MediaWiki - User contributions [en]

Blaster Blues

2012-05-13T06:34:30Z

1.162.95.146:

{{episode
|series=G1toon
|ep=39
|series2=SRLFtoon
|ep2=50
|prev2=The Core
|next2=Prime Target (episode)
|series3=''[[Generation 2 (cartoon)|The Transformers: Generation 2]]''
|ep3=34
|prev3=Microbots
|next3=Sea Change
|image=BlasterBlues Megatron threatens Blaster.jpg
|caption=
|title="Blaster Blues"
|production code=#700-38
|airdate=[[October 23]], 1985
|written by=[[Larry Strauss]]
|production company=[[Sunbow Productions]]
|animation studio=[[Toei]]
|continuity=[[Generation 1 cartoon continuity]]
}}

'''The Decepticons hijack Earth's airwaves. Yet somehow, you are still able to watch this episode.'''

:''Japanese title:'' ブロードキャスト・ブルース (''Broadcast Blues'')
:''Italian title, dub 1:'' '''La città delle stelle''' ("City of the stars")
:''Italian title, dub 2:'' '''Il Blues di Blaster''' ("Blaster's blues")

==Synopsis==
[[Image:Blasterbluesconcertcrowd.jpg|left|200px|thumb|Did Spike and Carly take an Autobot on all of their dates?]]

[[Spike Witwicky (G1)|Spike]] and [[Carly]] are at a rock concert, having taken [[Blaster (G1)|Blaster]] along for the music. Enjoying the concert, Spike wishes that the rest of the [[Autobot]]s could hear the music, so Blaster begins transmitting to all of them. Off in space, [[Cosmos (G1)|Cosmos]] gets a real kick out of the music.

At the [[Ark (G1)|Autobot base]], [[Optimus Prime (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Optimus Prime]] and [[Sparkplug Witwicky|Sparkplug]] are observing [[Omega Supreme (G1)|Omega Supreme]]'s target practice on [[Teletraan I (G1)|Teletraan I]], when Blaster's music from the concert begins playing on their channel. Sparkplug and most of the Autobots are not enjoying the overwhelming volume, but [[Jazz (G1)|Jazz]] gets the chance to show off his dancing skills.

At the [[Haley Observatory]], [[Haley|Professor Haley]] introduces his new creation, the [[Voltronic Galaxer]], to his fellow scientists. The device is intended to translate Earth's recordings into other languages and broadcast them into space, in search of intelligent life. Seemingly, the Transformers don't count. During his first test of the device, the scientist is quite surprised when he gets a response... which turns to horror when he sees it's the Decepticons. [[Starscream (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Starscream]], as he is oft wont to do, begins firing randomly, but [[Megatron (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Megatron]] orders him to stop, saying that they need the Voltronic Galaxer.

At the Autobot base, Optimus Prime is so annoyed by the music that he outright tells Blaster to "shut up", but to no avail. Only a distress call from the scientist finally gets Blaster to stop. After the Autobots arrive at the observatory, they find that the Decepticons have already fled with their prize. Optimus Prime vows to find it and bring the Voltronic Galaxer back.

[[Image:Blasterbluesprimedirectstraffic.jpg|right|200px|thumb|Prime's day job]]

Splitting up into groups, the Autobots begin the search. [[Powerglide (G1)|Powerglide]], Spike and Carly have already searched half the hemisphere, while Cosmos and Blaster are searching outer space. They locate the Decepticons in a [[Decepticon moonbase|base]] on the [[Moon (moon)|Moon]], where Megatron is plotting to take control of Earth's radio airwaves. Blaster and Cosmos are caught, however, before they can contact the Autobots. Blaster is forced into use as a transcrambler, while Cosmos powers the device. Megatron orders the [[Seeker (body-type)|Seekers]] to return to Earth as the radio blackout commences.

On Earth, the communications blackout is scrambling even the Autobots' radio channels. [[Red Alert (G1)|Red Alert]] and [[Inferno (G1)|Inferno]] barely manage to stop a forest fire, while [[Prowl (G1)|Prowl]], [[Ratchet (G1)|Ratchet]], [[Hoist (G1)|Hoist]], and [[Trailbreaker (G1)|Trailbreaker]] free motorists trapped on a frozen highway, where [[Dirge (G1)|Dirge]] and [[Ramjet (G1)|Ramjet]] attack.

[[Image:Blasterbluespgcarriesprime.jpg|left|200px|thumb|I'm not paid enough to carry this around.]]

At an airport, Powerglide is attempting to land, when Starscream and [[Thundercracker (G1)|Thundercracker]] attack, damaging both Powerglide and Optimus Prime. Spike manages to strap a jet pack onto Powerglide, giving him some extra boost. As Megatron begins broadcasting his demands to Earth, Blaster plays music from the concert on the same channel. Carly recognizes the tunes and manages to track the transmission back to the Moon. They head for the Autobot base. Carly does some quick repairs on Optimus then the two teens and Powerglide load Prime onto Omega, who takes them to space.

Once Omega lands on the Moon, Megatron and Astrotrain attack him. Omega manages to get his hand on Megatron, but Astrotrain rams Omega in train mode, causing him to release Megatron. Astrotrain then flees and Omega transforms into rocket mode and follows. Seeing Optimus Prime defenseless, Megatron decides to hit him while he's down, only for the [[Prime (rank)|Autobot leader]] to reactivate just in time to defend himself.

[[Image:Blasterbluesop%26mdance.jpg|right|200px|thumb|One shall stand and one shall... oh, you know the drill.]]

With no one to guard them, Blaster and Cosmos cause the voltronic galaxer to receive feedback and explode. Seeing his latest technology ruined, Megatron retreats. After freeing them, Blaster mentions that he could rebuild the Decepticon moonbase into a new Autobot base. Cosmos likes the idea, as it would give him some company. Optimus agrees, but orders him to keep an eye on his volume.

Soon, however, Blaster is back to transmitting loud rock music over the air waves again. Some stereos never learn.

{{--}}

==Featured characters==
{{featuredcharacters
|c1=
*[[Blaster (G1)|Blaster]] (3)
*[[Cosmos (G1)|Cosmos]] (4)
*[[Optimus Prime (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Optimus Prime]] (5)
*[[Omega Supreme (G1)|Omega Supreme]] (6)
*[[Jazz (G1)|Jazz]] (8)
*[[Hoist (G1)|Hoist]] (9)
*[[Ironhide (G1)|Ironhide]] (14)
*[[Ratchet (G1)|Ratchet]] (15)
*[[Cliffjumper (G1)|Cliffjumper]] (16)
*[[Hound (G1)|Hound]] (17)
*[[Trailbreaker (G1)|Trailbreaker]] (18)
*[[Sunstreaker (G1)|Sunstreaker]] (19)
*[[Sideswipe (G1)|Sideswipe]] (20)
*[[Mirage (G1)|Mirage]] (21)
*[[Bumblebee (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Bumblebee]] (22)
*[[Huffer (G1)|Huffer]] (24)
*[[Tracks (G1)|Tracks]] (25)
*[[Powerglide (G1)|Powerglide]] (26)
*[[Red Alert (G1)|Red Alert]] (30)
*[[Inferno (G1)|Inferno]] (31)
*[[Prowl (G1)|Prowl]] (33)

|c2=
*[[Thundercracker (G1)|Thundercracker]] (11)
*[[Megatron (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Megatron]] (12)
*[[Starscream (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Starscream]] (13)
*[[Astrotrain (G1)|Astrotrain]] (23)
*[[Ramjet (G1)|Ramjet]] (35)
*[[Dirge (G1)|Dirge]] (36)

|c3=
*[[Carly]] (1)
*[[Spike Witwicky (G1)|Spike Witwicky]] (2)
*[[Sparkplug Witwicky]] (7)
*[[Haley]] (10)
*Air Traffic Controllers (27)
*Pilot (28)
*Railroad workers (29)
*Meteorologist (31)
*Motorists (34)
}}

==Quotes==

'''Professor Haley''': Where are you? In another galaxy? 
'''Megatron''': ''Much'' closer than ''that!!'' Huhu~hwa~ha~hahaha~haha~hahaha!!
:-'''Megatron''', the master of dry wit.

'''Optimus''': My audio receptors! What is that noise?! 
'''Hoist''': Humans call it 'music'. 
'''Sparkplug''': Not ''this'' human! 
'''Jazz''': Sounds all right to me!
:—Sparkplug and the Autobots share their opinions on Blaster's choice in music.

"The Earth is but a speck on the arm of the universe."
:—'''Human scientist''' bolstering his race's importance in the cosmos.

"Blaster! Decrease volume! ... Blaster! '''SHUT UP!'''"
:—'''Optimus Prime''' in another fine example of subordinate management.

'''Ironhide''': Where did the call originate? 
'''Optimus''': I don't know! All I can hear is that blasted Blaster!
:—[[Peter Cullen]]'s annoyance at Blaster's loud music.

"Hey, talk about no place. I can't even get a bottom 40 station out here."
:—'''Blaster''' doesn't enjoy outer space duty inside Cosmos.

"It's Blaster!" 
"Why that son of an 8-track."
:—'''Ratchet''' and '''Trailbreaker'''

"Release Autobots, Megatron!" 
"Never!" 
"Reeeelease them!"
:—'''Omega Supreme''' adds some "hands on" pressure to dealing with '''Megatron'''

"Looks like the big boy needs a little training!"
:—'''Astrotrain''', proving the pun is indeed mightier than the sword. Unfortunately, it's not as mighty as Omega Supreme.

==Notes==
===Animation or technical glitches===
* The rock band at the concert is playing ''two songs at once'', both "[[Cold Slither]]" and the generic big band/hard rock song. "Cold Slither" is missing a moment later when Blaster sends the music to the Autobots.
* The arena's seats have more than a seat's width between them. The owners must've been expecting some ''seriously'' fat patrons.
* Cosmos's voice in his first couple of lines lacks his usual self-echo.
* As Megatron gloats on top of the observatory, his laugh plays over itself (ie, the same laugh twice).
* Improbable viewpoints:
** So Blaster sends the music from the concert to the Autobots. How does he manage to send a 3rd-person view of ''himself'' at the same time?
** Do Tracks and Huffer have a video camera with them to report in to Prime?
** Does Prime have a camera stationed at the city docks to show Powerglide flying in aimless circles?
* The reporter at the observatory has already written down Professor Haley's words before he's finished saying them.
* Recycled footage:
** Prime's trailer rolling in from offscreen seems to be recycled from "[[The Ultimate Doom, Part 2]]".
** The shot of Ironhide, Trailbreaker and Hound converting to vehicle mode is lifted from "[[Atlantis, Arise!]]"
** The pan of Sunstreaker and Sideswipe transforming comes right out of "[[More than Meets the Eye, Part 1]]".
** The same "MTMTE1" scene is mined again to show Trailbreaker transforming as the Autobots deploy to deal with the loss of radio communications.
* Astrotrain has no transformation sound effect as he leaves the tunnel and converts from train to shuttle.
* Trailbreaker's eyeband is black instead of blue as Optimus quizzes the professor about the Voltronic Galaxer. The points of his cheeks are colored blue instead.
* Appearing/disappearing Autobots: Prime's initial squad fluctuates all over the place.
** The initial group receiving the transmission is Prime, Jazz, Ratchet, Ironhide, Hoist & Cliffjumper.
** Mirage, Sideswipe, Sunstreaker and Hound show up to transform prior to rolling out, and are not seen again. Trailbreaker shows up at the same time.
** Bumblebee, Wheeljack, and Prowl (or maybe Bluestreak) show up as the Autobots depart.
** The group that finally arrives at the observatory is Prime, Jazz, Ratchet, Ironhide, Hoist, Bumblebee & Trailbreaker, which means we've lost seven guys.
* Powerglide's cockpit has changed from a fighter-plane-like single-seater (seen in "[[Dinobot Island, Part 1]]"), to a side-by-side like a passenger jet.
* Cosmos's "cap" is green instead of red as he lands on the Moon.
* "This your idea of a joke?" Blaster's line lacks the usual processing.
* Red Alert's "horns" flash orange. Last time, they flashed blue.
* Despite knowing about the pending attack, Red Alert keeps shooting at the trees. It seems likely that the animators recycled previous footage, perhaps not realizing he should be aiming skyward.
* Prowl's head crest is white instead of red as he closes Ratchet's passenger compartment (and can't Ratchet do that himself?)
* Whatever damage Powerglide sustained from Ramjet pretty much disappears after Spike puts the jetpack on him.
* Blaster first pushes his left-most button. Later, it's the middle two that are deployed. After Megatron kicks him, all but one are engaged.
* The whole sequence of Megatron discovering Blaster's subterfuge is a bit wonky. Blaster sniggers loudly, Megatron suddenly says "What was that?", then there's a beep and the rock music is heard. The animators/sound guys seem to have not quite gotten the sequence of events down correctly.
* Blaster's forehead is red instead of white as Megatron threatens him.
* When Spike cheers on Omega Supreme, both his lips ''and'' Carly's are moving.
* When Astrotrain rams Omega Supreme's leg, Omega holds still for two seconds, then drops Megatron.
[[Image:Omegasupreme astrotrain.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Pretty damn big, that's how much.]]
* If Astrotrain is big enough to hold all the Decepticons, then how big does that make Omega Supreme in the picture to the right here?
* One gun, many lasers:
** When Optimus fires at the fleeing Megatron, he only has one gun, yet four or five lasers streak past Megatron.
* Blaster has four small switches on his chest for most of the episode (clearly seen as when Megatron kicks him towards the end), but is drawn with three large ones after Prime frees him.
* Cosmos's helmet is green instead of red as Prime frees Blaster (which, by the way, seems to consist of just helping him to his feet, rather than freeing him from any "welding" done by Astrotrain.)
* At the end of the episode, Blaster seemingly is supposed to be playing his rock tune yet again, complete with Prime yelling at him for it and the other Autobots chasing Blaster off into the sunset... but the music is missing. Oops!

===Continuity errors===
[[Image:Blasterbluesonthemoon.jpg|thumb|right|200px|"No no, it is totally worth risking the complete failure of the plan to have gloating rights over a couple of guys whose names I probably can't remember!"]]
* You have to wonder if Megatron thought out all the parts to this plan, given that it would be a lot easier for human society to adapt to life without radio, than life without electricity, petroleum and fossil fuels, and so on... Actually, how would we ''use'' said radio waves, without the power resources the 'Cons would strip out of the planet in exchange for ceasing their jamming?
* Furthermore, one might question the wisdom of leaving two conscious Autobots right across from the critical device... with one of them ''fully armed''.
* In a world full of Transformers running around on the evening news (and showing up in arcades, research labs, dams, power plants, and basically everywhere), why would a scientist still speak of alien life as though it were some unproved hypothesis?
[[Image:BlasterBlues Megatron voltronic galaxer.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Don't worry, this won't hurt a bit!]]
* In a rare instance of a falling human seeming to incur some actual injury, Professor Haley is apparently knocked unconscious by falling off the Voltronic Galaxer. Of course, he's up and (literally) running by the time the Autobots arrive (and still hanging out inside the burning building, apparently).
* The passenger jets at the airport are shown swerving and maneuvering as though they were small-scaled fighters.
* Maybe Astrotrain's alternate mode ''does'' make sense in the bizarre world of cartoon Earth... because the railroad workers are trying to clear the track for a ''steam locomotive''.
* One of the railroad men says he will "radio [the train] to the auxiliary track", but no other track is actually shown.
* Only one guy leaps clear of the steam engine. Where's the fireman?
* Okay, so it's great that Optimus is directing traffic at this one airport, but... what about the hundreds of other airports out there? Much like "[[The Ultimate Doom, Part 2]]", the Autobots seem to lack a plan to deal with the actual ''cause'' of the problems.
* If Powerglide's jet pack is ''out of fuel'', then ''how does he keep flying??''
* Ratchet's team was mostly in robot mode when they were buried. They emerge from the snow in vehicle mode. Also, all the buried and exploded cars have vanished.
* Does Omega Supreme just keep some human-sized space suits handy? 'Cause Spike and Carly suddenly pop up in space suits when it's time to go to the Moon.
* Did stadium security not notice the recording device that is Blaster? Or did they want the live concert all over the <strike>internet</strike> Autobot broadcast channels?

===A loony lunar lineup of astronomical errors===
* Cosmos, Astrotrain, and all the rest get full sound effects in outer space. Of course, media of far higher caliber than ''The Transformers'' have made the same error, generally because it'd be pretty boring to watch a bunch of silent ships fly around, so we'll let this one slide.
* The depicted activities of any Transformer on the Moon do not bear any resemblance to the movements of creatures under gravity one-sixth that of Earth's own.
* Cosmos really shouldn't have to switch off his engines once he reaches the Moon; he should have just switched them off as soon as he escaped Earth's gravity well.
* Blaster somehow manages to ''listen'' in on the Decepticons across the airless surface of the Moon.
* The burning [[Decepticon moonbase]] continues burning and trailing smoke as if it were in an atmosphere.
* Carly: "I've never been to the Moon before!" NO. REALLY??

===Continuity notes===
[[Image:Blasterbluestrailerchase.jpg|right|200px|thumb|Last one out of the parking lot gets stuck with the check.]]
[[Image:Trailbreakerdance.jpg|thumb|right|200px|I... AM... '''''TRAILBREAKER!!!''''']]
* Jazz has righteous moves, but they are limited by his bulky body.
* Gadgets and powers:
** Blaster's boom box mode in the opening scenes is as tall as a human.
** Red Alert's "horns" flash to indicate Decepticon activity, just like in "[[Auto Berserk]]". This time they're orange, though.
** Ratchet and the rest can deploy tire studs to deal with snow-covered roads.
** Hoist deploys a long snakey tentacle with a claw at the end to catch a falling motorist. How many devices can he [[Auto Berserk|carry]], anyway??
** This time, Trailbreaker's forcefield just kind of radiates out of thin air in front of his head. He's able to form it into a dome, which he can then place where he wants it... but, to his later misfortune, he remains outside the dome himself.
** Powerglide can deploy a suction cup line capable of carrying wounded Autobots around like limp ragdolls, leaving them flapping in the breeze.... say, aren't you supposed to ''not move'' the injured?
** Omega Supreme clearly leaves most of himself behind when he launches for the Moon. When he arrives there, he lands in rocket mode amid a cloud of smoke... and when the smoke clears, the left-behind bits have appeared. Later, he transforms out of just the rocket (conveniently off-screen) while in mid-flight.
* Where's the trailer go?:
** During the scene at the observatory, Optimus transforms and drives away, and there is an extended moment where his trailer drives off after him to catch up.
* The joy of size changing: Blaster rides inside Cosmos to the Moon, and in the next scene Cosmos and Blaster are side by side and Blaster is almost twice as tall as Cosmos.
* Omega Supreme actually uses whole sentences in this episode. That's just crazy.

===Real-world references===
* ''[[Star Wars (film)|Star Wars]]'' sound effects:
** ''Millennium Falcon'' engine burst is strangely repurposed as the burning fires at the observatory as the Decepticons close in.
** X-Wings diving, ''Falcon'' engine burst, and Death Star superlaser all in a row as the Decepticons launch from the observatory.
** ''Falcon'' engine burst as Megatron takes off from Astrotrain
** X-Wings diving as the 'cons fly aboard Astrotrain
** Death Star superlaser as Astrotrain pursues Cosmos.
** TIE Fighter engine as Cosmos evades.
** The Death Star door slide is used as a steam engine sound effect.
** A Stormtrooper's laser gun is used to soundtrack Ramjet and Thundercracker's attack on Inferno and Red Alert, possibly taken from when Luke & Han ambush the stormtroopers aboard the ''Falcon''.
** ''Falcon'' engine burst as Megatron launches from the Moon.
* Trailbreaker mentions 8-tracks. Did kids in 1985 even know what an 8-track is?
* "Bang, zoom, to the Moon!" - Powerglide's line is a play on a signature line of Ralph Kramden from ''[[The Honeymooners]]''...whose actor Jackie Gleason was also the inspiration for Powerglide's voice.
* "Parting is such sweet sorrow!" - Megatron prepares to kill Prime while quoting one of Shakespeare's most famous lines.

===Trivia===
* Seriously. "I've never been to the Moon before!"
** Although, to her credit, she did just come back from Cybertron in the previous episode. Maybe she is expecting to be taken to inter-planetary destinations every episode?

==Home video releases==
{{homevidnote}}
;Laserdisc
[[Image:Flag of Japan.png|20px|Japan]] 1995 — ''Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers'' — Megatron Set ([[TakaraTomy|Takara]]) — Japanese audio only. 
[[Image:Flag of Japan.png|20px|Japan]] 1999 — ''The Transformers'' — Decepticon Edition ([[Geneon Universal Entertainment|Pioneer LDC]]) — Japanese audio only.
;DVD
[[Image:Flag of Japan.png|20px|Japan]] 2001 — ''The Transformers'' — DVD Box 2 (Pioneer LDC) — Japanese audio only. 
[[Image:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 2002 — ''The Original Transformers'' — Season 2 Part 1 ([[The Original Transformers|Rhino Entertainment]]) 
[[Image:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 2002 — ''The Original Transformers'' — Season 2 Part 1: Vol. 4 (Rhino Entertainment) 
[[Image:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 2003 — ''Transformers'' — Season 2 Part 1 ([[Metrodome]]) 
[[Image:Flag of Australia.png|20px|Australia]] 2004 — ''Transformers'' — Collection 2: Series 2.1 ([[Madman Entertainment]]) 
[[Image:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 2006 — ''Transformers'' — The Complete Generation One Collection (Metrodome) 
[[Image:Flag of Australia.png|20px|Australia]] 2007 — ''The Transformers'' — Complete Collection (Madman Entertainment) 
[[Image:Flag of Italy.png|20px|Italy]] 2008 — ''Transformers'' — Volume 04: Stagione Due Parte Seconda ([[Medianetwork Communication]]) — English and Italian audio. 
[[Image:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 2009 — ''Transformers'' — Season Two: Part One (Metrodome) 
[[Image:Flag of Australia.png|20px|Australia]] 2009 — ''The Transformers'' — Complete Collection: Decepticon Edition (Madman Entertainment) 
[[Image:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 2009 — ''The Transformers'' — Season Two, Volume One: 25th Anniversary Edition ([[Shout! Factory]]) 
[[Image:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 2009 — ''The Transformers'' — The Complete Series: 25th Anniversary "Matrix of Leadership" Collection (Shout! Factory)

==External links==
*[http://cybertronchronicle.freewebspace.com/cartoon-dossier/synopses/blaster_blues.html Dossier at the Cybertron Chronicle]

[[Category:Generation 1 episodes]]
[[Category:Generation 2 episodes]]

Blaster Blues

2012-05-11T16:28:44Z

1.162.95.146: /* Quotes */

{{episode
|series=G1toon
|ep=39
|series2=SRLFtoon
|ep2=50
|prev2=The Core
|next2=Prime Target (episode)
|series3=''[[Generation 2 (cartoon)|The Transformers: Generation 2]]''
|ep3=34
|prev3=Microbots
|next3=Sea Change
|image=BlasterBlues Megatron threatens Blaster.jpg
|caption=
|title="Blaster Blues"
|production code=#700-38
|airdate=[[October 23]], 1985
|written by=[[Larry Strauss]]
|production company=[[Sunbow Productions]]
|animation studio=[[Toei]]
|continuity=[[Generation 1 cartoon continuity]]
}}

'''The Decepticons hijack Earth's airwaves. Yet somehow, you are still able to watch this episode.'''

:''Japanese title:'' ブロードキャスト・ブルース (''Broadcast Blues'')
:''Italian title, dub 1:'' '''La città delle stelle''' ("City of the stars")
:''Italian title, dub 2:'' '''Il Blues di Blaster''' ("Blaster's blues")

==Synopsis==
[[Image:Blasterbluesconcertcrowd.jpg|left|200px|thumb|Did Spike and Carly take an Autobot on all of their dates?]]

[[Spike Witwicky (G1)|Spike]] and [[Carly]] are at a rock concert, having taken [[Blaster (G1)|Blaster]] along for the music. Enjoying the concert, Spike wishes that the rest of the [[Autobot]]s could hear the music, so Blaster begins transmitting to all of them. Off in space, [[Cosmos (G1)|Cosmos]] gets a real kick out of the music.

At the [[Ark (G1)|Autobot base]], [[Optimus Prime (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Optimus Prime]] and [[Sparkplug Witwicky|Sparkplug]] are observing [[Omega Supreme (G1)|Omega Supreme]]'s target practice on [[Teletraan I (G1)|Teletraan I]], when Blaster's music from the concert begins playing on their channel. Sparkplug and most of the Autobots are not enjoying the overwhelming volume, but [[Jazz (G1)|Jazz]] gets the chance to show off his dancing skills.

At the [[Haley Observatory]], [[Haley|Professor Haley]] introduces his new creation, the [[Voltronic Galaxer]], to his fellow scientists. The device is intended to translate Earth's recordings into other languages and broadcast them into space, in search of intelligent life. Seemingly, the Transformers don't count. During his first test of the device, the scientist is quite surprised when he gets a response... which turns to horror when he sees it's the Decepticons. [[Starscream (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Starscream]], as he is oft wont to do, begins firing randomly, but [[Megatron (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Megatron]] orders him to stop, saying that they need the Voltronic Galaxer.

At the Autobot base, Optimus Prime is so annoyed by the music that he outright tells Blaster to "shut up", but to no avail. Only a distress call from the scientist finally gets Blaster to stop. After the Autobots arrive at the observatory, they find that the Decepticons have already fled with their prize. Optimus Prime vows to find it and bring the Voltronic Galaxer back.

[[Image:Blasterbluesprimedirectstraffic.jpg|right|200px|thumb|Prime's day job]]

Splitting up into groups, the Autobots begin the search. [[Powerglide (G1)|Powerglide]], Spike and Carly have already searched half the hemisphere, while Cosmos and Blaster are searching outer space. They locate the Decepticons in a [[Decepticon moonbase|base]] on the [[Moon (moon)|Moon]], where Megatron is plotting to take control of Earth's radio airwaves. Blaster and Cosmos are caught, however, before they can contact the Autobots. Blaster is forced into use as a transcrambler, while Cosmos powers the device. Megatron orders the [[Seeker (body-type)|Seekers]] to return to Earth as the radio blackout commences.

On Earth, the communications blackout is scrambling even the Autobots' radio channels. [[Red Alert (G1)|Red Alert]] and [[Inferno (G1)|Inferno]] barely manage to stop a forest fire, while [[Prowl (G1)|Prowl]], [[Ratchet (G1)|Ratchet]], [[Hoist (G1)|Hoist]], and [[Trailbreaker (G1)|Trailbreaker]] free motorists trapped on a frozen highway, where [[Dirge (G1)|Dirge]] and [[Ramjet (G1)|Ramjet]] attack.

[[Image:Blasterbluespgcarriesprime.jpg|left|200px|thumb|I'm not paid enough to carry this around.]]

At an airport, Powerglide is attempting to land, when Starscream and [[Thundercracker (G1)|Thundercracker]] attack, damaging both Powerglide and Optimus Prime. Spike manages to strap a jet pack onto Powerglide, giving him some extra boost. As Megatron begins broadcasting his demands to Earth, Blaster plays music from the concert on the same channel. Carly recognizes the tunes and manages to track the transmission back to the Moon. They head for the Autobot base. Carly does some quick repairs on Optimus then the two teens and Powerglide load Prime onto Omega, who takes them to space.

Once Omega lands on the Moon, Megatron and Astrotrain attack him. Omega manages to get his hand on Megatron, but Astrotrain rams Omega in train mode, causing him to release Megatron. Astrotrain then flees and Omega transforms into rocket mode and follows. Seeing Optimus Prime defenseless, Megatron decides to hit him while he's down, only for the [[Prime (rank)|Autobot leader]] to reactivate just in time to defend himself.

[[Image:Blasterbluesop%26mdance.jpg|right|200px|thumb|One shall stand and one shall... oh, you know the drill.]]

With no one to guard them, Blaster and Cosmos cause the voltronic galaxer to receive feedback and explode. Seeing his latest technology ruined, Megatron retreats. After freeing them, Blaster mentions that he could rebuild the Decepticon moonbase into a new Autobot base. Cosmos likes the idea, as it would give him some company. Optimus agrees, but orders him to keep an eye on his volume.

