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''The Transformers'' is an American animated television series that originally aired from September 17, 1984, to November 11, 1987, in
syndication Syndication may refer to: * Broadcast syndication, where individual stations buy programs outside the network system * Print syndication, where individual newspapers or magazines license news articles, columns, or comic strips * Web syndication, ...
based upon
Hasbro Hasbro, Inc. (; a syllabic abbreviation of its original name, Hassenfeld Brothers) is an American multinational conglomerate holding company incorporated and headquartered in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. Hasbro owns the trademarks and products of ...
's ''Transformers'' toy line. The first
television series A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite television, satellite, or cable television, cable, excluding breaking news, television adverti ...
in the ''
Transformers ''Transformers'' is a media franchise produced by American toy company Hasbro and Japanese toy company Takara Tomy. It primarily follows the Autobots and the Decepticons, two alien robot factions at war that can transform into other forms, suc ...
'' franchise, it depicts a war among
giant robots In science fiction, or mechs are giant robots or machines controlled by people, typically depicted as humanoid walking vehicles. The term was first used in Japanese (language), Japanese after shortening the English loanword or , but the mean ...
that can transform into vehicles and other objects. The series was produced by
Marvel Productions New World Animation Ltd., formerly known as Marvel Productions, was the television and film studio subsidiary of the Marvel Entertainment Group, based in Hollywood, Los Angeles, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California. It later became a subsidiary of ...
and
Sunbow Productions Sunbow Entertainment (known as Sunbow Productions until 1995) was an American animation studio and distributor, founded on June 23, 1980, and owned until May 4, 1998, by Griffin-Bacal Advertising in New York City and in the United States. Griffin ...
in association with Japanese studio
Toei Animation () is a Japanese animation studio primarily controlled by its namesake Toei Company. It has produced numerous series, including ''Sally the Witch,'' ''GeGeGe no Kitarō,'' ''Mazinger Z'', ''Galaxy Express 999'', ''Cutie Honey'', ''Dr. Slump'', ' ...
for first-run syndication. Toei co-produced the show and was the main animation studio for the first two seasons. In the third season, Toei's involvement with the production team was reduced and the animation services were shared with the South Korean studio
AKOM AKOM Production, Ltd. (Animation KOrea Movie 애이콤 프로덕션) is a South Korean animation studio in Songpa-gu, Seoul that has provided much work since its conception in 1985 by Nelson Shin. Its biggest claim to fame is the overseas animati ...
. The show's supervising producer (
Nelson Shin Shin Neung-kyun (born 1939), also known as Nelson Shin, is an animation director who is the founder and president of Akom Production Co., Ltd., in Seoul, South Korea. He founded Akom in 1985. Career In the 1970s, Shin worked as an animator at th ...
) was also AKOM's founder. 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 as '' Transformers: Generation 2'' in 1992, which eventually made its way into official use. The series was later shown in reruns on
Sci-Fi Channel Syfy (formerly Sci-Fi Channel, later shortened to Sci Fi; stylized as SYFY) is an American basic cable channel owned by the NBCUniversal Television and Streaming division of Comcast's NBCUniversal through NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment. Launc ...
and The Hub / Discovery Family.


