Captain Underpants and the Attack of the Talking Toilets

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Captain Underpants and the Attack of the Talking Toilets
Captain Underpants Talking Toilets.jpg
Third edition cover
Author Dav Pilkey
Illustrator Dav Pilkey
Country United States
Language English
Series Captain Underpants series
Genre Children's novel, Humor
Publisher Blue Sky (US),
Scholastic (US)
Publication date
December 31, 1998
Media type Print (Paperback, Hardcover)
ISBN 0-590-63427-5
Preceded by The Adventures of Captain Underpants

Captain Underpants and the Attack of the Talking Toilets is an American children's book (taking the form of a novel) by Dav Pilkey, and the second book in the Captain Underpants book series.

Plot summary[edit]

Jerome Horowitz Elementary School is going to hold its second annual Invention Convention. George and Harold are eager to enter, because the winners of the Invention Convention get to be Principals for the Day. Unfortunately, their principal, Mr. Krupp, wants to avoid a fiasco like last year's, in which George and Harold used their invention, a homemade body-activated superglue, to glue everyone to their seats, and bans George and Harold from the Invention Convention, forcing them to stay in study hall all day. In retaliation, they decide to secretly sabotage everyone's inventions.

While sneaking in to sabotage the inventions that evening, they run into Melvin Sneedly, the school brainiac and tattletale, who is working late on his invention, the PATSY 2000, (an acronym of Photo-Atomic Trans-Somgobulating Yectofantriplutoniczanziptomiser), which is a photocopier that turns 1 and 2-dimensional objects into breathing, 3-dimensional objects. To demonstrate, he puts in a photo of a mouse and out comes a real mouse. George and Harold assume Melvin put the real mouse in earlier, and he's just trying to fool them. They promise not to sabotage Melvin's invention as long as he doesn't report them for what they are doing.

Thanks to George and Harold, the Invention Convention is a bigger disaster than the previous one (with reflecting the first book where a series of pranks automatically happening)and the convention is called off. Melvin Sneedly breaks his promise and tattles on George and Harold. Infuriated, Mr. Krupp puts George and Harold in detention for the rest of the school year, with the threat that they'll be suspended if they leave the detention room once for any reason. George and Harold get assigned writing lines on the chalkboards in the detention room every day for 2 hours after school. With each boy using a quick line-writing device (a series of joined poles with pieces of chalk in them) they are able to write all their lines in 3 ½ minutes. With their free time, the boys decide to write a comic called "Captain Underpants and the Attack of the Talking Toilets" in which Captain Underpants defeats zillions of vicious talking toilets and their leader, the Turbo Toilet 2000.

George and Harold sneak out to make copies of their new comic; however, the copy machine in the office is surrounded by teachers. They decide to copy off of Melvin's photocopy machine, still thinking it's a normal photocopier, but Melvin's machine really does turn 1-and-2-dimensional objects into living 3-dimensional objects, so the evil, vicious talking toilets come to life and attack everyone in the school. George and Harold are also caught outside the detention room by Mr. Krupp and are both suspended. Before George and Harold can leave, Mr. Meaner, the gym teacher opens the door to the gym to throw a party and is promptly eaten by one of the toilets. Ms. Ribble then snaps her fingers at a toilet, making Mr. Krupp turn into Captain Underpants, who comes up with a plan to stop the Talking Toilets. George and Harold chase after him as Captain Underpants takes several pairs of underwear from unsuspecting clotheslines.

Once back at the school, the trio find out that the Talking Toilets have eaten every teacher in the school. George, Harold and Captain Underpants use the underwear as a sling shot to shoot food in the Talking Toilets' mouths. Since it is disgusting cafeteria food (A.K.A. creamed chipped beef), the Talking Toilets vomit all the teachers out and die. Soon after, the Turbo Toilet 2000 bursts out of the school (he was turned to life like all the other Talking Toilets, but, as stated by George, was previously unseen). Despite Captain Underpants's efforts, the Turbo Toilet 2000 defeats him easily and swallows him whole. George and Harold sneak into the school and use Melvin Sneedly's machine to make a super-powered robot called the Incredible Robo-Plunger, who does whatever they say (it is unknown how this is accomplished when using the Patsy 2000).

The Incredible Robo-Plunger defeats the Turbo Toilet 2000 and gives the final blow by plunging into the Turbo Toilet 2000's mouth, killing him, giving the boys a chance to save Captain Underpants (who is now turned back to Mr. Krupp, thanks to the water inside the Turbo Toilet 2000). Noticing the damage in the school caused by the toilets, Mr. Krupp fears that he will be responsible for the damages and lose his job. Fortunately, at the boys' command, the Robo-Plunger repairs all the school damage, and flies off to Uranus with the command never to return. In return for the boys fixing the school, Mr. Krupp cancels their detention and suspension and officially places them as "Principals for the Day". As the Principals, they hold an all-day carnival and put the teachers (and Melvin Sneedly for his tattling) in detention. At the end of the day, George and Harold visit the detention room. After Mr. Krupp questions how the carnival will be paid for, they reveal they sold Mr. Krupp's antique furniture, as well as all the furniture in the teacher's lounge. Mr. Krupp is furious, and the boys run out of the room. Miss Anthrope snaps her fingers after them, causing Mr. Krupp to become Captain Underpants again, much to the boys' dismay.

Comic: Captain Underpants and the Attack of the Talking Toilets[edit]

The comic in the book starts with another normal day at school (the cafeteria is serving toasted rat sandwiches for lunch, the Principal is mean, and the Gym Teacher is acting all mean and crazy) until a UFO appears and shoots the school with a ray. This ray causes the toilets to come to life and start eating everyone in the school (including, to nobody's dismay, the Gym Teacher). Captain Underpants appears and places plungers in the toilets' mouths so they cannot eat anymore. The Turbo Toilet 2000 (T.T.2000) appears and a fight begins. Captain Underpants wins by giving the T.T.2000 a wedgie and placing it on a stop sign. The T.T.2000 is aimed and fired at the UFO, causing both to explode. Everything goes back to normal as the comic ends (to everyone's dismay, even the Gym Teacher returns).


Characters who first appear in this book are:

  • Miss Anthrope: The school secretary
  • Melvin Sneedly: The school genius and tattletale.
  • The Talking Toilets