Movie Star Turtles is a Fleetway comic, published in TMHT Adventures #35 in May 18-31, 1991.
Appearing in Movie Star Turtles![]
Major characters[]
Minor characters[]
- April O'Neil
- Movie robots
- Shredder
- Steve Spielbaum
Species[]
- Human
- Mutant turtle
- Robot
- Shark
Objects and vehicles[]
Locations[]
- New York City
- Movie set
- Turtle Lair
Summary[]
In his room at the lair, Raphael daydreams about being a movie star when he’s older. He envisions himself as Indiana Raphael and the Turtles of Doom and having thousands of fans at the opening of another movie, Turtle on Elm Street. Raph fantasizes about winning an Oscar and thanking himself and his own talent. Leonardo calls his name and snaps Raph out of his reverie.
Raph asks if it’s pizza time already and Donatello says no, they have some serious talking to do. It’s nearly Splinter’s birthday and they want to get him something special. Raph suggests getting him a giant pizza and when Leo reminds him Splinter doesn’t like pizza, he replies that in that case, they can eat it.
Suddenly, a strange man saunters into the lair and announces that he’s found his movie stars. The Turtles react to having an intruder in the lair, to being seen without their disguises and then demand to know how he got to the lair. The man introduces himself as the Hollywood director, Steve Spielbaum. He says he’s been searching for them for months because he wants them to star in his next big movie. Leo protests that they aren’t actors, but Spielbaum says they have natural charisma and offers to pay each of them a million dollars out of the box office takings.
The Turtles discuss the offer. Leo says with that money, they could buy Splinter a huge present, and Michaelangelo says they could buy their own pizza chain, while Raph says his dreams of becoming a movie star will come true. They all agree to do it, so Spielbaum gives them the address of the studio and tells them to be there at eleven in the morning. The next day, the Turtles arrive right on time and Spielbaum says that they are going to do a fight scene first, one filled with special effects. He points out a group of robots standing nearby, saying the Turtles will use their skills to fight and defeat them and that they are completely harmless.
As soon as Spielbaum calls for action, one of the robots shoots a laser from it visor and hits Donatello in the chest. Don exclaims that the special effects sure are special because he can feel them. One of the robots punches Mikey and another shoots lasers at Raph. Leo thinks the ‘robots’ went to some weird drama school and Don says they’ll just have to fight back for real. They pull their weapons and Raph stabs one robot in its face hole. It crackles and fizzes before falling over and the Turtles realize that the robots are one hundred per cent machine. The Turtles manage to take out one more, but the remaining pair of robots prove to be tough. Suddenly, Mikey runs off and Raph thinks he’s deserted them. A robot lifts Don off the ground and throws him at Raph and Leo. Then the two robots fly into the air, surprising the green team – until they see that Mikey is at the controls of a magnet crane.
Spielbaum tells the Turtles that the fight scene was brilliant and will look great on the big screen. Raph says that the robots nearly killed them and Spielbaum apologizes, explaining that it was a fault in their circuits. He then gives them a paper with the location of the next day’s film shoot. As the Turtles are leaving, Spielbaum thinks to himself that tomorrow he’ll make sure they’re destroyed.
That night, Raphael dreams of stardom and of the Turtles putting their handprints in cement next to other big Hollywood stars. He is awakened by the ringing of several alarms, all set at four-thirty in the morning. Raph calls for his brothers to wake up and Don complains that they don’t have to be on set until half past eleven. Raph explains that he doesn’t want to be late. At the appointed time, the Turtles arrive on set with April O'Neil. Spielbaum asks who she is and when he hears that she’s a reporter, he says the movie is hush-hush and no reporters allowed. Leo starts to argue the point, but April says it’s okay and she’ll go. She only goes far enough to find a place to hide so that she can snoop around.
The Turtles and Spielbaum stand at the edge of a pool and the director tells them that for this scene they are to rescue some treasure from the bottom of the water. Spielbaum provides them with diving gear and explains that the helmets are attached to an oxygen pump. Don points out that Turtles don’t need oxygen, but Raph reminds him it’s just for the film. The Turtles don their gear and are soon at the bottom of the pool, where they see a treasure chest that’s overflowing with treasure. Raph finds it to be very realistic and then Mike sees some sharks that look really realistic too. Leo says that it’s because they are real.
Topside, Spielbaum turns the dial on the oxygen pump to the off position, gloating that between lack of oxygen and sharks, the Turtles will soon be goners. He then joins Shredder inside a shack and asks if he’s done a good job. Shredder tells him that as a two-bit actor he should be grateful to have been hired to take part in his master plan. Neither of them know that April is spying on them through the window. She races to the oxygen tank to turn it back on, but accidentally dials it up to full.
The diving suits unexpectedly begin expanding. The Turtles float up to the surface and then float completely up in the air. Unable to hold more oxygen, the suits pop and the Turtles break into the shack to confront Shredder and Spielbaum. Shredder makes a quick exit, but the Turtles capture Spielbaum with the intent of turning him into the law. Back at the lair, Leo wonders if Raph is upset that he didn’t achieve his dream of being an actor. Mikey assures him it's not a problem because Raph changes his greatest ambition every week. They peek into Raph’s room and see him sitting on the floor in full cowboy gear, reading western magazines. Mikey tells Leo and Don that now Raph wants to be a cowboy.
See also[]
Trivia[]
- Raphael's daydream about Indian Raphael and the Turtles of Doom is a reference to the 1984 movie Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.
- Raphael's daydream about Turtle on Elm Street is a reference to the 1984 film A Nightmare on Elm Street.
- The director Steve Spielbaum is a play on the name of director Steven Spielberg.