Take Me to Your Leader

“Take Me to Your Leader”
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1987 Cartoon) episode
Title Card
Season Code:	3
Episode:	15
Original airdate	November 8, 1989
Written by	David Wise
Producers:	–
Episode chronology ← Previous Next → "20,000 Leaks Under the City" "Four Musketurtles"

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

Take Me to Your Leader is a season 3 episode of the 1987-1996 series.

Plot

As the story opens, Shredder is scheming to steal the world's cheese danishes when the Turtles burst in and attack. But suddenly Leonardo is seized by indecision, and it's revealed to be an increasingly surreal dream in which all of the Turtles are disposed of through bizarre means.

In the morning, Leonardo is plagued by self-doubt, believing that his dream was a warning or omen of failing judgement. It doesn't help when he immediately knocks himself down during practice. Believing that he can't lead the team, Leonardo leaves the lair, believing that they would be better off without him.

Meanwhile, Shredder and Krang leave a robot sentry below a building they are breaking into. At the penthouse, they set up a "solar siphon" that will quickly freeze the entire planet as it sucks up the solar energy.

The Turtles immediately notice the shrinking sun and cooler temperatures, which quickly leads to snow in the middle of July. They are forced to choose a new leader by playing Spin the Pizza, which selects Raphael. Unfortunately his decision-making is immediately called into question when they surface in a polar bear habitat, from which they only escape because of Michelangelo's quick thinking.

Fortunately Donatello has an energy-drain tracker, which will take them to the source of the solar drain. Raphael orders Donatello to be the leader now, but quickly discovers that Donatello is too analytical to be effective.

Meanwhile, Leonardo is moping in a park, and worrying about what's happening to his brothers.

Michelangelo and Raphael have a snowball fight while Donatello continues calculating which way is east. But when they find their destination - a schoolhouse - they find that they've been expertly duped with a fake signal. The fake signal is also a bomb that nearly kills them all and effectively destroys the building and the energy tracker. Michelangelo is deemed the new leader.

Leonardo is planning to leave the city when he's told by a stranger that "nobody's doing anything" about the crisis, and comes to the conclusion that he's been selfishly thinking only of himself. He runs off to find his brothers.

Raphael and Michelangelo are greeted by Shredder's hostile robot, but Michelangelo's tactical thinking turns out to not be so good. Fortunately Leonardo shows up and destroys the robot, his confidence restored.

The reunited Turtles head up into the building and climb up the elevator cables, where they fight Krang, Shredder, Bebop and Rocksteady. Donatello reverses the solar ray and then destroys it, as the four villains parachute out and escape to the Technodrome.

The temperature returns to normal, as the Turtles discuss what they've learned with Splinter.

Character voices

• Leonardo (Cam Clarke)
• Donatello (Barry Gordon)
• Michelangelo  (Townsend Coleman)
• Raphael (Rob Paulsen)
• Splinter (Peter Renaday)
• April O'Neil (Renae Jacobs)
• Burne Thompson (Pat Fraley)
• Irma Langinstein (Jennifer Darling)
• Shredder (James Avery)
• Krang (Pat Fraley)
• Bebop (Barry Gordon)
• Rocksteady (Cam Clarke)
• First Policeman (Rob Paulsen)
• Second Policeman (James Avery)
• Robot Guard (Peter Renaday)
• Bridge attendant (Peter Renaday)

Locations

• Turtles' Lair
• City streets
• Mile High Towers
• City Zoo
• School Building

Home media releases

DVD

• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Volume 4
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Season 3
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Complete Classic Series Collection

Errors

• In Leonardo's nightmare, Raphael refers to Rocksteady as "hog-breath" which is the common insult for Bebop. To be fair, it is a surreal experience.
• When the Turtles slide on the ice while running from the polar bear, Leonardo can be heard screaming as well, and the same would happen when Donatello slips on the snowy stairs and crashes on Raphael and Michelangelo, but Leonardo isn't in either of these scenes.
• After Donatello falls down the snowy stairs in the schoolhouse, the Turtles (except Leonardo) gain snow boots.
• When Leonardo leaves the Turtles, he wears his winter disguise, but when returning, he wears his blue colors, and the snow boots the others got suddenly in the snowy schoolhouse.
• During Leonardo's nightmare, a dog clearly bites Leonardo's foot, but he shows no response. This may be due to the bizarre, unrealistic nature of the dream, though.
• Leonardo was seen with no swords in his hands in the close-up shot of him charging towards Bebop and Rocksteady but the swords appeared when he knocked the pair when they turned into giant punch bags in his dream.
• Shredder's skin is almost orange in this episode and the lenses on Bebop's shades are coloured purple.
• Raphael expresses surprise at the cold temperature because it's the middle of July, yet Leonardo was dressed in a winter outfit before the temperature began to drop.

Gallery

• Take Me to Your Leader/Gallery

External links

• Lines at Springfield! Springfield!