Turtles at the Earth's Core

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

“Turtles at the Earth's Core”
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1987 Cartoon) episode
	; Title Card
Season Code:	3
Episode:	10
Original airdate	November 1, 1989
Written by	Michael Reaves
Producers:	–
Episode chronology
"Enter the Rat King"	"April's Fool AKA April Foolish"

Turtles at the Earth's Core is a season 3 episode of the 1987-1996 series.

Plot

Donatello is trying to figure out a module-arrival pattern that would show them where the Technodrome is located. April urges them to let their brains rest by helping her decide where to vacation (Splinter suggests Florida), but is interrupted by a sudden earthquake.

The Turtles surface to see what may have happened, and are shocked to see a diplodocus walking down the street. They try to herd the beast with limited success, and Michelangelo accidentally falls into a vast hole in the middle of a park. They decide to investigate further.

The answer involves a "lost world" under the Earth's crust, where dinosaurs still live and thrive in underground forests. The diplodocus was sent up by Rocksteady and Bebop on Shredder's orders, although he's irate that they didn't send something more dangerous. Krang orders him to get the giant crystal that allows the lost world to flourish, which they can use to repower the Technodrome. However, antigravity technology doesn't work near the crystal, which makes it difficult to get to.

The Turtles fly their blimp down into the lost world, only to immediately end up grounded by a pterodactyl and menaced by a Tyrannosaurus Rex. Fortunately they're found by a diplodocus, whom they dub "Dippy," and which allows them to ride him. They also find several modules waiting in a field, proving Shredder's presence there.

At this time, Shredder, Rocksteady, Bebop and a number of Foot Soldiers are heading for the crystal on foot. However, they soon find that it's more difficult than expected to actually reach the crystal.

Krang has his own plans, sending a small army of Foot Soldiers to build a small mobile fortress for him to ride inside. The Foot Soldiers are instead sent to attack the Turtles, but Dippy easily disposes of them, though he accidentally and briefly bucks the Turtles and April into a tar pit.

Shredder's minions eventually manage to grab the crystal, but he drops it when the Turtles distract him. He melts the ground around Dippy's feet, creating a river of lava that they barely manage to escape. And without the crystal's power, Dippy and the other dinosaurs begin to grow weaker.

An irritable Krang is repairing the crystal when Dippy starts banging on the fortress' hull. He summons several other dinosaurs to attack the fortress, and they eventually tear open one of the hatches. The Turtles rush inside, and a small parade of the dinos follow them just as the crystal is finally repaired.

Raphael electrocutes Krang's body as Rocksteady and Bebop are taken out by a Stegosaurus' tail. Different people grab and pass the crystal until the Turtles and dinosaurs successfully escape with it. An enraged Krang starts burrowing the fortress back to the Technodrome.

With the crystal back in place, Donatello patches the Turtle blimp and they say their goodbyes to Dippy. The Turtles advise her to come there for her vacation, just before she's carried off by a pterodactyl, forcing the Turtles to chase her on Dippy's back.

Character voices

Locations

Turtle Lair
City streets
Earth's core
Krang's mobile fortress

Vehicles

Turtle Blimp
Transport modules
Krang's mobile fortress

Home media releases

VHS

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles at the Earth's Core

DVD

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Volume 3
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Season 3
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Complete Classic Series Collection
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Cowabunga Classics

Notes

Errors

When the Turtles are confronted by Foot Soldiers on their way to intercept Krang and Shredder, Raphael refers to them as "Rock Soldiers".
When the Turtles encounter a dinosaur in the street, Donatello's bo-staff is black and not brown.
When Shredder speaks to Krang on his comlink, Peter Renaday slips in to provide one line of his dialogue.
Krang berates Shredder for his petty bickering... which happened before the com link was activated. Was Krang somehow listening in, or does he assume Shredder is always doing that?
Raphael mentions that they have to break into Krang's fortress, but the Turtles hadn't seen it yet.

Quotes

Leonardo: Turtles fight with honor!

Shredder: Yes, but I fight dirty!

Gallery

Turtles at the Earth's Core/Gallery

External links

Lines at Springfield! Springfield!

FANDOM