Bee in the City

2008-05-11T04:35:55Z

76.224.15.56: /* Quotes */

{{comicnav | Timelines | BotCon 2008 Script Reading | seriesname= | prev=Shattered Glass (comic) | next= }}

'''Two Transformers and a human are zapped to another dimension. Fourth-wall-breaking hijinks ensue!'''

==Summary==
Professor Sumdac tests a new space-warp teleportation device, the Bi-directional Unified Transit Terminal, in an attempt to transport the Autobots home. His BUTT malfunctions, sending Sari, Optimus and Bumblebee to the city of [[Axiom Nexus]] on an alternate version of Cybertron.

There, they are soon confronted by Officer Flareup, who notes that, by their very presence, they have violated the city's rules against no mechs named Prime or Megatron and no cosmic MacGuffins (in this case, [[Sari Sumdac's Key|Sari's key]]), rules established to preserve this Cybertron's utter lack of war. She takes them in for "processing", which turns out to be seventeen soul-crushingly boring hours of standing in line and filling out paperwork (or the digital equivalent).

As they finally leave, they encounter the morally ambiguous scientist Shockwave, a Subcommander Third Rank from the Menacing and Foreboding Sciences Division of the Axiom Nexus Military Intelligence Branch. Enforcing his will with a cadre of utterly silent soldiers, he takes Optimus Prime and Sari into custody as potential threats to planetary security, but ignores Bumblebee, reasoning the plucky, yellow, kid-friendly character will be essentially ineffective without a spunky human sidekick. Flareup is dismayed, noting to an indignant Bumblebee that she expected his group to receive no more than a fine and a deportation home, not a military arrest.

At Shockwave's lab, he prepares to experiment on Sari and Prime in some fashion to determine the extent of their potential threat. In particular, he is concerned about the potential effects of Sari's key being present. After confiscating it, he begins examining Rescue Roy—er, Optimus, starting with a routine Matrix check.

Elsewhere in the city, Bumblebee and Flareup meet ''Beast Wars'' universe Megatron (or a version of him, at least), who is going by the alias "Joe" to avoid arrest and/or deportation himself. Learning about Sari's key, Megatron is all too eager to gain this MacGuffin and utilize its power for his own nefarious plans. Once he determines that the other two have no idea who or what he is, he asserts that as a "heroic Predacon", he will help them retrieve their friends and the key.

Bumblebee comes up with an initial plan involving a trained chimp marching band, but it predictably fails. Megatron comes up with a plan that will actually work: pretending he and Bumblebee are illegal Primes (Bee-imus Prime and Joe Convoy) being transferred by Flareup.

Once they reach Shockwave's lab, Megatron has Flareup and 'Bee run a distraction so he can knock out the TransTech scientist. Once that is done, Megatron reveals his true name and ambitions. He snatches the key and uses it to bring to life a variety of Shockwave's lab equipment. However, Bumblebee and Sari introduce the new robots to the concept of bureaucracy. Less than thrilled with all the paperwork their new lives will entail just to be part of society, the new robot army turn on Megatron and drag him away. Shockwave provides Prime, Bumblebee and Sari a way home, expediting their paperwork, and he and Flareup agree never to speak of the incident again.

Back home, Sari and her Autobot friends likewise agree never to speak of the incident again. Still, Prime finds the thoughts of a Cybertron without war so inspiring that he feels like bursting into song. Thankfully, the others shout him down first.

{{epstub}}

==Stats==

*'''Written by:''' [[Greg Sepelak]], [[Trent Troop]]
*'''Directed by:''' Uh...
*'''Original presentation:''' 9:45pm Saturday, April 26th, 2008.

