David Wise

2025-07-08T03:25:54Z

Machinehardware: corrected grammar in the first paragraph of the article

{{disambig3|David}}

[[File:DavidWiseRhinoDVD01.jpg|thumb|300px|Created all of your favorite mutants and machines through recyling.]]

'''David Wise''' ([[February 1]], [[1955]] — [[March 3]], [[2020]]) was an American television animation writer. He was perhaps best known as the head writer for the 1987 ''[[Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles]]'' series, where he wrote or co-wrote over one hundred episodes (and story-edited many more). Other animated shows he help wrote include ''[[Star Trek|Star Trek: The Animated Series]]'', ''[[Batman|Batman: The Animated Series]]'', ''He-Man and the Masters of the Universe'', ''Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers'', ''Cadillacs and Dinosaurs'', and the infamous ''Battletoads'' pilot. He was also the single most prolific writer for the ''[[The Transformers (cartoon)|The Transformers]]'' cartoon, penning fifteen episodes.

Wise passed away after a nine year battle with lung cancer at the age of 65 on March 3, 2020.

==Episodes written==
===''The Transformers'' cartoon===
{{collist|3|
*"[[Attack of the Autobots (episode)|Attack of the Autobots]]"
*"[[Day of the Machines]]"
*"[[Microbots]]"
*"[[Make Tracks]]"
*"[[The Secret of Omega Supreme (episode)|The Secret of Omega Supreme]]"
*"[[Kremzeek!]]"
*"[[Auto-Bop]]"
*"[[The Girl Who Loved Powerglide]]"
*"[[The Key to Vector Sigma, Part 1]]"
*"[[The Key to Vector Sigma, Part 2]]"
*"[[War Dawn (episode)|War Dawn]]"
*"[[Trans-Europe Express]]"
*"[[The Rebirth, Part 1]]"
*"[[The Rebirth, Part 2]]"
*"[[The Rebirth, Part 3]]"
|}}

==Convention appearances==
*[[BotCon 1998]]
*[[BotCon 2004]] (unofficial)
*[[BotCon 2009]]

==Notes==
*Wise was a big fan of ''[[Doctor Who]]'', and claimed to have inserted the line "reverse the polarity" whenever he could in his writing; in ''Transformers'', that happened in "[[The Rebirth, Part 3]]". Meanwhile, in "[[The Rebirth, Part 2]]", one of the [[Nebulan]] [[Hive (G1)|Hive]] rallies that they must "[[Dalek|exterminate! exterminate!]]" the newly created [[Headmaster (technology)|Headmasters]].
*Wise was interviewed as a special feature for [[Rhino Entertainment|Kid Rhino]]'s ''[[The Transformers (cartoon)|The Transformers]]'' Season 3 Part 2 and Season 4 DVD set.
*The character of [[Sōji Yoshikawa]] is named after the real-life animator {{w|Sōji Yoshikawa|of the same name}}, who was a co-worker of Wise's during his time working at DiC Entertainment.
*Before writing ''Transformers'' David Wise had visited Japan and fell in love with giant robots, which made him very excited to work on the show.<ref>[https://rss.com/podcasts/all-things-transformers/1502831/ All Things Transformers interview] February 10, 2010</ref>

===Recycle-o-matic===
David Wise frequently recycled concepts and ideas from older work for use in later scripts. As a result, many Transformers set pieces, concepts and even plots wound up appearing in other series, ''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'' in particular, while many other ideas seem to have actually started life as plots for earlier series, such as ''He-Man and the Masters of the Universe.''

Which ''Transformers'' stories were recycled? ''Wellll...''

*"[[Attack of the Autobots (episode)|Attack of the Autobots]]" — Recycled for the ''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'' episode "Slash - The Evil Turtle from Dimension X" (specifically, the rocket chase sequence during the climax).
*"[[Day of the Machines]]" — Recycled from the ''He-Man and the Masters of the Universe'' episode "Day of the Machines" (specifically, the computer program that takes over other machines). Later recycled for the ''Defenders of the Earth'' episode "Audie and Tweak" (specifically, an evil supercomputer—represented by a giant ugly face on a screen—that remotely controls or influences other machines and taunts the heroes as they enter its lair), ''The New Adventures of Speed Racer'' episode "B.O.S.S." (specifically, an evil computer system controlling other machines by placing remote command devices on them), and the ''Mighty Ducks'' episode "The Return of Dr. Droid" (specifically, an evil computer that takes control of various machines and makes them attack the heroes).
*"[[Microbots]]" — Recycled from the ''He-Man and the Masters of the Universe'' episode "Day of the Machines" (specifically, the sequence where a character shrinks down and enters a machine to fix/sabotage it). Recycled again for the ''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'' episode "Shredder & Splintered".
*"[[Kremzeek!]]" — Recycled from the ''He-Man and the Masters of the Universe'' episode "Day of the Machines" (specifically, the little energy-based monster that makes trouble). Later recycled almost completely for the ''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'' episode "The Big ZIPP Attack", and once again for ''The Mighty Ducks'' episode "Zap Attack". Also recycled for the ''Defenders of the Earth'' episode "Audie and Tweak" (specifically, the heroes' computer babbling nonsensically after being affected by an outside force).
*"[[Auto-Bop]]" — Recycled for the ''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'' episode "Corporate Raiders from Dimension X" (specifically, the villains brainwashing people in New York to build a doomsday device via a phony business).
*"[[The Girl Who Loved Powerglide]]" — Recycled wholesale for the ''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'' episode "Poor Little Rich Turtle" (specifically, every character, motivation and set piece).
*"[[Trans-Europe Express]]" — Recycled for the ''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'' episode "Hot Rodding Teenagers from Dimension X" (specifically, the weather machine that goes out of control in the climax and has to be destroyed in midair).
*"[[The Rebirth, Part 3]]" - Recycled for the ''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'' episode "Shredder & Splintered" (specifically, the circumstances where [[Galvatron (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Galvatron]] and [[Zarak (G1)|Lord Zarak]] bicker over leadership being nearly identically reused for Krang and Shredder, right down to the dialogue, "We shall see...").

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0936335/ David Wise on the Internet Movie Database]
*[http://princeospace.blogspot.com/ A Spy in the House of Tomorrow - David Wise's blog]
*[http://moonbase2.libsyn.com/index.php?post_id=553015 Interview with David Wise on the Moonbase 2 podcast]
*[http://geewunner.com/?p=87 Interview with David Wise at Geewunner]

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[[Category:Writers]]

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David Wise