Production background

The Transformers toyline and animated series were inspired by the Japanese toyline, ''
Microman was a science fiction toyline created, manufactured and marketed by Takara, Takara Co., Ltd. from 1974 to 1984 as well as from 1998 to 2007. The ''Microman'' line was a series of action figures with accompanying vehicles, robots, playsets and ...
'' (an Eastern descendant of the 12-inch
G.I. Joe ''G.I. Joe'' is an American media franchise and a line of action figures owned and produced by the toy company Hasbro. The initial product offering represented four of the branches of the U.S. armed forces with the Action Soldier ( U.S. Army), Ac ...
action figure series) by
Takara Takara Co., Ltd. (株式会社タカラ) was a Japanese toy company founded in 1955. In March 2006, the company merged with Tomy Co., Ltd. to form Takara Tomy. The Takara motto was 遊びは文化」("playing is culture"). Products Toys In ...
. In 1980, the ''Microman'' spin-off, ''
Diaclone is a toyline by Takara Toys launched in 1980. It consisted of transforming vehicles and robots piloted by miniature, magnet-shoed figures spun off from the prior Microman toy line. The toys in the 1980 line were designed by future ''Macross'' ...
'', 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, a ''Microman'' sub-line, ''MicroChange'' was introduced, featuring "actual size" items that transformed into robots, such as microcassettes, guns and toy cars. ''Diaclone'' and ''MicroChange'' toys 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 both ''Diaclone'' and ''MicroChange'' as one toyline for their markets, although there were eventual changes to the color schemes from the original toys to match the new series. 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 with
Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is an American comic book publishing, publisher and the flagship property of Marvel Entertainment, a divsion of The Walt Disney Company since September 1, 2009. Evolving from Timely Comics in 1939, ''Magazine Management/Atlas Co ...
to develop '' G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero'' for 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 New World Animation Ltd., formerly known as Marvel Productions, was the television and film studio subsidiary of the Marvel Entertainment Group, based in Hollywood, Los Angeles, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California. It later became a subsidiary of ...
, and the
Griffin-Bacal Advertising Griffin-Bacal Advertising was a global advertising agency founded in 1978 by Tom Griffin and Joe Bacal. One of their first clients was Hasbro, which employed their services for coming up with advertising campaigns for several of their toy lines su ...
Agency's
Sunbow Productions Sunbow Entertainment (known as Sunbow Productions until 1995) was an American animation studio and distributor, founded on June 23, 1980, and owned until May 4, 1998, by Griffin-Bacal Advertising in New York City and in the United States. Griffin ...
production 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." Marvel's Editor-in-Chief at the time,
Jim Shooter James Shooter (born September 27, 1951) is an American writer, editor and publisher for various comic books. He started professionally in the medium at the age of 14, and he is most notable for his successful and controversial run as Marvel Comic ...
, produced a rough story concept for the series, creating the idea of the two warring factions of alien robots – the heroic
Autobots The Autobots are the main protagonists in the fictional continuities of the Transformers multimedia franchise, and are depicted in a collection of various toys, cartoons, films, graphic novels, and paperback books first introduced in 1984. The ...
and the evil
Decepticon The Decepticons are the main antagonists in the fictional continuities of the ''Transformers'' multimedia franchise. They are depicted as a faction of sentient robotic lifeforms led by Megatron, identified by a purple face-like insignia. Capa ...
s. To flesh out his concept, Shooter called upon veteran editor
Dennis O'Neil Dennis Joseph O'Neil (May 3, 1939 – June 11, 2020) was an American comic book writer and editor, principally for Marvel Comics and DC Comics from the 1960s through the 1990s, and Group Editor for the Batman family of titles until his retir ...
to 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 editor
Bob Budiansky Bob Budiansky (; born March 15, 1954) is an American comic book writer, editor, and penciller, best known for his work on Marvel's ''Transformers'' comic. He also created the Marvel character Sleepwalker and wrote all 33 issues of that comic. E ...
accepted 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 by Floro Dery, who went on to become the lead designer for the series, creating many more concepts and designs in the future.


Plot

This series focuses on the Transformers, split into two warring factions: the heroic
Autobots The Autobots are the main protagonists in the fictional continuities of the Transformers multimedia franchise, and are depicted in a collection of various toys, cartoons, films, graphic novels, and paperback books first introduced in 1984. The ...
and the evil
Decepticons The Decepticons are the main antagonists in the fictional continuities of the ''Transformers'' multimedia franchise. They are depicted as a faction of sentient robotic lifeforms led by Megatron, identified by a purple face-like insignia. Capab ...
as they crash land on
Earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to harbor life. While large volumes of water can be found throughout the Solar System, only Earth sustains liquid surface water. About 71% of Earth's surfa ...
and continue their eons long conflict there.


