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The Transformers(TV series)

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This article is about the originalTransformersanimated series. For information on others, seeList ofTransformersanimated series.

The Transformers
Genre
Created by
Based onTransformers
by Hasbro and Takara
Developed byDick Robbins(seasons 1–2)
Bryce Malek(seasons 1–2)
Flint Dille(seasons 3–4)
Marv Wolfman(seasons 3–4)
Steve Gerber(seasons 3–4)
Creative directorJay Bacal
Voices of
Narrated byVictor Caroli
Composers
Country of origin
  • United States
  • Japan(seasons 1–2)
Original languageEnglish
No.of seasons4
No.of episodes98[1](list of episodes)
Production
Executive producers
Producers
  • Gwen Wetzler(seasons 1–2)
  • John Walker(seasons 1–2)
  • George Singer(seasons 2–4)
  • Gerald Moeller(season 3–4)
  • Roger Slifer(season 3)
Running time23–24 minutes
Production companies
Original release
NetworkFirst-run syndication[2]
ReleaseSeptember 17, 1984(1984-09-17)–
November 11, 1987(1987-11-11)
Related
Japanese-exclusive seasons
  1. Transformers: The Headmasters
  2. Transformers: Super-God Masterforce
  3. Transformers: Victory
Manga
Written byMasumi Kaneda
Illustrated byBan Magami
Published byKodansha(Japan)
Viz Media(United States)
MagazineTV Magazine
Original runMay 1985–July 1987
Volumes3

The Transformersis an animated television series that originally aired from September 17, 1984, to November 11, 1987, insyndication based uponHasbroandTakara'sTransformerstoy line.The firsttelevision seriesin theTransformersfranchise, it depicts a war amonggiant robotsthat can transform into vehicles and other objects.[3]The series was produced byMarvel ProductionsandSunbow Productionsin association with Japanese studioToei Animation[4]forfirst-run syndication.Toei co-produced the show as the main animation studio for its first two seasons, having been tasked with creating and finalizing animation models, designing transformation schemes, storyboarding some episodes, and general direction. In the third season, Toei's involvement with the production team was reduced and the animation services were shared with the South Korean studioAKOM.The show's supervising producer (Nelson Shin) was also AKOM's founder.[5]The fourth season was entirely animated by AKOM. The series was supplemented by a feature film,The Transformers: The Movie(1986), taking place between the second and third seasons. This series is also popularly known as "Generation One", a term originally coined by fans in response to the re-branding of the franchise asTransformers: Generation 2in 1992, which eventually made its way into official use.[6][7]The series was later shown in reruns onSci-Fi ChannelandThe Hub / Discovery Family.

Production background

[edit]

