01PLOT

April and Vernon are doing a story on "the garbage dump of the future," with automated robot garbage trucks. They also interview the main computer that runs the place, DUMP 1000, who has to rescue Vernon from being squashed. Watching the show, the Turtles realize that the lair is becoming disgusting, and decide to clean up.

They are unaware that Bebop and Rocksteady are trailing them, and manage to infiltrate the main control room. Shredder's latest plan: use the automated system to capture the Turtles instead of garbage. Shredder uses one of Krang's devices to override DUMP 1000, and enslave the computer to his will.

The garbage trucks immediately start seizing tortoises, snapping turtles, sea turtles, and all other shelled reptiles they can find. Shredder is enraged by the fact that it isn't bringing him the Turtles he wants, but Krang figures that the computer will capture them eventually.

April tips the Turtles off about what's happening, and as they set out to find out what's happening, they're chased by one of the automated trucks.

When an endangered sea turtle is abducted in front of her, April ends up trapped by Shredder. Outside, Donatello hopes to patch into the computer via the phone lines, but ends up trapped inside a phone booth and carried off into his enemies' hands. The other Turtles are having their own issues getting inside, forcing them to don disguises and sneak in.

Just when DUMP 1000 has captured the other three Turtles, the sea turtle frees April and Donatello, who remove the override device from the computer. The newly-freed computer disposes of Shredder, Bebop and Rocksteady, and declares that it will return the other turtles.

The endangered sea turtle is released on the beach so that she can lay her eggs.

02CAST & APPEARANCES

Renae Jacobs

Barry Gordon

Barry Gordon

Rob Paulsen

Cam Clarke

Townsend Coleman

Rob Paulsen

Cam Clarke

James Avery

Peter Renaday

ALSO APPEARING

Gallopolis TurtlelopolisKrang · Pat FraleyProfessor · Peter RenadayVernon Fenwick · Peter Renaday

03OBJECTS, VEHICLES & PLACES

OBJECTS & VEHICLESBōComlinkGrappling hooksKatanaKrang's Android BodyNunchakuRobot Recycling TruckSaiTekkō-kagiTransport ModuleTurtle Control OverriderTurtle VanTurtlecomWalking stick

LOCATIONSNew York CityCity beachGarbage Recycling CentreTurtle LairTechnodrome

SPECIESHumansMutant ratMutant rhinocerosMutant turtlesMutant warthogTurtles

04SCREEN GRABS

9 frames. Screencaps via Turtlepedia (CC BY-SA).

05NOTES & GOOFS

The metal hands that grabbed the three Turtles were shown as grey metal but were seen as the normal white gloved hands when DUMP 1000 released them.
When Bebop and Rocksteady help Shredder get the turtle off his foot, the floor gains turtles within the same shot.
After Leonardo accidentally cuts Raphael's and Michelangelo's climbing ropes, they both hover in the air for a while, like Looney Tunes characters.
When the Turtle Van exits the lair, Donatello can be seen in the front passenger seat, but in the next shot, Michaelangelo is sitting there!
When Bebop and Rocksteady tied April up to a chair upon her and the sea turtle's capture, she was tied down to the chair around her arms and torso with her hands tied behind her back. Then the rest of the episode after that, her torso and arms are no longer tied up and only her hands are tied behind her back on the chair until the Galapagos Tortoise bites the ropes off her wrists to free her near the end.

06TRIVIA

Donatello breaks the fourth wall when he says, "Remember the theme song?" and he later breaks the fourth wall when he says, "Who writes that guy's dialogue?" when he was referring to Shredder. Shortly after, April thinks outloud, "and he complains about Shredder's corny dialogue?"
Raphael breaks the fourth wall when the turtles are unable to rescue Donatello. He turns to the audience and says "yeah, but what a cliffhanger!"
Michelangelo breaks the fourth wall when he asks "Isn't this music excellent?" when he was talking to the audience.
This cartoon is a pun on the famous line from Samuel Taylor Coleridge's poem _Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner_: "Water, water every were/And not a drop to drink."
DUMP 1000 works similar to Max from the 1986 film _Flight of the Navigator_ as a sentient AI with a huge eye-like protrusion it uses to communicate with others.
Raphael makes a reference to Superman, "You're too late Donatello, another superhero already owns the patents on telephone booths".

07HOME MEDIA

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles vs. the Turtle TerminatorTeenage Mutant Hero Turtles: April FoolTeenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Volume 4Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Season 3Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Complete Classic Series Collection