Characters


Broadcast history


UK broadcast history

* ''
TV-AM TV-am was a TV company that broadcast the ITV franchise for breakfast television in the United Kingdom from 1 February 1983 until 31 December 1992. The station was the UK's first national operator of a commercial breakfast television franchise ...
'' (1985–1986) Season 1 Only. * ''
The Children's Channel The Children's Channel, also known as TCC, was a British-based pan-European children's television channel in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, which was owned by Flextech in London, England, UK. It began broadcasting on the original Eutelsat ...
'' (1987) * ''
Sky One Sky One was a British pay television channel operated and owned by Sky Group (a division of Comcast). Originally launched on 26 April 1982 as Satellite Television, it was Europe's first satellite and non-terrestrial channel. From 31 July 1989, ...
'' (1987–1995) * ''
Fox Kids Fox Kids (originally known as Fox Children's Network and later as the Fox Kids Network; stylized as FOX KIDS) was an American children's block programming, programming block and branding for a slate of international children's television channel ...
'' (1996–1997) * '' Pop'' (2007–2009) * ''
Kix! Pop Max (formerly Kix! and then Kix) is a British free-to-air children's television channel in the United Kingdom, owned by Narrative Entertainment UK Limited. As of June 2014, it broadcasts cartoons, sci-fi, action and adventure series and ani ...
'' (2008–2009)


Pilot miniseries

The three-part pilot
miniseries A miniseries or mini-series is a television series that tells a story in a predetermined, limited number of episodes. "Limited series" is another more recent US term which is sometimes used interchangeably. , the popularity of miniseries format h ...
(retroactively titled "More than Meets the Eye") first aired in the United States in September 1984. The story follows
Optimus Prime Optimus Prime, , is a fictional Character (arts), character in the ''Transformers'' franchise. The Transformers characters were developed for an American market after Hasbro representatives visited the 1983 Tokyo Toy Show. The characters were ...
's heroic
Autobot The Autobots are the main protagonists in the fictional Continuity (fiction), continuities of the Transformers (fiction), Transformers multimedia franchise, and are depicted in a collection of various toys, cartoons, films, graphic novels, and p ...
s and
Megatron Megatron is a fictional character and the main antagonist of the ''Transformers'' media franchise produced by American toy company Hasbro and Japanese toy company Takara Tomy. Megatron is the cruel and tyrannical leader of the Decepticons, ...
's evil
Decepticon The Decepticons are the main antagonists in the fictional continuities of the ''Transformers'' multimedia franchise. They are depicted as a faction of sentient robotic lifeforms led by Megatron, identified by a purple face-like insignia. Capa ...
s as they leave their metallic homeworld of Cybertron to search for new sources of energy to revitalize their war efforts, only to crash-land on
Earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to harbor life. While large volumes of water can be found throughout the Solar System, only Earth sustains liquid surface water. About 71% of Earth's surfa ...
, where they remain entombed and offline for 4 million years. 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.


Season 1

The 13-episode first season, commissioned and produced before the pilot miniseries aired, was broadcast between October and December on Saturday mornings. 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", 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 including Skyfire, the Dinobots, the
Insecticons This is a list of characters from ''The Transformers'' television series. Autobots The Autobots (also known as Cybertrons in Japan) are the heroes in the '' Transformers toyline'' and related spin-off comics and cartoons. Their main leader is O ...
and the first "combiner" team, the
Constructicons This is a list of characters from The Transformers (TV series), ''The Transformers'' television series. Autobots The Autobots (also known as Cybertrons in Japan) are the heroes in the ''Transformers (toy line), Transformers toyline'' and related ...
, 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.


Season 2

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 weekday
broadcast syndication Broadcast syndication is the practice of leasing the right to broadcasting television shows and radio programs to multiple television stations and radio stations, without going through a broadcast network. It is common in the United States where ...
. 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 like
Alpha Trion ''The Transformers'' is an American animated television series that originally aired from September 17, 1984, to November 11, 1987, in syndication based upon Hasbro's ''Transformers'' toy line. The first television series in the '' Transforme ...
and 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's ''Diaclone'' and ''Micro Change'' lines, including new Autobot car and mini-vehicles and Decepticon jets and the giant Autobot sentinel
Omega Supreme ''The Transformers'' is an American animated television series that originally aired from September 17, 1984, to November 11, 1987, in syndication based upon Hasbro's ''Transformers'' toy line. The first television series in the ''Transformer ...
and Decepticon "Triple-Changers"
Astrotrain ''The Transformers'' is an American animated television series that originally aired from September 17, 1984, to November 11, 1987, in syndication based upon Hasbro's ''Transformers'' toy line. The first television series in the '' Transforme ...
and 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: the Aerialbots,
Stunticons This is a list of characters from ''The Transformers'' television series. Autobots The Autobots (also known as Cybertrons in Japan) are the heroes in the '' Transformers toyline'' and related spin-off comics and cartoons. Their main leader is Op ...
,
Protectobots This is a list of characters from The Transformers (TV series), ''The Transformers'' television series. Autobots The Autobots (also known as Cybertrons in Japan) are the heroes in the ''Transformers (toy line), Transformers toyline'' and related ...
and
Combaticons This is a list of characters from ''The Transformers'' television series. Autobots The Autobots (also known as Cybertrons in Japan) are the heroes in the '' Transformers toyline'' and related spin-off comics and cartoons. Their main leader is O ...
, four combiner teams based on an unmade ''Diaclone'' line 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''