The Transformers toyline and animated series were inspired by the Japanese toyline,Microman(an Eastern descendant of the 12-inchG.I. Joeaction figure series) byTakara.[8]In 1980, theMicromanspin-off,Diaclone,was released, featuring inch-tall humanoid figures able to sit in the drivers' seats of scale model vehicles, which could transform into humanoid robot bodies the drivers piloted. Later still, in 1983, aMicromansub-line,MicroChangewas introduced, featuring "actual size" items that transformed into robots, such as microcassettes, guns and toy cars.DiacloneandMicroChangetoys were subsequently discovered at the 1983 Tokyo Toy Fair by Hasbro toy company product developer Henry Orenstein, who presented the concept to Hasbro's head of R&D, George Dunsay. Enthusiastic about the product, it was decided to release toys from bothDiacloneandMicroChangeas one toyline for their markets, although there were eventual changes to the color schemes from the original toys to match the new series.[9]By 1984, U.S. regulators had removed many of the restrictions regarding the placement of promotional content within children's television programming. The way was cleared for the new product-based television program. Hasbro had previously worked withMarvel Comicsto developG.I. Joe: A Real American Herofor a three-pronged marketing scheme – the toyline, a tie-in comic book by Marvel, and an animated mini-series co-produced by Marvel's media arm,Marvel Productions,and theGriffin-Bacal AdvertisingAgency'sSunbow Productionsproduction house. Given the success of that strategy, the process was repeated in 1984 when Hasbro marketing vice president Bob Prupis approached Marvel to develop their new robot series, which Jay Bacal dubbed "Transformers."[3]Marvel's Editor-in-Chief at the time,Jim Shooter,produced a rough story concept for the series, creating the idea of the two warring factions of alien robots – the heroicAutobotsand the evilDecepticons.[10]To flesh out his concept, Shooter called upon veteran editorDennis O'Neilto create character names and profiles for the cast, but O'Neill's work did not meet with Hasbro's expectations, and they requested heavy revisions. O'Neill declined to make said revisions, and the project was turned down by several writers and editors approached by Shooter until editorBob Budianskyaccepted the task. Hastily performing the revisions over a weekend, Budiansky's new names and profiles were a hit with Hasbro, and production began on a bi-monthly four-issue comic book miniseries, and three-part television pilot. Both comic and cartoon would wind up continuing for years beyond these short-term beginnings, using Budiansky's original development work as a springboard to tell the story of the Transformers in very different ways from one another, forming two separate, unrelated continuities for the brand out of the gate. Japanese designer Shōhei Kohara was responsible for creating the earliest character models for the Transformers cast, greatly humanising the toy designs to create more approachable robot characters for the comic and cartoon. His designs were subsequently simplified byFloro Dery,who went on to become the lead designer for the series, creating many more concepts and designs in the future.

Plot

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This series focuses on the Transformers, split into two warring factions: the heroicAutobotsand the evilDecepticonsas they crash land onEarthand continue their eons long conflict there.

Characters

[edit]
Main article:List of The Transformers characters

Broadcast history

[edit]
Main article:List of The Transformers episodes
SeasonEpisodesOriginally aired
First airedLast aired
116September 17, 1984(1984-09-17)December 29, 1984(1984-12-29)
249September 23, 1985(1985-09-23)January 9, 1986(1986-01-09)
Feature filmAugust 8, 1986(1986-08-08)
330September 15, 1986(1986-09-15)February 25, 1987(1987-02-25)
43November 9, 1987(1987-11-09)November 11, 1987(1987-11-11)

Pilot miniseries

[edit]

The three-part pilotminiseries(retroactively titled "More than Meets the Eye" ) first aired in the United States in September 1984. The story followsOptimus Prime's heroicAutobotsandMegatron's evilDecepticonsas they leave their metallic homeworld of Cybertron to search for new sources of energy to revitalize their war efforts, only to crash-land onEarth,where they remain entombed and offline for 4 million years.[11]Awakening in the year of 1984, the Decepticons set about pillaging the energy sources of Earth, while the Autobots—aided by human father and son duo Sparkplug and Spike Witwicky—attempt to protect the new world on which they find themselves. The miniseries concludes with the Decepticons believed dead after their space cruiser is sent plunging into the ocean depths, while the Autobots prepare to return to Cybertron.[12]

Season 1

[edit]

The 13-episode first season, commissioned and produced before the pilot miniseries aired, was broadcast between October and December on Saturday mornings.[citation needed]Story-edited at Marvel Productions by Bryce Malek and Dick Robbins, the season begins with the revelation that the Decepticons have survived the events of the pilot and follows them as they set about constructing a "space bridge" to teleport resources back to Cybertron. A loose story arc centered on this technology spans the season, culminating in "The Ultimate Doom",[13]a three-part episode in which the Decepticons teleport Cybertron itself into Earth's orbit. The paraplegic computer expert Chip Chase joins Spike and Sparkplug as a new human ally for the Autobots. The season also introduced several new characters from the upcoming 1985 product line in advance of their toys' release includingSkyfire,the Dinobots, theInsecticons,and the first "combiner" team, theConstructicons,who are able to merge into a giant robot, Devastator, whose introduction was set alongside a climactic one-on-one duel between Optimus Prime and Megatron that served as a part of the season finale.[14]

