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Masquerade

2024-11-24T17:16:08Z

MartinOdoni:

{{episode
|image=Masquerade Menasors.JPG
|caption=Strangely, nobody suggested [[A Prime Problem|a race]] to determine who the real Stunticons were.
|series=G1toon
|ep=64
|series2=SRLFtoon
|ep2=61
|prev2=War Dawn (episode)
|next2=Fire in the Sky
|series3=''[[Transformers: Generation 2 (cartoon)|The Transformers: Generation 2]]''
|ep3=21
|prev3=The Revenge of Bruticus
|next3=Ghost in the Machine (G1)
|title="Masquerade"
|season=2
|season ep=48
|written by=[[Donald F. Glut]]
|production code=700-63
|airdate=[[December 16]], 1985
|production company=[[Sunbow Productions]]
|animation studio=[[Toei Animation|Toei]]
|continuity=[[Generation 1 cartoon continuity]]
|video=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PcgFqw6VSz4
|videosite=YouTube
}}

'''After defeating the Stunticons, five of the Autobots pose as the crazed combiners to learn of Megatron's newest plan.'''

==Synopsis==
[[File:Masquerade prime vs mmaster.jpg‎|left|thumb|Shortly after this, Menasor threw up.]]
[[Megatron (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Megatron]] sends the [[Stunticon (G1)|Stunticons]] on a mission to find components for an unrevealed purpose, including the world's largest, most perfect ruby. While searching for their components, the actions of the Stunticons catch the attention of the [[Autobot]]s, who track their movements and their crimes. Breakdown and Wildrider get the first component: laser lenses from a scientist. Dead End and Drag Strip get the second component: an experimental generator from the Army. Motormaster gets the last one: a perfect ruby from a museum.

The Autobots split into teams and manage to be extremely effective at capturing the Stunticons in the middle of their capers. [[Grapple (G1)|Grapple]], [[Hoist (G1)|Hoist]], and [[Inferno (G1)|Inferno]] take on [[Breakdown (G1)|Breakdown]] and [[Wildrider (G1)|Wildrider]]. [[Warpath (G1)|Warpath]] and [[Tracks (G1)|Tracks]] take on [[Dead End (G1)|Dead End]] and [[Drag Strip (G1)|Drag Strip]]. Finally, [[Optimus Prime (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Optimus Prime]], [[Bumblebee (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Bumblebee]], [[Blaster (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Blaster]], and [[Spike Witwicky (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Spike Witwicky]] go for [[Motormaster (G1)|Motormaster]], who challenges the [[Prime (rank)|Autobot leader]] to a game of “chicken” and ends up in a head-on collision. Spike, Bumblebee, and Blaster peer through the dust to see who survived, and it turns out that Optimus is the clear victor with merely a minor headache, while Motormaster lies in a wreck.

[[File:Masquerade Wheeljack Optimaster.jpg|upright=1.1|thumb|No Motormaster disguise is complete without a hunk of Big League Chew.]]

Although all five Stunticons have been captured, the Autobots still don't know what their plans were for the components they stole for Megatron. [[Wheeljack (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Wheeljack]] guesses that the parts are going to be made into a weapon. (Nooo, really?) Optimus hatches a scheme to disguise Autobots using [[camouflage paint]] and penetrate the Decepticon camp disguised as Stunticons: Optimus Prime as Motormaster, [[Jazz (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Jazz]] as Dead End, [[Sideswipe (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Sideswipe]] as Breakdown, [[Mirage (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Mirage]] as Drag Strip, and [[Windcharger (G1)|Windcharger]] as Wildrider.

[[File:Sideswipe FakeBreakdown.jpg|left|upright=1.1|thumb|Sideswipe? I, Breakdown, have never heard of such a being!]]

The disguised Autobots infiltrate the Decepticons, although their arrival causes [[Starscream (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|some]] raised eyebrows because they are driving too "safely". They deliver the stolen components to Megatron without being detected.

Back at [[Ark (G1)|Autobot Headquarters]], the Stunticons manage to shimmy and shake their way out of their cells, merge into [[Menasor (G1)|Menasor]] and overcome their Autobot captors. They then head back to the Decepticon base.

[[File:Masquerade Megatron manning gun.jpg|upright=1.1|thumb|We've been here before.]]

The Constructicons complete Megatron's new weapon, and he reveals its power, but just then Menasor arrives and declares the Autobots as infiltrators. Using Windcharger's magnetic field ability and Mirage's illusion power, the Autobots merge into their own Menasor. The two giants battle it out, and the Autobots are overcome. Megatron trains the new weapon on the Autobots, but the device blows up in his face after a few scattered shots.

Autobot reinforcements arrive, and the Decepticons flee without their usual promises for revenge. It is revealed that Ironhide had made adjustments to the ruby back at Autobot HQ, which caused the device to explode. The Autobots head for home, victorious.

==Featured characters==
{{featuredcharacters
|c1=
*[[Ironhide (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Ironhide]] (9)
*[[Ratchet (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Ratchet]] (10)
*[[Optimus Prime (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Optimus Prime]] (12)
*[[Wheeljack (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Wheeljack]] (13)
*[[Bumblebee (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Bumblebee]] (14)
*[[Hoist (G1)|Hoist]] (18)
*[[Inferno (G1)|Inferno]] (19)
*[[Grapple (G1)|Grapple]] (20)
*[[Blaster (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Blaster]] (21)
*[[Warpath (G1)|Warpath]] (22)
*[[Tracks (G1)|Tracks]] (23)
*[[Hound (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Hound]] (24)
*[[Bluestreak (G1)|Bluestreak]] (25)
*[[Sideswipe (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Sideswipe]] (26)
*[[Jazz (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Jazz]] (27)
*[[Windcharger (G1)|Windcharger]] (28)
*[[Mirage (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Mirage]] (29)
*[[Trailbreaker (G1)|Trailbreaker]] (30)
*[[Prowl (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Prowl]] (31)
*[[Huffer (G1)|Huffer]] (32)

|c2=
*[[Megatron (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Megatron]] (1)
*[[Wildrider (G1)|Wildrider]] (2)
*[[Dead End (G1)|Dead End]] (3)
*[[Breakdown (G1)|Breakdown]] (4)
*[[Motormaster (G1)|Motormaster]] (5)
*[[Drag Strip (G1)|Drag Strip]] (6)
*[[Starscream (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Starscream]] (7)
*[[Soundwave (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Soundwave]] (8)
*[[Laserbeak (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Laserbeak]] (33)
*[[Constructicon (G1)|Constructicons]]
*[[Scavenger (G1)|Scavenger]] (34)
*[[Mixmaster (G1)|Mixmaster]] (35)
*[[Hook (G1)|Hook]] (36)
*[[Scrapper (G1)|Scrapper]] (37)
*[[Long Haul (G1)|Long Haul]] (38)
*[[Menasor (G1)|Menasor]] (39)

|c3=
*[[Spike Witwicky (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Spike Witwicky]] (11)
*Dr. [[Rickel]] (15)
*US Army troops (16)
*Museum guards (17)
}}

==Quotes==
"A near miss deserves a couple o' near-missiles!"
:—'''Inferno'''

"I'll probably hate myself in the morning, but..."
:—'''Inferno''' before he douses the flames on the Stunticon Breakdown

"Well, look who's here! The old King of the Road! When I'm finished with ya, you'll be King of the Junkyard!"
:—'''Motormaster''' taunting Optimus Prime into a game of chicken

''[The Autobots are towing the defeated Stunticons to Autobot Headquarters]'' 
'''Wheeljack''': Here they come. 
'''Ratchet''': I won't bother asking who won. 
'''Breakdown''': ''(taking note of the Autobots looking at them)'' They're gawking at us! How mortifrying! 
'''Dead End''': The word, Breakdown, is mortiFYing. And my sentiment exactly. 
'''Motormaster''': I'm in no mood for your big words, Dead End. 
'''Ironhide''': For you, motormouth, this '''IS''' a dead end.
:—Motormaster complains about Dead End's SAT-level vocabulary

"Man, Optimus. You're a dead ringer for Motormaster." 
"Did you have to say ''dead'' ringer, Spike?"
:—'''Spike Witwicky'''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s vocabulary causes '''Optimus Prime''' to wince.

[[File:Masquerade as i preducted.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1]]
"Everybody out on ''bad'' behavior!"
:—'''Breakdown''' after freeing himself and taking out Inferno, Grapple, and Hoist.

"Imagine my turning that ray on the Autobots' headquarters. Perhaps when it's gone, someone will put up a memorial parking lot. Mwahaha!"
:—'''Megatron'''

"Machine appears unstable. Suggest abandoning it." 
"Suggestion noted—and ignored!"
:—'''Soundwave''' warns '''Megatron''', for all the good it does.

==Notes==
===Continuity notes===
[[File:Masquerade Jazz camouflage paint.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1]]
[[File:Soundwave fly.jpg|upright=1.1|thumb|Huh? Tape-bot cannot fly!]]
*It's never explained just how the Autobots disguise themselves. Sideswipe says something about camouflage paint and the Autobots are transformed, details and all, into the Stunticons. It's apparently some high-tech stuff, because it even lets Optimus totally change his transformation scheme. And it just turns right off once Optimus decides the jig is up.
*Gadgets and powers:
**Wildrider shows his...well...amazing maneuverability by doing a sharp turn to avoid Inferno, Grapple & Hoist and dodging a blast from Inferno. Well, he is a lunatic after all.
**Breakdown uses his unique engine to cause vibratory pulses to disrupt his bars and break free. He later uses his concussion rifle with similar technique to help other Stunticons get out.
**Soundwave informs us that Menasor has "special powers"... which seem to consist of a couple of under-arm mounted guns.
**Sideswipe and Mirage both fire their shoulder missiles, which the writers and animators usually seem to forget about.
**Soundwave can fly in his tape deck mode! When the Decepticons retreat, he transforms and then flies off behind Starscream. It is tempting to assume that the animators took a script direction like "the Decepticons transform and fly off in retreat" a bit too literally.
**Mirage can project a hologram of Menasor's face. This runs contrary to his usual schtick, which is invisibility. His original bio described him as being able to create "the illusion of a different appearance" for up to six minutes, but this is the only time it pops up in the cartoon (presumably because holograms were Hound's gimmick... though per the bio, Hound's great power is to create ''maps'', and simple images on rare occasions.)
*Breakdown's leaky pump has been addressed as his weakness (along with his paranoia). This is also mentioned in his toy bio, his ''[[The Transformers Universe (Marvel)|Universe]]'' and ''[[Transformers: More than Meets the Eye|More than Meets the Eye]]'' profiles.
*Megatron explains his weapon-du-jour thusly: "The most destructive weapon known to Decepticon science...Utilizing that ruby's light, focused through those perfect lenses, it will fire the most destructive ray of all. More powerful than any laser, it will create a chain reaction in whatever it touches... producing instantaneous destruction." Based on the animation, this appears to be a long-winded way of saying "It blows up rocks."
*Hasn't Megatron learned his lesson about building [[Fire on the Mountain (episode)|giant superlasers that can't be moved]]? [[B.O.T. (episode)|Apparently not]]!
*Megatron's line "Suggestion noted...AND IGNORED!" when Soundwave warns him would be revisited during the ''[[Beast Wars: Transformers (cartoon)|Beast Wars]]'' episode "[[Nemesis Part 2]]" when his [[Megatron (BW)/Beast Wars cartoon continuity|namesake]] utters those exact sentiments to [[Dinobot II]] on board the ''[[Nemesis (G1)|Nemesis]]''.
*Two scenes deleted from this episode feature the individual Stunticons talking with each other ''while'' combined as Menasor, only for Menasor himself to then silence all of his components, because their chatter is confusing him! Even without this dialogue, the finished episode portrays Menasor as almost adorably dumb and easily bamboozled - utterly baffled, for example, when Prime accuses him of being an imposter.
*This episode marks the final appearances of [[Inferno (G1)|Inferno]], [[Tracks (G1)|Tracks]], [[Trailbreaker (G1)|Trailbreaker]], and [[Sideswipe (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Sideswipe]] in the American version of the original ''Transformers'' cartoon.

===Real-life references===
*''[[Star Wars (franchise)|Star Wars]]'' sound effects:
**''[[Millennium Falcon]]'' engine roar as Laserbeak flies over the faux Stunticons.
**A lengthy sequence of borrowed effects follows as Laserbeak flies onwards - sounds include the ''Falcon'' engine burst, a [[TIE Fighter]]'s targeting computer, [[Death Star]] superlaser, and ''Falcon'' engine whine. As he returns to Soundwave, he gets another ''Falcon'' engine burst.
**''Falcon'' engine and [[X-wing Fighter|X-Wing]] diving whine as Menasor flies away from Autobot Headquarters.
**X-Wing and TIE Fighter roar as the Constructicons fly off... and again as Menasor flies off... and again as Starscream and Soundwave fly off.
**A variety of [[lightsaber]] noises as Megatron fires his super not-a-laser weapon.

===Animation and technical errors===
*Coloring errors:
**As Motormaster hands out assignments, Drag Strip has a random rectangle drawn in the middle of his visor, and Dead End's face is miscolored - his mouthplate is light gray instead of yellow, and his visor is red instead of purple.
**As Optimus gets his idea after watching the broadcast, the triangles on his waist are gray instead of yellow.
**As Laserbeak returns to Soundwave, Soundwave is missing his Decepticon insignia, as well as the gold stripes around his cassette door (which is drawn too small as well). He also doesn't move his mouthplate when he speaks.
**As "Motormaster" (Optimus) drives up to Megatron, his door is colored purple like his windows (and his window rims are colored purple too.) A shot later, it's back to black, but the ''next'' shot (Starscream asking about his voice) shows his grille as black instead of gray. The same thing happens as the real Motormaster busts out of the Autobot cell.
**Just after dismissing the Constructicons, Megatron's face is white.
**"And the Autobots are totally unaware of its existence" - "Breakdown" is colored as Sideswipe. (Of course, he IS Sideswipe, but should be... oh, you get the point.)
**As "Motormaster" (Optimus) asks about the weapon, Megatron's forehead colors are reversed (black forehead with gray triangles).
**As "Motormaster" (Optimus) says, "Too many head-on collisions!", his headlights are black instead of white.
**"Motormaster"'s black grille returns again as Megatron explains the weapon, recurring in numerous shots.
**Soundwave's cheekguards and eject button are both blue instead of white as Starscream mocks Megatron.
**Soundwave's missing the gold rim around his tape door as he and Starscream move toward the impostor Stunticons.
**"No, he's the imposter!" - "Drag Strip" is missing his Decepticon symbol (and possibly some striping, depending on which color model you trust.)
**"There's one absolute test, 'Stunticons'" - Dead End's tires are white; Soundwave's cheekguards are blue instead of white again. The same error repeats when Starscream calls out for Menasor to destroy the Autobots.[[File:Masquerade Megatron manning gun.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1]]
**When Megatron first grabs the laser, he's colored in reverse (light gray body with a dark gray face).
**Drag Strip is white instead of yellow as Menasor swings his sword. When Menasor hits the fake with the sword, Drag Strip is attached backwards, with his wheels pointing outward.
**When "Motormaster" reverts to Optimus Prime, his headlights aren't colored white and he's missing the horizontal lines on the crest of his helmet.
**"No need for the disguises anymore" - Prime's face is a darker gray than his mouthplate in most of this shot; they should be the same tone. For a second, the faceplate darkens then lightens again.
**When the Autobots begin firing on Menasor, his face is entirely black.
**Just before Megatron fires the laser, Windcharger is miscoloured in green and gray (with yellow stripes on his arms, like Hound).
**As he stares at the destroyed weapon, Sideswipe's fist is white instead of black.
*When Motormaster says "Breakdown and Wildrider", he points to each robot as he says the other's name.
*The Stunticons land on a beach and each of them kicks up sand when they land. A few moments later, they transform and drive off, and no sand is disturbed by their tires.
*The Stunticons clearly never had detailed transformation models worked out:
**Every time the four cars transform to [[alternate mode|vehicle mode]], they more or less just morph into their Earth forms. When they transform back to [[robot mode]], all the robot bits just slide out from under their car modes, which disappear into their backs.
**Motormaster's transformation is similarly wonky; his arms are just kind of absorbed lengthwise into his torso, which then morphs into his trailer - rather than the arms ''becoming'' the trailer's roof, as they should. Every time he transforms, his trailer/torso rather blatantly changes color from light to dark gray (or vice versa.)
*Ventriloquist bots:
**Ratchet's voice actor in this episode is [[Wally Burr]], not the usual [[Don Messick]], and it shows. Burr uses the same generic deep voice he used for Thundercracker in "[[War Dawn (episode)|War Dawn]]" and Jazz in "[[Kremzeek!]]".
**"Yeah, but I don't have to like it" - Ironhide's mouth doesn't move for the first part of this line.
**Menasor's mouth doesn't move as he says his own name.
**As he flies off to "Destroy fake Stunticons", Menasor's mouth - again - doesn't move.
**As Bumblebee says, "Great Cybertron," Spike is mouthing the words.
**The Autobot Menasor gets knocked to the ground, but one who delivers "The generator..." line in Optimus' voice is the one standing up (with the sky behind him).
*Wildrider is missing his transformation sound effect as he approaches the optics shop; Breakdown does get one a second later.
*The experimental generator is inordinately tiny when it's sitting on the flatbed truck.
*Motormaster somehow transforms into (a ''tiny'') truck mode while still inside the museum. Also, a moment later as he drives away, he has a dark gray stripe on his trailer that shouldn't be there.
*After Inferno extinguishes Breakdown's burning fuel pump, the Stunticon's rear spoiler is missing. It returns in the next shot.
*While firing on Drag Strip, Warpath is shown driving forward while his treads are stationary.
*As Tracks goes into flight mode, the sandy beach suddenly has squares on it for one shot (as if it were pavement).
*As Motormaster comes into view before the crash with Prime, his bumper extends to the sides of his trailer rather than the sides of his cab.
*When rushing to inspect the aftermath of Optimus and Motormaster's game of chicken, Spike exclaims "I can't see anythi-". Before he can spit out "ng," Blaster cuts him off saying "I'm not getting any radio response."
*After the crash, just before Optimus transforms into robot mode, his cab's grille is missing the vertical line in the middle. His subsequent transformation looks very crude, especially around his legs.
*Blaster contacts the other Autobots and his chest lights up, but during Warpath's report it's no longer flashing.
[[File:G1 cartoon Motormaster slagged.JPG|thumb|upright=1.1]]
*As often happens, the animators mistake Motormaster's panel lines for the start of a second trailer. It's particularly visible in the last shot of his wrecked form after his collision with Prime.
*Optimus strokes his faceplate during the discussion of the Stunticons' plans, and his finger disappears for a moment.
*The broadcast of the doctor's announcement shows a building with the word "OPTCS" behind him. Earlier it was correctly shown as "REPUBLIC ''OPTICS'' COMPANY".
*The doctor's bow tie has grown to twice the size when he appears on TV.
*Jazz's waist is huge as he stands outside the paint chamber.
*When approaching the crater, Jazz appears to be driving above and not under rocks, and as Windcharger breaks formation to test their disguises, he clips into the cliff edge above them. In the same shot, "Wildrider"'s windows are the same gray as his body, rather than red.
[[File:Huge Ironhide and Small Ratchet.jpg|upright=1.1|thumb|Introducing Ultra class Ironhide and Scout class Ratchet.]]
*As a result of animation cels being stacked incorrectly, Ratchet appears teeny-tiny in the front of a crowd shot, making Ironhide look colossal by comparison. The tiny Ratchet should, of course, be (barely visible) at the ''back'' of the crowd.
[[File:Masquerade-menasor-modelchange.jpg|thumb|upright=1.66|"Model make no sense! Menasor confused."]]
*Menasor's limbs:
**When the Stunticons combine at Autobot Headquarters, Motormaster transforms to robot mode... and then the other Stunticons just clip onto him, rather than forming additional new limbs. Of course, it kinda sorta fits with the screwed-up way Menasor is often drawn, but this version has ''Motormaster's feet''.
**During his escape, Menasor constantly changes back and forth between having Dead End and Drag Strip attached ''to'' his arms, and having them ''as'' his arms. (It should be the latter.)
**As Menasor lands at the crater, two successive shots show him from exactly the same angle. In the first, his Drag Strip arm is drawn as the "clip-onto-Motormaster" model... and in the very next shot, it's drawn as the "Drag Strip forms the whole arm" model.
*When Menasor takes off to warn Megatron, he has a purple [[Autobot]] insignia.
*Menasor's under-arm lasers only appear when the plot calls for them - when he fires them in Autobot Headquarters, and again when he fires them on the fake Menasor. The first time, they're dark gray; the second time, they're white.
*Mirage's Autobot symbol is missing as he transforms.
*The weapon's beam comes from ''beside'' the barrel, rather than coming out of it.

===Continuity errors===
[[File:G1 Masquerade Warpath crushes DeadEnd.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|Bad day for Dead End...as usual]]
[[File:Masquerade BreakdownWildriderdefeated.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|It seems someone got his driver's license revocated...again]]
*During their construction in "[[The Key to Vector Sigma, Part 1]]", Megatron notes that he has outfitted the Stunticons with "automatic force fields that make their hulls impenetrable", which accounts for how well they did in battle. Yet in this episode they are easily taken down by second string Autobots, including non-fighters such as Grapple and Hoist. Warpath even manages to simply punch right through Dead End! Optimus Prime only suffers a slight headache after colliding with Motormaster, who is wrecked! Clearly they have been skimping on their scheduled maintenance.
*Motormaster's [[transformation scheme]] greatly differs from that of Optimus Prime - yet after donning his Motormaster disguise, Optimus transforms exactly like Motormaster does. (However bizarre this seems, it was clearly scripted - so we also count it as a possible technology, under Continuity Notes above.)
*The Stunticons are all badly beaten up after their capture. But when they escape, they're suddenly in perfect shape - able to drive, transform, combine and fight with no problems.
*"The weapon [is] but minutes from completion. And then..." "And then... what?" A fine question, indeed! Megatron's crazy laser thing is stuck down in the bottom of a crater, with no obvious way to move about or blow up anything that doesn't come popping down into the crater.
*On the subject of having "special powers," why doesn't Soundwave just use his mind-reading abilities - you know, the ones mentioned on his tech specs and demonstrated in [[Roll for It]] and [[War of the Dinobots]] - to establish which Menasor is the real one?
*The Autobots account for their ability to merge (Windcharger's magnetic field) and for the fake Menasor's face (Mirage's hologram) but where do they get working ''hands'' for their fake Menasor?

===Sci-Fi Channel edits===
*In the mid-1990s, many G1 episodes were aired on the [[Cartoon Quest|SciFi]] [[Animation Station|Channel]]. To allow expanded advertising time, they were edited down, cutting "unnecessary" dialog and scenes out. Some of the "unnecessary" dialog cut from this episode included parts of Grapple and Inferno's lines, resulting in them collectively uttering "Time to add firobably hate myself in the morning, but..."

===Trivia===
[[File:Dragstripcartoon.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|"Dead End and Drag Strip, your job is to upsell."]]
*In full sell-my-toy mode, Motormaster gives a quick introdump at the episode's start, naming off his troops, and then ''again'' a moment later as he hands out assignments.
*In case you missed it, the Autobots chosen to impersonate the Stunticons are based specifically on [[alternate mode]]s. Given this attention to detail, it's not infeasible to think that the plot of this episode may have originally called for the Autobots to simply have their alternate modes painted, since they consistently refrain from transforming once in the Decepticon camp:
**Although the specific models don't line up, Prime and Motormaster both transform into semi trucks
**Jazz and Dead End are both Porsches
**Sideswipe and Breakdown are both Lamborghinis
**Mirage and Drag Strip are both Formula 1 race cars (albeit very different-looking ones)
**And.... weeeeell, Windcharger's a Pontiac Firebird and Wildrider's a Ferrari, but the plot demanded Windcharger for his magnetic abilities. This would also explain why a different device, a projector of some sort, is used to disguise him rather than the camouflage paint.
*Whether by inspiration or by parallel reasoning, several toy redecos have followed the pattern of this episode:
**''[[Transformers: Classics|Classics]]'' [[:File:ClassicsLOCMenasor.jpg|Menasor]] is a [[redeco]] from ''[[Legends Class (2005)|Legends of Cybertron]]'' [[:File:LOC CybertronPrime.jpg|Optimus Prime]], [[Transformers: Generations#Asian market exclusives .28.22GDO.22.29|GDO]] [[:File:GenerationsMotorbreathToy.jpg|Motorbreath]] is a retool of ''[[Reveal the Shield]]'' [[:File:TF2010-toy Legends Optimus Prime.jpg|Optimus Prime]] and ''Animated'' Motor Master is a retool of ''Animated'' Optimus Prime. ''[[Transformers: Generations#Combiner Wars .282015-.29|Combiner Wars]]'' Voyager class [[:File:GenerationsVoyOP.jpg|Optimus Prime]] also got [[:File:Generations-CW Voyager Motormaster stock.jpg|a Motormaster retool]].
**''[[Transformers: Universe (2008 toyline)|Universe]]'' [[:File:Universe2008 DragStrip.jpg|Drag Strip]] is made from ''Classics'' [[:File:Classics Mirage toy.jpg|Mirage]]. ''Combiner Wars'' [[:File:CWDlxMirage.jpg|Mirage]] is also a [[:File:Generationstoy-Dragstrip.jpg|Dragstrip]] retool.
**At one point there was intended to be a ''[[Transformers: Alternators|Binaltech]]'' [[Wildrider (G1)#Notes|Wildrider]] created from ''[[Transformers: Alternators|Alternators]]'' [[:File:AltWindcharger toy.jpg|Windcharger]] (or rather, his ''Binaltech'' [[:File:Binaltech Overdrive Toy.jpg|counterpart]]), but that never eventuated.
**[[Don Figueroa]] used ''Universe'' [[:File:Universe2008 SideSwipe toy.jpg|Sideswipe]] as a basis for the [[2005 IDW continuity]] version of Breakdown, and the toy's mold was used for both the ''[[Transformers Timelines (toyline)|Timelines]]'' [[BotCon 2010]] [[:File:BreakdownBotcon.JPG|''Generation 2''-esque Breakdown]] toy and the ''Timelines'' [[Transformers Collectors' Club|TFCC:]] [[Transformers Figure Subscription Service|TFSS]] [[:File:TFSS Preview Breakdown.jpg|Generation 1-esque Breakdown]] toys! Furthermore, ''Animated'' Breakdown uses the same mold as ''Animated'' Sideswipe (the Rodimus Minor mold).
**''[[Titanium Series]]'' [[:File:ROTF-toy DeadEndTitanium.jpg|live-action movie Dead End]] reuses [[:File:Movie TitaniumRM Jazz.jpg|live-action movie Jazz]]'s mold, while the ''Timelines'' toy of an [[:File:Animated Dead End Toy.JPG|''Animated''-esque Dead End]] is a redeco of ''[[Transformers Animated (toyline)|Animated]]'' [[:File:Ani-toy Jazz Deluxe.jpg|Jazz]].
** By 2017, [[Optimus Prime (G1)/Generations toys#Combiner Wars|Optimus Prime]], [[Mirage (G1)/toys#Combiner Wars|Mirage]] and [[Jazz (G1)/toys#Power of the Primes|Jazz]] had all received ''Combiner Wars'' style toy releases.
*Optimus's "And then... what?" is apparently a rare instance of hearing a character's thoughts, since he says it in his own voice while sitting right next to Megatron, still in his Motormaster disguise.
*If any one episode served to cement Megatron's poor reputation among certain (more snarky) elements of the fandom, this is surely it. He comes up with a madcap scheme to build a useless weapon, doesn't listen to any of his troops' rather intelligent suggestions, insults his underlings for no reason, misses the obvious, toys with his enemies, pouts when he loses, and flies off with nothing in the end.
*Man, Starscream saw through the whole charade in about two seconds, didn't he?

===Foreign localization===
'''French'''
:*''Title:'' "'''Mascarade'''" ("Masquerade")
:*''Original airdate:'' ?
::*All the logo transitions were cut. It is unknown if it was that way for the original broadcast or if the episode was chopped for the DVD release.
::*A new, slight voice deformation is added, only on Megatron's voice. It will stay for next episode.
::*When Spike sees Optimus Prime disguised, he says "Man, Optimus. If I hadn't see you transform, I would be scared", and Optimus Prime answers "Anyway, you're scared just looking at yourself in the mirror". Excuse me, what ??
::*The Autobots disguised as Stunticons keep the voice actors of the Autobots. Among them, [[Francis Lax]] talks in his joined hands to create a "filter" and disguise his voice to be Motormaster.
::*Like in ''[[Starscream's Brigade#Foreign localization|Starscream's Brigade]]'', Francis Lax makes a reference to his own creations. When Optimus Prime is disguised as Motormaster, he calls Megatron "chef vénéré" ("revered boss"). In the French dubbing of ''{{w|Starsky & Hutch}}'', Lax dubbed Hutch, and that nickname was always used by the two protagonists for Captain Dobey.
::*For some reason, Megatron's line "There's one absolute test, Stunticons. Merge and become Menasor!" is replaced by "There's one thing the Decepticons can't stand, and that's when someone dares to mess with them. And you will understand it!". Consequently, it makes the scene look like the Autobots form Menasor as a last chance rather than to obey Megatron.
::*As a consequence, Starscream's line "Well, we are waiting" is dubbed by "Are we really going to get angry for so little?", and what's more with [[François Leccia]]'s voice just for that line.
::*Optimus Prime's final line "Let's roll out!" is replaced by "And now...", but the phrase is not finished.
::*Name-dodging:
:::*Motormaster does not say the names of the Stunticons, they just salute in silence.
:::*When making the groups, Motormaster still does not name them. Instead, he says "That's where we part ways as planned. I hope that everyone remembers their mission. Each of you has to seize a component".
:::*Motormaster is simply called "the Stunticon" several times.
:::*Optimus Prime's line "Blaster, contact the others" becomes "Now, contact the others". During that report, the Autobots don't say their names or those of the Stunticons they got.
:::*Ratchet does not explain who is who after disguising the Autobots. Instead, he tells Optimus "Admit that one might have doubts seeing such perfection. I hope you guys can hold on until the end", and Mirage adds "Never forget that Mirage exists".
::*Missing lines:
:::*The soldier's line "Careful men, we don't even want to scratch that experimental generator!" is missing.
:::*The first museum guard does not say anything. Only the second one talks when he hears the truck.
:::*Breakdown and Wildrider do not talk when driving to the Autobots. However, Wildrider's line "I think we are going to have a little fun" is present.
:::*Wildrider's line "Don't worry Breakdown, help is on the way!" is absent.
:::*Dead End and Drag Strip stay silent while driving on the beach. However, Dead End says "Well, that seems interesting!" but Drag Strip does not answer and starts shooting.
:::*Warpath does not say anything during the battle.
:::*Wildrider's line "Guess it's all up to me now" is missing.
:::*Optimus Prime's does not say anything while waiting for Motormaster. The latter also stays silent while arriving, but finally says "The king of the road will soon be good for scrap, you'll see!". Then the two battle in silence.
:::*When the Autobots tow the Stunticons to their base, most of the dialogue is absent. The only line is Breakdown saying "This kind of situation is so annoying!".
:::*The Autobots do not say anything during ''one minute and twenty seconds'', while driving to the Decepticon base, being escorted by Laserbeak and observing the Constructicons.
:::*Soundwave's line "Laserbeak, return!" is missing. Predictable, since most of the time, Laserbeak's name is one of the most dodged in the dub.
:::*The conversation between the disguised Autobots at the top of the pit is missing, as well as the ones during the descent.
:::*While escaping, the Stunticons all say their respective lines, except Breakdown for some reason.
:::*The conversation between the Autobots trying to be a good Menasor is replaced by Francis Lax, who dubs the fake Menasor, making weird effort noises.
:::*Optimus Prime's line "Move!" is missing.

'''German'''
:*''Title (Generation 2 dub):'' "'''Perfekte Tarnung'''" ("Perfect Disguise")
:*''Original airdate:'' [[September 17]], [[1994]]

'''Italian'''
:*''Title (dub 1):'' "'''I falsi Stunticons'''" ("The Fake Stunticons")
:*''Original airdate:'' ?
::*Some lines are badly translated, making little sense in the context:
:::*Ratchet's «I don't bother asking who won?» becomes: «I don't want to be boring but I don't know who won».
:::*Sideswipe's «I hope this camouflage paint comes off, Jazz» becomes: «I hope this disguise works, Jazz», and then Jazz's «Aww, quit griping, you're still the same Sideswipe inside, right?» becomes: «That's extraordinary! You're still the same Sideswipe, right?».
:::*Spike's «But it looks like you didn't need our help!» becomes: «You mean you didn't need our help?».
:*''Title (dub 2):'' "'''Sotto copertura'''" ("Undercover")
:*''Original airdate:'' ?

'''Japanese'''
:*''Title:'' "'''Masquerade'''" (マスカレード)
:*''Original airdate:'' [[September 19]], [[1986]]

'''Mandarin'''
:*''Title:'' "'''Shēn Rù Hǔ Xué '''" (深入虎穴, "Deep in the Decepticon's Lair")
:*''Original airdate:'' ?

'''Brazilian Portuguese'''
:*''Title:'' "'''A Super Missão'''" ("The Super Mission")
:*''Original airdate:'' ?

'''Russian'''
:*''Title:'' "'''Maskarad'''" (Маскарад, "Masquerade")
:*''Original airdate:'' ?

===Toys inspired by this episode===
[[File:CWDlxMirage.jpg|upright=1.55|thumb]]
*'''[[Combiner Wars (toyline)|''Combiner Wars'']] Voyager Class Optimus Prime''' (Hasbro, 2015)
*'''[[Combiner Wars (toyline)|''Combiner Wars'']] Deluxe Class Mirage''' (Hasbro, 2015)

:Both ''Combiner Wars'' Optimus Prime and Mirage are the only Autobots that are based on their pre-Stunticon disguises as they share the same transformation schemes with their retool/pretools Motormaster and Drag Strip.