The gap between seasons two and three was bridged by '' The 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 product from the 1984 and 1985 toy lines and introduced a new cast of the characters designed for the film, who were then made into toys for the 1986 range. Young Autobot
Hot Rod Hot rods are typically American cars that might be old, classic, or modern and that have been rebuilt or modified with large engines optimised for speed and acceleration. One definition is: "a car that's been stripped down, souped up and made ...
used the power of the Autobot talisman known as the
Matrix of Leadership The Autobots are the main protagonists in the fictional continuities of the Transformers multimedia franchise, and are depicted in a collection of various toys, cartoons, films, graphic novels, and paperback books first introduced in 1984. The ...
to become the new Autobot leader
Rodimus Prime ''The Transformers'' is an American animated television series that originally aired from September 17, 1984, to November 11, 1987, in syndication based upon Hasbro's ''Transformers'' toy line. The first television series in the ''Transformer ...
and defeated the world-eating robot planet
Unicron Unicron is a fictional villain from the ''Transformers'' media franchise. Designed by Floro Dery, he was introduced in the 1986 animated film ''The Transformers: The Movie'' and has since reappeared in ''Transformers: Armada'', ''Transformers: ...
who recreates Megatron into
Galvatron Megatron is a fictional character and the main antagonist of the ''Transformers'' media franchise produced by American toy company Hasbro and Japanese toy company Takara Tomy. Megatron is the cruel and tyrannical leader of the Decepticons, a ...
and any other Decepticons into Scourge, Cyclonus, and the Sweeps.


Season 3

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 by
Galvatron Megatron is a fictional character and the main antagonist of the ''Transformers'' media franchise produced by American toy company Hasbro and Japanese toy company Takara Tomy. Megatron is the cruel and tyrannical leader of the Decepticons, a ...
. Interconnected episodes, running plot threads and small story arcs became more common in the series, including the return of
Starscream Starscream is a fictional character in the ''Transformers'' media franchise. He is one of the most frequently occurring characters in the franchise, appearing in almost all of its different continuities. Starscream in generally depicted as the s ...
(following his death in the movie) as a ghost, frequent battles between the giant Autobot and Decepticon cities of
Metroplex A metroplex is a conurbation with more than one principal anchor city of near equal importance. Metroplex may refer to: * Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, a conurbation in Texas, U.S. *Eastgate Metroplex, a professional/retail complex in Tulsa, O ...
and
Trypticon ''The Transformers'' is an American animated television series that originally aired from September 17, 1984, to November 11, 1987, in syndication based upon Hasbro's ''Transformers'' toy line. The first television series in the ''Transformer ...
and the threat to both sides posed by the alien
Quintessons ''The Transformers'' is an American animated television series that originally aired from September 17, 1984, to November 11, 1987, in syndication based upon Hasbro's ''Transformers'' toy line. The first television series in the ''Transformer ...
, 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 by
Flint Dille Flint Dille (born November 3, 1955) is an American screenwriter, game designer and novelist. He is best known for his animated work on ''Transformers'', '' G.I. Joe'', '' An American Tail: Fievel Goes West'', and his game-writing, '' The Chronicl ...
,
Marv Wolfman Marvin Arthur Wolfman (born May 13, 1946) is an American comic book and novelization writer. He worked on Marvel Comics's ''The Tomb of Dracula'', for which he and artist Gene Colan created the vampire-slayer Blade, and DC Comics's '' The New Te ...
and
Steve Gerber Stephen Ross Gerber (; September 20, 1947 – February 10, 2008) was an American comic book writer and creator of the satiric Marvel Comics character Howard the Duck. Other works include ''Man-Thing'', ''Omega the Unknown,'' ''Marvel Spotlight:' ...
. Animation for around half the season was provided by producer
Nelson Shin Shin Neung-kyun (born 1939), also known as Nelson Shin, is an animation director who is the founder and president of Akom Production Co., Ltd., in Seoul, South Korea. He founded Akom in 1985. Career In the 1970s, Shin worked as an animator at th ...
'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 This is a list containing the episodes of '' The Transformers'', an animated television series depicting a war among the Autobots and Decepticons who could transform into vehicles, other objects and animals. Written and recorded in America, the s ...
", which aired in March 1987. Optimus Prime was revived with help from a Quintesson during the threat of the Hate Plague.


