Transformers (G1) - The 1984 animated series

Transformers G1 an American animated series originally aired from September 17, 1984 to November 11, 1987 in syndication based on Hasbro's Transformers toy line.

The first television series of the Transformers series, describes a war between giant robots that can transform into vehicles and other objects.

The series was produced by Marvel Productions and Sunbow Productions in association with Japanese studio Toei Animation for first-run broadcast. Toei co-produced the show and was the main animation studio for the first two seasons.

In Season 6, Toei's involvement with the production team was reduced and animation services were shared with South Korean studio AKOM. [1986] The fourth season was entirely animated by AKOM. The series was complemented by a feature film, The Transformers: The Movie (XNUMX), set between the second and third seasons.

This series is also popularly known as “Generation 1,” a term originally coined by fans in response to the re-branding of the franchise as Transformers: Generation 2 in 1992, which eventually found its way into official use. the series was later shown in reruns on the Sci-Fi Channel and The Hub (now Discovery Family).

Episode history

1 "More Than Meets the Eye: Part 1 / Escape from Cybertron / Much More Than Seems (Part XNUMX)"George Arthur Bloom September 17, 1984 MP4023 1
The constant warfare between the Autobots and the Decepticons on Cybertron has caused great difficulties. They both need supplies and select numbers from each side and intend to get them. The Autobots weren't looking for a confrontation with the Decepticons, but they still get it in space. When the Decepticons board the Autobot ship, it takes a hit and crashes into Primitive Earth and knocks everyone unconscious. Four million years later, in 1984, a volcanic eruption causes a probe to give them all the new shapes that come from vehicles in the surrounding area. They are all awakened, leading to renewed conflict and the inclusion of humans.

2 "More Than Meets the Eye: Part 2 / The Ruby Mine / Much More Than Meets (Part XNUMX)"George Arthur Bloom September 18, 1984 MP4024 2
Things keep progressing; with the Decepticons on the move and the Autobots allying Spike and Sparkplug Witwicky. However, two humans may not make a difference. The long dormancy has simply delayed the ambitions of Megatron and the Decepticons, who are proving increasingly adept at making up for lost time. Repeated clashes lead to a bigger one in a Decepticon ruby ​​mine and even greater danger.

3 "More Than Meets the Eye: Part 3 / Megatron / Much More Than It Appears (Part XNUMX)"George Arthur Bloom September 19, 1984 MP4025 3
After the last action, both sides are basically back to square one. The Autobots use Ravage and some holograms in an attempt to lure the Decepticons into final defeat. Ravage escapes by informing Megatron that he proves even more devious in undertaking Optimus' ploy and keeping them distracted from interfering in his plans. Even worse, the Decepticons have finished plundering the Earth. With a ship ready and Cybertron in grave danger, an all-out battle looms between the Autobots and the Decepticons.

4 "Transport to Oblivion / The space bridge / Passage to oblivion”Dick Robbins and Bryce Malek October 6, 1984 700-01 4
Returning to Cybertron with energy is the Decepticons' top priority. The new space bridge could do so, but it has problems like the possibility of being fatal to anyone who tries to cross it. Finding where the Decepticons are hiding, Bumblebee and Spike find out what they're doing only they don't have a chance to warn Optimus. The Decepticons, on the other hand, have unpleasant plans for them. A trip to the space bridge awaits Spike, while a small reprogramming on Bumblebee threatens to see the Decepticons finally destroy the other Autobots.

5 "Roll for It / A New Friend / Marching for Victory"Douglas Booth October 13, 1984 700-02 5
With Megatron given up for dead, Starscream takes power and does things his way. Of course, only the Autobots benefit from his "command" style. This also gives Bumblebee and Spike time to relax with Chip Chase. They end up getting involved in a scientist's new antimatter experiments. Megatron is back and again in command of the Decepticons. It turns out he has big plans for antimatter, which means big problems for everyone, especially Chip.

6 "Divide and Conquer / A spare for Commander / Divide and conquer"Donald F. Glut 20 October 1984 700-03 6
The Autobots prevent the Decepticons from damaging a weapons factory, but at great cost: Optimus himself. His life is in danger, but Wheeljack knows exactly how to save him before it's too late. Problem is, the required part is back on Cybertron in his old lab. Bumblebee, Trailbreaker, Ironhide, Bluestreak and Chip Chase set out to rescue Optimus. With no Optimus Prime in charge, the Autobots remain vulnerable as Megatron devises a plan to destroy the team on Cybertron.