{{-}}

==Home video releases==
{{homevidnote}}
;VHS
[[File:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 1990 — ''Transformers'' — Cosmic Rust / Masquerade ([[Tempo Video]])
;{{w|LaserDisc}}
[[File:Flag of Japan.png|20px|Japan]] 1995 — ''Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers'' — Megatron Set ([[TakaraTomy|Takara]]) — Japanese audio only. 
[[File:Flag of Japan.png|20px|Japan]] 1999 — ''The Transformers'' — Decepticon Edition ([[Geneon Universal Entertainment|Pioneer LDC]]) — Japanese audio only.
;DVD
[[File:Flag of Japan.png|20px|Japan]] 2001 — ''The Transformers'' — DVD Box 2 (Pioneer LDC) — Japanese audio only. 
[[File:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 2003 — ''The Original Transformers'' — Season 2 Part 2 ([[The Original Transformers|Rhino Entertainment]]) 
[[File:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 2003 — ''The Original Transformers'' — Season 2 Part 2: Vol. 8 (Rhino Entertainment) 
[[File:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 2004 — ''Transformers'' — Season 2 Part 2 ([[Metrodome]]) 
[[File:Flag of Australia.png|20px|Australia]] 2004 — ''Transformers'' — Collection 3: Series 2.2 ([[Madman Entertainment]]) 
[[File:Flag of France.png|20px|France]] 2004 — ''Transformers'' — Volume 14 ([[Déclic Images]]) — European French audio only. 
[[File:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 2006 — ''Transformers'' — The Complete Generation One Collection (Metrodome) 
[[File:Flag of Australia.png|20px|Australia]] 2007 — ''The Transformers'' — Complete Collection (Madman Entertainment) 
[[File:Flag of Italy.png|20px|Italy]] 2009 — ''Transformers'' — Volume 06: Stagione Due Parte Quarta ([[Medianetwork Communication]]) — English and Italian audio. 
[[File:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 2009 — ''Transformers'' — Season Two: Part Two (Metrodome) 
[[File:Flag of Australia.png|20px|Australia]] 2009 — ''The Transformers'' — Complete Collection: Decepticon Edition (Madman Entertainment) 
[[File:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 2009 — ''The Transformers'' — The Complete Series: 25th Anniversary "Matrix of Leadership" Collection ([[Shout! Factory]]) 
[[File:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 2009 — ''The Transformers'' — Season Two, Volume Two: 25th Anniversary Edition (Shout! Factory) 
[[File:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 2011 — ''The Transformers'' — The Complete Original Series (Shout! Factory) 
[[File:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 2014 — ''The Transformers'' — Season Two, Volume Two: 30th Anniversary Edition (Shout! Factory) 
[[File:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 2014 — ''Transformers'' — The Classic Animated Series (Metrodome)

==External links==
*[https://drive.google.com/open?id=18aM3T_RHrxrFIZEwiHm2bYxugAkqtCU6 Episode dialogue script with deleted lines]
*[https://drive.google.com/file/d/1WppY1AzZ-hp73GPXyOWxrkjQZouT3bQk/view?usp=drive_link Episode model sheets]

[[Category:The Transformers episodes]]
[[Category:Generation 2 episodes]]

Masquerade

2024-11-24T17:14:09Z

MartinOdoni: /* Continuity errors */

{{episode
|image=Masquerade Menasors.JPG
|caption=Strangely, nobody suggested [[A Prime Problem|a race]] to determine who the real Stunticons were.
|series=G1toon
|ep=64
|series2=SRLFtoon
|ep2=61
|prev2=War Dawn (episode)
|next2=Fire in the Sky
|series3=''[[Transformers: Generation 2 (cartoon)|The Transformers: Generation 2]]''
|ep3=21
|prev3=The Revenge of Bruticus
|next3=Ghost in the Machine (G1)
|title="Masquerade"
|season=2
|season ep=48
|written by=[[Donald F. Glut]]
|production code=700-63
|airdate=[[December 16]], 1985
|production company=[[Sunbow Productions]]
|animation studio=[[Toei Animation|Toei]]
|continuity=[[Generation 1 cartoon continuity]]
|video=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PcgFqw6VSz4
|videosite=YouTube
}}

'''After defeating the Stunticons, five of the Autobots pose as the crazed combiners to learn of Megatron's newest plan.'''

==Synopsis==
[[File:Masquerade prime vs mmaster.jpg‎|left|thumb|Shortly after this, Menasor threw up.]]
[[Megatron (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Megatron]] sends the [[Stunticon (G1)|Stunticons]] on a mission to find components for an unrevealed purpose, including the world's largest, most perfect ruby. While searching for their components, the actions of the Stunticons catch the attention of the [[Autobot]]s, who track their movements and their crimes. Breakdown and Wildrider get the first component: laser lenses from a scientist. Dead End and Drag Strip get the second component: an experimental generator from the Army. Motormaster gets the last one: a perfect ruby from a museum.

The Autobots split into teams and manage to be extremely effective at capturing the Stunticons in the middle of their capers. [[Grapple (G1)|Grapple]], [[Hoist (G1)|Hoist]], and [[Inferno (G1)|Inferno]] take on [[Breakdown (G1)|Breakdown]] and [[Wildrider (G1)|Wildrider]]. [[Warpath (G1)|Warpath]] and [[Tracks (G1)|Tracks]] take on [[Dead End (G1)|Dead End]] and [[Drag Strip (G1)|Drag Strip]]. Finally, [[Optimus Prime (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Optimus Prime]], [[Bumblebee (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Bumblebee]], [[Blaster (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Blaster]], and [[Spike Witwicky (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Spike Witwicky]] go for [[Motormaster (G1)|Motormaster]], who challenges the [[Prime (rank)|Autobot leader]] to a game of “chicken” and ends up in a head-on collision. Spike, Bumblebee, and Blaster peer through the dust to see who survived, and it turns out that Optimus is the clear victor with merely a minor headache, while Motormaster lies in a wreck.

[[File:Masquerade Wheeljack Optimaster.jpg|upright=1.1|thumb|No Motormaster disguise is complete without a hunk of Big League Chew.]]

Although all five Stunticons have been captured, the Autobots still don't know what their plans were for the components they stole for Megatron. [[Wheeljack (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Wheeljack]] guesses that the parts are going to be made into a weapon. (Nooo, really?) Optimus hatches a scheme to disguise Autobots using [[camouflage paint]] and penetrate the Decepticon camp disguised as Stunticons: Optimus Prime as Motormaster, [[Jazz (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Jazz]] as Dead End, [[Sideswipe (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Sideswipe]] as Breakdown, [[Mirage (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Mirage]] as Drag Strip, and [[Windcharger (G1)|Windcharger]] as Wildrider.

[[File:Sideswipe FakeBreakdown.jpg|left|upright=1.1|thumb|Sideswipe? I, Breakdown, have never heard of such a being!]]

The disguised Autobots infiltrate the Decepticons, although their arrival causes [[Starscream (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|some]] raised eyebrows because they are driving too "safely". They deliver the stolen components to Megatron without being detected.

Back at [[Ark (G1)|Autobot Headquarters]], the Stunticons manage to shimmy and shake their way out of their cells, merge into [[Menasor (G1)|Menasor]] and overcome their Autobot captors. They then head back to the Decepticon base.

[[File:Masquerade Megatron manning gun.jpg|upright=1.1|thumb|We've been here before.]]

The Constructicons complete Megatron's new weapon, and he reveals its power, but just then Menasor arrives and declares the Autobots as infiltrators. Using Windcharger's magnetic field ability and Mirage's illusion power, the Autobots merge into their own Menasor. The two giants battle it out, and the Autobots are overcome. Megatron trains the new weapon on the Autobots, but the device blows up in his face after a few scattered shots.

Autobot reinforcements arrive, and the Decepticons flee without their usual promises for revenge. It is revealed that Ironhide had made adjustments to the ruby back at Autobot HQ, which caused the device to explode. The Autobots head for home, victorious.

==Featured characters==
{{featuredcharacters
|c1=
*[[Ironhide (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Ironhide]] (9)
*[[Ratchet (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Ratchet]] (10)
*[[Optimus Prime (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Optimus Prime]] (12)
*[[Wheeljack (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Wheeljack]] (13)
*[[Bumblebee (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Bumblebee]] (14)
*[[Hoist (G1)|Hoist]] (18)
*[[Inferno (G1)|Inferno]] (19)
*[[Grapple (G1)|Grapple]] (20)
*[[Blaster (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Blaster]] (21)
*[[Warpath (G1)|Warpath]] (22)
*[[Tracks (G1)|Tracks]] (23)
*[[Hound (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Hound]] (24)
*[[Bluestreak (G1)|Bluestreak]] (25)
*[[Sideswipe (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Sideswipe]] (26)
*[[Jazz (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Jazz]] (27)
*[[Windcharger (G1)|Windcharger]] (28)
*[[Mirage (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Mirage]] (29)
*[[Trailbreaker (G1)|Trailbreaker]] (30)
*[[Prowl (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Prowl]] (31)
*[[Huffer (G1)|Huffer]] (32)

|c2=
*[[Megatron (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Megatron]] (1)
*[[Wildrider (G1)|Wildrider]] (2)
*[[Dead End (G1)|Dead End]] (3)
*[[Breakdown (G1)|Breakdown]] (4)
*[[Motormaster (G1)|Motormaster]] (5)
*[[Drag Strip (G1)|Drag Strip]] (6)
*[[Starscream (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Starscream]] (7)
*[[Soundwave (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Soundwave]] (8)
*[[Laserbeak (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Laserbeak]] (33)
*[[Constructicon (G1)|Constructicons]]
*[[Scavenger (G1)|Scavenger]] (34)
*[[Mixmaster (G1)|Mixmaster]] (35)
*[[Hook (G1)|Hook]] (36)
*[[Scrapper (G1)|Scrapper]] (37)
*[[Long Haul (G1)|Long Haul]] (38)
*[[Menasor (G1)|Menasor]] (39)

|c3=
*[[Spike Witwicky (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Spike Witwicky]] (11)
*Dr. [[Rickel]] (15)
*US Army troops (16)
*Museum guards (17)
}}

==Quotes==
"A near miss deserves a couple o' near-missiles!"
:—'''Inferno'''

"I'll probably hate myself in the morning, but..."
:—'''Inferno''' before he douses the flames on the Stunticon Breakdown

"Well, look who's here! The old King of the Road! When I'm finished with ya, you'll be King of the Junkyard!"
:—'''Motormaster''' taunting Optimus Prime into a game of chicken

''[The Autobots are towing the defeated Stunticons to Autobot Headquarters]'' 
'''Wheeljack''': Here they come. 
'''Ratchet''': I won't bother asking who won. 
'''Breakdown''': ''(taking note of the Autobots looking at them)'' They're gawking at us! How mortifrying! 
'''Dead End''': The word, Breakdown, is mortiFYing. And my sentiment exactly. 
'''Motormaster''': I'm in no mood for your big words, Dead End. 
'''Ironhide''': For you, motormouth, this '''IS''' a dead end.
:—Motormaster complains about Dead End's SAT-level vocabulary

"Man, Optimus. You're a dead ringer for Motormaster." 
"Did you have to say ''dead'' ringer, Spike?"
:—'''Spike Witwicky'''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s vocabulary causes '''Optimus Prime''' to wince.

[[File:Masquerade as i preducted.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1]]
"Everybody out on ''bad'' behavior!"
:—'''Breakdown''' after freeing himself and taking out Inferno, Grapple, and Hoist.

"Imagine my turning that ray on the Autobots' headquarters. Perhaps when it's gone, someone will put up a memorial parking lot. Mwahaha!"
:—'''Megatron'''

"Machine appears unstable. Suggest abandoning it." 
"Suggestion noted—and ignored!"
:—'''Soundwave''' warns '''Megatron''', for all the good it does.

==Notes==
===Continuity notes===
[[File:Masquerade Jazz camouflage paint.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1]]
[[File:Soundwave fly.jpg|upright=1.1|thumb|Huh? Tape-bot cannot fly!]]
*It's never explained just how the Autobots disguise themselves. Sideswipe says something about camouflage paint and the Autobots are transformed, details and all, into the Stunticons. It's apparently some high-tech stuff, because it even lets Optimus totally change his transformation scheme. And it just turns right off once Optimus decides the jig is up.
*Gadgets and powers:
**Wildrider shows his...well...amazing maneuverability by doing a sharp turn to avoid Inferno, Grapple & Hoist and dodging a blast from Inferno. Well, he is a lunatic after all.
**Breakdown uses his unique engine to cause vibratory pulses to disrupt his bars and break free. He later uses his concussion rifle with similar technique to help other Stunticons get out.
**Soundwave informs us that Menasor has "special powers"... which seem to consist of a couple of under-arm mounted guns.
**Sideswipe and Mirage both fire their shoulder missiles, which the writers and animators usually seem to forget about.
**Soundwave can fly in his tape deck mode! When the Decepticons retreat, he transforms and then flies off behind Starscream. It is tempting to assume that the animators took a script direction like "the Decepticons transform and fly off in retreat" a bit too literally.
**Mirage can project a hologram of Menasor's face. This runs contrary to his usual schtick, which is invisibility. His original bio described him as being able to create "the illusion of a different appearance" for up to six minutes, but this is the only time it pops up in the cartoon (presumably because holograms were Hound's gimmick... though per the bio, Hound's great power is to create ''maps'', and simple images on rare occasions.)
*Breakdown's leaky pump has been addressed as his weakness (along with his paranoia). This is also mentioned in his toy bio, his ''[[The Transformers Universe (Marvel)|Universe]]'' and ''[[Transformers: More than Meets the Eye|More than Meets the Eye]]'' profiles.
*Megatron explains his weapon-du-jour thusly: "The most destructive weapon known to Decepticon science...Utilizing that ruby's light, focused through those perfect lenses, it will fire the most destructive ray of all. More powerful than any laser, it will create a chain reaction in whatever it touches... producing instantaneous destruction." Based on the animation, this appears to be a long-winded way of saying "It blows up rocks."
*Hasn't Megatron learned his lesson about building [[Fire on the Mountain (episode)|giant superlasers that can't be moved]]? [[B.O.T. (episode)|Apparently not]]!
*Megatron's line "Suggestion noted...AND IGNORED!" when Soundwave warns him would be revisited during the ''[[Beast Wars: Transformers (cartoon)|Beast Wars]]'' episode "[[Nemesis Part 2]]" when his [[Megatron (BW)/Beast Wars cartoon continuity|namesake]] utters those exact sentiments to [[Dinobot II]] on board the ''[[Nemesis (G1)|Nemesis]]''.
*Two scenes deleted from this episode feature the individual Stunticons talking with each other ''while'' combined as Menasor, only for Menasor himself to then silence all of his components, because their chatter is confusing him! Even without this dialogue, the finished episode portrays Menasor as almost adorably dumb and easily bamboozled - utterly baffled, for example, when Prime accuses him of being an imposter.
*This episode marks the final appearances of [[Inferno (G1)|Inferno]], [[Tracks (G1)|Tracks]], [[Trailbreaker (G1)|Trailbreaker]], and [[Sideswipe (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Sideswipe]] in the American version of the original ''Transformers'' cartoon.

===Real-life references===
*''[[Star Wars (franchise)|Star Wars]]'' sound effects:
**''[[Millennium Falcon]]'' engine roar as Laserbeak flies over the faux Stunticons.
**A lengthy sequence of borrowed effects follows as Laserbeak flies onwards - sounds include the ''Falcon'' engine burst, a [[TIE Fighter]]'s targeting computer, [[Death Star]] superlaser, and ''Falcon'' engine whine. As he returns to Soundwave, he gets another ''Falcon'' engine burst.
**''Falcon'' engine and [[X-wing Fighter|X-Wing]] diving whine as Menasor flies away from Autobot Headquarters.
**X-Wing and TIE Fighter roar as the Constructicons fly off... and again as Menasor flies off... and again as Starscream and Soundwave fly off.
**A variety of [[lightsaber]] noises as Megatron fires his super not-a-laser weapon.

===Animation and technical errors===
*Coloring errors:
**As Motormaster hands out assignments, Drag Strip has a random rectangle drawn in the middle of his visor, and Dead End's face is miscolored - his mouthplate is light gray instead of yellow, and his visor is red instead of purple.
**As Optimus gets his idea after watching the broadcast, the triangles on his waist are gray instead of yellow.
**As Laserbeak returns to Soundwave, Soundwave is missing his Decepticon insignia, as well as the gold stripes around his cassette door (which is drawn too small as well). He also doesn't move his mouthplate when he speaks.
**As "Motormaster" (Optimus) drives up to Megatron, his door is colored purple like his windows (and his window rims are colored purple too.) A shot later, it's back to black, but the ''next'' shot (Starscream asking about his voice) shows his grille as black instead of gray. The same thing happens as the real Motormaster busts out of the Autobot cell.
**Just after dismissing the Constructicons, Megatron's face is white.
**"And the Autobots are totally unaware of its existence" - "Breakdown" is colored as Sideswipe. (Of course, he IS Sideswipe, but should be... oh, you get the point.)
**As "Motormaster" (Optimus) asks about the weapon, Megatron's forehead colors are reversed (black forehead with gray triangles).
**As "Motormaster" (Optimus) says, "Too many head-on collisions!", his headlights are black instead of white.
**"Motormaster"'s black grille returns again as Megatron explains the weapon, recurring in numerous shots.
**Soundwave's cheekguards and eject button are both blue instead of white as Starscream mocks Megatron.
**Soundwave's missing the gold rim around his tape door as he and Starscream move toward the impostor Stunticons.
**"No, he's the imposter!" - "Drag Strip" is missing his Decepticon symbol (and possibly some striping, depending on which color model you trust.)
**"There's one absolute test, 'Stunticons'" - Dead End's tires are white; Soundwave's cheekguards are blue instead of white again. The same error repeats when Starscream calls out for Menasor to destroy the Autobots.[[File:Masquerade Megatron manning gun.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1]]
**When Megatron first grabs the laser, he's colored in reverse (light gray body with a dark gray face).
**Drag Strip is white instead of yellow as Menasor swings his sword. When Menasor hits the fake with the sword, Drag Strip is attached backwards, with his wheels pointing outward.
**When "Motormaster" reverts to Optimus Prime, his headlights aren't colored white and he's missing the horizontal lines on the crest of his helmet.
**"No need for the disguises anymore" - Prime's face is a darker gray than his mouthplate in most of this shot; they should be the same tone. For a second, the faceplate darkens then lightens again.
**When the Autobots begin firing on Menasor, his face is entirely black.
**Just before Megatron fires the laser, Windcharger is miscoloured in green and gray (with yellow stripes on his arms, like Hound).
**As he stares at the destroyed weapon, Sideswipe's fist is white instead of black.
*When Motormaster says "Breakdown and Wildrider", he points to each robot as he says the other's name.
*The Stunticons land on a beach and each of them kicks up sand when they land. A few moments later, they transform and drive off, and no sand is disturbed by their tires.
*The Stunticons clearly never had detailed transformation models worked out:
**Every time the four cars transform to [[alternate mode|vehicle mode]], they more or less just morph into their Earth forms. When they transform back to [[robot mode]], all the robot bits just slide out from under their car modes, which disappear into their backs.
**Motormaster's transformation is similarly wonky; his arms are just kind of absorbed lengthwise into his torso, which then morphs into his trailer - rather than the arms ''becoming'' the trailer's roof, as they should. Every time he transforms, his trailer/torso rather blatantly changes color from light to dark gray (or vice versa.)
*Ventriloquist bots:
**Ratchet's voice actor in this episode is [[Wally Burr]], not the usual [[Don Messick]], and it shows. Burr uses the same generic deep voice he used for Thundercracker in "[[War Dawn (episode)|War Dawn]]" and Jazz in "[[Kremzeek!]]".
**"Yeah, but I don't have to like it" - Ironhide's mouth doesn't move for the first part of this line.
**Menasor's mouth doesn't move as he says his own name.
**As he flies off to "Destroy fake Stunticons", Menasor's mouth - again - doesn't move.
**As Bumblebee says, "Great Cybertron," Spike is mouthing the words.
**The Autobot Menasor gets knocked to the ground, but one who delivers "The generator..." line in Optimus' voice is the one standing up (with the sky behind him).
*Wildrider is missing his transformation sound effect as he approaches the optics shop; Breakdown does get one a second later.
*The experimental generator is inordinately tiny when it's sitting on the flatbed truck.
*Motormaster somehow transforms into (a ''tiny'') truck mode while still inside the museum. Also, a moment later as he drives away, he has a dark gray stripe on his trailer that shouldn't be there.
*After Inferno extinguishes Breakdown's burning fuel pump, the Stunticon's rear spoiler is missing. It returns in the next shot.
*While firing on Drag Strip, Warpath is shown driving forward while his treads are stationary.
*As Tracks goes into flight mode, the sandy beach suddenly has squares on it for one shot (as if it were pavement).
*As Motormaster comes into view before the crash with Prime, his bumper extends to the sides of his trailer rather than the sides of his cab.
*When rushing to inspect the aftermath of Optimus and Motormaster's game of chicken, Spike exclaims "I can't see anythi-". Before he can spit out "ng," Blaster cuts him off saying "I'm not getting any radio response."
*After the crash, just before Optimus transforms into robot mode, his cab's grille is missing the vertical line in the middle. His subsequent transformation looks very crude, especially around his legs.
*Blaster contacts the other Autobots and his chest lights up, but during Warpath's report it's no longer flashing.
[[File:G1 cartoon Motormaster slagged.JPG|thumb|upright=1.1]]
*As often happens, the animators mistake Motormaster's panel lines for the start of a second trailer. It's particularly visible in the last shot of his wrecked form after his collision with Prime.
*Optimus strokes his faceplate during the discussion of the Stunticons' plans, and his finger disappears for a moment.
*The broadcast of the doctor's announcement shows a building with the word "OPTCS" behind him. Earlier it was correctly shown as "REPUBLIC ''OPTICS'' COMPANY".
*The doctor's bow tie has grown to twice the size when he appears on TV.
*Jazz's waist is huge as he stands outside the paint chamber.
*When approaching the crater, Jazz appears to be driving above and not under rocks, and as Windcharger breaks formation to test their disguises, he clips into the cliff edge above them. In the same shot, "Wildrider"'s windows are the same gray as his body, rather than red.
[[File:Huge Ironhide and Small Ratchet.jpg|upright=1.1|thumb|Introducing Ultra class Ironhide and Scout class Ratchet.]]
*As a result of animation cels being stacked incorrectly, Ratchet appears teeny-tiny in the front of a crowd shot, making Ironhide look colossal by comparison. The tiny Ratchet should, of course, be (barely visible) at the ''back'' of the crowd.
[[File:Masquerade-menasor-modelchange.jpg|thumb|upright=1.66|"Model make no sense! Menasor confused."]]
*Menasor's limbs:
**When the Stunticons combine at Autobot Headquarters, Motormaster transforms to robot mode... and then the other Stunticons just clip onto him, rather than forming additional new limbs. Of course, it kinda sorta fits with the screwed-up way Menasor is often drawn, but this version has ''Motormaster's feet''.
**During his escape, Menasor constantly changes back and forth between having Dead End and Drag Strip attached ''to'' his arms, and having them ''as'' his arms. (It should be the latter.)
**As Menasor lands at the crater, two successive shots show him from exactly the same angle. In the first, his Drag Strip arm is drawn as the "clip-onto-Motormaster" model... and in the very next shot, it's drawn as the "Drag Strip forms the whole arm" model.
*When Menasor takes off to warn Megatron, he has a purple [[Autobot]] insignia.
*Menasor's under-arm lasers only appear when the plot calls for them - when he fires them in Autobot Headquarters, and again when he fires them on the fake Menasor. The first time, they're dark gray; the second time, they're white.
*Mirage's Autobot symbol is missing as he transforms.
*The weapon's beam comes from ''beside'' the barrel, rather than coming out of it.

===Continuity errors===
[[File:G1 Masquerade Warpath crushes DeadEnd.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|Bad day for Dead End...as usual]]
[[File:Masquerade BreakdownWildriderdefeated.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|It seems someone got his driver's license revocated...again]]
*During their construction in "[[The Key to Vector Sigma, Part 1]]", Megatron notes that he has outfitted the Stunticons with "automatic force fields that make their hulls impenetrable", which accounts for how well they did in battle. Yet in this episode they are easily taken down by second string Autobots, including non-fighters such as Grapple and Hoist. Warpath even manages to simply punch right through Dead End! Optimus Prime only suffers a slight headache after colliding with Motormaster, who is wrecked! Clearly they have been skimping on their scheduled maintenance.
*Motormaster's [[transformation scheme]] greatly differs from that of Optimus Prime - yet after donning his Motormaster disguise, Optimus transforms exactly like Motormaster does. (However bizarre this seems, it was clearly scripted - so we also count it as a possible technology, under Continuity Notes above.)
*The Stunticons are all badly beaten up after their capture. But when they escape, they're suddenly in perfect shape - able to drive, transform, combine and fight with no problems.
*"The weapon [is] but minutes from completion. And then..." "And then... what?" A fine question, indeed! Megatron's crazy laser thing is stuck down in the bottom of a crater, with no obvious way to move about or blow up anything that doesn't come popping down into the crater.
*On the subject of having "special powers," why doesn't Soundwave just use his mind-reading abilities - you know, the ones mentioned on his tech specs and demonstrated in [[Roll for it]] and [[War of the Dinobots]] - to establish which Menasor is the real one?
*The Autobots account for their ability to merge (Windcharger's magnetic field) and for the fake Menasor's face (Mirage's hologram) but where do they get working ''hands'' for their fake Menasor?

===Sci-Fi Channel edits===
*In the mid-1990s, many G1 episodes were aired on the [[Cartoon Quest|SciFi]] [[Animation Station|Channel]]. To allow expanded advertising time, they were edited down, cutting "unnecessary" dialog and scenes out. Some of the "unnecessary" dialog cut from this episode included parts of Grapple and Inferno's lines, resulting in them collectively uttering "Time to add firobably hate myself in the morning, but..."

===Trivia===
[[File:Dragstripcartoon.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|"Dead End and Drag Strip, your job is to upsell."]]
*In full sell-my-toy mode, Motormaster gives a quick introdump at the episode's start, naming off his troops, and then ''again'' a moment later as he hands out assignments.
*In case you missed it, the Autobots chosen to impersonate the Stunticons are based specifically on [[alternate mode]]s. Given this attention to detail, it's not infeasible to think that the plot of this episode may have originally called for the Autobots to simply have their alternate modes painted, since they consistently refrain from transforming once in the Decepticon camp:
**Although the specific models don't line up, Prime and Motormaster both transform into semi trucks
**Jazz and Dead End are both Porsches
**Sideswipe and Breakdown are both Lamborghinis
**Mirage and Drag Strip are both Formula 1 race cars (albeit very different-looking ones)
**And.... weeeeell, Windcharger's a Pontiac Firebird and Wildrider's a Ferrari, but the plot demanded Windcharger for his magnetic abilities. This would also explain why a different device, a projector of some sort, is used to disguise him rather than the camouflage paint.
*Whether by inspiration or by parallel reasoning, several toy redecos have followed the pattern of this episode:
**''[[Transformers: Classics|Classics]]'' [[:File:ClassicsLOCMenasor.jpg|Menasor]] is a [[redeco]] from ''[[Legends Class (2005)|Legends of Cybertron]]'' [[:File:LOC CybertronPrime.jpg|Optimus Prime]], [[Transformers: Generations#Asian market exclusives .28.22GDO.22.29|GDO]] [[:File:GenerationsMotorbreathToy.jpg|Motorbreath]] is a retool of ''[[Reveal the Shield]]'' [[:File:TF2010-toy Legends Optimus Prime.jpg|Optimus Prime]] and ''Animated'' Motor Master is a retool of ''Animated'' Optimus Prime. ''[[Transformers: Generations#Combiner Wars .282015-.29|Combiner Wars]]'' Voyager class [[:File:GenerationsVoyOP.jpg|Optimus Prime]] also got [[:File:Generations-CW Voyager Motormaster stock.jpg|a Motormaster retool]].
**''[[Transformers: Universe (2008 toyline)|Universe]]'' [[:File:Universe2008 DragStrip.jpg|Drag Strip]] is made from ''Classics'' [[:File:Classics Mirage toy.jpg|Mirage]]. ''Combiner Wars'' [[:File:CWDlxMirage.jpg|Mirage]] is also a [[:File:Generationstoy-Dragstrip.jpg|Dragstrip]] retool.
**At one point there was intended to be a ''[[Transformers: Alternators|Binaltech]]'' [[Wildrider (G1)#Notes|Wildrider]] created from ''[[Transformers: Alternators|Alternators]]'' [[:File:AltWindcharger toy.jpg|Windcharger]] (or rather, his ''Binaltech'' [[:File:Binaltech Overdrive Toy.jpg|counterpart]]), but that never eventuated.
**[[Don Figueroa]] used ''Universe'' [[:File:Universe2008 SideSwipe toy.jpg|Sideswipe]] as a basis for the [[2005 IDW continuity]] version of Breakdown, and the toy's mold was used for both the ''[[Transformers Timelines (toyline)|Timelines]]'' [[BotCon 2010]] [[:File:BreakdownBotcon.JPG|''Generation 2''-esque Breakdown]] toy and the ''Timelines'' [[Transformers Collectors' Club|TFCC:]] [[Transformers Figure Subscription Service|TFSS]] [[:File:TFSS Preview Breakdown.jpg|Generation 1-esque Breakdown]] toys! Furthermore, ''Animated'' Breakdown uses the same mold as ''Animated'' Sideswipe (the Rodimus Minor mold).
**''[[Titanium Series]]'' [[:File:ROTF-toy DeadEndTitanium.jpg|live-action movie Dead End]] reuses [[:File:Movie TitaniumRM Jazz.jpg|live-action movie Jazz]]'s mold, while the ''Timelines'' toy of an [[:File:Animated Dead End Toy.JPG|''Animated''-esque Dead End]] is a redeco of ''[[Transformers Animated (toyline)|Animated]]'' [[:File:Ani-toy Jazz Deluxe.jpg|Jazz]].
** By 2017, [[Optimus Prime (G1)/Generations toys#Combiner Wars|Optimus Prime]], [[Mirage (G1)/toys#Combiner Wars|Mirage]] and [[Jazz (G1)/toys#Power of the Primes|Jazz]] had all received ''Combiner Wars'' style toy releases.
*Optimus's "And then... what?" is apparently a rare instance of hearing a character's thoughts, since he says it in his own voice while sitting right next to Megatron, still in his Motormaster disguise.
*If any one episode served to cement Megatron's poor reputation among certain (more snarky) elements of the fandom, this is surely it. He comes up with a madcap scheme to build a useless weapon, doesn't listen to any of his troops' rather intelligent suggestions, insults his underlings for no reason, misses the obvious, toys with his enemies, pouts when he loses, and flies off with nothing in the end.
*Man, Starscream saw through the whole charade in about two seconds, didn't he?

===Foreign localization===
'''French'''
:*''Title:'' "'''Mascarade'''" ("Masquerade")
:*''Original airdate:'' ?
::*All the logo transitions were cut. It is unknown if it was that way for the original broadcast or if the episode was chopped for the DVD release.
::*A new, slight voice deformation is added, only on Megatron's voice. It will stay for next episode.
::*When Spike sees Optimus Prime disguised, he says "Man, Optimus. If I hadn't see you transform, I would be scared", and Optimus Prime answers "Anyway, you're scared just looking at yourself in the mirror". Excuse me, what ??
::*The Autobots disguised as Stunticons keep the voice actors of the Autobots. Among them, [[Francis Lax]] talks in his joined hands to create a "filter" and disguise his voice to be Motormaster.
::*Like in ''[[Starscream's Brigade#Foreign localization|Starscream's Brigade]]'', Francis Lax makes a reference to his own creations. When Optimus Prime is disguised as Motormaster, he calls Megatron "chef vénéré" ("revered boss"). In the French dubbing of ''{{w|Starsky & Hutch}}'', Lax dubbed Hutch, and that nickname was always used by the two protagonists for Captain Dobey.
::*For some reason, Megatron's line "There's one absolute test, Stunticons. Merge and become Menasor!" is replaced by "There's one thing the Decepticons can't stand, and that's when someone dares to mess with them. And you will understand it!". Consequently, it makes the scene look like the Autobots form Menasor as a last chance rather than to obey Megatron.
::*As a consequence, Starscream's line "Well, we are waiting" is dubbed by "Are we really going to get angry for so little?", and what's more with [[François Leccia]]'s voice just for that line.
::*Optimus Prime's final line "Let's roll out!" is replaced by "And now...", but the phrase is not finished.
::*Name-dodging:
:::*Motormaster does not say the names of the Stunticons, they just salute in silence.
:::*When making the groups, Motormaster still does not name them. Instead, he says "That's where we part ways as planned. I hope that everyone remembers their mission. Each of you has to seize a component".
:::*Motormaster is simply called "the Stunticon" several times.
:::*Optimus Prime's line "Blaster, contact the others" becomes "Now, contact the others". During that report, the Autobots don't say their names or those of the Stunticons they got.
:::*Ratchet does not explain who is who after disguising the Autobots. Instead, he tells Optimus "Admit that one might have doubts seeing such perfection. I hope you guys can hold on until the end", and Mirage adds "Never forget that Mirage exists".
::*Missing lines:
:::*The soldier's line "Careful men, we don't even want to scratch that experimental generator!" is missing.
:::*The first museum guard does not say anything. Only the second one talks when he hears the truck.
:::*Breakdown and Wildrider do not talk when driving to the Autobots. However, Wildrider's line "I think we are going to have a little fun" is present.
:::*Wildrider's line "Don't worry Breakdown, help is on the way!" is absent.
:::*Dead End and Drag Strip stay silent while driving on the beach. However, Dead End says "Well, that seems interesting!" but Drag Strip does not answer and starts shooting.
:::*Warpath does not say anything during the battle.
:::*Wildrider's line "Guess it's all up to me now" is missing.
:::*Optimus Prime's does not say anything while waiting for Motormaster. The latter also stays silent while arriving, but finally says "The king of the road will soon be good for scrap, you'll see!". Then the two battle in silence.
:::*When the Autobots tow the Stunticons to their base, most of the dialogue is absent. The only line is Breakdown saying "This kind of situation is so annoying!".
:::*The Autobots do not say anything during ''one minute and twenty seconds'', while driving to the Decepticon base, being escorted by Laserbeak and observing the Constructicons.
:::*Soundwave's line "Laserbeak, return!" is missing. Predictable, since most of the time, Laserbeak's name is one of the most dodged in the dub.
:::*The conversation between the disguised Autobots at the top of the pit is missing, as well as the ones during the descent.
:::*While escaping, the Stunticons all say their respective lines, except Breakdown for some reason.
:::*The conversation between the Autobots trying to be a good Menasor is replaced by Francis Lax, who dubs the fake Menasor, making weird effort noises.
:::*Optimus Prime's line "Move!" is missing.