Season 2

[edit]

Forty-nine further episodes were commissioned for the show's second season in 1985, bringing the total up to the "magic number" of 65 required to move the series into weekdaybroadcast syndication.Compared to the first season, Season 2's stories are more episodic, with many of them able to air in whatever order networks chose. Episodes would often spotlight individual characters or groups of characters as a means of promoting their toys and later in the season, the lore of the series would be expanded on as the history of Cybertron and origin of Optimus Prime were discovered and significant cartoon-original characters likeAlpha Trionand the first female Transformer characters were introduced. A new recurring human cast member was also added in the form of Spike's girlfriend Carly. Partway into the season, the remainder of the 1985 product line was introduced, mostly through the two-part episode "Dinobot Island." These new characters, like the first year cast, were largely derived from Takara'sDiacloneandMicro Changelines, including new Autobot car and mini-vehicles and Decepticon jets and the giant Autobot sentinelOmega Supremeand Decepticon "Triple-Changers"Astrotrainand Blitzwing. To expand the line, however, Hasbro also licensed several toys from other companies, including Takara's Japanese competitor, Bandai. Legal complications that arose from incorporating the first of these, Skyfire, into the first season resulted in the character quickly being phased out early in Season 2 and meant that none of the other Bandai-derived characters featured in the series. Toward the end of the season, the first 1986 product was introduced into the series: theAerialbots,Stunticons,ProtectobotsandCombaticons,four combiner teams based on an unmadeDiacloneline that was aborted in Japan in favor of importing the Transformers toy line itself. To promote these new toys even further in Japanese markets, a single Japanese-exclusive episode,Transformers: Scramble City,was released direct-to-video in spring of 1986.

The Movie

[edit]

The gap between seasons two and three was bridged byThe Transformers: The Movie,which was released to theaters in the summer of 1986. Set 20 years after the second season, in the year 2005, the film featured the deaths of many characters, including Optimus Prime himself, clearing away all the discontinued products from the 1984 and 1985 toy lines and introducing a new cast of the characters designed for the film, who were then made into toys for the 1986 range. Young AutobotHot Rodused the power of the Autobot talisman known as theMatrix of Leadershipto become the new Autobot leaderRodimus Primeand defeated the world-eating robot planetUnicronwho recreates Megatron intoGalvatronwhile Skywarp, Thundercracker, Shrapnel, Kickback, and Bombshell are reformed as Cyclonus, Scourge and the Sweeps.

Season 3

[edit]

Season 3 picks up where the movie leaves off, with the Autobots now in control of Cybertron once more, working to restore their homeworld and serving as peacemakers for worlds all across the galaxy. The Decepticons, meanwhile, are in exile on the ruined world of Chaar, led now byGalvatron.Interconnected episodes, running plot threads and small story arcs became more common in the series, including the return ofStarscream(following his death in the movie) as a ghost, frequent battles between the giant Autobot and Decepticon cities ofMetroplexandTrypticonand the threat to both sides posed by the alienQuintessons,introduced in the movie and revealed in the season's premiere miniseries "Five Faces of Darkness" to be the true creators of the Transformers. This season also saw the debut of three new combiners: the Predacons, the Terrorcons, and the Technobots. This season saw story-editing duties transfer from Marvel Productions to Sunbow, overseen byFlint Dille,Marv WolfmanandSteve Gerber.Animation for around half the season was provided by producerNelson Shin's animation studio AKOM, creating a different "look" for the show that encompassed its opening sequence and commercial bumpers. The death of Optimus Prime proved a controversial move and did not sit well with the viewing audience, resulting in a letter-writing campaign that ultimately compelled Hasbro to resurrect the Autobot leader in a two-part season finale called "The Return of Optimus Prime",which aired in March 1987. Optimus Prime was revived with help from a Quintesson during the threat of the Hate Plague.

