The Transformers (cartoon)

2009-11-25T04:03:44Z

HelenaPosh:

{{disambig2|the cartoon series|other uses of ''The Transformers''|Transformers (disambiguation)}}

{{nav-G1}}

{{bigquote|...we feel '''action''' should be emphasized over''' plot'''—especially avoiding any complicated story lines—to ensure the success of this series with its intended viewers.|[[Bryce Malek]] and [[Dick Robbins]], ''Transformer''s story editors, [[Marvel Productions]] internal correspondence[http://tfarchive.com/cartoons/bible/#154]}}

[[Image:TransformersLogoSlantedOrange.jpg|right|250px|thumb|Red is the colour of GOOD...]]
[[Image:TransformersLogoSlantedPurple.jpg|right|250px|thumb|...while purple is the colour of EVIL!!]]
[[Image:G1Season1Logo.jpg|right|250px|thumb|In space, no one can hear your trumpets go Dah-NUN NUN NAHHHHHH!]]

More than any other of the many media which [[Transformer]]s have invaded in the past 25 years, it is '''''The Transformers''''', the original cartoon that ran from 1984 to 1987, which captured the imagination of children and children-at-heart worldwide.

==Overview==
[[Image:Cybertronplanet.jpg|left|200px|thumb|Depleted of energy... aside from the power source that lights up the entire core of the planet.]]
The cartoon (along with the [[The Transformers (Marvel comic)|Marvel comics]]) set up the basic story of Transformers that most other incarnations were to follow: two warring factions of robots on the planet [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]] leave in search of resources. The factions crash-land on [[Earth]] and, millions of years later, begin their battle anew in Reagan-era [[United States|America]] and across the globe.

Once established, the cartoon rarely took any steps to upset its status quo. Plots generally centered on a [[Decepticon]] plot or invention of the week, which would be used to gather energy or Defeat The [[Autobot]]s FOREVER!!, and the Autobots' efforts to stop the plan. Most of the time the Decepticons were forced into retreat, and the Autobots drove off victorious. At most, a new character or team was added to one side or the other. Plots became a bit less formulaic during Season 3, though character death and true plot upheaval remained a rarity.

Through its 98-episode run, this series took viewers around the globe and to many strange places and times: across the alien Cybertron, the Earth's prehistoric past, the Earth's then-future of 2005, the ''Metropolis''-like society of [[Nebulos]], and more. It is not the best animated series ever to air, but it stimulated viewers with its concept at the time, and continued to do so in the years to come.
{{-}}

==Production==
[[Image:DivideAndConquer-UnderseaBase.jpg|center|450px|thumb|The Decepticon undersea base. Note that it is neither pineapple, rock, nor tiki head.]]

Writing and distribution for this series were handled as a joint effort by [[Marvel Productions]] and [[Sunbow Productions]]. Animation was produced overseas, by [[Toei]], [[AKOM]], [[Tokyo Movie Shinsha]] (''supposedly'') and an [[Unknown Filipino animation studio|unknown studio from the Philippines]].

[[Image:CrashedArk1.jpg|right|200px|thumb|Nobody on Earth noticed this for millions of years.]]
The original 30 or so characters were heavily modified from their toy designs for aesthetics and ease of animation. Among the artists involved in the original designs are [[Shōhei Kohara]] and [[Floro Dery]]. Other known production artists include [[Dell Barras]], who worked on second season backgrounds.

Story editors for the series included [[Dick Robbins]], [[Bryce Malek]], [[Flint Dille]], [[Marv Wolfman]], and [[Steve Gerber]]. Episode scripts were written by a large array of freelance writers. Writers notable for writing numerous episodes include [[Donald F. Glut]] and [[David Wise]].

The series was animated on an enormously rushed schedule, due to the need to get episodes on the air in sync with the toys appearing on shelves. That, combined with the vast number of characters and the difficulties involved with the overseas animation process, resulted in a cartoon that is notoriously riddled with [[animation error]]s and other mistakes. The producers were often aware of these mistakes, but tight deadlines left them no time to correct them.

