| “Shredderville” | |||||||
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| Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1987) episode | |||||||
 Title screen | |||||||
| Season Code: | 03 | ||||||
| Episode: | 43 | ||||||
| Original airdate | November 22, 1989 | ||||||
| Written by | Francis Moss | ||||||
| Producers: | |||||||
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"Shredderville" is an episode of the 1987 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cartoon series.
Appearing in Shredderville[]
Major characters[]
- Leonardo (Cam Clarke)
- Donatello (Barry Gordon)
- Raphael (Rob Paulsen)
- Michelangelo (Townsend Coleman)
- Splinter (Peter Renaday)
- April O'Neil (Renae Jacobs)
- Burne Thompson (Pat Fraley)
- Vernon Fenwick (Peter Renaday)
- Zach (Rob Paulsen)
- Irma (Jennifer Darling)
- Shredder (Dorian Harewood)
- Krang (Pat Fraley)
- Rocksteady (Cam Clarke)
- Bebop (Barry Gordon)
Minor characters[]
- Angry mob member (Cam Clarke)
- Rock Soldiers
- Traag (Peter Renaday)
- First Rock Soldier (Peter Renaday)
- Second Rock Soldier (Rob Paulsen)
- Third Rock Soldier (Peter Renaday)
- Dave (Townsend Coleman)
- Robot Receptionist (Renae Jacobs)
Species[]
- Human
- Mutant rat
- Mutant rhinoceros
- Mutant turtle
- Mutant warthog
- Rock soldier
Objects and vehicles[]
Locations[]
- Turtle Lair
- City Sewers (Turtles' dream)
- Dave's Disguises (Turtles' dream)
- Channel 6 (Turtles' dream)
- Technodrome (Turtles' dream)
- City Park (Turtles' dream)
Plot[]
The Shredder gets away once again, and the Turtles are depressed by the damage done during their battle with him. Donatello darkly suggests that the world might have been better if they hadn't been mutated, since Shredder causes so much destruction trying to get rid of the Turtles. Splinter warns them to be careful what they wish for.
Later that night, the Turtles find themselves in unfamiliar sewers rather than their bedrooms, and set out to find the lair. When they go up into the streets, they find that the buildings and cars are decaying, and the sky is thick with pollution. Even worse, a loudspeaker declares that all mutants are to be hunted down as enemies. This is reinforced when they try to buy disguises, and are shunned by the shopkeeper - and are shocked to see that he has money with Shredder's picture on it. New York City has been renamed "Shredderville."
They head to Channel 6, only to find the building ruined, and April and Irma are wearing harem girl outfits. Even worse, April has no idea who they are. Worst of all, Bebop and Rocksteady - still human - are lurking there, but the Turtles dispose of them quickly.
A horrified Donatello realizes that they got their wish - this is some kind of alternate world where the Turtles never lived. As a result, Shredder was able to conquer New York, and presumably the entire world.
Rocksteady and Bebop return and begin shooting, and as the Turtles descend the outside wall, they spot the Technodrome sitting in the midst of the city and getting closer to exploding. Donatello posits that Krang is responsible for them being in this alternate world, but when they get closer, they find that the Technodrome is a wreck. They rescue a child from a Rock Soldier, and discover that it's none other than Zach. Grateful for their help, he provides them with disguises as repairmen, allowing them to bluff their way inside.
They confront Krang - who is powerless and has no robot body - and accuse him of being responsible for the city being a mess, only for him to respond that it's Shredder's fault. Donatello also spots that the power generators on the Technodrome are on the verge of overheating, since Shredder is diverting all the coolant to his headquarters at Channel 6.
After escaping the Technodrome, the Turtles head back to Channel 6 and try to convince April and Irma that the real enemy is Shredder. While Donatello explains this, Raphael and Leonardo are waylaid into "audience duty", which involves watching Vernon narrate the "I Love Shredder" show. Leonardo's anger bests himself and accidentally exposes himself as a mutant, causing a panic. The two are then cornered by two Rock Soldiers as well as a very hostile Vernon and Burne.
Donatello and Michelangelo arrive to back up their brothers, and they receive some unexpected help from April and Irma. After leaving briefly to let things cool down, they spot that the Technodrome is on the verge of exploding, and Krang has finally abandoned it.
As they rush back to Channel 6 with April and Irma to escort them to Shredder's office to confront him before its too late, they have another tiff with Bebop & Rocksteady and their weapons start deteriorating like everything else in that world. But thankfully part of the ceiling fell on top of Bebop and Rocksteady so the Turtles and the girls can get away. They finally reach the doors of Shredder's office but the doors were made of solid bronze and a foot thick to get them opened until Michelangelo put his shoulders by the doors and they fell easily since everything is falling apart anyway and they make way inside. Inside, Shredder's office was pitch dark and he Turtles, April and Irma can hear his amplified voice warning until Leonardo found a light switch and they find Shredder to be overwhelmed by the problems of serving as administrator for the entire world, especially since "everything is broken". When he hears that he doesn't rule in the Turtles' world, he begs them to take him back with them.