'''German'''
:*''Title (Generation 2 dub):'' "'''Perfekte Tarnung'''" ("Perfect Disguise")
:*''Original airdate:'' [[September 17]], [[1994]]

'''Italian'''
:*''Title (dub 1):'' "'''I falsi Stunticons'''" ("The Fake Stunticons")
:*''Original airdate:'' ?
::*Some lines are badly translated, making little sense in the context:
:::*Ratchet's «I don't bother asking who won?» becomes: «I don't want to be boring but I don't know who won».
:::*Sideswipe's «I hope this camouflage paint comes off, Jazz» becomes: «I hope this disguise works, Jazz», and then Jazz's «Aww, quit griping, you're still the same Sideswipe inside, right?» becomes: «That's extraordinary! You're still the same Sideswipe, right?».
:::*Spike's «But it looks like you didn't need our help!» becomes: «You mean you didn't need our help?».
:*''Title (dub 2):'' "'''Sotto copertura'''" ("Undercover")
:*''Original airdate:'' ?

'''Japanese'''
:*''Title:'' "'''Masquerade'''" (マスカレード)
:*''Original airdate:'' [[September 19]], [[1986]]

'''Mandarin'''
:*''Title:'' "'''Shēn Rù Hǔ Xué '''" (深入虎穴, "Deep in the Decepticon's Lair")
:*''Original airdate:'' ?

'''Brazilian Portuguese'''
:*''Title:'' "'''A Super Missão'''" ("The Super Mission")
:*''Original airdate:'' ?

'''Russian'''
:*''Title:'' "'''Maskarad'''" (Маскарад, "Masquerade")
:*''Original airdate:'' ?

===Toys inspired by this episode===
[[File:CWDlxMirage.jpg|upright=1.55|thumb]]
*'''[[Combiner Wars (toyline)|''Combiner Wars'']] Voyager Class Optimus Prime''' (Hasbro, 2015)
*'''[[Combiner Wars (toyline)|''Combiner Wars'']] Deluxe Class Mirage''' (Hasbro, 2015)

:Both ''Combiner Wars'' Optimus Prime and Mirage are the only Autobots that are based on their pre-Stunticon disguises as they share the same transformation schemes with their retool/pretools Motormaster and Drag Strip.

{{-}}

==Home video releases==
{{homevidnote}}
;VHS
[[File:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 1990 — ''Transformers'' — Cosmic Rust / Masquerade ([[Tempo Video]])
;{{w|LaserDisc}}
[[File:Flag of Japan.png|20px|Japan]] 1995 — ''Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers'' — Megatron Set ([[TakaraTomy|Takara]]) — Japanese audio only. 
[[File:Flag of Japan.png|20px|Japan]] 1999 — ''The Transformers'' — Decepticon Edition ([[Geneon Universal Entertainment|Pioneer LDC]]) — Japanese audio only.
;DVD
[[File:Flag of Japan.png|20px|Japan]] 2001 — ''The Transformers'' — DVD Box 2 (Pioneer LDC) — Japanese audio only. 
[[File:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 2003 — ''The Original Transformers'' — Season 2 Part 2 ([[The Original Transformers|Rhino Entertainment]]) 
[[File:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 2003 — ''The Original Transformers'' — Season 2 Part 2: Vol. 8 (Rhino Entertainment) 
[[File:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 2004 — ''Transformers'' — Season 2 Part 2 ([[Metrodome]]) 
[[File:Flag of Australia.png|20px|Australia]] 2004 — ''Transformers'' — Collection 3: Series 2.2 ([[Madman Entertainment]]) 
[[File:Flag of France.png|20px|France]] 2004 — ''Transformers'' — Volume 14 ([[Déclic Images]]) — European French audio only. 
[[File:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 2006 — ''Transformers'' — The Complete Generation One Collection (Metrodome) 
[[File:Flag of Australia.png|20px|Australia]] 2007 — ''The Transformers'' — Complete Collection (Madman Entertainment) 
[[File:Flag of Italy.png|20px|Italy]] 2009 — ''Transformers'' — Volume 06: Stagione Due Parte Quarta ([[Medianetwork Communication]]) — English and Italian audio. 
[[File:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 2009 — ''Transformers'' — Season Two: Part Two (Metrodome) 
[[File:Flag of Australia.png|20px|Australia]] 2009 — ''The Transformers'' — Complete Collection: Decepticon Edition (Madman Entertainment) 
[[File:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 2009 — ''The Transformers'' — The Complete Series: 25th Anniversary "Matrix of Leadership" Collection ([[Shout! Factory]]) 
[[File:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 2009 — ''The Transformers'' — Season Two, Volume Two: 25th Anniversary Edition (Shout! Factory) 
[[File:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 2011 — ''The Transformers'' — The Complete Original Series (Shout! Factory) 
[[File:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 2014 — ''The Transformers'' — Season Two, Volume Two: 30th Anniversary Edition (Shout! Factory) 
[[File:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 2014 — ''Transformers'' — The Classic Animated Series (Metrodome)

==External links==
*[https://drive.google.com/open?id=18aM3T_RHrxrFIZEwiHm2bYxugAkqtCU6 Episode dialogue script with deleted lines]
*[https://drive.google.com/file/d/1WppY1AzZ-hp73GPXyOWxrkjQZouT3bQk/view?usp=drive_link Episode model sheets]

[[Category:The Transformers episodes]]
[[Category:Generation 2 episodes]]

Masquerade

2024-11-24T17:08:15Z

MartinOdoni: /* Continuity errors */

{{episode
|image=Masquerade Menasors.JPG
|caption=Strangely, nobody suggested [[A Prime Problem|a race]] to determine who the real Stunticons were.
|series=G1toon
|ep=64
|series2=SRLFtoon
|ep2=61
|prev2=War Dawn (episode)
|next2=Fire in the Sky
|series3=''[[Transformers: Generation 2 (cartoon)|The Transformers: Generation 2]]''
|ep3=21
|prev3=The Revenge of Bruticus
|next3=Ghost in the Machine (G1)
|title="Masquerade"
|season=2
|season ep=48
|written by=[[Donald F. Glut]]
|production code=700-63
|airdate=[[December 16]], 1985
|production company=[[Sunbow Productions]]
|animation studio=[[Toei Animation|Toei]]
|continuity=[[Generation 1 cartoon continuity]]
|video=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PcgFqw6VSz4
|videosite=YouTube
}}

'''After defeating the Stunticons, five of the Autobots pose as the crazed combiners to learn of Megatron's newest plan.'''

==Synopsis==
[[File:Masquerade prime vs mmaster.jpg‎|left|thumb|Shortly after this, Menasor threw up.]]
[[Megatron (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Megatron]] sends the [[Stunticon (G1)|Stunticons]] on a mission to find components for an unrevealed purpose, including the world's largest, most perfect ruby. While searching for their components, the actions of the Stunticons catch the attention of the [[Autobot]]s, who track their movements and their crimes. Breakdown and Wildrider get the first component: laser lenses from a scientist. Dead End and Drag Strip get the second component: an experimental generator from the Army. Motormaster gets the last one: a perfect ruby from a museum.

The Autobots split into teams and manage to be extremely effective at capturing the Stunticons in the middle of their capers. [[Grapple (G1)|Grapple]], [[Hoist (G1)|Hoist]], and [[Inferno (G1)|Inferno]] take on [[Breakdown (G1)|Breakdown]] and [[Wildrider (G1)|Wildrider]]. [[Warpath (G1)|Warpath]] and [[Tracks (G1)|Tracks]] take on [[Dead End (G1)|Dead End]] and [[Drag Strip (G1)|Drag Strip]]. Finally, [[Optimus Prime (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Optimus Prime]], [[Bumblebee (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Bumblebee]], [[Blaster (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Blaster]], and [[Spike Witwicky (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Spike Witwicky]] go for [[Motormaster (G1)|Motormaster]], who challenges the [[Prime (rank)|Autobot leader]] to a game of “chicken” and ends up in a head-on collision. Spike, Bumblebee, and Blaster peer through the dust to see who survived, and it turns out that Optimus is the clear victor with merely a minor headache, while Motormaster lies in a wreck.

[[File:Masquerade Wheeljack Optimaster.jpg|upright=1.1|thumb|No Motormaster disguise is complete without a hunk of Big League Chew.]]

Although all five Stunticons have been captured, the Autobots still don't know what their plans were for the components they stole for Megatron. [[Wheeljack (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Wheeljack]] guesses that the parts are going to be made into a weapon. (Nooo, really?) Optimus hatches a scheme to disguise Autobots using [[camouflage paint]] and penetrate the Decepticon camp disguised as Stunticons: Optimus Prime as Motormaster, [[Jazz (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Jazz]] as Dead End, [[Sideswipe (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Sideswipe]] as Breakdown, [[Mirage (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Mirage]] as Drag Strip, and [[Windcharger (G1)|Windcharger]] as Wildrider.

[[File:Sideswipe FakeBreakdown.jpg|left|upright=1.1|thumb|Sideswipe? I, Breakdown, have never heard of such a being!]]

The disguised Autobots infiltrate the Decepticons, although their arrival causes [[Starscream (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|some]] raised eyebrows because they are driving too "safely". They deliver the stolen components to Megatron without being detected.

Back at [[Ark (G1)|Autobot Headquarters]], the Stunticons manage to shimmy and shake their way out of their cells, merge into [[Menasor (G1)|Menasor]] and overcome their Autobot captors. They then head back to the Decepticon base.

[[File:Masquerade Megatron manning gun.jpg|upright=1.1|thumb|We've been here before.]]

The Constructicons complete Megatron's new weapon, and he reveals its power, but just then Menasor arrives and declares the Autobots as infiltrators. Using Windcharger's magnetic field ability and Mirage's illusion power, the Autobots merge into their own Menasor. The two giants battle it out, and the Autobots are overcome. Megatron trains the new weapon on the Autobots, but the device blows up in his face after a few scattered shots.

Autobot reinforcements arrive, and the Decepticons flee without their usual promises for revenge. It is revealed that Ironhide had made adjustments to the ruby back at Autobot HQ, which caused the device to explode. The Autobots head for home, victorious.

==Featured characters==
{{featuredcharacters
|c1=
*[[Ironhide (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Ironhide]] (9)
*[[Ratchet (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Ratchet]] (10)
*[[Optimus Prime (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Optimus Prime]] (12)
*[[Wheeljack (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Wheeljack]] (13)
*[[Bumblebee (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Bumblebee]] (14)
*[[Hoist (G1)|Hoist]] (18)
*[[Inferno (G1)|Inferno]] (19)
*[[Grapple (G1)|Grapple]] (20)
*[[Blaster (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Blaster]] (21)
*[[Warpath (G1)|Warpath]] (22)
*[[Tracks (G1)|Tracks]] (23)
*[[Hound (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Hound]] (24)
*[[Bluestreak (G1)|Bluestreak]] (25)
*[[Sideswipe (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Sideswipe]] (26)
*[[Jazz (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Jazz]] (27)
*[[Windcharger (G1)|Windcharger]] (28)
*[[Mirage (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Mirage]] (29)
*[[Trailbreaker (G1)|Trailbreaker]] (30)
*[[Prowl (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Prowl]] (31)
*[[Huffer (G1)|Huffer]] (32)

|c2=
*[[Megatron (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Megatron]] (1)
*[[Wildrider (G1)|Wildrider]] (2)
*[[Dead End (G1)|Dead End]] (3)
*[[Breakdown (G1)|Breakdown]] (4)
*[[Motormaster (G1)|Motormaster]] (5)
*[[Drag Strip (G1)|Drag Strip]] (6)
*[[Starscream (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Starscream]] (7)
*[[Soundwave (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Soundwave]] (8)
*[[Laserbeak (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Laserbeak]] (33)
*[[Constructicon (G1)|Constructicons]]
*[[Scavenger (G1)|Scavenger]] (34)
*[[Mixmaster (G1)|Mixmaster]] (35)
*[[Hook (G1)|Hook]] (36)
*[[Scrapper (G1)|Scrapper]] (37)
*[[Long Haul (G1)|Long Haul]] (38)
*[[Menasor (G1)|Menasor]] (39)

|c3=
*[[Spike Witwicky (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Spike Witwicky]] (11)
*Dr. [[Rickel]] (15)
*US Army troops (16)
*Museum guards (17)
}}

==Quotes==
"A near miss deserves a couple o' near-missiles!"
:—'''Inferno'''

"I'll probably hate myself in the morning, but..."
:—'''Inferno''' before he douses the flames on the Stunticon Breakdown

"Well, look who's here! The old King of the Road! When I'm finished with ya, you'll be King of the Junkyard!"
:—'''Motormaster''' taunting Optimus Prime into a game of chicken

''[The Autobots are towing the defeated Stunticons to Autobot Headquarters]'' 
'''Wheeljack''': Here they come. 
'''Ratchet''': I won't bother asking who won. 
'''Breakdown''': ''(taking note of the Autobots looking at them)'' They're gawking at us! How mortifrying! 
'''Dead End''': The word, Breakdown, is mortiFYing. And my sentiment exactly. 
'''Motormaster''': I'm in no mood for your big words, Dead End. 
'''Ironhide''': For you, motormouth, this '''IS''' a dead end.
:—Motormaster complains about Dead End's SAT-level vocabulary

"Man, Optimus. You're a dead ringer for Motormaster." 
"Did you have to say ''dead'' ringer, Spike?"
:—'''Spike Witwicky'''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s vocabulary causes '''Optimus Prime''' to wince.

[[File:Masquerade as i preducted.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1]]
"Everybody out on ''bad'' behavior!"
:—'''Breakdown''' after freeing himself and taking out Inferno, Grapple, and Hoist.

"Imagine my turning that ray on the Autobots' headquarters. Perhaps when it's gone, someone will put up a memorial parking lot. Mwahaha!"
:—'''Megatron'''

"Machine appears unstable. Suggest abandoning it." 
"Suggestion noted—and ignored!"
:—'''Soundwave''' warns '''Megatron''', for all the good it does.

==Notes==
===Continuity notes===
[[File:Masquerade Jazz camouflage paint.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1]]
[[File:Soundwave fly.jpg|upright=1.1|thumb|Huh? Tape-bot cannot fly!]]
*It's never explained just how the Autobots disguise themselves. Sideswipe says something about camouflage paint and the Autobots are transformed, details and all, into the Stunticons. It's apparently some high-tech stuff, because it even lets Optimus totally change his transformation scheme. And it just turns right off once Optimus decides the jig is up.
*Gadgets and powers:
**Wildrider shows his...well...amazing maneuverability by doing a sharp turn to avoid Inferno, Grapple & Hoist and dodging a blast from Inferno. Well, he is a lunatic after all.
**Breakdown uses his unique engine to cause vibratory pulses to disrupt his bars and break free. He later uses his concussion rifle with similar technique to help other Stunticons get out.
**Soundwave informs us that Menasor has "special powers"... which seem to consist of a couple of under-arm mounted guns.
**Sideswipe and Mirage both fire their shoulder missiles, which the writers and animators usually seem to forget about.
**Soundwave can fly in his tape deck mode! When the Decepticons retreat, he transforms and then flies off behind Starscream. It is tempting to assume that the animators took a script direction like "the Decepticons transform and fly off in retreat" a bit too literally.
**Mirage can project a hologram of Menasor's face. This runs contrary to his usual schtick, which is invisibility. His original bio described him as being able to create "the illusion of a different appearance" for up to six minutes, but this is the only time it pops up in the cartoon (presumably because holograms were Hound's gimmick... though per the bio, Hound's great power is to create ''maps'', and simple images on rare occasions.)
*Breakdown's leaky pump has been addressed as his weakness (along with his paranoia). This is also mentioned in his toy bio, his ''[[The Transformers Universe (Marvel)|Universe]]'' and ''[[Transformers: More than Meets the Eye|More than Meets the Eye]]'' profiles.
*Megatron explains his weapon-du-jour thusly: "The most destructive weapon known to Decepticon science...Utilizing that ruby's light, focused through those perfect lenses, it will fire the most destructive ray of all. More powerful than any laser, it will create a chain reaction in whatever it touches... producing instantaneous destruction." Based on the animation, this appears to be a long-winded way of saying "It blows up rocks."
*Hasn't Megatron learned his lesson about building [[Fire on the Mountain (episode)|giant superlasers that can't be moved]]? [[B.O.T. (episode)|Apparently not]]!
*Megatron's line "Suggestion noted...AND IGNORED!" when Soundwave warns him would be revisited during the ''[[Beast Wars: Transformers (cartoon)|Beast Wars]]'' episode "[[Nemesis Part 2]]" when his [[Megatron (BW)/Beast Wars cartoon continuity|namesake]] utters those exact sentiments to [[Dinobot II]] on board the ''[[Nemesis (G1)|Nemesis]]''.
*Two scenes deleted from this episode feature the individual Stunticons talking with each other ''while'' combined as Menasor, only for Menasor himself to then silence all of his components, because their chatter is confusing him! Even without this dialogue, the finished episode portrays Menasor as almost adorably dumb and easily bamboozled - utterly baffled, for example, when Prime accuses him of being an imposter.
*This episode marks the final appearances of [[Inferno (G1)|Inferno]], [[Tracks (G1)|Tracks]], [[Trailbreaker (G1)|Trailbreaker]], and [[Sideswipe (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Sideswipe]] in the American version of the original ''Transformers'' cartoon.

===Real-life references===
*''[[Star Wars (franchise)|Star Wars]]'' sound effects:
**''[[Millennium Falcon]]'' engine roar as Laserbeak flies over the faux Stunticons.
**A lengthy sequence of borrowed effects follows as Laserbeak flies onwards - sounds include the ''Falcon'' engine burst, a [[TIE Fighter]]'s targeting computer, [[Death Star]] superlaser, and ''Falcon'' engine whine. As he returns to Soundwave, he gets another ''Falcon'' engine burst.
**''Falcon'' engine and [[X-wing Fighter|X-Wing]] diving whine as Menasor flies away from Autobot Headquarters.
**X-Wing and TIE Fighter roar as the Constructicons fly off... and again as Menasor flies off... and again as Starscream and Soundwave fly off.
**A variety of [[lightsaber]] noises as Megatron fires his super not-a-laser weapon.

===Animation and technical errors===
*Coloring errors:
**As Motormaster hands out assignments, Drag Strip has a random rectangle drawn in the middle of his visor, and Dead End's face is miscolored - his mouthplate is light gray instead of yellow, and his visor is red instead of purple.
**As Optimus gets his idea after watching the broadcast, the triangles on his waist are gray instead of yellow.
**As Laserbeak returns to Soundwave, Soundwave is missing his Decepticon insignia, as well as the gold stripes around his cassette door (which is drawn too small as well). He also doesn't move his mouthplate when he speaks.
**As "Motormaster" (Optimus) drives up to Megatron, his door is colored purple like his windows (and his window rims are colored purple too.) A shot later, it's back to black, but the ''next'' shot (Starscream asking about his voice) shows his grille as black instead of gray. The same thing happens as the real Motormaster busts out of the Autobot cell.
**Just after dismissing the Constructicons, Megatron's face is white.
**"And the Autobots are totally unaware of its existence" - "Breakdown" is colored as Sideswipe. (Of course, he IS Sideswipe, but should be... oh, you get the point.)
**As "Motormaster" (Optimus) asks about the weapon, Megatron's forehead colors are reversed (black forehead with gray triangles).
**As "Motormaster" (Optimus) says, "Too many head-on collisions!", his headlights are black instead of white.
**"Motormaster"'s black grille returns again as Megatron explains the weapon, recurring in numerous shots.
**Soundwave's cheekguards and eject button are both blue instead of white as Starscream mocks Megatron.
**Soundwave's missing the gold rim around his tape door as he and Starscream move toward the impostor Stunticons.
**"No, he's the imposter!" - "Drag Strip" is missing his Decepticon symbol (and possibly some striping, depending on which color model you trust.)
**"There's one absolute test, 'Stunticons'" - Dead End's tires are white; Soundwave's cheekguards are blue instead of white again. The same error repeats when Starscream calls out for Menasor to destroy the Autobots.[[File:Masquerade Megatron manning gun.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1]]
**When Megatron first grabs the laser, he's colored in reverse (light gray body with a dark gray face).
**Drag Strip is white instead of yellow as Menasor swings his sword. When Menasor hits the fake with the sword, Drag Strip is attached backwards, with his wheels pointing outward.
**When "Motormaster" reverts to Optimus Prime, his headlights aren't colored white and he's missing the horizontal lines on the crest of his helmet.
**"No need for the disguises anymore" - Prime's face is a darker gray than his mouthplate in most of this shot; they should be the same tone. For a second, the faceplate darkens then lightens again.
**When the Autobots begin firing on Menasor, his face is entirely black.
**Just before Megatron fires the laser, Windcharger is miscoloured in green and gray (with yellow stripes on his arms, like Hound).
**As he stares at the destroyed weapon, Sideswipe's fist is white instead of black.
*When Motormaster says "Breakdown and Wildrider", he points to each robot as he says the other's name.
*The Stunticons land on a beach and each of them kicks up sand when they land. A few moments later, they transform and drive off, and no sand is disturbed by their tires.
*The Stunticons clearly never had detailed transformation models worked out:
**Every time the four cars transform to [[alternate mode|vehicle mode]], they more or less just morph into their Earth forms. When they transform back to [[robot mode]], all the robot bits just slide out from under their car modes, which disappear into their backs.
**Motormaster's transformation is similarly wonky; his arms are just kind of absorbed lengthwise into his torso, which then morphs into his trailer - rather than the arms ''becoming'' the trailer's roof, as they should. Every time he transforms, his trailer/torso rather blatantly changes color from light to dark gray (or vice versa.)
*Ventriloquist bots:
**Ratchet's voice actor in this episode is [[Wally Burr]], not the usual [[Don Messick]], and it shows. Burr uses the same generic deep voice he used for Thundercracker in "[[War Dawn (episode)|War Dawn]]" and Jazz in "[[Kremzeek!]]".
**"Yeah, but I don't have to like it" - Ironhide's mouth doesn't move for the first part of this line.
**Menasor's mouth doesn't move as he says his own name.
**As he flies off to "Destroy fake Stunticons", Menasor's mouth - again - doesn't move.
**As Bumblebee says, "Great Cybertron," Spike is mouthing the words.
**The Autobot Menasor gets knocked to the ground, but one who delivers "The generator..." line in Optimus' voice is the one standing up (with the sky behind him).
*Wildrider is missing his transformation sound effect as he approaches the optics shop; Breakdown does get one a second later.
*The experimental generator is inordinately tiny when it's sitting on the flatbed truck.
*Motormaster somehow transforms into (a ''tiny'') truck mode while still inside the museum. Also, a moment later as he drives away, he has a dark gray stripe on his trailer that shouldn't be there.
*After Inferno extinguishes Breakdown's burning fuel pump, the Stunticon's rear spoiler is missing. It returns in the next shot.
*While firing on Drag Strip, Warpath is shown driving forward while his treads are stationary.
*As Tracks goes into flight mode, the sandy beach suddenly has squares on it for one shot (as if it were pavement).
*As Motormaster comes into view before the crash with Prime, his bumper extends to the sides of his trailer rather than the sides of his cab.
*When rushing to inspect the aftermath of Optimus and Motormaster's game of chicken, Spike exclaims "I can't see anythi-". Before he can spit out "ng," Blaster cuts him off saying "I'm not getting any radio response."
*After the crash, just before Optimus transforms into robot mode, his cab's grille is missing the vertical line in the middle. His subsequent transformation looks very crude, especially around his legs.
*Blaster contacts the other Autobots and his chest lights up, but during Warpath's report it's no longer flashing.
[[File:G1 cartoon Motormaster slagged.JPG|thumb|upright=1.1]]
*As often happens, the animators mistake Motormaster's panel lines for the start of a second trailer. It's particularly visible in the last shot of his wrecked form after his collision with Prime.
*Optimus strokes his faceplate during the discussion of the Stunticons' plans, and his finger disappears for a moment.
*The broadcast of the doctor's announcement shows a building with the word "OPTCS" behind him. Earlier it was correctly shown as "REPUBLIC ''OPTICS'' COMPANY".
*The doctor's bow tie has grown to twice the size when he appears on TV.
*Jazz's waist is huge as he stands outside the paint chamber.
*When approaching the crater, Jazz appears to be driving above and not under rocks, and as Windcharger breaks formation to test their disguises, he clips into the cliff edge above them. In the same shot, "Wildrider"'s windows are the same gray as his body, rather than red.
[[File:Huge Ironhide and Small Ratchet.jpg|upright=1.1|thumb|Introducing Ultra class Ironhide and Scout class Ratchet.]]
*As a result of animation cels being stacked incorrectly, Ratchet appears teeny-tiny in the front of a crowd shot, making Ironhide look colossal by comparison. The tiny Ratchet should, of course, be (barely visible) at the ''back'' of the crowd.
[[File:Masquerade-menasor-modelchange.jpg|thumb|upright=1.66|"Model make no sense! Menasor confused."]]
*Menasor's limbs:
**When the Stunticons combine at Autobot Headquarters, Motormaster transforms to robot mode... and then the other Stunticons just clip onto him, rather than forming additional new limbs. Of course, it kinda sorta fits with the screwed-up way Menasor is often drawn, but this version has ''Motormaster's feet''.
**During his escape, Menasor constantly changes back and forth between having Dead End and Drag Strip attached ''to'' his arms, and having them ''as'' his arms. (It should be the latter.)
**As Menasor lands at the crater, two successive shots show him from exactly the same angle. In the first, his Drag Strip arm is drawn as the "clip-onto-Motormaster" model... and in the very next shot, it's drawn as the "Drag Strip forms the whole arm" model.
*When Menasor takes off to warn Megatron, he has a purple [[Autobot]] insignia.
*Menasor's under-arm lasers only appear when the plot calls for them - when he fires them in Autobot Headquarters, and again when he fires them on the fake Menasor. The first time, they're dark gray; the second time, they're white.
*Mirage's Autobot symbol is missing as he transforms.
*The weapon's beam comes from ''beside'' the barrel, rather than coming out of it.

===Continuity errors===
[[File:G1 Masquerade Warpath crushes DeadEnd.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|Bad day for Dead End...as usual]]
[[File:Masquerade BreakdownWildriderdefeated.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|It seems someone got his driver's license revocated...again]]
*During their construction in "[[The Key to Vector Sigma, Part 1]]", Megatron notes that he has outfitted the Stunticons with "automatic force fields that make their hulls impenetrable", which accounts for how well they did in battle. Yet in this episode they are easily taken down by second string Autobots, including non-fighters such as Grapple and Hoist. Warpath even manages to simply punch right through Dead End! Optimus Prime only suffers a slight headache after colliding with Motormaster, who is wrecked! Clearly they have been skimping on their scheduled maintenance.
*Motormaster's [[transformation scheme]] greatly differs from that of Optimus Prime - yet after donning his Motormaster disguise, Optimus transforms exactly like Motormaster does. (However bizarre this seems, it was clearly scripted - so we also count it as a possible technology, under Continuity Notes above.)
*The Stunticons are all badly beaten up after their capture. But when they escape, they're suddenly in perfect shape - able to drive, transform, combine and fight with no problems.
*"The weapon [is] but minutes from completion. And then..." "And then... what?" A fine question, indeed! Megatron's crazy laser thing is stuck down in the bottom of a crater, with no obvious way to move about or blow up anything that doesn't come popping down into the crater.
*On the subject of having "special powers," why doesn't Soundwave just use his mind-reading abilities - you know, the ones mentioned on his tech specs and demonstrated in Roll For It and War Of The Dinobots - to establish which Menasor is the real one?
*The Autobots account for their ability to merge (Windcharger's magnetic field) and for the fake Menasor's face (Mirage's hologram) but where do they get working ''hands'' for their fake Menasor?

===Sci-Fi Channel edits===
*In the mid-1990s, many G1 episodes were aired on the [[Cartoon Quest|SciFi]] [[Animation Station|Channel]]. To allow expanded advertising time, they were edited down, cutting "unnecessary" dialog and scenes out. Some of the "unnecessary" dialog cut from this episode included parts of Grapple and Inferno's lines, resulting in them collectively uttering "Time to add firobably hate myself in the morning, but..."

===Trivia===
[[File:Dragstripcartoon.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|"Dead End and Drag Strip, your job is to upsell."]]
*In full sell-my-toy mode, Motormaster gives a quick introdump at the episode's start, naming off his troops, and then ''again'' a moment later as he hands out assignments.
*In case you missed it, the Autobots chosen to impersonate the Stunticons are based specifically on [[alternate mode]]s. Given this attention to detail, it's not infeasible to think that the plot of this episode may have originally called for the Autobots to simply have their alternate modes painted, since they consistently refrain from transforming once in the Decepticon camp:
**Although the specific models don't line up, Prime and Motormaster both transform into semi trucks
**Jazz and Dead End are both Porsches
**Sideswipe and Breakdown are both Lamborghinis
**Mirage and Drag Strip are both Formula 1 race cars (albeit very different-looking ones)
**And.... weeeeell, Windcharger's a Pontiac Firebird and Wildrider's a Ferrari, but the plot demanded Windcharger for his magnetic abilities. This would also explain why a different device, a projector of some sort, is used to disguise him rather than the camouflage paint.
*Whether by inspiration or by parallel reasoning, several toy redecos have followed the pattern of this episode:
**''[[Transformers: Classics|Classics]]'' [[:File:ClassicsLOCMenasor.jpg|Menasor]] is a [[redeco]] from ''[[Legends Class (2005)|Legends of Cybertron]]'' [[:File:LOC CybertronPrime.jpg|Optimus Prime]], [[Transformers: Generations#Asian market exclusives .28.22GDO.22.29|GDO]] [[:File:GenerationsMotorbreathToy.jpg|Motorbreath]] is a retool of ''[[Reveal the Shield]]'' [[:File:TF2010-toy Legends Optimus Prime.jpg|Optimus Prime]] and ''Animated'' Motor Master is a retool of ''Animated'' Optimus Prime. ''[[Transformers: Generations#Combiner Wars .282015-.29|Combiner Wars]]'' Voyager class [[:File:GenerationsVoyOP.jpg|Optimus Prime]] also got [[:File:Generations-CW Voyager Motormaster stock.jpg|a Motormaster retool]].
**''[[Transformers: Universe (2008 toyline)|Universe]]'' [[:File:Universe2008 DragStrip.jpg|Drag Strip]] is made from ''Classics'' [[:File:Classics Mirage toy.jpg|Mirage]]. ''Combiner Wars'' [[:File:CWDlxMirage.jpg|Mirage]] is also a [[:File:Generationstoy-Dragstrip.jpg|Dragstrip]] retool.
**At one point there was intended to be a ''[[Transformers: Alternators|Binaltech]]'' [[Wildrider (G1)#Notes|Wildrider]] created from ''[[Transformers: Alternators|Alternators]]'' [[:File:AltWindcharger toy.jpg|Windcharger]] (or rather, his ''Binaltech'' [[:File:Binaltech Overdrive Toy.jpg|counterpart]]), but that never eventuated.
**[[Don Figueroa]] used ''Universe'' [[:File:Universe2008 SideSwipe toy.jpg|Sideswipe]] as a basis for the [[2005 IDW continuity]] version of Breakdown, and the toy's mold was used for both the ''[[Transformers Timelines (toyline)|Timelines]]'' [[BotCon 2010]] [[:File:BreakdownBotcon.JPG|''Generation 2''-esque Breakdown]] toy and the ''Timelines'' [[Transformers Collectors' Club|TFCC:]] [[Transformers Figure Subscription Service|TFSS]] [[:File:TFSS Preview Breakdown.jpg|Generation 1-esque Breakdown]] toys! Furthermore, ''Animated'' Breakdown uses the same mold as ''Animated'' Sideswipe (the Rodimus Minor mold).
**''[[Titanium Series]]'' [[:File:ROTF-toy DeadEndTitanium.jpg|live-action movie Dead End]] reuses [[:File:Movie TitaniumRM Jazz.jpg|live-action movie Jazz]]'s mold, while the ''Timelines'' toy of an [[:File:Animated Dead End Toy.JPG|''Animated''-esque Dead End]] is a redeco of ''[[Transformers Animated (toyline)|Animated]]'' [[:File:Ani-toy Jazz Deluxe.jpg|Jazz]].
** By 2017, [[Optimus Prime (G1)/Generations toys#Combiner Wars|Optimus Prime]], [[Mirage (G1)/toys#Combiner Wars|Mirage]] and [[Jazz (G1)/toys#Power of the Primes|Jazz]] had all received ''Combiner Wars'' style toy releases.
*Optimus's "And then... what?" is apparently a rare instance of hearing a character's thoughts, since he says it in his own voice while sitting right next to Megatron, still in his Motormaster disguise.
*If any one episode served to cement Megatron's poor reputation among certain (more snarky) elements of the fandom, this is surely it. He comes up with a madcap scheme to build a useless weapon, doesn't listen to any of his troops' rather intelligent suggestions, insults his underlings for no reason, misses the obvious, toys with his enemies, pouts when he loses, and flies off with nothing in the end.
*Man, Starscream saw through the whole charade in about two seconds, didn't he?