Soon, however, Blaster is back to transmitting loud rock music over the air waves again. Some stereos never learn.

{{--}}

==Featured characters==
{{featuredcharacters
|c1=
*[[Blaster (G1)|Blaster]] (3)
*[[Cosmos (G1)|Cosmos]] (4)
*[[Optimus Prime (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Optimus Prime]] (5)
*[[Omega Supreme (G1)|Omega Supreme]] (6)
*[[Jazz (G1)|Jazz]] (8)
*[[Hoist (G1)|Hoist]] (9)
*[[Ironhide (G1)|Ironhide]] (14)
*[[Ratchet (G1)|Ratchet]] (15)
*[[Cliffjumper (G1)|Cliffjumper]] (16)
*[[Hound (G1)|Hound]] (17)
*[[Trailbreaker (G1)|Trailbreaker]] (18)
*[[Sunstreaker (G1)|Sunstreaker]] (19)
*[[Sideswipe (G1)|Sideswipe]] (20)
*[[Mirage (G1)|Mirage]] (21)
*[[Bumblebee (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Bumblebee]] (22)
*[[Huffer (G1)|Huffer]] (24)
*[[Tracks (G1)|Tracks]] (25)
*[[Powerglide (G1)|Powerglide]] (26)
*[[Red Alert (G1)|Red Alert]] (30)
*[[Inferno (G1)|Inferno]] (31)
*[[Prowl (G1)|Prowl]] (33)

|c2=
*[[Thundercracker (G1)|Thundercracker]] (11)
*[[Megatron (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Megatron]] (12)
*[[Starscream (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Starscream]] (13)
*[[Astrotrain (G1)|Astrotrain]] (23)
*[[Ramjet (G1)|Ramjet]] (35)
*[[Dirge (G1)|Dirge]] (36)

|c3=
*[[Carly]] (1)
*[[Spike Witwicky (G1)|Spike Witwicky]] (2)
*[[Sparkplug Witwicky]] (7)
*[[Haley]] (10)
*Air Traffic Controllers (27)
*Pilot (28)
*Railroad workers (29)
*Meteorologist (31)
*Motorists (34)
}}

==Quotes==
'''Optimus''': My audio receptors! What is that noise?! 
'''Hoist''': Humans call it 'music'. 
'''Sparkplug''': Not ''this'' human! 
'''Jazz''': Sounds all right to me!
:—Sparkplug and the Autobots share their opinions on Blaster's choice in music.

"The Earth is but a speck on the arm of the universe."
:—'''Human scientist''' bolstering his race's importance in the cosmos.

"Blaster! Decrease volume! ... Blaster! '''SHUT UP!'''"
:—'''Optimus Prime''' in another fine example of subordinate management.

'''Professor Haley''': Where are you? In another galaxy? 
'''Megatron''': ''Much'' closer than '''that!!''' Huhu~hwa~ha~hahaha!! Haha~hahaha!!
: - '''Megatron''' enjoying this attempt at comedy ''so'' much that only a '''double''' evil-laugh would be worthy of this-week's joke.

'''Ironhide''': Where did the call originate? 
'''Optimus''': I don't know! All I can hear is that blasted Blaster!
:—[[Peter Cullen]]'s annoyance at Blaster's loud music.

"Hey, talk about no place. I can't even get a bottom 40 station out here."
:—'''Blaster''' doesn't enjoy outer space duty inside Cosmos.

"It's Blaster!" 
"Why that son of an 8-track."
:—'''Ratchet''' and '''Trailbreaker'''

"Release Autobots, Megatron!" 
"Never!" 
"Reeeelease them!"
:—'''Omega Supreme''' adds some "hands on" pressure to dealing with '''Megatron'''

"Looks like the big boy needs a little training!"
:—'''Astrotrain''', proving the pun is indeed mightier than the sword. Unfortunately, it's not as mighty as Omega Supreme.

==Notes==
===Animation or technical glitches===
* The rock band at the concert is playing ''two songs at once'', both "[[Cold Slither]]" and the generic big band/hard rock song. "Cold Slither" is missing a moment later when Blaster sends the music to the Autobots.
* The arena's seats have more than a seat's width between them. The owners must've been expecting some ''seriously'' fat patrons.
* Cosmos's voice in his first couple of lines lacks his usual self-echo.
* As Megatron gloats on top of the observatory, his laugh plays over itself (ie, the same laugh twice).
* Improbable viewpoints:
** So Blaster sends the music from the concert to the Autobots. How does he manage to send a 3rd-person view of ''himself'' at the same time?
** Do Tracks and Huffer have a video camera with them to report in to Prime?
** Does Prime have a camera stationed at the city docks to show Powerglide flying in aimless circles?
* The reporter at the observatory has already written down Professor Haley's words before he's finished saying them.
* Recycled footage:
** Prime's trailer rolling in from offscreen seems to be recycled from "[[The Ultimate Doom, Part 2]]".
** The shot of Ironhide, Trailbreaker and Hound converting to vehicle mode is lifted from "[[Atlantis, Arise!]]"
** The pan of Sunstreaker and Sideswipe transforming comes right out of "[[More than Meets the Eye, Part 1]]".
** The same "MTMTE1" scene is mined again to show Trailbreaker transforming as the Autobots deploy to deal with the loss of radio communications.
* Astrotrain has no transformation sound effect as he leaves the tunnel and converts from train to shuttle.
* Trailbreaker's eyeband is black instead of blue as Optimus quizzes the professor about the Voltronic Galaxer. The points of his cheeks are colored blue instead.
* Appearing/disappearing Autobots: Prime's initial squad fluctuates all over the place.
** The initial group receiving the transmission is Prime, Jazz, Ratchet, Ironhide, Hoist & Cliffjumper.
** Mirage, Sideswipe, Sunstreaker and Hound show up to transform prior to rolling out, and are not seen again. Trailbreaker shows up at the same time.
** Bumblebee, Wheeljack, and Prowl (or maybe Bluestreak) show up as the Autobots depart.
** The group that finally arrives at the observatory is Prime, Jazz, Ratchet, Ironhide, Hoist, Bumblebee & Trailbreaker, which means we've lost seven guys.
* Powerglide's cockpit has changed from a fighter-plane-like single-seater (seen in "[[Dinobot Island, Part 1]]"), to a side-by-side like a passenger jet.
* Cosmos's "cap" is green instead of red as he lands on the Moon.
* "This your idea of a joke?" Blaster's line lacks the usual processing.
* Red Alert's "horns" flash orange. Last time, they flashed blue.
* Despite knowing about the pending attack, Red Alert keeps shooting at the trees. It seems likely that the animators recycled previous footage, perhaps not realizing he should be aiming skyward.
* Prowl's head crest is white instead of red as he closes Ratchet's passenger compartment (and can't Ratchet do that himself?)
* Whatever damage Powerglide sustained from Ramjet pretty much disappears after Spike puts the jetpack on him.
* Blaster first pushes his left-most button. Later, it's the middle two that are deployed. After Megatron kicks him, all but one are engaged.
* The whole sequence of Megatron discovering Blaster's subterfuge is a bit wonky. Blaster sniggers loudly, Megatron suddenly says "What was that?", then there's a beep and the rock music is heard. The animators/sound guys seem to have not quite gotten the sequence of events down correctly.
* Blaster's forehead is red instead of white as Megatron threatens him.
* When Spike cheers on Omega Supreme, both his lips ''and'' Carly's are moving.
* When Astrotrain rams Omega Supreme's leg, Omega holds still for two seconds, then drops Megatron.
[[Image:Omegasupreme astrotrain.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Pretty damn big, that's how much.]]
* If Astrotrain is big enough to hold all the Decepticons, then how big does that make Omega Supreme in the picture to the right here?
* One gun, many lasers:
** When Optimus fires at the fleeing Megatron, he only has one gun, yet four or five lasers streak past Megatron.
* Blaster has four small switches on his chest for most of the episode (clearly seen as when Megatron kicks him towards the end), but is drawn with three large ones after Prime frees him.
* Cosmos's helmet is green instead of red as Prime frees Blaster (which, by the way, seems to consist of just helping him to his feet, rather than freeing him from any "welding" done by Astrotrain.)
* At the end of the episode, Blaster seemingly is supposed to be playing his rock tune yet again, complete with Prime yelling at him for it and the other Autobots chasing Blaster off into the sunset... but the music is missing. Oops!

===Continuity errors===
[[Image:Blasterbluesonthemoon.jpg|thumb|right|200px|"No no, it is totally worth risking the complete failure of the plan to have gloating rights over a couple of guys whose names I probably can't remember!"]]
* You have to wonder if Megatron thought out all the parts to this plan, given that it would be a lot easier for human society to adapt to life without radio, than life without electricity, petroleum and fossil fuels, and so on... Actually, how would we ''use'' said radio waves, without the power resources the 'Cons would strip out of the planet in exchange for ceasing their jamming?
* Furthermore, one might question the wisdom of leaving two conscious Autobots right across from the critical device... with one of them ''fully armed''.
* In a world full of Transformers running around on the evening news (and showing up in arcades, research labs, dams, power plants, and basically everywhere), why would a scientist still speak of alien life as though it were some unproved hypothesis?
[[Image:BlasterBlues Megatron voltronic galaxer.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Don't worry, this won't hurt a bit!]]
* In a rare instance of a falling human seeming to incur some actual injury, Professor Haley is apparently knocked unconscious by falling off the Voltronic Galaxer. Of course, he's up and (literally) running by the time the Autobots arrive (and still hanging out inside the burning building, apparently).
* The passenger jets at the airport are shown swerving and maneuvering as though they were small-scaled fighters.
* Maybe Astrotrain's alternate mode ''does'' make sense in the bizarre world of cartoon Earth... because the railroad workers are trying to clear the track for a ''steam locomotive''.
* One of the railroad men says he will "radio [the train] to the auxiliary track", but no other track is actually shown.
* Only one guy leaps clear of the steam engine. Where's the fireman?
* Okay, so it's great that Optimus is directing traffic at this one airport, but... what about the hundreds of other airports out there? Much like "[[The Ultimate Doom, Part 2]]", the Autobots seem to lack a plan to deal with the actual ''cause'' of the problems.
* If Powerglide's jet pack is ''out of fuel'', then ''how does he keep flying??''
* Ratchet's team was mostly in robot mode when they were buried. They emerge from the snow in vehicle mode. Also, all the buried and exploded cars have vanished.
* Does Omega Supreme just keep some human-sized space suits handy? 'Cause Spike and Carly suddenly pop up in space suits when it's time to go to the Moon.
* Did stadium security not notice the recording device that is Blaster? Or did they want the live concert all over the <strike>internet</strike> Autobot broadcast channels?

===A loony lunar lineup of astronomical errors===
* Cosmos, Astrotrain, and all the rest get full sound effects in outer space. Of course, media of far higher caliber than ''The Transformers'' have made the same error, generally because it'd be pretty boring to watch a bunch of silent ships fly around, so we'll let this one slide.
* The depicted activities of any Transformer on the Moon do not bear any resemblance to the movements of creatures under gravity one-sixth that of Earth's own.
* Cosmos really shouldn't have to switch off his engines once he reaches the Moon; he should have just switched them off as soon as he escaped Earth's gravity well.
* Blaster somehow manages to ''listen'' in on the Decepticons across the airless surface of the Moon.
* The burning [[Decepticon moonbase]] continues burning and trailing smoke as if it were in an atmosphere.
* Carly: "I've never been to the Moon before!" NO. REALLY??

===Continuity notes===
[[Image:Blasterbluestrailerchase.jpg|right|200px|thumb|Last one out of the parking lot gets stuck with the check.]]
[[Image:Trailbreakerdance.jpg|thumb|right|200px|I... AM... '''''TRAILBREAKER!!!''''']]
* Jazz has righteous moves, but they are limited by his bulky body.
* Gadgets and powers:
** Blaster's boom box mode in the opening scenes is as tall as a human.
** Red Alert's "horns" flash to indicate Decepticon activity, just like in "[[Auto Berserk]]". This time they're orange, though.
** Ratchet and the rest can deploy tire studs to deal with snow-covered roads.
** Hoist deploys a long snakey tentacle with a claw at the end to catch a falling motorist. How many devices can he [[Auto Berserk|carry]], anyway??
** This time, Trailbreaker's forcefield just kind of radiates out of thin air in front of his head. He's able to form it into a dome, which he can then place where he wants it... but, to his later misfortune, he remains outside the dome himself.
** Powerglide can deploy a suction cup line capable of carrying wounded Autobots around like limp ragdolls, leaving them flapping in the breeze.... say, aren't you supposed to ''not move'' the injured?
** Omega Supreme clearly leaves most of himself behind when he launches for the Moon. When he arrives there, he lands in rocket mode amid a cloud of smoke... and when the smoke clears, the left-behind bits have appeared. Later, he transforms out of just the rocket (conveniently off-screen) while in mid-flight.
* Where's the trailer go?:
** During the scene at the observatory, Optimus transforms and drives away, and there is an extended moment where his trailer drives off after him to catch up.
* The joy of size changing: Blaster rides inside Cosmos to the Moon, and in the next scene Cosmos and Blaster are side by side and Blaster is almost twice as tall as Cosmos.
* Omega Supreme actually uses whole sentences in this episode. That's just crazy.

===Real-world references===
* ''[[Star Wars (film)|Star Wars]]'' sound effects:
** ''Millennium Falcon'' engine burst is strangely repurposed as the burning fires at the observatory as the Decepticons close in.
** X-Wings diving, ''Falcon'' engine burst, and Death Star superlaser all in a row as the Decepticons launch from the observatory.
** ''Falcon'' engine burst as Megatron takes off from Astrotrain
** X-Wings diving as the 'cons fly aboard Astrotrain
** Death Star superlaser as Astrotrain pursues Cosmos.
** TIE Fighter engine as Cosmos evades.
** The Death Star door slide is used as a steam engine sound effect.
** A Stormtrooper's laser gun is used to soundtrack Ramjet and Thundercracker's attack on Inferno and Red Alert, possibly taken from when Luke & Han ambush the stormtroopers aboard the ''Falcon''.
** ''Falcon'' engine burst as Megatron launches from the Moon.
* Trailbreaker mentions 8-tracks. Did kids in 1985 even know what an 8-track is?
* "Bang, zoom, to the Moon!" - Powerglide's line is a play on a signature line of Ralph Kramden from ''[[The Honeymooners]]''...whose actor Jackie Gleason was also the inspiration for Powerglide's voice.
* "Parting is such sweet sorrow!" - Megatron prepares to kill Prime while quoting one of Shakespeare's most famous lines.

===Trivia===
* Seriously. "I've never been to the Moon before!"
** Although, to her credit, she did just come back from Cybertron in the previous episode. Maybe she is expecting to be taken to inter-planetary destinations every episode?

==Home video releases==
{{homevidnote}}
;Laserdisc
[[Image:Flag of Japan.png|20px|Japan]] 1995 — ''Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers'' — Megatron Set ([[TakaraTomy|Takara]]) — Japanese audio only. 
[[Image:Flag of Japan.png|20px|Japan]] 1999 — ''The Transformers'' — Decepticon Edition ([[Geneon Universal Entertainment|Pioneer LDC]]) — Japanese audio only.
;DVD
[[Image:Flag of Japan.png|20px|Japan]] 2001 — ''The Transformers'' — DVD Box 2 (Pioneer LDC) — Japanese audio only. 
[[Image:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 2002 — ''The Original Transformers'' — Season 2 Part 1 ([[The Original Transformers|Rhino Entertainment]]) 
[[Image:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 2002 — ''The Original Transformers'' — Season 2 Part 1: Vol. 4 (Rhino Entertainment) 
[[Image:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 2003 — ''Transformers'' — Season 2 Part 1 ([[Metrodome]]) 
[[Image:Flag of Australia.png|20px|Australia]] 2004 — ''Transformers'' — Collection 2: Series 2.1 ([[Madman Entertainment]]) 
[[Image:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 2006 — ''Transformers'' — The Complete Generation One Collection (Metrodome) 
[[Image:Flag of Australia.png|20px|Australia]] 2007 — ''The Transformers'' — Complete Collection (Madman Entertainment) 
[[Image:Flag of Italy.png|20px|Italy]] 2008 — ''Transformers'' — Volume 04: Stagione Due Parte Seconda ([[Medianetwork Communication]]) — English and Italian audio. 
[[Image:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 2009 — ''Transformers'' — Season Two: Part One (Metrodome) 
[[Image:Flag of Australia.png|20px|Australia]] 2009 — ''The Transformers'' — Complete Collection: Decepticon Edition (Madman Entertainment) 
[[Image:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 2009 — ''The Transformers'' — Season Two, Volume One: 25th Anniversary Edition ([[Shout! Factory]]) 
[[Image:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 2009 — ''The Transformers'' — The Complete Series: 25th Anniversary "Matrix of Leadership" Collection (Shout! Factory)

==External links==
*[http://cybertronchronicle.freewebspace.com/cartoon-dossier/synopses/blaster_blues.html Dossier at the Cybertron Chronicle]

[[Category:Generation 1 episodes]]
[[Category:Generation 2 episodes]]

Blaster Blues

2012-05-11T16:28:17Z

1.162.95.146: /* Quotes */

{{episode
|series=G1toon
|ep=39
|series2=SRLFtoon
|ep2=50
|prev2=The Core
|next2=Prime Target (episode)
|series3=''[[Generation 2 (cartoon)|The Transformers: Generation 2]]''
|ep3=34
|prev3=Microbots
|next3=Sea Change
|image=BlasterBlues Megatron threatens Blaster.jpg
|caption=
|title="Blaster Blues"
|production code=#700-38
|airdate=[[October 23]], 1985
|written by=[[Larry Strauss]]
|production company=[[Sunbow Productions]]
|animation studio=[[Toei]]
|continuity=[[Generation 1 cartoon continuity]]
}}

'''The Decepticons hijack Earth's airwaves. Yet somehow, you are still able to watch this episode.'''

:''Japanese title:'' ブロードキャスト・ブルース (''Broadcast Blues'')
:''Italian title, dub 1:'' '''La città delle stelle''' ("City of the stars")
:''Italian title, dub 2:'' '''Il Blues di Blaster''' ("Blaster's blues")

==Synopsis==
[[Image:Blasterbluesconcertcrowd.jpg|left|200px|thumb|Did Spike and Carly take an Autobot on all of their dates?]]

[[Spike Witwicky (G1)|Spike]] and [[Carly]] are at a rock concert, having taken [[Blaster (G1)|Blaster]] along for the music. Enjoying the concert, Spike wishes that the rest of the [[Autobot]]s could hear the music, so Blaster begins transmitting to all of them. Off in space, [[Cosmos (G1)|Cosmos]] gets a real kick out of the music.

At the [[Ark (G1)|Autobot base]], [[Optimus Prime (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Optimus Prime]] and [[Sparkplug Witwicky|Sparkplug]] are observing [[Omega Supreme (G1)|Omega Supreme]]'s target practice on [[Teletraan I (G1)|Teletraan I]], when Blaster's music from the concert begins playing on their channel. Sparkplug and most of the Autobots are not enjoying the overwhelming volume, but [[Jazz (G1)|Jazz]] gets the chance to show off his dancing skills.

At the [[Haley Observatory]], [[Haley|Professor Haley]] introduces his new creation, the [[Voltronic Galaxer]], to his fellow scientists. The device is intended to translate Earth's recordings into other languages and broadcast them into space, in search of intelligent life. Seemingly, the Transformers don't count. During his first test of the device, the scientist is quite surprised when he gets a response... which turns to horror when he sees it's the Decepticons. [[Starscream (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Starscream]], as he is oft wont to do, begins firing randomly, but [[Megatron (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Megatron]] orders him to stop, saying that they need the Voltronic Galaxer.

At the Autobot base, Optimus Prime is so annoyed by the music that he outright tells Blaster to "shut up", but to no avail. Only a distress call from the scientist finally gets Blaster to stop. After the Autobots arrive at the observatory, they find that the Decepticons have already fled with their prize. Optimus Prime vows to find it and bring the Voltronic Galaxer back.

[[Image:Blasterbluesprimedirectstraffic.jpg|right|200px|thumb|Prime's day job]]

Splitting up into groups, the Autobots begin the search. [[Powerglide (G1)|Powerglide]], Spike and Carly have already searched half the hemisphere, while Cosmos and Blaster are searching outer space. They locate the Decepticons in a [[Decepticon moonbase|base]] on the [[Moon (moon)|Moon]], where Megatron is plotting to take control of Earth's radio airwaves. Blaster and Cosmos are caught, however, before they can contact the Autobots. Blaster is forced into use as a transcrambler, while Cosmos powers the device. Megatron orders the [[Seeker (body-type)|Seekers]] to return to Earth as the radio blackout commences.

On Earth, the communications blackout is scrambling even the Autobots' radio channels. [[Red Alert (G1)|Red Alert]] and [[Inferno (G1)|Inferno]] barely manage to stop a forest fire, while [[Prowl (G1)|Prowl]], [[Ratchet (G1)|Ratchet]], [[Hoist (G1)|Hoist]], and [[Trailbreaker (G1)|Trailbreaker]] free motorists trapped on a frozen highway, where [[Dirge (G1)|Dirge]] and [[Ramjet (G1)|Ramjet]] attack.

[[Image:Blasterbluespgcarriesprime.jpg|left|200px|thumb|I'm not paid enough to carry this around.]]

At an airport, Powerglide is attempting to land, when Starscream and [[Thundercracker (G1)|Thundercracker]] attack, damaging both Powerglide and Optimus Prime. Spike manages to strap a jet pack onto Powerglide, giving him some extra boost. As Megatron begins broadcasting his demands to Earth, Blaster plays music from the concert on the same channel. Carly recognizes the tunes and manages to track the transmission back to the Moon. They head for the Autobot base. Carly does some quick repairs on Optimus then the two teens and Powerglide load Prime onto Omega, who takes them to space.

Once Omega lands on the Moon, Megatron and Astrotrain attack him. Omega manages to get his hand on Megatron, but Astrotrain rams Omega in train mode, causing him to release Megatron. Astrotrain then flees and Omega transforms into rocket mode and follows. Seeing Optimus Prime defenseless, Megatron decides to hit him while he's down, only for the [[Prime (rank)|Autobot leader]] to reactivate just in time to defend himself.

[[Image:Blasterbluesop%26mdance.jpg|right|200px|thumb|One shall stand and one shall... oh, you know the drill.]]

With no one to guard them, Blaster and Cosmos cause the voltronic galaxer to receive feedback and explode. Seeing his latest technology ruined, Megatron retreats. After freeing them, Blaster mentions that he could rebuild the Decepticon moonbase into a new Autobot base. Cosmos likes the idea, as it would give him some company. Optimus agrees, but orders him to keep an eye on his volume.

Soon, however, Blaster is back to transmitting loud rock music over the air waves again. Some stereos never learn.

{{--}}

==Featured characters==
{{featuredcharacters
|c1=
*[[Blaster (G1)|Blaster]] (3)
*[[Cosmos (G1)|Cosmos]] (4)
*[[Optimus Prime (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Optimus Prime]] (5)
*[[Omega Supreme (G1)|Omega Supreme]] (6)
*[[Jazz (G1)|Jazz]] (8)
*[[Hoist (G1)|Hoist]] (9)
*[[Ironhide (G1)|Ironhide]] (14)
*[[Ratchet (G1)|Ratchet]] (15)
*[[Cliffjumper (G1)|Cliffjumper]] (16)
*[[Hound (G1)|Hound]] (17)
*[[Trailbreaker (G1)|Trailbreaker]] (18)
*[[Sunstreaker (G1)|Sunstreaker]] (19)
*[[Sideswipe (G1)|Sideswipe]] (20)
*[[Mirage (G1)|Mirage]] (21)
*[[Bumblebee (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Bumblebee]] (22)
*[[Huffer (G1)|Huffer]] (24)
*[[Tracks (G1)|Tracks]] (25)
*[[Powerglide (G1)|Powerglide]] (26)
*[[Red Alert (G1)|Red Alert]] (30)
*[[Inferno (G1)|Inferno]] (31)
*[[Prowl (G1)|Prowl]] (33)

|c2=
*[[Thundercracker (G1)|Thundercracker]] (11)
*[[Megatron (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Megatron]] (12)
*[[Starscream (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Starscream]] (13)
*[[Astrotrain (G1)|Astrotrain]] (23)
*[[Ramjet (G1)|Ramjet]] (35)
*[[Dirge (G1)|Dirge]] (36)

|c3=
*[[Carly]] (1)
*[[Spike Witwicky (G1)|Spike Witwicky]] (2)
*[[Sparkplug Witwicky]] (7)
*[[Haley]] (10)
*Air Traffic Controllers (27)
*Pilot (28)
*Railroad workers (29)
*Meteorologist (31)
*Motorists (34)
}}

==Quotes==
'''Optimus''': My audio receptors! What is that noise?! 
'''Hoist''': Humans call it 'music'. 
'''Sparkplug''': Not ''this'' human! 
'''Jazz''': Sounds all right to me!
:—Sparkplug and the Autobots share their opinions on Blaster's choice in music.

"The Earth is but a speck on the arm of the universe."
:—'''Human scientist''' bolstering his race's importance in the cosmos.

"Blaster! Decrease volume! ... Blaster! '''SHUT UP!'''"
:—'''Optimus Prime''' in another fine example of subordinate management.

'''Professor Haley''': Where are you? In another galaxy? 
'''Megatron''': ''Much'' closer than '''that!!''' Huhu~hwa~ha~hahaha!! Haha~hahaha!!
: - '''Megatron''' enjoying this attempt at comedy ''so'' much that only a '''double''' evil-laugh would be worthy of this-week's joke.

'''Ironhide''': Where did the call originate? 
'''Optimus''': I don't know! All I can hear is that blasted Blaster!
:—[[Peter Cullen]]'s annoyance at Blaster's loud music.

"Hey, talk about no place. I can't even get a bottom 40 station out here."
:—'''Blaster''' doesn't enjoy outer space duty inside Cosmos.

"It's Blaster!" 
"Why that son of an 8-track."
:—'''Ratchet''' and '''Trailbreaker'''

"Release Autobots, Megatron!" 
"Never!" 
"Reeeelease them!"
:—'''Omega Supreme''' adds some "hands on" pressure to dealing with '''Megatron'''

"Looks like the big boy needs a little training!"
:—'''Astrotrain''', proving the pun is indeed mightier than the sword. Unfortunately, it's not as mighty as Omega Supreme.