Season 4

The fourth season, consisting of a three-part finale miniseries named "The Rebirth", was broadcast in November 1987. Written by regular series writer David Wise, the Autobots and Decepticons encounter the alien world of Nebulos, where they bond with the native Nebulans to become Headmasters and
Targetmaster ''Transformers: Generation 1'' (also known as ''Generation One'' or ''G1'') is a toy line from 1984 to 1990, produced by Hasbro and Takara. It was a line of toy robots that could change into an alternate form (vehicles such as cars and planes, ...
s. 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

''The Transformers'' did not disappear from American airwaves, as a fifth season aired in 1988. It consisted of reruns of 15 episodes from the original series, along with ''The Transformers: The Movie'' edited 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. From 1993 to 1995, select episodes of the series were rebroadcast under the title '' Transformers: 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

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 from ''The 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 using
commercial bumper In broadcasting, a commercial bumper, ident bumper, or break-bumper (often shortened to bump) is a brief announcement, usually two to fifteen seconds in length that can contain a voice over, placed between a pause in the program and its commercia ...
s featuring brief
eyecatch In broadcasting, a commercial bumper, ident bumper, or break-bumper (often shortened to bump) is a brief announcement, usually two to fifteen seconds in length that can contain a voice over, placed between a pause in the program and its commercia ...
-styled original animation with a voice over by series narrator Victor Caroli. A set of five proposed
public service announcement A public service announcement (PSA) is a message in the public interest disseminated by the media without charge to raise public awareness and change behavior. In the UK, they are generally called a public information film (PIF); in Hong Kong, ...
s were 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 series '' G.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

In Japan, the first two seasons of the show were collectively released as , then rebranded as for Season 3, with all seasons aired on
Nippon TV JOAX-DTV (channel 4), branded as , is the flagship station of the Nippon News Network and the Nippon Television Network System, owned-and-operated by the which is a subsidiary of the certified broadcasting holding company , itself a listed su ...
. 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 with '' Transformers: The Headmasters'' in 1987, and continuing into '' Transformers: Super-God Masterforce'' in 1988, '' Transformers: Victory'' in 1989, and the single-episode
direct-to-video Direct-to-video or straight-to-video refers to the release of a film, TV series, short or special to the public immediately on home video formats rather than an initial theatrical release or television premiere. This distribution strategy was p ...
OVA , abbreviated as OVA and sometimes as OAV (original animation video), are Japanese animated films and series made specially for release in home video formats without prior showings on television or in theaters, though the first part of an OVA s ...
'' Transformers: Zone'' in 1990. Supplementary
manga Manga (Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is u ...
written by Masami Kaneda and illustrated by Ban Magami ran alongside each series in
Kodansha is a Japanese privately-held publishing company headquartered in Bunkyō, Tokyo. Kodansha is the largest Japanese publishing company, and it produces the manga magazines ''Nakayoshi'', ''Afternoon'', ''Evening'', ''Weekly Shōnen Magazine'' an ...
's TV Magazine.


