Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles "Nightmares Recycled" (lost production materials of unfinished episode of animated series; mid-late 2000s)
Concept art of an older version of the twins.
Status: Lost
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (also known as TMNT 2K3) is an American animated series that aired on Fox's "Fox Box" programming block (later renamed 4Kids TV) from 2003 to 2009. It was the second animated television show based on the Mirage comic book series of the same name and is known for its much darker tone, including the infamous banned episode "Insane in the Membrane". But there is another episode, titled "Nightmares Recycled", that was considered so dark that it was never completed.[1]
Production
The basic plot of the episode involves Raphael, Donatello, Casey Jones, and April O'Neil encountering the Garbageman (a minor villain who appeared in only two other episodes). They are taken to the Garbageman's Recycle World and later encounter Hun... who isn't thrilled to reveal that he and the Garbageman were once conjoined twins. According to the script, Hun eventually hired a shady back-alley surgeon to separate them, after which he threw Garbageman - the smaller, much weaker twin - into a dumpster, quite literally discarding him as 'garbage'. When Garbageman's battle with the heroes ends in him being drowned in a vat of acid, Hun likewise calmly watches it happen and later allows the Turtles & co. to escape the Foot Clan as a reward for helping him rid himself of his twin once and for all. [2]
Animation of the episode had begun by the time the plug was pulled. 4Kids considered the subject matter much too intense for a children's program. TMNT franchise co-creator Peter Laird later also criticized the script on his blog, in particular Hun's utterly callous rejection of his brother, and offered a more sympathetic scenario (the post is now inaccessible, although his suggested changes to the script have been summarized elsewhere). An attempt to rewrite the script in line with Laird's suggestions ultimately failed, and the episode was scrapped for good.
Availability
While plot summaries and some preliminary production materials are available, none of the multiple drafts of the episode script have ever been released.[3] It is possible some preliminary animation may have survived, but this must be considered unlikely, given the complete rejection of the plot by both the show's producers and the TMNT's creators alike.