Another byproduct of the rushed production is that the show tends not to be very self-referential. Continuity between episodes is minimal, with most acting as self-contained, standalone stories, though a few Season Two and Season Three stories did build on previous episodes. Within each season, the addition of new characters is the only common change to the status quo.

[[Image:ShockwaveDesertionOfTheDinobots1.jpg|left|200px|thumb|My toy's so great, I bought one myself!]]
Mistakes or not, the show is fondly remembered by many fans for the high quality of its voice acting. Indeed, many characters, lacking any significant plot developments or screen time, were brought to life solely by their unique voices and inflection styles. Voice direction for the series was provided by [[Wally Burr]], notorious for driving his performers to the limit. One of the performers in his stable, [[Susan Blu]], would later go on to work as voice director for ''[[Beast Wars (cartoon)|Beast Wars]]'', ''[[Beast Machines (cartoon)|Beast Machines]]'', and ''[[Transformers Animated (cartoon)|Transformers Animated]]''.

The ''sinister'' voice of [[Victor Caroli]] provided narration for the entire series, most commonly heard on the [[commercial bumper]]s: "The Transformers will return after these messages!" Caroli's voice also provided occasional introductory narration, recap segments for multi-part episodes, and the ''[[Secret Files of Teletraan II]]'' segments which ran before the credits of Season 3.

[[Image:RollForIt Spacebridge recieves.jpg|right|200px|thumb|Looks safer than flying United.]]
In addition to the show's iconic [[theme song]], ''Transformers'' featured a great variety of background music, composed by [[Robert J. Walsh]]. Walsh had previously worked on the ''[[G.I. Joe (team)|G.I. Joe]]'' cartoon, and many of those pieces were reused for ''Transformers''. New pieces were composed as well, many incorporating the melody of the show's theme song. Walsh composed new music for 2nd and 3rd seasons, each in a different style, further distinguishing the three main seasons from one another.

The show also originated the concept of the iconic "[[Scene transition|symbol flip]]" serving as a transition between scenes, a tradition carried on by some of the later series.
{{-}}

==Episodes==
{{note|These episodes are listed in production order rather than original airdate. In a few instances, this means that episodes are not in the correct chronological story order, the specifics of which are noted in their own articles. Note that Season 3, in particular, suffers from this—the [[Kid Rhino]] DVD release of the season reordered the episodes in question so that they were in order, but also reordered many episodes that did not have any placement problems, throwing off the whole shebang. Conversely, the Region 2 [[Metrodome]] release of the season just reorganized the problematic ones.}}
{{see|List of Generation 1 episodes}}

===Season 1===
[[Image:DinobotsG1.jpg|right|200px|thumb|Remember those dinosaur guys? Man, they were awesome.]]
The first season is primarily set on [[Earth]], with a few excursions to [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]]. It started with the 1984 toys as its characters, and introduced the early wave of 1985 toys as it progressed—the [[Constructicon (G1)|Constructicons]], [[Dinobot (G1)|Dinobots]], [[Insecticon (G1)|Insecticons]], and [[Jetfire (G1)|Skyfire]].

{{collist|2|
# "[[More than Meets the Eye, Part 1]]"
# "[[More than Meets the Eye, Part 2]]"
# "[[More than Meets the Eye, Part 3]]"
# "[[Transport to Oblivion]]"
# "[[Roll for It]]"
# "[[Divide and Conquer]]"
# "[[Fire in the Sky]]"
# "[[S.O.S. Dinobots]]"
# "[[Fire on the Mountain]]"
# "[[War of the Dinobots]]"
# "[[The Ultimate Doom, Part 1]]"
# "[[The Ultimate Doom, Part 2]]"
# "[[The Ultimate Doom, Part 3]]"
# "[[Countdown to Extinction (episode)|Countdown to Extinction]]"
# "[[A Plague of Insecticons]]"
# "[[Heavy Metal War]]"
}}

===Season 2===
[[Image:CosmicRust-BigGroup.jpg|center|450px|thumb|I liked the one with the guy.]]
The very long second season greatly expanded the cartoon's scope and cast. The second season tends to feature more character-driven episodes than the first season, with many characters getting their own "spotlight" episode. It also features a recurring theme of the Autobots assimilating Earth culture, such the Autobots playing basketball and football and even watching a soap opera. Excursions to alien civilizations popped up occasionally as well. The second season also saw the introduction of concepts and characters that would spread out to other fictions, including the mystic [[Alpha Trion (G1)|Alpha Trion]], the ancient [[Vector Sigma]] supercomputer and its [[Key to Vector Sigma|circuit key]], and the first appearance of [[Female Transformers]] within official fiction.