===Foreign localization===
'''French'''
:*''Title:'' "'''Mascarade'''" ("Masquerade")
:*''Original airdate:'' ?
::*All the logo transitions were cut. It is unknown if it was that way for the original broadcast or if the episode was chopped for the DVD release.
::*A new, slight voice deformation is added, only on Megatron's voice. It will stay for next episode.
::*When Spike sees Optimus Prime disguised, he says "Man, Optimus. If I hadn't see you transform, I would be scared", and Optimus Prime answers "Anyway, you're scared just looking at yourself in the mirror". Excuse me, what ??
::*The Autobots disguised as Stunticons keep the voice actors of the Autobots. Among them, [[Francis Lax]] talks in his joined hands to create a "filter" and disguise his voice to be Motormaster.
::*Like in ''[[Starscream's Brigade#Foreign localization|Starscream's Brigade]]'', Francis Lax makes a reference to his own creations. When Optimus Prime is disguised as Motormaster, he calls Megatron "chef vénéré" ("revered boss"). In the French dubbing of ''{{w|Starsky & Hutch}}'', Lax dubbed Hutch, and that nickname was always used by the two protagonists for Captain Dobey.
::*For some reason, Megatron's line "There's one absolute test, Stunticons. Merge and become Menasor!" is replaced by "There's one thing the Decepticons can't stand, and that's when someone dares to mess with them. And you will understand it!". Consequently, it makes the scene look like the Autobots form Menasor as a last chance rather than to obey Megatron.
::*As a consequence, Starscream's line "Well, we are waiting" is dubbed by "Are we really going to get angry for so little?", and what's more with [[François Leccia]]'s voice just for that line.
::*Optimus Prime's final line "Let's roll out!" is replaced by "And now...", but the phrase is not finished.
::*Name-dodging:
:::*Motormaster does not say the names of the Stunticons, they just salute in silence.
:::*When making the groups, Motormaster still does not name them. Instead, he says "That's where we part ways as planned. I hope that everyone remembers their mission. Each of you has to seize a component".
:::*Motormaster is simply called "the Stunticon" several times.
:::*Optimus Prime's line "Blaster, contact the others" becomes "Now, contact the others". During that report, the Autobots don't say their names or those of the Stunticons they got.
:::*Ratchet does not explain who is who after disguising the Autobots. Instead, he tells Optimus "Admit that one might have doubts seeing such perfection. I hope you guys can hold on until the end", and Mirage adds "Never forget that Mirage exists".
::*Missing lines:
:::*The soldier's line "Careful men, we don't even want to scratch that experimental generator!" is missing.
:::*The first museum guard does not say anything. Only the second one talks when he hears the truck.
:::*Breakdown and Wildrider do not talk when driving to the Autobots. However, Wildrider's line "I think we are going to have a little fun" is present.
:::*Wildrider's line "Don't worry Breakdown, help is on the way!" is absent.
:::*Dead End and Drag Strip stay silent while driving on the beach. However, Dead End says "Well, that seems interesting!" but Drag Strip does not answer and starts shooting.
:::*Warpath does not say anything during the battle.
:::*Wildrider's line "Guess it's all up to me now" is missing.
:::*Optimus Prime's does not say anything while waiting for Motormaster. The latter also stays silent while arriving, but finally says "The king of the road will soon be good for scrap, you'll see!". Then the two battle in silence.
:::*When the Autobots tow the Stunticons to their base, most of the dialogue is absent. The only line is Breakdown saying "This kind of situation is so annoying!".
:::*The Autobots do not say anything during ''one minute and twenty seconds'', while driving to the Decepticon base, being escorted by Laserbeak and observing the Constructicons.
:::*Soundwave's line "Laserbeak, return!" is missing. Predictable, since most of the time, Laserbeak's name is one of the most dodged in the dub.
:::*The conversation between the disguised Autobots at the top of the pit is missing, as well as the ones during the descent.
:::*While escaping, the Stunticons all say their respective lines, except Breakdown for some reason.
:::*The conversation between the Autobots trying to be a good Menasor is replaced by Francis Lax, who dubs the fake Menasor, making weird effort noises.
:::*Optimus Prime's line "Move!" is missing.

'''German'''
:*''Title (Generation 2 dub):'' "'''Perfekte Tarnung'''" ("Perfect Disguise")
:*''Original airdate:'' [[September 17]], [[1994]]

'''Italian'''
:*''Title (dub 1):'' "'''I falsi Stunticons'''" ("The Fake Stunticons")
:*''Original airdate:'' ?
::*Some lines are badly translated, making little sense in the context:
:::*Ratchet's «I don't bother asking who won?» becomes: «I don't want to be boring but I don't know who won».
:::*Sideswipe's «I hope this camouflage paint comes off, Jazz» becomes: «I hope this disguise works, Jazz», and then Jazz's «Aww, quit griping, you're still the same Sideswipe inside, right?» becomes: «That's extraordinary! You're still the same Sideswipe, right?».
:::*Spike's «But it looks like you didn't need our help!» becomes: «You mean you didn't need our help?».
:*''Title (dub 2):'' "'''Sotto copertura'''" ("Undercover")
:*''Original airdate:'' ?

'''Japanese'''
:*''Title:'' "'''Masquerade'''" (マスカレード)
:*''Original airdate:'' [[September 19]], [[1986]]

'''Mandarin'''
:*''Title:'' "'''Shēn Rù Hǔ Xué '''" (深入虎穴, "Deep in the Decepticon's Lair")
:*''Original airdate:'' ?

'''Brazilian Portuguese'''
:*''Title:'' "'''A Super Missão'''" ("The Super Mission")
:*''Original airdate:'' ?

'''Russian'''
:*''Title:'' "'''Maskarad'''" (Маскарад, "Masquerade")
:*''Original airdate:'' ?

===Toys inspired by this episode===
[[File:CWDlxMirage.jpg|upright=1.55|thumb]]
*'''[[Combiner Wars (toyline)|''Combiner Wars'']] Voyager Class Optimus Prime''' (Hasbro, 2015)
*'''[[Combiner Wars (toyline)|''Combiner Wars'']] Deluxe Class Mirage''' (Hasbro, 2015)

:Both ''Combiner Wars'' Optimus Prime and Mirage are the only Autobots that are based on their pre-Stunticon disguises as they share the same transformation schemes with their retool/pretools Motormaster and Drag Strip.

{{-}}

==Home video releases==
{{homevidnote}}
;VHS
[[File:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 1990 — ''Transformers'' — Cosmic Rust / Masquerade ([[Tempo Video]])
;{{w|LaserDisc}}
[[File:Flag of Japan.png|20px|Japan]] 1995 — ''Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers'' — Megatron Set ([[TakaraTomy|Takara]]) — Japanese audio only. 
[[File:Flag of Japan.png|20px|Japan]] 1999 — ''The Transformers'' — Decepticon Edition ([[Geneon Universal Entertainment|Pioneer LDC]]) — Japanese audio only.
;DVD
[[File:Flag of Japan.png|20px|Japan]] 2001 — ''The Transformers'' — DVD Box 2 (Pioneer LDC) — Japanese audio only. 
[[File:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 2003 — ''The Original Transformers'' — Season 2 Part 2 ([[The Original Transformers|Rhino Entertainment]]) 
[[File:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 2003 — ''The Original Transformers'' — Season 2 Part 2: Vol. 8 (Rhino Entertainment) 
[[File:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 2004 — ''Transformers'' — Season 2 Part 2 ([[Metrodome]]) 
[[File:Flag of Australia.png|20px|Australia]] 2004 — ''Transformers'' — Collection 3: Series 2.2 ([[Madman Entertainment]]) 
[[File:Flag of France.png|20px|France]] 2004 — ''Transformers'' — Volume 14 ([[Déclic Images]]) — European French audio only. 
[[File:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 2006 — ''Transformers'' — The Complete Generation One Collection (Metrodome) 
[[File:Flag of Australia.png|20px|Australia]] 2007 — ''The Transformers'' — Complete Collection (Madman Entertainment) 
[[File:Flag of Italy.png|20px|Italy]] 2009 — ''Transformers'' — Volume 06: Stagione Due Parte Quarta ([[Medianetwork Communication]]) — English and Italian audio. 
[[File:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 2009 — ''Transformers'' — Season Two: Part Two (Metrodome) 
[[File:Flag of Australia.png|20px|Australia]] 2009 — ''The Transformers'' — Complete Collection: Decepticon Edition (Madman Entertainment) 
[[File:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 2009 — ''The Transformers'' — The Complete Series: 25th Anniversary "Matrix of Leadership" Collection ([[Shout! Factory]]) 
[[File:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 2009 — ''The Transformers'' — Season Two, Volume Two: 25th Anniversary Edition (Shout! Factory) 
[[File:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 2011 — ''The Transformers'' — The Complete Original Series (Shout! Factory) 
[[File:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 2014 — ''The Transformers'' — Season Two, Volume Two: 30th Anniversary Edition (Shout! Factory) 
[[File:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 2014 — ''Transformers'' — The Classic Animated Series (Metrodome)

==External links==
*[https://drive.google.com/open?id=18aM3T_RHrxrFIZEwiHm2bYxugAkqtCU6 Episode dialogue script with deleted lines]
*[https://drive.google.com/file/d/1WppY1AzZ-hp73GPXyOWxrkjQZouT3bQk/view?usp=drive_link Episode model sheets]

[[Category:The Transformers episodes]]
[[Category:Generation 2 episodes]]

The Transformers: The Movie

2024-11-24T17:00:26Z

MartinOdoni: /* Continuity errors */

{{disambig3|Transformers: The Movie}}
{{movie|
|seriess=[[The Transformers (cartoon)|The Transformers]]
|prev=B.O.T. (episode)
|next=Five Faces of Darkness, Part 1
|seriess2=[[Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers (franchise)|Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers]]
|prev2=Scramble City: Mobilization
|next2=Five Faces of Darkness, Part 1
|title=''The Transformers: The Movie''
|image=Transformersanimatedfilmposter.jpg
|caption=A long time ago in a galaxy far far away....
|production code=4034
|production companies=[[Sunbow Productions]] [[Marvel Productions]]
|distributor=[[Dino De Laurentiis|De Laurentiis Entertainment Group]]
|executive producer=[[Tom Griffin]] [[Joe Bacal]]
|screenplay by=[[Ron Friedman]]
|directed by=[[Nelson Shin]]
|cinematography by=[[Masatoshi Fukui]]
|edited by=[[David Hankins]]
|music by=[[Vince DiCola]]
|animation studio=[[Toei Animation|Toei]]
|release date=[[August 8]], [[1986]]
|continuity=[[Generation 1 cartoon continuity]]
|runtime=85 minutes
|budget=$5–6 million
|box office=$2.6–5.8 million
|credits=The Transformers: The Movie/credits
}}
{{quote|Conceived in the epic tradition of ''[[Star Wars (film)|Star Wars]]''...|[[Victor Caroli]] ain't just whistling Dixie|[[The Transformers: The Movie promo|''The Transformers: The Movie'' promo]]}}

'''''The Transformers: The Movie''''' is an animated feature film based on the original ''Transformers'' toyline. It was released in the United States on Friday, August 8, 1986.

The film's storyline follows the same continuity as the ''[[The Transformers (cartoon)|Transformers]]'' cartoon. It introduces a [[Scale|planet-sized Transformer]] called [[Unicron/Generation 1|Unicron]] who eats other planets, and is approaching [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]]. As part of their continuing wars, the [[Autobot]]s and [[Decepticon]]s have a [[Battle of Autobot City|fierce battle]] on [[Earth]] which sees both [[Optimus Prime (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Optimus Prime]] and [[Megatron (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Megatron]] mortally wounded. Prime passes the [[Matrix of Leadership]] to [[Ultra Magnus (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Ultra Magnus]] and dies, and Megatron is transformed by Unicron into [[Galvatron (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Galvatron]]. [[Starscream (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Starscream]] (briefly) assumes leadership of the Decepticons, but is killed when Galvatron arrives at Cybertron. Galvatron then chases the surviving Autobots on Earth across space, splitting them up and taking the Matrix. The Autobots find their way back to each other, and follow Galvatron to Cybertron just as Unicron transforms into [[robot mode]] and begins to eat their world. Travelling inside Unicron, [[Hot Rod (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Hot Rod]] recovers the Matrix, transforms into Rodimus Prime, and uses the Matrix to destroy Unicron.

Often referred to by fans simply as "the movie" or "TFTM", the movie was a step up in almost every area from the television series, with a more sophisticated plot, more serious treatment of war and violence, a hugely ambitious scope and a greatly increased animation budget with well-known celebrities providing voice work. For these reasons, the film remains very popular with children of the 1980s.

The film opens with characters who had been featured in the first two years of the toyline and associated media (cartoons, comic books, etc.), but quickly introduces new characters and kills many of the old ones to make room. Of particular note, Optimus Prime and Starscream are both destroyed during the course of the film.

{{quote|The Japanese have funded a full-length animated cartoon about the doings of these toys, which is all bad outer-space stuff. I play a planet. I menace somebody called Something-or-other. Then I'm destroyed. My plan to destroy Whoever-it-is is thwarted and I tear myself apart on the screen.|Orson Welles<ref>[http://books.google.com/books?id=KlqsYy512WIC&source=gbs_navlinks_s "Orson Welles: A Biography"] page 522</ref>}}

==Synopsis==
[[File:TFTM Unicron Lithone.jpg|left|thumb|That's no moon.]]
[[Unicron/Generation 1|A mechanical planet]] travels through the depths of space, attacking [[Lithone (planet)|a metal planet]] which has [[Lithone (species)|robotic inhabitants]]. Robots, vehicles, buildings, and even large chunks of rock are sucked off the surface and devoured by the monstrous planet.

It is the year [[2005]], and the [[Decepticon]]s are now in control of [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]]. The [[Autobot]]s are preparing to launch an assault to retake the planet from hidden bases on two of Cybertron's moons. The Autobots launch a [[Autobot shuttle|shuttle]] to pick up a final shipment of [[energon]] from [[Earth]] before they strike.

[[File:Tftm1986a.jpg|thumb|Commander, tear this ship apart until you've found those plans. And bring me the passengers; I want them alive!]]
Plans for the attack are overheard by [[Laserbeak (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Laserbeak]], who reports back to [[Megatron (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Megatron]]. The Decepticons attack the Autobot shuttle en route to Earth, wiping out its crew (including [[Ironhide (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Ironhide]], [[Prowl (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Prowl]], [[Ratchet (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Ratchet]] and [[Brawn (G1)|Brawn]]). Using the Autobots' own shuttle, the Decepticons are able to get very close to the Autobots' base on Earth, [[Autobot City (G1)|Autobot City]], before they are detected, and begin a devastating surprise attack on the unprepared city.

During the [[Battle of Autobot City|battle at Autobot City]], both [[Optimus Prime (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Optimus Prime]] and Megatron suffer mortal injuries, and a number of others are also killed. Eventually the Decepticons retreat, but the damage suffered by the Autobots is severe.

[[File:Tftm1986b.jpg|left|thumb|If you strike me down, I shall become more powerful than you can possibly imagine.]]
Shortly after the battle, Prime lies on his deathbed. He passes the reins of leadership to [[Ultra Magnus (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Ultra Magnus]] and gives him the [[Matrix of Leadership]]. (Though [[Hot Rod (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Hot Rod]] actually touches the Matrix before Magnus does.) Prime relates a prophecy: "One day, an Autobot shall rise from our ranks, and use the power of the Matrix to light our [[darkest hour]]." He then gives the oath, "[['Til all are one]]", and [[The many deaths of Optimus Prime|dies]]. This sequence of events is observed remotely by Unicron, the monstrous planet, who appears unusually concerned by the survival of the Matrix.

The Decepticons are making their escape aboard [[Astrotrain (G1)|Astrotrain]], but are too heavy for him to get them all home under his own power. After putting the matter to a fair vote, the Decepticons decide to throw their injured members off the ship to better the chance of survival for the rest, including the mortally wounded Megatron. Too injured to save himself, Megatron is tossed out into space by [[Starscream (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Starscream]], who claims leadership of the Decepticon army.

[[File:TFTM Starscream chucks Megatron.jpg|thumb|Into the garbage chute, flyboy.]]
Megatron and the other adrift Decepticons then encounter Unicron in interstellar space. Unicron offers to rebuild Megatron and his minions in exchange for their service. After some coercion on the planetoid's part, Megatron agrees, and is [[Reformatting|reformatted]] into [[Galvatron (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Galvatron]]. The other Decepticons are turned into [[Cyclonus (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Cyclonus]], [[Scourge (G1)|Scourge]], and the [[Sweep (G1)|Sweeps]]. Unicron provides them with a [[Revenge (G1)|ship]], and sends them to kill Ultra Magnus and destroy the Matrix, stating that the Matrix is the only thing which can stand in his way.

[[File:Tftm1986c.jpg|left|thumb|Don't be too proud of this technological terror you've constructed.]]
Galvatron first stops at Cybertron to take his revenge by killing Starscream and reclaiming leadership of the Decepticons. Almost immediately afterwards, Unicron arrives in Cybertron's vicinity and devours at least two moons—both of the Autobots' moon bases are destroyed. Under coercion by Unicron, Galvatron finally heads to Earth to kill Ultra Magnus, but Magnus and the other surviving Autobots flee in a pair of shuttles. Eventually Galvatron manages to cause one shuttle to crash on yet another metal planet ([[Quintessa (planet)|Quintessa]]), and detonates the other with a volley of missiles. However, the Autobots in the second shuttle escape unnoticed by separating the front portion of their shuttle just before impact.

The Autobots in the crashed shuttle, Hot Rod, [[Kup (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Kup]], and the [[Dinobot (G1)|Dinobots]], find themselves separated and in a hostile environment. Hot Rod and Kup battle a [[Sea squid|giant squid]], are captured by a pack of [[Allicon]]s and taken before a [[Quintesson]] [[Quintesson#Judges|judge]] and his court. While being held there, they learn the name and nature of Unicron from [[Kranix (G1)|Kranix]], a survivor of the planet destroyed in the opening of the film, which he calls [[Lithone (planet)|Lithone]]. Meanwhile, the Dinobots encounter and befriend a young, wild Autobot named [[Wheelie (G1)|Wheelie]] who has been living alone on Quintessa. Together, they crash the trial just as Hot Rod and Kup are fighting losing odds against the Quintessons' [[Sharkticon (species)|Sharkticons]]. The tide is turned, and the Autobots commandeer a [[Quintesson Cruiser]].

[[File:Tftm1986d.jpg|thumb|What an incredible smell you've discovered!]]
The other group of Autobots has landed on the planet [[Junkion (planet)|Junkion]] to make repairs, but are attacked yet again by Galvatron, who was tipped off to their survival by Unicron. During the battle, Ultra Magnus tries to open the Matrix to use its power, but is unable to do so, and instead is killed. Galvatron absconds with the Matrix, taking it away to Unicron. The remaining Autobots—[[Perceptor (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Perceptor]], [[Blurr (G1)|Blurr]], [[Springer (G1)|Springer]], [[Arcee (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Arcee]], and [[Spike Witwicky (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Spike]]'s son [[Daniel Witwicky (G1)|Daniel]]—are then ambushed by [[Junkion (species)|Junkions]], the eponymous natives of Junkion, who are also giant transforming robots. This battle is cut short, however, by the arrival of Hot Rod's group in their Quintesson ship. After exchanging the [[universal greeting]] they all make friends, and the Junkions restore Ultra Magnus to life. Together, the whole group travels to Cybertron to try to recover the Matrix and destroy Unicron.

[[File:TFTM Unicron smashes cybertron.jpg|thumb|left|Rebel base in range. You may fire when ready.]]
Galvatron attempts to open the Matrix to use its power against Unicron and force his master into submission, but is unable to open it. Unicron, not pleased with this attempted treachery, shocks Galvatron by transforming from a planet into a [[Scale|planet-sized robot]]. Unicron plucks Galvatron off his chest and swallows him, Matrix and all, and then begins attacking Cybertron itself. [[Shockwave (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Shockwave]] scrambles the Decepticon forces to defend the planet, but they are ineffective against so large an enemy. Shortly the Autobots arrive from Junkion, and fly the Quintesson ship straight through Unicron's eye. This impact destroys the ship, and the Autobots fall out inside Unicron. Hot Rod, separated from the others, eventually runs into Galvatron. During their fight, Hot Rod gets his hands on the Matrix and hears Optimus's voice speak the words, "Arise, Rodimus Prime." Hot Rod grows in stature, adopts a much sterner demeanor, and quickly dispatches Galvatron by tossing him through Unicron's hull out into space. He then opens the Matrix, which fills Unicron with light and begins destroying him.

[[File:Tftm1986e.jpg|thumb|Use the Force, Luke.]]
In the meantime, the other Autobots inside Unicron have located some of their comrades from the moon bases who had been presumed dead, including [[Bumblebee (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Bumblebee]] and Daniel's father, Spike. The Autobots, including Rodimus, escape through Unicron's remaining eye just as he begins to fall apart and explode. The scene then immediately shifts to the surface of Cybertron, where—for unclear reasons—the Autobots seem to be in charge again. Rodimus predicts an era of peace and prosperity, and the film closes with a shot of Unicron's severed head still floating in orbit around Cybertron.

[['Til all are one]].
{{--}}

==Featured characters==
{{featuredcharacters
|c1=
*[[Optimus Prime (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Optimus Prime]] ([[Peter Cullen]])
*[[Hot Rod (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Hot Rod/Rodimus Prime]] ([[Judd Nelson]])
*[[Ultra Magnus (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Ultra Magnus]] ([[Robert Stack]])
*[[Kup (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Kup]] ([[Lionel Stander]])
*[[Springer (G1)|Springer]] ([[Neil Ross]])
*[[Arcee (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Arcee]] ([[Susan Blu]])
*[[Blurr (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Blurr]] ([[John Moschitta]])
*[[Grimlock (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Grimlock]] ([[Gregg Berger]])
*[[Perceptor (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Perceptor]] ([[Paul Eiding]])
*[[Blaster (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Blaster]] ([[Buster Jones]])
*[[Swoop (G1)|Swoop]] ([[Michael Bell]])
*[[Slag (G1)|Slag]] (Neil Ross)
*[[Sludge (G1)|Sludge]]
*[[Wheelie (G1)|Wheelie]] ([[Frank Welker]])
*[[Ironhide (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Ironhide]] (Peter Cullen)
*[[Prowl (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Prowl]] (Michael Bell)<ref group="fc" name="crednolines">Credited and appeared, but had no speaking lines.</ref>
*[[Jazz (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Jazz]] ([[Scatman Crothers]])
*[[Bumblebee (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Bumblebee]] ([[Dan Gilvezan]])
*[[Cliffjumper (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Cliffjumper]] ([[Casey Kasem]])
*[[Brawn (G1)|Brawn]] ([[Corey Burton]])
*[[Gears (G1)|Gears]] ([[Don Messick]])<ref group="fc" name="creduncertain">Credited, but may or may not have appeared through an animation error.</ref>
*[[Auto-combatant]] (Frank Welker)
*[[Eject (G1)|Eject]]
*[[Rewind (G1)|Rewind]]
*[[Steeljaw (G1)|Steeljaw]]
*[[Ramhorn (G1)|Ramhorn]]
*[[Wheeljack (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Wheeljack]]
*[[Windcharger (G1)|Windcharger]]
*[[Ratchet (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Ratchet]]
*[[Snarl (G1)|Snarl]]
*[[Grapple (G1)|Grapple]]
*[[Huffer (G1)|Huffer]]
*[[Hound (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Hound]]
*[[Sunstreaker (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Sunstreaker]]
*[[Bluestreak (G1)|Bluestreak]]
*[[Inferno (G1)|Inferno]]<ref group="fc" name="crednoapp">Credited, but did not appear.</ref> ([[Walker Edmiston]])
|c2=
*[[Megatron (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Megatron]] (Frank Welker)
*[[Galvatron (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Galvatron]] ([[Leonard Nimoy]])
*[[Starscream (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Starscream]] ([[Chris Latta]])
*[[Cyclonus (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Cyclonus]] ([[Roger C. Carmel]])
*[[Scourge (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Scourge]] ([[Stan Jones]])
*[[Soundwave (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Soundwave]] (Frank Welker)
*[[Devastator (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Devastator]] ([[Arthur Burghardt]])
*[[Scrapper (G1)|Scrapper]] (Michael Bell)
*[[Bonecrusher (G1)|Bonecrusher]] (Neil Ross)
*[[Hook (G1)|Hook]] (Neil Ross)
*[[Scavenger (G1)|Scavenger]] (Don Messick)<ref group="fc" name="appearnocredit">Appeared and had speaking lines, but not credited.</ref>
*[[Mixmaster (G1)|Mixmaster]]
*[[Long Haul (G1)|Long Haul]]
*[[Shrapnel (G1)|Shrapnel]] ([[Hal Rayle]])
*[[Kickback (G1)|Kickback]] ([[Clive Revill]])
*[[Bombshell (G1)|Bombshell]]
*[[Astrotrain (G1)|Astrotrain]] ([[Jack Angel]])
*[[Shockwave (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Shockwave]] (Corey Burton)
*[[Dirge (G1)|Dirge]] ([[Bud Davis]])<ref group="fc" name="crednolines"/>
*[[Blitzwing (G1)|Blitzwing]] ([[Ed Gilbert]])
*[[Rumble (G1)|Rumble]] (Frank Welker)
*[[Frenzy (G1)|Frenzy]] (Frank Welker)
*[[Laserbeak (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Laserbeak]] (Chris Latta)<ref group="fc" name="appearnocredit">Appeared and had speaking lines, but not credited.</ref>
*[[Ravage (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Ravage]] (Frank Welker)<ref group="fc" name="appearnocredit">Appeared and had speaking lines, but not credited.</ref>
*[[Ratbat (G1)|Ratbat]]
*[[Thrust (G1)|Thrust]]
*[[Ramjet (G1)|Ramjet]]
*[[Skywarp (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Skywarp]]
*[[Thundercracker (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Thundercracker]]
*[[Reflector (G1)|Reflector]]
*[[Sweep (G1)|Sweeps]]
*[[Cyclonus's Armada]]
|h3=[[Junkion (species)|Junkions]]|c3=
*[[Wreck-Gar (G1)|Wreck-Gar]] ([[Eric Idle]])
*[[Junkyard (G1)|Junkyard]] (Bell)
*[[Scrapheap (G1)|Scrapheap]] (Welker)
*[[Rubbish]]
*[[Re-Cycle]]
*[[Trashbin]]
*[[HAZMAT]]
*[[Ashtray]]
*[[Wasteoid Gamma]]
*[[Greasestain]]
|h4=Others|c4=
'''[[Human]]s'''
*[[Spike Witwicky (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Spike Witwicky]] (Corey Burton)
*[[Daniel Witwicky (G1)|Daniel Witwicky]] ([[David Mendenhall]])

'''[[Lithone (species)|Lithones]]'''
*[[Kranix (G1)|Kranix]] ([[Norman Alden|Norm Alden]])
*[[Arblus]]

'''[[Quintesson]]s'''
*[[Quintesson Prosecutor|Quintesson leader]] (Roger C. Carmel)
*[[Quintesson Judge]] ([[Regis Cordic]])
*[[Quintesson Executioner]]
*[[Quintesson Bailiff]]
*[[Sharkticon (species)|Sharkticons]]
*[[Allicon]]s

'''Other'''
*[[Unicron/Generation 1|Unicron]] ([[Orson Welles]])
|nonumbering=true
}}
<references group="fc"/>

==Quotes==
[[File:TFTM European intro.jpeg|thumb|upright=1.4|It is a period of civil war. Rebel spaceships, striking from a hidden base, have won their first victory against the evil Galactic Empire.]]
"Now all we need is a little energon and a lot of luck." 
"More than you imagine, Optimus Prime."
:—'''Optimus Prime''' and '''Megatron''' tempt fate.

"Such heroic nonsense."
:—'''Megatron''' coldly finishes off Ironhide. The 'Cons always get the best lines.

"First, we crack the shell... then we crack the nuts inside."
:—'''Rumble''' bravely raids Autobot City.

"I've got better things to do tonight than die!"
:—'''Springer''', telling it like it is.

"One shall stand. One shall fall."
:—'''Optimus Prime''' uttering the most quoted line of the Movie. An ass kicker cometh.

"Why throw your life away so recklessly?" 
"That's a question you should ask yourself, Megatron." 
:—'''Megatron''' and '''Optimus Prime''', about to engage in one last battle to the death.

"You, who are without mercy, now plead for it? I thought you were made of '''''sterner stuff'''''."
:—'''Optimus Prime''''s trash talk is actually [http://www.enotes.com/shakespeare-quotes/sterner-stuff a lot cooler than it sounds].

"I would have waited an eternity for this! It's over, Prime." 
"'''''NEVER!'''''"
:—'''Megatron''' is about to learn that a wounded '''Optimus Prime''' has enough strength left for one good hit.

"Until that day...'til all are one..."
:—'''Optimus Prime'''{{'}}s final words.

"Oh, how it ''pains'' me to do this." 
"Wait! I still function!" 
"Wanna ''bet''?"
:—'''Starscream''' fights back the tears as he throws '''Megatron''' out of Astrotrain.

"Soundwave superior, Constructicons inferior."
:—'''Soundwave''' insults the combiner team.

"I have summoned you here for a purpose." 
"Nobody summons Megatron!" 
"Then it pleases me to be the first."
:—'''Unicron''' shows '''Megatron''' who's the boss.

"Who disrupts my coronation?" 
"Coronation, Starscream? This is bad comedy." 
"Megatron? Is that you?" 
"Here's a hint!"
:—'''Galvatron''' drops "hints" for '''Starscream''' like others drop anvils.

"Oh shit! What are we gonna do now!"
:—'''Spike''' says the movie’s most infamous line.

"Kup and Hot Rod just bought it!" 
"I can't deal with that now!"
:—'''Springer''' and '''Ultra Magnus''' assess the situation.

"Did we ''have'' to let them detonate three quarters of the ship?" 
"Seeing as how they would have detonated ''four'' quarters, I think it was a good choice."
:—'''Arcee''' and '''Springer''', debating the launch of their emergency shuttle.

"Spare me this mockery of justice!"
:—'''Kranix''' is upset at being found innocent.

"You check in, but you don't check out."
:—'''Wreck-Gar''' making a reference to the tagline from the "Roach Motel." commercials

"For a time... I considered ''sparing'' your wretched little planet Cybertron. But now... you shall witness... its ''dismemberment''!"
:—'''Unicron''' really needs to work on his anger management skills...

"Destiny... You cannot... destroy... my... destiny!"
:—'''Unicron'''{{'}}s final words.

"Let this mark the end of the Cybertronian Wars as we march forward into a new era of peace and happiness! 'Til all are one!" 
:—'''Rodimus Prime''' announces the end of the [[Great War (G1)|Great War]]...for now.

==Season 5==
When ''The Movie'' was broadcast in [[The Transformers (cartoon)#Season 5|the fifth season]] of ''The Transformers'', it was broken into 5 parts (designated "Days") and given new bookending segments with original story material.

===Day One===
[[File:TommyPrimeSeason5BumperMovie.jpg|upright=1.1|thumb|You just watch yourself. We're wanted men. I have the death sentence on twelve systems.]]
[[Tommy Kennedy|Tommy]] meets up with [[Powermaster]] [[Optimus Prime (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Optimus Prime]] in the barren wasteland and Prime is concerned with the black eye and many bruises Tommy is sporting. Tommy explains that some "big guys" at school tried to rough him up (and by all visual evidence, succeeded). Tommy asks Prime if he'd ever faced any "big guys" in his many adventures and Prime decides to tell him about the time he faced the "biggest guy" of them all, [[Unicron/Generation 1|Unicron]]...

Optimus leaves off at the point during the [[Battle of Autobot City]] when Megatron broke their defenses to let the slaughter begin. Optimus gruesomely teases his own death scene to a very confused and concerned Tommy, but reassures him that until he can be revived as a Powermaster, the Matrix must be passed on to someone else who is worthy. Tommy wants to hear all about it, but Optimus doesn't have the time. Apparently, he needs to meet up with [[Joyride (G1)|Joyride]] and help him [[Space bridge technician|repair]] the [[Space bridge]]. Tommy asks if he can tag along and Optimus tells him that if he can lift one of their two-ton screwdrivers, he can even help. They summarily blast off into space.
{{-}}

===Day Two===
[[File:PrimeExplodingMemoryChip.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.1|I've lost R2!]]
Tommy and Optimus meet up in the barren wasteland, though Prime isn't sure what Tommy wants. Tommy reminds him that he promised to tell him more about Unicron and Prime concedes that he's been having trouble with his memory chip, lately. Tommy tells him all about the Battle of Autobot City, but none of it rings a bell for Optimus. Prime asks Tommy to open up an access panel in the back of his head and check the circuit. Tommy repairs the circuit, jogging Prime's memory...

Prime leaves off at the point where [[Jazz (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Jazz]] and [[Cliffjumper (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Cliffjumper]] are eaten by Unicron. Tommy demands to hear more of the story, but Prime's memory chip explodes and smoke pours from the side of his head. All he sees are brief flashes of the further adventures of [[Hot Rod (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Hot Rod]] and the rest. The furthest he can see, though, is the "death" of [[Ultra Magnus (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Ultra Magnus]] when his shuttle is blown up by [[Galvatron (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Galvatron]]. Tommy expresses discontent, citing that the Autobots are "too cool to die". Prime says he knows there's more to the story, but with his faulty memory chip, he can't access the details. Tommy insists they get his chip fixed and so they blast off into space to do just that.
{{-}}

===Day Three===
[[File:TommyKennedyTraumatized.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|I can't even see. How am I supposed to fight?]]
Tommy finishes the repairs on Prime's memory chip, much to Prime's relief. Tommy asks Prime to test it out by continuing his story about the battle against Unicron. Prime indulges Tommy's request...

Prime leaves off at the point where [[Kup (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Kup]] and Hot Rod are taken to the [[Sharkticon (species)|Sharkticon]] pits and watch as the survivors of [[Lithone (planet)|Lithone]] are executed. Tommy begs Prime to stop, claiming that the story thus far is too intense and depressing for him to handle. Prime asks if he wants to hear about how Kup and Hot Rod are fed to the Sharkticons, how the Autobots are menaced by "aliens made of junk" or how Ultra Magnus is blown to pieces by [[Galvatron (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Galvatron]]. Tommy suddenly changes his mind and demands to hear all the gory, macabre details. Prime sets Tommy back down in the barren wasteland and promises to return soon to transform his day into an adventure. He then blasts off into space.
{{-}}

===Day Four===
[[File:PrimeTommyStopMotion.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.1|If there's a bright center to the universe, you're on the planet it's farthest from.]]
Tommy and Optimus meet up once again in the barren wasteland. Tommy asks why Prime is so late for their appointment and Prime confesses that [[Grimlock (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Grimlock]] took a wrong turn on the way over. Prime wishes he hadn't let the [[Dinobot (G1)|Dinobot]] fly the shuttle. Tommy asks if Prime has enough time to tell him more of the story and Prime assures him there's time enough...

Prime leaves off at the point where the Autobots team up with the [[Junkion (species)|Junkion]]s to battle Unicron. Tommy is incredulous, wondering what a bunch of aliens made of junk could possibly contribute to the battle against Unicron. Prime informs him that great adversities often bring out the best in people, citing Hot Rod as an example. Tommy begs to hear how the story ends, but Prime says that he must first take Grimlock to have his "brain circuits" upgraded. Setting Tommy down, Prime promises to be back soon to transform his day into an adventure. Then he blasts off into space.
{{-}}

===Day Five===
[[File:StanBushTheTouchMusicVideoRecordLabelNotes.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|He made a fair move. Screaming about it won't help you.]]
Meeting again in the barren wasteland, Optimus asks Tommy if he's ready to hear the end of the story. Contrary to all the enthusiasm Tommy has shown during past storytimes, the human child laments that he's forgotten most of the tale thus far (offering the flimsy excuse that his lack of an electronic brain makes remembering so many details impossible). Prime gives him "a quick rundown" (that takes ''four minutes'') and then proceeds to finish the epic yarn...

