| “Mutagen Monster” | |||||||
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| Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1987 Cartoon) episode | |||||||
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| Season Code: | 03 | ||||||
| Episode: | 24 | ||||||
| Original airdate | October 26, 1989 | ||||||
| Written by | Michael Edens Mark Edens | ||||||
| Producers: | – | ||||||
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Mutagen Monster is a season 3 episode of the 1987 TV series.
Appearing in Mutagen Monster[]
Major characters[]
- Leonardo (Cam Clarke)
- Donatello (Greg Berg)
- Michelangelo (Townsend Coleman)
- Raphael (Rob Paulsen)
- April O'Neil (Renae Jacobs)
- Shredder (James Avery)
- Krang (Pat Fraley)
- Bebop (Greg Berg)
- Rocksteady (Cam Clarke)
- Mutant bull (Jim Cummings)
Minor characters[]
Species[]
- Human
- Mutant bull
- Mutant rat
- Mutant rhinoceros
- Mutant turtle
- Mutant warthog
Objects and vehicles[]
Locations[]
Plot[]
Shredder and a squad of Foot Soldiers wait in a train yard, ready to hijack two approaching trains full of dangerous chemicals. Shredder's plan is for Bebop and Rocksteady to switch the trains on the sidings, transport the chemicals to the Technodrome, and use them to create a new batch of mutagen. Unfortunately, Bebop and Rocksteady start arguing about who gets to throw the switches in the signal box, and inadvertently switch the trains onto the same track, resulting in a horrific head-on collision. Infuriated, Shredder drags Bebop and Rocksteady back into the Transport Module and returns to the Technodrome. He seemingly doesn't notice that the chemicals are mixing on their own, near a pen of cows.
The Turtles are watching television when Michelangelo comes in with a deep-dish pizza, and tries to change the channel. A food fight breaks out between him and Raphael, but is stopped by Splinter who heard the commotion from his room while meditating. When Splinter demands an explanation for the cause of the fight, Leonardo explains that they were trying to decide what to watch, when the western movie gets interrupted by April's coverage of the wrecked trains and the leaking chemicals. Donatello realizes that the chemicals are combining to create an impure form of mutagen, and that there's no telling what could happen to anyone or anything that gets exposed to it. Back in the Technodrome, Krang yells at Rocksteady and Bebop for botching the operation. Shredder tells Krang that he and the mutants will try again and not fail this time. The Turtles race to the scene, and discover that while April is a safe distance away, Vernon has gone to get close-up footage of the crash, putting him in danger of being exposed to the mutagen.
Fortunately, Vernon's shoes protect him from the mutagen, and he remains his usual self, but two bulls drink from the pool of mutagen, and instantly fuse into a single, gigantic bull with horn-like protrusions covering its entire body. Seconds later it mutates again, growing even larger and causing its two front legs to fuse into one. The Turtles arrive just in time to protect Vernon from any harm, but are at a loss as to how to deal with a creature with such immense size and strength.
Just then, Shredder returns with Bebop and Rocksteady in an attempt to salvage some of the chemicals, but Shredder decides that the mutant bull would be a vastly more valuable prize. Unfortunately, even he doesn't have any idea how to capture or control it, and after several fruitless attempts by both parties to catch it, the bull splits into two copies of itself. The sight of this is too much for Shredder, and he returns to the Technodrome again. Meanwhile, the two bulls work together to corner April, but crash into each other when they attempt to stamp on April and fuse back into one, bigger-than-ever mutant bull, which makes off for the city.
The Turtles return to their lair, and after a discussion with Splinter, Donatello realizes that because the mutagen was impure, the bull's mutation is not stable, and that by placing it in an atom smasher they could break it down into the original two bulls.
Meanwhile, Shredder requests Krang's help in catching the bull, and Krang gives him a giant nose ring and a control device that will make the bull follow orders. However, because Krang (correctly) suspects that Shredder intends to double-cross him, he keeps a more powerful control device for himself. While Donatello sets up the atom smasher at the local university, the other Turtles predictably find that the bull is in a China shop, wrecking the place. Shredder returns to the surface, scaring the bull out of the shop, and the three turtles lure it to the university.
However, Shredder follows and has his own lure - a mountain of salt, which the bull stops to lick, and when it does so Rocksteady jumps out of the salt and inserts the control device into the bull's nose. Before Shredder can fully take control of the bull, April's van crashes into the salt truck and sends the control device flying into Bebop's hands. Bebop tries to control the bull himself, but only succeeds in steering it right into the building containing the atom smasher, which Michaelangelo activates, reducing the mutant bull into four ordinary bulls (two copies each of the original two bulls).
Shredder returns to the Technodrome cursing his luck once again, and Michaelangelo uses his knowledge of cowboy movies to steer the bulls safely out of the lab. At the end, April O' Neil gets cow-licked which messes up her hair and makes the Turtles laugh.
See also[]
Notes and errors[]
- Greg Berg voices Donatello and Bebop instead of Barry Gordon.
- This episode was placed in between "Mister Ogg Goes to Town" and "Bye, Bye, Fly" during UK airings.
- While the color of mutagen would not solidify for another season, this episode was an early take on the "green color" ultimately used with the combination of a yellow and blue chemical into a combined green color.
- When the mutant bull was created, two bulls combined, but when it is separated at the end, one bull and three cows are seen.
- After Donatello and Raphael bring the bull towards a red tarp, Michelangelo is seen with Leonardo's colours.
Home media releases[]
VHS[]
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Super Rocksteady and Mighty Bebop
DVD[]
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Volume 4
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Season 3
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Complete Classic Series Collection