==Notes==
===Animation or technical glitches===
* The rock band at the concert is playing ''two songs at once'', both "[[Cold Slither]]" and the generic big band/hard rock song. "Cold Slither" is missing a moment later when Blaster sends the music to the Autobots.
* The arena's seats have more than a seat's width between them. The owners must've been expecting some ''seriously'' fat patrons.
* Cosmos's voice in his first couple of lines lacks his usual self-echo.
* As Megatron gloats on top of the observatory, his laugh plays over itself (ie, the same laugh twice).
* Improbable viewpoints:
** So Blaster sends the music from the concert to the Autobots. How does he manage to send a 3rd-person view of ''himself'' at the same time?
** Do Tracks and Huffer have a video camera with them to report in to Prime?
** Does Prime have a camera stationed at the city docks to show Powerglide flying in aimless circles?
* The reporter at the observatory has already written down Professor Haley's words before he's finished saying them.
* Recycled footage:
** Prime's trailer rolling in from offscreen seems to be recycled from "[[The Ultimate Doom, Part 2]]".
** The shot of Ironhide, Trailbreaker and Hound converting to vehicle mode is lifted from "[[Atlantis, Arise!]]"
** The pan of Sunstreaker and Sideswipe transforming comes right out of "[[More than Meets the Eye, Part 1]]".
** The same "MTMTE1" scene is mined again to show Trailbreaker transforming as the Autobots deploy to deal with the loss of radio communications.
* Astrotrain has no transformation sound effect as he leaves the tunnel and converts from train to shuttle.
* Trailbreaker's eyeband is black instead of blue as Optimus quizzes the professor about the Voltronic Galaxer. The points of his cheeks are colored blue instead.
* Appearing/disappearing Autobots: Prime's initial squad fluctuates all over the place.
** The initial group receiving the transmission is Prime, Jazz, Ratchet, Ironhide, Hoist & Cliffjumper.
** Mirage, Sideswipe, Sunstreaker and Hound show up to transform prior to rolling out, and are not seen again. Trailbreaker shows up at the same time.
** Bumblebee, Wheeljack, and Prowl (or maybe Bluestreak) show up as the Autobots depart.
** The group that finally arrives at the observatory is Prime, Jazz, Ratchet, Ironhide, Hoist, Bumblebee & Trailbreaker, which means we've lost seven guys.
* Powerglide's cockpit has changed from a fighter-plane-like single-seater (seen in "[[Dinobot Island, Part 1]]"), to a side-by-side like a passenger jet.
* Cosmos's "cap" is green instead of red as he lands on the Moon.
* "This your idea of a joke?" Blaster's line lacks the usual processing.
* Red Alert's "horns" flash orange. Last time, they flashed blue.
* Despite knowing about the pending attack, Red Alert keeps shooting at the trees. It seems likely that the animators recycled previous footage, perhaps not realizing he should be aiming skyward.
* Prowl's head crest is white instead of red as he closes Ratchet's passenger compartment (and can't Ratchet do that himself?)
* Whatever damage Powerglide sustained from Ramjet pretty much disappears after Spike puts the jetpack on him.
* Blaster first pushes his left-most button. Later, it's the middle two that are deployed. After Megatron kicks him, all but one are engaged.
* The whole sequence of Megatron discovering Blaster's subterfuge is a bit wonky. Blaster sniggers loudly, Megatron suddenly says "What was that?", then there's a beep and the rock music is heard. The animators/sound guys seem to have not quite gotten the sequence of events down correctly.
* Blaster's forehead is red instead of white as Megatron threatens him.
* When Spike cheers on Omega Supreme, both his lips ''and'' Carly's are moving.
* When Astrotrain rams Omega Supreme's leg, Omega holds still for two seconds, then drops Megatron.
[[Image:Omegasupreme astrotrain.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Pretty damn big, that's how much.]]
* If Astrotrain is big enough to hold all the Decepticons, then how big does that make Omega Supreme in the picture to the right here?
* One gun, many lasers:
** When Optimus fires at the fleeing Megatron, he only has one gun, yet four or five lasers streak past Megatron.
* Blaster has four small switches on his chest for most of the episode (clearly seen as when Megatron kicks him towards the end), but is drawn with three large ones after Prime frees him.
* Cosmos's helmet is green instead of red as Prime frees Blaster (which, by the way, seems to consist of just helping him to his feet, rather than freeing him from any "welding" done by Astrotrain.)
* At the end of the episode, Blaster seemingly is supposed to be playing his rock tune yet again, complete with Prime yelling at him for it and the other Autobots chasing Blaster off into the sunset... but the music is missing. Oops!

===Continuity errors===
[[Image:Blasterbluesonthemoon.jpg|thumb|right|200px|"No no, it is totally worth risking the complete failure of the plan to have gloating rights over a couple of guys whose names I probably can't remember!"]]
* You have to wonder if Megatron thought out all the parts to this plan, given that it would be a lot easier for human society to adapt to life without radio, than life without electricity, petroleum and fossil fuels, and so on... Actually, how would we ''use'' said radio waves, without the power resources the 'Cons would strip out of the planet in exchange for ceasing their jamming?
* Furthermore, one might question the wisdom of leaving two conscious Autobots right across from the critical device... with one of them ''fully armed''.
* In a world full of Transformers running around on the evening news (and showing up in arcades, research labs, dams, power plants, and basically everywhere), why would a scientist still speak of alien life as though it were some unproved hypothesis?
[[Image:BlasterBlues Megatron voltronic galaxer.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Don't worry, this won't hurt a bit!]]
* In a rare instance of a falling human seeming to incur some actual injury, Professor Haley is apparently knocked unconscious by falling off the Voltronic Galaxer. Of course, he's up and (literally) running by the time the Autobots arrive (and still hanging out inside the burning building, apparently).
* The passenger jets at the airport are shown swerving and maneuvering as though they were small-scaled fighters.
* Maybe Astrotrain's alternate mode ''does'' make sense in the bizarre world of cartoon Earth... because the railroad workers are trying to clear the track for a ''steam locomotive''.
* One of the railroad men says he will "radio [the train] to the auxiliary track", but no other track is actually shown.
* Only one guy leaps clear of the steam engine. Where's the fireman?
* Okay, so it's great that Optimus is directing traffic at this one airport, but... what about the hundreds of other airports out there? Much like "[[The Ultimate Doom, Part 2]]", the Autobots seem to lack a plan to deal with the actual ''cause'' of the problems.
* If Powerglide's jet pack is ''out of fuel'', then ''how does he keep flying??''
* Ratchet's team was mostly in robot mode when they were buried. They emerge from the snow in vehicle mode. Also, all the buried and exploded cars have vanished.
* Does Omega Supreme just keep some human-sized space suits handy? 'Cause Spike and Carly suddenly pop up in space suits when it's time to go to the Moon.
* Did stadium security not notice the recording device that is Blaster? Or did they want the live concert all over the <strike>internet</strike> Autobot broadcast channels?

===A loony lunar lineup of astronomical errors===
* Cosmos, Astrotrain, and all the rest get full sound effects in outer space. Of course, media of far higher caliber than ''The Transformers'' have made the same error, generally because it'd be pretty boring to watch a bunch of silent ships fly around, so we'll let this one slide.
* The depicted activities of any Transformer on the Moon do not bear any resemblance to the movements of creatures under gravity one-sixth that of Earth's own.
* Cosmos really shouldn't have to switch off his engines once he reaches the Moon; he should have just switched them off as soon as he escaped Earth's gravity well.
* Blaster somehow manages to ''listen'' in on the Decepticons across the airless surface of the Moon.
* The burning [[Decepticon moonbase]] continues burning and trailing smoke as if it were in an atmosphere.
* Carly: "I've never been to the Moon before!" NO. REALLY??

===Continuity notes===
[[Image:Blasterbluestrailerchase.jpg|right|200px|thumb|Last one out of the parking lot gets stuck with the check.]]
[[Image:Trailbreakerdance.jpg|thumb|right|200px|I... AM... '''''TRAILBREAKER!!!''''']]
* Jazz has righteous moves, but they are limited by his bulky body.
* Gadgets and powers:
** Blaster's boom box mode in the opening scenes is as tall as a human.
** Red Alert's "horns" flash to indicate Decepticon activity, just like in "[[Auto Berserk]]". This time they're orange, though.
** Ratchet and the rest can deploy tire studs to deal with snow-covered roads.
** Hoist deploys a long snakey tentacle with a claw at the end to catch a falling motorist. How many devices can he [[Auto Berserk|carry]], anyway??
** This time, Trailbreaker's forcefield just kind of radiates out of thin air in front of his head. He's able to form it into a dome, which he can then place where he wants it... but, to his later misfortune, he remains outside the dome himself.
** Powerglide can deploy a suction cup line capable of carrying wounded Autobots around like limp ragdolls, leaving them flapping in the breeze.... say, aren't you supposed to ''not move'' the injured?
** Omega Supreme clearly leaves most of himself behind when he launches for the Moon. When he arrives there, he lands in rocket mode amid a cloud of smoke... and when the smoke clears, the left-behind bits have appeared. Later, he transforms out of just the rocket (conveniently off-screen) while in mid-flight.
* Where's the trailer go?:
** During the scene at the observatory, Optimus transforms and drives away, and there is an extended moment where his trailer drives off after him to catch up.
* The joy of size changing: Blaster rides inside Cosmos to the Moon, and in the next scene Cosmos and Blaster are side by side and Blaster is almost twice as tall as Cosmos.
* Omega Supreme actually uses whole sentences in this episode. That's just crazy.

===Real-world references===
* ''[[Star Wars (film)|Star Wars]]'' sound effects:
** ''Millennium Falcon'' engine burst is strangely repurposed as the burning fires at the observatory as the Decepticons close in.
** X-Wings diving, ''Falcon'' engine burst, and Death Star superlaser all in a row as the Decepticons launch from the observatory.
** ''Falcon'' engine burst as Megatron takes off from Astrotrain
** X-Wings diving as the 'cons fly aboard Astrotrain
** Death Star superlaser as Astrotrain pursues Cosmos.
** TIE Fighter engine as Cosmos evades.
** The Death Star door slide is used as a steam engine sound effect.
** A Stormtrooper's laser gun is used to soundtrack Ramjet and Thundercracker's attack on Inferno and Red Alert, possibly taken from when Luke & Han ambush the stormtroopers aboard the ''Falcon''.
** ''Falcon'' engine burst as Megatron launches from the Moon.
* Trailbreaker mentions 8-tracks. Did kids in 1985 even know what an 8-track is?
* "Bang, zoom, to the Moon!" - Powerglide's line is a play on a signature line of Ralph Kramden from ''[[The Honeymooners]]''...whose actor Jackie Gleason was also the inspiration for Powerglide's voice.
* "Parting is such sweet sorrow!" - Megatron prepares to kill Prime while quoting one of Shakespeare's most famous lines.

===Trivia===
* Seriously. "I've never been to the Moon before!"
** Although, to her credit, she did just come back from Cybertron in the previous episode. Maybe she is expecting to be taken to inter-planetary destinations every episode?

==Home video releases==
{{homevidnote}}
;Laserdisc
[[Image:Flag of Japan.png|20px|Japan]] 1995 — ''Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers'' — Megatron Set ([[TakaraTomy|Takara]]) — Japanese audio only. 
[[Image:Flag of Japan.png|20px|Japan]] 1999 — ''The Transformers'' — Decepticon Edition ([[Geneon Universal Entertainment|Pioneer LDC]]) — Japanese audio only.
;DVD
[[Image:Flag of Japan.png|20px|Japan]] 2001 — ''The Transformers'' — DVD Box 2 (Pioneer LDC) — Japanese audio only. 
[[Image:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 2002 — ''The Original Transformers'' — Season 2 Part 1 ([[The Original Transformers|Rhino Entertainment]]) 
[[Image:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 2002 — ''The Original Transformers'' — Season 2 Part 1: Vol. 4 (Rhino Entertainment) 
[[Image:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 2003 — ''Transformers'' — Season 2 Part 1 ([[Metrodome]]) 
[[Image:Flag of Australia.png|20px|Australia]] 2004 — ''Transformers'' — Collection 2: Series 2.1 ([[Madman Entertainment]]) 
[[Image:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 2006 — ''Transformers'' — The Complete Generation One Collection (Metrodome) 
[[Image:Flag of Australia.png|20px|Australia]] 2007 — ''The Transformers'' — Complete Collection (Madman Entertainment) 
[[Image:Flag of Italy.png|20px|Italy]] 2008 — ''Transformers'' — Volume 04: Stagione Due Parte Seconda ([[Medianetwork Communication]]) — English and Italian audio. 
[[Image:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 2009 — ''Transformers'' — Season Two: Part One (Metrodome) 
[[Image:Flag of Australia.png|20px|Australia]] 2009 — ''The Transformers'' — Complete Collection: Decepticon Edition (Madman Entertainment) 
[[Image:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 2009 — ''The Transformers'' — Season Two, Volume One: 25th Anniversary Edition ([[Shout! Factory]]) 
[[Image:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 2009 — ''The Transformers'' — The Complete Series: 25th Anniversary "Matrix of Leadership" Collection (Shout! Factory)

==External links==
*[http://cybertronchronicle.freewebspace.com/cartoon-dossier/synopses/blaster_blues.html Dossier at the Cybertron Chronicle]

[[Category:Generation 1 episodes]]
[[Category:Generation 2 episodes]]

Blaster Blues

2012-05-11T16:27:21Z

1.162.95.146: /* Quotes */

{{episode
|series=G1toon
|ep=39
|series2=SRLFtoon
|ep2=50
|prev2=The Core
|next2=Prime Target (episode)
|series3=''[[Generation 2 (cartoon)|The Transformers: Generation 2]]''
|ep3=34
|prev3=Microbots
|next3=Sea Change
|image=BlasterBlues Megatron threatens Blaster.jpg
|caption=
|title="Blaster Blues"
|production code=#700-38
|airdate=[[October 23]], 1985
|written by=[[Larry Strauss]]
|production company=[[Sunbow Productions]]
|animation studio=[[Toei]]
|continuity=[[Generation 1 cartoon continuity]]
}}

'''The Decepticons hijack Earth's airwaves. Yet somehow, you are still able to watch this episode.'''

:''Japanese title:'' ブロードキャスト・ブルース (''Broadcast Blues'')
:''Italian title, dub 1:'' '''La città delle stelle''' ("City of the stars")
:''Italian title, dub 2:'' '''Il Blues di Blaster''' ("Blaster's blues")

==Synopsis==
[[Image:Blasterbluesconcertcrowd.jpg|left|200px|thumb|Did Spike and Carly take an Autobot on all of their dates?]]

[[Spike Witwicky (G1)|Spike]] and [[Carly]] are at a rock concert, having taken [[Blaster (G1)|Blaster]] along for the music. Enjoying the concert, Spike wishes that the rest of the [[Autobot]]s could hear the music, so Blaster begins transmitting to all of them. Off in space, [[Cosmos (G1)|Cosmos]] gets a real kick out of the music.

At the [[Ark (G1)|Autobot base]], [[Optimus Prime (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Optimus Prime]] and [[Sparkplug Witwicky|Sparkplug]] are observing [[Omega Supreme (G1)|Omega Supreme]]'s target practice on [[Teletraan I (G1)|Teletraan I]], when Blaster's music from the concert begins playing on their channel. Sparkplug and most of the Autobots are not enjoying the overwhelming volume, but [[Jazz (G1)|Jazz]] gets the chance to show off his dancing skills.

At the [[Haley Observatory]], [[Haley|Professor Haley]] introduces his new creation, the [[Voltronic Galaxer]], to his fellow scientists. The device is intended to translate Earth's recordings into other languages and broadcast them into space, in search of intelligent life. Seemingly, the Transformers don't count. During his first test of the device, the scientist is quite surprised when he gets a response... which turns to horror when he sees it's the Decepticons. [[Starscream (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Starscream]], as he is oft wont to do, begins firing randomly, but [[Megatron (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Megatron]] orders him to stop, saying that they need the Voltronic Galaxer.

At the Autobot base, Optimus Prime is so annoyed by the music that he outright tells Blaster to "shut up", but to no avail. Only a distress call from the scientist finally gets Blaster to stop. After the Autobots arrive at the observatory, they find that the Decepticons have already fled with their prize. Optimus Prime vows to find it and bring the Voltronic Galaxer back.

[[Image:Blasterbluesprimedirectstraffic.jpg|right|200px|thumb|Prime's day job]]

Splitting up into groups, the Autobots begin the search. [[Powerglide (G1)|Powerglide]], Spike and Carly have already searched half the hemisphere, while Cosmos and Blaster are searching outer space. They locate the Decepticons in a [[Decepticon moonbase|base]] on the [[Moon (moon)|Moon]], where Megatron is plotting to take control of Earth's radio airwaves. Blaster and Cosmos are caught, however, before they can contact the Autobots. Blaster is forced into use as a transcrambler, while Cosmos powers the device. Megatron orders the [[Seeker (body-type)|Seekers]] to return to Earth as the radio blackout commences.

On Earth, the communications blackout is scrambling even the Autobots' radio channels. [[Red Alert (G1)|Red Alert]] and [[Inferno (G1)|Inferno]] barely manage to stop a forest fire, while [[Prowl (G1)|Prowl]], [[Ratchet (G1)|Ratchet]], [[Hoist (G1)|Hoist]], and [[Trailbreaker (G1)|Trailbreaker]] free motorists trapped on a frozen highway, where [[Dirge (G1)|Dirge]] and [[Ramjet (G1)|Ramjet]] attack.

[[Image:Blasterbluespgcarriesprime.jpg|left|200px|thumb|I'm not paid enough to carry this around.]]

At an airport, Powerglide is attempting to land, when Starscream and [[Thundercracker (G1)|Thundercracker]] attack, damaging both Powerglide and Optimus Prime. Spike manages to strap a jet pack onto Powerglide, giving him some extra boost. As Megatron begins broadcasting his demands to Earth, Blaster plays music from the concert on the same channel. Carly recognizes the tunes and manages to track the transmission back to the Moon. They head for the Autobot base. Carly does some quick repairs on Optimus then the two teens and Powerglide load Prime onto Omega, who takes them to space.

Once Omega lands on the Moon, Megatron and Astrotrain attack him. Omega manages to get his hand on Megatron, but Astrotrain rams Omega in train mode, causing him to release Megatron. Astrotrain then flees and Omega transforms into rocket mode and follows. Seeing Optimus Prime defenseless, Megatron decides to hit him while he's down, only for the [[Prime (rank)|Autobot leader]] to reactivate just in time to defend himself.

[[Image:Blasterbluesop%26mdance.jpg|right|200px|thumb|One shall stand and one shall... oh, you know the drill.]]

With no one to guard them, Blaster and Cosmos cause the voltronic galaxer to receive feedback and explode. Seeing his latest technology ruined, Megatron retreats. After freeing them, Blaster mentions that he could rebuild the Decepticon moonbase into a new Autobot base. Cosmos likes the idea, as it would give him some company. Optimus agrees, but orders him to keep an eye on his volume.

Soon, however, Blaster is back to transmitting loud rock music over the air waves again. Some stereos never learn.

{{--}}

==Featured characters==
{{featuredcharacters
|c1=
*[[Blaster (G1)|Blaster]] (3)
*[[Cosmos (G1)|Cosmos]] (4)
*[[Optimus Prime (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Optimus Prime]] (5)
*[[Omega Supreme (G1)|Omega Supreme]] (6)
*[[Jazz (G1)|Jazz]] (8)
*[[Hoist (G1)|Hoist]] (9)
*[[Ironhide (G1)|Ironhide]] (14)
*[[Ratchet (G1)|Ratchet]] (15)
*[[Cliffjumper (G1)|Cliffjumper]] (16)
*[[Hound (G1)|Hound]] (17)
*[[Trailbreaker (G1)|Trailbreaker]] (18)
*[[Sunstreaker (G1)|Sunstreaker]] (19)
*[[Sideswipe (G1)|Sideswipe]] (20)
*[[Mirage (G1)|Mirage]] (21)
*[[Bumblebee (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Bumblebee]] (22)
*[[Huffer (G1)|Huffer]] (24)
*[[Tracks (G1)|Tracks]] (25)
*[[Powerglide (G1)|Powerglide]] (26)
*[[Red Alert (G1)|Red Alert]] (30)
*[[Inferno (G1)|Inferno]] (31)
*[[Prowl (G1)|Prowl]] (33)

|c2=
*[[Thundercracker (G1)|Thundercracker]] (11)
*[[Megatron (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Megatron]] (12)
*[[Starscream (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Starscream]] (13)
*[[Astrotrain (G1)|Astrotrain]] (23)
*[[Ramjet (G1)|Ramjet]] (35)
*[[Dirge (G1)|Dirge]] (36)

|c3=
*[[Carly]] (1)
*[[Spike Witwicky (G1)|Spike Witwicky]] (2)
*[[Sparkplug Witwicky]] (7)
*[[Haley]] (10)
*Air Traffic Controllers (27)
*Pilot (28)
*Railroad workers (29)
*Meteorologist (31)
*Motorists (34)
}}

==Quotes==
'''Optimus''': My audio receptors! What is that noise?! 
'''Hoist''': Humans call it 'music'. 
'''Sparkplug''': Not ''this'' human! 
'''Jazz''': Sounds all right to me!
:—Sparkplug and the Autobots share their opinions on Blaster's choice in music.

"The Earth is but a speck on the arm of the universe."
:—'''Human scientist''' bolstering his race's importance in the cosmos.

"Blaster! Decrease volume! ... Blaster! '''SHUT UP!'''"
:—'''Optimus Prime''' in another fine example of subordinate management.

'''Professor Haley''': Where are you? In another galaxy? 
'''Megatron''': ''Much'' closer than '''that!!''' Huhu~hwa~ha~hahaha!! Haha~hahaha!! 
: - '''Megatron''' enjoying his attempts at being a comedian so much that only a '''double''' evil-laugh would be worthy of this-week's joke.

'''Ironhide''': Where did the call originate? 
'''Optimus''': I don't know! All I can hear is that blasted Blaster!
:—[[Peter Cullen]]'s annoyance at Blaster's loud music.

"Hey, talk about no place. I can't even get a bottom 40 station out here."
:—'''Blaster''' doesn't enjoy outer space duty inside Cosmos.

"It's Blaster!" 
"Why that son of an 8-track."
:—'''Ratchet''' and '''Trailbreaker'''

"Release Autobots, Megatron!" 
"Never!" 
"Reeeelease them!"
:—'''Omega Supreme''' adds some "hands on" pressure to dealing with '''Megatron'''

"Looks like the big boy needs a little training!"
:—'''Astrotrain''', proving the pun is indeed mightier than the sword. Unfortunately, it's not as mighty as Omega Supreme.

==Notes==
===Animation or technical glitches===
* The rock band at the concert is playing ''two songs at once'', both "[[Cold Slither]]" and the generic big band/hard rock song. "Cold Slither" is missing a moment later when Blaster sends the music to the Autobots.
* The arena's seats have more than a seat's width between them. The owners must've been expecting some ''seriously'' fat patrons.
* Cosmos's voice in his first couple of lines lacks his usual self-echo.
* As Megatron gloats on top of the observatory, his laugh plays over itself (ie, the same laugh twice).
* Improbable viewpoints:
** So Blaster sends the music from the concert to the Autobots. How does he manage to send a 3rd-person view of ''himself'' at the same time?
** Do Tracks and Huffer have a video camera with them to report in to Prime?
** Does Prime have a camera stationed at the city docks to show Powerglide flying in aimless circles?
* The reporter at the observatory has already written down Professor Haley's words before he's finished saying them.
* Recycled footage:
** Prime's trailer rolling in from offscreen seems to be recycled from "[[The Ultimate Doom, Part 2]]".
** The shot of Ironhide, Trailbreaker and Hound converting to vehicle mode is lifted from "[[Atlantis, Arise!]]"
** The pan of Sunstreaker and Sideswipe transforming comes right out of "[[More than Meets the Eye, Part 1]]".
** The same "MTMTE1" scene is mined again to show Trailbreaker transforming as the Autobots deploy to deal with the loss of radio communications.
* Astrotrain has no transformation sound effect as he leaves the tunnel and converts from train to shuttle.
* Trailbreaker's eyeband is black instead of blue as Optimus quizzes the professor about the Voltronic Galaxer. The points of his cheeks are colored blue instead.
* Appearing/disappearing Autobots: Prime's initial squad fluctuates all over the place.
** The initial group receiving the transmission is Prime, Jazz, Ratchet, Ironhide, Hoist & Cliffjumper.
** Mirage, Sideswipe, Sunstreaker and Hound show up to transform prior to rolling out, and are not seen again. Trailbreaker shows up at the same time.
** Bumblebee, Wheeljack, and Prowl (or maybe Bluestreak) show up as the Autobots depart.
** The group that finally arrives at the observatory is Prime, Jazz, Ratchet, Ironhide, Hoist, Bumblebee & Trailbreaker, which means we've lost seven guys.
* Powerglide's cockpit has changed from a fighter-plane-like single-seater (seen in "[[Dinobot Island, Part 1]]"), to a side-by-side like a passenger jet.
* Cosmos's "cap" is green instead of red as he lands on the Moon.
* "This your idea of a joke?" Blaster's line lacks the usual processing.
* Red Alert's "horns" flash orange. Last time, they flashed blue.
* Despite knowing about the pending attack, Red Alert keeps shooting at the trees. It seems likely that the animators recycled previous footage, perhaps not realizing he should be aiming skyward.
* Prowl's head crest is white instead of red as he closes Ratchet's passenger compartment (and can't Ratchet do that himself?)
* Whatever damage Powerglide sustained from Ramjet pretty much disappears after Spike puts the jetpack on him.
* Blaster first pushes his left-most button. Later, it's the middle two that are deployed. After Megatron kicks him, all but one are engaged.
* The whole sequence of Megatron discovering Blaster's subterfuge is a bit wonky. Blaster sniggers loudly, Megatron suddenly says "What was that?", then there's a beep and the rock music is heard. The animators/sound guys seem to have not quite gotten the sequence of events down correctly.
* Blaster's forehead is red instead of white as Megatron threatens him.
* When Spike cheers on Omega Supreme, both his lips ''and'' Carly's are moving.
* When Astrotrain rams Omega Supreme's leg, Omega holds still for two seconds, then drops Megatron.
[[Image:Omegasupreme astrotrain.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Pretty damn big, that's how much.]]
* If Astrotrain is big enough to hold all the Decepticons, then how big does that make Omega Supreme in the picture to the right here?
* One gun, many lasers:
** When Optimus fires at the fleeing Megatron, he only has one gun, yet four or five lasers streak past Megatron.
* Blaster has four small switches on his chest for most of the episode (clearly seen as when Megatron kicks him towards the end), but is drawn with three large ones after Prime frees him.
* Cosmos's helmet is green instead of red as Prime frees Blaster (which, by the way, seems to consist of just helping him to his feet, rather than freeing him from any "welding" done by Astrotrain.)
* At the end of the episode, Blaster seemingly is supposed to be playing his rock tune yet again, complete with Prime yelling at him for it and the other Autobots chasing Blaster off into the sunset... but the music is missing. Oops!

===Continuity errors===
[[Image:Blasterbluesonthemoon.jpg|thumb|right|200px|"No no, it is totally worth risking the complete failure of the plan to have gloating rights over a couple of guys whose names I probably can't remember!"]]
* You have to wonder if Megatron thought out all the parts to this plan, given that it would be a lot easier for human society to adapt to life without radio, than life without electricity, petroleum and fossil fuels, and so on... Actually, how would we ''use'' said radio waves, without the power resources the 'Cons would strip out of the planet in exchange for ceasing their jamming?
* Furthermore, one might question the wisdom of leaving two conscious Autobots right across from the critical device... with one of them ''fully armed''.
* In a world full of Transformers running around on the evening news (and showing up in arcades, research labs, dams, power plants, and basically everywhere), why would a scientist still speak of alien life as though it were some unproved hypothesis?
[[Image:BlasterBlues Megatron voltronic galaxer.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Don't worry, this won't hurt a bit!]]
* In a rare instance of a falling human seeming to incur some actual injury, Professor Haley is apparently knocked unconscious by falling off the Voltronic Galaxer. Of course, he's up and (literally) running by the time the Autobots arrive (and still hanging out inside the burning building, apparently).
* The passenger jets at the airport are shown swerving and maneuvering as though they were small-scaled fighters.
* Maybe Astrotrain's alternate mode ''does'' make sense in the bizarre world of cartoon Earth... because the railroad workers are trying to clear the track for a ''steam locomotive''.
* One of the railroad men says he will "radio [the train] to the auxiliary track", but no other track is actually shown.
* Only one guy leaps clear of the steam engine. Where's the fireman?
* Okay, so it's great that Optimus is directing traffic at this one airport, but... what about the hundreds of other airports out there? Much like "[[The Ultimate Doom, Part 2]]", the Autobots seem to lack a plan to deal with the actual ''cause'' of the problems.
* If Powerglide's jet pack is ''out of fuel'', then ''how does he keep flying??''
* Ratchet's team was mostly in robot mode when they were buried. They emerge from the snow in vehicle mode. Also, all the buried and exploded cars have vanished.
* Does Omega Supreme just keep some human-sized space suits handy? 'Cause Spike and Carly suddenly pop up in space suits when it's time to go to the Moon.
* Did stadium security not notice the recording device that is Blaster? Or did they want the live concert all over the <strike>internet</strike> Autobot broadcast channels?

===A loony lunar lineup of astronomical errors===
* Cosmos, Astrotrain, and all the rest get full sound effects in outer space. Of course, media of far higher caliber than ''The Transformers'' have made the same error, generally because it'd be pretty boring to watch a bunch of silent ships fly around, so we'll let this one slide.
* The depicted activities of any Transformer on the Moon do not bear any resemblance to the movements of creatures under gravity one-sixth that of Earth's own.
* Cosmos really shouldn't have to switch off his engines once he reaches the Moon; he should have just switched them off as soon as he escaped Earth's gravity well.
* Blaster somehow manages to ''listen'' in on the Decepticons across the airless surface of the Moon.
* The burning [[Decepticon moonbase]] continues burning and trailing smoke as if it were in an atmosphere.
* Carly: "I've never been to the Moon before!" NO. REALLY??