===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/Predacons
! style="background:antiquewhite" | [[Human]]s/Others
|-
| style="background:#FFEEEE" valign="top" |
*[[Optimus Prime (Animated)|Optimus Prime]] (4)
*[[Bumblebee (Animated)|Bumblebee]] (5)
*[[Flareup]] (6)
| style="background:#EEEEFE" valign="top" |
*[[Shockwave (Transtech)|Shockwave]] (7)
*[[Megatron (BW)|Megatron]] (8)
*TransTech Guard (10)
| style="background:antiquewhite" valign="top" |
*Narrator (1)
*[[Sari Sumdac]] (2)
*[[Isaac Sumdac]] (3)
* Drive-thru speaker (9)
* Newly-created robots (11)
|}

==Quotes==
"We're ready for a test run now. Here we go!" 
"Hey! My key is acting weird again." 
"Oh, my! This is not going to turn out well!" 
"ahhhhhhhhhhhhh." 
:{{m-}}'''Sari''', '''Dr. Sumdac''', '''Optimus Prime''', and '''Bumblebee''' show us a fine example of a [[dull surprise]].

"Begin proactive maintenance log: Subject A, [[Sari Sumdac|adolescent human female]], has regained consciousness and has demonstrated both an awareness of the narrator and an utter disregard for the fourth wall." 
:{{m-}}'''Shockwave''' records his observations.

"Utems of cosmic-significance like this AllSpark-powered key are contraband in Axiom Nexus, and I will not allow you to ''deus ex machina'' your way out of this." 
"''Deus ex machina'' isn't a verb." 
"'''SILENCE!!'''" 
:{{m-}}Morally-ambiguous '''Transtech Shockwave''' and imprisoned '''Animated Optimus''' argue proper grammar usage.

"I shall begin with you, as to avoid delving too deeply into any dark secrets of this girl's past that the audience might find ''too'' interesting." 
"What? It's not like I'm some hyper-advanced, human-like robot my dad made or anything. That's silly." 
:{{m-}}'''Shockwave''' and '''Sari''' carefully avoid spoilers.

"Bumblebee, what are you doing?!" 
"A contractually obligated gag." 
:{{m-}}'''Flareup''' is educated by '''Bumblebee''' on how BotCon works.

"We need help. BIG help! Maybe we can rig up a communicator and call in [[Grimlock (Animated)|Grimlock]]. Or maybe we can con [[Lugnut]] into helping us out." 
"Oh, please. What do I look like, [[Scott McNeil]]?" 
:{{m-}}'''Bumblebee's''' plan is shot down by '''Megatron'''. Maybe he should've tried asking [[Blitzwing (Animated)|Blitzwing]] instead?

==Other notes==
*The cast:
** [[Tara Strong]]: [[Sari Sumdac]]
** [[David Kaye]]: [[Optimus Prime (Animated)|Optimus Prime]], [[Megatron (BW)|Megatron]]
** [[Bumper Robinson]]: [[Bumblebee (Animated)|Bumblebee]], Narrator
** [[Marty Isenberg]]: [[Isaac Sumdac]], Drive-Thru, [[TransTech]] guard
** [[Anastasia Matejka]]: [[Flareup]]
** [[Chris Ho]]: [[Shockwave (Transtech)|Shockwave]]
** [[Pete Sinclair]]: Pete Sinclair
:Anastasia and Chris were the winners of the [[BotCon Idol]] voice acting contest held that weekend. Everyone played the parts of the newly created lab-equipment bots, with Marty Isenberg having their only line in English.

{{-}}
===Continuity errors===
* Not really ''continuity'', but Sari is mistakenly described as an "adolescent", which is a teenager.
{{-}}

===Transformers references===
* Bumblebee ordering fast food is a reference to a longstanding BotCon voice actor panel tradition, which involves the attending actors performing their characters ordering at a drive-in.

* Bumblebee is identified by Flareup as "a kid-appeal character", narrowed down to either "a Bumblebee or a [[Hot Shot (Armada)|Hot Shot]]", also referencing early ''Animated'' plans for Hot Shot to be the kid-appeal character of the crew. Various characters later "mistake" him for [[Wheelie]], [[Side Burn (RID)|Side Burn]], and [[Cheetor (BW)|Cheetor]].

* Shockwave refers to Optimus as "[[Rescue Roy]]".

* While masquerading as a Prime, Megatron identifies himself as "Joe [[Convoy]]", playing on the Japanese name for Optimus and his ilk.

