Napoleon Bonafrog: Colossus of the Swamps

“Napoleon Bonafrog: Colossus of the Swamps”
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1987) episode
Season Code:	05
Episode:	09
Original airdate	October 5, 1991
Written by	Dennis O'Flaherty
Producers:
Episode chronology ← Previous Next → "Muckman Messes Up" "Raphael Versus the Volcano"

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 1991 Season 1991 List of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles episodes

Episodes: "The Turtles and the Hare" "Once Upon a Time Machine" "My Brother, the Bad Guy" "Michelangelo Meets Mondo Gecko" "Enter: Mutagen Man" "Donatello's Badd Time" "Michelangelo Meets Bugman Again" "Muckman Messes Up" "Napoleon Bonafrog: Colossus of the Swamps" "Raphael Versus the Volcano" "Landlord of the Flies" "Donatello's Duplicate" "The Ice Creature Cometh" "Leonardo Cuts Loose" "Pirate Radio" "Raphael, Turtle of a Thousand Faces" "Leonardo, the Renaissance Turtle" "Zach and the Alien Invaders" "Welcome Back, Polarisoids" "Michelangelo, the Sacred Turtle" "Planet of the Turtleoids, Part 1" "Planet of the Turtleoids, Part 2" 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

"Napoleon Bonafrog: Colossus of the Swamps" is an episode of the 1987 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cartoon series.

Appearing in Napoleon Bonafrog: Colossus of the Swamps

Major characters

• Donatello (Barry Gordon)
• Leonardo (Cam Clarke)
• Raphael (Rob Paulsen)
• Michaelangelo (Townsend Coleman)
• Splinter (Peter Renaday)
• April O'Neil (Renae Jacobs)
• Shredder (Jim Cummings)
• Krang (Pat Fraley)
• Bebop (Barry Gordon)
• Rocksteady (Cam Clarke)
• Punk Frogs
  • Napoleon Bonafrog (Townsend Coleman) (mutates) (retro-mutates)

Minor characters

• Punk Frogs
  • Genghis Frog (Jim Cummings)
  • Attila the Frog
  • Rasputin the Mad Frog
• Big Louie (Peter Renaday)

Species

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

Objects and vehicles

• Antifreeze Tanker
• Big Louie's Car
• Comlink
• Fork-Lift Truck
• Muta-Shooter
• Taxi Cab
• Transport Module
• Turtle Van
• Turtlecom
• The Star of Hoboken replica diamond

Locations

• Big Louie's hideout
• City Sewer System
• City Streets
• Florida Swamp
• Technodrome
• Turtle Lair

Plot

Michelangelo is eating his sixth pizza out of boredom when a strange drill carves out of the ceiling and takes the pizza right off the table. When the Turtles investigate further, they find that someone is using oil drills to steal antifreeze.

The one behind this is none other than Krang, who has hired Big Louie and his thugs to steal antifreeze to start the engines and free the Technodrome. Donatello and Splinter deduce what Krang is up to.

Meanwhile, Shredder, Bebop and Rocksteady are sent to Florida in search of the mutagen pool. They need the mutagen in the swamp to fill the Muta-Shooter, which will turn the Turtles into mindless slaves.

Michelangelo receives a call from Napoleon Bonafrog, tipping them off about Shredder's intentions. Rocksteady fills the Muta-Shooter with muddy mutagen, but trips and accidentally sprays Napoleon with it. The other Punk Frogs flee as they realize Shredder has seen them, and as Napoleon suddenly grows larger and more savage. Unfortunately, he is also under Shredder's control.

Shredder brings Napoleon back to New York, first to pick up the antifreeze and then to lead him to the Turtle Lair. Whenever Napoleon begins to show resistance, Shredder blasts him with the Muta-shooter again to enslave his mind once more. But then Napoleon suddenly returns to normal, with no memory of where he has been or what he has been doing, so Shredder shoots him again. However, he resists Shredder's commands and smashes his way out of the sewer.

With Napoleon running wild, Shredder and his mutants steal a taxi and pursue him. Big Louie hears about the incident on the radio, having earlier been cheated by Shredder, and plans to pay the villain a visit.

When Napoleon shrinks back to normal again, Big Louie and his henchmen take Napoleon into their car and refuse to give him back unless Shredder pays him. The Turtles pursue Big Louie and Shredder, just as Napoleon begins to grow large once again and breaks out of the car.

The Turtles arrive just as Napoleon is mind-controlled by Shredder again. Donatello tries to reason with Napoleon, only to be abducted by Shredder instead while the other three Turtles are stuck under a pile of boxes. Since Donatello is smarter than he is, Shredder plans to use Donatello to repair the Muta-Shooter so that the brainwashing effects will be permanent rather than temporary.

Of course, Donatello sabotages the Muta-shooter so that it not only doesn't further mutate him, it also restores Napoleon to normal. As a further indignity, Big Louie and his goons arrive to reckon with Shredder, just as Napoleon and Donatello escape to reunite with the other three Turtles. Shredder fires a heat-seeking missile at the Turtles, only to discover that the missile affects humans. The missile circles back and strikes his module, igniting the antifreeze and sending the module flying off like a rocket and landing in a garbage barge.

Back at the lair, Napoleon says goodbye to the Turtles and Michelangelo offers him a pizza covered in bugs... only for Napoleon to grow large again when angered by the lack of flies.

See also

• Napoleon Bonafrog: Colossus of the Swamps/Gallery
• Napoleon Bonafrog: Colossus of the Swamps/Transcript

Notes and errors

• Although Pat Fraley has voiced Napoleon in all his previous appearances, in this episode, he is voiced by Townsend Coleman, who customarily plays Attila.
• Shredder and the mutants drive in a different style Transport Module this episode where the dark pink tread wells are colored white and the main unit has a larger component attached to its rear, possibly to transport the antifreeze back to the Technodrome. This would be the only time this style of module is used and would be the first facelift it received (albeit temporarily) until they would be changed to the Amphibious Modules in Season 7.
• Big Louie's laugh was voiced by Cam Clarke after Krang told him about Shredder stopping off at the Florida swamps.
• The dark brown coloring in the grooves on Donatello's shell were missing when he patched Napoleon onto his main view screen.
• Napoleon's transformation can be compared to that of the Incredible Hulk, as he grows larger, more muscular, tears out of his clothes, becomes more aggressive and less intelligent, and frequently speaks of himself in the third person.
• First episode where Shredder is voiced by Jim Cummings and his last until the European Vacation bar, Rust Never Sleeps and A Real Snow Job.
• Napoleon's clothing repeatedly rips and tears when he grows, only to repair themselves when he turns back to normal. This is a flaw the episode even seems aware of, since his clothes actually fade from tattered to normal on one occasion, and he complains that he "keeps ripping my favorite shirt."

Home media releases

DVD

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