MediaWiki - User contributions [en]

Show-accuracy

2009-04-21T16:02:55Z

62.200.54.9:

[[Image:Ratchet-charactermodel.jpg|right|300px|thumb|So when we were kids, some of us pretended that he combined with that sled thing to make the full robot. But that's just [[Personal canon|crazy talk]].]]
Transformers characters are frequently represented in multiple different media, ranging from plastic toys to animation to comic books. Their appearances frequently vary between these, leading many fans to select one version that represents the character's "real" appearance and rate others in terms of their similarity to this one. '''Show-accuracy''' is typically a toy's resemblance to the animation's depiction of the same character; conversely, '''toy-accuracy''' is a show character's degree of similarity to the corresponding toy.

In most cases, Transformers are designed as toys first, with cartoon and comic [[Character model|character models]] being artists' interpretations of the toy designs. As such, for the most part, it is toy-accuracy that has the most relevance to the production process. A notable exception to this rule is ''[[The Transformers: The Movie]]'', which featured a large group of new characters whose toys were (for the most part) based on animation designs, rather than vice-versa.

Occasionally, toy and fiction designs are created cooperatively, such as the case of the [[Movie (franchise)|live-action movie]] toys and ''[[Transformers Animated (franchise)|Transformers Animated]]'' series. [[Hasbro]] worked closely with [[Industrial Light & Magic|ILM]] and [[Cartoon Network]] to ensure that the fictional designs for each series were workable as toys and that they could get the toys and fiction as close visually as possible (accounting, of course, for the movie and toy line's differing production schedules).

Another exception frequently happens with [[TakaraTomy|Takara]]'s releases of Transformers [[Franchise|franchises]] in Japan. Due to the delays in importing shows, Takara frequently has the chance to tweak their releases to resemble the respective animation models better, mostly in regard to color schemes. The most notable example of this was the Japanese release of ''[[Beast Machines (franchise)|Beast Machines]]'' as ''Beast Wars Returns''; the [[Beast Machines (cartoon)|cartoon]] had already been around for years, so it was far easier for Takara simply to produce the toys in different, show-based colors.

In early ''[[Generation 1 (franchise)|Generation 1]]'' in particular, toy-accuracy and show-accuracy are both frequently very low, with the [[Character model|character models]] differing greatly from the toys. Recently, however, the gap has narrowed, and [[Cybertron (cartoon)|modern fictional appearances]] of Transformers are often nearly identical to the toys, sometimes to the absurdly literal point of including design oddities that probably wouldn't exist on "real" Transformers. The [[Character model|character model]] for [[Evac (Cybertron)|Evac]], for example, includes the push button that spins the toy's rotor blades.

In a few cases, ''Generation 1'' [[Generation 1 reissues|reissues]] have been [[Retool|retooled]] to enhance their resemblance to their animated counterparts. In the case of the [[Galvatron (G1)|Galvatron]] reissue, Takara not only retooled the toy but went so far as to [[Redeco|redeco]] it.

Various non-transforming toys have been made that are designed to resemble ''Generation 1'' cartoon character designs better. Several [[Action Master|Action Masters]] bore closer resemblance to their animation models (though many had color differences, if not outright sculpt issues). More recently, there have been lines such as the highly cartoon-accurate [[Super Collection Figure#Mega SCF|Mega SCF]] line and the [[Revoltech]] line. (Though their designs ''specifically'' resemble Dreamwave's art style rather than ''Generation 1'' cartoons, Dreamwave's designs are frequently heavily based on ''Generation 1''-based models.)

Many non-posable (or at least, not ''very'' posable) figurines exist based on animation models as well, such as the [[Super Collection Figure|Heroes of Cybertron]] (or "SCF", not to be confused with Mega SCF) line, [[Titanium Series]] Robot Masters (not to be confused with [[Robot Masters]]), or stylized examples like the [[Robot Heroes (toyline)|Robot Heroes]] line.