===Continuity notes===
[[Image:Blasterbluestrailerchase.jpg|right|200px|thumb|Last one out of the parking lot gets stuck with the check.]]
[[Image:Trailbreakerdance.jpg|thumb|right|200px|I... AM... '''''TRAILBREAKER!!!''''']]
* Jazz has righteous moves, but they are limited by his bulky body.
* Gadgets and powers:
** Blaster's boom box mode in the opening scenes is as tall as a human.
** Red Alert's "horns" flash to indicate Decepticon activity, just like in "[[Auto Berserk]]". This time they're orange, though.
** Ratchet and the rest can deploy tire studs to deal with snow-covered roads.
** Hoist deploys a long snakey tentacle with a claw at the end to catch a falling motorist. How many devices can he [[Auto Berserk|carry]], anyway??
** This time, Trailbreaker's forcefield just kind of radiates out of thin air in front of his head. He's able to form it into a dome, which he can then place where he wants it... but, to his later misfortune, he remains outside the dome himself.
** Powerglide can deploy a suction cup line capable of carrying wounded Autobots around like limp ragdolls, leaving them flapping in the breeze.... say, aren't you supposed to ''not move'' the injured?
** Omega Supreme clearly leaves most of himself behind when he launches for the Moon. When he arrives there, he lands in rocket mode amid a cloud of smoke... and when the smoke clears, the left-behind bits have appeared. Later, he transforms out of just the rocket (conveniently off-screen) while in mid-flight.
* Where's the trailer go?:
** During the scene at the observatory, Optimus transforms and drives away, and there is an extended moment where his trailer drives off after him to catch up.
* The joy of size changing: Blaster rides inside Cosmos to the Moon, and in the next scene Cosmos and Blaster are side by side and Blaster is almost twice as tall as Cosmos.
* Omega Supreme actually uses whole sentences in this episode. That's just crazy.

===Real-world references===
* ''[[Star Wars (film)|Star Wars]]'' sound effects:
** ''Millennium Falcon'' engine burst is strangely repurposed as the burning fires at the observatory as the Decepticons close in.
** X-Wings diving, ''Falcon'' engine burst, and Death Star superlaser all in a row as the Decepticons launch from the observatory.
** ''Falcon'' engine burst as Megatron takes off from Astrotrain
** X-Wings diving as the 'cons fly aboard Astrotrain
** Death Star superlaser as Astrotrain pursues Cosmos.
** TIE Fighter engine as Cosmos evades.
** The Death Star door slide is used as a steam engine sound effect.
** A Stormtrooper's laser gun is used to soundtrack Ramjet and Thundercracker's attack on Inferno and Red Alert, possibly taken from when Luke & Han ambush the stormtroopers aboard the ''Falcon''.
** ''Falcon'' engine burst as Megatron launches from the Moon.
* Trailbreaker mentions 8-tracks. Did kids in 1985 even know what an 8-track is?
* "Bang, zoom, to the Moon!" - Powerglide's line is a play on a signature line of Ralph Kramden from ''[[The Honeymooners]]''...whose actor Jackie Gleason was also the inspiration for Powerglide's voice.
* "Parting is such sweet sorrow!" - Megatron prepares to kill Prime while quoting one of Shakespeare's most famous lines.

===Trivia===
* Seriously. "I've never been to the Moon before!"
** Although, to her credit, she did just come back from Cybertron in the previous episode. Maybe she is expecting to be taken to inter-planetary destinations every episode?

==Home video releases==
{{homevidnote}}
;Laserdisc
[[Image:Flag of Japan.png|20px|Japan]] 1995 — ''Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers'' — Megatron Set ([[TakaraTomy|Takara]]) — Japanese audio only. 
[[Image:Flag of Japan.png|20px|Japan]] 1999 — ''The Transformers'' — Decepticon Edition ([[Geneon Universal Entertainment|Pioneer LDC]]) — Japanese audio only.
;DVD
[[Image:Flag of Japan.png|20px|Japan]] 2001 — ''The Transformers'' — DVD Box 2 (Pioneer LDC) — Japanese audio only. 
[[Image:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 2002 — ''The Original Transformers'' — Season 2 Part 1 ([[The Original Transformers|Rhino Entertainment]]) 
[[Image:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 2002 — ''The Original Transformers'' — Season 2 Part 1: Vol. 4 (Rhino Entertainment) 
[[Image:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 2003 — ''Transformers'' — Season 2 Part 1 ([[Metrodome]]) 
[[Image:Flag of Australia.png|20px|Australia]] 2004 — ''Transformers'' — Collection 2: Series 2.1 ([[Madman Entertainment]]) 
[[Image:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 2006 — ''Transformers'' — The Complete Generation One Collection (Metrodome) 
[[Image:Flag of Australia.png|20px|Australia]] 2007 — ''The Transformers'' — Complete Collection (Madman Entertainment) 
[[Image:Flag of Italy.png|20px|Italy]] 2008 — ''Transformers'' — Volume 04: Stagione Due Parte Seconda ([[Medianetwork Communication]]) — English and Italian audio. 
[[Image:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 2009 — ''Transformers'' — Season Two: Part One (Metrodome) 
[[Image:Flag of Australia.png|20px|Australia]] 2009 — ''The Transformers'' — Complete Collection: Decepticon Edition (Madman Entertainment) 
[[Image:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 2009 — ''The Transformers'' — Season Two, Volume One: 25th Anniversary Edition ([[Shout! Factory]]) 
[[Image:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 2009 — ''The Transformers'' — The Complete Series: 25th Anniversary "Matrix of Leadership" Collection (Shout! Factory)

==External links==
*[http://cybertronchronicle.freewebspace.com/cartoon-dossier/synopses/blaster_blues.html Dossier at the Cybertron Chronicle]

[[Category:Generation 1 episodes]]
[[Category:Generation 2 episodes]]

The Autobot Run

2012-05-11T16:10:33Z

1.162.95.146: Making the laugh more accurate to how it sounded in that scene.

{{episode
|series=G1toon
|ep=23
|series2=SRLFtoon
|ep2=65
|prev2=A Plague of Insecticons
|next2=The Ultimate Doom, Part 1
|series3=''[[Generation 2 (cartoon)|The Transformers: Generation 2]]''
|ep3=6
|prev3=Heavy Metal War
|next3=The Core
|image=Autobotruncanttransform.jpg
|caption=Hey, look! Diaclone Sunstreaker!
|title="The Autobot Run"
|production code=#700-22
|airdate=[[October 31]], 1985
|written by=[[Donald F. Glut]]
|animation studio=[[AKOM]]
|production company=[[Sunbow Productions]]
|continuity=[[Generation 1 cartoon continuity]]
}}

'''When the Autobots perform a race for charity, the Decepticons take the opportunity to trap them in their vehicle modes.'''

:''Japanese title:'' トランスフォームをとめろ! (''Transform o Tomero!'', "Stop the Transforming!")
:''German title:'' "'''Wer ist der schnellste Autobots?'''" ("Who is the fastest Autobot?")
:''German ''Generation 2'' title:'' "'''Die Geheimwaffe'''" ("The Secret Weapon")
:''Russian title:'' '''Гран-при "Автобот"''' (''Gran'pree Avtobot'', "Grand-prix Autobot")
:''Italian title, dub 1:'' '''Corsa automobilistica''' ("Car race")
:''Italian title, dub 2:'' '''La corsa degli Autobots''' ("The Autobots run")
==Synopsis==
[[Image:Transfixatron.jpg|left|200px|thumb|A collection of character models gathers around the Decepticons' new weapon.]]

While watching a car race, [[Spike Witwicky (G1)|Spike]] and [[Chip Chase|Chip]] comment on how cool it would be to see the Autobots perform in a race as well.

Meanwhile, in an old west ghost town, the [[Constructicon (G1)|Constructicons]] have completed the [[Transfixatron]], a new device that will lock a [[Transformer]] in the mode they currently occupy (usually vehicle mode). [[Laserbeak (G1)|Laserbeak]] arrives, informing the Decepticons about the Autobot race.

[[Starscream (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Starscream]] complains that [[Megatron (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Megatron]] is wasting time with the device instead of leading an attack. In response, Megatron tests the device on his whiny subordinate, and it's a success. Starscream is stuck in jet mode and begs to be released, saying he'll do whatever Megatron wants and he's too valuable to the Decepticon cause. Megatron gets bored of Starscream's pleas and frees him. Satisfied with the test, Megatron orders the Constructicons to start working on a second device whose purpose will be revealed later.

[[Image:Autobotrunfinishline.jpg|right|200px|thumb|The guy at the finish line wonders where the Hell his car went.]]

Chip and Spike suggest their race idea to the Autobots, and [[Optimus Prime (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Optimus Prime]] agrees, as long as it's for charity. [[Huffer (G1)|Huffer]] complains that it's a waste of time and a bad idea (as usual), but the Autobots decide to do it. Huffer, [[Brawn (G1)|Brawn]], [[Ratchet (G1)|Ratchet]], and [[Wheeljack (G1)|Wheeljack]] remain to guard the [[Ark (G1)|base]].

The Autobots arrive at the track and wait at the starting line in robot mode before they compete "in the greatest automobile race in history." Some numbskull in the audience wonders aloud where their cars are. The Autobots transform, and the race is on with a whole lot of trash talk. [[Jazz (G1)|Jazz]], [[Sunstreaker (G1)|Sunstreaker]] and [[Mirage (G1)|Mirage]] rush ahead of the slower vehicles like [[Trailbreaker (G1)|Trailbreaker]] and [[Ironhide (G1)|Ironhide]].

During the race, [[Skywarp (G1)|Skywarp]] teleports to a position over the track and uses the Transfixatron on the Autobots, who don't notice. The Autobots near the finish line, but they're kicking up so much dust it's impossible to tell who won. "The real winners are us, folks!" says the announcer.

Next up, the Autobots line up to do some stunts and make "Evel Knievel look like a kiddie car driver", according to Spike. But Sunstreaker's attempt to jump the other Autobots falls short and he has to be saved by [[Windcharger (G1)|Windcharger]]'s magnetic powers.

Before they can do anything else, the Decepticons arrive. The Autobots attempt to [[Transformation|transform]], only to find that they are all stuck in vehicle mode. Optimus orders the Autobots to ram the Decepticons, but they simply shoot out the Autobots' tires, fire rays to make their engines overheat and disable their radios. Helpless, the Autobots are herded away by the 'Cons.

[[Image:Autobotrunbyeironhide.jpg|left|200px|thumb|Ironhide must have been giving a Japanese schoolgirl a ride.]]

[[Bumblebee (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Bumblebee]] takes Spike and Chip back to the base, hoping Ratchet and Wheeljack can figure a fix for the Transfixatron ray. As usual, Huffer complains, but a massive bearhug from Brawn gets him to shut up, while Ratchet and Wheeljack get to work.

At the ghost town, Megatron forces Optimus Prime to watch his soldiers die one by one in the Constructicons' second device, a horrific crushing machine, starting with Ironhide. The Autobot leader dispatches [[Roller (G1)|Roller]] to distract Megatron, allowing Prime to ram the crusher, which frees Ironhide. [[Hound (G1)|Hound]] manages to send a signal to [[Teletraan I (G1)|Teletraan I]], just as Ratchet and Wheeljack finish working on a device which will allow the Autobots to transform...a [[Anti-transfixation grenade|grenade]]. (Real good thinking there, guys.)

[[Image:Autobotrunravageattackschip.jpg|right|200px|thumb|Dude, what are you doing? I wanted to push over the cripple.]]

Spike and the other Autobots arrive to save their comrades, but [[Soundwave (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Soundwave]] dispatches [[Ravage (G1)|Ravage]] to deal with them. After a game of keep-away with the grenade, Chip manages to get it close enough to release its energy, allowing the Autobots to transform to robot mode.

The Constructicons form [[Devastator (G1)|Devastator]], but [[Cliffjumper (G1)|Cliffjumper]] and Wheeljack fire the Transfixatron at the giant Decepticon, causing the [[Combiner]] to separate. The Decepticons retreat, and the Autobots destroy the Transfixatron.

{{-}}

==Featured characters==
{{featuredcharacters
|c1=
*[[Bumblebee (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Bumblebee]] (3)
*[[Prowl (G1)|Prowl]]
*[[Bluestreak (G1)|Bluestreak]] (16)
*[[Gears (G1)|Gears]] (17)
*[[Ratchet (G1)|Ratchet]] (18)
*[[Trailbreaker (G1)|Trailbreaker]] (19)
*[[Mirage (G1)|Mirage]] (20)
*[[Sunstreaker (G1)|Sunstreaker]] (21)
*[[Ironhide (G1)|Ironhide]] (22)
*[[Huffer (G1)|Huffer]] (23)
*[[Optimus Prime (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Optimus Prime]] (24)
*[[Brawn (G1)|Brawn]] (25)
*[[Wheeljack (G1)|Wheeljack]] (26)
*[[Sideswipe (G1)|Sideswipe]] (27)
*[[Jazz (G1)|Jazz]] (28)
*[[Hound (G1)|Hound]] (29)
*[[Windcharger (G1)|Windcharger]] (30)
*[[Cliffjumper (G1)|Cliffjumper]] (32)
*[[Roller (G1)|Roller]] (33)

|c2=
*[[Laserbeak (G1)|Laserbeak]] (4)
*[[Megatron (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Megatron]] (5)
*[[Starscream (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Starscream]] (6)
*[[Soundwave (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Soundwave]] (7)
*[[Thundercracker (G1)|Thundercracker]] (8)
*[[Scrapper (G1)|Scrapper]] (9)
*[[Hook (G1)|Hook]] (10)
*[[Scavenger (G1)|Scavenger]] (11)
*[[Mixmaster (G1)|Mixmaster]] (12)
*[[Long Haul (G1)|Long Haul]] (13)
*[[Bonecrusher (G1)|Bonecrusher]] (14)
*[[Shockwave (G1)|Shockwave]] (15)
*[[Skywarp (G1)|Skywarp]] (31)
*[[Ravage (G1)|Ravage]] (34)
*[[Devastator (G1)|Devastator]] (35)

|c3=
*[[Spike Witwicky (G1)|Spike Witwicky]] (1)
*[[Chip Chase]] (2)
}}

==Quotes==
"Transform." 
"No, Megatron. You can't mean to—" 
"What's a test without a [[guinea pig-o-tron]]? Transform, I say!"
:—'''Megatron''' selects '''Starscream''' as the test subject for his latest device.

"They never knew what hit em!!" 
"Excellent!! Treachery is your forte, my dear Skywarp. Now, the Autobots can no longer call themselves.... ''Transformers!!'' Hu~hu~hu~hwar~hahahaha~harrgh!!"
:-'''Megatron''', never passing a chance to laugh at his own bad puns.

"Uh, probably just energy evaporation from all the speed, maybe... I hope..."
:—'''Bumblebee''' fails physics forever.

"If you're going to do what I think, Sunstreaker, you've got boom glitches in your brain garage."
:—'''Mirage'''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s colorful terms for Transformer anatomy.

"Well, guys, what's next? I'm for anything except demolition derbyin'."
:—'''Jazz'''

"I can't change back to my normal, handsome self!"
:—Modest and humble '''Sunstreaker'''

"It seems you Autobots have a slight ''identity problem?'' Huhuhahahahaha!!"
:-Good old '''Megatron''' just loves to rub salt in the wounds.

"I knew the racing bit was bad news, but would anyone listen to me? Oh, noooo!" 
"Stifle it, Huffer, or I'll put my footio in your audio!!"
:—'''Huffer''' being an ass and '''Brawn''' looking to kick some.

"Ironic, isn't it, Autobots, that after so many valiant battles, you will meet your end in the crushing jaws of this device so lovingly fashioned by my Constructicons."
:—'''Megatron'''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s concept of irony is off.

"Later, guys. It's been really great knowin' ya."
:—Headed for the crushing device, '''Ironhide''' accepts his fate.

"Hey, what's that?" 
"I'd call it a TARGET!"
:—'''Thundercracker''' and '''Starscream''' spotting Roller.

"I'm transforming! I see my true beauty emerging!"
:—'''Sunstreaker''', vain as always.

==Notes==
===Animation or technical glitches===
* Being one of the Season 2 [[AKOM]] episodes, "The Autobot Run" features several unusual animation models:
** Optimus Prime's "backpack" is white instead of red.
** Huffer has a white outline around his eyes.
** Gears' truck mode is mostly red instead of mostly blue.
** Megatron's gun barrel is dark gray instead of light gray.
** Laserbeak's beak is (sometimes) the same dark gray as the rest of his head.
** The "disk" on Bumblebee's back is dark gray instead of yellow. Bumblebee also has two random dark gray squares on the back of his vehicle mode.
** Prowl is a medium gray instead of white.

Of course, AKOM found lots of less-excusable things to mess up, too:
* This episode's [[transformation]] sound effects are oddly applied, stopping and starting halfway through and even playing over the wrong transformation type (ie, vehicle-to-robot vs. robot-to-vehicle) at times.
* Ignoring the big, paved driveway right next to him, Bumblebee arrives at the race track by ''driving across the grass''.
* That's okay, though, because as the race finishes, Chip nonchalantly turns his wheelchair and ''rolls across the grass''.
* Chip then rolls into Bumblebee, and sits in the driver seat, while still in his wheelchair. Huh?
* After a dialogue section where Huffer complains about the race idea and Optimus orders him to stay and guard the base, he is seen transforming and rolling out to the race. He is not at the race and is later back at the base. However, a number of other characters who do not roll out and are not shown at the base during the discussion turn up at the race.
* For the duration of this episode, actor [[Michael Bell]] performs Scrapper with a very different voice than normal, sounding...well, frankly, quite ''normal'', compared to Scrapper's usual hoarse rasp.
* Scrapper's faceplate doesn't move as he reports the Transfixatron's completion. In fact it doesn't move at all the whole episode.
* Thundercracker's feet are blue instead of black, and Soundwave's eject button is blue instead of white, as they watch the completion of the Transfixatron.
* In the first pan over it, the Old West "town" has no streets! Subsequent shots show it with many more buildings than the handful shown in this shot.
* Missing Seeker insigina:
** Starscream has no insignia as he watches Laserbeak report back to Megatron.
** One of Starscream's insignia disappears as he backs away from the Transfixatron. The other disappears as he transforms a second later.
** When Thundercracker turns from blasting Optimus to fire on Ironhide, he has no back wing insignias.
** He still has none as he walks off with the captive Autobots.
** Starscream's missing an insignia as he fires on Roller.
* As Laserbeak enters Soundwave's chest to report, Soundwave's eyeband is colored white like his faceplate, while his forehead is colored red like his eyeband should be.
* Starscream is missing one of his wings prior to the Transfixatron test. The other wing is abnormally large. The same overlarge wing shape shows up on Thundercracker later in the episode.
* A moment later, in jet mode, Starscream's right air intake is colored as if it extends way back into his fuselage, and has some black details that shouldn't be there; the left intake isn't colored to match. He also has extra stripes on his tail fins. In a wider-angle shot, both intakes are colored with the long length and the extra black parts.
* Even if Shockwave ''was'' supposed to be standing behind Megatron (see Continuity Errors below), he and Scavenger were not standing anywhere near Megatron just a shot or two earlier.
* AKOM reuses the same scrolling cloud background at least four times behind Starscream. To be fair, it would actually make sense for him to be flying in circles at this point.
* In the first shot of the Autobots, Ironhide's entire torso is red. In the next shot, the top of his chest is red instead of red/gray.
* The entirety of Trailbreaker's lower legs are white as he listens to Prime, instead of just the stripe down the middle. The error repeats as the Autobots stand at the race track.
* Prowl has no black detailing on his car mode as Jazz passes him. He's also his correct white color instead of the light gray that AKOM usually colors him.
* Instead of being provided by [[Neil Ross]] as usual, Bonecrusher's single line in this episode is supplied by Michael Bell, using the same nondescript "normal" voice as he uses for Scrapper. The temptation, of course, is to peg this on an animation error that mistakenly depicted Bonecrusher instead of Scrapper, but the script for the episode actually called for Bonecrusher to speak the line.
* As Skywarp transforms to robot mode over the raceway, he pulls the Transfixatron out of [[Subspace | nowhere]], despite it being as large as he is.
* A second later, Skywarp has a yellow stripe down his back where there should be black.
* When Skywarp uses it on the Autobots, the Transfixatron beam effect is not properly animated to glow.
* Transfixed Sideswipe is drawn trying to transform in a way that looks more like Sunstreaker's transformation scheme.
* After the Autobots discover they're locked in vehicle mode, when Megatron laughs the other Decepticons just sort of... vibrate.
* Megatron's eye lasers are the slowest-moving lasers in the universe.
* The Seekers transform and start rolling across the race track. In the next shot, they're suddenly in the air.
* Thundercracker's "gloves" are white instead of black as he transforms above Ironhide.
* Wheeljack's ears do not flash in time with his speaking at first.
* The crusher's lights flash multiple colors as it first activates, but later they only flash white. While the lights ''could'' change colors, it really begs the question of why it needs bizarre flashing lights in the first place.
* Wheeljack and Ratchet gather around Chip at the computer two times in a row.
* As we pan across the captive Autobots at the ghost town, Wheeljack and Bumblebee are among the crowd, despite both being back at Autobot Headquarters at this point. In the same pan, two Starscreams are guarding them. Also, the ghost town has gained a couple of streets and several extra buildings.
* Maybe not an error, but definitely bizarre: Hound gets Optimus Prime's rifle sound effect as he "fires" his hologram.
[[Image:Autobotrungreenteletraan.jpg|right|175px|thumb|Chip Chase always did have the luck of the Irish.]]
* When Chip is trying to locate the Autobots, Teletraan I is colored green instead of orange.
* Soundwave's head changes colors between shots as he destroys Hound's turret gun. (Hound manages to stay off-screen until he's in robot mode later in the episode, sidestepping the need for the animators to remember his gun is destroyed.)
* As Wheeljack explains the grenade, his ears flash, but aren't properly backlit to glow.
* As Spike and company arrive at the ghost town, Ironhide is shown arriving and transforming instead of Ratchet.
* Ironhide's tires aren't flat anymore when he falls out of the crusher's claw.
* Bumblebee has no headlights as the newly-arrived Autobots transform.
* As Wheeljack flees, he fires at Starscream and Thundercracker. In the next shot, his target is a pair of Thundercrackers. One of them teleports away (indicating that it was supposed to be Skywarp.) When he re-materializes, he's colored like Starscream, but still speaks in Skywarp's voice.
* When Soundwave ejects Ravage, the inside of his chest is grey.
* When the Autobots are un-transfixed and transform into robot modes, Brawn is shown transforming with them.
* A series of shots shows the grenade's radiation as concentric circles radiating out. The center point stays in four successive shots, despite only one of them being the point where the grenade exploded.
* As the grenade does its work, a series of vehicle-mode Autobots flash into existence out of nowhere.
* Long Haul's eyeband isn't colored red as we pan across the Constructicons.
* Devastator's combining sequence is screwy. First Scrapper and Mixmaster are shown forming Long Haul's portion of the combiner robot in addition to their own. Long Haul then forms Devastator's upper torso, instead of the lower torso (the chest plate is green at first, then turns its correct purple.) Hook then forms a tiny part of the upper torso, including the head, and... Bonecrusher's bulldozer kibble.
* Devastator has two small eyes instead of an eyeband as he fires lasers from his hand.
* He has two large eyes as he looms over Wheeljack and Cliffjumper.
* As Cliffjumper zaps Devastator with the Transfixatron, the shot suddenly jumps to a slight close-up of Devastator from the exact same angle as before. In the closer angle, the glowing animation effect is missing from the Transfixatron beam.
* Windcharger's face is the same dark gray as his head as Ironhide threatens the Decepticons, and his mid-torso is red instead of gray. The same error repeats during the repair lineup at the end.
* Thundercracker is drawn with his cockpit on the bottom of his jet mode as he and the other Seekers retreat.
* The [[commercial bumper]]s for the second act break feature the theme music for ''[[G.I. Joe (team)|G.I. Joe]]'', not ''The Transformers''.

===Continuity errors===
* Why the heck are Spike and Chip watching the race from next to the grand stands, instead of, y'know, ''inside'' them?
* [[Shockwave (G1)|Shockwave]] appears twice in this episode: first when Megatron is gloating about the Transfixatron, then when the Decepticons arrive at the race. Of course, it's ''possible'' that Shockwave came to [[Earth]] during this episode, but the idea of him just popping up and hanging around in the background seriously goes against the established notion that he always stays on [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]] as its full-time guardian.
* Why does Megatron pick up the Transfixatron to aim it at Starscream, when a moment later he can just pivot it on its base?
* The race gets started VERY quickly. Chip and Spike come up with the idea, go back to the base, tell Prime, and apparently the Autobots just show up and demand to race for charity. Granted, some time could have elapsed in between, but ''still''. The Decepticons, meanwhile, are just hanging around in this Old West ghost town.
* How does the dust at the finish line get ''ahead'' of the Autobots?
* When Chip gets Teletraan I to analyse the data on the transforming process, among the images which flash up is a picture of Megatron's crusher. What has that got to do with transforming?
* Hound can ''shoot'' a hologram? For miles? And have it land ''inside a volcano''? What the hell?
* Flying Autobots:
** Cliffjumper gets a rocket sound effect as he comes flying out of the debris.
** Wheeljack uses his wrist rockets to fly, which is one of the few times it's shown correctly.
* Is the elaborate claw/tentacle mechanism on the crusher really necessary?
* At the end of Act 2, Ironhide is a few feet away from the crusher's jaws, presumably mere seconds from being crushed. A minute or more elapses in Act 3 before Prime comes to his rescue.
* Wheeljack states that the [[Transfixatron]] will "cancel Devastator's robot mode", though one would really expect it to just transfix Devastator ''as'' Devastator.
* So... did the Decepticons just leave the transfixed Constructicons sitting there in a pile? They aren't shown retreating.

===Continuity notes===
* This is Roller's third and final appearance.
* This is the first episode where the Transformers formally refer to themselves as ''Transformers''.
* Gadgets and powers:
** Jazz's speaker levels jump from seven to <s>eleven</s> ''eight hundred''. Or maybe he was just tuned in to an AM station.
** Megatron can shoot laser beams from his eyes, especially when he wants to scare away earth germs.
** Devastator's eye beams can magnetically lift a robot into the air. He can also fire lasers from his fingertips.
* Where does the trailer go?
** When Optimus Prime transforms after the Autobots are fixed by Wheeljack's grenade, his trailer shrinks into his back rather than rolling away as usual.
[[Image:AutobotRun madeup Transformer.jpg|thumb|right|200px]]
* A bizarre robot of made-up design appears on the screen as Chip begins researching the Transfixatron's effects. It's loosely based on Prime, but with smaller chest windows, a yellow body, and white wings on his back.
* When instructing Starscream to transform out of vehicle mode, Megatron tells him to return to his "root mode". This was almost certainly the result of a typo in the script that was ''supposed'' to say "ro'''b'''ot mode", but it makes a charming amount of sense as a term.
* The idea of a [[Transfixatron|device to keep a Transformer frozen in one mode]] would be revisited over the years in other fictions, with [[Tarantulas (BW)|Tarantulas]]'s [[transformation lock lens]], [[Megatron (BW)|Megatron]]'s [[Transformation virus|transformation lock virus]], the [[Protectobot (G1)|Protectobots]]' [[mode lock]] used on [[Blaster (G1)|Blaster]], the various incarnations of the [[inhibitor claw]] and [[Spotlight: Soundwave|an experimental weapon]] created by Shockwave.