Prime finishes the story with the destruction of Unicron, the ascension of Rodimus Prime and the exile of the Decepticons. Prime asks Tommy if he's satisfied, but Tommy just has more questions. Like what was up with the [[Quintesson]]s? Did they drop Grimlock on his head when he was a kid? And how did they ever bring Prime back to life? Prime tells Tommy to slow down. He has to attend an interstellar peace conference, but until he returns, he leaves Tommy with... [[The Touch|THE TOUCH!!!]]
{{--}}

==Production timeline==
* First script outline by Ron Friedman: revisions from 15th August 1984 to 19th September 1984
* [[The Transformers: The Movie (first draft)|First draft script]] by Ron Friedman: submitted November 12th 1984. Revised February 13th 1985.
* Reference photos of Powered Convoy toy designated as Ultra Magnus, provided to Ron Friedman: Taken 18th March 1985
* Second script outline by Ron Friedman: revised 28th March 1985
* Second draft script by Ron Friedman: completed 27th April 1985. Revised 2nd May 1985
* Model sheets approved 14th June 1985: Cyclonus, Galvatron (Marvel model with revised head), Hot Rod, Kranix (the pre-final model, can be seen with Granix name on it), Quintesson Judge (colour approved on 18th November 1985 by J. Bacal), Rodimus Prime, Scourge/Sweep, Sharkticon, Unicron robot mode, Wheelie, Wreck-gar
* Model sheets approved 24th June 1985: Ultra Magnus robot mode(first Powered Convoy version)
* Model sheets approved 2nd July 1985: Ultra Magnus (Initial Toei design. Colour revised on 20th July 1985)
* Model sheets approved 19th July 1985: Arblus robot mode, Spike (final model), Ultra Magnus vehicle mode(first Powered Convoy version)
* Model sheets approved 29th July 1985: Quintesson Prosecutor (a.k.a Quintesson leader. Approved by J. Bacal on 18th December 1985)
* Model sheets approved 31st July 1985: Arblus spaceship mode
* Model sheets approved 6th September 1985: Rewind flip side of the cassette mode
* Dialogue recording (main sessions): 10th and 11th September 1985
* Model sheets approved 3rd October 1985: Rewind and Eject
* Model sheets approved 8th October 1985: Lithonian Scientist, Lithonian Woman no.1

* Storyboard sequence 1 (Attack on Lithone): Final 31st October 1985
* Storyboard sequence 2 (Title sequence): Final 31st December 1985
* Storyboard sequence 3 (2005): Final 31st October 1985
* Storyboard sequence 4 (More Than You Imagine): Final 31st October 1985. Revised Final 14th November 1985.
* Storyboard sequence 5 (Attack On The Shuttle): Final 31st October 1985
* Storyboard sequence 6 (Gone Fishin'/Dare): Final 4th November 1985. Revised Final 14th November 1985
* Storyboard sequence 7 (Battle Of Autobot City, part 1): Final 14th November 1985. Revised Final 25th November 1985
* Storyboard sequence 8 (Battle Of Autobot City, part 2): Final 31st October 1985. Revised Final 14th November 1985
* Storyboard sequence 9 (Death Of Optimus Prime): Final 7th December 1985
* Storyboard sequence 10 (Witness To A Funeral): Final 7th December 1985
* Storyboard sequence 11 (Contest For Leadership): Final 4th November 1985. Revised Final 13th November 1985
* Storyboard sequence 12 (Transformation): Final 11th November 1985. Revised Final 26th November 1985
* Storyboard sequence 13 (Coronation): Final 10th December 1985. Revised Final 18th December 1985
* Storyboard sequence 14 (Destruction Of Moonbase One): Final 10th December 1985. Revised Final 19th December 1985
* Storyboard sequence 15 (Escape): Final 16th December 1985. Revised Final 24th December 1985
* Storyboard sequence 16 (Pursuit): Final 12th December 1985. Revised Final 26th December 1985
* Storyboard sequence 17 (Nothin's Gonna Stand In Our Way): Final 11th November 1985. Revised Final 25th November 1985
* Storyboard sequence 18 (Arrival On Junk): Final 12th November 1985. Revised Final 25th November 1985
* Storyboard sequence 19 (Unwelcome Visitors): Final November 14th 1985. Revised Final 27th November 1985
* Storyboard sequence 20 (The Matrix Survives): Final 12th November 1985. Revised Final 25th November 1985
* Storyboard sequence 21 (An Unexpected Friend): Final 18th December 1985. Revised Final 26th December 1985
* Storyboard sequence 22 (Destruction Of Moonbase Two): Final 17th December 1985. Revised Final 26th December 1985
* Storyboard sequence 23 (Ambush): Final 11th December 1985
* Storyboard sequence 24 (Judgement/Rescue): Final 12th December 1985. Revised Final 26th December 1985
* Storyboard sequence 25 (Another Leader Dies): Final 9th December 1985. Revised Final 26th December 1985
* Storyboard sequence 26 (Unusual Allies): Final 19th December 1985. Revised Final 31st December 1985
* Storyboard sequence 27 (The Enemy Revealed): Final 12th December 1985. Revised Final 26th December 1985
* Storyboard sequence 28 (Confrontation): Final 19th November 1985. Revised Final 6th December 1985
* Storyboard sequence 29 (United Against The Enemy): Final 20th November 1985. Revised 4th December 1985. Revised Final 6th December 1985
* Storyboard sequence 30 (In The Belly Of The Monster): Final 20th November 1985. Revised 3rd December 1985. Revised Final 6th December 1985
* Storyboard sequence 31 (Their Darkest Hour): Final 2nd December 1985. Revised 19th December 1985. Revised Final 31st December 1985

==Animation errors==
[[File:TFTM Unicron Small.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|We’re doomed.]]
*When Unicron is approaching Lithone at the start of the movie, at the line "Look, it's Unicron!", a [[Animation error#Sizing errors|cel stacking error]] results in Unicron's ring appearing in front of a building arch, [[Distribution|making Unicron look very tiny]] in that shot. In the next shot, it is clear that Unicron is several times larger than the entire planet of Lithone.
*The inside of one of the Lithonian ships being devoured by Unicron is visible for a couple of frames. The pilot of the ship appears to be Kranix, even though he apparently screams out Kranix's name, and Kranix appears later in the Quintesson prison.
*When Optimus Prime asks Jazz to report security status, it shows both Jazz and Cliffjumper. Cliffjumper is seen twiddling knobs above the actual drawn computer, as if a section was supposed to be present.
*Coloring errors:
**When the closeup of Cliffjumper doing his countdown is shown, his shoulders are blue (like his windows) instead of red.
**Scavenger's head is white instead of black as he ducks from Prowl's shot aboard the shuttle.
**Blaster's forehead is red instead of white after his "look out and shout!" line, and again after he returns to [[robot mode]].
**In the big lineup of firing Decepticons in Autobot City, Soundwave's cheek guards are blue instead of white.
**When Blaster asks Perceptor "What's shakin'?", a Dirge-colored Seeker flies by the window. However, it appears to be the standard Starscream/Thundercracker/Skywarp design, instead of having Dirge's unique wings.
**As Devastator lays into the walls, Shrapnel is white where he should be black.
**Megatron's pelvis is white instead of black as he gives the "let the slaughter begin!" order.
**When the Dinobots jump out of Optimus Prime's Shuttle, the shuttle is colored like the first shuttle, which Megatron boarded, instead of red-highlighted scheme of Prime's shuttle.
**When Prime says "No matter the cost", the shuttle is painted completely orange, when the front should have red and white highlights.
**In the shot of Decepticons running in Autobot City prior to them being crashed through by Optimus, Ramjet can be seen sporting Dirge's wings, albeit in red just like Ramjet's. Or maybe this is Dirge incorrectly painted in Ramjet's colours. Who knows?
**When Prime drives up behind the Decepticons, Blitzwing's helmet is purple instead of yellow. Prime's trailer is missing its Autobot symbol as well.
**After Megatron asks, "Why throw away your life so recklessly?", Optimus' left hand is colored red instead of blue when he replies "That's a question you should ask yourself, Megatron".
**The gun Megatron uses to fatally injure Optimus is blue and white for most of the shots it is seen in, but when Megatron screams "Fall! FALL!" while shooting Prime again, it is black.
**Prime's antennae are white as he tries to stand after knocking Megatron off the ledge.
**Starscream's whole nosecone, rather than just the canopy, is yellow as he looms over the fallen Megatron.
**In the shot of the Decepticons jettisoning Thundercracker, Skywarp and the Insecticons from Astrotrain, Ramjet and Dirge have their colours swapped.
**As Starscream prepares to toss Megatron out the door, Soundwave's eyes are painted white like his mask rather than red. (Maybe he was sleeping, his excuse for not stopping Starscream)
**Starscream's cockpit shell nearest his head is colored like a canopy rather than gray, as he nominates himself for leadership. Man, even the A-list animation team couldn't keep this straight.
**The red stripes on Starscream's wings are noticeably absent during most of the Coronation scene.
**When dragging Arcee into the shuttle and two shots later when flying into space Magnus's Shuttle has Blue highlights instead of Red.
**After Springer runs past him, Perceptor's gun changes from red to white for a few frames.
**When Cyclonus is strafing what appears via editing to be Hot Rod's shuttle, it has red highlights instead of blue.
**When Hot Rod's ship is being watched by Galvatron trailing smoke it has red highlights instead of blue.
**In the shot after Magnus announces that he cannot deal with that now, his ship has blue highlights instead of red.
**Shrapnel's lower legs are white when he lands on Junk, instead of black. Must be a side effect of being dead.
**When Hot Rod tells the Junkions the universal greeting, the Autobot insignia on his chest is colored black.
**After transforming, Unicron has all-white hands (instead of white with gold knuckles) and a white, rectangular chin (instead of the double-triangular chin with a goatee) he has later.
**As the Autobots fly through space after exiting Unicron's eye, Rodimus is painted in Ultra Magnus' colors (inverted).
*When the Decepticons blow a hole through the Autobot shuttle to get in, it is a clean break. However, Megatron is still shown ripping through random ship components to get in.
*When the Decepticons are killing the Autobot shuttle crew, there is one of the common Starscream/Skywarp/Thundercracker miscolors. Megatron transforms into gun mode and Starscream catches him, killing Brawn. When they cut back to the Decepticons, Starscream moves back to avoid the Autobots' fire, and a ''second'' Starscream is in front of the Constructicons without Megatron and is firing one of his arm rifles (this was probably meant to be Skywarp, as he flies into the shuttle and takes a seat at the controls once the Autobots are defeated). When they cut back to the Decepticons for the third time, Starscream has Megatron again and is finishing off the rest of the Autobots. In the shot of Starscream firing his own lasers, his wings are red instead of gray.
*When Brawn is shot, it can be seen for one frame that he is initially hit in the top of his chest. As he falls, the wound has moved to the front rounded part of his chest. Additionally, the wound changes from black to red for one frame.
*Per his standard cartoon appearance, Ratchet should have a [[Red Cross]] symbol on each shoulder. When he turns in his seat as Brawn is shot down, we can see one on his right shoulder, but when he stands to return fire on the Decepticons, the right shoulder's cross has vanished, and he's only got one on his left shoulder. Then, when he falls, the cross is missing from ''both'' shoulders.
*When the Decepticons fly to the shuttle's controls:
**All of the Autobots have changed positions from when they fell—Brawn is now on his back, for example, while Prowl is now face-down.
**Ironhide's chest is completely intact, despite having a bunch of holes blown in it.
**Prowl, who turned gray as he fell (evidently dead before he even hit the floor) seems to be back in his normal colors.
*The reflections of Hot Rod and Daniel in the lake rarely line up with where they should be.
*When Hot Rod catches a fish, it is barely the size of his finger. When he releases it, it's [[Scale|suddenly huge]].
*Hot Rod has at least two totally different transformation schemes during the course of the film.
*When Hot Rod begins to shoot at the hijacked Autobot shuttle, the yellow light on his forehead is misaligned.
*When Kup and several Autobots at the roadblock react to Hot Rod's attack on the hijacked Autobot shuttle, Bluestreak is represented by Prowl's [[Character model|animation model]], in Bluestreak's gray and black colors.
*Hound and Sunstreaker appear in Kup's group at the foot of Lookout Mountain as they observe Hot Rod firing on Ironhide's shuttle. Sunstreaker later appears as Optimus Prime's co-pilot when they arrive on Earth with the Dinobots, and is seen disembarking the shuttle along with Optimus Prime and Hound.
**In the movie's storyboard, only Hound is shown present with Kup during the roadblock scene. Sunstreaker's only appearance in the storyboard is when he exits the shuttle, meaning that his presence during the roadblock scene is purely an animation addition. Hound being in both places ''is'', however, an error in both the movie and the storyboard—''unless'', Optimus Prime and the Dinobots picked up Hound and Sunstreaker from Lookout Mountain enroute to Autobot City? Now there's an idea for the old [[Personal canon|headcanon]]!
**In a deleted scene from the storyboard that would've shown Hot Rod and Kup meeting up with Ultra Magnus inside Autobot City, Sideswipe is shown running alongside Wheeljack in the background. However, Sideswipe is mistakenly referred to as "Sunstreaker" in the script (how ''[[Sideswipe (G1)#Notes|ironic]]''). Whether this mislabelling had any bearing over Sunstreaker being present with the roadblock crew is anyone's guess.
[[File:ShockwaveBattleAutobotcity.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|We've picked up a new group of signals... enemy fighters heading your way.]]
*In a wide aerial shot of the city under attack, a Reflector flies by in Ironhide's color scheme. Shockwave also makes his only appearance in the battle; considering both his role as Cybertron's guardian and his absence from any other scenes during the battle, his presence is probably an animation error. Rumble also flies past, despite being inside Soundwave at this point.
*When Shrapnel and Kickback are eating the door, Shrapnel only has one antenna.
*A laser blast that should be behind Blaster is instead layered in front of him as he acknowledges Perceptor's orders.
[[File:TFTMRumbleFrenzytwored.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|[[FIRRIB|What]] about that [[R2-D2|blue one]]? We'll take that one.]]
*When [[Soundwave (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Soundwave]] sends out his cassette troops, [[FIRRIB|Rumble is the same color as Frenzy]].
*Blaster first ejects what looks like Eject, who stays blue up until he gets to the edge of the screen. He then turns black like Rewind. Then Blaster ejects another blue cassette, which after about a second turns black. This one gets through half his transformation colored black, then turns blue for a split second then turns black again. Then, when the cassettes are fighting each other, Eject runs in from the left and jumps over Perceptor. And then he runs in from the left ''again'' to shoot Ravage.
*As Springer runs up to the launcher, Wheeljack's body is visible, but he's in the red, white and blue color scheme of Smokescreen - who, in the storyboards of this sequence, was intended to be the one lying there dead.
*While Springer and Arcee are trying to move the launcher into place, Springer's face is the same color as his helmet.
*During Devastator's combination sequence in Autobot City, his chest plate, portions of his pelvis, his forearms, and Bonecrusher's treads are all green. The chestplate and pelvis should be purple, as should Bonecrusher's treads (they're ''normally'' green when Bonecrusher is separate, but they turn purple when he combines), and his forearms should be black.
*For almost the entirety of his screen time during the battle in Autobot City, the "jet engine" on top of Devastator's chest plate is misinterpreted as a trapezoidal block. The only time it appears in its proper shape is when he high-kicks Grimlock. It appears as it should during the scuffle on Astrotrain.
*While Perceptor and Grapple are shooting, Swoop's lower half runs by in the foreground, long before the rest of him gets there.
*Prime's dramatic transformation sequence far outlasts the transformation sound that's supposed to go with it. It's also the wrong sound (ascending pitch) for his robot-to-vehicle transformation. His trailer is also missing the Autobot logo, which reappears for the rest of the scene.
*Prime is missing the transformation sound as he blasts back to robot mode.
*The gun Megatron fires uses the same sound effect as his fusion cannon.
*When Optimus Prime takes the Matrix out of his chest to give to Ultra Magnus, the animators forgot to remove the cel of the Matrix inside his chest, as it's still in there even as he's holding it in his hands. Since it's not supposed to be there, the luminous effect for the Matrix's core is missing from the duplicate in his chest, creating a visual trick that makes it look like Optimus might just have removed the core itself. (The [[Matrix of Leadership#Universe|''Universe'' comic]] would later use this error as a springboard to reconcile the visuals of Optimus's chest interior with their depiction in ''[[Beast Wars: Transformers (cartoon)|Beast Wars]]''.)
*When Ultra Magnus accepts the Matrix, he's seen inserting it into his chest twice, or at best readjusting its "fit".
*As the other Decepticons prepare to push him out, Bombshell's chest is rendered as a shapeless gray mass, rather than with its yellow canopy.
*The voice that says, "Brothers! Don't!" is nowhere close to the voices of any of the five Decepticons shown getting thrown out of Astrotrain.
*When Megatron says "Nobody summons Megatron" his chest emblem is colored gray like his chest. It looks like it should have been painted as a darker shade of purple, as it's the shadowed section. But was painted gray instead.
[[File:TFTMStarscreamCoronationErrors.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4| *''trumpet fanfare''*]]
*Even after the [[Battle of Autobot City]], characters who are supposedly dead continue to appear in crowd shots and battles. Shrapnel's role in the fight on [[Junkion (planet)|Junk]] is the most noticeable (and he was called for by name in the original script), but Thundercracker, Skywarp and Kickback can all be seen at Starscream's coronation. The two jets are later seen again, flying into Unicron's mouth.
*In the establishing shot of Starscream's coronation, there are only five Constructicons (Bonecrusher had better things to do tonight) and they are miscolored as purple and white rather than their usual purple and green color scheme.
*Hook has two eyes instead of his normal visor as he looks around in confusion during the trumpet scene.
*An early establishing shot clearly shows Cybertron with two and ''only'' two moons in low orbit. Yet a third moon is visible right after Unicron finishes eating the two Autobot bases.
*When Galvatron introduces himself to the Coronation party, Soundwave's chest window is drawn far too small.
*When Galvatron says "Decepticons, to Earth!", aside from his mouth being partially open, his mouth doesn't move. I guess being reformatted by Unicron gives you the ability to talk without moving your mouth?
*In the scene where Bumblebee and Spike are in the [[Autobot frigate]] and escaping Moonbase Two's destruction, when the two are cheering after believing that Unicron has been destroyed, Bumblebee's on the left side of Spike's seat. However, after Spike expresses his "colorful" reaction to Unicron remaining completely unscathed, and when the frigate is about to get sucked into Unicron, Bumblebee is on the right side of Spike's seat.
*When Cyclonus is strafing the Autobot shuttle in space, he briefly flies offscreen, and during that time his laser blasts come from a point that in no way matches his flight path.
*During the wide shot of the Autobots in the crashed ship on Junk, Blurr's entire head is white. Also so is Daniels head, which is drawn as an indistinct incomplete circle.
*Daniel's lips don't purse when he whistles.
*Wreck-Gar's mouth doesn't move at all during his first lines, despite the camera pushing in all close on his face.
*The pistol Ultra Magnus fires uses the same sound effect as Optimus Prime's rifle.
*During the Junkion chase scene, Trashbin attacks Arcee. When she fights him off his motorcycle, his model is switched for Junkyard's when he falls down. And his head then flickers between colors when mounting Junkyard.
*When Grimlock gets kissed, his eyes are round instead of triangular.(Probably intentional expression)
*As Hot Rod falls off one of Unicron's inner spikes, his lower body isn't drawn in. It looks like it should be blocked by our view of the spike, but is layered above it instead.
*Hot Rod's missing his Autobot symbol as he regains his footing inside Unicron.
*As the Dinobots fly around Unicron, both his eyes are intact. (The left one had at this point been shattered.)
*The third smelting victim (who looks a lot like another Bumblebee) doesn't fall from the conveyor belt; he simply vanishes.

== Continuity errors ==
[[File:G1TFTM Snarl cameo.JPG|thumb|upright=1.4|He used to bulls-eye womp-rats in his T16 back home.]]

*The Dinobot [[Snarl (G1)|Snarl]] is mysteriously absent from almost the entire movie, even though the Dinobots as a group are featured prominently. Copies of the script which have come into fans' hands repeatedly list the Dinobots, but never make mention of Snarl by name. In fact, at one point the script refers to "the four Dinobots". Despite this, Snarl does appear in three very brief shots—in which at least one other Dinobot (Swoop in one, Sludge in another) is entirely absent. Hmm.
** On the other hand, the original production ''storyboards'' for the scene where Snarl first appears in the movie only mentions "the Dinobots", not a specific amount of them. Additionally, Snarl also seems to have been in the scene with Kup telling the Dinobots a story in at least ''one'' version of the film; the Japanese trailer for the movie has finished footage of this scene...but it's very different from the one in the film; the Dinobots are all in their robot modes, and Snarl is present in the scene instead of Slag. It's completely unknown why Snarl's appearance in this scene was cut.
*Also curiously absent are the 1985 Autobot cars and Mini-Vehicles, such as Inferno, Smokescreen, Cosmos, Warpath, etc. It would seem that these characters were available at the time of the movie:
**Perceptor and Blaster both debuted at the same time in the cartoon as the 1985 cars, and both play prominent roles in the movie.
**Grapple is [[:File:BattleAutobotCity.jpg|seen ''very'' briefly]] during the battle for Autobot City. Or maybe it's [[Hauler]].
**The 1985 Decepticons (Astrotrain, Dirge, etc.) appear in the film.
**[[:File:TFTM-SideswipeRedAlertTracks.jpg|Tracks]], [[:File:TFTM-RedAlertDown.jpg|Red Alert]] (who was shot in the back by the Constructicons; his gun is the one Megatron uses against Optimus), and Smokescreen (who was supposed to be the corpse in place of Wheeljack next to Windcharger, Wheeljack instead surviving the battle and being part of a scrapped Earth-based subplot) all appeared in storyboards but not the finished film.
*Devastator is treated as ''the'' ultimate threat, while in the cartoon, his role (and apparent power) was already being [[Starscream's Brigade|severely diminished]], presumably because several other combiners had been introduced. In story terms, the absence of these newer combiners, not to mention the mighty Omega Supreme, is inexplicable. In real-life terms, those characters didn't exist when the film commenced production. (The ''[[Transformers: The Animated Movie]]'' adaptation shows Omega Supreme, Superion and Defensor guarding the Ark against an attack by Bruticus and Menasor, attempting to [[retcon]] the problem away.)
*Possibly the biggest example of the film's tonal shift from the cartoon, shots from firearms that would previously knock another character down at best have since become lethal, best demonstrated when Brawn and Prowl are each killed with a single shot by the Decepticons during the movie's first act.
[[File:Cyclonus armada tftf.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|We'll be safe enough once we make the jump into lightspeed.]]
*The existence of Cybertron's moons is contentious ''at best''.
**On the one hand, in numerous close and distant shots of the planet throughout the first two seasons, not a single moon was seen. Ever. Even after it got knocked out of Earth's orbit.
**On the other hand, Megatron ''does'' refer to Cybertron as "land of the metal moon" (note the singular) during "[[Microbots]]", suggesting otherwise. The fact that he was overenergized at the time and lost consciousness in mid-sentence - just before he ''might'' have specified a plural number of moons, (in)conveniently enough - makes it unclear just how much credence we should lend this statement.
**The movie promptly introduces two (possibly three) moons over the planet. In continuity terms, they must either have highly elliptical orbits with periapsides (points in their orbits that bring them closest to the planet) that just happened to coincide with the timeframe of the movie or they were constructed sometime after 1986.
*During the Battle of Autobot City, Starscream gets his leg caught. He shoots downward and gets away while screaming "My foot!", but it's his shin that's smoking while his foot looks fine. Later he kicks Megatron with the same foot. Shouldn't that hurt, according to him?
*So Ultra Magnus just happens to have a ready-made Matrix chamber installed in his chest cavity? Is this standard issue for all Autobots?
*The cartoon had already established that Astrotrain increases his size when he transforms to shuttle mode, being large enough to carry a pair of Decepticons in his cockpit. However, within the movie itself, his size is [[scale|noticeably inconsistent]]: When he leaves Autobot City, he's just large enough for the Decepticon army to cram themselves in; later, he's so huge that the Constructicons can quite comfortably form Devastator inside him. Perhaps he continued expanding when transforming from train to shuttle mode?
*Speaking of which, Astrotrain's entire body flips over when he transforms from train to space shuttle to escape from Autobot City. While ''we'' applaud the [[Show-accuracy|toy-accuracy]], the Decepticons inside probably didn't.
*The damage suffered by Skywarp, Thundercracker, and the Insecticons basically appears out of nowhere when it's time for them to be jettisoned. While Shrapnel and Kickback are shown taking a beating early on, they appear shiny and new later in the battle, as do the two Seekers.
*Soundwave is loyal enough to pick up a wounded Megatron and save him, but then votes "aye" to jettisoning the wounded Decepticons, and when Starscream goes to throw Megatron out, Soundwave doesn't try to intervene. He even tries to steal the leadership once Megatron is gone. The "loyalty" attribute that has pertained so strongly to Soundwave seems to be alienated from the character in this scene.
*The number of minions created by Unicron changes throughout the film, with more Sweeps appearing as the story progresses. A second Cyclonus ("Cyclonus, the warrior, and [[Cyclonus's Armada|his armada]]") is shown being created but disappears shortly thereafter. At least ''seven'' new characters are shown at one point, created from only ''six'' Decepticons thrown from the shuttle.
*How can the Constructicons blow on those trumpets? Only [[Hook (G1)|three]] [[Bonecrusher (G1)|of]] [[Mixmaster (G1)|them]] have mouths.
*Given his relative position, Starscream's single shot through the trumpets defies all geometry.
[[File:SSBQ.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|"I've been looking forward to this for a long time." "Yes, I bet you have."]]
*[[Galvatron (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Galvatron]] is capable of reducing [[Starscream (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Starscream]] to ashes with a single shot from his cannon mode. Though in later episodes Galvatron is shown blowing up even small ''[[Thrull|planets]]'' and being able to take down [[Omega Supreme (G1)|Omega Supreme]] with one shot from his cannon, his extraordinary killing power seems to be gone—like when he scores a direct hit in cannon mode on Ultra Magnus in "[[Five Faces of Darkness, Part 5]]" and Magnus isn't especially hurt at all, or how a similar blast against Scourge in "[[The Burden Hardest to Bear]]" only leaves the latter temporarily incapacitated. [[Marvel Comics]] bios explain this by suggesting that Galvatron had nearly limitless power through Unicron... but then again, Galvatron himself claims to be "more powerful than ever" after Unicron is dead in "[[Five Faces of Darkness, Part 2]]". [[To sell toys|Who knows.]]
*Why didn't the Autobots notice Unicron until he was within devouring distance of Cybertron's moons? Why doesn't Shockwave, who is ''on Cybertron,'' react until after Unicron has eaten these moons, transformed into a giant robot, and ''smashed his hand into the planet's surface?''
*Despite running out of energon goodies on Quintessa, Hot Rod has at least one to offer to the Junkions.
**There might have been a stash of energon aboard the Quintesson ship. Or maybe he took it from the ship's fuel?
*How did Hot Rod and Kup know to fly from Quintessa to Junk?
[[File:TFTMStarscreamVsUnicron.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|Let me see your identification.]]
*When the Decepticons on Cybertron launch a counterattack on Unicron, all three of the first-year Seekers are seen fighting alongside the Coneheads. Given that all three were either explicitly killed earlier in the movie (Starscream) or have been turned into Galvatron's troops by this point (Thundercracker and Skywarp), they're obviously not supposed to be ''around'' in these forms anymore; of course, they could also just be [[generic]]s reusing their colors...but, as noted above, Thundercracker and Skywarp ''also'' appear at Starscream's coronation.
*Daniel, who was just learning how to use his exo-suit, had to knock down the acid cover inside Unicron to save his loved ones. Why couldn't the more experienced Spike do the same with his suit from above? He had both of his arms free and a clear shot at the cover.
**Maybe the claw that was carrying him had some kind of energy dampener that was stopping his guns from firing?
*It's not clear how Rodimus Prime (carrying two humans) and the other Autobots survived their jump out of Unicron's eye and their plunge towards the surface of Cybertron.
*It's also unclear just how the dozen or so Autobots (and one shipload of Junkions) managed to retake the whole planet of Cybertron. Did Unicron really wipe out ''that'' many Decepticons?
* Unicron's invincibility is extremely inconsistent; Moments before becoming Galvatron, Megatron creates visible damage to Unicron's horns simply by attempting to hold into something. Later, he doesn't suffer even a dent when one of Cybertron's moons is detonated in his mouth. Near the end, the Dinobots are capable of punching their way through his "skin", and Rodimus Prime just casually throws Galvatron into space through Unicron's side. Even without the Matrix, the small group of Autobots did pretty well against him.

===Not necessarily errors===
*Fans have noted throughout the years that Astrotrain, in his flight through zero-gravity space, should not have needed to "jettison some weight" in the literal sense. However, since the ejected Decepticons quickly fall behind Astrotrain instead of floating alongside him, he must still have been accelerating and thus would have needed to burn a greater amount of fuel in order to push a larger payload. Perhaps he should have said "jettison some ''mass''", but then again, just being a spaceship doesn't make him a rocket scientist.
*Springer escapes from Unicron's eye by transforming into helicopter mode and flying through outer space, where there shouldn't be an atmosphere for his rotors to provide lift. Maybe Unicron was still within Cybertron's atmosphere?

==Continuity notes==
*''The Transformers: The Movie'' has had a huge effect in shaping the mythos. Among the elements and characters which would reappear in many other iterations of ''[[Transformers brand|Transformers]]'' are:
**The notion that [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]] has moons.
**The [[Matrix of Leadership|Matrix]] as a physical object, rather than the computer program previously depicted in the [[Marvel Comics|Marvel]] [[The Transformers (Marvel comic)|comics]]. Even the Marvel comics would eventually shoehorn this one in.
**[[Autobot City (disambiguation)|Autobot City]].
**[[Unicron]].
**The notion of [[Megatron (disambiguation)|Megatron]] becoming [[Galvatron (disambiguation)|Galvatron]].
**The idea of "[[Prime (rank)|Prime]]" being a rank rather than simply a given name.
**[[The many deaths of Optimus Prime|And it killed off Optimus Prime before it was cool]]!
*Cybertron's appearance in the post-titles establishing shot shows some major changes to the planet since our last look at it in Season 2. Many of the same buildings from the cartoon's stock image of the planet are there, but the giant pit near the planet's equator is mostly covered over, and the shredded portion of its southern hemisphere has been completely rebuilt.
*Gadgets and powers:
**Springer deploys a small flip-out twin laser from his wrist during the Autobot City battle.
**Arcee and Hot Rod both activate a long-distance scanner of some sort by lowering a red visor from under their helmets over their eyes.
**Megatron uses an "[[Lightsaber|Energy Dagger]]"<ref>[https://twitter.com/walruslaw/status/1204860124898181123 Reference sheets for various weapons used or planned for use in ''The Transformers: The Movie''] - TFRaw.com on Twitter</ref> during his one-on-one battle with Optimus Prime.
**Hot Rod uses a saw blade that extends from his retracted wrist.
**Blurr has the same kind of hooked welding tip used by various Autobots as far back as "[[More than Meets the Eye, Part 2]]".
**Arcee unleashes a nasty barbed post from her fender to fend off a Junkion.
**Grimlock shows the never-before seen ability to [[GoBots|shoot lasers from his fists]].
*'''[[The Revenge of Bruticus|< <]]''' What makes Starscream the leader? Megatron's <s>dead</s> almost dead!

==Real-world references and Easter eggs==
[[File:TFTMUnicronSkyscrapers.jpg|thumb|I felt a great disturbance in the Force, as if millions of voices suddenly cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced.]]
*When the inside of Unicron is shown after he devours Lithone, the "blinking energy" effect of Unicron's innards shows, for a split second, what appear to be several images of post-apocalyptic buildings. These images look to be recycled background paintings from ''{{w|Fist of the North Star (1986 film)|Fist of the North Star}}'', a film [[Toei Animation|Toei]] had animated the same year. Regardless of animation efficiency/corner-cutting, the flashing images of ruined civilizations are eerily appropriate for Unicron.
[[File:TFTM Sludge Devastator.jpg|thumb|Your eyes can deceive you. Don't trust them.]]
*When Sludge gets haymakered by Devastator, his eyes pop out of their sockets in ''{{w|Looney Tunes}}'' fashion.
*Kup's storytelling sequence aboard the shuttle is drawn from the novel ''{{w|Of Mice and Men}}'', complete with Grimlock in the Lenny role asking Kup to "tell Grimlock about petrorabbits again".
*The Junkions speak almost entirely in pop culture quotes and pastiches. Littered among the generic phrases like "operators are standing by!", "Film at eleven" and "eliminate even the toughest stains" are more specific references, such as:
**"Don't look behind door #2, Monty!" - a reference to the game show ''[[Let's Make a Deal]]'' and its host, [[Monty]] Hall.
**"Ger-ronny-doo-ron-ron-ronny-mo!" - both the famous "{{w|Geronimo (exclamation)|Geronimo!}}" war cry, and the 1963 hit "{{w|Da Doo Ron Ron}}".
**"You check in, but you don't check out" - a parody of the tagline for {{w|Roach Motel (insect trap)|Roach Motel}} insect traps.
**"Breep, drit, aw rootie!" - part of {{w|Tutti Frutti (song)|"Tutti Frutti, aw rooty!"}}, from the 1955 song.
**"Happy motoring!" - the slogan of gas company [[Esso]].
**"Kill the Grand Poobah!" - a {{w|Grand Poobah|satirical term}} originating from {{w|Gilbert and Sullivan}}'s ''{{w|The Mikado}}'', likely referencing its use as the title of leaders of pseudo-Masonic lodges in ''{{w|The Flintstones}}'' and ''{{w|Happy Days}}''.
[[File:Tftm rosencrantz-and-guildenstern.jpg|thumb|Easy? You call that ''easy!?'']]
*The Quintesson jail cell includes robot debris ''strongly'' resembling [[:File:Tftm rosencrantz-and-guildenstern.jpg#parts|several mobile suits]] from 1985 Japanese animation ''{{w|Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam}}''.
*''[[Star Wars (film)|Star Wars]]'' sound effects (yes, even the high-budget Movie uses them):
**The ''[[Millennium Falcon]]'' engine burst noise is used extensively throughout the film, over and over and over, almost any time a Decepticon takes flight.