* Bumblebee calls Shockwave "[[Shockblast]]", the "close enough" name used as a subsitute for "Shockwave" for a time when [[Hasbro]] was unable to secure that [[trademark]].

* In a sort of anti-reference, Prime and Bumblebee's "let us never speak of it again" conclusion provides an in-story reason for why none of this extra-dimensional silliness will ever be mentioned on the actual ''Animated'' cartoon.

{{-}}

===Real-world references===
* Professor Sumdac refers to Sari as "the joy and the laughter," a reference to actress Tara Strong's role as Bubbles in ''[[wikipedia: The Powerpuff Girls|The Powerpuff Girls]]''. Bubbles is proclaimed to be "the joy and the laughter" in that show's closing theme tune.

* Prime remarks that waiting in line for 17 hours "took longer then an ''[[wikipedia: InuYasha|InuYasha]]'' story arc". David Kaye played a recurring role in that series as InuYasha's brother, Sesshomaru. (David also punctuated the gag with a little fist-pump.)

* When Bumblebee places his fast-food order, the nearly-incomprehensible drive-thru speaker replies "''Sever your leg please, it's the greatest day.''" The line is a direct lift from a [[wikipedia:Homestar Runner|Homestar Runner]] cartoon featuring a randomly-appearing, nearly incomprehensible drive-thru speaker.

* Bumblebee tries to get the maniacally laughing (and coughing) Megatron's attention with a "Yo, Joe?" This is, of course, a reference to the battle cry of ''[[G.I. Joe]]'' from the eponymous '80s cartoon series. Flareup follows up with "Wrong convention", referencing [[Fun Publications]]' role in running the annual ''G.I. Joe'' convention.

* When Sari snatches Bumblebee's meal, Bumblebee laments "My manwich!", a line used by another of voice actor Bumper Robinson's characters, Dwight Conrad of ''[[wikipedia:Futurama|Futurama]]''.

* With the key in hand, Megatron claims he has "a big boost of confidence," a tag line from commercials Kaye narrated touting [[wikipedia:Enzyte|Enzyte]], a non-prescription drug for...er, male performance enhancement.

* One of the newly born lab robots, upon being told of the forms it will have to fill out, says "What you talkin' 'bout, Wheelie?", a reference to the catchphrase of a young [[wikipedia:Gary Coleman|Gary Coleman]] in ''[[wikipedia:Diff'rent Strokes|Diff'rent Strokes]]''.

* During the epilogue, Prime adds to the list of Bumblebee's misnomers by calling him "T-Bob", the robot sidekick from the '80s cartoon series/[[Kenner]] toy line ''[[wikipedia: M.A.S.K.| M.A.S.K.]]''.

{{-}}

===Miscellaneous trivia===
* "Bi-directional Unified Transit Terminal"... [[Fully Automated Rapid Transit System|Mature as ever]], eh, Sumdac?
{{-}}

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

Blurr (Animated)

2008-05-11T04:07:21Z

76.224.15.56: /* Animated cartoon */

{{disambig3|Blurr}}

:''Blurr is an [[Autobot]] from the [[Transformers Animated]] [[continuity family]].''

He's probably fast. Really fast. And talks a lot. Talks fast. (But not yet)
{{comingsoon}}

==Fiction==
===''Animated'' cartoon===
:''Voice actor:'' [[John Moschitta]] (English)

Blurr is first introduced in Master Disater's Street Demon Races. Though in his debut he never transforms. He was controled by a remote control that contained an allspark fragment. Bumblebee lost two races to him even with his rocket boosters 'cause Blurr is to damn fast. Later, after the control stolen by Sari, Blurr regains control. As Blitzwing is about to attack Bumblebee, Blurr charges off a bridge and hits Blitzwing and causes his to spiral down into a tanker. He is last seen driving away while Bumblebee thanks him.

==Trivia==
He appears as an almost copy-tribute to Speed Racer, most specifically Racer X.
WHO IS THAT GUY?!

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

MediaWiki - User contributions [en]

Bee in the City

Blurr (Animated)