Season 4

[edit]

The fourth season, consisting of a three-part finale miniseries named "The Rebirth", was broadcast in November 1987. Written by regular series writerDavid Wise,the Autobots and Decepticons encounter the alien world of Nebulos, where they bond with the native Nebulans to becomeHeadmastersandTargetmasters.The Nebulons led by the evil Lord Zarak were able to transform the animal Decepticons with Scourge and Cyclonus into Headmasters while some of their weapons were transformed into Targetmasters. While Lord Zarak was able to become the Headmaster to his creation Scorponok, Spike Witwicky was able to operate the Headmaster unit so that he can control Fortress Maximus to fight Scorponok. The miniseries concludes with the successful restoration of Cybertron, but the Decepticon threat not yet quashed as Galvatron and Lord Zarak argue over who will rule the galaxy upon their victory over the Autobots.

Later developments

[edit]

The Transformersdid not disappear from American airwaves, as a fifth season aired in 1988.[15]It consisted of reruns of 15 episodes from the original series, along withThe Transformers: The Movieedited into five episodes. This season featured a new title sequence using footage from previous episodes, the movie, and toy commercials as well as all new framing scenes featuring a human boy named Tommy Kennedy (portrayed by actor Jason Jansen) and a stop-motion/machine prop Optimus Prime puppet (operated bySesame StreetveteranMartin P. Robinson).[16]From 1993 to 1995, select episodes of the series were rebroadcast under the titleTransformers: Generation 2.The stories were presented as though they were historical recordings displayed by the "Cybernet Space Cube", which added computer-generated borders and scene-transitions to the original animation. The story was later continued in Transformers: Generation 2: Redux, a Botcon magazine that is set 22 years after the events of the final episode where the first generation of the Autobots led by Optimus Prime pursue Galvatron and Zarak into deep space and a new generation of Autobots and Decepticons are introduced.

Supplemental sequences

[edit]

Each of the first three seasons of the series featured its own tailored opening sequence, featuring completely original animation and a unique arrangement of the theme tune. Additionally, the third-season premiere "Five Faces of Darkness" had its own specialized opening, depicting events that occurred in the mini-series. The fourth season, however, did not feature any new animation in its opening sequence, instead combining footage from the third season opening and various clips of animation from 1987 toy commercials; likewise, the fifth season featured commercial animation mixed in with footage fromThe Transformers: The Movie.Both used the season three musical arrangement. The series featured a distinctive scene transition that saw the Autobot and Decepticon symbols "flipping" from one to the other, accompanied by a distinctive five-note refrain. This transition technique became a hallmark of the series, and was used throughout the entire four-year run. Commercial breaks were segued into and out of usingcommercial bumpersfeaturing briefeyecatch-styled original animation with a voice over by series narrator Victor Caroli. A set of five proposedpublic service announcementswere created to be tagged onto the end of episodes from the second season of the series, re-using the scripts from similar PSAs created for sister seriesG.I. Joe: A Real American Hero,complete with the catchphrase "...and knowing is half the battle!" These were never actually aired on television, but eventually appeared as bonus features on various DVDs and video games. For the third season, episodes were tagged with "The Secret Files of Teletraan II", a series of short featurettes that used clips from the show and new narration from Caroli to provide histories for the Autobots, the Decepticons, the Quintessons, and other subjects.

