The Short Version
Today I’m walking you through the whole story of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the novel of the nineteen ninety movie, by B. B. Hiller. There are full spoilers, including the ending.
The short version: four turtle brothers save a reporter, lose their master to a ninja gang, fall apart, pull themselves back together, and come home to fight the Shredder.
April In Trouble
New York is in the middle of a crime wave. April O’Neil, a reporter for Channel Three, is attacked by thieves in a parking lot. Something in the dark fights them off, and leaves a strange three pronged dagger behind.
It’s a sai, and it belongs to Raphael. He and his brothers have been secretly fighting crime, and he’s furious with himself for losing it.
Splinter’s Story
Back in the sewer, their master Splinter reminds them to stay hidden. Splinter is a giant rat, who was once the pet of a ninja master named Yoshi, and learned ninja by copying his moves.
Years ago, a canister of glowing ooze smashed a jar of baby turtles on a New York street. Splinter took them home, and the ooze made all five of them grow and get smarter. He named them from a Renaissance art book: Leonardo, Michelangelo, Donatello and Raphael.
Casey Jones
Raphael storms off to see a movie. On the way home, he runs into Casey Jones, a vigilante in a hockey mask with a golf bag full of bats and sticks.
Casey is beating up two purse snatchers, and Raphael thinks he’s going too far. They fight, and Casey calls him crazy and dangerous. Splinter warns Raphael that his anger is his real enemy.
The Foot
April tells the city about the Foot, a secret ninja clan behind the crime wave. The police chief brushes her off, and her boss, Charles Pennington, is worried, mostly about his troubled son, Danny.
The Foot’s leader, the Shredder, sees her report. His men attack April in the subway, but Raphael gets his sai back, saves her, and carries her down to the sewer.
Splinter Is Taken
April wakes up surrounded by turtles and a talking rat, and screams. Once she calms down, they become friends over leftover pizza.
But the Foot followed Raphael home. When the Turtles get back, their den is wrecked and Splinter is gone.
Danny Joins The Foot
Danny has run away and joined the Foot, which recruits angry teenagers in a Brooklyn warehouse full of pool tables and stolen goods.
When Shredder tells his followers to find the turtles, Danny remembers a strange turtle lamp in April’s apartment, and raises his hand.
The Fire
After a fight with Leonardo, Raphael storms off to a rooftop, and the Foot ambush him. They throw his body through April’s skylight and flood the apartment.
Casey Jones arrives to help, but they’re hopelessly outnumbered. They escape through a secret tunnel, while April’s apartment and her father’s antique shop burn. On the answering machine, Charles fires her.
The Farm
They hide at April’s family farm, upstate. Raphael barely survives, Leonardo won’t leave his side, Michelangelo trains alone, and Donatello trades insults with Casey.
Then Michelangelo shouts Splinter’s name into the night, and Leonardo, meditating, senses that Splinter is alive.
Family
Around a campfire, the four brothers concentrate together, and Splinter appears in the flames. He tells them the final lesson: real mastery comes from the mind, and the force that binds them is love. His last word is family.
They train as one. Even April and Casey stop bickering. When they’re ready, Leonardo says it’s time to go back.
Danny Decides
Back in the sewer, they find Danny hiding there. That night he sneaks back to the warehouse, and Casey follows him.
Danny visits Splinter, who tells him the truth: Shredder is Oroku Saki, the man who murdered Master Yoshi. Danny takes off his Foot headband for good.
The Battle
Shredder finds April’s sketch of the Turtles in Danny’s pocket, leads the Foot to the sewer, and orders Splinter killed. Casey and Danny free Splinter instead, and Casey knocks out Shredder’s second in command, Tatsu, with a golf club.
In the sewer, the Turtles win easily. On the rooftop, Shredder beats them all, and holds Leonardo down for the kill.
Without Honor
Then Splinter appears, and calls him by his real name, Saki. Shredder charges, and Splinter’s nunchucks pull him off the roof.
Splinter tells him that when he dies, it will be without honor. Shredder lands in a garbage truck, and the jaws close.
The Ending
The police round up the Foot. Danny pays April back the money he stole from her wallet and hugs his dad. Charles begs April to come back, as the highest paid reporter in the city.
On the roof, Splinter tells his sons what he’s always liked: cowabunga. In a final chapter, April pitches her turtle sketches to a comic book publisher, who calls the idea too farfetched, while the Turtles laugh outside his window.
Your Turn
Which part of the story is your favorite? Tell me in the comments. My review and the book versus movie comparison are linked below.