===Trivia===
*This was one of twelve episodes of [[The Transformers (cartoon)|the original cartoon]] released as audio adventures by the [[Germany|German]] company [[Karussell|Karussell Musik und Video]].
* To catch the grenade, Chip just ''stands up'' from his wheelchair. It should be noted that Chip's precise medical condition is never explained, so we have no way of knowing why he uses a wheelchair or how much use of his legs he actually has. A close inspection of the animation shows him apparently ''pushing'' himself up with his arms, but it's really not conveyed very well.
* This is one of three episodes from Season Two which were animated by [[AKOM]] (the others being "[[The Core]]" and "[[City of Steel]]"). They share similar art and animation styles (lots of one-point perspective action shots, scrolling backgrounds, and random zoom-ins), prominent use of the Constructicons, slightly more juvenile plots than usual, and a set of character model oddities such as Megatron's dark gray gun barrel, Optimus Prime's white backpack, and Chip Chase's blue jacket.
* AKOM also has a strange habit of showing vehicle-mode close-ups with painted artwork instead of typical flat colored cel art. Witness Gears getting shot by Soundwave, and Sideswipe and Jazz's dashboards. The same thing can be seen in "The Core", as Chip leans out of a painted Wheeljack.
* A one-time-only bit of Westernish background music, presumably culled from [[Robert J. Walsh]]'s enormous archives, plays across the opening scene in the Decepticons' ghost town.
* Stores in the ghost town: Liquor Saloon, Harrys Bakes, Sonata 3, Cows(?), Hotel, Saloon, Grain Feed, Livery, Glass (which in a visual gag is the only building in its row of three to survive the battle), and RC P&W(?).
* Signs at the race track: Grand Prix, Irel(and?), XAM, HO KY, New Year Tires, Dav-Mac, A&E O(il?), (Go?)od Year Tires, and Fenzoil Lubes. The "XAM" is very likely a reference to the animation company XAM! ("Ex-Ahern-Marshall"), who included their company initials in the background art of various 1980s animated series.<ref>[http://www.povonline.com/2003/News030103.htm#030503a] "NEWS from me: March 5, 2003"</ref>
* Megatron sure does have a sexy swagger as he walks toward the transfixatroned Autobots.
* An early model sheet calls the Transfixatron a 'Satsitron.'
* In an unfortunate foreshadowing, [[Sunstreaker (G1)|Sunstreaker]] remarks that when they made him, they 'broke the [[mold]]'.
* Seriously, ''guinea pig-o-tron''?!
*The commercial bumper music from the [[Wikipedia: G.I.Joe|G.I.Joe]] animated series plays during the bumpers.

==Home video releases==
{{homevidnote}}
;Laserdisc
[[Image:Flag of Japan.png|20px|Japan]] 1995 — ''Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers'' — Megatron Set ([[TakaraTomy|Takara]]) — Japanese audio only. 
[[Image:Flag of Japan.png|20px|Japan]] 1999 — ''The Transformers'' — Decepticon Edition ([[Geneon Universal Entertainment|Pioneer LDC]]) — Japanese audio only.
;DVD
[[Image:Flag of Japan.png|20px|Japan]] 2001 — ''The Transformers'' — DVD Box 2 (Pioneer LDC) — Japanese audio only. 
[[Image:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 2002 — ''The Original Transformers'' — Season 2 Part 1 ([[The Original Transformers|Rhino Entertainment]]) 
[[Image:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 2002 — ''The Original Transformers'' — Season 2 Part 1: Vol. 1 (Rhino Entertainment) 
[[Image:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 2003 — ''Transformers'' — Season 2 Part 1 ([[Metrodome]]) 
[[Image:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 2004 — ''Transformers'' — Bumper Collection Special (Metrodome) 
[[Image:Flag of Australia.png|20px|Australia]] 2004 — ''Transformers'' — Collection 2: Series 2.1 ([[Madman Entertainment]]) 
[[Image:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 2006 — ''Transformers'' — The Complete Generation One Collection (Metrodome) 
[[Image:Flag of Australia.png|20px|Australia]] 2007 — ''The Transformers'' — Complete Collection (Madman Entertainment) 
[[Image:Flag of Germany.png|20px|Germany]] 2007 — ''Transformers'' — Box-Set (3DVDs) ([[Flex Media]]) — German audio only. 
[[Image:Flag of Italy.png|20px|Italy]] 2008 — ''Transformers'' — Volume 03: Stagione Due Parte Prima ([[Medianetwork Communication]]) — English and Italian audio. 
[[Image:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 2009 — ''Transformers'' — Season Two: Part One (Metrodome) 
[[Image:Flag of Australia.png|20px|Australia]] 2009 — ''The Transformers'' — Complete Collection: Decepticon Edition (Madman Entertainment) 
[[Image:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 2009 — ''The Transformers'' — Season Two, Volume One: 25th Anniversary Edition ([[Shout! Factory]]) 
[[Image:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 2009 — ''The Transformers'' — The Complete Series: 25th Anniversary "Matrix of Leadership" Collection (Shout! Factory)

==External links==
*[http://cybertronchronicle.freewebspace.com/cartoon-dossier/synopses/the_autobot_run.html Dossier at the Cybertron Chronicle]

==Footnotes==
{{Reflist|1}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Autobot Run}}
[[Category:Generation 1 episodes]]
[[Category:Generation 2 episodes]]

The Autobot Run

2012-05-11T16:08:01Z

1.162.95.146: /* Quotes */

{{episode
|series=G1toon
|ep=23
|series2=SRLFtoon
|ep2=65
|prev2=A Plague of Insecticons
|next2=The Ultimate Doom, Part 1
|series3=''[[Generation 2 (cartoon)|The Transformers: Generation 2]]''
|ep3=6
|prev3=Heavy Metal War
|next3=The Core
|image=Autobotruncanttransform.jpg
|caption=Hey, look! Diaclone Sunstreaker!
|title="The Autobot Run"
|production code=#700-22
|airdate=[[October 31]], 1985
|written by=[[Donald F. Glut]]
|animation studio=[[AKOM]]
|production company=[[Sunbow Productions]]
|continuity=[[Generation 1 cartoon continuity]]
}}

'''When the Autobots perform a race for charity, the Decepticons take the opportunity to trap them in their vehicle modes.'''

:''Japanese title:'' トランスフォームをとめろ! (''Transform o Tomero!'', "Stop the Transforming!")
:''German title:'' "'''Wer ist der schnellste Autobots?'''" ("Who is the fastest Autobot?")
:''German ''Generation 2'' title:'' "'''Die Geheimwaffe'''" ("The Secret Weapon")
:''Russian title:'' '''Гран-при "Автобот"''' (''Gran'pree Avtobot'', "Grand-prix Autobot")
:''Italian title, dub 1:'' '''Corsa automobilistica''' ("Car race")
:''Italian title, dub 2:'' '''La corsa degli Autobots''' ("The Autobots run")
==Synopsis==
[[Image:Transfixatron.jpg|left|200px|thumb|A collection of character models gathers around the Decepticons' new weapon.]]

While watching a car race, [[Spike Witwicky (G1)|Spike]] and [[Chip Chase|Chip]] comment on how cool it would be to see the Autobots perform in a race as well.

Meanwhile, in an old west ghost town, the [[Constructicon (G1)|Constructicons]] have completed the [[Transfixatron]], a new device that will lock a [[Transformer]] in the mode they currently occupy (usually vehicle mode). [[Laserbeak (G1)|Laserbeak]] arrives, informing the Decepticons about the Autobot race.

[[Starscream (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Starscream]] complains that [[Megatron (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Megatron]] is wasting time with the device instead of leading an attack. In response, Megatron tests the device on his whiny subordinate, and it's a success. Starscream is stuck in jet mode and begs to be released, saying he'll do whatever Megatron wants and he's too valuable to the Decepticon cause. Megatron gets bored of Starscream's pleas and frees him. Satisfied with the test, Megatron orders the Constructicons to start working on a second device whose purpose will be revealed later.

[[Image:Autobotrunfinishline.jpg|right|200px|thumb|The guy at the finish line wonders where the Hell his car went.]]

Chip and Spike suggest their race idea to the Autobots, and [[Optimus Prime (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Optimus Prime]] agrees, as long as it's for charity. [[Huffer (G1)|Huffer]] complains that it's a waste of time and a bad idea (as usual), but the Autobots decide to do it. Huffer, [[Brawn (G1)|Brawn]], [[Ratchet (G1)|Ratchet]], and [[Wheeljack (G1)|Wheeljack]] remain to guard the [[Ark (G1)|base]].

The Autobots arrive at the track and wait at the starting line in robot mode before they compete "in the greatest automobile race in history." Some numbskull in the audience wonders aloud where their cars are. The Autobots transform, and the race is on with a whole lot of trash talk. [[Jazz (G1)|Jazz]], [[Sunstreaker (G1)|Sunstreaker]] and [[Mirage (G1)|Mirage]] rush ahead of the slower vehicles like [[Trailbreaker (G1)|Trailbreaker]] and [[Ironhide (G1)|Ironhide]].

During the race, [[Skywarp (G1)|Skywarp]] teleports to a position over the track and uses the Transfixatron on the Autobots, who don't notice. The Autobots near the finish line, but they're kicking up so much dust it's impossible to tell who won. "The real winners are us, folks!" says the announcer.

Next up, the Autobots line up to do some stunts and make "Evel Knievel look like a kiddie car driver", according to Spike. But Sunstreaker's attempt to jump the other Autobots falls short and he has to be saved by [[Windcharger (G1)|Windcharger]]'s magnetic powers.

Before they can do anything else, the Decepticons arrive. The Autobots attempt to [[Transformation|transform]], only to find that they are all stuck in vehicle mode. Optimus orders the Autobots to ram the Decepticons, but they simply shoot out the Autobots' tires, fire rays to make their engines overheat and disable their radios. Helpless, the Autobots are herded away by the 'Cons.

[[Image:Autobotrunbyeironhide.jpg|left|200px|thumb|Ironhide must have been giving a Japanese schoolgirl a ride.]]

[[Bumblebee (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Bumblebee]] takes Spike and Chip back to the base, hoping Ratchet and Wheeljack can figure a fix for the Transfixatron ray. As usual, Huffer complains, but a massive bearhug from Brawn gets him to shut up, while Ratchet and Wheeljack get to work.

At the ghost town, Megatron forces Optimus Prime to watch his soldiers die one by one in the Constructicons' second device, a horrific crushing machine, starting with Ironhide. The Autobot leader dispatches [[Roller (G1)|Roller]] to distract Megatron, allowing Prime to ram the crusher, which frees Ironhide. [[Hound (G1)|Hound]] manages to send a signal to [[Teletraan I (G1)|Teletraan I]], just as Ratchet and Wheeljack finish working on a device which will allow the Autobots to transform...a [[Anti-transfixation grenade|grenade]]. (Real good thinking there, guys.)

[[Image:Autobotrunravageattackschip.jpg|right|200px|thumb|Dude, what are you doing? I wanted to push over the cripple.]]

Spike and the other Autobots arrive to save their comrades, but [[Soundwave (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Soundwave]] dispatches [[Ravage (G1)|Ravage]] to deal with them. After a game of keep-away with the grenade, Chip manages to get it close enough to release its energy, allowing the Autobots to transform to robot mode.

The Constructicons form [[Devastator (G1)|Devastator]], but [[Cliffjumper (G1)|Cliffjumper]] and Wheeljack fire the Transfixatron at the giant Decepticon, causing the [[Combiner]] to separate. The Decepticons retreat, and the Autobots destroy the Transfixatron.

{{-}}

==Featured characters==
{{featuredcharacters
|c1=
*[[Bumblebee (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Bumblebee]] (3)
*[[Prowl (G1)|Prowl]]
*[[Bluestreak (G1)|Bluestreak]] (16)
*[[Gears (G1)|Gears]] (17)
*[[Ratchet (G1)|Ratchet]] (18)
*[[Trailbreaker (G1)|Trailbreaker]] (19)
*[[Mirage (G1)|Mirage]] (20)
*[[Sunstreaker (G1)|Sunstreaker]] (21)
*[[Ironhide (G1)|Ironhide]] (22)
*[[Huffer (G1)|Huffer]] (23)
*[[Optimus Prime (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Optimus Prime]] (24)
*[[Brawn (G1)|Brawn]] (25)
*[[Wheeljack (G1)|Wheeljack]] (26)
*[[Sideswipe (G1)|Sideswipe]] (27)
*[[Jazz (G1)|Jazz]] (28)
*[[Hound (G1)|Hound]] (29)
*[[Windcharger (G1)|Windcharger]] (30)
*[[Cliffjumper (G1)|Cliffjumper]] (32)
*[[Roller (G1)|Roller]] (33)

|c2=
*[[Laserbeak (G1)|Laserbeak]] (4)
*[[Megatron (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Megatron]] (5)
*[[Starscream (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Starscream]] (6)
*[[Soundwave (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Soundwave]] (7)
*[[Thundercracker (G1)|Thundercracker]] (8)
*[[Scrapper (G1)|Scrapper]] (9)
*[[Hook (G1)|Hook]] (10)
*[[Scavenger (G1)|Scavenger]] (11)
*[[Mixmaster (G1)|Mixmaster]] (12)
*[[Long Haul (G1)|Long Haul]] (13)
*[[Bonecrusher (G1)|Bonecrusher]] (14)
*[[Shockwave (G1)|Shockwave]] (15)
*[[Skywarp (G1)|Skywarp]] (31)
*[[Ravage (G1)|Ravage]] (34)
*[[Devastator (G1)|Devastator]] (35)

|c3=
*[[Spike Witwicky (G1)|Spike Witwicky]] (1)
*[[Chip Chase]] (2)
}}

==Quotes==
"Transform." 
"No, Megatron. You can't mean to—" 
"What's a test without a [[guinea pig-o-tron]]? Transform, I say!"
:—'''Megatron''' selects '''Starscream''' as the test subject for his latest device.

"They never knew what hit em!!" 
"Excellent!! Treachery is your forte, my dear Skywarp. Now, the Autobots can no longer call themselves.... ''Transformers!!'' Hu~hu~hwar~hahahaha~harrgh!!"
:-'''Megatron''', never passing a chance to laugh at his own bad puns.

"Uh, probably just energy evaporation from all the speed, maybe... I hope..."
:—'''Bumblebee''' fails physics forever.

"If you're going to do what I think, Sunstreaker, you've got boom glitches in your brain garage."
:—'''Mirage'''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s colorful terms for Transformer anatomy.

"Well, guys, what's next? I'm for anything except demolition derbyin'."
:—'''Jazz'''

"I can't change back to my normal, handsome self!"
:—Modest and humble '''Sunstreaker'''

"It seems you Autobots have a slight ''identity problem?'' Huhuhahahahaha!!"
:-Good old '''Megatron''' just loves to rub salt in the wounds.

"I knew the racing bit was bad news, but would anyone listen to me? Oh, noooo!" 
"Stifle it, Huffer, or I'll put my footio in your audio!!"
:—'''Huffer''' being an ass and '''Brawn''' looking to kick some.

"Ironic, isn't it, Autobots, that after so many valiant battles, you will meet your end in the crushing jaws of this device so lovingly fashioned by my Constructicons."
:—'''Megatron'''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s concept of irony is off.

"Later, guys. It's been really great knowin' ya."
:—Headed for the crushing device, '''Ironhide''' accepts his fate.

"Hey, what's that?" 
"I'd call it a TARGET!"
:—'''Thundercracker''' and '''Starscream''' spotting Roller.

"I'm transforming! I see my true beauty emerging!"
:—'''Sunstreaker''', vain as always.

==Notes==
===Animation or technical glitches===
* Being one of the Season 2 [[AKOM]] episodes, "The Autobot Run" features several unusual animation models:
** Optimus Prime's "backpack" is white instead of red.
** Huffer has a white outline around his eyes.
** Gears' truck mode is mostly red instead of mostly blue.
** Megatron's gun barrel is dark gray instead of light gray.
** Laserbeak's beak is (sometimes) the same dark gray as the rest of his head.
** The "disk" on Bumblebee's back is dark gray instead of yellow. Bumblebee also has two random dark gray squares on the back of his vehicle mode.
** Prowl is a medium gray instead of white.

Of course, AKOM found lots of less-excusable things to mess up, too:
* This episode's [[transformation]] sound effects are oddly applied, stopping and starting halfway through and even playing over the wrong transformation type (ie, vehicle-to-robot vs. robot-to-vehicle) at times.
* Ignoring the big, paved driveway right next to him, Bumblebee arrives at the race track by ''driving across the grass''.
* That's okay, though, because as the race finishes, Chip nonchalantly turns his wheelchair and ''rolls across the grass''.
* Chip then rolls into Bumblebee, and sits in the driver seat, while still in his wheelchair. Huh?
* After a dialogue section where Huffer complains about the race idea and Optimus orders him to stay and guard the base, he is seen transforming and rolling out to the race. He is not at the race and is later back at the base. However, a number of other characters who do not roll out and are not shown at the base during the discussion turn up at the race.
* For the duration of this episode, actor [[Michael Bell]] performs Scrapper with a very different voice than normal, sounding...well, frankly, quite ''normal'', compared to Scrapper's usual hoarse rasp.
* Scrapper's faceplate doesn't move as he reports the Transfixatron's completion. In fact it doesn't move at all the whole episode.
* Thundercracker's feet are blue instead of black, and Soundwave's eject button is blue instead of white, as they watch the completion of the Transfixatron.
* In the first pan over it, the Old West "town" has no streets! Subsequent shots show it with many more buildings than the handful shown in this shot.
* Missing Seeker insigina:
** Starscream has no insignia as he watches Laserbeak report back to Megatron.
** One of Starscream's insignia disappears as he backs away from the Transfixatron. The other disappears as he transforms a second later.
** When Thundercracker turns from blasting Optimus to fire on Ironhide, he has no back wing insignias.
** He still has none as he walks off with the captive Autobots.
** Starscream's missing an insignia as he fires on Roller.
* As Laserbeak enters Soundwave's chest to report, Soundwave's eyeband is colored white like his faceplate, while his forehead is colored red like his eyeband should be.
* Starscream is missing one of his wings prior to the Transfixatron test. The other wing is abnormally large. The same overlarge wing shape shows up on Thundercracker later in the episode.
* A moment later, in jet mode, Starscream's right air intake is colored as if it extends way back into his fuselage, and has some black details that shouldn't be there; the left intake isn't colored to match. He also has extra stripes on his tail fins. In a wider-angle shot, both intakes are colored with the long length and the extra black parts.
* Even if Shockwave ''was'' supposed to be standing behind Megatron (see Continuity Errors below), he and Scavenger were not standing anywhere near Megatron just a shot or two earlier.
* AKOM reuses the same scrolling cloud background at least four times behind Starscream. To be fair, it would actually make sense for him to be flying in circles at this point.
* In the first shot of the Autobots, Ironhide's entire torso is red. In the next shot, the top of his chest is red instead of red/gray.
* The entirety of Trailbreaker's lower legs are white as he listens to Prime, instead of just the stripe down the middle. The error repeats as the Autobots stand at the race track.
* Prowl has no black detailing on his car mode as Jazz passes him. He's also his correct white color instead of the light gray that AKOM usually colors him.
* Instead of being provided by [[Neil Ross]] as usual, Bonecrusher's single line in this episode is supplied by Michael Bell, using the same nondescript "normal" voice as he uses for Scrapper. The temptation, of course, is to peg this on an animation error that mistakenly depicted Bonecrusher instead of Scrapper, but the script for the episode actually called for Bonecrusher to speak the line.
* As Skywarp transforms to robot mode over the raceway, he pulls the Transfixatron out of [[Subspace | nowhere]], despite it being as large as he is.
* A second later, Skywarp has a yellow stripe down his back where there should be black.
* When Skywarp uses it on the Autobots, the Transfixatron beam effect is not properly animated to glow.
* Transfixed Sideswipe is drawn trying to transform in a way that looks more like Sunstreaker's transformation scheme.
* After the Autobots discover they're locked in vehicle mode, when Megatron laughs the other Decepticons just sort of... vibrate.
* Megatron's eye lasers are the slowest-moving lasers in the universe.
* The Seekers transform and start rolling across the race track. In the next shot, they're suddenly in the air.
* Thundercracker's "gloves" are white instead of black as he transforms above Ironhide.
* Wheeljack's ears do not flash in time with his speaking at first.
* The crusher's lights flash multiple colors as it first activates, but later they only flash white. While the lights ''could'' change colors, it really begs the question of why it needs bizarre flashing lights in the first place.
* Wheeljack and Ratchet gather around Chip at the computer two times in a row.
* As we pan across the captive Autobots at the ghost town, Wheeljack and Bumblebee are among the crowd, despite both being back at Autobot Headquarters at this point. In the same pan, two Starscreams are guarding them. Also, the ghost town has gained a couple of streets and several extra buildings.
* Maybe not an error, but definitely bizarre: Hound gets Optimus Prime's rifle sound effect as he "fires" his hologram.
[[Image:Autobotrungreenteletraan.jpg|right|175px|thumb|Chip Chase always did have the luck of the Irish.]]
* When Chip is trying to locate the Autobots, Teletraan I is colored green instead of orange.
* Soundwave's head changes colors between shots as he destroys Hound's turret gun. (Hound manages to stay off-screen until he's in robot mode later in the episode, sidestepping the need for the animators to remember his gun is destroyed.)
* As Wheeljack explains the grenade, his ears flash, but aren't properly backlit to glow.
* As Spike and company arrive at the ghost town, Ironhide is shown arriving and transforming instead of Ratchet.
* Ironhide's tires aren't flat anymore when he falls out of the crusher's claw.
* Bumblebee has no headlights as the newly-arrived Autobots transform.
* As Wheeljack flees, he fires at Starscream and Thundercracker. In the next shot, his target is a pair of Thundercrackers. One of them teleports away (indicating that it was supposed to be Skywarp.) When he re-materializes, he's colored like Starscream, but still speaks in Skywarp's voice.
* When Soundwave ejects Ravage, the inside of his chest is grey.
* When the Autobots are un-transfixed and transform into robot modes, Brawn is shown transforming with them.
* A series of shots shows the grenade's radiation as concentric circles radiating out. The center point stays in four successive shots, despite only one of them being the point where the grenade exploded.
* As the grenade does its work, a series of vehicle-mode Autobots flash into existence out of nowhere.
* Long Haul's eyeband isn't colored red as we pan across the Constructicons.
* Devastator's combining sequence is screwy. First Scrapper and Mixmaster are shown forming Long Haul's portion of the combiner robot in addition to their own. Long Haul then forms Devastator's upper torso, instead of the lower torso (the chest plate is green at first, then turns its correct purple.) Hook then forms a tiny part of the upper torso, including the head, and... Bonecrusher's bulldozer kibble.
* Devastator has two small eyes instead of an eyeband as he fires lasers from his hand.
* He has two large eyes as he looms over Wheeljack and Cliffjumper.
* As Cliffjumper zaps Devastator with the Transfixatron, the shot suddenly jumps to a slight close-up of Devastator from the exact same angle as before. In the closer angle, the glowing animation effect is missing from the Transfixatron beam.
* Windcharger's face is the same dark gray as his head as Ironhide threatens the Decepticons, and his mid-torso is red instead of gray. The same error repeats during the repair lineup at the end.
* Thundercracker is drawn with his cockpit on the bottom of his jet mode as he and the other Seekers retreat.
* The [[commercial bumper]]s for the second act break feature the theme music for ''[[G.I. Joe (team)|G.I. Joe]]'', not ''The Transformers''.

===Continuity errors===
* Why the heck are Spike and Chip watching the race from next to the grand stands, instead of, y'know, ''inside'' them?
* [[Shockwave (G1)|Shockwave]] appears twice in this episode: first when Megatron is gloating about the Transfixatron, then when the Decepticons arrive at the race. Of course, it's ''possible'' that Shockwave came to [[Earth]] during this episode, but the idea of him just popping up and hanging around in the background seriously goes against the established notion that he always stays on [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]] as its full-time guardian.
* Why does Megatron pick up the Transfixatron to aim it at Starscream, when a moment later he can just pivot it on its base?
* The race gets started VERY quickly. Chip and Spike come up with the idea, go back to the base, tell Prime, and apparently the Autobots just show up and demand to race for charity. Granted, some time could have elapsed in between, but ''still''. The Decepticons, meanwhile, are just hanging around in this Old West ghost town.
* How does the dust at the finish line get ''ahead'' of the Autobots?
* When Chip gets Teletraan I to analyse the data on the transforming process, among the images which flash up is a picture of Megatron's crusher. What has that got to do with transforming?
* Hound can ''shoot'' a hologram? For miles? And have it land ''inside a volcano''? What the hell?
* Flying Autobots:
** Cliffjumper gets a rocket sound effect as he comes flying out of the debris.
** Wheeljack uses his wrist rockets to fly, which is one of the few times it's shown correctly.
* Is the elaborate claw/tentacle mechanism on the crusher really necessary?
* At the end of Act 2, Ironhide is a few feet away from the crusher's jaws, presumably mere seconds from being crushed. A minute or more elapses in Act 3 before Prime comes to his rescue.
* Wheeljack states that the [[Transfixatron]] will "cancel Devastator's robot mode", though one would really expect it to just transfix Devastator ''as'' Devastator.
* So... did the Decepticons just leave the transfixed Constructicons sitting there in a pile? They aren't shown retreating.

===Continuity notes===
* This is Roller's third and final appearance.
* This is the first episode where the Transformers formally refer to themselves as ''Transformers''.
* Gadgets and powers:
** Jazz's speaker levels jump from seven to <s>eleven</s> ''eight hundred''. Or maybe he was just tuned in to an AM station.
** Megatron can shoot laser beams from his eyes, especially when he wants to scare away earth germs.
** Devastator's eye beams can magnetically lift a robot into the air. He can also fire lasers from his fingertips.
* Where does the trailer go?
** When Optimus Prime transforms after the Autobots are fixed by Wheeljack's grenade, his trailer shrinks into his back rather than rolling away as usual.
[[Image:AutobotRun madeup Transformer.jpg|thumb|right|200px]]
* A bizarre robot of made-up design appears on the screen as Chip begins researching the Transfixatron's effects. It's loosely based on Prime, but with smaller chest windows, a yellow body, and white wings on his back.
* When instructing Starscream to transform out of vehicle mode, Megatron tells him to return to his "root mode". This was almost certainly the result of a typo in the script that was ''supposed'' to say "ro'''b'''ot mode", but it makes a charming amount of sense as a term.
* The idea of a [[Transfixatron|device to keep a Transformer frozen in one mode]] would be revisited over the years in other fictions, with [[Tarantulas (BW)|Tarantulas]]'s [[transformation lock lens]], [[Megatron (BW)|Megatron]]'s [[Transformation virus|transformation lock virus]], the [[Protectobot (G1)|Protectobots]]' [[mode lock]] used on [[Blaster (G1)|Blaster]], the various incarnations of the [[inhibitor claw]] and [[Spotlight: Soundwave|an experimental weapon]] created by Shockwave.

===Trivia===
*This was one of twelve episodes of [[The Transformers (cartoon)|the original cartoon]] released as audio adventures by the [[Germany|German]] company [[Karussell|Karussell Musik und Video]].
* To catch the grenade, Chip just ''stands up'' from his wheelchair. It should be noted that Chip's precise medical condition is never explained, so we have no way of knowing why he uses a wheelchair or how much use of his legs he actually has. A close inspection of the animation shows him apparently ''pushing'' himself up with his arms, but it's really not conveyed very well.
* This is one of three episodes from Season Two which were animated by [[AKOM]] (the others being "[[The Core]]" and "[[City of Steel]]"). They share similar art and animation styles (lots of one-point perspective action shots, scrolling backgrounds, and random zoom-ins), prominent use of the Constructicons, slightly more juvenile plots than usual, and a set of character model oddities such as Megatron's dark gray gun barrel, Optimus Prime's white backpack, and Chip Chase's blue jacket.
* AKOM also has a strange habit of showing vehicle-mode close-ups with painted artwork instead of typical flat colored cel art. Witness Gears getting shot by Soundwave, and Sideswipe and Jazz's dashboards. The same thing can be seen in "The Core", as Chip leans out of a painted Wheeljack.
* A one-time-only bit of Westernish background music, presumably culled from [[Robert J. Walsh]]'s enormous archives, plays across the opening scene in the Decepticons' ghost town.
* Stores in the ghost town: Liquor Saloon, Harrys Bakes, Sonata 3, Cows(?), Hotel, Saloon, Grain Feed, Livery, Glass (which in a visual gag is the only building in its row of three to survive the battle), and RC P&W(?).
* Signs at the race track: Grand Prix, Irel(and?), XAM, HO KY, New Year Tires, Dav-Mac, A&E O(il?), (Go?)od Year Tires, and Fenzoil Lubes. The "XAM" is very likely a reference to the animation company XAM! ("Ex-Ahern-Marshall"), who included their company initials in the background art of various 1980s animated series.<ref>[http://www.povonline.com/2003/News030103.htm#030503a] "NEWS from me: March 5, 2003"</ref>
* Megatron sure does have a sexy swagger as he walks toward the transfixatroned Autobots.
* An early model sheet calls the Transfixatron a 'Satsitron.'
* In an unfortunate foreshadowing, [[Sunstreaker (G1)|Sunstreaker]] remarks that when they made him, they 'broke the [[mold]]'.
* Seriously, ''guinea pig-o-tron''?!
*The commercial bumper music from the [[Wikipedia: G.I.Joe|G.I.Joe]] animated series plays during the bumpers.