**[[Luke Skywalker]]'s deactivating [[lightsaber]] is used as the sound of the Quintesson ship's ramp extending.
**Clashing lightsabers are used as Unicron fires eye-blasts at the attacking Transformers.

**An igniting lightsaber is used as Rodimus opens the Matrix.
**An AT-AT foot stomp sound is heard as the Autobot shuttle crash lands on Junk.
**The whir of an AT-AT's leg hydraulics can be heard part way through Unicron's transformation.
*The ''[[Star Trek]]'' sliding door sound is used as Wreck-Gar pulls out his <s>iPhone</s> mini-TV.
*The sound used for the communicators on ''Star Trek'' is used when Daniel activates his blaster to save Spike.

==Adaptations==
*[[Transformers: The Movie (Marvel comic)|A comic adaptation of the movie]] was published by [[Marvel Comics]] in 1986, concurrently with the movie's theater run. It was based off a non-finalized version of the script, and differs in many details from the final film. Additionally, most of the major character models (and possibly their unedited original character write-ups) appear in issue #4 of the ''[[The Transformers Universe|Transformers Universe]]'' series.
*[[Transformers the Movie (Ladybird adaptation)|A storybook adaptation]] was released in the UK by [[Ladybird Books]].
*A four-part adaptation was released in 2006/2007 by [[IDW Publishing]], as part of the film's 20th anniversary celebration. It was titled ''[[Transformers: The Animated Movie]]'' to differentiate it from the [[Michael Bay]] [[Transformers (film)|live-action film]]. Unlike its predecessor, it adheres rigidly to the script and plot of the finished movie.

==Soundtrack==
{{main|The Transformers: The Movie - Original Motion Picture Soundtrack}}

==Promotions==
*Early in the movie's production, a [[The Transformers: The Movie promo|promotional trailer]] was made to sell the project to potential investors.
*The movie was advertised on related 1986 toy packages via the [[Decipher the Decepticon]] Sweepstakes, which included a pack-in poster and contest.
*The movie was heavily advertised directly by TV [[commercial]]s, and tail-end segments on Transformer toy ads. Portions of its story were also retold in altered fashion by animation segments of commercials for the movie character toys, such as a spot showing Springer doing battle with Wreck-Gar.
*[[Ziploc]] sandwich bags featuring an iron-on patch in boxed to advertise the movie. Each box contained one of eight potential characters.

==In the comic continuity==
The [[The Transformers (Marvel comic)|Marvel UK comic]] made extensive use of the Movie as the basis for a series of stories involving the Transformers in the future. However, there are several differences between the events seen on screen and those referenced in the comic:

*The comic always dates the movie to [[2006]], following the date given in a treatment that was all [[Simon Furman]] had when he wrote "[[Target: 2006]]".
*In "Target: 2006", [[Cyclonus (G1)|Cyclonus]] states that he was previously "[[Life Spark]]".
*The Matrix is always called the "Creation Matrix" in the comic, a name that predates the "Matrix of Leadership" but which is now used for the same physical object.
*[[Brawn (G1)|Brawn]] and [[Wheeljack (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Wheeljack]] both survive the events, both later appearing in "[[Space Pirates!]]" (set in [[2008]]).

In addition, [[Shockwave (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Shockwave]] definitely survives the attack by Unicron.

The US comic almost completely ignored the events of the Movie, though later in the run an alternative future is briefly shown in "[[Rhythms of Darkness!]]" and "[[A Savage Circle]]". In this timeline at least some of the events of the Movie took place such as the creation of [[Galvatron (G1)|Galvatron]] from [[Megatron (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Megatron]], which is dated to 2005, though [[Prowl (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Prowl]]'s death was overlooked. [[Prowl (TM2)|Wouldn't be the first time. Or the last.]]
*The US version of the future story "[[The Big Broadcast of 2006 (issue)|The Big Broadcast of 2006]]" implicitly has the events of the movie as part of its backstory. However, since the rest of the US series ignored the movie, this issue's place in the continuity is questionable.

==Edits==
Several English-language versions of the film exist, with the following differences in content from the American theatrical run:

*In some versions (notably the European version) the opening credits are replaced with a scrolling text ("''Star Wars'' style") which provides backstory.
*In some versions (notably the European version) the film ends with [[Victor Caroli|a narrator]] reassuring the audience that Optimus Prime will return.
*Instances of swearing in the film (there are two) were edited out; sometimes one, sometimes both. Those instances are: Spike yelling, "Oh shit, what are we gonna do now?" after the self-destructing Moon Base 2 fails to scratch Unicron, and Ultra Magnus growling, "Open, damn it, open!" while trying to open the Matrix to fend off Galvatron and the Sweeps on Junkion. The United Kingdom cinema version had the swearing included but, when it was released on VHS in the United Kingdom, Spike's line was cut ("damn" not being considered especially offensive in the UK). However it has been restored on all United Kingdom DVD releases.
*In some early FHE video releases, the shot of the Matrix falling out of Optimus Prime's hand and being caught by Hot Rod is edited so that it appears that Ultra Magnus simply takes the Matrix from Prime. Why this was done is not known, and the replay of the Hot Rod catch on Unicron's monitors was left intact.
*The original FHE video release of the film painted out all instances of Megatron's green-colored "bleeding" from the end of the battle of Autobot City up to his meeting with Unicron.
*Instead of DEG, the {{w|Rank Organisation|Rank Film}} "{{w|Gongman}}" appears before the British release of the film, as Rank were the United Kingdom distributors. Ironically, the DEG logo at the beginning uses the "Gongman" sounds, rather than its own fanfare, possibly due to a plastering mistake.

None of these edits significantly affect the story. They should not be confused with various other sequences which were changed before the film's final release:

*Originally, Ultra Magnus's "death sequence" on Junkion called for him to be lassoed and drawn and quartered by the Sweeps' energy beams, but this was deemed too graphic for audiences, hence the less disturbing "shot to death" sequence seen instead. There is evidence that the original sequence had been fully animated when the decision was made, however; the Sweeps still kept their solid energy lassos when they fire upon Magnus, and Magnus is seen visibly straining against what appears to be said lassos (edited out and replaced with laser fire) before exploding. This also explains why the Junkions only have to put his limbs back on to repair him.
*A number of other sequences were illustrated as [[storyboard]]s but dropped, presumably without ever being animated. Among them were:
**A short scene showing Ironhide piloting the Autobot shuttle through ''huge chunks of ice'' from the tail of a passing comet, explaining how the Decepticons caught them unawares. In response to a reprimand by Prowl who prickishly disapproves of Ironhide's piloting shenanigans, Ironhide exclaims, "I can sure as shootin' dodge a couple of ice chunks". When the Autobots are suddenly jolted by the Decepticon strike force as Megatron and his troops attempt to enter the shuttle, Ironhide tells the others on board, "That was no ice chunk...". Heroic nonsense ensues...
**An extended sequence with Hot Rod and Daniel outside the city.
**A sequence of Mirage blasting Bombshell and being fired on by Megatron.
**The Autobots finally bringing down Devastator with a barrage of missiles (and the Constructicons subsequently shooting Red Alert in the back).
**The Decepticons dogpiling Optimus Prime, explaining why he seems to be standing up just before his fight with Megatron, and no longer holding his rifle. According to storyboards, Prime gets bum-rushed by Blitzwing (who causes Prime to drop his gun), Starscream, Astrotrain, and Skywarp. While it is not clear how Prime defeated the first four hand-to-hand combatants, Dirge is later shown attempting one final sneak attack (and gets his can handed back to him) as Prime is talking to Megatron before the two leaders' final fight.
**Trailbreaker is shown dead among the wreckage of Autobot City as the Decepticons begin their retreat.
:Some of these concepts were in earlier versions of the script, and hence made it into the comic adaptation.
*Rumors have occasionally circulated in the fandom of additional animated footage that was dropped from the film, such as ultra-violent battle scenes.<ref>https://groups.google.com/g/alt.toys.transformers/c/B0ZMv7tdDMk?hl=en#8aee0b30765b2b4a</ref> No evidence has ever surfaced to back these claims; the only known edits of any storyline or character importance are those listed in this section.
:{{see|Misconceptions and urban legends about Transformers#The Transformers: The Movie|Urban legends about ''The Transformers: The Movie''}}

==Reception and box office==
{{quote|''The Transformers'', in which Orson Welles plays a planet, is pure headache material. Target audience of cartoon-watchers also will probably find the film unintelligible, noisy and unoriginal. Boxoffice prospects are dismal.|2=[http://books.google.com/books?id=DHNZAAAAMAAJ&q=Hasbro+Transformers&dq=Hasbro+Transformers&lr=&as_drrb_is=b&as_minm_is=1&as_miny_is=1983&as_maxm_is=12&as_maxy_is=2005&num=50&as_brr=0&cd=69 Variety's Film Reviews 1985-1986, Volume 19]}}

{{quote|Obnoxious animated feature about the title good guys, who defend the universe against an evil planet (which has a voice of its own... provided by Orson Welles.) That deafening rock score certainly doesn't help. Little more than a feature-length toy commercial.|Leonard Maltin, ''1987 Movie & Video Guide''}}

{{quote|While all this action may captivate young children, the animation is not spectacular enough to dazzle adults, and the Transformers have few truly human elements to lure parents along, even when their voices are supplied by well-known actors. |2=[http://www.nytimes.com/1986/08/09/movies/screen-transformers-animation-for-children.html The New York Times]}}

{{quote|Transformers -- The Movie, a feature-length animated film inspired by the syndicated TV cartoon series inspired by the Hasbro toy imported from Japan, is utterly uninspired entertainment. |2=[http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=DM&p_theme=dm&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0ED3CE8EA8D40CCA&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM The Dallas Morning News]}}

{{quote|If you can swallow, without gagging, a large measure of sentimental and offensive religiosity - lines like "Do not grieve. Soon I will be one with the Matrix," whispered by a failing hunk of Autobot metal - then you have a better than even chance of leaving the theatre on your own two feet. |2=[http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=01kiAAAAIBAJ&sjid=W6gFAAAAIBAJ&pg=2445,1286000&dq=transformers&hl=en The Montreal Gazette]}}

{{quote|Everything is poorly drawn and - when it's in focus - one dimensional. It is terribly hard to separate the robots from the backgrounds, and there is no easy way to tell the good guys from the bad guys. In an earlier movie based on the same sort of robot toys - "Go-Bots: The Battle of the Rock Lords" - the good guys were either white or colorful and the bad guys were dreary, and they had distinct personalities. Not this movie; everyone looks and sounds alike, except one pink robot who is a female good guy. Her tin voluptuousness makes her stand out. |2=[http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=kw4wAAAAIBAJ&sjid=OgMEAAAAIBAJ&pg=6957,6334152&dq=transformers&hl=en The Toledo Blade]}}

{{quote|Even with an all-star cast doing the voice overs... and a rock music score, this is still nothing more than a ripoff of a successful toy line. |2=[http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=AYckAAAAIBAJ&sjid=dtsFAAAAIBAJ&pg=4192,1494652&dq=transformers&hl=en The Palm Beach Post]}}

{{quote|The great animated villains, like the Wicked Queen in Disney's "Snow White," had motivations as compelling as any live-action character. Unicron apparently destroys entire worlds because it has nothing else to do. |2=[http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/latimes/access/57996397.html?dids=57996397:57996397&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Aug+8%2C+1986&author=CHARLES+SOLOMON&pub=Los+Angeles+Times+(pre-1997+Fulltext)&edition=&startpage=8&desc=%60THE+TRANSFORMERS%27%3A+STRETCHING+A+POINT The LA Times]}}

{{quote|A surprisingly dark, emotional, and almost excessively cynical experience for Transformers fans.|2=[http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/transformers_the_the_movie/ Rotten Tomatoes]}}

''The Transformers: The Movie'' was almost universally panned by professional critics upon its release.

Well-known film critic and animation enthusiast, Leonard Maltin, gave it a rating below 1 1/2 stars in his ''1987 Movie & Video Guide'', regarding it as a "bomb", then proceeded to write an unflattering blurb denouncing the film as a "feature-length toy commercial".

Caryn James of the ''New York Times'' admitted in the [[August 9]], 1986, edition of the paper that the film was intended for young children, pointing out that the kids in the audience were having a grand ole time with the ''Transformer'' toys and comics they brought with them to the theater, but derided the film as having little to no appeal to adults.

''Variety's Film Reviews 1985-1986, Volume 19 '' was far less even-handed in their review, claiming the film had no appeal to adults ''or'' children. They predicted the film would perform poorly in the box office (and were correct, in that regard).

Carrie Rickey of the ''Dallas Morning News'' chided the film in the [[August 13]], 1986, issue of the paper, describing it as "essentially a cartoon ''Star Wars'' about robots from a toybox galaxy far, far away". She then went on to say that the film "never takes off" and derided it as "uninspired".

Janice Kennedy of the ''Montreal Gazette'' verbally disemboweled the film in the [[August 23]], 1986, edition of the paper, criticizing it as overly commercial, profane, loud, violent, humorless, heavy-handed in its religious messages and chaulk-full of gratuitous celebrity voice-overs. Her only compliment: "But ''The Transformers: The Movie'' does have at least one good thing going for it, a howlingly appropriate song by [["Weird Al" Yankovic]]. It's title? ''Dare to be Stupid''." ''Ouch''.

Nanciann Cherry in the August 13, 1986, edition of the ''Toledo Blade'' claimed the robots in the movie had little personality and faded into the background. She even went on to say that ''[[GoBots]]: {{gb|GoBots: Battle of the Rock Lords|Battle of the Rock Lords}}'' was a superior film! Her review was filled with inaccuracies, however, citing characters such as "Unicon" and claiming that the destruction of Cybertron's moons by "Unicon" is what caused the Autobots to travel to Autobot City, at which point Megatron attacked. To be fair, she readily admits, "About 20 minutes into the film, I gave up on the plot and tried to count all the ideas that were stolen from other sources. Now that kept me busy." So she wasn't really paying attention, anyway.

Kathryn Buxton in the [[August 22]], 1986, edition of the ''Palm Beach Post'' gave the film a whopping ''one'' star, calling it "a ripoff of a successful toyline", whatever ''that'' means. In the same article, she also gave David Cronenberg's ''[[Fly|The Fly]]'' one star, just for reference.

In the August 8, 1986, edition of the ''LA Times'', critic Charles Solomon made clear his dislike for the film centered primarily on the fact that none of the characters had interesting or believable motivation. He stated, "Not even the best actor can create a character out of nothing. Not one of the robots has a reason for doing what he does." Solomon then pointed to Unicron specifically as an example of the lack of deep, multi-dimensional motivations in the characters.

Over time, however, the movie has acquired something of a cult following beyond the core base of [[fandom|Transformers fans]], particularly among children of the '80s. It is sometimes screened as a midnight movie at colleges. Online, it is not hard to find amateur reviews lauding everything about it as utterly awesome, from the premise to the soundtrack, and dismissing more critical views out of hand. ''The Transformers: The Movie'' currently holds a 62% "fresh" rating based on 25 professional reviews at online review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes.<ref>http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/transformers_the_the_movie/</ref> In response to the film's cult following, several reviewers have compared the film in a favourable light to the [[Live-action film series|live-action film]]s (prior to the unprecedented critical success of [[Bumblebee (film)|Bumblebee]]), stating that they lack the heart or nostalgia of the '86 movie.<ref>https://www.inverse.com/article/7309-6-enduring-legacies-of-1986-s-animated-the-transformers-the-movie</ref><ref>https://slate.com/culture/2007/07/transformers-why-the-original-animated-movie-is-still-the-best.html</ref><ref>https://www.cinemablend.com/new/Sorry-Michael-Bay-Why-1986-Transformers-Movie-Best-43582.html</ref>

===Box office===
An [[August 30]]th, 1987 ''Los Angeles Times'' article on the decline and fall of the DeLaurentiis Entertainment Group listed ''The Transformers: The Movie'' as grossing $2.6 million in the United States on a $5 million budget.<ref>https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1987-08-30-fi-5144-story.html</ref> Both it and ''My Little Pony: The Movie'' (which earned $2.8 million on a $5.5 million budget per that same article) were financial failures, together losing Hasbro about $10 million in an otherwise profitable year.<ref>{{citesocial|quote=... we just accidentally found the budget for The Transformers: The Movie while skimming a book about My Little Pony. Thanks, @sherilyn! https://t.co/epw3GW83lE|link=https://twitter.com/tfwiki/status/895169922678042625|name=TFWiki|site=Twitter|year=2017|month=08|day=09|(defunct=)}}</ref>

Confusingly, in comparison to the ''Los Angeles Times'' article, modern box office tracking sites<ref>http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=transformers.htm</ref><ref>http://www.the-numbers.com/movies/1986/0TRTM.php</ref> list ''The Transformers: The Movie'' as having made $5,849,647 in domestic (e.g., United States) theaters. Comparing this with the other online box office takes from animated films of 1986, the results are not particularly charitable; while it did better financially than ''{{gb|GoBots: Battle of the Rock Lords}}''<ref>http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=gobots.htm</ref> ($1,338,264) and ''Heathcliff: The Movie''<ref>http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=heathcliff.htm</ref> ($2,610,686), it performed worse than the 1986 ''[[My Little Pony]]'' movie<ref>http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=mylittlepony.htm</ref> ($5,958,456) and the '''second''' ''Care Bears'' movie<ref>http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=carebearsmovie2.htm</ref> ($8,540,346). Bringing up ''The Great Mouse Detective''<ref>http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=greatmousedetective.htm</ref> ($25,336,794) and ''An American Tail''<ref>http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=americantail.htm</ref> ($47,483,002) would really just be overkill.

==Significance in Transfandom==
''The Transformers: The Movie'' remains one of the most important elements of the entire Transformers brand, both within the fiction and from the perspective of the brand's popularity and "mindshare".

Fictionally, it established several story concepts that have been used repeatedly in the years since 1986, some of which—such as Unicron and the Matrix—are now central to the entire Transformers mythos. The movie is also the centerpiece of the most well-known Transformers continuity: the Generation 1 animated universe. The ''Transformers'' cartoon is split into "pre-movie" and "post-movie" sections which feature different characters and settings, and even somewhat different visual styles. (Most pre-movie episodes were animated by the studio [[Toei Animation|Toei]], while most post-movie episodes were animated by [[AKOM]].)

On a practical note, it was widely available on videotape, and remained so long after the ''The Transformers'' cartoon had gone off the air. Only a [[Family Home Entertainment|handful of series episodes]] were available on video, making ''The Transformers: The Movie'' the logical choice for someone looking to pick up a ''Transformers'' cartoon; this made it far more well known among fans than any particular cartoon episode.

To an entire generation of young fans, the movie was the most visually spectacular and narratively epic ''Transformers'' experience of their entire youth. Events such as the death of Optimus Prime are widely reported to have reduced many kids to tears. It is hardly a surprise that these emotional experiences embedded themselves deeply in many fans' memories.

Latter-day ''Transformers'' stories have made uncountable references (though [[The Transformers: The Movie/references|we're trying]]) to the movie, lifting or borrowing elements of its [[Minus One|dialogue]], [[The Transformers: Autocracy|fight sequences]], [[A Flash Forward|subplots]], [[Heavy Is the Head|details]], [[Less Than Zero|settings]] and more, as writers have discovered that a shout-out to the movie is a quick and easy way to win cheers from [[GEEWUN|some segments]] of [[Fandom|their audience]]. Even Hasbro and Takara themselves have gotten in on the act, producing a variety of toys based on the minutia of the film: [[Starscream (Armada)#Cybertron|Starscream's crown]], [[Galvatron (G1)/toys#United|Galvatron's creation]], the awakening of [[Hot Rod (G1)/toys#Masterpiece|Rodimus Prime]], and more. The fandom, for their part, pores over new ''Transformers'' fiction, often latching on to even the most tangential of details as a [[The Search for Alpha Trion#Quotes|"reference"]] to the movie, [[The Burden Hardest to Bear|coincidental or not]]. Call-outs, real or perceived, were once a rare treat - but now are so common that many fans are more likely to groan than cheer whenever some version of Optimus Prime declares that "[[One Shall Fall|One shall stand...]]" or a damaged character states that "[[Unfinished|I still function]]" or a vengeful blast is preceded by "[[The Illusion of Control|Here's a hint]]" or yet another Soundwave says yet another variation of "[[Human Error, Part II|Soundwave superior]]", or... well... this:

<center><gallery>
File:Transformersanimatedfilmposter.jpg|'86
File:TFTM1.jpg|'86 again
File:Botcon2000-movieposter.jpg|2000
File:TFvol1 31cvrRI.jpg|2010
File:Timelines10 diamonded.jpg|2014
File:Echoes and Fragments cover.jpg|2016
File:LL1 Riptcvr.jpg|2018
</gallery></center>

In 2016, thirty years after the release of the film, [[Optimus Prime (G1)/2005 IDW continuity|Optimus Prime]] gave us perhaps one of the most meta comeback lines in franchise history. When [[Galvatron (G1)/2005 IDW continuity|Galvatron]] declares that "Today — one shall stand, and two shall fall!", Optimus simply punches him in the face with a flat "No cliches, Galvatron", voicing once and for all just how sick we've gotten of '86 quotes. {{storylink|All Hail Optimus Part 6: No Fair Fights|No Fair Fights}}

{{quote|...wait, I only just noticed something. Did they actually manage to go the entire episode without quoting the 86 movie?|[http://www.allspark.com/forums/topic/94625-episode-65-beast-hunters-episode-13/page-4#entry2360303 Allspark poster Unit Eleven]}}

==Criticisms==
[[File:TFTM Ratchet dies.jpg|left|thumb|Only [[Stormtrooper (SW)|Imperial Stormtroopers]] are so precise.]]
All this is not all to say that the movie is a "masterpiece", exactly. The film met with extremely harsh critical reviews on its release, and some of those criticisms still ring true today.

The film displays an arguably cynical attitude towards itself as [[To sell toys|a vehicle for advertising toys]], especially in the way [[The Transformers (cartoon)/cast|beloved characters]] are killed—sometimes gratuitously—for sake of justifying the story's focus on a new group of toys. (Note that with the exception of Laserbeak and possibly Buzzsaw, the poster at the top of this article features ''only'' new characters.)

Further, the two primary plot devices—[[Unicron/Generation 1|Unicron]] and the [[Matrix of Leadership|Matrix]]—have no prior establishment in the fiction. Unicron is given no backstory ([[Call of the Primitives|until season 3]]) or justification; he simply exists, is very dangerous, and is afraid of the Matrix, all for no adequately explained reason. The introduction of the Matrix itself is a heavy [[retcon]]. The story asks the audience to accept that this cosmically powerful artifact has been in Optimus Prime's possession all along (even though Prime's open-chested repair scene in "[[Divide and Conquer]]" and his X-ray scene in "[[A Prime Problem]]" show absolutely no signs of said Matrix), but has somehow never been relevant before. In fact, this lack of prior establishment is what led [[Simon Furman]] to develop the divinity backstory of Unicron and [[Primus]] in the UK comics run.

[[File:Megatronlightsaber.jpg|thumb|Your powers are weak, old man!]]
The movie bears many similarities to ''[[Star Wars (film)|Star Wars]]'': There are several character-parallels ([[Springer (G1)|Springer]] is a [[Han Solo]]-type and [[Arcee (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Arcee]] even has Princess Leia's hairdo!), the primary threat is similar (it's the [[Death Star]]... [[Unicron/Generation 1|but it transforms!]]), and both feature a climactic battle where the [[Hot Rod (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|young hero]] hears the voice of his [[Optimus Prime (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|dead, wise mentor]] one last time before saving the day.

To be a bit more fair to ''The Transformers: The Movie'', however, most of these similarities are either superficial (Arcee's Leia-hair; Megatron's "lightsaber" he briefly uses in his duel against Optimus Prime) or can be seen as elements common to thousands of years' worth of epic storytelling through human history, not just common to ''Star Wars''. As a simple example, the phenomenon of two charismatic leaders dealing each other mortal injuries in battle hearkens back to some versions of the "[[King Arthur]]" myth; in their final battle, [[Optimus Prime (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Arthur]] and his arch-enemy [[Megatron (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Sir Mordred]] deal one another lethal injuries and both apparently expire—though Arthur according to the legend will [[The Return of Optimus Prime, Part 1|return]] when [[Cybertron (planet)|England]]'s need [[Darkest hour|is greatest]].
{{--}}

==Formatting==
[[File:Tftm widescreenesque.jpg|upright=1.66|thumb|The "widescreen" picture (left) actually ''cuts off'' the top and bottom of the fullscreen picture (right). Your eyes can deceive you; don't trust them.]]
Although it was billed in some advertisements before its theatrical release as being "widescreen", the movie was in fact animated in a 4:3 (fullscreen) aspect ratio. For its theatrical screenings, the film was matted down in the projector by the projectionist to a 16:9 aspect ratio (widescreen), chopping the top and bottom off the picture, but all video transfers of the movie were done without mattes, meaning that there was actually more picture visible in the fullscreen video and DVD releases than there would have been in theaters. Across 2006 and 2007, new editions of the DVD of the film were released by Sony BMG and [[Metrodome]] which applied the mattes in order to replicate the original theatrical presentation of the film for the first time in home entertainment. Some fans, however, didn't realize that the film wasn't actually ''animated'' in widescreen, and, hearing that the DVD was to be in widescreen, expected to see the fullscreen image with additional footage at the sides, causing them to complain that the top and bottom were cut off, thereby totally missing the point.
{{--}}

==International versions==
{{main|The Transformers: The Movie/dubs}}

==Commercial releases==
[[File:TFTM LaserDisc cover.jpg|thumb|The cover image from the original Japanese home media release of the movie.]]
*The movie was originally released in North America on VHS and Beta on [[September 17]], 1987<ref>http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1964&dat=19870911&id=YhAuAAAAIBAJ&sjid=Ls8FAAAAIBAJ&pg=3198,2881581</ref> by [[Family Home Entertainment]], minus Spike's swear. Just days before, on [[September 14]], 1987<ref>https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0003579/19870910/016/0016</ref>, it was released in the UK by [[Video Gems]]. This version featured the opening text crawl and closing narration inherent to the UK version of the film. In Australia, the film was released on video by RCA/Columbia Pictures/Hoyts. In Japan, [[Sohbi Kikaku|Hill Crane]] released a {{w|LaserDisc}} version alongside a VHS copy, both sporting a gorgeous painted cover that decorated many a fan's desktop back in the day.
*The movie was released spottily in the '90s, beginning with a budget VHS by Avid Home Entertainment in 1991. [[Malofilm]] released a VHS in Canada in 1995, notable for being the first home entertainment version to include Spike's swear. In 1998, Japanese company Pioneer produced another pair of LaserDisc and VHS releases. In 1999, things kicked off when American company [[Rhino Entertainment|Kid Rhino]] secured the Transformers license and released the film on VHS once again.
*The 21st century's flirtation with ''The Transformers: The Movie'' started with a UK budget VHS release of that country's version by [[Sony|Sony Wonder]], distributed by [[Maverick Entertainment]]. A Japanese company called CatCo followed this up with a VideoCD, and Malofilm—now Seville—were the first to release a DVD version of the film, though it was just a dump of their VHS version.
*In November 2000, ''The Transformers: The Movie'' got its first, full professional DVD release from Kid Rhino. This edition, labelled a "Special Collector's Edition", is the first to feature remastered video and audio, and several special features, including storyboards and an interview with [[Vince DiCola]]. Rhino concurrently released this version on VHS, sans extras.
*In 2001 in the UK, Sony Wonder released their own much-delayed DVD version of the film. It was the UK version of the film, but included Spike's swear. However, the release was burdened by badly interlaced video, though it notably included the [[Omni Productions]] dub version of the ''[[Transformers: The Headmasters (cartoon)|Headmasters]]'' episode "[[Four Warriors Come out of the Sky]]" as an extra. This version (including the ''Headmasters'' episode) was simultaneously released on VHS.
*The movie was released on DVD in Australia in 2003 by [[Madman Entertainment]], using the same video as the Maverick version, but distinguished by some nifty new cover art by [[Don Figueroa]], and special features not seen on other editions, such as ''[[Stan Bush|The Touch]]'' music video and 80s TV spots.
[[File:Tftm uk covers.jpg|thumb|The UK poster art (left) has been the most common DVD and VHS cover in its home country, but the Ultimate Edition featured new art by Andy Wildman (right).]]
*After acquiring the license to release ''Transformers'' DVDs in the UK, [[Metrodome]] focused on completing their run of series box sets before turning their attention to the movie properly, releasing only a cheap budget DVD of the UK version through Prism Leisure with no extras, and a [[PlayStation|UMD]] of the same version.
*In 2005, Metrodome released ''Transformers: The Movie - Reconstructed'', a new version of the film designed to expose as much of the animated picture as possible. This, however, only resulted in exposing the rough, unfinished edges of the animation, and an overly pale remaster was compounded by excessive interlacing due to an unnecessary NTSC to PAL transfer. This, coupled with a 5.1 remix from [[Magno Sound & Video]], featuring the same extra sound effects that they added to Rhino's season box sets, made this release both controversial and disappointing to many. This was the first time that the US version of the movie was released in the UK, and the first to feature the US poster art as a cover (although a Silverscreen store exclusive version of the disc included a reversible cover with the UK poster art as well). Extras include trailers, TV spots, the character biographies from the Madman release, a looped version of the Lion ''Transformers'' theme on the main menu, and a subtitled version of "[[Four Warriors Come out of the Sky]]".
[[File:Tftm sony covers.jpg|thumb|Sony's covers, by Don Figueroa.]]
*For the movie's 20th anniversary in 2006, new license holder [[Sony|Sony BMG]] released a two-disc special edition of the film, featuring both a high-quality widescreen remaster and the original fullscreen version, audio commentaries from crew and fans, several new featurettes interviewing those involved in the movie's production, storyboards, TV spots, American and Japanese commercials and more. Most notably, this version included the first Western release of "[[Scramble City: Mobilization]]", albeit silent and unsubtitled, featuring only audio commentary. Also very notable is that this version includes an actual deleted scene from the animated film as an extra, though it is more of interest as a curiosity than anything it actually contains, being an approximately 2-second-long aerial view of the Autobots running towards the critically damaged Optimus Prime. This release featured two covers by Don Figueroa: one is of the '84-'85 cast that appear in the movie, and one is of the movie's new characters, available either as a lenticular hologram that switches between the two, or as a reversible sleeve with the images printed on either side.
[[File:Tftm madman covers.jpg|thumb|Madman's 2003 DVD cover (left), and their 2007 Special Edition cover (right).]]
*Delayed a bit to coincide with the hype for the 2007 [[Transformers (film)|live-action movie]], Metrodome also released a two-disc "Ultimate Edition" with a different widescreen master. Like "Reconstructed", this version used the US edition of the film, but this time, the UK version was also included, in fullscreen, on the second disc. Extras include TV spots, commercials, the Madman biographies, storyboards, commentary, "Scramble City" (with audio and subtitles), featurettes with [[Flint Dille]] and [[Peter Cullen]], and more. The double-disc edition was sold in a steel case featuring new art by [[Andrew Wildman]], with the UK poster art adorning the standard case inside. Various store exclusives were available, including postcards from Play.Com, a reversible cover with the US poster art from HMV, art cards from Virgin Megastore and [[posters]] from Woolworths and [[Toys"R"Us]]. It was also available in an extra-less single-disc version. This version was premiered at the Mid Ulster Film Festival in Ireland which was the only cinema showing of the remastered version of the film to date.
[[File:ShoutFactory TFTM BluDVD.jpg|thumb|Shout! Factory's 2016 Blu-ray cover.]]
*The film was released in Full HD 1080p on Blu-ray in the UK in October 2007. The Blu-ray is not region-locked, so it will play anywhere in the world. It features a 2.0 soundtrack, 5.1 Dolby Digital track, and a full bitrate DTS 5.1 track. The master used was the same used by Sony for their US DVD. Sadly, there are no extras on the DVD. The version of the film on the Blu-ray is the US one, complete with curse words.
*Madman produced their two-disc special edition through some collaboration with Metrodome, and consequently it features much of the same content, with additional extras taking the form of The Touch music video and a bonus episode of ''[[Beast Wars: Transformers (cartoon)|Beast Wars]]''. This release again features cover artwork by Don Figueroa, specifically the cover of [[IDW Publishing|IDW]]'s ''[[Transformers: The Animated Movie]]'' adaptation.
*For the film's 30th Anniversary, and after being out of print in the US for 10 years, the film was rereleased on Region 1 DVD and given its first Region A Blu-ray release on [[September 13]], [[2016]] by [[Shout! Factory]]. Both versions are sourced from a brand-new 4K transfer which underwent extensive color-correction and remastering, and a Steelbook packaging variant of the Blu-ray was also made available.<ref>[https://www.shoutfactory.com/film/action-adventure/the-transformers-the-movie-limited-edition-30th-anniversary-steelbook The Transformers: The Movie Limited Edition 30th Anniversary Steelbook]</ref> The Steelbook Blu-ray was released in the UK by [[Manga Entertainment]] as a limited edition on December 12, 2016, followed by a standard edition release a year later.
*On September 27, 2018, Fathom Events screened the movie at select theaters in the United States. The movie was preceded by an interview with [[Travis Knight]] and [[Hailee Steinfeld]] and a preview of a scene from ''[[Bumblebee (film)|Bumblebee]]'', and followed by a short featurette of Stan Bush discussing the music he contributed to the movie and performing acoustic versions of ''The Touch'' and ''Dare''.<ref>[http://news.tfw2005.com/2018/08/01/1986-transformers-movie-hitting-theaters-one-night-only-369314 1986 Transformers Movie Hitting Theaters One Night Only!]</ref> Cineplex would later show the movie in Canadian theaters on October 4.
*For the 35th anniversary, Shout! Factory produced the first 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray release of the movie — presented in widescreen only — and a remastered fullscreen 1080p Blu-ray. Feature-length storyboards and the Stan Bush featurette from the 2018 Fathom Events screening were added as new bonus features. The two discs were first made available in a limited edition SteelBook with four art cards on [[August 3]], [[2021]]<ref>[https://www.shoutfactory.com/product/the-transformers-the-movie-35th-anniversary-limited-edition-steelbook?product_id=7636 The Transformers: The Movie [35th Anniversary Limited Edition Steelbook]]</ref>; a wide release in standard packaging followed on [[September 28]]<ref>[https://www.shoutfactory.com/product/the-transformers-the-movie-35th-anniversary-edition?product_id=7668 The Transformers: The Movie [35th Anniversary Edition]]</ref>, as did a third set comprised of the new fullscreen Blu-ray and a widescreen DVD<ref>[https://www.shoutfactory.com/product/the-transformers-the-movie-35th-anniversary-edition-1?product_id=7667 The Transformers: The Movie [35th Anniversary Edition]]</ref>. Cover art for the new releases was created by [[Matt Ferguson]].
**Region B versions of the Shout! Factory 35th Anniversary discs were distributed by Funimation and released on [[October 25]], and an additional collector's edition set was made exclusive to Zavvi, packaging the 4K and Blu-ray discs with an art book, poster and six art cards.<ref>[https://www.zavvi.com/blu-ray/the-transformers-the-movie-35th-anniversary-zavvi-exclusive-4k-ultra-hd-limited-collectors-edition-includes-blu-ray/13169855.html The Transformers: The Movie 35th Anniversary - Zavvi Exclusive 4K Ultra HD Limited Collectors Edition (Includes Blu-ray)]</ref> Zavvi also partnered with Ferguson to release a line of art prints and apparel featuring his cover art.
*Fathom Events once again returned the film to select theaters on [[September 26]]–[[September 27|27]], 2021, accompanied by a set of [[The Transformers: The Movie 35th Anniversary Stop Motions|stop-motion comedy videos]] inspired by the film.