VHS, Betamax, and DVD releases

In the 1980s, episodes from the first and second seasons as well as the third season's "Five Faces of Darkness" and "Return of Optimus Prime" were released on VHS and
Betamax Betamax (also known as Beta, as in its logo) is a consumer-level analog recording and cassette format of magnetic tape for video, commonly known as a video cassette recorder. It was developed by Sony and was released in Japan on May 10, 1975, ...
by
Family Home Entertainment Family Home Entertainment (FHE) was an American home video company founded in 1980 by Noel C. Bloom. It was a division of International Video Entertainment, which had its headquarters in Newbury Park, California. History The company was founde ...
. Between 1995 - 1999, Canadian home entertainment company Malofilm (later renamed as Behaviour Distribution) released several episodes of the series on VHS, and some under the '' Transformers: Generation 2'' name. None of the Malofilm VHS cover art was specifically related to the contents of the episodes either, as they were all various segments of promotional art related to the 1986 animated feature ''The Transformers: The Movie''.


Region 1

Seasons 1–4 were released on DVD in the
U.S. The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
by
Rhino Entertainment Company Rhino Entertainment Company is an American specialty record label and production company founded in 1978. It is currently the catalog division for Warner Music Group. Its current CEO is Mark Pinkus. History Founded in 1978, Rhino was originall ...
/Kid Rhino Entertainment (under its ''Rhinomation'' classic animation entertainment brand) (a subsidiary of
AOL Time Warner Warner Media, LLC ( traded as WarnerMedia) was an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate. It was headquartered at the 30 Hudson Yards complex in New York City, United States. It was originally established in 1972 by ...
) (a division of
Warner Music Group Warner Music Group Corp. ( d.b.a. Warner Music Group, commonly abbreviated as WMG) is an American multinational entertainment and record label conglomerate headquartered in New York City. It is one of the " big three" recording companies and t ...
) between April 23, 2002, and March 9, 2004. 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 distribute ''Transformers'' on DVD. The license was subsequently acquired by
Sony Wonder Sony Wonder (founded as Sony Kids’ Music) is the kids and family entertainment label of Sony Pictures Home Entertainment and the former record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment. Despite the similarity in name, Sony Wonder is not direct ...
(a division of
Sony BMG Sony BMG Music Entertainment was an American record company owned as a 50–50 joint venture between Sony Corporation of America and Bertelsmann. The venture's successor, the revived Sony Music, is wholly owned by Sony, following their buyout o ...
). 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. In June 2007, Sony BMG dissolved Sony Wonder and moved the label to Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, without releasing any DVD sets. In May 2008,
Hasbro Hasbro, Inc. (; a syllabic abbreviation of its original name, Hassenfeld Brothers) is an American multinational conglomerate holding company incorporated and headquartered in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. Hasbro owns the trademarks and products of ...
re-acquired the rights to the
Sunbow Sunbow Entertainment (known as Sunbow Productions until 1995) was an American animation studio and distributor, founded on June 23, 1980, and owned until May 4, 1998, by Griffin-Bacal Advertising in New York City and in the United States. Griffin ...
library of shows, including ''Transformers''. In March 2009,
Shout! Factory Shout! Factory is an American home video and music company founded in 2002 as Retropolis Entertainment. Its video releases include previously released feature films, classic and contemporary television series, animation, live music, and comedy ...
announced that they had acquired the license from Hasbro to release ''Transformers'' on DVD in Region 1 with
Vivendi Entertainment Gaiam Vivendi Entertainment (formerly known as Vivendi Entertainment, Vivendi Visual Entertainment and Visual Entertainment) is an independent film, television, DVD and digital distribution company operating in the United States and Canada. It is ...
. They subsequently released ''The Complete First Season'' on June 16, 2009. ''Season Two Volume One'' was released on September 15, 2009. ''Season Two Volume Two'' was released on January 12, 2010. ''Seasons Three and Four'' was released together in one set on April 20, 2010. 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, dubbed ''Transformers: The Complete Series - The Matrix of Leadership Collector's Set'', features all 98 remastered episodes along with all new bonus features.


