| “Michelangelo, the Sacred Turtle” | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1987) episode | |||||||
| Season Code: | 5 | ||||||
| Episode: | 20 | ||||||
| Original airdate | November 16, 1991 | ||||||
| Written by | Dennis O'Flaherty | ||||||
| Producers: | |||||||
| |||||||
Michelangelo, the Sacred Turtle is a season 5 episode of the 1987-1996 series.
Plot
Donatello, Leonardo and Raphael are going to the planetarium to see O'Malley's Comet, which only appears once every hundred years. Michelangelo is more interested in a mummy movie marathon, so he stays behind.
Then April asks him if he wants to see a real mummy, since they're opening the supposedly-cursed sarcophagus of the pharaoh known as Amun Turt-El. When they arrive at the museum, they immediately run into Egyptologist Sir Percival Pifflecoot and his massive manservant Casbah. Sir Percival warns them of the wrath of the mummy, but Professor Tut dismisses such an idea.
When Tut opens the sarcophagus (whose face looks a lot like a turtle's), he reveals the mummy and a giant ruby known as the Turtle's Eye. Just then, the lights go out and a ghostly figure appears, declaring that they are all cursed now. Also, the ruby is now missing, and April has vanished.
Michelangelo calls the other Turtles in a panic, but all they can hear is "mummy... tomb... stolen ruby," and they assume he's just agitated by a movie. Meanwhile, Casbah is escaping from the museum with April, who is wrapped up in a large rug. They head into a replica of a sphinx, where Pifflecoot hides a large number of Egyptian relics while dressed as a pharaoh. Pifflecoot reveals that the Turtle's Eye is not actually a ruby, but a ray magnifier. When the comet is in the right place, it can activate the ruby and bestow amazing power on Pifflecoot.
Michelangelo finds himself cornered by three strange sword-wielding men who accuse him of stealing the Turtle's Eye. But when he doffs his disguise, they immediately grovel before him, believing he is Amun Turt-El. They want to return the Turtle's Eye to the Valley of the Kings, and Michelangelo agrees that he will help them find the gem if they help him find April.
Back at the lair, the other Turtles are worried about Michelangelo's absence, since he hasn't finished his pizza or movies. They tune in to Channel 6 and learn of April's disappearance, as well as Michelangelo's presence there. After investigating the sarcophagus, the errors on it cause them to suspect Pifflecoot of some kind of wrongdoing.
The devotees of Amun Turt-El are busy pampering Michelangelo, but they also reveal that using the gem may cause the comet to crash into the Earth. He decides to go investigate Pifflecoot as well, but at the sphinx, he and his followers are dropped into the "crushing room," whose walls close in on them. Michelangelo uses his grappling hook to get them all out alive, just as the comet's light shines on the Turtle's Eye.
The other Turtles arrive as Pifflecoot's pyramid rises from the ground, and a ray of energy shoots out and stops the comet. As they try to find a way in, they fall into the same passage that Michelangelo and his followers were just climbing out of, knocking everyone back down into the crushing room. They manage to break through the walls, and split into two teams: Donatello and Leonardo will go get Donatello's equipment from the lair, while Raphael, Michelangelo and the Turt-El devotees will take on Pifflecoot's followers. Michelangelo reveals himself in his "Sacred Turt-El" garb, which causes Pifflecoot's followers to worship him.
Meanwhile, Donatello successfully redirects the comet, sending it back on its way. That evening, Michelangelo introduces his followers to pizza, but his brothers have gotten annoyed with him and bind him up in mummy bandages.
Characters
- Leonardo (Cam Clarke)
- Donatello (Barry Gordon)
- Raphael (Rob Paulsen)
- Michelangelo (Townsend Coleman)
- April O'Neil (Renae Jacobs)
- Percival Pifflecoot (Rob Paulsen)
- Casbah
- Professor Tut(Cam Clarke )
- Head Turt-El follower (Tony Pope)
Locations
- Turtles' Lair
- Vinnie's Pizzeria
- Pifflecoot's sphinx
- Natural History Museum
- City Planetarium
Vehicles
Home media releases
DVD
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Season 5
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Complete Classic Series Collection
Notes
Errors
- The letter on Michelangelo's belt disappears for a split-second when he grabs his disguise from the lair.
- Raphael's belt letter is reversed when the Egyptian warriors bow down in front of Michelangelo.
- When Michelangelo goes to the museum with April he is wearing a sailor disguise, but after the commercial break where he gets surrounded by Egyptian warriors, his disguise becomes a trench coat and a fedora.