01PLOT

Open with the Turtles and April O'Neil as they enter a natural history museum that currently features a large dinosaur exhibit (the Turtles are in full disguise). Raphael and Michelangelo are not happy about it, while Donatello is very optimistic and excited about it. The museum is nearly empty as it is about to close in twenty minutes but Leonardo still has to make sure that he and his brothers still keep a low profile regardless. However a low profile is not that easy as Don begins to sneeze due to him catching a cold recently. Anyway, they still manage not to be seen. As the group looks around, they are suddenly startled by the bones of a Tyrannosaurus rex that spring to life! But as soon as the skeletal monster takes one step, its bones collapse into a pile. Suddenly, the fossils float into the air and encircle the Turtles and April as a sinister laugh fills the air. The other people in the museum flee in terror while the bones pieces themselves together into a new formation, the image of Savanti Romero's face!

As the bones come together, Savanti Romero’s voice is heard. The evil sorcerer states that he will erase the Turtles' timeline if they don't stop him. Romero announces that he will be waiting in the "Ring of Fire". Raph attacks the floating skull and the bones collapse into a pile on the floor. Don notes that it seemed more like a recorded message than a visitation and wonders how Savanti could have known that they would be here at this time. On cue, Renet appears with the Time Scepter. The Time Mistress informs her friends that her final exam with Lord Simultaneous is solving the current chrono-crisis at hand - she has to stop Savanti Romero from messing up the timeline to pass her test. The absent-minded Timestress asks the ninjas for their help. The Turtles agree to help Renet, fearing that she may mess things up if left to her own devices. As Renet prepares to teleport the party to the Cretaceous period, April announces that she wants to go home. Renet cheerfully agrees to send her there, but inadvertently ships her to the Turtles' lair, where a bemused Master Splinter announces that he'd be better off if he didn't know what was going on. Renet and the Turtles then travel through time and arrive with a flash in the Cretaceous period.

Don informs the group that they must ensure that they don’t leave anything behind, as it could affect their entire future. After they take off their disguises and bundle them up into backpacks, the Turtles and Renet set off. Don once again sneezes and apparently sets off an epic stampede of dinosaurs - that's heading directly towards our heroes!

As the group dodges the stampeding dinosaurs, Renet tries to use the Time Scepter to teleport them out of danger, but the rod is glowing red and won't work! Raph and Mike hop on the backs of some running dinosaurs and make their way to safety atop a large boulder. Leo leaps to the rock and Don grabs Renet and carries her to safety. As the stampede clears, the Turtles are angry with Renet for getting them into this mess with out having the ability to get them out of it . Renet is bewildered and saddened by the Scepter's behavior. A large triceratops begins sniffing around the top of the boulder - it smells some chips that Michelangelo has brought along for the trip. Mikey feeds his new friend and names him Zog. The Triceratops begins to sniff the air and we see red glowing eyes in the bush. A group of Deinonychus emerge from the overgrowth and charge the boulder!

The Turtles fend off the group Deinonychus. Don tries to protect Renet and is pinned to the ground by one of the savage carnivores - just as it looks like the Brains of the Bunch is done for. However, he sneezes into the beast's face and it runs away. Who knew that having the sniffles actually have a purpose, although it’s a little embarrassing too. Then, Don get up and attacks the dinosaur, but is easily tossed aside. The creature then focuses its attention on Renet and leaps towards her. Zog intervenes and stands protectively in front of Renet and Don. The Deinonychus' eyes stop glowing red and it comes to its own senses - seeing the angry Triceratops, it flees into the jungle.

Our heroes regroup, but Leonardo is uneasy. Earth-rattling footsteps shake the ground beneath their feet as a huge form crushes trees in a path towards the Turtles. A gigantic theropod emerges from the brush. Riding on back of the behemoth is none other than Savanti Romero, who looks down at the TMNT and promises to make them extinct!

02CAST & APPEARANCES

Donatello

Sam Regal

Leonardo

Michael Sinterniklaas

Wayne Grayson

John Campbell

Liza Jacqueline

David Zen Mansley

ALSO APPEARING

April O'Neil · Veronica TaylorSplinter · Darren DunstanArchelonDinosaursAnkylosaurusApatosaurusDeinonychusStegosaurusTriceratopsPteranodons

03OBJECTS, VEHICLES & PLACES

OBJECTS & VEHICLESAnimal replicasBlue whale replicaSea turtle replicaStegosaurus replicaBōDinosaurs animatronicsFossil skeletonsApatosaurus skeletonArchelon skeletonPteranodon skeletonTriceratops skeletonTyrannosaurus rex skeletonKatanaNew Battle ShellNunchakuSaiTime Scepter

LOCATIONSAmerican Museum of Natural HistoryPrehistoric Earth (Cretaceous Period)Reservoir Station

SPECIESDinosaurHumanMutant ratMutant turtle

04SCREEN GRABS

4 frames. Auto-matched screencaps via Fancaps.net.

05MEMORABLE QUOTES

Renet: (looks at Time Sceptre in amazement) Wow! I like, actually did it! Michelangelo: Should we be worried she sounds so surprised?

06TRIVIA

This episode and the next one is based on Mirage Studios' _Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #7_ originally published August 1989.
Although the dinosaur that Savanti rode in that other story was a Tyrannosaurus rex, the ridden dinosaur by Savanti shown within this episode is a theropod with three fingers on its front legs, when in the real world it is confirmed that T-Rex had only two fingers on the front legs.
Given that the T-Rex skeleton that appears at the beginning of the episode is correctly shown to have only two fingers on the front extremities, it can be assumed that this dinosaur was from another theropod species similar to the T-Rex, such as the Allosaurus, or a simple production error. It is also possible that it was a reference to the fact that in the past several classic multimedia portrayed the T-Rex having three fingers (like the original _King Kong_ movie), even several years after paleontologists found more complete skeletons of T-Rex that revealed that they had only two fingers.
Leo's disguise is similar to the outfit he wore in "The Ancient One" and "Prodigal Son".
This is the first appearance of Donatello's 'cold' that will escalate up to "Adventures In Turtlesitting".