| “Combat Land” | |||||||
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| Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1987) episode episode | |||||||
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| Season Code: | 7 | ||||||
| Episode: | 13 | ||||||
| Original airdate | December 11, 1993 | ||||||
| Written by | David Wise | ||||||
| Producers: | – | ||||||
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Combat Land is a season 7 episode of the 1987-1996 series.
Synopsis
The Turtles are returning home with videos and pizzas for the weekend when they see "a bunch of nerds" firing a ray device in the sewers. They're easily beaten by the Turtles, but as they depart, advertisements for "Combat Land" fall through a grate. It promises that they can test their combat skills against the "greatest robot warriors in history and beyond."
April O'Neil is covering the opening of the theme park just ahead of its grand opening. But Horatio Stressbar is concerned that the park may not open in time, since they haven't been tested by someone with actual combat skills. April immediately thinks of the Turtles.
Leonardo berates his brothers for slacking off too much, especially since they've been faced with strange people in the sewers three times already. April calls them with an offer to be the first guests in Combat Land, which irritates Leonardo as they had rejected actual practice in favor of having fun.
The Turtles reluctantly relinquish their weapons when they get there, and split up to go to different "zones": a still-irritated Leonardo to the Shogun Zone, Michelangelo to the Medieval Zone, and Raphael and Donatello to the Future Zone. Irma, who has a hunch that something crooked is going on, begins snooping around the park. Soon her suspicions are confirmed when two of the robots attack Vernon with real weapons.
Before long the robots suddenly capture Michelangelo, and the creepy scientist Denton Nulcet scans his body for robotic duplication. It also turns out that the destructive nerds from the episode's beginning are working for Stressbar and Nulcet.
The other Turtles are concerned by Michelangelo's absence, and even more concerned when a robot kidnaps Irma in front of them. All the robots are armed with real weapons now, and the Turtles have been disarmed, forcing them to fight with poles and stolen items. After they escape, they notice a number of the robots heading for the city.
Leonardo manages to infiltrate the underground infrastructure of the amusement park, and finds the Michelangelo robot, who promptly abducts him. Meanwhile, April departs to find more information on Stressbar, while Raphael and Donatello fight the runaway robots and discover they are all carrying bombs. Even worse, they're heading into the sewer system.
Stressbar reveals that his motivation is to keep the Turtles out of the sewers forever, so he can destroy them and be offered a lucrative contract for rebuilding them.
Donatello manages to send the explosive robots back where they came from, but they still have to find their friends. Meanwhile, Irma's video recordings come in handy with the voice-activated doors, allowing Leonardo, Michelangelo, Irma and Vernon to escape.
Donatello and Raphael immediately run into the Michelangelo and Leonardo robots, who are fortunately stopped by their real counterparts. Leonardo begins destroying equipment as the robots attack Donatello and Raphael, and fortunately he manages to shut them down before anyone is hurt. They flee the amusement park, which blows up immediately afterwards when the explosive robots return.
In the lair, Leonardo apologizes for pressuring them to practice, and the others argue that they have been goofing off too much. Eventually all four decide to watch a "Radzilla" movie and goof off.
Characters
- Leonardo (Cam Clarke)
- Donatello (Barry Gordon)
- Michelangelo (Townsend Coleman)
- Raphael (Rob Paulsen)
- April O'Neil (Renae Jacobs)
- Horatio Stressbar (???)
- Denton Nulcet (Rob Paulsen)
- Cyber Warrior Robots
- Vernon Fenwick (Peter Renaday)
- Irma Langinstein (Jennifer Darling)
- Black Knight Robot (Barry Gordon)
- Shogun Robot (Pat Fraley)
- Medieval Knight Robots
- Michelangelo Robot
- Leonardo Robot
- Samurai Warrior Robots
- Stressbar's Nerd (Cam Clarke)
Locations
- Turtles' Lair
- Sewer System
- Combat Land
- April's office
Vehicles
Home media releases
VHS
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Starchild
DVD
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Season 7
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Complete Classic Series Collection
Notes
Errors
- When the turtles discover the scientists at the start of the episode, the video tapes and pizzas they're carrying disappear.
- When Leonardo attacks the Japanese warrior robot with his staff, he grunts in Raphael's voice.
- In various parts of the episode, the Turtles are seen with their weapons on their belts even though they're confiscated from them when they first enter Combat Land.
- When Leonardo bumps into the Shogun robot in the underground shaft, he has Raphael's colors.
- Michelangelo and Raphael peer into Irma's camera when she shows them the footage of Stressbar's henchman, despite the fact that only Mike and Leo are in the room.
- Leonardo's katana looks like a safety katana when he uses it to destroy the robot's control unit.
- Michelangelo carries a katana in the Medieval Zone despite Medieval warriors carrying broadswords in that time period. He also appears to be using a naginata rather than a European spear.
- When Donatello, Raphael, Irma, and Vernon are cornered by the robots at the end, Raphael turns into Leonardo.
- The inside of Michelangelo's mouth is colored green after the Black Knight robot breaks his safety sword.
Trivia
- The concept of Combat Land is somewhat similar to the premise of the movie Westworld, which also has three disparate areas for patrons to immerse themselves in, robot attendants, and mayhem when those robots attack the patrons.