Additionally, several newer Transformers take ''Generation 1'' cartoon designs into account to varying degrees, such as the [[Optimus Prime (G1) toys#20th Anniversary.2FMasterpiece|Masterpiece]] figures, Robot Masters figures, or more abstractly show-accuracy-inspired examples like the [[Titanium Series|Titanium Cybertron Heroes G1 figures]] and the ''[[Classics (2006)|Classics]]'' and ''[[Universe (2008 franchise)|Universe]]'' lines. Occasionally, new designs for a given series resemble old G1 characters for whom there were no adequately show-accurate likenesses produced originally—for instance, ''Energon'''s heavily G1-esque [[Megatron (Armada) toys#Energon|Galvatron]].

[[Category:Fandom]]
[[Category:Toys]]

Black Friday (episode)

2008-06-05T11:49:40Z

62.200.54.9:

{{disambig2|the episode of ''Transformers Animated''|the day after Thanksgiving|Black Friday}}

[[Image:Animated Black Friday Grimlock Prime lasso.jpg|300px|thumb|You should see the pooper scooper.]]
{{episodenav|animated|26|season=2|prev=Autoboot Camp|next=Sari, No One's Home}}

'''Blackarachnia enlists Prometheus Black, a.k.a. Meltdown, to aid her with a dangerous experiment, while Optimus and Dinobot Grimlock are forced to team up to stop them.'''

==Summary==

[[Image:TFA Black Friday Meltdown Bee.jpg|left|thumb|Weirdest funhouse mirror ''ever''.]]
[[Sari Sumdac|Sari]] is growing ever more frustrated by [[Porter C. Powell]]'s callous actions towards both herself and her father, and she wants payback. She and [[Bumblebee (Animated)|Bumblebee]] visit the maximum-security prison that is the current abode of [[Prometheus Black|Prometheus Black, a.k.a. Meltdown]], and speak to him in the undissolvable crystalline cube that is his cell. Black sarcastically welcomes them, noting that he has ever so few visitors, and Sari snarks in return that he'd probably have more friends if he wasn't always trying to mutate other people into [[Survival of the Fittest|transformational experiments]]. Sari knows that Black and Powell had once been business partners, and she asks the acidic villain for any information that would help her expose Powell as a criminal. Black asks why he should help her at all, and Sari reminds him that his own misfortunes began with the breakdown of his business partnership with Powell. Meltdown replies—with apparently genuine regret—that Powell was far too canny a businessman ever to get his fingerprints on anything truly illegal. He presents a different plan: If Sari and Bumblebee would be so kind as to break him out of prison, he would happily kill Powell himself. A bit taken aback, Sari insists she isn't willing to go that far, and she and Bumblebee depart. Later that night, however, a massive explosion signifies a break-in at the prison. At first, Meltdown confidently welcomes his visitors, assuming Sari has had a change of heart, but that confidence turns to fear when he sees he is actually being visited by the [[Dinobot (Animated)|Dinobots]]. [[Grimlock (Animated)|Grimlock]] cryptically announces that "she" wants to see Meltdown. Though still afraid of his former flunkies, Meltdown tries to warn them away, pointing out that a prison cell constructed to hold him is indestructible—nothing can get out or in. But the Dinobots don't need to break the box when they can simply ''take'' it.

Meltdown soon finds himself transported to [[Dinobot Island (Animated)|Dinobot Island]], where the Dinobots are behaving very strangely indeed, chanting and bowing towards a high hill. The object of their interest soon is revealed to be [[Blackarachnia (Animated)|Blackarachnia]], who washed up on the island after [[Megatron Rising - Part 2|the recent defeat of Megatron]] and has since used her beauty and wily ways to captivate the simple-minded Dinobots. As she explored the island, she found Meltdown's subterranean lab complex, including his computer files on genetic manipulation. She insists that Black help her purge the organic material from her body, and since she has just drained Grimlock, becoming powerful enough to crack open his supposedly indestructible prison cell with the bonus of the Dinobots being quite willing to follow any command, Black has no choice but to agree.