[[Image:Master builders prime basketball.jpg|right|150px|thumb|Didn't they make Optimus Prime play soccer or something once? Man, that was dumb.]]
The second season also marked a move from weekly airings (usually on Saturday mornings) to a "stripped" show, aired Monday through Friday, either in the morning or afternoon. Some markets also scheduled it in conjunction with daily episodes of ''[[G.I.Joe]]''.
====Season 2 intro====
A battle is taking place on [[Earth]] in an area with rocky, desert like terrain. The Decepticons are getting their chassis handed to them by the [[Dinobot (G1)|Dinobot]]s and [[Omega Supreme (G1)|Omega Supreme]]. The [[Insecticon (G1)|Insecticon]]s are hiding out in a crevasse and display the ability to float on molten lava. The scene then shifts to a stylized computer grid where [[Optimus Prime (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Optimus Prime]] and [[Megatron (G1)|Megatron]] square off with some of their loyal troops nearby. The grid then swallows up Optimus and Megatron.

====Episodes====
Season Two breaks down very roughly into three segments:

* The first dozen episodes feature (primarily) the Season One cast.
* A large second batch of episodes brings in the remainder of the 1985 toys.
* The final ten episodes introduce the four [[combiner]] teams that formed the early entries in the 1986 line.
{{-}}
{{collist|2|
# "[[Autobot Spike]]"
# "[[Changing Gears]]"
# "[[City of Steel]]"
# "[[Attack of the Autobots]]"
# "[[Traitor]]"
# "[[The Immobilizer]]"
# "[[The Autobot Run]]"
# "[[Atlantis, Arise!]]"
# "[[Day of the Machines]]"
# "[[Enter the Nightbird]]"
# "[[A Prime Problem]]"
# "[[The Core]]"
# "[[The Insecticon Syndrome]]"
# "[[Dinobot Island, Part 1]]"
# "[[Dinobot Island, Part 2]]"
# "[[The Master Builders]]"
# "[[Auto Berserk]]"
# "[[Microbots]]"
# "[[Megatron's Master Plan, Part 1]]"
# "[[Megatron's Master Plan, Part 2]]"
# "[[Desertion of the Dinobots, Part 1]]"
# "[[Desertion of the Dinobots, Part 2]]"
# "[[Blaster Blues]]"
# "[[A Decepticon Raider in King Arthur's Court]]"
# "[[The Golden Lagoon]]"
# "[[The God Gambit]]"
# "[[Make Tracks]]"
# "[[Child's Play (episode)|Child's Play]]"
# "[[Quest for Survival]]"
# "[[The Secret of Omega Supreme]]"
# "[[The Gambler]]"
# "[[Kremzeek!]]"
# "[[Sea Change]]"
# "[[Triple Takeover]]"
# "[[Prime Target]]"
# "[[Auto-Bop]]"
# "[[The Search for Alpha Trion]]"
# "[[The Girl Who Loved Powerglide]]"
# "[[Hoist Goes Hollywood]]"
# "[[The Key to Vector Sigma, Part 1]]"
# "[[The Key to Vector Sigma, Part 2]]"
# "[[Aerial Assault]]"
# "[[War Dawn]]"
# "[[Trans-Europe Express]]"
# "[[Cosmic Rust (episode)|Cosmic Rust]]"
# "[[Starscream's Brigade]]"
# "[[The Revenge of Bruticus]]"
# "[[Masquerade]]"
# "[[B.O.T. (episode)|B.O.T.]]"
}}

===Intermediate===
[[Image:Tftm1986b.jpg|right|180px|thumb|Then they like, killed him in the movie. Man, that was awesome.]]
''[[The Transformers: The Movie]]'' is in continuity with the cartoon series, occurring 20 years after the end of Season 2. It was the single biggest turning point for the series, and remains controversial. The movie saw the introductions of [[Unicron]], the [[Quintesson]]s, and the [[Matrix of Leadership]], all of which would play important roles in Season 3. It made radical changes to the show's cast, killing off many characters and introducing new ones—a shock to young viewers who were used to their heroes driving off into the sunset at the end of every adventure.