7 "Fire in the Sky / In the ice / Flames in the skies"Donald F. Glut 27 October 1984 700-05 8
A little extra muscle in the Autobot ranks would certainly be welcome. Coincidentally, nearby dinosaur fossils provide the necessary means. Soon enough, Wheeljack unveils Grimlock, Slag, and Sludge. Their low intelligence and great strength create an awkward combination. Optimus sees this as a mistake in turning off the Dinobots before they can harm themselves or anyone else. However, a sudden and devastating Decepticon attack with Megatron using a new and powerful weapon prompts them to reconsider this policy.

8 "SOS Dinobots / The birth of the Dinorobots / SOS Dinobots”Story by: Dick Robbins, Bryce Malek, Douglas Booth and Larry Strauss
Teleplay by: Larry Strauss November 3, 1984 700-08 11
Sparkplug is left behind when all the Autobots believe they have a serious problem with the Decepticons in Maharaja. In truth, the Decepticons put one on them to leave their base vulnerable and kidnap Sparkplug. Dr. Arkeville enslaves Sparkplug for Megatron with a hypno-chip as a device test. It works and soon more humans will follow. Megatron has a dangerous new scheme in the works and includes a new space bridge. As for Sparkplug, it is decided that it can serve Megatron better when he is among the Autobots, ultimately making him vulnerable to a new attack.

9 "Fire on the Mountain / The Secret of the Incas / Fire on the Mountain”Story by: Dick Robbins, Bryce Malek, Douglas Booth and Earl Kress
Teleplay by: Earl Kress November 10, 1984 700-09 12
Cybertron's nearby presence has sent Earth and everyone out into chaos. The Autobots and Dinobots are busy trying to protect the innocent and themselves from any possible natural disaster.

Undoing what Megatron did is a top priority, but so is saving Sparkplug. He is currently a prisoner of the Decepticons on Cybertron and the Autobots have no plans to hang him up to dry. Spike and a team of Autobots are dispatched, but Sparkplug is still wearing a hypnotic chip, which means more danger than expected. Meanwhile, the land-based Autobots try to stop Megatron.

10 "War of the Dinobots / The Meteorite / The War of the Dinobots”Story by: Dick Robbins, Bryce Malek, Douglas Booth and Leo D. Paur
Screenplay by: Leo D. Paur November 17, 1984 700–10 13
Cybertron is proving very unwelcome to Spike and the Autobot team. However, the only possibility to disable the ipno-chips can be found there. Wheeljack immediately gets to work in his laboratory. Sparkplug will be free soon, but many others are not that lucky at the moment. Meanwhile, Megatron has almost succeeded and is preparing the final stages of his energy plan. The site is an island and huge tidal waves threaten the human slaves there. Optimus leads his remaining team into battle to stop Megatron once and for all.

11 "The Ultimate Doom: Part 1 / The Mad Scientist / Final Destiny (Part XNUMX)"Donald F. Glut November 24, 1984 700-07 10
Of course, the Dinobots give the Autobots an advantage over the Decepticons in battle. Of course, Megatron wants that advantage to be his instead. It's not very difficult to do, so the Autobots soon face the battle fury of Grimlock, Slag and Sludge. The only chance to fix things lies in the construction and success of the new Dinobot Snarl and Swoop set.

12 "The Ultimate Doom: Part 2 / The Earth in Crisis / Final Destiny (Part XNUMX)"Reed Robbins and Peter Salas 1 December 1984 700-11 14
Starscream plans to destroy Earth to gather energy from the destruction and make Cybertron her own. Set a timer in Dr. Arkeville's lab. Doctor Arkeville tries to save Earth, but only the Decepticons can use their computer. Optimus shoots a pebble in the shape of Megatron's gun, returning Starscream to Earth where he is punished by Megatron.

13 "Fire in the Sky / In the ice / Flames in the skies”Dick Robbins, Bryce Malek and Alfred A. Pegal December 8, 1984 700-04 7
Megatron believes the key to a Decepticon victory lies in the North Pole, but suddenly not just through a new energy pattern. The bright, frozen Skyfire awaits, and it turns out it has been there for millions of years. It also turns out that he and Starscream have shared something of a friendship in the past, something he hasn't forgotten. Now, the Autobots take on Skyfire and the results aren't pretty. It appears Megatron's victory is assured, but the key to convincing Skyfire of the truth involves captured Spike and Sparkplug.

14 “Heavy Metal War / The Duel” Donald F. Glut December 15, 1984 700–13 16
The war becomes busier with the sudden introduction of the Constructicons. However, instead of just providing raw numbers, they serve a greater purpose for Megatron. Their constructive ingenuity ultimately gives Megatron every unique skill his team possesses. Obviously, Optimus Prime is his main target and in official fights. Under the terms, the underdog must take his team away from Earth forever. Given Megatron's current power and the Autobots kept in the dark, how can Optimus meet this challenge?