==Home video releases==
{{homevidnote}}
;Laserdisc
[[Image:Flag of Japan.png|20px|Japan]] 1995 — ''Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers'' — Megatron Set ([[TakaraTomy|Takara]]) — Japanese audio only. 
[[Image:Flag of Japan.png|20px|Japan]] 1999 — ''The Transformers'' — Decepticon Edition ([[Geneon Universal Entertainment|Pioneer LDC]]) — Japanese audio only.
;DVD
[[Image:Flag of Japan.png|20px|Japan]] 2001 — ''The Transformers'' — DVD Box 2 (Pioneer LDC) — Japanese audio only. 
[[Image:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 2002 — ''The Original Transformers'' — Season 2 Part 1 ([[The Original Transformers|Rhino Entertainment]]) 
[[Image:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 2002 — ''The Original Transformers'' — Season 2 Part 1: Vol. 1 (Rhino Entertainment) 
[[Image:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 2003 — ''Transformers'' — Season 2 Part 1 ([[Metrodome]]) 
[[Image:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 2004 — ''Transformers'' — Bumper Collection Special (Metrodome) 
[[Image:Flag of Australia.png|20px|Australia]] 2004 — ''Transformers'' — Collection 2: Series 2.1 ([[Madman Entertainment]]) 
[[Image:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 2006 — ''Transformers'' — The Complete Generation One Collection (Metrodome) 
[[Image:Flag of Australia.png|20px|Australia]] 2007 — ''The Transformers'' — Complete Collection (Madman Entertainment) 
[[Image:Flag of Germany.png|20px|Germany]] 2007 — ''Transformers'' — Box-Set (3DVDs) ([[Flex Media]]) — German audio only. 
[[Image:Flag of Italy.png|20px|Italy]] 2008 — ''Transformers'' — Volume 03: Stagione Due Parte Prima ([[Medianetwork Communication]]) — English and Italian audio. 
[[Image:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 2009 — ''Transformers'' — Season Two: Part One (Metrodome) 
[[Image:Flag of Australia.png|20px|Australia]] 2009 — ''The Transformers'' — Complete Collection: Decepticon Edition (Madman Entertainment) 
[[Image:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 2009 — ''The Transformers'' — Season Two, Volume One: 25th Anniversary Edition ([[Shout! Factory]]) 
[[Image:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 2009 — ''The Transformers'' — The Complete Series: 25th Anniversary "Matrix of Leadership" Collection (Shout! Factory)

==External links==
*[http://cybertronchronicle.freewebspace.com/cartoon-dossier/synopses/the_autobot_run.html Dossier at the Cybertron Chronicle]

==Footnotes==
{{Reflist|1}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Autobot Run}}
[[Category:Generation 1 episodes]]
[[Category:Generation 2 episodes]]

The Autobot Run

2012-05-11T16:07:14Z

1.162.95.146: /* Quotes */

{{episode
|series=G1toon
|ep=23
|series2=SRLFtoon
|ep2=65
|prev2=A Plague of Insecticons
|next2=The Ultimate Doom, Part 1
|series3=''[[Generation 2 (cartoon)|The Transformers: Generation 2]]''
|ep3=6
|prev3=Heavy Metal War
|next3=The Core
|image=Autobotruncanttransform.jpg
|caption=Hey, look! Diaclone Sunstreaker!
|title="The Autobot Run"
|production code=#700-22
|airdate=[[October 31]], 1985
|written by=[[Donald F. Glut]]
|animation studio=[[AKOM]]
|production company=[[Sunbow Productions]]
|continuity=[[Generation 1 cartoon continuity]]
}}

'''When the Autobots perform a race for charity, the Decepticons take the opportunity to trap them in their vehicle modes.'''

:''Japanese title:'' トランスフォームをとめろ! (''Transform o Tomero!'', "Stop the Transforming!")
:''German title:'' "'''Wer ist der schnellste Autobots?'''" ("Who is the fastest Autobot?")
:''German ''Generation 2'' title:'' "'''Die Geheimwaffe'''" ("The Secret Weapon")
:''Russian title:'' '''Гран-при "Автобот"''' (''Gran'pree Avtobot'', "Grand-prix Autobot")
:''Italian title, dub 1:'' '''Corsa automobilistica''' ("Car race")
:''Italian title, dub 2:'' '''La corsa degli Autobots''' ("The Autobots run")
==Synopsis==
[[Image:Transfixatron.jpg|left|200px|thumb|A collection of character models gathers around the Decepticons' new weapon.]]

While watching a car race, [[Spike Witwicky (G1)|Spike]] and [[Chip Chase|Chip]] comment on how cool it would be to see the Autobots perform in a race as well.

Meanwhile, in an old west ghost town, the [[Constructicon (G1)|Constructicons]] have completed the [[Transfixatron]], a new device that will lock a [[Transformer]] in the mode they currently occupy (usually vehicle mode). [[Laserbeak (G1)|Laserbeak]] arrives, informing the Decepticons about the Autobot race.

[[Starscream (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Starscream]] complains that [[Megatron (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Megatron]] is wasting time with the device instead of leading an attack. In response, Megatron tests the device on his whiny subordinate, and it's a success. Starscream is stuck in jet mode and begs to be released, saying he'll do whatever Megatron wants and he's too valuable to the Decepticon cause. Megatron gets bored of Starscream's pleas and frees him. Satisfied with the test, Megatron orders the Constructicons to start working on a second device whose purpose will be revealed later.

[[Image:Autobotrunfinishline.jpg|right|200px|thumb|The guy at the finish line wonders where the Hell his car went.]]

Chip and Spike suggest their race idea to the Autobots, and [[Optimus Prime (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Optimus Prime]] agrees, as long as it's for charity. [[Huffer (G1)|Huffer]] complains that it's a waste of time and a bad idea (as usual), but the Autobots decide to do it. Huffer, [[Brawn (G1)|Brawn]], [[Ratchet (G1)|Ratchet]], and [[Wheeljack (G1)|Wheeljack]] remain to guard the [[Ark (G1)|base]].

The Autobots arrive at the track and wait at the starting line in robot mode before they compete "in the greatest automobile race in history." Some numbskull in the audience wonders aloud where their cars are. The Autobots transform, and the race is on with a whole lot of trash talk. [[Jazz (G1)|Jazz]], [[Sunstreaker (G1)|Sunstreaker]] and [[Mirage (G1)|Mirage]] rush ahead of the slower vehicles like [[Trailbreaker (G1)|Trailbreaker]] and [[Ironhide (G1)|Ironhide]].

During the race, [[Skywarp (G1)|Skywarp]] teleports to a position over the track and uses the Transfixatron on the Autobots, who don't notice. The Autobots near the finish line, but they're kicking up so much dust it's impossible to tell who won. "The real winners are us, folks!" says the announcer.

Next up, the Autobots line up to do some stunts and make "Evel Knievel look like a kiddie car driver", according to Spike. But Sunstreaker's attempt to jump the other Autobots falls short and he has to be saved by [[Windcharger (G1)|Windcharger]]'s magnetic powers.

Before they can do anything else, the Decepticons arrive. The Autobots attempt to [[Transformation|transform]], only to find that they are all stuck in vehicle mode. Optimus orders the Autobots to ram the Decepticons, but they simply shoot out the Autobots' tires, fire rays to make their engines overheat and disable their radios. Helpless, the Autobots are herded away by the 'Cons.

[[Image:Autobotrunbyeironhide.jpg|left|200px|thumb|Ironhide must have been giving a Japanese schoolgirl a ride.]]

[[Bumblebee (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Bumblebee]] takes Spike and Chip back to the base, hoping Ratchet and Wheeljack can figure a fix for the Transfixatron ray. As usual, Huffer complains, but a massive bearhug from Brawn gets him to shut up, while Ratchet and Wheeljack get to work.

At the ghost town, Megatron forces Optimus Prime to watch his soldiers die one by one in the Constructicons' second device, a horrific crushing machine, starting with Ironhide. The Autobot leader dispatches [[Roller (G1)|Roller]] to distract Megatron, allowing Prime to ram the crusher, which frees Ironhide. [[Hound (G1)|Hound]] manages to send a signal to [[Teletraan I (G1)|Teletraan I]], just as Ratchet and Wheeljack finish working on a device which will allow the Autobots to transform...a [[Anti-transfixation grenade|grenade]]. (Real good thinking there, guys.)

[[Image:Autobotrunravageattackschip.jpg|right|200px|thumb|Dude, what are you doing? I wanted to push over the cripple.]]

Spike and the other Autobots arrive to save their comrades, but [[Soundwave (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Soundwave]] dispatches [[Ravage (G1)|Ravage]] to deal with them. After a game of keep-away with the grenade, Chip manages to get it close enough to release its energy, allowing the Autobots to transform to robot mode.

The Constructicons form [[Devastator (G1)|Devastator]], but [[Cliffjumper (G1)|Cliffjumper]] and Wheeljack fire the Transfixatron at the giant Decepticon, causing the [[Combiner]] to separate. The Decepticons retreat, and the Autobots destroy the Transfixatron.

{{-}}

==Featured characters==
{{featuredcharacters
|c1=
*[[Bumblebee (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Bumblebee]] (3)
*[[Prowl (G1)|Prowl]]
*[[Bluestreak (G1)|Bluestreak]] (16)
*[[Gears (G1)|Gears]] (17)
*[[Ratchet (G1)|Ratchet]] (18)
*[[Trailbreaker (G1)|Trailbreaker]] (19)
*[[Mirage (G1)|Mirage]] (20)
*[[Sunstreaker (G1)|Sunstreaker]] (21)
*[[Ironhide (G1)|Ironhide]] (22)
*[[Huffer (G1)|Huffer]] (23)
*[[Optimus Prime (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Optimus Prime]] (24)
*[[Brawn (G1)|Brawn]] (25)
*[[Wheeljack (G1)|Wheeljack]] (26)
*[[Sideswipe (G1)|Sideswipe]] (27)
*[[Jazz (G1)|Jazz]] (28)
*[[Hound (G1)|Hound]] (29)
*[[Windcharger (G1)|Windcharger]] (30)
*[[Cliffjumper (G1)|Cliffjumper]] (32)
*[[Roller (G1)|Roller]] (33)

|c2=
*[[Laserbeak (G1)|Laserbeak]] (4)
*[[Megatron (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Megatron]] (5)
*[[Starscream (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Starscream]] (6)
*[[Soundwave (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Soundwave]] (7)
*[[Thundercracker (G1)|Thundercracker]] (8)
*[[Scrapper (G1)|Scrapper]] (9)
*[[Hook (G1)|Hook]] (10)
*[[Scavenger (G1)|Scavenger]] (11)
*[[Mixmaster (G1)|Mixmaster]] (12)
*[[Long Haul (G1)|Long Haul]] (13)
*[[Bonecrusher (G1)|Bonecrusher]] (14)
*[[Shockwave (G1)|Shockwave]] (15)
*[[Skywarp (G1)|Skywarp]] (31)
*[[Ravage (G1)|Ravage]] (34)
*[[Devastator (G1)|Devastator]] (35)

|c3=
*[[Spike Witwicky (G1)|Spike Witwicky]] (1)
*[[Chip Chase]] (2)
}}

==Quotes==
"Transform." 
"No, Megatron. You can't mean to—" 
"What's a test without a [[guinea pig-o-tron]]? Transform, I say!"
:—'''Megatron''' selects '''Starscream''' as the test subject for his latest device.

"They never knew what hit em!!" 
"Excellent!! Treachery is your forte, my dear Skywarp. Now, the Autobots can no longer call themselves.... ''Transformers!!'' Hu~hu~hwar~hahahaha~harrgh!!"
:-'''Megatron''', never passing a chance to laugh at his own bad puns.

"Uh, probably just energy evaporation from all the speed, maybe... I hope..."
:—'''Bumblebee''' fails physics forever.

"If you're going to do what I think, Sunstreaker, you've got boom glitches in your brain garage."
:—'''Mirage'''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s colorful terms for Transformer anatomy.

"Well, guys, what's next? I'm for anything except demolition derbyin'."
:—'''Jazz'''

"I can't change back to my normal, handsome self!"
:—Modest and humble '''Sunstreaker'''

"It seems you Autobots have a slight ''identity problem?'' Huhuhahahahaha!!"
:-Good old '''Megatron''' just loves to rub salt in the wounds.

"I knew the racing bit was bad news, but would anyone listen to me? Oh, noooo!" 
"Stifle it, Huffer, or I'll put my footio in your audio!!"
:—'''Huffer''' being an ass and '''Brawn''' looking to kick some.

"Ironic, isn't it, Autobots, that after so many valiant battles, you will meet your end in the crushing jaws of this device so lovingly fashioned by my Constructicons."
:—'''Megatron'''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s concept of irony is off.

"Later, guys. It's been really great knowin' ya."
:—Headed for the crushing device, '''Ironhide''' accepts his fate.

"Hey, what's that?" 
"I'd call it a TARGET!"
:—'''Thundercracker''' and '''Starscream''' spotting Roller.

"I'm transforming! I see my true beauty emerging!"
:—'''Sunstreaker''', vain as always.

==Notes==
===Animation or technical glitches===
* Being one of the Season 2 [[AKOM]] episodes, "The Autobot Run" features several unusual animation models:
** Optimus Prime's "backpack" is white instead of red.
** Huffer has a white outline around his eyes.
** Gears' truck mode is mostly red instead of mostly blue.
** Megatron's gun barrel is dark gray instead of light gray.
** Laserbeak's beak is (sometimes) the same dark gray as the rest of his head.
** The "disk" on Bumblebee's back is dark gray instead of yellow. Bumblebee also has two random dark gray squares on the back of his vehicle mode.
** Prowl is a medium gray instead of white.

Of course, AKOM found lots of less-excusable things to mess up, too:
* This episode's [[transformation]] sound effects are oddly applied, stopping and starting halfway through and even playing over the wrong transformation type (ie, vehicle-to-robot vs. robot-to-vehicle) at times.
* Ignoring the big, paved driveway right next to him, Bumblebee arrives at the race track by ''driving across the grass''.
* That's okay, though, because as the race finishes, Chip nonchalantly turns his wheelchair and ''rolls across the grass''.
* Chip then rolls into Bumblebee, and sits in the driver seat, while still in his wheelchair. Huh?
* After a dialogue section where Huffer complains about the race idea and Optimus orders him to stay and guard the base, he is seen transforming and rolling out to the race. He is not at the race and is later back at the base. However, a number of other characters who do not roll out and are not shown at the base during the discussion turn up at the race.
* For the duration of this episode, actor [[Michael Bell]] performs Scrapper with a very different voice than normal, sounding...well, frankly, quite ''normal'', compared to Scrapper's usual hoarse rasp.
* Scrapper's faceplate doesn't move as he reports the Transfixatron's completion. In fact it doesn't move at all the whole episode.
* Thundercracker's feet are blue instead of black, and Soundwave's eject button is blue instead of white, as they watch the completion of the Transfixatron.
* In the first pan over it, the Old West "town" has no streets! Subsequent shots show it with many more buildings than the handful shown in this shot.
* Missing Seeker insigina:
** Starscream has no insignia as he watches Laserbeak report back to Megatron.
** One of Starscream's insignia disappears as he backs away from the Transfixatron. The other disappears as he transforms a second later.
** When Thundercracker turns from blasting Optimus to fire on Ironhide, he has no back wing insignias.
** He still has none as he walks off with the captive Autobots.
** Starscream's missing an insignia as he fires on Roller.
* As Laserbeak enters Soundwave's chest to report, Soundwave's eyeband is colored white like his faceplate, while his forehead is colored red like his eyeband should be.
* Starscream is missing one of his wings prior to the Transfixatron test. The other wing is abnormally large. The same overlarge wing shape shows up on Thundercracker later in the episode.
* A moment later, in jet mode, Starscream's right air intake is colored as if it extends way back into his fuselage, and has some black details that shouldn't be there; the left intake isn't colored to match. He also has extra stripes on his tail fins. In a wider-angle shot, both intakes are colored with the long length and the extra black parts.
* Even if Shockwave ''was'' supposed to be standing behind Megatron (see Continuity Errors below), he and Scavenger were not standing anywhere near Megatron just a shot or two earlier.
* AKOM reuses the same scrolling cloud background at least four times behind Starscream. To be fair, it would actually make sense for him to be flying in circles at this point.
* In the first shot of the Autobots, Ironhide's entire torso is red. In the next shot, the top of his chest is red instead of red/gray.
* The entirety of Trailbreaker's lower legs are white as he listens to Prime, instead of just the stripe down the middle. The error repeats as the Autobots stand at the race track.
* Prowl has no black detailing on his car mode as Jazz passes him. He's also his correct white color instead of the light gray that AKOM usually colors him.
* Instead of being provided by [[Neil Ross]] as usual, Bonecrusher's single line in this episode is supplied by Michael Bell, using the same nondescript "normal" voice as he uses for Scrapper. The temptation, of course, is to peg this on an animation error that mistakenly depicted Bonecrusher instead of Scrapper, but the script for the episode actually called for Bonecrusher to speak the line.
* As Skywarp transforms to robot mode over the raceway, he pulls the Transfixatron out of [[Subspace | nowhere]], despite it being as large as he is.
* A second later, Skywarp has a yellow stripe down his back where there should be black.
* When Skywarp uses it on the Autobots, the Transfixatron beam effect is not properly animated to glow.
* Transfixed Sideswipe is drawn trying to transform in a way that looks more like Sunstreaker's transformation scheme.
* After the Autobots discover they're locked in vehicle mode, when Megatron laughs the other Decepticons just sort of... vibrate.
* Megatron's eye lasers are the slowest-moving lasers in the universe.
* The Seekers transform and start rolling across the race track. In the next shot, they're suddenly in the air.
* Thundercracker's "gloves" are white instead of black as he transforms above Ironhide.
* Wheeljack's ears do not flash in time with his speaking at first.
* The crusher's lights flash multiple colors as it first activates, but later they only flash white. While the lights ''could'' change colors, it really begs the question of why it needs bizarre flashing lights in the first place.
* Wheeljack and Ratchet gather around Chip at the computer two times in a row.
* As we pan across the captive Autobots at the ghost town, Wheeljack and Bumblebee are among the crowd, despite both being back at Autobot Headquarters at this point. In the same pan, two Starscreams are guarding them. Also, the ghost town has gained a couple of streets and several extra buildings.
* Maybe not an error, but definitely bizarre: Hound gets Optimus Prime's rifle sound effect as he "fires" his hologram.
[[Image:Autobotrungreenteletraan.jpg|right|175px|thumb|Chip Chase always did have the luck of the Irish.]]
* When Chip is trying to locate the Autobots, Teletraan I is colored green instead of orange.
* Soundwave's head changes colors between shots as he destroys Hound's turret gun. (Hound manages to stay off-screen until he's in robot mode later in the episode, sidestepping the need for the animators to remember his gun is destroyed.)
* As Wheeljack explains the grenade, his ears flash, but aren't properly backlit to glow.
* As Spike and company arrive at the ghost town, Ironhide is shown arriving and transforming instead of Ratchet.
* Ironhide's tires aren't flat anymore when he falls out of the crusher's claw.
* Bumblebee has no headlights as the newly-arrived Autobots transform.
* As Wheeljack flees, he fires at Starscream and Thundercracker. In the next shot, his target is a pair of Thundercrackers. One of them teleports away (indicating that it was supposed to be Skywarp.) When he re-materializes, he's colored like Starscream, but still speaks in Skywarp's voice.
* When Soundwave ejects Ravage, the inside of his chest is grey.
* When the Autobots are un-transfixed and transform into robot modes, Brawn is shown transforming with them.
* A series of shots shows the grenade's radiation as concentric circles radiating out. The center point stays in four successive shots, despite only one of them being the point where the grenade exploded.
* As the grenade does its work, a series of vehicle-mode Autobots flash into existence out of nowhere.
* Long Haul's eyeband isn't colored red as we pan across the Constructicons.
* Devastator's combining sequence is screwy. First Scrapper and Mixmaster are shown forming Long Haul's portion of the combiner robot in addition to their own. Long Haul then forms Devastator's upper torso, instead of the lower torso (the chest plate is green at first, then turns its correct purple.) Hook then forms a tiny part of the upper torso, including the head, and... Bonecrusher's bulldozer kibble.
* Devastator has two small eyes instead of an eyeband as he fires lasers from his hand.
* He has two large eyes as he looms over Wheeljack and Cliffjumper.
* As Cliffjumper zaps Devastator with the Transfixatron, the shot suddenly jumps to a slight close-up of Devastator from the exact same angle as before. In the closer angle, the glowing animation effect is missing from the Transfixatron beam.
* Windcharger's face is the same dark gray as his head as Ironhide threatens the Decepticons, and his mid-torso is red instead of gray. The same error repeats during the repair lineup at the end.
* Thundercracker is drawn with his cockpit on the bottom of his jet mode as he and the other Seekers retreat.
* The [[commercial bumper]]s for the second act break feature the theme music for ''[[G.I. Joe (team)|G.I. Joe]]'', not ''The Transformers''.

===Continuity errors===
* Why the heck are Spike and Chip watching the race from next to the grand stands, instead of, y'know, ''inside'' them?
* [[Shockwave (G1)|Shockwave]] appears twice in this episode: first when Megatron is gloating about the Transfixatron, then when the Decepticons arrive at the race. Of course, it's ''possible'' that Shockwave came to [[Earth]] during this episode, but the idea of him just popping up and hanging around in the background seriously goes against the established notion that he always stays on [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]] as its full-time guardian.
* Why does Megatron pick up the Transfixatron to aim it at Starscream, when a moment later he can just pivot it on its base?
* The race gets started VERY quickly. Chip and Spike come up with the idea, go back to the base, tell Prime, and apparently the Autobots just show up and demand to race for charity. Granted, some time could have elapsed in between, but ''still''. The Decepticons, meanwhile, are just hanging around in this Old West ghost town.
* How does the dust at the finish line get ''ahead'' of the Autobots?
* When Chip gets Teletraan I to analyse the data on the transforming process, among the images which flash up is a picture of Megatron's crusher. What has that got to do with transforming?
* Hound can ''shoot'' a hologram? For miles? And have it land ''inside a volcano''? What the hell?
* Flying Autobots:
** Cliffjumper gets a rocket sound effect as he comes flying out of the debris.
** Wheeljack uses his wrist rockets to fly, which is one of the few times it's shown correctly.
* Is the elaborate claw/tentacle mechanism on the crusher really necessary?
* At the end of Act 2, Ironhide is a few feet away from the crusher's jaws, presumably mere seconds from being crushed. A minute or more elapses in Act 3 before Prime comes to his rescue.
* Wheeljack states that the [[Transfixatron]] will "cancel Devastator's robot mode", though one would really expect it to just transfix Devastator ''as'' Devastator.
* So... did the Decepticons just leave the transfixed Constructicons sitting there in a pile? They aren't shown retreating.

===Continuity notes===
* This is Roller's third and final appearance.
* This is the first episode where the Transformers formally refer to themselves as ''Transformers''.
* Gadgets and powers:
** Jazz's speaker levels jump from seven to <s>eleven</s> ''eight hundred''. Or maybe he was just tuned in to an AM station.
** Megatron can shoot laser beams from his eyes, especially when he wants to scare away earth germs.
** Devastator's eye beams can magnetically lift a robot into the air. He can also fire lasers from his fingertips.
* Where does the trailer go?
** When Optimus Prime transforms after the Autobots are fixed by Wheeljack's grenade, his trailer shrinks into his back rather than rolling away as usual.
[[Image:AutobotRun madeup Transformer.jpg|thumb|right|200px]]
* A bizarre robot of made-up design appears on the screen as Chip begins researching the Transfixatron's effects. It's loosely based on Prime, but with smaller chest windows, a yellow body, and white wings on his back.
* When instructing Starscream to transform out of vehicle mode, Megatron tells him to return to his "root mode". This was almost certainly the result of a typo in the script that was ''supposed'' to say "ro'''b'''ot mode", but it makes a charming amount of sense as a term.
* The idea of a [[Transfixatron|device to keep a Transformer frozen in one mode]] would be revisited over the years in other fictions, with [[Tarantulas (BW)|Tarantulas]]'s [[transformation lock lens]], [[Megatron (BW)|Megatron]]'s [[Transformation virus|transformation lock virus]], the [[Protectobot (G1)|Protectobots]]' [[mode lock]] used on [[Blaster (G1)|Blaster]], the various incarnations of the [[inhibitor claw]] and [[Spotlight: Soundwave|an experimental weapon]] created by Shockwave.

===Trivia===
*This was one of twelve episodes of [[The Transformers (cartoon)|the original cartoon]] released as audio adventures by the [[Germany|German]] company [[Karussell|Karussell Musik und Video]].
* To catch the grenade, Chip just ''stands up'' from his wheelchair. It should be noted that Chip's precise medical condition is never explained, so we have no way of knowing why he uses a wheelchair or how much use of his legs he actually has. A close inspection of the animation shows him apparently ''pushing'' himself up with his arms, but it's really not conveyed very well.
* This is one of three episodes from Season Two which were animated by [[AKOM]] (the others being "[[The Core]]" and "[[City of Steel]]"). They share similar art and animation styles (lots of one-point perspective action shots, scrolling backgrounds, and random zoom-ins), prominent use of the Constructicons, slightly more juvenile plots than usual, and a set of character model oddities such as Megatron's dark gray gun barrel, Optimus Prime's white backpack, and Chip Chase's blue jacket.
* AKOM also has a strange habit of showing vehicle-mode close-ups with painted artwork instead of typical flat colored cel art. Witness Gears getting shot by Soundwave, and Sideswipe and Jazz's dashboards. The same thing can be seen in "The Core", as Chip leans out of a painted Wheeljack.
* A one-time-only bit of Westernish background music, presumably culled from [[Robert J. Walsh]]'s enormous archives, plays across the opening scene in the Decepticons' ghost town.
* Stores in the ghost town: Liquor Saloon, Harrys Bakes, Sonata 3, Cows(?), Hotel, Saloon, Grain Feed, Livery, Glass (which in a visual gag is the only building in its row of three to survive the battle), and RC P&W(?).
* Signs at the race track: Grand Prix, Irel(and?), XAM, HO KY, New Year Tires, Dav-Mac, A&E O(il?), (Go?)od Year Tires, and Fenzoil Lubes. The "XAM" is very likely a reference to the animation company XAM! ("Ex-Ahern-Marshall"), who included their company initials in the background art of various 1980s animated series.<ref>[http://www.povonline.com/2003/News030103.htm#030503a] "NEWS from me: March 5, 2003"</ref>
* Megatron sure does have a sexy swagger as he walks toward the transfixatroned Autobots.
* An early model sheet calls the Transfixatron a 'Satsitron.'
* In an unfortunate foreshadowing, [[Sunstreaker (G1)|Sunstreaker]] remarks that when they made him, they 'broke the [[mold]]'.
* Seriously, ''guinea pig-o-tron''?!
*The commercial bumper music from the [[Wikipedia: G.I.Joe|G.I.Joe]] animated series plays during the bumpers.