Back on the mainland, [[Captain Fanzone]] and the Detroit P.D. are investigating the prison break. Porter C. Powell arrives, very agitated by the escape of his evil former associate. He produces security camera footage of Sari's visit, accusing the girl of trying to have him killed. Fanzone asks just how he got his hands on that footage, but Powell becomes more evasive. When the Autobots magnify the camera footage, they can see the Dinobots reflected on the surface of Meltdown's cube. While they ponder what to do about this, Bumblebee's constant chattering begins to wear on [[Prowl (Animated)|Prowl]], who boldly insists that it is ''impossible'' for Bumblebee to remain silent for more than a few cycles. Bumblebee is angered by these doubts against him and tries to show how quiet he can be...which isn't at all, since he pipes in with a self-defense or denial every few moments. This bickering continues as he, Prowl, and [[Optimus Prime (Animated)|Optimus Prime]] head to Dinobot Island.

[[Image:TFA Black Friday ME GRIMLOCK IN LOVE.jpg|right|thumb|Me Grimlock king, but me want queen.]]
Once they arrive, the Autobots split up to search for evidence. Prowl finds more of Meltdown's burnt footprints, as well as yet more proof that Bumblebee really can't pipe down, since he keeps calling Prowl's name. But when Prowl investigates, he sees Bumblebee had good reason to yell: He's caught in a giant web and deactivated. Shortly thereafter, Blackarachnia attacks Prowl and deactivates him too. Rushing to help, Optimus attempts to confront Blackarachnia, but she is able to flatter and cajole Grimlock into defending her (and soundly walloping Optimus). There's no time for a real fight, though, as Blackarachnia has loaded up both Prowl and Bumblebee with a potentially lethal dose of her cybervenom. They will die unless she administers the antidote within 2 megacycles, and she'll only do that if Optimus helps Grimlock locate Meltdown's genetic modifier to make the experiment work.

[[Image:Animated Black Friday Grimlock Prime Powell.jpg|thumb|left|175px|Well, what do you know? There ''is'' karma in ''Animated''.]]
Returning to the mainland, Optimus and Grimlock attempt to work together, but it's difficult because Grimlock simply will not hear that Blackarachnia might be using him or would in any way be deceiving him. For his part, Grimlock doesn't want to work with "puny" Optimus, but has no choice, as only Optimus knows where Meltdown's original workshop had been. They find the workshop, untouched and in the same state of disrepair as [[Total Meltdown|when Black had his drastic accident]]. As they search for the genetic modifier, they are discovered by Porter C. Powell, who owns the facilities Black had been using before his accident. He orders them to leave and won't assist them in finding the device they need, but he changes his tune after Optimus has Grimlock snatch up the little man and imprison him inside his mouth for a while. The unlikely Autobot duo retrieves the genetic modifier and heads back to the island.

Once he has the necessary tools and Blackarachnia strapped down to his lab table (for her own safety, of course, he swears), Meltdown decides to change his lab procedure ever so slightly. Reminding his captor-turned-prisoner of his longstanding hatred of robots, he will still be genetically separating Blackarachnia's organic and mechanical elements...but now the mechanical will be discarded and only the organics left behind, and his goal of having created a purely organic transforming being will have been realized. Optimus and Grimlock attempt to stop Meltdown, but he summons reinforcements: his earlier mutant creations, who appear quite a bit stronger now and manage to force the robots outside the lab and battle them fairly evenly. Things aren't helped when Grimlock, in his shortsighted fury, ignores Optimus's warnings and uses his [[energo-sword]] so carelessly that it practically burns down the entire island. The tide finally turns with the arrival of the other two Dinobots. [[Swoop (Animated)|Swoop]] lifts one of the mutants completely clear of the battlefield, keeping it from attacking further, while [[Snarl (Animated)|Snarl]] pounds the other senseless with his giant, flaming cudgel.