Japanese release

[edit]
See also:List of The Transformers episodes § Japanese seasons

In Japan, the first two seasons of the show were collectively released asFight! Super Robot Life-Form Transformers(Chiến え! Siêu ロボット sinh mệnh thể トランスフォーマー,Tatakae! Chō Robotto Seimeitai Toransufōmā),then rebranded asTransformers 2010(トランスフォーマー2010,Toransufōmā Tsūōwanō)for Season 3, with all seasons aired onNippon TV.Between seasons 2 and 3 a Japanese exclusive OVA was released in place of the movie entitled;Transformers: Scramble City,released in 1986, it showcases the four special teams (Aerialbots, Protectobots, Stunticons and Combaticons) as well as the two transforming cities of Metroplex and Trypticon. Following the conclusion of the third season, the Japanese opted not to import "The Rebirth", but instead created a series of new animated shows to continue the story, beginning withTransformers: The Headmastersin 1987, and continuing intoTransformers: Super-God Masterforcein 1988,Transformers: Victoryin 1989, and the single-episodedirect-to-videoOVATransformers: Zonein 1990.[17]Supplementarymangawritten by Masami Kaneda and illustrated by Ban Magami ran alongside each series inKodansha's TV Magazine.

VHS, Betamax, and DVD releases

[edit]

Region 1

[edit]

Seasons 1–4 were released on DVD in theU.S.byRhino Entertainment Company/Kid Rhino Entertainment (under itsRhinomationclassic animation entertainment brand) (a subsidiary ofAOL Time Warner) (a division ofWarner Music Group) between April 23, 2002, and March 9, 2004.[18]Due to missing 35mm film stock, some sections of the Rhino Entertainment release use earlier incomplete animation, often introducing errors, such as mis-colored Decepticon jets, Skyfire colored like Skywarp, missing laser blasts, or a confusing sequence where Megatron, equipped with Skywarp's teleportation power, teleports but does not actually disappear. This version also added extra sound effects that were presented in the remixed 5.1 surround soundtrack and later remixed 2.0 stereo soundtrack, but not present in the original broadcast version. In 2005, Rhino lost the rights to distributeTransformerson DVD. The license was subsequently acquired bySony Wonder(a division ofSony BMG). Sony Wonder announced in October 2006 that they would re-release the first season of the series in 2007, with the other seasons presumably following.[19]In June 2007, Sony BMG dissolved Sony Wonder and moved the label toSony Pictures Home Entertainment,without releasing any DVD sets.[20]In May 2008,Hasbrore-acquired the rights to theSunbowlibrary of shows, includingTransformers.[21]In March 2009,Shout! Factoryannounced that they had acquired the license from Hasbro to releaseTransformerson DVD in Region 1 withVivendi Entertainment.They subsequently releasedThe Complete First Seasonon June 16, 2009.Season Two Volume Onewas released on September 15, 2009.Season Two Volume Twowas released on January 12, 2010.[22]Seasons Three and Fourwere released together in one set on April 20, 2010.[23]These releases corrected most of the newly introduced Rhino animation errors, but this was necessarily accomplished by using lower quality sources taken from the original broadcast master tapes. Rhino's added sound effects were discarded in favor of a sound mix more faithful to the original mono audio. On October 20, 2009, Shout! Factory released the complete series in a box set for the first time in Region 1. This set, dubbedTransformers: The Complete Series - The Matrix of Leadership Collector's Set,features all 98 remastered episodes along with all new bonus features.[24]

DVD name Ep. # Release date
The Complete First Season: 25th Anniversary Edition 16 June 16, 2009
Season Two Volume One: 25th Anniversary Edition 28 September 15, 2009
Season Two Volume Two: 25th Anniversary Edition 21 January 12, 2010[22]
Seasons Three and Four: 25th Anniversary Edition 33 April 20, 2010[23]
Transformers: The Complete Series - The Matrix of Leadership Collector's Set 98 October 20, 2009