==Home video releases==
{{homevidnote}}
;Laserdisc
[[Image:Flag of Japan.png|20px|Japan]] 1995 — ''Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers'' — Megatron Set ([[TakaraTomy|Takara]]) — Japanese audio only. 
[[Image:Flag of Japan.png|20px|Japan]] 1999 — ''The Transformers'' — Decepticon Edition ([[Geneon Universal Entertainment|Pioneer LDC]]) — Japanese audio only.
;DVD
[[Image:Flag of Japan.png|20px|Japan]] 2001 — ''The Transformers'' — DVD Box 2 (Pioneer LDC) — Japanese audio only. 
[[Image:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 2002 — ''The Original Transformers'' — Season 2 Part 1 ([[The Original Transformers|Rhino Entertainment]]) 
[[Image:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 2002 — ''The Original Transformers'' — Season 2 Part 1: Vol. 1 (Rhino Entertainment) 
[[Image:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 2003 — ''Transformers'' — Season 2 Part 1 ([[Metrodome]]) 
[[Image:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 2004 — ''Transformers'' — Bumper Collection Special (Metrodome) 
[[Image:Flag of Australia.png|20px|Australia]] 2004 — ''Transformers'' — Collection 2: Series 2.1 ([[Madman Entertainment]]) 
[[Image:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 2006 — ''Transformers'' — The Complete Generation One Collection (Metrodome) 
[[Image:Flag of Australia.png|20px|Australia]] 2007 — ''The Transformers'' — Complete Collection (Madman Entertainment) 
[[Image:Flag of Germany.png|20px|Germany]] 2007 — ''Transformers'' — Box-Set (3DVDs) ([[Flex Media]]) — German audio only. 
[[Image:Flag of Italy.png|20px|Italy]] 2008 — ''Transformers'' — Volume 03: Stagione Due Parte Prima ([[Medianetwork Communication]]) — English and Italian audio. 
[[Image:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 2009 — ''Transformers'' — Season Two: Part One (Metrodome) 
[[Image:Flag of Australia.png|20px|Australia]] 2009 — ''The Transformers'' — Complete Collection: Decepticon Edition (Madman Entertainment) 
[[Image:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 2009 — ''The Transformers'' — Season Two, Volume One: 25th Anniversary Edition ([[Shout! Factory]]) 
[[Image:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 2009 — ''The Transformers'' — The Complete Series: 25th Anniversary "Matrix of Leadership" Collection (Shout! Factory)

==External links==
*[http://cybertronchronicle.freewebspace.com/cartoon-dossier/synopses/the_autobot_run.html Dossier at the Cybertron Chronicle]

==Footnotes==
{{Reflist|1}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Autobot Run}}
[[Category:Generation 1 episodes]]
[[Category:Generation 2 episodes]]

The Autobot Run

2012-05-11T16:06:19Z

1.162.95.146: /* Quotes */

{{episode
|series=G1toon
|ep=23
|series2=SRLFtoon
|ep2=65
|prev2=A Plague of Insecticons
|next2=The Ultimate Doom, Part 1
|series3=''[[Generation 2 (cartoon)|The Transformers: Generation 2]]''
|ep3=6
|prev3=Heavy Metal War
|next3=The Core
|image=Autobotruncanttransform.jpg
|caption=Hey, look! Diaclone Sunstreaker!
|title="The Autobot Run"
|production code=#700-22
|airdate=[[October 31]], 1985
|written by=[[Donald F. Glut]]
|animation studio=[[AKOM]]
|production company=[[Sunbow Productions]]
|continuity=[[Generation 1 cartoon continuity]]
}}

'''When the Autobots perform a race for charity, the Decepticons take the opportunity to trap them in their vehicle modes.'''

:''Japanese title:'' トランスフォームをとめろ! (''Transform o Tomero!'', "Stop the Transforming!")
:''German title:'' "'''Wer ist der schnellste Autobots?'''" ("Who is the fastest Autobot?")
:''German ''Generation 2'' title:'' "'''Die Geheimwaffe'''" ("The Secret Weapon")
:''Russian title:'' '''Гран-при "Автобот"''' (''Gran'pree Avtobot'', "Grand-prix Autobot")
:''Italian title, dub 1:'' '''Corsa automobilistica''' ("Car race")
:''Italian title, dub 2:'' '''La corsa degli Autobots''' ("The Autobots run")
==Synopsis==
[[Image:Transfixatron.jpg|left|200px|thumb|A collection of character models gathers around the Decepticons' new weapon.]]

While watching a car race, [[Spike Witwicky (G1)|Spike]] and [[Chip Chase|Chip]] comment on how cool it would be to see the Autobots perform in a race as well.

Meanwhile, in an old west ghost town, the [[Constructicon (G1)|Constructicons]] have completed the [[Transfixatron]], a new device that will lock a [[Transformer]] in the mode they currently occupy (usually vehicle mode). [[Laserbeak (G1)|Laserbeak]] arrives, informing the Decepticons about the Autobot race.

[[Starscream (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Starscream]] complains that [[Megatron (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Megatron]] is wasting time with the device instead of leading an attack. In response, Megatron tests the device on his whiny subordinate, and it's a success. Starscream is stuck in jet mode and begs to be released, saying he'll do whatever Megatron wants and he's too valuable to the Decepticon cause. Megatron gets bored of Starscream's pleas and frees him. Satisfied with the test, Megatron orders the Constructicons to start working on a second device whose purpose will be revealed later.

[[Image:Autobotrunfinishline.jpg|right|200px|thumb|The guy at the finish line wonders where the Hell his car went.]]

Chip and Spike suggest their race idea to the Autobots, and [[Optimus Prime (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Optimus Prime]] agrees, as long as it's for charity. [[Huffer (G1)|Huffer]] complains that it's a waste of time and a bad idea (as usual), but the Autobots decide to do it. Huffer, [[Brawn (G1)|Brawn]], [[Ratchet (G1)|Ratchet]], and [[Wheeljack (G1)|Wheeljack]] remain to guard the [[Ark (G1)|base]].

The Autobots arrive at the track and wait at the starting line in robot mode before they compete "in the greatest automobile race in history." Some numbskull in the audience wonders aloud where their cars are. The Autobots transform, and the race is on with a whole lot of trash talk. [[Jazz (G1)|Jazz]], [[Sunstreaker (G1)|Sunstreaker]] and [[Mirage (G1)|Mirage]] rush ahead of the slower vehicles like [[Trailbreaker (G1)|Trailbreaker]] and [[Ironhide (G1)|Ironhide]].

During the race, [[Skywarp (G1)|Skywarp]] teleports to a position over the track and uses the Transfixatron on the Autobots, who don't notice. The Autobots near the finish line, but they're kicking up so much dust it's impossible to tell who won. "The real winners are us, folks!" says the announcer.

Next up, the Autobots line up to do some stunts and make "Evel Knievel look like a kiddie car driver", according to Spike. But Sunstreaker's attempt to jump the other Autobots falls short and he has to be saved by [[Windcharger (G1)|Windcharger]]'s magnetic powers.

Before they can do anything else, the Decepticons arrive. The Autobots attempt to [[Transformation|transform]], only to find that they are all stuck in vehicle mode. Optimus orders the Autobots to ram the Decepticons, but they simply shoot out the Autobots' tires, fire rays to make their engines overheat and disable their radios. Helpless, the Autobots are herded away by the 'Cons.

[[Image:Autobotrunbyeironhide.jpg|left|200px|thumb|Ironhide must have been giving a Japanese schoolgirl a ride.]]

[[Bumblebee (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Bumblebee]] takes Spike and Chip back to the base, hoping Ratchet and Wheeljack can figure a fix for the Transfixatron ray. As usual, Huffer complains, but a massive bearhug from Brawn gets him to shut up, while Ratchet and Wheeljack get to work.

At the ghost town, Megatron forces Optimus Prime to watch his soldiers die one by one in the Constructicons' second device, a horrific crushing machine, starting with Ironhide. The Autobot leader dispatches [[Roller (G1)|Roller]] to distract Megatron, allowing Prime to ram the crusher, which frees Ironhide. [[Hound (G1)|Hound]] manages to send a signal to [[Teletraan I (G1)|Teletraan I]], just as Ratchet and Wheeljack finish working on a device which will allow the Autobots to transform...a [[Anti-transfixation grenade|grenade]]. (Real good thinking there, guys.)

[[Image:Autobotrunravageattackschip.jpg|right|200px|thumb|Dude, what are you doing? I wanted to push over the cripple.]]

Spike and the other Autobots arrive to save their comrades, but [[Soundwave (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Soundwave]] dispatches [[Ravage (G1)|Ravage]] to deal with them. After a game of keep-away with the grenade, Chip manages to get it close enough to release its energy, allowing the Autobots to transform to robot mode.

The Constructicons form [[Devastator (G1)|Devastator]], but [[Cliffjumper (G1)|Cliffjumper]] and Wheeljack fire the Transfixatron at the giant Decepticon, causing the [[Combiner]] to separate. The Decepticons retreat, and the Autobots destroy the Transfixatron.

{{-}}

==Featured characters==
{{featuredcharacters
|c1=
*[[Bumblebee (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Bumblebee]] (3)
*[[Prowl (G1)|Prowl]]
*[[Bluestreak (G1)|Bluestreak]] (16)
*[[Gears (G1)|Gears]] (17)
*[[Ratchet (G1)|Ratchet]] (18)
*[[Trailbreaker (G1)|Trailbreaker]] (19)
*[[Mirage (G1)|Mirage]] (20)
*[[Sunstreaker (G1)|Sunstreaker]] (21)
*[[Ironhide (G1)|Ironhide]] (22)
*[[Huffer (G1)|Huffer]] (23)
*[[Optimus Prime (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Optimus Prime]] (24)
*[[Brawn (G1)|Brawn]] (25)
*[[Wheeljack (G1)|Wheeljack]] (26)
*[[Sideswipe (G1)|Sideswipe]] (27)
*[[Jazz (G1)|Jazz]] (28)
*[[Hound (G1)|Hound]] (29)
*[[Windcharger (G1)|Windcharger]] (30)
*[[Cliffjumper (G1)|Cliffjumper]] (32)
*[[Roller (G1)|Roller]] (33)

|c2=
*[[Laserbeak (G1)|Laserbeak]] (4)
*[[Megatron (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Megatron]] (5)
*[[Starscream (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Starscream]] (6)
*[[Soundwave (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Soundwave]] (7)
*[[Thundercracker (G1)|Thundercracker]] (8)
*[[Scrapper (G1)|Scrapper]] (9)
*[[Hook (G1)|Hook]] (10)
*[[Scavenger (G1)|Scavenger]] (11)
*[[Mixmaster (G1)|Mixmaster]] (12)
*[[Long Haul (G1)|Long Haul]] (13)
*[[Bonecrusher (G1)|Bonecrusher]] (14)
*[[Shockwave (G1)|Shockwave]] (15)
*[[Skywarp (G1)|Skywarp]] (31)
*[[Ravage (G1)|Ravage]] (34)
*[[Devastator (G1)|Devastator]] (35)

|c3=
*[[Spike Witwicky (G1)|Spike Witwicky]] (1)
*[[Chip Chase]] (2)
}}

==Quotes==
"Transform." 
"No, Megatron. You can't mean to—" 
"What's a test without a [[guinea pig-o-tron]]? Transform, I say!"
:—'''Megatron''' selects '''Starscream''' as the test subject for his latest device.

"They never knew what hit em!!" 
"Excellent!! Treachery is your forte, my dear Skywarp. Now, the Autobots can no longer call themselves.... ''Transformers!!'' Hu~hu~hwar~hahahaha~harrgh!!"
:-'''Megatron''', never passing a chance to laugh at his own bad puns.

"Uh, probably just energy evaporation from all the speed, maybe... I hope..."
:—'''Bumblebee''' fails physics forever.

"If you're going to do what I think, Sunstreaker, you've got boom glitches in your brain garage."
:—'''Mirage'''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s colorful terms for Transformer anatomy.

"Well, guys, what's next? I'm for anything except demolition derbyin'."
:—'''Jazz'''

"I can't change back to my normal, handsome self!"
:—Modest and humble '''Sunstreaker'''

"It seems you Autobots have a slight ''identity problem?'' Huhuhahahahaha!!"
:-Good old '''Megatron''' just loves to rub salt in the wound.

"I knew the racing bit was bad news, but would anyone listen to me? Oh, noooo!" 
"Stifle it, Huffer, or I'll put my footio in your audio!!"
:—'''Huffer''' being an ass and '''Brawn''' looking to kick some.

"Ironic, isn't it, Autobots, that after so many valiant battles, you will meet your end in the crushing jaws of this device so lovingly fashioned by my Constructicons."
:—'''Megatron'''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s concept of irony is off.

"Later, guys. It's been really great knowin' ya."
:—Headed for the crushing device, '''Ironhide''' accepts his fate.

"Hey, what's that?" 
"I'd call it a TARGET!"
:—'''Thundercracker''' and '''Starscream''' spotting Roller.

"I'm transforming! I see my true beauty emerging!"
:—'''Sunstreaker''', vain as always.

==Notes==
===Animation or technical glitches===
* Being one of the Season 2 [[AKOM]] episodes, "The Autobot Run" features several unusual animation models:
** Optimus Prime's "backpack" is white instead of red.
** Huffer has a white outline around his eyes.
** Gears' truck mode is mostly red instead of mostly blue.
** Megatron's gun barrel is dark gray instead of light gray.
** Laserbeak's beak is (sometimes) the same dark gray as the rest of his head.
** The "disk" on Bumblebee's back is dark gray instead of yellow. Bumblebee also has two random dark gray squares on the back of his vehicle mode.
** Prowl is a medium gray instead of white.

Of course, AKOM found lots of less-excusable things to mess up, too:
* This episode's [[transformation]] sound effects are oddly applied, stopping and starting halfway through and even playing over the wrong transformation type (ie, vehicle-to-robot vs. robot-to-vehicle) at times.
* Ignoring the big, paved driveway right next to him, Bumblebee arrives at the race track by ''driving across the grass''.
* That's okay, though, because as the race finishes, Chip nonchalantly turns his wheelchair and ''rolls across the grass''.
* Chip then rolls into Bumblebee, and sits in the driver seat, while still in his wheelchair. Huh?
* After a dialogue section where Huffer complains about the race idea and Optimus orders him to stay and guard the base, he is seen transforming and rolling out to the race. He is not at the race and is later back at the base. However, a number of other characters who do not roll out and are not shown at the base during the discussion turn up at the race.
* For the duration of this episode, actor [[Michael Bell]] performs Scrapper with a very different voice than normal, sounding...well, frankly, quite ''normal'', compared to Scrapper's usual hoarse rasp.
* Scrapper's faceplate doesn't move as he reports the Transfixatron's completion. In fact it doesn't move at all the whole episode.
* Thundercracker's feet are blue instead of black, and Soundwave's eject button is blue instead of white, as they watch the completion of the Transfixatron.
* In the first pan over it, the Old West "town" has no streets! Subsequent shots show it with many more buildings than the handful shown in this shot.
* Missing Seeker insigina:
** Starscream has no insignia as he watches Laserbeak report back to Megatron.
** One of Starscream's insignia disappears as he backs away from the Transfixatron. The other disappears as he transforms a second later.
** When Thundercracker turns from blasting Optimus to fire on Ironhide, he has no back wing insignias.
** He still has none as he walks off with the captive Autobots.
** Starscream's missing an insignia as he fires on Roller.
* As Laserbeak enters Soundwave's chest to report, Soundwave's eyeband is colored white like his faceplate, while his forehead is colored red like his eyeband should be.
* Starscream is missing one of his wings prior to the Transfixatron test. The other wing is abnormally large. The same overlarge wing shape shows up on Thundercracker later in the episode.
* A moment later, in jet mode, Starscream's right air intake is colored as if it extends way back into his fuselage, and has some black details that shouldn't be there; the left intake isn't colored to match. He also has extra stripes on his tail fins. In a wider-angle shot, both intakes are colored with the long length and the extra black parts.
* Even if Shockwave ''was'' supposed to be standing behind Megatron (see Continuity Errors below), he and Scavenger were not standing anywhere near Megatron just a shot or two earlier.
* AKOM reuses the same scrolling cloud background at least four times behind Starscream. To be fair, it would actually make sense for him to be flying in circles at this point.
* In the first shot of the Autobots, Ironhide's entire torso is red. In the next shot, the top of his chest is red instead of red/gray.
* The entirety of Trailbreaker's lower legs are white as he listens to Prime, instead of just the stripe down the middle. The error repeats as the Autobots stand at the race track.
* Prowl has no black detailing on his car mode as Jazz passes him. He's also his correct white color instead of the light gray that AKOM usually colors him.
* Instead of being provided by [[Neil Ross]] as usual, Bonecrusher's single line in this episode is supplied by Michael Bell, using the same nondescript "normal" voice as he uses for Scrapper. The temptation, of course, is to peg this on an animation error that mistakenly depicted Bonecrusher instead of Scrapper, but the script for the episode actually called for Bonecrusher to speak the line.
* As Skywarp transforms to robot mode over the raceway, he pulls the Transfixatron out of [[Subspace | nowhere]], despite it being as large as he is.
* A second later, Skywarp has a yellow stripe down his back where there should be black.
* When Skywarp uses it on the Autobots, the Transfixatron beam effect is not properly animated to glow.
* Transfixed Sideswipe is drawn trying to transform in a way that looks more like Sunstreaker's transformation scheme.
* After the Autobots discover they're locked in vehicle mode, when Megatron laughs the other Decepticons just sort of... vibrate.
* Megatron's eye lasers are the slowest-moving lasers in the universe.
* The Seekers transform and start rolling across the race track. In the next shot, they're suddenly in the air.
* Thundercracker's "gloves" are white instead of black as he transforms above Ironhide.
* Wheeljack's ears do not flash in time with his speaking at first.
* The crusher's lights flash multiple colors as it first activates, but later they only flash white. While the lights ''could'' change colors, it really begs the question of why it needs bizarre flashing lights in the first place.
* Wheeljack and Ratchet gather around Chip at the computer two times in a row.
* As we pan across the captive Autobots at the ghost town, Wheeljack and Bumblebee are among the crowd, despite both being back at Autobot Headquarters at this point. In the same pan, two Starscreams are guarding them. Also, the ghost town has gained a couple of streets and several extra buildings.
* Maybe not an error, but definitely bizarre: Hound gets Optimus Prime's rifle sound effect as he "fires" his hologram.
[[Image:Autobotrungreenteletraan.jpg|right|175px|thumb|Chip Chase always did have the luck of the Irish.]]
* When Chip is trying to locate the Autobots, Teletraan I is colored green instead of orange.
* Soundwave's head changes colors between shots as he destroys Hound's turret gun. (Hound manages to stay off-screen until he's in robot mode later in the episode, sidestepping the need for the animators to remember his gun is destroyed.)
* As Wheeljack explains the grenade, his ears flash, but aren't properly backlit to glow.
* As Spike and company arrive at the ghost town, Ironhide is shown arriving and transforming instead of Ratchet.
* Ironhide's tires aren't flat anymore when he falls out of the crusher's claw.
* Bumblebee has no headlights as the newly-arrived Autobots transform.
* As Wheeljack flees, he fires at Starscream and Thundercracker. In the next shot, his target is a pair of Thundercrackers. One of them teleports away (indicating that it was supposed to be Skywarp.) When he re-materializes, he's colored like Starscream, but still speaks in Skywarp's voice.
* When Soundwave ejects Ravage, the inside of his chest is grey.
* When the Autobots are un-transfixed and transform into robot modes, Brawn is shown transforming with them.
* A series of shots shows the grenade's radiation as concentric circles radiating out. The center point stays in four successive shots, despite only one of them being the point where the grenade exploded.
* As the grenade does its work, a series of vehicle-mode Autobots flash into existence out of nowhere.
* Long Haul's eyeband isn't colored red as we pan across the Constructicons.
* Devastator's combining sequence is screwy. First Scrapper and Mixmaster are shown forming Long Haul's portion of the combiner robot in addition to their own. Long Haul then forms Devastator's upper torso, instead of the lower torso (the chest plate is green at first, then turns its correct purple.) Hook then forms a tiny part of the upper torso, including the head, and... Bonecrusher's bulldozer kibble.
* Devastator has two small eyes instead of an eyeband as he fires lasers from his hand.
* He has two large eyes as he looms over Wheeljack and Cliffjumper.
* As Cliffjumper zaps Devastator with the Transfixatron, the shot suddenly jumps to a slight close-up of Devastator from the exact same angle as before. In the closer angle, the glowing animation effect is missing from the Transfixatron beam.
* Windcharger's face is the same dark gray as his head as Ironhide threatens the Decepticons, and his mid-torso is red instead of gray. The same error repeats during the repair lineup at the end.
* Thundercracker is drawn with his cockpit on the bottom of his jet mode as he and the other Seekers retreat.
* The [[commercial bumper]]s for the second act break feature the theme music for ''[[G.I. Joe (team)|G.I. Joe]]'', not ''The Transformers''.

===Continuity errors===
* Why the heck are Spike and Chip watching the race from next to the grand stands, instead of, y'know, ''inside'' them?
* [[Shockwave (G1)|Shockwave]] appears twice in this episode: first when Megatron is gloating about the Transfixatron, then when the Decepticons arrive at the race. Of course, it's ''possible'' that Shockwave came to [[Earth]] during this episode, but the idea of him just popping up and hanging around in the background seriously goes against the established notion that he always stays on [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]] as its full-time guardian.
* Why does Megatron pick up the Transfixatron to aim it at Starscream, when a moment later he can just pivot it on its base?
* The race gets started VERY quickly. Chip and Spike come up with the idea, go back to the base, tell Prime, and apparently the Autobots just show up and demand to race for charity. Granted, some time could have elapsed in between, but ''still''. The Decepticons, meanwhile, are just hanging around in this Old West ghost town.
* How does the dust at the finish line get ''ahead'' of the Autobots?
* When Chip gets Teletraan I to analyse the data on the transforming process, among the images which flash up is a picture of Megatron's crusher. What has that got to do with transforming?
* Hound can ''shoot'' a hologram? For miles? And have it land ''inside a volcano''? What the hell?
* Flying Autobots:
** Cliffjumper gets a rocket sound effect as he comes flying out of the debris.
** Wheeljack uses his wrist rockets to fly, which is one of the few times it's shown correctly.
* Is the elaborate claw/tentacle mechanism on the crusher really necessary?
* At the end of Act 2, Ironhide is a few feet away from the crusher's jaws, presumably mere seconds from being crushed. A minute or more elapses in Act 3 before Prime comes to his rescue.
* Wheeljack states that the [[Transfixatron]] will "cancel Devastator's robot mode", though one would really expect it to just transfix Devastator ''as'' Devastator.
* So... did the Decepticons just leave the transfixed Constructicons sitting there in a pile? They aren't shown retreating.

===Continuity notes===
* This is Roller's third and final appearance.
* This is the first episode where the Transformers formally refer to themselves as ''Transformers''.
* Gadgets and powers:
** Jazz's speaker levels jump from seven to <s>eleven</s> ''eight hundred''. Or maybe he was just tuned in to an AM station.
** Megatron can shoot laser beams from his eyes, especially when he wants to scare away earth germs.
** Devastator's eye beams can magnetically lift a robot into the air. He can also fire lasers from his fingertips.
* Where does the trailer go?
** When Optimus Prime transforms after the Autobots are fixed by Wheeljack's grenade, his trailer shrinks into his back rather than rolling away as usual.
[[Image:AutobotRun madeup Transformer.jpg|thumb|right|200px]]
* A bizarre robot of made-up design appears on the screen as Chip begins researching the Transfixatron's effects. It's loosely based on Prime, but with smaller chest windows, a yellow body, and white wings on his back.
* When instructing Starscream to transform out of vehicle mode, Megatron tells him to return to his "root mode". This was almost certainly the result of a typo in the script that was ''supposed'' to say "ro'''b'''ot mode", but it makes a charming amount of sense as a term.
* The idea of a [[Transfixatron|device to keep a Transformer frozen in one mode]] would be revisited over the years in other fictions, with [[Tarantulas (BW)|Tarantulas]]'s [[transformation lock lens]], [[Megatron (BW)|Megatron]]'s [[Transformation virus|transformation lock virus]], the [[Protectobot (G1)|Protectobots]]' [[mode lock]] used on [[Blaster (G1)|Blaster]], the various incarnations of the [[inhibitor claw]] and [[Spotlight: Soundwave|an experimental weapon]] created by Shockwave.

===Trivia===
*This was one of twelve episodes of [[The Transformers (cartoon)|the original cartoon]] released as audio adventures by the [[Germany|German]] company [[Karussell|Karussell Musik und Video]].
* To catch the grenade, Chip just ''stands up'' from his wheelchair. It should be noted that Chip's precise medical condition is never explained, so we have no way of knowing why he uses a wheelchair or how much use of his legs he actually has. A close inspection of the animation shows him apparently ''pushing'' himself up with his arms, but it's really not conveyed very well.
* This is one of three episodes from Season Two which were animated by [[AKOM]] (the others being "[[The Core]]" and "[[City of Steel]]"). They share similar art and animation styles (lots of one-point perspective action shots, scrolling backgrounds, and random zoom-ins), prominent use of the Constructicons, slightly more juvenile plots than usual, and a set of character model oddities such as Megatron's dark gray gun barrel, Optimus Prime's white backpack, and Chip Chase's blue jacket.
* AKOM also has a strange habit of showing vehicle-mode close-ups with painted artwork instead of typical flat colored cel art. Witness Gears getting shot by Soundwave, and Sideswipe and Jazz's dashboards. The same thing can be seen in "The Core", as Chip leans out of a painted Wheeljack.
* A one-time-only bit of Westernish background music, presumably culled from [[Robert J. Walsh]]'s enormous archives, plays across the opening scene in the Decepticons' ghost town.
* Stores in the ghost town: Liquor Saloon, Harrys Bakes, Sonata 3, Cows(?), Hotel, Saloon, Grain Feed, Livery, Glass (which in a visual gag is the only building in its row of three to survive the battle), and RC P&W(?).
* Signs at the race track: Grand Prix, Irel(and?), XAM, HO KY, New Year Tires, Dav-Mac, A&E O(il?), (Go?)od Year Tires, and Fenzoil Lubes. The "XAM" is very likely a reference to the animation company XAM! ("Ex-Ahern-Marshall"), who included their company initials in the background art of various 1980s animated series.<ref>[http://www.povonline.com/2003/News030103.htm#030503a] "NEWS from me: March 5, 2003"</ref>
* Megatron sure does have a sexy swagger as he walks toward the transfixatroned Autobots.
* An early model sheet calls the Transfixatron a 'Satsitron.'
* In an unfortunate foreshadowing, [[Sunstreaker (G1)|Sunstreaker]] remarks that when they made him, they 'broke the [[mold]]'.
* Seriously, ''guinea pig-o-tron''?!
*The commercial bumper music from the [[Wikipedia: G.I.Joe|G.I.Joe]] animated series plays during the bumpers.

