Leonardo carrying April O'Neil, "Planet of the Turtles" Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TMNT) animation cel

We May have said "goodbye" to April, so far as calendars are concerned, but that doesn't mean it's the last we'll see of April O'Neil animation cels!

From the fourth season Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Fred Wolf Films) episode "Planet of the Turtles," this scene features Leonardo nobly carrying an unconscious April O'Neil who, along with her news crew, had mysteriously fallen asleep soon after surviving a somewhat nonchalant helicopter crash (because cartoons). Leonardo and the Turtles carried the sleeping humans through the city streets in broad daylight (primarily because all the humans have fallen asleep but, still, because cartoons) into the safe confines of the Channel Six News building. After leaving Vernon and the other crewman behind, the Turtles decide to take April back into the sewers.

In this case, the the supplied background is dramatically different than the episode context, making it look like Leo is rescuing April inside the Technodrome's transdimensional portal room. These cels were sold framed in mats and protective plastic sleeves at various toy and department stores throughout the early 1990s under the "Animation Art" label. This cel was scanned without the plastic seal, providing a clear image of the art. Also attached are some screencaps from the VUDU digital copy, showing comparable frames captured around the 7 minute, 55-57 second marks. This particular cel is hard to match precisely to the final episode frames because the animation camera pans quickly to the left as the characters move slowly towards the right of the shot; its possible this cel never made it cleaning into focus because of the added twist of the entire sequence playing out on a monitor rim, as Krang and Shredder watch the events unfold in the city.