Despite its unconventional place in the cartoon canon, it remains the best-known representation of the cartoon series among fans.

===Season 3===
[[Image:Intro3 4 with error.jpg|left|200px|thumb|They didn't make any more cartoons after the movie. Yeah, the movie totally killed Transformers.]]
Season 3 ''transformed'' the whole premise of the show. Gone were the two teams stranded on Earth, along with many of the characters that composed those teams. In their place was a galaxy-spanning tale of battles on alien worlds. With the Autobots in firm control of Cybertron, the Decepticons, though still a threat, were somewhat reduced as villains; new enemies in the form of the [[Quintesson|Quintessons]] were introduced. Plots often centered on the ultra-powerful [[city-bot]]s, [[Metroplex (G1)|Metroplex]] and [[Trypticon (G1)|Trypticon]].

Season 3 has a mixed reputation. It contains some of the most mistake-laden episodes of the entire franchise ("Five Faces of Darkness", "Carnage in C Minor", the introduction sequence at left) most of which can be laid at the feet of [[AKOM]]. But some of its episodes are among the best as well, both in animation and scripting; "Dark Awakening", "Chaos", "Webworld", and "Dweller in the Depths" are all heavy fan favorites.

Late in Season 3, as in Season 2, the forerunners of the 1987 toy line were introduced: the [[Terrorcon (G1)|Terrorcons]], [[Technobot (G1)|Technobot]]s, and [[Throttlebot]]s, and (very briefly) the cassettes [[Slugfest (G1)|Slugfest]] and [[Overkill (G1)|Overkill]]. The season concluded with the resurrection of Optimus Prime, spurred on by a massive campaign on the part of fans, who were displeased by his death and subsequent "evil" resurrection.

{{collist|2|
# "[[Five Faces of Darkness, Part 1]]"
# "[[Five Faces of Darkness, Part 2]]"
# "[[Five Faces of Darkness, Part 3]]"
# "[[Five Faces of Darkness, Part 4]]"
# "[[Five Faces of Darkness, Part 5]]"
# "[[The Killing Jar]]"
# "[[Chaos (episode)|Chaos]]"
# "[[Dark Awakening]]"
# "[[Forever Is a Long Time Coming]]"
# "[[Starscream's Ghost]]"
# "[[Thief in the Night]]"
# "[[Surprise Party]]"
# "[[Madman's Paradise]]"
# "[[Nightmare Planet]]"
# "[[Ghost in the Machine]]"
# "[[Webworld]]"
# "[[Carnage in C-Minor]]"
# "[[The Quintesson Journal]]"
# "[[The Ultimate Weapon]]"
# "[[The Big Broadcast of 2006 (episode)|The Big Broadcast of 2006]]"
# "[[Fight or Flee]]"
# "[[The Dweller in the Depths]]"
# "[[Only Human]]"
# "[[Grimlock's New Brain]]"
# "[[Money Is Everything]]"
# "[[Call of the Primitives]]"
# "[[The Face of the Nijika]]"
# "[[The Burden Hardest to Bear]]"
# "[[The Return of Optimus Prime, Part 1]]"
# "[[The Return of Optimus Prime, Part 2]]"
}}

===Season 4===
[[Image:Bumblebee and Goldbug.jpg|right|200px|thumb|They kept making the toys? But weren't those like, the ones that couldn't transform or something?]]
How the truncated Season 4 came about remains a mystery, though presumably the short version is that [[Hasbro]] pulled out its funding support. Whether anything further was ever planned is not known; see ''[[Misconceptions and urban legends about Transformers|Urban legends about Transformers]]'' for more.

As it is, the "season" consisted of a single three-part episode, that somewhat hastily brought in thirty or so new Transformer characters as well as [[Nebulos|Nebulan]] partners for 22 of them, and attempted to provide a satisfactory conclusion to the series as a whole.