==Home video releases==
{{homevidnote}}
;Laserdisc
[[Image:Flag of Japan.png|20px|Japan]] 1995 — ''Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers'' — Megatron Set ([[TakaraTomy|Takara]]) — Japanese audio only. 
[[Image:Flag of Japan.png|20px|Japan]] 1999 — ''The Transformers'' — Decepticon Edition ([[Geneon Universal Entertainment|Pioneer LDC]]) — Japanese audio only.
;DVD
[[Image:Flag of Japan.png|20px|Japan]] 2001 — ''The Transformers'' — DVD Box 2 (Pioneer LDC) — Japanese audio only. 
[[Image:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 2002 — ''The Original Transformers'' — Season 2 Part 1 ([[The Original Transformers|Rhino Entertainment]]) 
[[Image:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 2002 — ''The Original Transformers'' — Season 2 Part 1: Vol. 1 (Rhino Entertainment) 
[[Image:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 2003 — ''Transformers'' — Season 2 Part 1 ([[Metrodome]]) 
[[Image:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 2004 — ''Transformers'' — Bumper Collection Special (Metrodome) 
[[Image:Flag of Australia.png|20px|Australia]] 2004 — ''Transformers'' — Collection 2: Series 2.1 ([[Madman Entertainment]]) 
[[Image:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 2006 — ''Transformers'' — The Complete Generation One Collection (Metrodome) 
[[Image:Flag of Australia.png|20px|Australia]] 2007 — ''The Transformers'' — Complete Collection (Madman Entertainment) 
[[Image:Flag of Germany.png|20px|Germany]] 2007 — ''Transformers'' — Box-Set (3DVDs) ([[Flex Media]]) — German audio only. 
[[Image:Flag of Italy.png|20px|Italy]] 2008 — ''Transformers'' — Volume 03: Stagione Due Parte Prima ([[Medianetwork Communication]]) — English and Italian audio. 
[[Image:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 2009 — ''Transformers'' — Season Two: Part One (Metrodome) 
[[Image:Flag of Australia.png|20px|Australia]] 2009 — ''The Transformers'' — Complete Collection: Decepticon Edition (Madman Entertainment) 
[[Image:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 2009 — ''The Transformers'' — Season Two, Volume One: 25th Anniversary Edition ([[Shout! Factory]]) 
[[Image:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 2009 — ''The Transformers'' — The Complete Series: 25th Anniversary "Matrix of Leadership" Collection (Shout! Factory)

==External links==
*[http://cybertronchronicle.freewebspace.com/cartoon-dossier/synopses/the_autobot_run.html Dossier at the Cybertron Chronicle]

==Footnotes==
{{Reflist|1}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Autobot Run}}
[[Category:Generation 1 episodes]]
[[Category:Generation 2 episodes]]

The Autobot Run

2012-05-11T16:05:40Z

1.162.95.146: /* Quotes */

{{episode
|series=G1toon
|ep=23
|series2=SRLFtoon
|ep2=65
|prev2=A Plague of Insecticons
|next2=The Ultimate Doom, Part 1
|series3=''[[Generation 2 (cartoon)|The Transformers: Generation 2]]''
|ep3=6
|prev3=Heavy Metal War
|next3=The Core
|image=Autobotruncanttransform.jpg
|caption=Hey, look! Diaclone Sunstreaker!
|title="The Autobot Run"
|production code=#700-22
|airdate=[[October 31]], 1985
|written by=[[Donald F. Glut]]
|animation studio=[[AKOM]]
|production company=[[Sunbow Productions]]
|continuity=[[Generation 1 cartoon continuity]]
}}

'''When the Autobots perform a race for charity, the Decepticons take the opportunity to trap them in their vehicle modes.'''

:''Japanese title:'' トランスフォームをとめろ! (''Transform o Tomero!'', "Stop the Transforming!")
:''German title:'' "'''Wer ist der schnellste Autobots?'''" ("Who is the fastest Autobot?")
:''German ''Generation 2'' title:'' "'''Die Geheimwaffe'''" ("The Secret Weapon")
:''Russian title:'' '''Гран-при "Автобот"''' (''Gran'pree Avtobot'', "Grand-prix Autobot")
:''Italian title, dub 1:'' '''Corsa automobilistica''' ("Car race")
:''Italian title, dub 2:'' '''La corsa degli Autobots''' ("The Autobots run")
==Synopsis==
[[Image:Transfixatron.jpg|left|200px|thumb|A collection of character models gathers around the Decepticons' new weapon.]]

While watching a car race, [[Spike Witwicky (G1)|Spike]] and [[Chip Chase|Chip]] comment on how cool it would be to see the Autobots perform in a race as well.

Meanwhile, in an old west ghost town, the [[Constructicon (G1)|Constructicons]] have completed the [[Transfixatron]], a new device that will lock a [[Transformer]] in the mode they currently occupy (usually vehicle mode). [[Laserbeak (G1)|Laserbeak]] arrives, informing the Decepticons about the Autobot race.

[[Starscream (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Starscream]] complains that [[Megatron (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Megatron]] is wasting time with the device instead of leading an attack. In response, Megatron tests the device on his whiny subordinate, and it's a success. Starscream is stuck in jet mode and begs to be released, saying he'll do whatever Megatron wants and he's too valuable to the Decepticon cause. Megatron gets bored of Starscream's pleas and frees him. Satisfied with the test, Megatron orders the Constructicons to start working on a second device whose purpose will be revealed later.

[[Image:Autobotrunfinishline.jpg|right|200px|thumb|The guy at the finish line wonders where the Hell his car went.]]

Chip and Spike suggest their race idea to the Autobots, and [[Optimus Prime (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Optimus Prime]] agrees, as long as it's for charity. [[Huffer (G1)|Huffer]] complains that it's a waste of time and a bad idea (as usual), but the Autobots decide to do it. Huffer, [[Brawn (G1)|Brawn]], [[Ratchet (G1)|Ratchet]], and [[Wheeljack (G1)|Wheeljack]] remain to guard the [[Ark (G1)|base]].

The Autobots arrive at the track and wait at the starting line in robot mode before they compete "in the greatest automobile race in history." Some numbskull in the audience wonders aloud where their cars are. The Autobots transform, and the race is on with a whole lot of trash talk. [[Jazz (G1)|Jazz]], [[Sunstreaker (G1)|Sunstreaker]] and [[Mirage (G1)|Mirage]] rush ahead of the slower vehicles like [[Trailbreaker (G1)|Trailbreaker]] and [[Ironhide (G1)|Ironhide]].

During the race, [[Skywarp (G1)|Skywarp]] teleports to a position over the track and uses the Transfixatron on the Autobots, who don't notice. The Autobots near the finish line, but they're kicking up so much dust it's impossible to tell who won. "The real winners are us, folks!" says the announcer.

Next up, the Autobots line up to do some stunts and make "Evel Knievel look like a kiddie car driver", according to Spike. But Sunstreaker's attempt to jump the other Autobots falls short and he has to be saved by [[Windcharger (G1)|Windcharger]]'s magnetic powers.

Before they can do anything else, the Decepticons arrive. The Autobots attempt to [[Transformation|transform]], only to find that they are all stuck in vehicle mode. Optimus orders the Autobots to ram the Decepticons, but they simply shoot out the Autobots' tires, fire rays to make their engines overheat and disable their radios. Helpless, the Autobots are herded away by the 'Cons.

[[Image:Autobotrunbyeironhide.jpg|left|200px|thumb|Ironhide must have been giving a Japanese schoolgirl a ride.]]

[[Bumblebee (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Bumblebee]] takes Spike and Chip back to the base, hoping Ratchet and Wheeljack can figure a fix for the Transfixatron ray. As usual, Huffer complains, but a massive bearhug from Brawn gets him to shut up, while Ratchet and Wheeljack get to work.

At the ghost town, Megatron forces Optimus Prime to watch his soldiers die one by one in the Constructicons' second device, a horrific crushing machine, starting with Ironhide. The Autobot leader dispatches [[Roller (G1)|Roller]] to distract Megatron, allowing Prime to ram the crusher, which frees Ironhide. [[Hound (G1)|Hound]] manages to send a signal to [[Teletraan I (G1)|Teletraan I]], just as Ratchet and Wheeljack finish working on a device which will allow the Autobots to transform...a [[Anti-transfixation grenade|grenade]]. (Real good thinking there, guys.)

[[Image:Autobotrunravageattackschip.jpg|right|200px|thumb|Dude, what are you doing? I wanted to push over the cripple.]]

Spike and the other Autobots arrive to save their comrades, but [[Soundwave (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Soundwave]] dispatches [[Ravage (G1)|Ravage]] to deal with them. After a game of keep-away with the grenade, Chip manages to get it close enough to release its energy, allowing the Autobots to transform to robot mode.

The Constructicons form [[Devastator (G1)|Devastator]], but [[Cliffjumper (G1)|Cliffjumper]] and Wheeljack fire the Transfixatron at the giant Decepticon, causing the [[Combiner]] to separate. The Decepticons retreat, and the Autobots destroy the Transfixatron.

{{-}}

==Featured characters==
{{featuredcharacters
|c1=
*[[Bumblebee (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Bumblebee]] (3)
*[[Prowl (G1)|Prowl]]
*[[Bluestreak (G1)|Bluestreak]] (16)
*[[Gears (G1)|Gears]] (17)
*[[Ratchet (G1)|Ratchet]] (18)
*[[Trailbreaker (G1)|Trailbreaker]] (19)
*[[Mirage (G1)|Mirage]] (20)
*[[Sunstreaker (G1)|Sunstreaker]] (21)
*[[Ironhide (G1)|Ironhide]] (22)
*[[Huffer (G1)|Huffer]] (23)
*[[Optimus Prime (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Optimus Prime]] (24)
*[[Brawn (G1)|Brawn]] (25)
*[[Wheeljack (G1)|Wheeljack]] (26)
*[[Sideswipe (G1)|Sideswipe]] (27)
*[[Jazz (G1)|Jazz]] (28)
*[[Hound (G1)|Hound]] (29)
*[[Windcharger (G1)|Windcharger]] (30)
*[[Cliffjumper (G1)|Cliffjumper]] (32)
*[[Roller (G1)|Roller]] (33)

|c2=
*[[Laserbeak (G1)|Laserbeak]] (4)
*[[Megatron (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Megatron]] (5)
*[[Starscream (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Starscream]] (6)
*[[Soundwave (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Soundwave]] (7)
*[[Thundercracker (G1)|Thundercracker]] (8)
*[[Scrapper (G1)|Scrapper]] (9)
*[[Hook (G1)|Hook]] (10)
*[[Scavenger (G1)|Scavenger]] (11)
*[[Mixmaster (G1)|Mixmaster]] (12)
*[[Long Haul (G1)|Long Haul]] (13)
*[[Bonecrusher (G1)|Bonecrusher]] (14)
*[[Shockwave (G1)|Shockwave]] (15)
*[[Skywarp (G1)|Skywarp]] (31)
*[[Ravage (G1)|Ravage]] (34)
*[[Devastator (G1)|Devastator]] (35)

|c3=
*[[Spike Witwicky (G1)|Spike Witwicky]] (1)
*[[Chip Chase]] (2)
}}

==Quotes==
"Transform." 
"No, Megatron. You can't mean to—" 
"What's a test without a [[guinea pig-o-tron]]? Transform, I say!"
:—'''Megatron''' selects '''Starscream''' as the test subject for his latest device.

"They never knew what hit em!!"
"Excellent!! Treachery is your forte, my dear Skywarp. Now, the Autobots can no longer call themselves.... ''Transformers!!'' Hu~hu~hwar~hahahaha~harrgh!!"
:-'''Megatron''', never passing a chance to laugh at his own bad puns.

"Uh, probably just energy evaporation from all the speed, maybe... I hope..."
:—'''Bumblebee''' fails physics forever.

"If you're going to do what I think, Sunstreaker, you've got boom glitches in your brain garage."
:—'''Mirage'''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s colorful terms for Transformer anatomy.

"Well, guys, what's next? I'm for anything except demolition derbyin'."
:—'''Jazz'''

"I can't change back to my normal, handsome self!"
:—Modest and humble '''Sunstreaker'''

"It seems you Autobots have a slight ''identity problem?'' Huhuhahahahaha!!"
:-Good old '''Megatron''' just loves to rub salt in the wound.

"I knew the racing bit was bad news, but would anyone listen to me? Oh, noooo!" 
"Stifle it, Huffer, or I'll put my footio in your audio!!"
:—'''Huffer''' being an ass and '''Brawn''' looking to kick some.

"Ironic, isn't it, Autobots, that after so many valiant battles, you will meet your end in the crushing jaws of this device so lovingly fashioned by my Constructicons."
:—'''Megatron'''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s concept of irony is off.

"Later, guys. It's been really great knowin' ya."
:—Headed for the crushing device, '''Ironhide''' accepts his fate.

"Hey, what's that?" 
"I'd call it a TARGET!"
:—'''Thundercracker''' and '''Starscream''' spotting Roller.

"I'm transforming! I see my true beauty emerging!"
:—'''Sunstreaker''', vain as always.

==Notes==
===Animation or technical glitches===
* Being one of the Season 2 [[AKOM]] episodes, "The Autobot Run" features several unusual animation models:
** Optimus Prime's "backpack" is white instead of red.
** Huffer has a white outline around his eyes.
** Gears' truck mode is mostly red instead of mostly blue.
** Megatron's gun barrel is dark gray instead of light gray.
** Laserbeak's beak is (sometimes) the same dark gray as the rest of his head.
** The "disk" on Bumblebee's back is dark gray instead of yellow. Bumblebee also has two random dark gray squares on the back of his vehicle mode.
** Prowl is a medium gray instead of white.

Of course, AKOM found lots of less-excusable things to mess up, too:
* This episode's [[transformation]] sound effects are oddly applied, stopping and starting halfway through and even playing over the wrong transformation type (ie, vehicle-to-robot vs. robot-to-vehicle) at times.
* Ignoring the big, paved driveway right next to him, Bumblebee arrives at the race track by ''driving across the grass''.
* That's okay, though, because as the race finishes, Chip nonchalantly turns his wheelchair and ''rolls across the grass''.
* Chip then rolls into Bumblebee, and sits in the driver seat, while still in his wheelchair. Huh?
* After a dialogue section where Huffer complains about the race idea and Optimus orders him to stay and guard the base, he is seen transforming and rolling out to the race. He is not at the race and is later back at the base. However, a number of other characters who do not roll out and are not shown at the base during the discussion turn up at the race.
* For the duration of this episode, actor [[Michael Bell]] performs Scrapper with a very different voice than normal, sounding...well, frankly, quite ''normal'', compared to Scrapper's usual hoarse rasp.
* Scrapper's faceplate doesn't move as he reports the Transfixatron's completion. In fact it doesn't move at all the whole episode.
* Thundercracker's feet are blue instead of black, and Soundwave's eject button is blue instead of white, as they watch the completion of the Transfixatron.
* In the first pan over it, the Old West "town" has no streets! Subsequent shots show it with many more buildings than the handful shown in this shot.
* Missing Seeker insigina:
** Starscream has no insignia as he watches Laserbeak report back to Megatron.
** One of Starscream's insignia disappears as he backs away from the Transfixatron. The other disappears as he transforms a second later.
** When Thundercracker turns from blasting Optimus to fire on Ironhide, he has no back wing insignias.
** He still has none as he walks off with the captive Autobots.
** Starscream's missing an insignia as he fires on Roller.
* As Laserbeak enters Soundwave's chest to report, Soundwave's eyeband is colored white like his faceplate, while his forehead is colored red like his eyeband should be.
* Starscream is missing one of his wings prior to the Transfixatron test. The other wing is abnormally large. The same overlarge wing shape shows up on Thundercracker later in the episode.
* A moment later, in jet mode, Starscream's right air intake is colored as if it extends way back into his fuselage, and has some black details that shouldn't be there; the left intake isn't colored to match. He also has extra stripes on his tail fins. In a wider-angle shot, both intakes are colored with the long length and the extra black parts.
* Even if Shockwave ''was'' supposed to be standing behind Megatron (see Continuity Errors below), he and Scavenger were not standing anywhere near Megatron just a shot or two earlier.
* AKOM reuses the same scrolling cloud background at least four times behind Starscream. To be fair, it would actually make sense for him to be flying in circles at this point.
* In the first shot of the Autobots, Ironhide's entire torso is red. In the next shot, the top of his chest is red instead of red/gray.
* The entirety of Trailbreaker's lower legs are white as he listens to Prime, instead of just the stripe down the middle. The error repeats as the Autobots stand at the race track.
* Prowl has no black detailing on his car mode as Jazz passes him. He's also his correct white color instead of the light gray that AKOM usually colors him.
* Instead of being provided by [[Neil Ross]] as usual, Bonecrusher's single line in this episode is supplied by Michael Bell, using the same nondescript "normal" voice as he uses for Scrapper. The temptation, of course, is to peg this on an animation error that mistakenly depicted Bonecrusher instead of Scrapper, but the script for the episode actually called for Bonecrusher to speak the line.
* As Skywarp transforms to robot mode over the raceway, he pulls the Transfixatron out of [[Subspace | nowhere]], despite it being as large as he is.
* A second later, Skywarp has a yellow stripe down his back where there should be black.
* When Skywarp uses it on the Autobots, the Transfixatron beam effect is not properly animated to glow.
* Transfixed Sideswipe is drawn trying to transform in a way that looks more like Sunstreaker's transformation scheme.
* After the Autobots discover they're locked in vehicle mode, when Megatron laughs the other Decepticons just sort of... vibrate.
* Megatron's eye lasers are the slowest-moving lasers in the universe.
* The Seekers transform and start rolling across the race track. In the next shot, they're suddenly in the air.
* Thundercracker's "gloves" are white instead of black as he transforms above Ironhide.
* Wheeljack's ears do not flash in time with his speaking at first.
* The crusher's lights flash multiple colors as it first activates, but later they only flash white. While the lights ''could'' change colors, it really begs the question of why it needs bizarre flashing lights in the first place.
* Wheeljack and Ratchet gather around Chip at the computer two times in a row.
* As we pan across the captive Autobots at the ghost town, Wheeljack and Bumblebee are among the crowd, despite both being back at Autobot Headquarters at this point. In the same pan, two Starscreams are guarding them. Also, the ghost town has gained a couple of streets and several extra buildings.
* Maybe not an error, but definitely bizarre: Hound gets Optimus Prime's rifle sound effect as he "fires" his hologram.
[[Image:Autobotrungreenteletraan.jpg|right|175px|thumb|Chip Chase always did have the luck of the Irish.]]
* When Chip is trying to locate the Autobots, Teletraan I is colored green instead of orange.
* Soundwave's head changes colors between shots as he destroys Hound's turret gun. (Hound manages to stay off-screen until he's in robot mode later in the episode, sidestepping the need for the animators to remember his gun is destroyed.)
* As Wheeljack explains the grenade, his ears flash, but aren't properly backlit to glow.
* As Spike and company arrive at the ghost town, Ironhide is shown arriving and transforming instead of Ratchet.
* Ironhide's tires aren't flat anymore when he falls out of the crusher's claw.
* Bumblebee has no headlights as the newly-arrived Autobots transform.
* As Wheeljack flees, he fires at Starscream and Thundercracker. In the next shot, his target is a pair of Thundercrackers. One of them teleports away (indicating that it was supposed to be Skywarp.) When he re-materializes, he's colored like Starscream, but still speaks in Skywarp's voice.
* When Soundwave ejects Ravage, the inside of his chest is grey.
* When the Autobots are un-transfixed and transform into robot modes, Brawn is shown transforming with them.
* A series of shots shows the grenade's radiation as concentric circles radiating out. The center point stays in four successive shots, despite only one of them being the point where the grenade exploded.
* As the grenade does its work, a series of vehicle-mode Autobots flash into existence out of nowhere.
* Long Haul's eyeband isn't colored red as we pan across the Constructicons.
* Devastator's combining sequence is screwy. First Scrapper and Mixmaster are shown forming Long Haul's portion of the combiner robot in addition to their own. Long Haul then forms Devastator's upper torso, instead of the lower torso (the chest plate is green at first, then turns its correct purple.) Hook then forms a tiny part of the upper torso, including the head, and... Bonecrusher's bulldozer kibble.
* Devastator has two small eyes instead of an eyeband as he fires lasers from his hand.
* He has two large eyes as he looms over Wheeljack and Cliffjumper.
* As Cliffjumper zaps Devastator with the Transfixatron, the shot suddenly jumps to a slight close-up of Devastator from the exact same angle as before. In the closer angle, the glowing animation effect is missing from the Transfixatron beam.
* Windcharger's face is the same dark gray as his head as Ironhide threatens the Decepticons, and his mid-torso is red instead of gray. The same error repeats during the repair lineup at the end.
* Thundercracker is drawn with his cockpit on the bottom of his jet mode as he and the other Seekers retreat.
* The [[commercial bumper]]s for the second act break feature the theme music for ''[[G.I. Joe (team)|G.I. Joe]]'', not ''The Transformers''.

===Continuity errors===
* Why the heck are Spike and Chip watching the race from next to the grand stands, instead of, y'know, ''inside'' them?
* [[Shockwave (G1)|Shockwave]] appears twice in this episode: first when Megatron is gloating about the Transfixatron, then when the Decepticons arrive at the race. Of course, it's ''possible'' that Shockwave came to [[Earth]] during this episode, but the idea of him just popping up and hanging around in the background seriously goes against the established notion that he always stays on [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]] as its full-time guardian.
* Why does Megatron pick up the Transfixatron to aim it at Starscream, when a moment later he can just pivot it on its base?
* The race gets started VERY quickly. Chip and Spike come up with the idea, go back to the base, tell Prime, and apparently the Autobots just show up and demand to race for charity. Granted, some time could have elapsed in between, but ''still''. The Decepticons, meanwhile, are just hanging around in this Old West ghost town.
* How does the dust at the finish line get ''ahead'' of the Autobots?
* When Chip gets Teletraan I to analyse the data on the transforming process, among the images which flash up is a picture of Megatron's crusher. What has that got to do with transforming?
* Hound can ''shoot'' a hologram? For miles? And have it land ''inside a volcano''? What the hell?
* Flying Autobots:
** Cliffjumper gets a rocket sound effect as he comes flying out of the debris.
** Wheeljack uses his wrist rockets to fly, which is one of the few times it's shown correctly.
* Is the elaborate claw/tentacle mechanism on the crusher really necessary?
* At the end of Act 2, Ironhide is a few feet away from the crusher's jaws, presumably mere seconds from being crushed. A minute or more elapses in Act 3 before Prime comes to his rescue.
* Wheeljack states that the [[Transfixatron]] will "cancel Devastator's robot mode", though one would really expect it to just transfix Devastator ''as'' Devastator.
* So... did the Decepticons just leave the transfixed Constructicons sitting there in a pile? They aren't shown retreating.

===Continuity notes===
* This is Roller's third and final appearance.
* This is the first episode where the Transformers formally refer to themselves as ''Transformers''.
* Gadgets and powers:
** Jazz's speaker levels jump from seven to <s>eleven</s> ''eight hundred''. Or maybe he was just tuned in to an AM station.
** Megatron can shoot laser beams from his eyes, especially when he wants to scare away earth germs.
** Devastator's eye beams can magnetically lift a robot into the air. He can also fire lasers from his fingertips.
* Where does the trailer go?
** When Optimus Prime transforms after the Autobots are fixed by Wheeljack's grenade, his trailer shrinks into his back rather than rolling away as usual.
[[Image:AutobotRun madeup Transformer.jpg|thumb|right|200px]]
* A bizarre robot of made-up design appears on the screen as Chip begins researching the Transfixatron's effects. It's loosely based on Prime, but with smaller chest windows, a yellow body, and white wings on his back.
* When instructing Starscream to transform out of vehicle mode, Megatron tells him to return to his "root mode". This was almost certainly the result of a typo in the script that was ''supposed'' to say "ro'''b'''ot mode", but it makes a charming amount of sense as a term.
* The idea of a [[Transfixatron|device to keep a Transformer frozen in one mode]] would be revisited over the years in other fictions, with [[Tarantulas (BW)|Tarantulas]]'s [[transformation lock lens]], [[Megatron (BW)|Megatron]]'s [[Transformation virus|transformation lock virus]], the [[Protectobot (G1)|Protectobots]]' [[mode lock]] used on [[Blaster (G1)|Blaster]], the various incarnations of the [[inhibitor claw]] and [[Spotlight: Soundwave|an experimental weapon]] created by Shockwave.

===Trivia===
*This was one of twelve episodes of [[The Transformers (cartoon)|the original cartoon]] released as audio adventures by the [[Germany|German]] company [[Karussell|Karussell Musik und Video]].
* To catch the grenade, Chip just ''stands up'' from his wheelchair. It should be noted that Chip's precise medical condition is never explained, so we have no way of knowing why he uses a wheelchair or how much use of his legs he actually has. A close inspection of the animation shows him apparently ''pushing'' himself up with his arms, but it's really not conveyed very well.
* This is one of three episodes from Season Two which were animated by [[AKOM]] (the others being "[[The Core]]" and "[[City of Steel]]"). They share similar art and animation styles (lots of one-point perspective action shots, scrolling backgrounds, and random zoom-ins), prominent use of the Constructicons, slightly more juvenile plots than usual, and a set of character model oddities such as Megatron's dark gray gun barrel, Optimus Prime's white backpack, and Chip Chase's blue jacket.
* AKOM also has a strange habit of showing vehicle-mode close-ups with painted artwork instead of typical flat colored cel art. Witness Gears getting shot by Soundwave, and Sideswipe and Jazz's dashboards. The same thing can be seen in "The Core", as Chip leans out of a painted Wheeljack.
* A one-time-only bit of Westernish background music, presumably culled from [[Robert J. Walsh]]'s enormous archives, plays across the opening scene in the Decepticons' ghost town.
* Stores in the ghost town: Liquor Saloon, Harrys Bakes, Sonata 3, Cows(?), Hotel, Saloon, Grain Feed, Livery, Glass (which in a visual gag is the only building in its row of three to survive the battle), and RC P&W(?).
* Signs at the race track: Grand Prix, Irel(and?), XAM, HO KY, New Year Tires, Dav-Mac, A&E O(il?), (Go?)od Year Tires, and Fenzoil Lubes. The "XAM" is very likely a reference to the animation company XAM! ("Ex-Ahern-Marshall"), who included their company initials in the background art of various 1980s animated series.<ref>[http://www.povonline.com/2003/News030103.htm#030503a] "NEWS from me: March 5, 2003"</ref>
* Megatron sure does have a sexy swagger as he walks toward the transfixatroned Autobots.
* An early model sheet calls the Transfixatron a 'Satsitron.'
* In an unfortunate foreshadowing, [[Sunstreaker (G1)|Sunstreaker]] remarks that when they made him, they 'broke the [[mold]]'.
* Seriously, ''guinea pig-o-tron''?!
*The commercial bumper music from the [[Wikipedia: G.I.Joe|G.I.Joe]] animated series plays during the bumpers.

==Home video releases==
{{homevidnote}}
;Laserdisc
[[Image:Flag of Japan.png|20px|Japan]] 1995 — ''Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers'' — Megatron Set ([[TakaraTomy|Takara]]) — Japanese audio only. 
[[Image:Flag of Japan.png|20px|Japan]] 1999 — ''The Transformers'' — Decepticon Edition ([[Geneon Universal Entertainment|Pioneer LDC]]) — Japanese audio only.
;DVD
[[Image:Flag of Japan.png|20px|Japan]] 2001 — ''The Transformers'' — DVD Box 2 (Pioneer LDC) — Japanese audio only. 
[[Image:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 2002 — ''The Original Transformers'' — Season 2 Part 1 ([[The Original Transformers|Rhino Entertainment]]) 
[[Image:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 2002 — ''The Original Transformers'' — Season 2 Part 1: Vol. 1 (Rhino Entertainment) 
[[Image:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 2003 — ''Transformers'' — Season 2 Part 1 ([[Metrodome]]) 
[[Image:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 2004 — ''Transformers'' — Bumper Collection Special (Metrodome) 
[[Image:Flag of Australia.png|20px|Australia]] 2004 — ''Transformers'' — Collection 2: Series 2.1 ([[Madman Entertainment]]) 
[[Image:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 2006 — ''Transformers'' — The Complete Generation One Collection (Metrodome) 
[[Image:Flag of Australia.png|20px|Australia]] 2007 — ''The Transformers'' — Complete Collection (Madman Entertainment) 
[[Image:Flag of Germany.png|20px|Germany]] 2007 — ''Transformers'' — Box-Set (3DVDs) ([[Flex Media]]) — German audio only. 
[[Image:Flag of Italy.png|20px|Italy]] 2008 — ''Transformers'' — Volume 03: Stagione Due Parte Prima ([[Medianetwork Communication]]) — English and Italian audio. 
[[Image:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 2009 — ''Transformers'' — Season Two: Part One (Metrodome) 
[[Image:Flag of Australia.png|20px|Australia]] 2009 — ''The Transformers'' — Complete Collection: Decepticon Edition (Madman Entertainment) 
[[Image:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 2009 — ''The Transformers'' — Season Two, Volume One: 25th Anniversary Edition ([[Shout! Factory]]) 
[[Image:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 2009 — ''The Transformers'' — The Complete Series: 25th Anniversary "Matrix of Leadership" Collection (Shout! Factory)

==External links==
*[http://cybertronchronicle.freewebspace.com/cartoon-dossier/synopses/the_autobot_run.html Dossier at the Cybertron Chronicle]

==Footnotes==
{{Reflist|1}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Autobot Run}}
[[Category:Generation 1 episodes]]
[[Category:Generation 2 episodes]]