Just then, the side of the building blows off and Shredder flees. The Technodrome is just about to explode. The floors collapse under the Turtles, leaving them hanging by their fingertips. As they strain to climb up again, seemingly about to fall. April and Irma hang on to them trying not to fall. They suddenly wake up to find Splinter there. To their surprise, they realize that not only was Shredderville a dream, but it was one they all four shared. They think twice before they wished they did not exist.
See also[]
Quotes[]
Rocksteady: Lemme guess. You guys are da tooth fairies right? |
Notes and errors[]
- The Technodrome in the Turtles' dream varies in size throughout the episode, sometimes it's as shown as its standard size and others it's only as big as an office block.
- When the Turtles confront Shredder in his office, Donatello is seen with his Bō staff on his belt in a couple of shots, even though the Turtles weapons fell apart in the fight with Bebop and Rocksteady beforehand.
- The first shot of Dave shows him without his mustache.
- Michelangelo is seen at the end of the episode with no nunchakus on his belt even though it was his grappling hook that had broken instead,
- When General Traag and the Rock Soldiers pursue the Turtles outside the Technodrome, they are seen in the doorway with pink spray paint on them even before Zach had even applied it.
- Raphael remarks to Bebop and Rocksteady that they had already sent them to the cleaners (in reference to the Turtles tossing them into the Channel 6 basement) but they had already encountered the two afterwards before they escaped the building.
- Bebop and Rocksteady's stun laser pistols are drawn over-sized during their first fight with the Turtles.
- The sky looks polluted during the day, but clear and starry at night.
- When Raphael and Leonardo are fighting Rock Soldiers on the stage, Leonardo has his katanas drawn, but after the commercial break, he draws them again.
- Bebop's boots were colored grey instead of black when he and Rocksteady lay on the floor after the ceiling fell on top of them.
- Donatello walks over to find a light switch while searching for Shredder in the dark but when the lights come on it's shown as Leonardo flipping the switch.
- The ties on Raphael and Michelangelo's belts were missing after Leonardo turned on the lights in Shredder's office.
- The Rock Soldiers appear to serve both Krang and Shredder, despite the pair of them severing their ties to each other.
- Shredder's skin tone flashes from dark to light when he runs away during the Channel 6 building's collapse.
- When Raphael opens the door to April's office, there is a crudely drawn picture of a face sticking out its tongue, but the drawing disappears when Michelangelo leaves the room to investigate the disturbance outside.
Trivia[]
- This episode is one of the few times during this series Shredder is pictured outside his battle armor. He wears only the helmet and face mask from his combat armor, and is clad in a business suit.
- In the Turtles' dream, the human Bebop and Rocksteady are as dumb as their mutant selves, complete with dumb voices (sans Bebop), but back in Season 1 they appear fairly competent with Rocksteady's voice originally in a lower meaner tone, whether or not this is a production error or because of how the characters were later established is not mentioned, also their gang is not seen or mentioned in the dream, meaning that Shredder could possibly have promoted Bebop and Rocksteady to be his chief bodyguards and fired the other gang members as they were no longer of any use to him.
- Dorian Harewood voices Shredder in this episode.
- This is the second episode where Shredder is shown as a baby, at least in one scene.
- Obviously, the plot of the episode is a parody of the classic film It's a Wonderful Life, where both the film and this episode have shown what the world would be like without their main characters. Not only that, but when the Turtles were about to confront Shredder in his office; for example when the Turtles, April and Irma entered Shredder's office in the dark with the characters eyes shown, they overhear Shredder's scary voice saying "What fools dare disturb the all-powerful Shredder!" and then telling Leonardo (or Donatello) not to touch that light switch before the lights came on and they see a miserable Shredder by his desk. Some of the plot was taken from the parody of another classic film, The Wizard of Oz, event though the plot in this episode was different from that in the film.
- When Donatello is trying on a hat at Dave's Disguises, he asks how it fits using an Australian accent and slang, like an imitation of Crocodile Dundee. Raphael then removes his hat and changes for a mouse ears saying that it suits him better; that accessory looks just like Mickey Mouse ears, especially the Mickey ears sold at Disneyland and other official Disney stores.
- After the Turtles enter where April's office should be in the Channel 6 building, Michelangelo exclaims that the decor looks like something out of the movie Arabian Nights.
- When Rocksteady first sees the Turtles, he thinks they are the four Tooth Fairies. Bebop tries to correct him by saying that they are the Seven Dwarfs.
- The title of the fictional show I Love Shredder could be a reference to the classic series I Love Lucy.
- Leonardo's outburst midway through I Love Shredder, saying "I'm mad as heck and I'm not gonna take it anymore!", is a reference to an iconic scene of the character Howard Beale in the movie Network, played by actor Peter Finch.[1]
Home media releases[]
VHS[]
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles vs. the Fly
DVD[]
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Volume 6
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Season 3
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Complete Classic Series Collection