The previous three seasons each feature fully original opening credits. For Season 4, however, the opening credit sequence is a mishmash of existing animation, combining high-quality animation sequences from some of the 1986 and 1987 toy commercials with segments of the Season 3 opening credits, which were of a visibly different art style.

# "[[The Rebirth, Part 1]]"
# "[[The Rebirth, Part 2]]"
# "[[The Rebirth, Part 3]]"

===Season 5===
[[Image:Puppetpmprime.jpg|thumb|]]
Season 5 did not feature any new episodes, but rather consisted of 15 episodes from the previous seasons and ''[[The Transformers: The Movie]]'' broken up into five episodes, for a total of 20 episodes. New opening and closing footage was added to each episode, which portrayed an animatronic puppet of [[Powermaster]] [[Optimus Prime (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Optimus Prime]] meeting regularly with a live-action human named [[Tommy Kennedy]] to tell him old Transformers stories.

{{collist|2|
# "[[More than Meets the Eye, Part 1]]"
# "[[More than Meets the Eye, Part 2]]"
# "[[More than Meets the Eye, Part 3]]"
# ''[[The Transformers: The Movie]]'' (Day 1)
# ''[[The Transformers: The Movie]]'' (Day 2)
# ''[[The Transformers: The Movie]]'' (Day 3)
# ''[[The Transformers: The Movie]]'' (Day 4)
# ''[[The Transformers: The Movie]]'' (Day 5)
# "[[Five Faces of Darkness, Part 1]]"
# "[[Five Faces of Darkness, Part 2]]"
# "[[Five Faces of Darkness, Part 3]]"
# "[[Five Faces of Darkness, Part 4]]"
# "[[Five Faces of Darkness, Part 5]]"
# "[[Surprise Party]]"
# "[[Dark Awakening]]"
# "[[The Return of Optimus Prime, Part 1]]"
# "[[The Return of Optimus Prime, Part 2]]"
# "[[The Rebirth, Part 1]]"
# "[[The Rebirth, Part 2]]"
# "[[The Rebirth, Part 3]]"
}}

===Sci-Fi Channel===
In the late 1990s, the Sci-Fi Channel began airing the original episodes. Unfortunately, due to longer commercial slots and/or shorter show times, the decision was made to edit the cartoon down. Sometimes this was done in comparatively harmless fashion, but other times the flow of scenes and even the plot suffered.

In one of the most notorious edits, two lines from [[Grapple]] and [[Inferno (G1)|Inferno]] in "[[Masquerade]]" ended up smooshed into a single nonsensical jumble: "Time to add fire torobably hate myself in the morning, but--"

==Japanese release==
With the success of ''Transformers'' proven by Hasbro, [[Takara]] elected to cut short their plans for a new ''[[Diaclone]]'' line in 1985 and import the ''Transformers'' toyline and cartoon instead. To play catch-up with Hasbro markets, Takara combined the first two years of toys and cartoon into one series, which was given the excessive (but typical of Japanese cartoons) title of '''''[[Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers (franchise)|Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers]]'''''.

Although two episodes out of the original 65 were cut ("Attack of the Autobots" and "Day of the Machines"), an additional nine [[clip episode]]s were created, comprised entirely of re-used footage taken from various episodes, bringing the total number of ''Fight!'' episodes to 72. The two missing episodes were later dubbed and released straight-to-video, then retroactively added to the episode list as numbers 73 and 74.

Additionally, the broadcast order of the series was significantly reworked, with most of the episodes featuring [[Jetfire (G1)|Skyfire]] being pushed to the end of the run (presumably owing the character's shaky status as a Bandai toy in Japan).

In 1986, after the release of the OVA ''[[Scramble City]]'' (but not ''[[The Transformers: The Movie]]'', which was not released in Japan until 1989) the series was rebranded as '''''[[Transformers 2010 (franchise)|Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers 2010]]'''''. All thirty episodes from the third season were dubbed for ''2010'', and two additional clip episodes were produced, bringing the total to thirty-two.

