens' property. When the helicopter is disabled by giant vines, Leonardo has to be rescued by Billy Jim Bob once again, only for the man's truck to be hoisted up and away by the crops. The other Turtles finally arrive.
They break into Havens' headquarters, but find themselves restrained by giant beanstalks. Fortunately Michelangelo is able to trigger the Vita-ray, which makes the produce in Havens' truck large enough to crush it.
As the Turtles depart, Billy Jim Bob finally reveals that he's accepted that Leonardo was never an alien.
See also[]
Notes and errors[]
- As Donatello wakes up Splinter, the edge of the blanket flickers.
- When Donatello pulls back after snapping Splinter out of his nightmare, his bo on his belt vanishes into thin air.
- Raphael is colored like Leonardo in the first close-up shot of the Turtle Blimp.
- One of the shots shows a "Feed Cream" sign above a store, then changes to "Feed Grain" in the next shot, and the shot after that has "Feed Cream" sign again, when the truck drives away a few seconds later the sign says "Feed Grain" again.
- Alien life has been confirmed on multiple occasions in this series thus far, including the Neutrinos buzzing the streets of New York, which raises the question of why the idea of aliens would be so controversial.
Trivia[]
- A running gag reference is made to the movie Attack of the Killer Tomatoes; when the local reporter makes a reference to it, a man responds with, "It's already been done."
Home media releases[]
VHS[]
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Unidentified Flying Leonardo
DVD[]
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Season 4
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Complete Classic Series Collection