A bungled attempt at a demonstration of a size ray by Donatello's idol, Professor Willard, ends up causing the professor's pet ape Jocko to grow to giant size, while also causing New York City to become overgrown with trees. The Turtles are forced to take on the now-huge Jocko in order to both bring him down to size and rescue April.
Tropes:
- Added Alliterative Appeal: Profesor Willard's full name is Willard W. Willard.
- Artistic License – Biology: Professor Willard's size ray doesn't just cause Jocko to grow huge, it also causes him to change species from a chimpanzee to a gorilla. Though this may be a Shout-Out to the King Kong knock-off Konga, where the same thing happened to that film's titular monster.
- Attack of the 50-Foot Whatever: Both Jocko the chimp and later Donatello, thanks to the effects of the size ray.
- Be Careful What You Wish For: During Jocko's rampage, Donatello sarcastically suggests that they need another giant monster to take him on. Professor Willard decides that this is a good idea, and uses the size ray to turn Donatello himself into one.
- Danger Takes a Backseat: Shredder sneaks into the Channel 6 van as April and Vernon try to get the scoop on Jocko. He's unable to do anything before Jocko picks up the van and renders all three occupants as his captives.
- Lazy Artist: Despite Donatello making a quip about how much they must have spent on the episode's animation, this is widely considered to be one of the worst-animated episodes in the show's run, if not the absolute worst. Just to name a couple of the most notorious examples, several background shots of the overgrown city are incomplete or just outright missing, and Jocko at one point picks up Michaelangelo, leaving behind another Michaelangelo still clinging to his leg.
- My Car Hates Me: Vernon thinks this as Jocko takes the Channel 6 van captive.Vernon: Well don't stop now!April: (repeatedly stepping on the gas) I didn't stop!
- No Ontological Inertia: When Jocko gets zapped by the size ray, the effects take some time to set in, during which the Turtles conveniently leave. By contrast, a tree getting zapped causes New York City to instantly turn into an overgrown jungle, and Donatello also instantly grows to giant size when Willard uses it on him.
- Shout-Out: Many to King Kong (1933), most notably Jocko falling in love with April and kidnapping her.