Region 2

Maverick released Season 1 in the
U.K. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
in 2001. Three individual volumes were released (though the episodes are in the wrong order), a box set of the three disks, which included a fourth disk containing bonus features, and one volume of ''Transformers: Generation 2'' with five episodes that had the Cybernetic Space Cube graphics added. They also released a volume of ''Transformers: Takara'', which included the first six episodes of the Asian English dub of '' Transformers: The Headmasters''. Metrodome Distribution released Seasons 1–4 in the U.K. between November 17, 2003, and October 11, 2004. Their first release was a budget-range DVD of the Transformers movie, released through Prism Leisure. The seasons were released in four box sets: Season 1, Season 2 Part 1, Season 2 Part 2 and Seasons 3–4. Notably, Season 2 was released first by Metrodome because Season 1 had been released by Maverick. Metrodome's releases use the remastered production masters, which originated with the Rhino release of the series (and contain all the inherent errors). Additionally, they include Magno Sound & Video's 5.1 audio (with added sound effects), but use a modified version of their 2.0 track.


Region 4

Madman Entertainment Madman Entertainment Pty. Ltd., also known as Madman Films, is an Australian distribution and rights management company headquartered in East Melbourne, Victoria, specialising in feature films, documentaries and television series across theatr ...
released the four seasons in six box sets in Australia and New Zealand (Region 4): Season 1, Season 2.1, Season 2.2, Season 3.1, Season 3.2 and Season 4. They later released the remastered
Shout! Factory Shout! Factory is an American home video and music company founded in 2002 as Retropolis Entertainment. Its video releases include previously released feature films, classic and contemporary television series, animation, live music, and comedy ...
version of ''Transformers'' in the same volume arrangement as the American release. In 2007, Madman Entertainment released a 17-disc complete collection box set.


Other releases

A collector's tin box set was released in Asia by Guangdong Qianhe Audio & Video Communication Co., Ltd. under license by Pexlan International (Picture) Limited. The set includes the entire series, '' The Transformers: The Movie'', a set of full color postcards, a rubber keychain, and a full color book (graphic novel style) that serves as an episode guide. While the book is almost entirely in
Mandarin Mandarin or The Mandarin may refer to: Language * Mandarin Chinese, branch of Chinese originally spoken in northern parts of the country ** Standard Chinese or Modern Standard Mandarin, the official language of China ** Taiwanese Mandarin, Stand ...
, the chapter menus contain English translations for each episode. The set is coded as Region 1. In July 2009, ''Transformers G1 Season 1'' (25th Anniversary Edition) was made available for digital download via the
PlayStation Network PlayStation Network (PSN) is a digital media entertainment service provided by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Launched in November 2006, PSN was originally conceived for the PlayStation video game consoles, but soon extended to encompass smartp ...
's
video store A video rental shop/store is a physical retail business that rents home videos such as movies, prerecorded TV shows, video game discs and other media content. Typically, a rental shop conducts business with customers under conditions and terms a ...
in the United States for $1.99 per episode. On October 10, 2010, The Hub (formerly Discovery Kids, later
Discovery Family Discovery Family is an American cable television channel co-owned by Warner Bros. Discovery and Hasbro Entertainment. The channel was originally launched by Discovery Communications on October 7, 1996 as Discovery Kids, a spin-off of Discover ...
on October 13, 2014) started airing the original episodes of the ''Transformers G1'' series on the network (alongside '' Beast Wars: Transformers'' and '' Beast Machines: Transformers'').


References


External links

* *
Metrodome's Transformers DVD homepage
{{DEFAULTSORT:Transformers (TV Series) 1984 American television series debuts 1987 American television series endings 1986 manga 1987 manga American children's animated action television series 1980s American animated television series Television series by Marvel Productions Television series by Hasbro Studios First-run syndicated television programs in the United States Television shows set in the United States Television shows set in Japan 1980s American science fiction television series Anime-influenced Western animated television series Television series set in the future Television series set in 2005 Television series set in 2006 Animated television series about robots
TV series A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, or cable, excluding breaking news, advertisements, or trailers that are typically placed betw ...
English-language television shows Television series set in the 1980s Children's manga Manga series Television shows based on Takara Tomy toys American children's animated space adventure television series American children's animated science fantasy television series American children's animated superhero television series Television series by Sunbow Entertainment Transformers (franchise) animated television series Television series by Claster Television Television series set on fictional planets Toei Animation television