References

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  1. ^Pirrello, Phil (July 22, 2009)."Transformers: The Complete Series DVD Review".IGN.IGN Entertainment.RetrievedFebruary 23,2013.
  2. ^Schine, Cathleen (October 30, 1988)."From Lassie to Pee-Wee".The New York Times Magazine.RetrievedFebruary 23,2013.
  3. ^abJanson, Tim (June 18, 2009)."DVD Review: Transformers The Complete First Season 25th Anniversary".Mania.Archived fromthe originalon June 20, 2009.RetrievedFebruary 23,2013.
  4. ^"Đông ánh アニメーション [ オールディーズ ]".January 6, 2003. Archived fromthe originalon January 6, 2003.RetrievedNovember 17,2017.
  5. ^"Akom Production Co. OEM Works".Akomkorea.Archived fromthe originalon September 30, 2020.RetrievedMarch 5,2020.
  6. ^Donohoo, Timothy (April 1, 2022)."Transformers: Beast Wars Was Initially More Aligned With Generation 1".CBR.
  7. ^Meenan, Devin (December 2, 2022)."Everything You Need To Know About Beast Wars To Be Ready For Transformers: Rise Of The Beasts"./Film.
  8. ^Miller III, Randy (June 16, 2009)."Transformers: The Complete First Season (25th Anniversary Edition)".DVDtalk.RetrievedFebruary 23,2013.
  9. ^Cheang, Michael (November 9, 2004)."A brief history of the Transformers".The Star (Malaysia).RetrievedFebruary 23,2013.
  10. ^Phillips, Daniel (March 13, 2008)."Rogue's Gallery: Megatron".IGN.RetrievedFebruary 23,2013.
  11. ^Transformers, More than meets the eye all three episodes,retrievedOctober 16,2021
  12. ^IGN TV (June 27, 2011)."The History of Transformers on TV".IGN.RetrievedFebruary 23,2013.
  13. ^Transformers episodes The Ultimate Doom all three episodes,retrievedOctober 16,2021
  14. ^Pirrello, Phil (June 11, 2009)."Transformers – The Complete First Season (25th Anniversary Edition) Review".IGN.RetrievedFebruary 23,2013.
  15. ^"Contains footage from the fifth season of Transformers (featuring the stop-motion animated Powermaster Optimus Prime)".YouTube.Archived fromthe originalon December 5, 2015.RetrievedOctober 1,2014.
  16. ^"Contains behind the scenes footage from filming of the Season 5 segments featuring both Jansen and Robinson".Vimeo.Archived fromthe originalon April 10, 2023.RetrievedApril 9,2023.
  17. ^Johnson, Derek (March 22, 2013).Media Franchising: Creative License and Collaboration in the Culture Industries.NYU Press.ISBN9780814743898.RetrievedNovember 17,2017– via Google Books.
  18. ^Conrad, Jeremy (April 25, 2002)."Transformers Season 1".IGN.RetrievedFebruary 23,2013.
  19. ^Seibertron (October 20, 2006)."Transformers G1 Season 1 to be Released by Sony BMG in 2007".Seibertron.RetrievedFebruary 23,2013.[better source needed]
  20. ^Ault, Susanne (June 21, 2007)."Sony Wonder moves under Sony Pictures Home Entertainment".Video Business.Internet Archive. Archived fromthe originalon November 22, 2007.RetrievedFebruary 23,2013.
  21. ^Lambert, David (May 14, 2008)."Transformers – Hasbro Pays US$7 Million to Reacquire Distro Rights to Transformers, G.I. Joe & Others!".TV Shows On DVD.Archived fromthe originalon December 28, 2013.RetrievedFebruary 23,2013.
  22. ^ab"Transformers DVD news: Release Date for Transformers – 25th Anniversary Edition: Season 2, Volume 2".TVShowsOnDVD.May 25, 2007. Archived fromthe originalon February 26, 2012.RetrievedMarch 4,2012.
  23. ^ab"Transformers DVD news: Transformers – 25th Anniversary Edition: Seasons 3 & 4 Coming in April".TVShowsOnDVD.Archived fromthe originalon February 26, 2012.RetrievedMarch 4,2012.
  24. ^"Transformers DVD news: General Retail Release Dates Announced".TVShowsOnDVD.Archived fromthe originalon February 26, 2012.RetrievedMarch 4,2012.
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