==Television broadcasts==
Following a segmented, five-part broadcast during [[The Transformers (cartoon)#Season 5|the fifth season of ''The Transformers'']], the complete feature film was aired on American television in 1989 via Fox stations. Air dates and times were June 17 at Noon, July 30 at 11 A.M. and September 2 at 10 A.M. Of course, this was the language-edited video release from Family Home Entertainment.

The movie was aired on [[Hub Network|The Hub]] on February 18, 2012, following [[Orion Pax, Part 1|the Season 2 premiere]] of ''[[Transformers: Prime (cartoon)|Transformers: Prime]]'' on what was called "Transformers Mega Saturday". Uniquely, this version combined the European opening narration with the US scrawl-free opening credits, muted the two swear words (rendering the lines as "It isn't even dented! ...What do we do now?!" and "Open... ''Open!''"), used the European closing narration at the end, and sped up the scroll of the end credits to cut it down for time, ending the lyrics of the [[theme song]] around the beginning of its second verse ("Strong enough to break the bravest heart..."). Subsequent re-airings on The Hub aired this version of the movie.

The American television airing of the feature film adds one extra sound effect, and it has never been heard in any other release. During the scene when Arcee is racing to jump aboard the departing Autobot shuttle, there is a distinctive sound effect when she jumps. In all other releases there is no sound effect.

A July 4, 2014 Hub broadcast of the movie markets it as ''Transformers: The Animated Movie'', distinguishing it from that computer animation/live action [[Transformers (film)|hybrid film]] with the similar title made two decades and one year later.

==Notes==
*According to [[Buzz Dixon]], Hasbro's decision to kill off Optimus Prime was actually an attempt to maintain some brand-storytelling parity with ''[[G.I. Joe (franchise)|G.I. Joe]]'', as Dixon had just convinced them to allow the death of [[Duke (G.I. Joe)|Duke]] in ''{{w|G.I. Joe: The Movie}}'' and both films were in production at the same time.<ref>https://web.archive.org/web/20151215034944/http://www.joeheadquarters.com/interviews_dixon.shtml</ref>

*After reading [[Ron Friedman]]'s [[The Transformers: The Movie (first draft)|first draft]] of the movie's script, [[Flint Dille]] and [[Jay Bacal]] hastily wrote and proposed a script of their own, "[[The Secret of Cybertron]]", which later informed the cartoon five-parter "[[Five Faces of Darkness]]". Elements of this script also supposedly made it into the finished film, but no copy of the script has ever surfaced.

*This film was the last professional performance by [[Orson Welles]], who died only a month later. According to production materials shown at [[BotCon 2000]] by Tim Finn, the voice recording sessions for ''The Transformers: The Movie'' were done on [[September 10]] and [[September 11|11]] of 1985. Welles died on [[October 10]] of that same year. It has often been speculated that Unicron's last line ("Destiny… you cannot destroy my destiny!") was recorded by another actor—possibly [[Leonard Nimoy|Nimoy]]—because it sounds different than the other lines. This speculation has been quashed by statements by Transformers voice director [[Wally Burr]].<ref>http://cybertronchronicle.freewebspace.com/60-astrominutes/wally-burr/wally-burr-3.html</ref>
[[File:Windcharger wheeljack otp.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|Uncle Owen! Aunt Beru!!]]

*With the exception of Starscream and possibly Shockwave, only the Autobots suffered fatalities in the movie. All of the other "dead" Decepticons from the Autobot City battle were rebuilt into Galvatron's new troops, and although more Decepticons were shown taking heavy damage and suffering huge casualties while fighting Unicron, their identities and their final condition are uncertain. Additionally, both Starscream and Unicron survived in the post-movie series in some form or another. Shockwave's death in the finished film is highly uncertain, although in the script it is fairly strongly implied. Regardless, Shockwave was originally intended to appear in the immediate post-movie story "Five Faces of Darkness", serving in the role that was ultimately given to Blitzwing, before an internal [[Sunbow Productions|Sunbow]] memo clarified that his character had been dropped from the series.<ref>[https://drive.google.com/file/d/1bid3TK_q2HxH7NR5MDAlGsKe5AlcbBnU/view Partial outline of "Five Faces of Darkness", covering Parts 3 to 5]</ref> Shockwave does make some miscolored appearances in crowd shots in later cartoon episodes, but these are probably examples of the fairly common animation errors in those episodes.

*Somewhat ironically, though only three of the original eighteen Autobots — [[Jazz (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Jazz]], [[Cliffjumper (G1)#Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Cliffjumper]], and [[Bumblebee (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Bumblebee]] — are definitively shown to have survived the movie, two would quite literally never be heard from again: [[Scatman Crothers]] passed away (though this didn't stop Jazz from making any number of background cameos) while Casey Kasem [[Casey Kasem#Notes|quit the show early in the third season]]. Fate's finger is fickle indeed.

*The Dinobots spend the majority of the film in their dinosaur modes, a practice that would eventually carry into season 3 of the cartoon. Swoop is the only one to spend extended amounts of time in robot mode, due to the anatomical issues of walking in a flight-based mode. However, there are some instances where they're briefly shown in robot mode for blink-and-you-miss-it moments, for no reason whatsoever. Additionally, despite his constant presence among the Dinobots, Sludge has no lines in the film at all.

*Unicron's roars in the movie were stock vocalizations originally created for Marvel Productions' 1982 ''The Incredible Hulk'' animated series and performed by voice actor Bob Holt, who voiced the [[Hulk]] in that show. Holt otherwise never voiced a character in the Marvel/Sunbow Transformers series (although he was a regular member of the ''{{gb|Challenge of the GoBots (cartoon)|Challenge of the GoBots}}'' cast as the original voice of [[Cop-Tur (GoBots)|Cop-Tur]]), and had passed away the year before ''The Transformers: The Movie'' was released in 1986. Thus, Unicron has the distinction of featuring ''two'' posthumous performances for the same Transformers character in a single production.

*[[:File:TFTM-MaybeBeachcomber.jpg|A robot resembling Beachcomber]] appears alongside Spike and the Autobots inside Unicron seconds before Daniel blasts the acid cover. Whether this was actually meant to be Beachcomber or just coincidental coloring is unknown, but regardless, Beachcomber shows up alive and well in "[[Five Faces of Darkness, Part 5]]".

*Pieces of music from the movie would later be used in the [[Commodore 64]] version of ''Turrican''. For instance, basically unaltered bits of "[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VWFx-Go6Y6A Escape]" make up [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w6jjpwpDVNY Subsong Two of the game's title theme].
{{--}}

===Foreign names===
*''German:'' '''''Transformers: Der Kampf um Cybertron''''' ("Transformers: The Battle for Cybertron", TV airings only)
*''French:'' '''''La Guerre des Robots''''' ("The War of the Robots")
*''Japanese:'' '''''トランスフォーマーザ・ムービー''''' ("Transformers: The Movie")

==External links==
*[https://www.boxofficemojo.com/release/rl3212281345/weekend/ ''The Transformers: The Movie''{{'}}s box office domestic gross]
*[https://sunbowmarvelarchive.blogspot.com/p/mp-4034-transformers-movie-sunbow.html ''The Transformers: The Movie'' outlines, scripts, storyboards, concept art and model sheets]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20211021062746/http://cybertronchronicle.freewebspace.com/cartoon-dossier/movie/movie.html ''The Transformers: The Movie'' Dossier at The Cybertron Chronicle]
*[http://web.archive.org/web/20080426020409/http://www.tftm.net/ ''The Transformers: The Movie'' "Unofficial Fansite", an extremely thorough site about the movie] (archived)
*[http://zobovor.tripod.com/transformers_the_movie_bloopers.html ''The Transformers: The Movie'' bloopers]

==References==
{{Reflist|2}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Transformers: The Movie}}

[[Category:The Transformers episodes]]
[[Category:Generation 1 media]]
[[Category:MSTF]]
[[Category:Real world films]]

The Transformers: The Movie

2024-11-24T16:59:11Z

MartinOdoni: /* Continuity errors */

{{disambig3|Transformers: The Movie}}
{{movie|
|seriess=[[The Transformers (cartoon)|The Transformers]]
|prev=B.O.T. (episode)
|next=Five Faces of Darkness, Part 1
|seriess2=[[Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers (franchise)|Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers]]
|prev2=Scramble City: Mobilization
|next2=Five Faces of Darkness, Part 1
|title=''The Transformers: The Movie''
|image=Transformersanimatedfilmposter.jpg
|caption=A long time ago in a galaxy far far away....
|production code=4034
|production companies=[[Sunbow Productions]] [[Marvel Productions]]
|distributor=[[Dino De Laurentiis|De Laurentiis Entertainment Group]]
|executive producer=[[Tom Griffin]] [[Joe Bacal]]
|screenplay by=[[Ron Friedman]]
|directed by=[[Nelson Shin]]
|cinematography by=[[Masatoshi Fukui]]
|edited by=[[David Hankins]]
|music by=[[Vince DiCola]]
|animation studio=[[Toei Animation|Toei]]
|release date=[[August 8]], [[1986]]
|continuity=[[Generation 1 cartoon continuity]]
|runtime=85 minutes
|budget=$5–6 million
|box office=$2.6–5.8 million
|credits=The Transformers: The Movie/credits
}}
{{quote|Conceived in the epic tradition of ''[[Star Wars (film)|Star Wars]]''...|[[Victor Caroli]] ain't just whistling Dixie|[[The Transformers: The Movie promo|''The Transformers: The Movie'' promo]]}}

'''''The Transformers: The Movie''''' is an animated feature film based on the original ''Transformers'' toyline. It was released in the United States on Friday, August 8, 1986.

The film's storyline follows the same continuity as the ''[[The Transformers (cartoon)|Transformers]]'' cartoon. It introduces a [[Scale|planet-sized Transformer]] called [[Unicron/Generation 1|Unicron]] who eats other planets, and is approaching [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]]. As part of their continuing wars, the [[Autobot]]s and [[Decepticon]]s have a [[Battle of Autobot City|fierce battle]] on [[Earth]] which sees both [[Optimus Prime (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Optimus Prime]] and [[Megatron (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Megatron]] mortally wounded. Prime passes the [[Matrix of Leadership]] to [[Ultra Magnus (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Ultra Magnus]] and dies, and Megatron is transformed by Unicron into [[Galvatron (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Galvatron]]. [[Starscream (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Starscream]] (briefly) assumes leadership of the Decepticons, but is killed when Galvatron arrives at Cybertron. Galvatron then chases the surviving Autobots on Earth across space, splitting them up and taking the Matrix. The Autobots find their way back to each other, and follow Galvatron to Cybertron just as Unicron transforms into [[robot mode]] and begins to eat their world. Travelling inside Unicron, [[Hot Rod (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Hot Rod]] recovers the Matrix, transforms into Rodimus Prime, and uses the Matrix to destroy Unicron.

Often referred to by fans simply as "the movie" or "TFTM", the movie was a step up in almost every area from the television series, with a more sophisticated plot, more serious treatment of war and violence, a hugely ambitious scope and a greatly increased animation budget with well-known celebrities providing voice work. For these reasons, the film remains very popular with children of the 1980s.

The film opens with characters who had been featured in the first two years of the toyline and associated media (cartoons, comic books, etc.), but quickly introduces new characters and kills many of the old ones to make room. Of particular note, Optimus Prime and Starscream are both destroyed during the course of the film.

{{quote|The Japanese have funded a full-length animated cartoon about the doings of these toys, which is all bad outer-space stuff. I play a planet. I menace somebody called Something-or-other. Then I'm destroyed. My plan to destroy Whoever-it-is is thwarted and I tear myself apart on the screen.|Orson Welles<ref>[http://books.google.com/books?id=KlqsYy512WIC&source=gbs_navlinks_s "Orson Welles: A Biography"] page 522</ref>}}

==Synopsis==
[[File:TFTM Unicron Lithone.jpg|left|thumb|That's no moon.]]
[[Unicron/Generation 1|A mechanical planet]] travels through the depths of space, attacking [[Lithone (planet)|a metal planet]] which has [[Lithone (species)|robotic inhabitants]]. Robots, vehicles, buildings, and even large chunks of rock are sucked off the surface and devoured by the monstrous planet.

It is the year [[2005]], and the [[Decepticon]]s are now in control of [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]]. The [[Autobot]]s are preparing to launch an assault to retake the planet from hidden bases on two of Cybertron's moons. The Autobots launch a [[Autobot shuttle|shuttle]] to pick up a final shipment of [[energon]] from [[Earth]] before they strike.

[[File:Tftm1986a.jpg|thumb|Commander, tear this ship apart until you've found those plans. And bring me the passengers; I want them alive!]]
Plans for the attack are overheard by [[Laserbeak (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Laserbeak]], who reports back to [[Megatron (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Megatron]]. The Decepticons attack the Autobot shuttle en route to Earth, wiping out its crew (including [[Ironhide (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Ironhide]], [[Prowl (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Prowl]], [[Ratchet (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Ratchet]] and [[Brawn (G1)|Brawn]]). Using the Autobots' own shuttle, the Decepticons are able to get very close to the Autobots' base on Earth, [[Autobot City (G1)|Autobot City]], before they are detected, and begin a devastating surprise attack on the unprepared city.

During the [[Battle of Autobot City|battle at Autobot City]], both [[Optimus Prime (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Optimus Prime]] and Megatron suffer mortal injuries, and a number of others are also killed. Eventually the Decepticons retreat, but the damage suffered by the Autobots is severe.

[[File:Tftm1986b.jpg|left|thumb|If you strike me down, I shall become more powerful than you can possibly imagine.]]
Shortly after the battle, Prime lies on his deathbed. He passes the reins of leadership to [[Ultra Magnus (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Ultra Magnus]] and gives him the [[Matrix of Leadership]]. (Though [[Hot Rod (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Hot Rod]] actually touches the Matrix before Magnus does.) Prime relates a prophecy: "One day, an Autobot shall rise from our ranks, and use the power of the Matrix to light our [[darkest hour]]." He then gives the oath, "[['Til all are one]]", and [[The many deaths of Optimus Prime|dies]]. This sequence of events is observed remotely by Unicron, the monstrous planet, who appears unusually concerned by the survival of the Matrix.

The Decepticons are making their escape aboard [[Astrotrain (G1)|Astrotrain]], but are too heavy for him to get them all home under his own power. After putting the matter to a fair vote, the Decepticons decide to throw their injured members off the ship to better the chance of survival for the rest, including the mortally wounded Megatron. Too injured to save himself, Megatron is tossed out into space by [[Starscream (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Starscream]], who claims leadership of the Decepticon army.

[[File:TFTM Starscream chucks Megatron.jpg|thumb|Into the garbage chute, flyboy.]]
Megatron and the other adrift Decepticons then encounter Unicron in interstellar space. Unicron offers to rebuild Megatron and his minions in exchange for their service. After some coercion on the planetoid's part, Megatron agrees, and is [[Reformatting|reformatted]] into [[Galvatron (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Galvatron]]. The other Decepticons are turned into [[Cyclonus (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Cyclonus]], [[Scourge (G1)|Scourge]], and the [[Sweep (G1)|Sweeps]]. Unicron provides them with a [[Revenge (G1)|ship]], and sends them to kill Ultra Magnus and destroy the Matrix, stating that the Matrix is the only thing which can stand in his way.

[[File:Tftm1986c.jpg|left|thumb|Don't be too proud of this technological terror you've constructed.]]
Galvatron first stops at Cybertron to take his revenge by killing Starscream and reclaiming leadership of the Decepticons. Almost immediately afterwards, Unicron arrives in Cybertron's vicinity and devours at least two moons—both of the Autobots' moon bases are destroyed. Under coercion by Unicron, Galvatron finally heads to Earth to kill Ultra Magnus, but Magnus and the other surviving Autobots flee in a pair of shuttles. Eventually Galvatron manages to cause one shuttle to crash on yet another metal planet ([[Quintessa (planet)|Quintessa]]), and detonates the other with a volley of missiles. However, the Autobots in the second shuttle escape unnoticed by separating the front portion of their shuttle just before impact.

The Autobots in the crashed shuttle, Hot Rod, [[Kup (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Kup]], and the [[Dinobot (G1)|Dinobots]], find themselves separated and in a hostile environment. Hot Rod and Kup battle a [[Sea squid|giant squid]], are captured by a pack of [[Allicon]]s and taken before a [[Quintesson]] [[Quintesson#Judges|judge]] and his court. While being held there, they learn the name and nature of Unicron from [[Kranix (G1)|Kranix]], a survivor of the planet destroyed in the opening of the film, which he calls [[Lithone (planet)|Lithone]]. Meanwhile, the Dinobots encounter and befriend a young, wild Autobot named [[Wheelie (G1)|Wheelie]] who has been living alone on Quintessa. Together, they crash the trial just as Hot Rod and Kup are fighting losing odds against the Quintessons' [[Sharkticon (species)|Sharkticons]]. The tide is turned, and the Autobots commandeer a [[Quintesson Cruiser]].

[[File:Tftm1986d.jpg|thumb|What an incredible smell you've discovered!]]
The other group of Autobots has landed on the planet [[Junkion (planet)|Junkion]] to make repairs, but are attacked yet again by Galvatron, who was tipped off to their survival by Unicron. During the battle, Ultra Magnus tries to open the Matrix to use its power, but is unable to do so, and instead is killed. Galvatron absconds with the Matrix, taking it away to Unicron. The remaining Autobots—[[Perceptor (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Perceptor]], [[Blurr (G1)|Blurr]], [[Springer (G1)|Springer]], [[Arcee (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Arcee]], and [[Spike Witwicky (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Spike]]'s son [[Daniel Witwicky (G1)|Daniel]]—are then ambushed by [[Junkion (species)|Junkions]], the eponymous natives of Junkion, who are also giant transforming robots. This battle is cut short, however, by the arrival of Hot Rod's group in their Quintesson ship. After exchanging the [[universal greeting]] they all make friends, and the Junkions restore Ultra Magnus to life. Together, the whole group travels to Cybertron to try to recover the Matrix and destroy Unicron.

[[File:TFTM Unicron smashes cybertron.jpg|thumb|left|Rebel base in range. You may fire when ready.]]
Galvatron attempts to open the Matrix to use its power against Unicron and force his master into submission, but is unable to open it. Unicron, not pleased with this attempted treachery, shocks Galvatron by transforming from a planet into a [[Scale|planet-sized robot]]. Unicron plucks Galvatron off his chest and swallows him, Matrix and all, and then begins attacking Cybertron itself. [[Shockwave (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Shockwave]] scrambles the Decepticon forces to defend the planet, but they are ineffective against so large an enemy. Shortly the Autobots arrive from Junkion, and fly the Quintesson ship straight through Unicron's eye. This impact destroys the ship, and the Autobots fall out inside Unicron. Hot Rod, separated from the others, eventually runs into Galvatron. During their fight, Hot Rod gets his hands on the Matrix and hears Optimus's voice speak the words, "Arise, Rodimus Prime." Hot Rod grows in stature, adopts a much sterner demeanor, and quickly dispatches Galvatron by tossing him through Unicron's hull out into space. He then opens the Matrix, which fills Unicron with light and begins destroying him.

[[File:Tftm1986e.jpg|thumb|Use the Force, Luke.]]
In the meantime, the other Autobots inside Unicron have located some of their comrades from the moon bases who had been presumed dead, including [[Bumblebee (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Bumblebee]] and Daniel's father, Spike. The Autobots, including Rodimus, escape through Unicron's remaining eye just as he begins to fall apart and explode. The scene then immediately shifts to the surface of Cybertron, where—for unclear reasons—the Autobots seem to be in charge again. Rodimus predicts an era of peace and prosperity, and the film closes with a shot of Unicron's severed head still floating in orbit around Cybertron.

[['Til all are one]].
{{--}}

==Featured characters==
{{featuredcharacters
|c1=
*[[Optimus Prime (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Optimus Prime]] ([[Peter Cullen]])
*[[Hot Rod (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Hot Rod/Rodimus Prime]] ([[Judd Nelson]])
*[[Ultra Magnus (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Ultra Magnus]] ([[Robert Stack]])
*[[Kup (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Kup]] ([[Lionel Stander]])
*[[Springer (G1)|Springer]] ([[Neil Ross]])
*[[Arcee (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Arcee]] ([[Susan Blu]])
*[[Blurr (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Blurr]] ([[John Moschitta]])
*[[Grimlock (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Grimlock]] ([[Gregg Berger]])
*[[Perceptor (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Perceptor]] ([[Paul Eiding]])
*[[Blaster (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Blaster]] ([[Buster Jones]])
*[[Swoop (G1)|Swoop]] ([[Michael Bell]])
*[[Slag (G1)|Slag]] (Neil Ross)
*[[Sludge (G1)|Sludge]]
*[[Wheelie (G1)|Wheelie]] ([[Frank Welker]])
*[[Ironhide (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Ironhide]] (Peter Cullen)
*[[Prowl (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Prowl]] (Michael Bell)<ref group="fc" name="crednolines">Credited and appeared, but had no speaking lines.</ref>
*[[Jazz (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Jazz]] ([[Scatman Crothers]])
*[[Bumblebee (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Bumblebee]] ([[Dan Gilvezan]])
*[[Cliffjumper (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Cliffjumper]] ([[Casey Kasem]])
*[[Brawn (G1)|Brawn]] ([[Corey Burton]])
*[[Gears (G1)|Gears]] ([[Don Messick]])<ref group="fc" name="creduncertain">Credited, but may or may not have appeared through an animation error.</ref>
*[[Auto-combatant]] (Frank Welker)
*[[Eject (G1)|Eject]]
*[[Rewind (G1)|Rewind]]
*[[Steeljaw (G1)|Steeljaw]]
*[[Ramhorn (G1)|Ramhorn]]
*[[Wheeljack (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Wheeljack]]
*[[Windcharger (G1)|Windcharger]]
*[[Ratchet (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Ratchet]]
*[[Snarl (G1)|Snarl]]
*[[Grapple (G1)|Grapple]]
*[[Huffer (G1)|Huffer]]
*[[Hound (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Hound]]
*[[Sunstreaker (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Sunstreaker]]
*[[Bluestreak (G1)|Bluestreak]]
*[[Inferno (G1)|Inferno]]<ref group="fc" name="crednoapp">Credited, but did not appear.</ref> ([[Walker Edmiston]])
|c2=
*[[Megatron (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Megatron]] (Frank Welker)
*[[Galvatron (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Galvatron]] ([[Leonard Nimoy]])
*[[Starscream (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Starscream]] ([[Chris Latta]])
*[[Cyclonus (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Cyclonus]] ([[Roger C. Carmel]])
*[[Scourge (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Scourge]] ([[Stan Jones]])
*[[Soundwave (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Soundwave]] (Frank Welker)
*[[Devastator (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Devastator]] ([[Arthur Burghardt]])
*[[Scrapper (G1)|Scrapper]] (Michael Bell)
*[[Bonecrusher (G1)|Bonecrusher]] (Neil Ross)
*[[Hook (G1)|Hook]] (Neil Ross)
*[[Scavenger (G1)|Scavenger]] (Don Messick)<ref group="fc" name="appearnocredit">Appeared and had speaking lines, but not credited.</ref>
*[[Mixmaster (G1)|Mixmaster]]
*[[Long Haul (G1)|Long Haul]]
*[[Shrapnel (G1)|Shrapnel]] ([[Hal Rayle]])
*[[Kickback (G1)|Kickback]] ([[Clive Revill]])
*[[Bombshell (G1)|Bombshell]]
*[[Astrotrain (G1)|Astrotrain]] ([[Jack Angel]])
*[[Shockwave (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Shockwave]] (Corey Burton)
*[[Dirge (G1)|Dirge]] ([[Bud Davis]])<ref group="fc" name="crednolines"/>
*[[Blitzwing (G1)|Blitzwing]] ([[Ed Gilbert]])
*[[Rumble (G1)|Rumble]] (Frank Welker)
*[[Frenzy (G1)|Frenzy]] (Frank Welker)
*[[Laserbeak (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Laserbeak]] (Chris Latta)<ref group="fc" name="appearnocredit">Appeared and had speaking lines, but not credited.</ref>
*[[Ravage (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Ravage]] (Frank Welker)<ref group="fc" name="appearnocredit">Appeared and had speaking lines, but not credited.</ref>
*[[Ratbat (G1)|Ratbat]]
*[[Thrust (G1)|Thrust]]
*[[Ramjet (G1)|Ramjet]]
*[[Skywarp (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Skywarp]]
*[[Thundercracker (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Thundercracker]]
*[[Reflector (G1)|Reflector]]
*[[Sweep (G1)|Sweeps]]
*[[Cyclonus's Armada]]
|h3=[[Junkion (species)|Junkions]]|c3=
*[[Wreck-Gar (G1)|Wreck-Gar]] ([[Eric Idle]])
*[[Junkyard (G1)|Junkyard]] (Bell)
*[[Scrapheap (G1)|Scrapheap]] (Welker)
*[[Rubbish]]
*[[Re-Cycle]]
*[[Trashbin]]
*[[HAZMAT]]
*[[Ashtray]]
*[[Wasteoid Gamma]]
*[[Greasestain]]
|h4=Others|c4=
'''[[Human]]s'''
*[[Spike Witwicky (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Spike Witwicky]] (Corey Burton)
*[[Daniel Witwicky (G1)|Daniel Witwicky]] ([[David Mendenhall]])

'''[[Lithone (species)|Lithones]]'''
*[[Kranix (G1)|Kranix]] ([[Norman Alden|Norm Alden]])
*[[Arblus]]

'''[[Quintesson]]s'''
*[[Quintesson Prosecutor|Quintesson leader]] (Roger C. Carmel)
*[[Quintesson Judge]] ([[Regis Cordic]])
*[[Quintesson Executioner]]
*[[Quintesson Bailiff]]
*[[Sharkticon (species)|Sharkticons]]
*[[Allicon]]s

'''Other'''
*[[Unicron/Generation 1|Unicron]] ([[Orson Welles]])
|nonumbering=true
}}
<references group="fc"/>

==Quotes==
[[File:TFTM European intro.jpeg|thumb|upright=1.4|It is a period of civil war. Rebel spaceships, striking from a hidden base, have won their first victory against the evil Galactic Empire.]]
"Now all we need is a little energon and a lot of luck." 
"More than you imagine, Optimus Prime."
:—'''Optimus Prime''' and '''Megatron''' tempt fate.

"Such heroic nonsense."
:—'''Megatron''' coldly finishes off Ironhide. The 'Cons always get the best lines.

"First, we crack the shell... then we crack the nuts inside."
:—'''Rumble''' bravely raids Autobot City.

"I've got better things to do tonight than die!"
:—'''Springer''', telling it like it is.

"One shall stand. One shall fall."
:—'''Optimus Prime''' uttering the most quoted line of the Movie. An ass kicker cometh.

"Why throw your life away so recklessly?" 
"That's a question you should ask yourself, Megatron." 
:—'''Megatron''' and '''Optimus Prime''', about to engage in one last battle to the death.

"You, who are without mercy, now plead for it? I thought you were made of '''''sterner stuff'''''."
:—'''Optimus Prime''''s trash talk is actually [http://www.enotes.com/shakespeare-quotes/sterner-stuff a lot cooler than it sounds].

"I would have waited an eternity for this! It's over, Prime." 
"'''''NEVER!'''''"
:—'''Megatron''' is about to learn that a wounded '''Optimus Prime''' has enough strength left for one good hit.

"Until that day...'til all are one..."
:—'''Optimus Prime'''{{'}}s final words.

"Oh, how it ''pains'' me to do this." 
"Wait! I still function!" 
"Wanna ''bet''?"
:—'''Starscream''' fights back the tears as he throws '''Megatron''' out of Astrotrain.

"Soundwave superior, Constructicons inferior."
:—'''Soundwave''' insults the combiner team.

"I have summoned you here for a purpose." 
"Nobody summons Megatron!" 
"Then it pleases me to be the first."
:—'''Unicron''' shows '''Megatron''' who's the boss.

"Who disrupts my coronation?" 
"Coronation, Starscream? This is bad comedy." 
"Megatron? Is that you?" 
"Here's a hint!"
:—'''Galvatron''' drops "hints" for '''Starscream''' like others drop anvils.

"Oh shit! What are we gonna do now!"
:—'''Spike''' says the movie’s most infamous line.

"Kup and Hot Rod just bought it!" 
"I can't deal with that now!"
:—'''Springer''' and '''Ultra Magnus''' assess the situation.

"Did we ''have'' to let them detonate three quarters of the ship?" 
"Seeing as how they would have detonated ''four'' quarters, I think it was a good choice."
:—'''Arcee''' and '''Springer''', debating the launch of their emergency shuttle.

"Spare me this mockery of justice!"
:—'''Kranix''' is upset at being found innocent.

"You check in, but you don't check out."
:—'''Wreck-Gar''' making a reference to the tagline from the "Roach Motel." commercials

"For a time... I considered ''sparing'' your wretched little planet Cybertron. But now... you shall witness... its ''dismemberment''!"
:—'''Unicron''' really needs to work on his anger management skills...

"Destiny... You cannot... destroy... my... destiny!"
:—'''Unicron'''{{'}}s final words.

"Let this mark the end of the Cybertronian Wars as we march forward into a new era of peace and happiness! 'Til all are one!" 
:—'''Rodimus Prime''' announces the end of the [[Great War (G1)|Great War]]...for now.

==Season 5==
When ''The Movie'' was broadcast in [[The Transformers (cartoon)#Season 5|the fifth season]] of ''The Transformers'', it was broken into 5 parts (designated "Days") and given new bookending segments with original story material.

===Day One===
[[File:TommyPrimeSeason5BumperMovie.jpg|upright=1.1|thumb|You just watch yourself. We're wanted men. I have the death sentence on twelve systems.]]
[[Tommy Kennedy|Tommy]] meets up with [[Powermaster]] [[Optimus Prime (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Optimus Prime]] in the barren wasteland and Prime is concerned with the black eye and many bruises Tommy is sporting. Tommy explains that some "big guys" at school tried to rough him up (and by all visual evidence, succeeded). Tommy asks Prime if he'd ever faced any "big guys" in his many adventures and Prime decides to tell him about the time he faced the "biggest guy" of them all, [[Unicron/Generation 1|Unicron]]...

Optimus leaves off at the point during the [[Battle of Autobot City]] when Megatron broke their defenses to let the slaughter begin. Optimus gruesomely teases his own death scene to a very confused and concerned Tommy, but reassures him that until he can be revived as a Powermaster, the Matrix must be passed on to someone else who is worthy. Tommy wants to hear all about it, but Optimus doesn't have the time. Apparently, he needs to meet up with [[Joyride (G1)|Joyride]] and help him [[Space bridge technician|repair]] the [[Space bridge]]. Tommy asks if he can tag along and Optimus tells him that if he can lift one of their two-ton screwdrivers, he can even help. They summarily blast off into space.
{{-}}

===Day Two===
[[File:PrimeExplodingMemoryChip.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.1|I've lost R2!]]
Tommy and Optimus meet up in the barren wasteland, though Prime isn't sure what Tommy wants. Tommy reminds him that he promised to tell him more about Unicron and Prime concedes that he's been having trouble with his memory chip, lately. Tommy tells him all about the Battle of Autobot City, but none of it rings a bell for Optimus. Prime asks Tommy to open up an access panel in the back of his head and check the circuit. Tommy repairs the circuit, jogging Prime's memory...

Prime leaves off at the point where [[Jazz (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Jazz]] and [[Cliffjumper (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Cliffjumper]] are eaten by Unicron. Tommy demands to hear more of the story, but Prime's memory chip explodes and smoke pours from the side of his head. All he sees are brief flashes of the further adventures of [[Hot Rod (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Hot Rod]] and the rest. The furthest he can see, though, is the "death" of [[Ultra Magnus (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Ultra Magnus]] when his shuttle is blown up by [[Galvatron (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Galvatron]]. Tommy expresses discontent, citing that the Autobots are "too cool to die". Prime says he knows there's more to the story, but with his faulty memory chip, he can't access the details. Tommy insists they get his chip fixed and so they blast off into space to do just that.
{{-}}

===Day Three===
[[File:TommyKennedyTraumatized.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|I can't even see. How am I supposed to fight?]]
Tommy finishes the repairs on Prime's memory chip, much to Prime's relief. Tommy asks Prime to test it out by continuing his story about the battle against Unicron. Prime indulges Tommy's request...

Prime leaves off at the point where [[Kup (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Kup]] and Hot Rod are taken to the [[Sharkticon (species)|Sharkticon]] pits and watch as the survivors of [[Lithone (planet)|Lithone]] are executed. Tommy begs Prime to stop, claiming that the story thus far is too intense and depressing for him to handle. Prime asks if he wants to hear about how Kup and Hot Rod are fed to the Sharkticons, how the Autobots are menaced by "aliens made of junk" or how Ultra Magnus is blown to pieces by [[Galvatron (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Galvatron]]. Tommy suddenly changes his mind and demands to hear all the gory, macabre details. Prime sets Tommy back down in the barren wasteland and promises to return soon to transform his day into an adventure. He then blasts off into space.
{{-}}

===Day Four===
[[File:PrimeTommyStopMotion.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.1|If there's a bright center to the universe, you're on the planet it's farthest from.]]
Tommy and Optimus meet up once again in the barren wasteland. Tommy asks why Prime is so late for their appointment and Prime confesses that [[Grimlock (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Grimlock]] took a wrong turn on the way over. Prime wishes he hadn't let the [[Dinobot (G1)|Dinobot]] fly the shuttle. Tommy asks if Prime has enough time to tell him more of the story and Prime assures him there's time enough...