[[Image:TFA Black Friday Meltdown melts.jpg|right|thumb|<insert Wicked Witch of the West melting quote here>]]
Optimus extinguishes the flames, then races back into the lab. He manages to detach the genetic modifier from the lab equipment, stopping the procedure before Blackarachnia can be divided up. An enraged Meltdown attacks Optimus and begins to melt his chest armor, but during the course of the action, Meltdown's body surface comes into contact with the genetic modifier. It unleashes a massive dose of energy into him, apparently causing his body to lose cohesion and degenerate into a pure liquid state, oozing out of his containment suit and leaking through cracks in the floor. Optimus frees Blackarachnia from her bonds on the table, and she senses an easy way to escape: Feigning weakness, she asks Optimus to come closer and hold her tight...as Grimlock is watching. His predictable jealousy makes him attack Optimus once again, and the sneaky spider manages to escape. When he finally sees she is gone, Grimlock begs her to return and professes his love for her, but it is too late.

A despairing Optimus returns to the web-covered bodies of Prowl and Bumblebee in the forest, apologizing to them that he was unable to rescue them in time. Then he notices the antidote has been placed right next to them. He quickly administers it just in the nick of time. Bumblebee notes with pride that he did indeed manage to remain totally silent for the whole 2 megacycles. When Prowl protests that it doesn't really count because he was unconscious and paralyzed, they have a rousing argument about the nature of the rules of their bet. An enraged Powell demands that Fanzone arrest Optimus Prime for assault and theft, but Fanzone says he's more inclined to arrest Powell for being a public nuisance and walks off. Optimus Prime begins to wonder if maybe, underneath it all, there is some good left in Blackarachnia, since (apparently) she did leave the antidote for him.

Later, in the island's abandoned underground lab, puddles of nasty-looking acidic goo begin to coalesce together around an empty containment suit. As the merging lump grows bigger, a familiar face appears on its surface. You can't keep a bad guy down....

==Stats==

*'''Written by:''' [[Rich Fogel]]
*'''Directed by:''' [[Irineo Maramba]] & [[Kentaro Mizuno]]
*'''Original airdate:''' June 4, 2008 (UK)

===Featured characters===


(''Numbers indicate order of appearance.)''
{|border=5 cellpadding=5 cellspacing=5 align=center style="border:#800000"

! style="background:#FFEEEE" | [[Autobot]]s
! style="background:#EEEEFE" | [[Decepticon]]s
! style="background:antiquewhite" | [[Human]]s
|-
| style="background:#FFEEEE" valign="top" |
*[[Bumblebee (Animated)|Bumblebee]] (1)
*[[Grimlock (Animated)|Grimlock]] (5)
*[[Snarl (Animated)|Snarl]] (6)
*[[Swoop (Animated)|Swoop]] (7)
*[[Optimus Prime (Animated)|Optimus Prime]] (9)
*[[Prowl (Animated)|Prowl]] (11)
*[[Ratchet (Animated)|Ratchet]] (12)
*[[Bulkhead (Animated)|Bulkhead]] (13)
| style="background:#EEEEFE" valign="top" |
*[[Blackarachnia (Animated)|Blackarachnia]] (8)
| style="background:antiquewhite" valign="top" |
*[[Sari Sumdac]] (2)
*[[Prometheus Black]] (3)
*[[Porter C. Powell]] (4)
*[[Captain Fanzone]] (10)

|}

==Quotes==

"I lose more furniture that way..." 
:{{m-}}'''Meltdown''' after he (intentionally) melts the bed.

'''Blackarachnia''': With your help, I can finally purge myself of this accursed organic contamination. 
[''transforms''] 
'''Meltdown''': Ooh la la. Actually, that's a much better look for you. Why would I help you get rid of it? 
'''Blackarachnia''':Because it would make me very unhappy if you didn't. And when I'm unhappy, they're unhappy! 
'''Grimlock''': RAAARRR! Unhappy!
:{{m-}}Like his [[Grimlock (G1)|predecessor]], Grimlock makes a simple sentence [[War of the Dinobots#Notable quotes|freaking terrifying.]]