15 "Fire on the Mountain / The Secret of the Incas / Fire on the Mountain"Douglas Booth December 22, 1984 700-06 9
There is a crystal of enormous power out there. Both sides learn of it and the Decepticons reach it first. He can upgrade a weapon destructive enough to take out the Autobots and decide the fate of the Earth once and for all. Only Windcharger, Brawn, and Skyfire are in range to stop them before it's too late.

16 "A Plague of Insecticons / The Insekticons / The Plague of the Insekticons"Douglas Booth December 29, 1984 700-12 15
The Insecticons have arrived on Earth. They certainly give the Autobots and Decepticons a good reason to take note. Insecticons have more in common with the latter than with the former. These collective enemies do not scare the Autobots into submission, but courage is not enough. Faced with such absolute power, the Autobots must rely on their intelligence and all their resources to win.

Production

The Transformers toy line and animated series were inspired by Takara's Japanese Microman toy line (an oriental descendant of the 12-inch GI Joe action figure series). In 1980, Microman's spin-off Diaclone was released featuring one-inch-tall humanoid figures able to sit on driver seats of scale model vehicles, which could transform into driver-piloted humanoid robot bodies.

Still later, in 1983, a Microman sub-line, MicroChange, was introduced with "life-size" objects that transformed into robots, such as microcassettes, guns and toy cars. The Diaclone and MicroChange toys were later discovered at the 1983 Tokyo Toy Fair by Hasbro toy company product developer Henry Orenstein, who introduced the concept to Hasbro's head of research and development, George Dunsay.

Enthusiastic about the product, it was decided to release toys from both Diaclone and MicroChange as a single toy line for their markets, although there have been any changes to the color schemes of the original toys to match the new series.

By 1984, US regulators had removed many of the restrictions relating to the placement of promotional content within children's television programming. The way was paved for the new TV show based on the product.

Hasbro previously worked with Marvel Comics to develop GI Joe: a true American hero for a three-pronged marketing scheme: the toyline, a Marvel-related comic, and an animated miniseries co-produced by Marvel's media arm, Marvel Productions and Griffin. -Bacal Advertising Agency Production company Sunbow Productions.

Given that strategy's success, the process repeated itself in 1984, when Hasbro's vice president of marketing, Bob Prupis, approached Marvel to develop his new robot series, which Jay Bacal dubbed "Transformers."

Marvel's chief editor at the time, Jim Shooter, produced a rough plot concept for the series, creating the idea of ​​the two warring factions of alien robots: the heroic Autobots and the evil Decepticons. To make his concept come true, Shooter asked veteran publisher Dennis O'Neil to create character names and profiles for the cast, but O'Neill's work didn't meet Hasbro's expectations and required heavy revisions.

O'Neill declined to make such revisions, and the project was rejected by several writers and editors contacted by Shooter until publisher Bob Budiansky accepted the assignment. Hurriedly running reviews over a weekend, Budiansky's new names and profiles were a hit with Hasbro, and production began on a four-issue bimonthly comic miniseries and a three-part TV pilot.

Both the comic and the cartoon would continue for years beyond these short-term beginnings, using Budiansky's original development work as a springboard to tell the Transformers story in very different ways, forming two separate continuities. and unrelated to the brand out. of the gate.

Japanese designer Shōhei Kohara was responsible for creating the first character models for the Transformers cast, greatly humanizing the toy designs to create more accessible robot characters for comic and cartoon. His designs were later simplified by Floro Dery, who became the lead designer of the series, creating many more concepts and designs in the future.

Technical data

Gender wick
Anime TV series
Regia Kōzō Morishita (seasons 1 and 2), Nelson Shin (season 3), Hong Jae-ho (season 4)
Film script Douglas Booth, Donald F. Glut, David Wise
Char. design Shōhei Kohara (seasons 1 and 2), Floro Dery (seasons 3 and 4)
Artistic Dir Eiji Suganuma (seasons 1 and 2), Satoshi Urushihara (seasons 1 and 2), Park Chi-man (seasons 3 and 4), Sung Baek-yeop (seasons 3 and 4)
Music Johnny Douglas, Robert J. Walsh
Studio Sunbow Entertainment, Toei Animation (seasons 1 and 2), AKOM (seasons 3 and 4)
1st TV September 17, 1984 - February 25, 1987
Episodes 98 (complete)
Episode duration 22 min
Italian network Euro TV, Odeon TV, Italy 1, Cooltoon, JimJam, Horror Channel
1st Italian TV October 1985
Italian episodes 95/98 97% complete
Italian dubbing studio Fono Roma (first and second dubbing of seasons 1 and 2, first dubbing season 3), Videodelta, Sanver Production (second dubbing season 3 and first dubbing season 4)
Followed by Transformers: The Headmasters

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/