This line is the first half of a commonly quoted joke from The Simpsons. It appears in the sixth season episode Bart's Girlfriend
(2F04), in which Bart becomes enamoured with Jessica
Lovejoy, the local reverend's daughter. He tries to clean up his act
in order to impress her, but it turns out she's just as much (if not
more) of a ne'er-do-well as he is.
In one scene, Jessica teases
Bart by holding his hand and then pulling the fire alarm with it. As
students and teachers rush into the hallway in order to evacuate the
building, Groundskeeper Willie also rushes out exclaiming "If I
don't save the wee turtles, who will?"
He breaks down the door of a classroom and enters, but rushes out seconds later, turtles attached to every part of his body.
"Ack! Save me from the wee turtles!"
The
joke is a classic example of Simpsons-type humour: it begins as
something that's reasonably funny in its own right, and once the viewer
thinks the joke is over it expands into something funnier. It also
gives us a glimpse into the character of Groundskeeper Willie,
because he's more concerned about the school's pet turtles when
children are potentially in danger.
The joke is often referenced
in popular culture, even inspiring the name of a rock band called
the Wee Turtles. A quick Google search using the quote suggests
that it is not quite among the most popular quotes from the series; it
yields 104 results ("I call him Gamblor!" brings up 4,880, "My cat's
breath smells like cat food" yields almost 22,000), which is still
reasonably respectable. And besides, there aren't many occasions for
people to use a line about wee turtles outside of the Simpsons context.
It's just funny.
BrevityQuest07
References:
http://www.answers.com/topic/the-wee-turtles
http://www.google.ca/search?q=%22if+i+don%27t+save+the+wee+turtles,+who+will%3F%22&hl=en&start=0&sa=N
http://www.lardlad.com