The additional clip shows include the following:

*'''Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers'''
:14. "[[Birth of the Transformers!]]"
:55. "[[War Without End (episode)|War Without End]]"
:56. "[[Desperate Battle on Dinobot Island]]"
:57. "[[Devastator, the Giant Warrior]]"
:58. "[[Neverending Struggle]]"
:69. "[[Earth's Greatest Crisis]]"
:70. "[[Seek the Cybertonium]] "
:71. "[[Stunticons VS Aerialbots]] "
:72. "[[Mutiny of the Combaticons]]"

*'''Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers 2010'''
:29. "[[Daniel's Adventure]]"
:30. "[[The Desperate Struggle of Justice]]"

The numbers denote the airing order of the episodes in relation to the rest of the series.

"The Rebirth" was not broadcast in Japan, in favor of producing a brand new series to continue the story of the animated continuity, beginning with ''[[The Headmasters (cartoon)|The Headmasters]]''. However, all three episodes of "The Rebirth" were released straight-to-video a few years later. Curiously, the dub for "The Rebirth" used standard English-language names and terminology in a more selective manner (for example, "Optimus Prime" remained "Convoy" while "Hot Rod" was not changed to "Hot Rodimus" but retained his English name). The majority of the dub cast was different, as well.

===Edits===
The Japanese release of the three American seasons were edited by Takara before their broadcast in Japan. These edits were made not for content, but for length so that the show could accommodate longer opening and ending sequences.

The combined length of the U.S. opening and ending sequences was about one minute and ten seconds. The combined length of the Japanese opening and ending sequences, however, was about two minutes and twenty seconds. This resulted in roughly one minute and ten seconds being cut from every single episode.

A few examples of "unnecessary" scenes that were cut to make space for J-pop:

* "[[Roll for It]]". The scene where [[Spike Witwicky (G1)|Spike]] and [[Bumblebee (G1)|Bumblebee]] first reach the laboratory and meet the southern-accented security guard that gives them clearance.
* "[[Divide and Conquer]]". The scene where the Autobots first return to [[Shockwave (G1)|Shockwave]]'s base and he opens fire on them.
* "[[Megatron's Master Plan, Part 1]]". The scene where Spike, [[Sparkplug Witwicky|Sparkplug]] and [[Chip Chase|Chip]] cheer for the Autobots during the Autobot Day parade.
* "[[Only Human]]". The scene where the informant tells [[Victor Drath]] that [[Cobra Commander|Old Snake]] is down the street pacing back and forth, and gets punched in the face as payment.
* All multi-part episodes have their Next Episode previews removed.

The only episodes not to be edited for length are "[[Attack of the Autobots]]", "[[Day of the Machines]]", ''[[The Transformers: The Movie]]'' and all three episodes of "[[The Rebirth, Part 1|The Rebirth]]". These were not edited for length because they were all released straight-to-video, where broadcasting time slots were not an issue. As a result, these episodes are also the only ones to be released on laserdisc and DVD by [[Pioneer]] with optional English or Japanese audio tracks.

==DVD releases==
===[[Kid Rhino]] (United States, 2003)===
[[Image:SoundwaveDVD.jpg|right|200px|thumb|Soundwave's taken over my DVD player! Eek!]]
*'''''Transformers'' First Season Collector's Edition'''
*'''''Transformers'' Season 2 Part 1'''
*'''''Transformers'' Season 2 Part 2'''
*'''''Transformers'' Season 3 Part 1'''
*'''''Transformers'' Season 3 Part 2/Season 4'''

===[[Madman Entertainment]] (Australia, 2003-2007)===
*'''''Transformers'' Collection 1 — Season 1'''
*'''''Transformers'' Collection 2 — Season 2 Part 1'''
*'''''Transformers'' Collection 3 — Season 2 Part 2'''
*'''''Transformers'' Collection 4 — Season 3 Part 1'''
*'''''Transformers'' Collection 5 — Season 3 Part 2'''
*'''''Transformers'' Collection 6 — Season 4'''
*'''''The Best of Transformers Generation 1'''''
*'''''Transformers Generation 1 — Complete Collection'''''