''[Grimlock smashes a car, setting it aflame and causing humans to flee in panic]''
'''Grimlock:''' "See puny humans run! Dinobots RULE!" 
''[Optimus lassoes him]'' 
'''Optimus Prime:''' "We're not here to scare people! We're here to get Meltdown's genetic modifier. Maybe you'd be less conspicuous in robot mode." 
'''Grimlock:''' "Okay..." ''[transforms]'' "But me Grimlock still taller than YOU. That why Spider-Lady like me Grimlock best."
:—Pissing contest, Transformer-style.

'''Grimlock''': Autobot bad. Me Grimlock go alone! 
''[Grimlock walks away down an alley, then comes back]'' 
'''Grimlock''': Uh...where me Grimlock find genetic thingy? 
'''Optimus''': Oh, come on. I know who can get it. 
'''Grimlock''': Me Grimlock go with you....but me Grimlock go with you ALONE! 
:—Grimlock shows Optimus Prime what's what.

'''Grimlock''': Uh, me Grimlock not supposed to scare puny humans. 
'''Optimus''': ''This one'' you can scare all you want. 
'''Grimlock''': THEN GIVE US THINGY! NOW!!! 
''[transforms into beast mode, then grabs Powell with his mouth]'' 
'''Powell''': What thingy?! What's he talking about?! 
'''Optimus''': Prometheus Black's genetic modifier? 
'''Powell''': Never heard of it. 
'''Optimus''': Did I mention that my partner is awfully hungry? 
''[Grimlock throws Powell into the air and catches him in his mouth]'' 
'''Powell''': Y-you can have it! I know where it is! 
:{{m-}}After months of utter dickishness, Porter C. Powell finally ends up where he belongs{{m-}}Grimlock's mouth.

'''Powell''': Don't touch anything! Since he went bankrupt, technically, all this belongs to me. 
''[Grimlocks falls and breaks everything]'' 
'''Grimlock''': ''[points at Optimus]'' Him did it. 
:{{m-}}Like a toddler, Grimlock blames Optimus for everything.

''[Prowl and Bumblebee wake up after being cured by Blackarachnia's venom]'' 
'''Bumblebee''': Uhh...how long have we been here? 
'''Optimus''': Almost two mega-cycles. 
'''Bumblebee''': Ha! And you said I couldn't go ten cycles without talking! 
'''Prowl''': Mmm-hmm, all it took was being paralyzed. 
'''Bumblebee''': What, you're making new rules now? I don't think so! Pay up with that sweet axle grease. 
:{{m-}}Prowl and Bumblebee debate the rules of their bet.

==Other notes==

===Animation errors===
* When the Dinobots are arguing amongst themselves, Snarl's face briefly loses its red, and Swoop is shown in his beast mode.

===Transformers references===
* Blackarachnia references the defeat of [[Megatron (Animated)|Megatron]] in "[[Megatron Rising - Part 2]]".

===Real-world references===
* The title is a reference to [[Black Friday|the day after Thanksgiving]], a traditionally busy shopping day in the U.S., on which [[Hasbro]] often releases [[exclusive]]s.

===Miscellaneous trivia===
*Bulkhead and Ratchet appear, but do not speak.
*This episode showcases a [[stock footage|detailed transformation]] for Optimus Prime, Prowl and Bumblebee.
*Optimus states that Prowl knows Dinobot Island like the back of his hand and tells Prowl and Bumblebee to come with him, yet it is Bulkhead who has been on the island many times with Prowl. Maybe Optimus wants to see who wins the bet?
*It appears to be common knowledge that Porter C. Powell was Prometheus Black's business partner, yet in "[[Blast from the Past]]", he is seen among the group that witnesses the showing of the Dinobots, implying that he is working for Sumdac Systems at this point. Why would [[Isaac Sumdac]] hire the former partner of his bitterest corporate rival?
*Grimlock states that Autobots are bad. Perhaps Grimlock is forgetting that ''he's'' an Autobot?
*According to Grimlock, Dinobots rule. We already knew that.
*This is the second Transformers episode where a voice actor [[The Low Road|spends most of it arguing with himself]].

[[Category:Animated episodes]]<div id="wikia-credits"> From [http://transformers.wikia.com Teletraan I: The Transformers Wiki], a [http://www.wikia.com Wikia] wiki.</div>