===[[Maverick Entertainment]] (United Kingdom, 2001-2002)===
*'''''Transformers'' — Original Series, Vol 1''' (Season 1, episodes 9–13)
*'''''Transformers'' — Original Series, Vol 2''' (Season 1, episodes 1–6)
*'''''Transformers'' — Original Series, Vol 3''' (Season 1, episodes 7, 8, 14–16)
*'''''Transformers'' — Complete Original Series''' (complete Season 1)
*'''''Transformers — Five Faces of Darkness'''''
*'''''Transformers — The Rebirth'''''

===[[Medianetwork Communication]] (Italy, 2008-TBA)===
*'''''Transformers'' - Volume 1''' (Season 1, episodes 1-8)
*'''''Transformers'' - Volume 2''' (Season 1, episodes 9-16)
*'''''Transformers'' - Volume 3''' (Season 2, episodes 1-12)
*'''''Transformers'' - Volume 4''' (Season 2, episodes 13-25)
*'''''Transformers'' - Volume 5''' (Season 2, episodes 26-37)
*'''''Transformers'' - Volume 6''' (Season 2, episodes 38-49)

===[[Metrodome]] (United Kingdom, 2003-2007 )===
*'''''Transformers'' — Season 1'''
*'''''Transformers'' — Season 2 Part 1'''
*'''''Transformers'' — Season 2 Part 2'''
*'''''Transformers'' — Season 3 & Season 4'''
*'''''Transformers — The Complete Generation 1 Collection'''''
*'''''Transformers — Generation 1 Bumper Special'''''
*'''''Transformers — The Classic Episodes'''''

===[[Pioneer|Pioneer LDC]] (JP, 2001)===
*'''''Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers'' DVD-BOX 1''' (episodes 1–13, 15-35)
*'''''Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers'' DVD-BOX 2''' (episodes 36–54, 59-68, 73-74, "Scramble City")
*'''''Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers'' 2010 DVD-BOX''' (episodes 1-28, 31-32, "The Rebirth" 1-3)

{{note|These DVDs were released without the additional clip shows.}}

===[[Shout! Factory]] (US, 2009-2010)===
*'''''The Transformers'' — The Complete First Season: 25th Anniversary Edition'''
*'''''The Transformers'' — More than Meets the Eye'''
*'''''The Transformers'' — Season Two, Volume One: 25th Anniversary Edition'''
*'''''The Transformers'' — 25th Anniversary Matrix of Leadership Collection'''
*'''''The Transformers'' — Season Two, Volume Two: 25th Anniversary Edition'''
*'''''The Transformers'' — Seasons Three & Four: 25th Anniversary Edition'''

==Trivia==
* Looking at the production codes of the series reveals some choice tidbits:
**The series pilot, "More than Meets the Eye", was produced under a set of different production codes, as it was created before ''Transformers'' was expanded to become an ongoing series. After the pilot, the episode production numbers begin afresh with "700-01" ("Transport to Oblivion"), and proceeded in order until the end of the first season, with "700-13" ("Heavy Metal War"). At the beginning of the second season, it seems the production codes were adjusted to account for the three parts of "More than Meets the Eye", as they take a jump forward to "700-16" with "Autobot Spike". This, of course, is mathematically wrong-o, as "Autobot Spike" is the ''seventeenth'' episode, not the sixteenth.
**''B.O.T.'', the final episode of season 2, was production code 700-64, while ''Five Faces of Darkness, Part 1'', the first episode of season 3, was production code 700-86. The reason for this jump is unknown.
**There is no episode with production code 700-111. ''Grimlock's New Brain'' was 700-110, while ''Call of the Primitives'' was 700-112. The reason for this omission is likewise unknown.

==External links==
*[http://groups.google.com/group/net.comics/browse_thread/thread/eab15c298a61cdfb/fce7a2ddb7e35a81 1985 net.comics review]
*[http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Comet/5606/tfepgd.html Aaron Marsh's Transformers Episode Guide] — Including variants and repackagings
*[http://www.facebook.com/pages/Transformers/9160392217 Transformers on Facebook] - Includes information on Matrix of Leadership Box Set
*[http://www.superiorpapers.com/ Research paper] help:[http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P3-1197089811.html Article on Transformers]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Transformers (cartoon), The}}
[[Category:Continuities]]
[[Category:Generation 1| Transformers (cartoon)]]
[[Category:Generation 1 episodes| ]]
[[Category:Television series]]

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