Prime leaves off at the point where the Autobots team up with the [[Junkion (species)|Junkion]]s to battle Unicron. Tommy is incredulous, wondering what a bunch of aliens made of junk could possibly contribute to the battle against Unicron. Prime informs him that great adversities often bring out the best in people, citing Hot Rod as an example. Tommy begs to hear how the story ends, but Prime says that he must first take Grimlock to have his "brain circuits" upgraded. Setting Tommy down, Prime promises to be back soon to transform his day into an adventure. Then he blasts off into space.
{{-}}

===Day Five===
[[File:StanBushTheTouchMusicVideoRecordLabelNotes.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|He made a fair move. Screaming about it won't help you.]]
Meeting again in the barren wasteland, Optimus asks Tommy if he's ready to hear the end of the story. Contrary to all the enthusiasm Tommy has shown during past storytimes, the human child laments that he's forgotten most of the tale thus far (offering the flimsy excuse that his lack of an electronic brain makes remembering so many details impossible). Prime gives him "a quick rundown" (that takes ''four minutes'') and then proceeds to finish the epic yarn...

Prime finishes the story with the destruction of Unicron, the ascension of Rodimus Prime and the exile of the Decepticons. Prime asks Tommy if he's satisfied, but Tommy just has more questions. Like what was up with the [[Quintesson]]s? Did they drop Grimlock on his head when he was a kid? And how did they ever bring Prime back to life? Prime tells Tommy to slow down. He has to attend an interstellar peace conference, but until he returns, he leaves Tommy with... [[The Touch|THE TOUCH!!!]]
{{--}}

==Production timeline==
* First script outline by Ron Friedman: revisions from 15th August 1984 to 19th September 1984
* [[The Transformers: The Movie (first draft)|First draft script]] by Ron Friedman: submitted November 12th 1984. Revised February 13th 1985.
* Reference photos of Powered Convoy toy designated as Ultra Magnus, provided to Ron Friedman: Taken 18th March 1985
* Second script outline by Ron Friedman: revised 28th March 1985
* Second draft script by Ron Friedman: completed 27th April 1985. Revised 2nd May 1985
* Model sheets approved 14th June 1985: Cyclonus, Galvatron (Marvel model with revised head), Hot Rod, Kranix (the pre-final model, can be seen with Granix name on it), Quintesson Judge (colour approved on 18th November 1985 by J. Bacal), Rodimus Prime, Scourge/Sweep, Sharkticon, Unicron robot mode, Wheelie, Wreck-gar
* Model sheets approved 24th June 1985: Ultra Magnus robot mode(first Powered Convoy version)
* Model sheets approved 2nd July 1985: Ultra Magnus (Initial Toei design. Colour revised on 20th July 1985)
* Model sheets approved 19th July 1985: Arblus robot mode, Spike (final model), Ultra Magnus vehicle mode(first Powered Convoy version)
* Model sheets approved 29th July 1985: Quintesson Prosecutor (a.k.a Quintesson leader. Approved by J. Bacal on 18th December 1985)
* Model sheets approved 31st July 1985: Arblus spaceship mode
* Model sheets approved 6th September 1985: Rewind flip side of the cassette mode
* Dialogue recording (main sessions): 10th and 11th September 1985
* Model sheets approved 3rd October 1985: Rewind and Eject
* Model sheets approved 8th October 1985: Lithonian Scientist, Lithonian Woman no.1

* Storyboard sequence 1 (Attack on Lithone): Final 31st October 1985
* Storyboard sequence 2 (Title sequence): Final 31st December 1985
* Storyboard sequence 3 (2005): Final 31st October 1985
* Storyboard sequence 4 (More Than You Imagine): Final 31st October 1985. Revised Final 14th November 1985.
* Storyboard sequence 5 (Attack On The Shuttle): Final 31st October 1985
* Storyboard sequence 6 (Gone Fishin'/Dare): Final 4th November 1985. Revised Final 14th November 1985
* Storyboard sequence 7 (Battle Of Autobot City, part 1): Final 14th November 1985. Revised Final 25th November 1985
* Storyboard sequence 8 (Battle Of Autobot City, part 2): Final 31st October 1985. Revised Final 14th November 1985
* Storyboard sequence 9 (Death Of Optimus Prime): Final 7th December 1985
* Storyboard sequence 10 (Witness To A Funeral): Final 7th December 1985
* Storyboard sequence 11 (Contest For Leadership): Final 4th November 1985. Revised Final 13th November 1985
* Storyboard sequence 12 (Transformation): Final 11th November 1985. Revised Final 26th November 1985
* Storyboard sequence 13 (Coronation): Final 10th December 1985. Revised Final 18th December 1985
* Storyboard sequence 14 (Destruction Of Moonbase One): Final 10th December 1985. Revised Final 19th December 1985
* Storyboard sequence 15 (Escape): Final 16th December 1985. Revised Final 24th December 1985
* Storyboard sequence 16 (Pursuit): Final 12th December 1985. Revised Final 26th December 1985
* Storyboard sequence 17 (Nothin's Gonna Stand In Our Way): Final 11th November 1985. Revised Final 25th November 1985
* Storyboard sequence 18 (Arrival On Junk): Final 12th November 1985. Revised Final 25th November 1985
* Storyboard sequence 19 (Unwelcome Visitors): Final November 14th 1985. Revised Final 27th November 1985
* Storyboard sequence 20 (The Matrix Survives): Final 12th November 1985. Revised Final 25th November 1985
* Storyboard sequence 21 (An Unexpected Friend): Final 18th December 1985. Revised Final 26th December 1985
* Storyboard sequence 22 (Destruction Of Moonbase Two): Final 17th December 1985. Revised Final 26th December 1985
* Storyboard sequence 23 (Ambush): Final 11th December 1985
* Storyboard sequence 24 (Judgement/Rescue): Final 12th December 1985. Revised Final 26th December 1985
* Storyboard sequence 25 (Another Leader Dies): Final 9th December 1985. Revised Final 26th December 1985
* Storyboard sequence 26 (Unusual Allies): Final 19th December 1985. Revised Final 31st December 1985
* Storyboard sequence 27 (The Enemy Revealed): Final 12th December 1985. Revised Final 26th December 1985
* Storyboard sequence 28 (Confrontation): Final 19th November 1985. Revised Final 6th December 1985
* Storyboard sequence 29 (United Against The Enemy): Final 20th November 1985. Revised 4th December 1985. Revised Final 6th December 1985
* Storyboard sequence 30 (In The Belly Of The Monster): Final 20th November 1985. Revised 3rd December 1985. Revised Final 6th December 1985
* Storyboard sequence 31 (Their Darkest Hour): Final 2nd December 1985. Revised 19th December 1985. Revised Final 31st December 1985

==Animation errors==
[[File:TFTM Unicron Small.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|We’re doomed.]]
*When Unicron is approaching Lithone at the start of the movie, at the line "Look, it's Unicron!", a [[Animation error#Sizing errors|cel stacking error]] results in Unicron's ring appearing in front of a building arch, [[Distribution|making Unicron look very tiny]] in that shot. In the next shot, it is clear that Unicron is several times larger than the entire planet of Lithone.
*The inside of one of the Lithonian ships being devoured by Unicron is visible for a couple of frames. The pilot of the ship appears to be Kranix, even though he apparently screams out Kranix's name, and Kranix appears later in the Quintesson prison.
*When Optimus Prime asks Jazz to report security status, it shows both Jazz and Cliffjumper. Cliffjumper is seen twiddling knobs above the actual drawn computer, as if a section was supposed to be present.
*Coloring errors:
**When the closeup of Cliffjumper doing his countdown is shown, his shoulders are blue (like his windows) instead of red.
**Scavenger's head is white instead of black as he ducks from Prowl's shot aboard the shuttle.
**Blaster's forehead is red instead of white after his "look out and shout!" line, and again after he returns to [[robot mode]].
**In the big lineup of firing Decepticons in Autobot City, Soundwave's cheek guards are blue instead of white.
**When Blaster asks Perceptor "What's shakin'?", a Dirge-colored Seeker flies by the window. However, it appears to be the standard Starscream/Thundercracker/Skywarp design, instead of having Dirge's unique wings.
**As Devastator lays into the walls, Shrapnel is white where he should be black.
**Megatron's pelvis is white instead of black as he gives the "let the slaughter begin!" order.
**When the Dinobots jump out of Optimus Prime's Shuttle, the shuttle is colored like the first shuttle, which Megatron boarded, instead of red-highlighted scheme of Prime's shuttle.
**When Prime says "No matter the cost", the shuttle is painted completely orange, when the front should have red and white highlights.
**In the shot of Decepticons running in Autobot City prior to them being crashed through by Optimus, Ramjet can be seen sporting Dirge's wings, albeit in red just like Ramjet's. Or maybe this is Dirge incorrectly painted in Ramjet's colours. Who knows?
**When Prime drives up behind the Decepticons, Blitzwing's helmet is purple instead of yellow. Prime's trailer is missing its Autobot symbol as well.
**After Megatron asks, "Why throw away your life so recklessly?", Optimus' left hand is colored red instead of blue when he replies "That's a question you should ask yourself, Megatron".
**The gun Megatron uses to fatally injure Optimus is blue and white for most of the shots it is seen in, but when Megatron screams "Fall! FALL!" while shooting Prime again, it is black.
**Prime's antennae are white as he tries to stand after knocking Megatron off the ledge.
**Starscream's whole nosecone, rather than just the canopy, is yellow as he looms over the fallen Megatron.
**In the shot of the Decepticons jettisoning Thundercracker, Skywarp and the Insecticons from Astrotrain, Ramjet and Dirge have their colours swapped.
**As Starscream prepares to toss Megatron out the door, Soundwave's eyes are painted white like his mask rather than red. (Maybe he was sleeping, his excuse for not stopping Starscream)
**Starscream's cockpit shell nearest his head is colored like a canopy rather than gray, as he nominates himself for leadership. Man, even the A-list animation team couldn't keep this straight.
**The red stripes on Starscream's wings are noticeably absent during most of the Coronation scene.
**When dragging Arcee into the shuttle and two shots later when flying into space Magnus's Shuttle has Blue highlights instead of Red.
**After Springer runs past him, Perceptor's gun changes from red to white for a few frames.
**When Cyclonus is strafing what appears via editing to be Hot Rod's shuttle, it has red highlights instead of blue.
**When Hot Rod's ship is being watched by Galvatron trailing smoke it has red highlights instead of blue.
**In the shot after Magnus announces that he cannot deal with that now, his ship has blue highlights instead of red.
**Shrapnel's lower legs are white when he lands on Junk, instead of black. Must be a side effect of being dead.
**When Hot Rod tells the Junkions the universal greeting, the Autobot insignia on his chest is colored black.
**After transforming, Unicron has all-white hands (instead of white with gold knuckles) and a white, rectangular chin (instead of the double-triangular chin with a goatee) he has later.
**As the Autobots fly through space after exiting Unicron's eye, Rodimus is painted in Ultra Magnus' colors (inverted).
*When the Decepticons blow a hole through the Autobot shuttle to get in, it is a clean break. However, Megatron is still shown ripping through random ship components to get in.
*When the Decepticons are killing the Autobot shuttle crew, there is one of the common Starscream/Skywarp/Thundercracker miscolors. Megatron transforms into gun mode and Starscream catches him, killing Brawn. When they cut back to the Decepticons, Starscream moves back to avoid the Autobots' fire, and a ''second'' Starscream is in front of the Constructicons without Megatron and is firing one of his arm rifles (this was probably meant to be Skywarp, as he flies into the shuttle and takes a seat at the controls once the Autobots are defeated). When they cut back to the Decepticons for the third time, Starscream has Megatron again and is finishing off the rest of the Autobots. In the shot of Starscream firing his own lasers, his wings are red instead of gray.
*When Brawn is shot, it can be seen for one frame that he is initially hit in the top of his chest. As he falls, the wound has moved to the front rounded part of his chest. Additionally, the wound changes from black to red for one frame.
*Per his standard cartoon appearance, Ratchet should have a [[Red Cross]] symbol on each shoulder. When he turns in his seat as Brawn is shot down, we can see one on his right shoulder, but when he stands to return fire on the Decepticons, the right shoulder's cross has vanished, and he's only got one on his left shoulder. Then, when he falls, the cross is missing from ''both'' shoulders.
*When the Decepticons fly to the shuttle's controls:
**All of the Autobots have changed positions from when they fell—Brawn is now on his back, for example, while Prowl is now face-down.
**Ironhide's chest is completely intact, despite having a bunch of holes blown in it.
**Prowl, who turned gray as he fell (evidently dead before he even hit the floor) seems to be back in his normal colors.
*The reflections of Hot Rod and Daniel in the lake rarely line up with where they should be.
*When Hot Rod catches a fish, it is barely the size of his finger. When he releases it, it's [[Scale|suddenly huge]].
*Hot Rod has at least two totally different transformation schemes during the course of the film.
*When Hot Rod begins to shoot at the hijacked Autobot shuttle, the yellow light on his forehead is misaligned.
*When Kup and several Autobots at the roadblock react to Hot Rod's attack on the hijacked Autobot shuttle, Bluestreak is represented by Prowl's [[Character model|animation model]], in Bluestreak's gray and black colors.
*Hound and Sunstreaker appear in Kup's group at the foot of Lookout Mountain as they observe Hot Rod firing on Ironhide's shuttle. Sunstreaker later appears as Optimus Prime's co-pilot when they arrive on Earth with the Dinobots, and is seen disembarking the shuttle along with Optimus Prime and Hound.
**In the movie's storyboard, only Hound is shown present with Kup during the roadblock scene. Sunstreaker's only appearance in the storyboard is when he exits the shuttle, meaning that his presence during the roadblock scene is purely an animation addition. Hound being in both places ''is'', however, an error in both the movie and the storyboard—''unless'', Optimus Prime and the Dinobots picked up Hound and Sunstreaker from Lookout Mountain enroute to Autobot City? Now there's an idea for the old [[Personal canon|headcanon]]!
**In a deleted scene from the storyboard that would've shown Hot Rod and Kup meeting up with Ultra Magnus inside Autobot City, Sideswipe is shown running alongside Wheeljack in the background. However, Sideswipe is mistakenly referred to as "Sunstreaker" in the script (how ''[[Sideswipe (G1)#Notes|ironic]]''). Whether this mislabelling had any bearing over Sunstreaker being present with the roadblock crew is anyone's guess.
[[File:ShockwaveBattleAutobotcity.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|We've picked up a new group of signals... enemy fighters heading your way.]]
*In a wide aerial shot of the city under attack, a Reflector flies by in Ironhide's color scheme. Shockwave also makes his only appearance in the battle; considering both his role as Cybertron's guardian and his absence from any other scenes during the battle, his presence is probably an animation error. Rumble also flies past, despite being inside Soundwave at this point.
*When Shrapnel and Kickback are eating the door, Shrapnel only has one antenna.
*A laser blast that should be behind Blaster is instead layered in front of him as he acknowledges Perceptor's orders.
[[File:TFTMRumbleFrenzytwored.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|[[FIRRIB|What]] about that [[R2-D2|blue one]]? We'll take that one.]]
*When [[Soundwave (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Soundwave]] sends out his cassette troops, [[FIRRIB|Rumble is the same color as Frenzy]].
*Blaster first ejects what looks like Eject, who stays blue up until he gets to the edge of the screen. He then turns black like Rewind. Then Blaster ejects another blue cassette, which after about a second turns black. This one gets through half his transformation colored black, then turns blue for a split second then turns black again. Then, when the cassettes are fighting each other, Eject runs in from the left and jumps over Perceptor. And then he runs in from the left ''again'' to shoot Ravage.
*As Springer runs up to the launcher, Wheeljack's body is visible, but he's in the red, white and blue color scheme of Smokescreen - who, in the storyboards of this sequence, was intended to be the one lying there dead.
*While Springer and Arcee are trying to move the launcher into place, Springer's face is the same color as his helmet.
*During Devastator's combination sequence in Autobot City, his chest plate, portions of his pelvis, his forearms, and Bonecrusher's treads are all green. The chestplate and pelvis should be purple, as should Bonecrusher's treads (they're ''normally'' green when Bonecrusher is separate, but they turn purple when he combines), and his forearms should be black.
*For almost the entirety of his screen time during the battle in Autobot City, the "jet engine" on top of Devastator's chest plate is misinterpreted as a trapezoidal block. The only time it appears in its proper shape is when he high-kicks Grimlock. It appears as it should during the scuffle on Astrotrain.
*While Perceptor and Grapple are shooting, Swoop's lower half runs by in the foreground, long before the rest of him gets there.
*Prime's dramatic transformation sequence far outlasts the transformation sound that's supposed to go with it. It's also the wrong sound (ascending pitch) for his robot-to-vehicle transformation. His trailer is also missing the Autobot logo, which reappears for the rest of the scene.
*Prime is missing the transformation sound as he blasts back to robot mode.
*The gun Megatron fires uses the same sound effect as his fusion cannon.
*When Optimus Prime takes the Matrix out of his chest to give to Ultra Magnus, the animators forgot to remove the cel of the Matrix inside his chest, as it's still in there even as he's holding it in his hands. Since it's not supposed to be there, the luminous effect for the Matrix's core is missing from the duplicate in his chest, creating a visual trick that makes it look like Optimus might just have removed the core itself. (The [[Matrix of Leadership#Universe|''Universe'' comic]] would later use this error as a springboard to reconcile the visuals of Optimus's chest interior with their depiction in ''[[Beast Wars: Transformers (cartoon)|Beast Wars]]''.)
*When Ultra Magnus accepts the Matrix, he's seen inserting it into his chest twice, or at best readjusting its "fit".
*As the other Decepticons prepare to push him out, Bombshell's chest is rendered as a shapeless gray mass, rather than with its yellow canopy.
*The voice that says, "Brothers! Don't!" is nowhere close to the voices of any of the five Decepticons shown getting thrown out of Astrotrain.
*When Megatron says "Nobody summons Megatron" his chest emblem is colored gray like his chest. It looks like it should have been painted as a darker shade of purple, as it's the shadowed section. But was painted gray instead.
[[File:TFTMStarscreamCoronationErrors.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4| *''trumpet fanfare''*]]
*Even after the [[Battle of Autobot City]], characters who are supposedly dead continue to appear in crowd shots and battles. Shrapnel's role in the fight on [[Junkion (planet)|Junk]] is the most noticeable (and he was called for by name in the original script), but Thundercracker, Skywarp and Kickback can all be seen at Starscream's coronation. The two jets are later seen again, flying into Unicron's mouth.
*In the establishing shot of Starscream's coronation, there are only five Constructicons (Bonecrusher had better things to do tonight) and they are miscolored as purple and white rather than their usual purple and green color scheme.
*Hook has two eyes instead of his normal visor as he looks around in confusion during the trumpet scene.
*An early establishing shot clearly shows Cybertron with two and ''only'' two moons in low orbit. Yet a third moon is visible right after Unicron finishes eating the two Autobot bases.
*When Galvatron introduces himself to the Coronation party, Soundwave's chest window is drawn far too small.
*When Galvatron says "Decepticons, to Earth!", aside from his mouth being partially open, his mouth doesn't move. I guess being reformatted by Unicron gives you the ability to talk without moving your mouth?
*In the scene where Bumblebee and Spike are in the [[Autobot frigate]] and escaping Moonbase Two's destruction, when the two are cheering after believing that Unicron has been destroyed, Bumblebee's on the left side of Spike's seat. However, after Spike expresses his "colorful" reaction to Unicron remaining completely unscathed, and when the frigate is about to get sucked into Unicron, Bumblebee is on the right side of Spike's seat.
*When Cyclonus is strafing the Autobot shuttle in space, he briefly flies offscreen, and during that time his laser blasts come from a point that in no way matches his flight path.
*During the wide shot of the Autobots in the crashed ship on Junk, Blurr's entire head is white. Also so is Daniels head, which is drawn as an indistinct incomplete circle.
*Daniel's lips don't purse when he whistles.
*Wreck-Gar's mouth doesn't move at all during his first lines, despite the camera pushing in all close on his face.
*The pistol Ultra Magnus fires uses the same sound effect as Optimus Prime's rifle.
*During the Junkion chase scene, Trashbin attacks Arcee. When she fights him off his motorcycle, his model is switched for Junkyard's when he falls down. And his head then flickers between colors when mounting Junkyard.
*When Grimlock gets kissed, his eyes are round instead of triangular.(Probably intentional expression)
*As Hot Rod falls off one of Unicron's inner spikes, his lower body isn't drawn in. It looks like it should be blocked by our view of the spike, but is layered above it instead.
*Hot Rod's missing his Autobot symbol as he regains his footing inside Unicron.
*As the Dinobots fly around Unicron, both his eyes are intact. (The left one had at this point been shattered.)
*The third smelting victim (who looks a lot like another Bumblebee) doesn't fall from the conveyor belt; he simply vanishes.

== Continuity errors ==
[[File:G1TFTM Snarl cameo.JPG|thumb|upright=1.4|He used to bulls-eye womp-rats in his T16 back home.]]

*The Dinobot [[Snarl (G1)|Snarl]] is mysteriously absent from almost the entire movie, even though the Dinobots as a group are featured prominently. Copies of the script which have come into fans' hands repeatedly list the Dinobots, but never make mention of Snarl by name. In fact, at one point the script refers to "the four Dinobots". Despite this, Snarl does appear in three very brief shots—in which at least one other Dinobot (Swoop in one, Sludge in another) is entirely absent. Hmm.
** On the other hand, the original production ''storyboards'' for the scene where Snarl first appears in the movie only mentions "the Dinobots", not a specific amount of them. Additionally, Snarl also seems to have been in the scene with Kup telling the Dinobots a story in at least ''one'' version of the film; the Japanese trailer for the movie has finished footage of this scene...but it's very different from the one in the film; the Dinobots are all in their robot modes, and Snarl is present in the scene instead of Slag. It's completely unknown why Snarl's appearance in this scene was cut.
*Also curiously absent are the 1985 Autobot cars and Mini-Vehicles, such as Inferno, Smokescreen, Cosmos, Warpath, etc. It would seem that these characters were available at the time of the movie:
**Perceptor and Blaster both debuted at the same time in the cartoon as the 1985 cars, and both play prominent roles in the movie.
**Grapple is [[:File:BattleAutobotCity.jpg|seen ''very'' briefly]] during the battle for Autobot City. Or maybe it's [[Hauler]].
**The 1985 Decepticons (Astrotrain, Dirge, etc.) appear in the film.
**[[:File:TFTM-SideswipeRedAlertTracks.jpg|Tracks]], [[:File:TFTM-RedAlertDown.jpg|Red Alert]] (who was shot in the back by the Constructicons; his gun is the one Megatron uses against Optimus), and Smokescreen (who was supposed to be the corpse in place of Wheeljack next to Windcharger, Wheeljack instead surviving the battle and being part of a scrapped Earth-based subplot) all appeared in storyboards but not the finished film.
*Devastator is treated as ''the'' ultimate threat, while in the cartoon, his role (and apparent power) was already being [[Starscream's Brigade|severely diminished]], presumably because several other combiners had been introduced. In story terms, the absence of these newer combiners, not to mention the mighty Omega Supreme, is inexplicable. In real-life terms, those characters didn't exist when the film commenced production. (The ''[[Transformers: The Animated Movie]]'' adaptation shows Omega Supreme, Superion and Defensor guarding the Ark against an attack by Bruticus and Menasor, attempting to [[retcon]] the problem away.)
*Possibly the biggest example of the film's tonal shift from the cartoon, shots from firearms that would previously knock another character down at best have since become lethal, best demonstrated when Brawn and Prowl are each killed with a single shot by the Decepticons during the movie's first act.
[[File:Cyclonus armada tftf.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|We'll be safe enough once we make the jump into lightspeed.]]
*The existence of Cybertron's moons is contentious ''at best''.
**On the one hand, in numerous close and distant shots of the planet throughout the first two seasons, not a single moon was seen. Ever. Even after it got knocked out of Earth's orbit.
**On the other hand, Megatron ''does'' refer to Cybertron as "land of the metal moon" (note the singular) during "[[Microbots]]", suggesting otherwise. The fact that he was overenergized at the time and lost consciousness in mid-sentence - just before he ''might'' have specified a plural number of moons, (in)conveniently enough - makes it unclear just how much credence we should lend this statement.
**The movie promptly introduces two (possibly three) moons over the planet. In continuity terms, they must either have highly elliptical orbits with periapsides (points in their orbits that bring them closest to the planet) that just happened to coincide with the timeframe of the movie or they were constructed sometime after 1986.
*During the Battle of Autobot City, Starscream gets his leg caught. He shoots downward and gets away while screaming "My foot!", but it's his shin that's smoking while his foot looks fine. Later he kicks Megatron with the same foot. Shouldn't that hurt, according to him?
*So Ultra Magnus just happens to have a ready-made Matrix chamber installed in his chest cavity? Is this standard issue for all Autobots?
*The cartoon had already established that Astrotrain increases his size when he transforms to shuttle mode, being large enough to carry a pair of Decepticons in his cockpit. However, within the movie itself, his size is [[scale|noticeably inconsistent]]: When he leaves Autobot City, he's just large enough for the Decepticon army to cram themselves in; later, he's so huge that the Constructicons can quite comfortably form Devastator inside him. Perhaps he continued expanding when transforming from train to shuttle mode?
*Speaking of which, Astrotrain's entire body flips over when he transforms from train to space shuttle to escape from Autobot City. While ''we'' applaud the [[Show-accuracy|toy-accuracy]], the Decepticons inside probably didn't.
*The damage suffered by Skywarp, Thundercracker, and the Insecticons basically appears out of nowhere when it's time for them to be jettisoned. While Shrapnel and Kickback are shown taking a beating early on, they appear shiny and new later in the battle, as do the two Seekers.
*Soundwave is loyal enough to pick up a wounded Megatron and save him, but then votes "aye" to jettisoning the wounded Decepticons, and when Starscream goes to throw Megatron out, Soundwave doesn't try to intervene. He even tries to steal the leadership once Megatron is gone. The "loyalty" attribute that has pertained so strongly to Soundwave seems to be alienated from the character in this scene.
*The number of minions created by Unicron changes throughout the film, with more Sweeps appearing as the story progresses. A second Cyclonus ("Cyclonus, the warrior, and [[Cyclonus's Armada|his armada]]") is shown being created but disappears shortly thereafter. At least ''seven'' new characters are shown at one point, created from only ''six'' Decepticons thrown from the shuttle.
*How can the Constructicons blow on those trumpets? Only [[Hook (G1)|three]] [[Bonecrusher (G1)|of]] [[Mixmaster (G1)|them]] have mouths.
*Given his relative position, Starscream's single shot through the trumpets defies all geometry.
[[File:SSBQ.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|"I've been looking forward to this for a long time." "Yes, I bet you have."]]
*[[Galvatron (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Galvatron]] is capable of reducing [[Starscream (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Starscream]] to ashes with a single shot from his cannon mode. Though in later episodes Galvatron is shown blowing up even small ''[[Thrull|planets]]'' and being able to take down [[Omega Supreme (G1)|Omega Supreme]] with one shot from his cannon, his extraordinary killing power seems to be gone—like when he scores a direct hit in cannon mode on Ultra Magnus in "[[Five Faces of Darkness, Part 5]]" and Magnus isn't especially hurt at all, or how a similar blast against Scourge in "[[The Burden Hardest to Bear]]" only leaves the latter temporarily incapacitated. [[Marvel Comics]] bios explain this by suggesting that Galvatron had nearly limitless power through Unicron... but then again, Galvatron himself claims to be "more powerful than ever" after Unicron is dead in "[[Five Faces of Darkness, Part 2]]". [[To sell toys|Who knows.]]
*Why didn't the Autobots notice Unicron until he was within devouring distance of Cybertron's moons? Why doesn't Shockwave, who is ''on Cybertron,'' react until after Unicron has eaten these moons, transformed into a giant robot, and ''smashed his hand into the planet's surface?''
*Despite running out of energon goodies on Quintessa, Hot Rod has at least one to offer to the Junkions.
* - THere might have been a stash of energon aboard the Quintesson ship.
*How did Hot Rod and Kup know to fly from Quintessa to Junk?
[[File:TFTMStarscreamVsUnicron.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|Let me see your identification.]]
*When the Decepticons on Cybertron launch a counterattack on Unicron, all three of the first-year Seekers are seen fighting alongside the Coneheads. Given that all three were either explicitly killed earlier in the movie (Starscream) or have been turned into Galvatron's troops by this point (Thundercracker and Skywarp), they're obviously not supposed to be ''around'' in these forms anymore; of course, they could also just be [[generic]]s reusing their colors...but, as noted above, Thundercracker and Skywarp ''also'' appear at Starscream's coronation.
*Daniel, who was just learning how to use his exo-suit, had to knock down the acid cover inside Unicron to save his loved ones. Why couldn't the more experienced Spike do the same with his suit from above? He had both of his arms free and a clear shot at the cover.
* - Maybe the claw that was carrying him had some kind of energy dampener that was stopping his guns from firing?
*It's not clear how Rodimus Prime (carrying two humans) and the other Autobots survived their jump out of Unicron's eye and their plunge towards the surface of Cybertron.
*It's also unclear just how the dozen or so Autobots (and one shipload of Junkions) managed to retake the whole planet of Cybertron. Did Unicron really wipe out ''that'' many Decepticons?
* Unicron's invincibility is extremely inconsistent; Moments before becoming Galvatron, Megatron creates visible damage to Unicron's horns simply by attempting to hold into something. Later, he doesn't suffer even a dent when one of Cybertron's moons is detonated in his mouth. Near the end, the Dinobots are capable of punching their way through his "skin", and Rodimus Prime just casually throws Galvatron into space through Unicron's side. Even without the Matrix, the small group of Autobots did pretty well against him.

===Not necessarily errors===
*Fans have noted throughout the years that Astrotrain, in his flight through zero-gravity space, should not have needed to "jettison some weight" in the literal sense. However, since the ejected Decepticons quickly fall behind Astrotrain instead of floating alongside him, he must still have been accelerating and thus would have needed to burn a greater amount of fuel in order to push a larger payload. Perhaps he should have said "jettison some ''mass''", but then again, just being a spaceship doesn't make him a rocket scientist.
*Springer escapes from Unicron's eye by transforming into helicopter mode and flying through outer space, where there shouldn't be an atmosphere for his rotors to provide lift. Maybe Unicron was still within Cybertron's atmosphere?

==Continuity notes==
*''The Transformers: The Movie'' has had a huge effect in shaping the mythos. Among the elements and characters which would reappear in many other iterations of ''[[Transformers brand|Transformers]]'' are:
**The notion that [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]] has moons.
**The [[Matrix of Leadership|Matrix]] as a physical object, rather than the computer program previously depicted in the [[Marvel Comics|Marvel]] [[The Transformers (Marvel comic)|comics]]. Even the Marvel comics would eventually shoehorn this one in.
**[[Autobot City (disambiguation)|Autobot City]].
**[[Unicron]].
**The notion of [[Megatron (disambiguation)|Megatron]] becoming [[Galvatron (disambiguation)|Galvatron]].
**The idea of "[[Prime (rank)|Prime]]" being a rank rather than simply a given name.
**[[The many deaths of Optimus Prime|And it killed off Optimus Prime before it was cool]]!
*Cybertron's appearance in the post-titles establishing shot shows some major changes to the planet since our last look at it in Season 2. Many of the same buildings from the cartoon's stock image of the planet are there, but the giant pit near the planet's equator is mostly covered over, and the shredded portion of its southern hemisphere has been completely rebuilt.
*Gadgets and powers:
**Springer deploys a small flip-out twin laser from his wrist during the Autobot City battle.
**Arcee and Hot Rod both activate a long-distance scanner of some sort by lowering a red visor from under their helmets over their eyes.
**Megatron uses an "[[Lightsaber|Energy Dagger]]"<ref>[https://twitter.com/walruslaw/status/1204860124898181123 Reference sheets for various weapons used or planned for use in ''The Transformers: The Movie''] - TFRaw.com on Twitter</ref> during his one-on-one battle with Optimus Prime.
**Hot Rod uses a saw blade that extends from his retracted wrist.
**Blurr has the same kind of hooked welding tip used by various Autobots as far back as "[[More than Meets the Eye, Part 2]]".
**Arcee unleashes a nasty barbed post from her fender to fend off a Junkion.
**Grimlock shows the never-before seen ability to [[GoBots|shoot lasers from his fists]].
*'''[[The Revenge of Bruticus|< <]]''' What makes Starscream the leader? Megatron's <s>dead</s> almost dead!

==Real-world references and Easter eggs==
[[File:TFTMUnicronSkyscrapers.jpg|thumb|I felt a great disturbance in the Force, as if millions of voices suddenly cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced.]]
*When the inside of Unicron is shown after he devours Lithone, the "blinking energy" effect of Unicron's innards shows, for a split second, what appear to be several images of post-apocalyptic buildings. These images look to be recycled background paintings from ''{{w|Fist of the North Star (1986 film)|Fist of the North Star}}'', a film [[Toei Animation|Toei]] had animated the same year. Regardless of animation efficiency/corner-cutting, the flashing images of ruined civilizations are eerily appropriate for Unicron.
[[File:TFTM Sludge Devastator.jpg|thumb|Your eyes can deceive you. Don't trust them.]]
*When Sludge gets haymakered by Devastator, his eyes pop out of their sockets in ''{{w|Looney Tunes}}'' fashion.
*Kup's storytelling sequence aboard the shuttle is drawn from the novel ''{{w|Of Mice and Men}}'', complete with Grimlock in the Lenny role asking Kup to "tell Grimlock about petrorabbits again".
*The Junkions speak almost entirely in pop culture quotes and pastiches. Littered among the generic phrases like "operators are standing by!", "Film at eleven" and "eliminate even the toughest stains" are more specific references, such as:
**"Don't look behind door #2, Monty!" - a reference to the game show ''[[Let's Make a Deal]]'' and its host, [[Monty]] Hall.
**"Ger-ronny-doo-ron-ron-ronny-mo!" - both the famous "{{w|Geronimo (exclamation)|Geronimo!}}" war cry, and the 1963 hit "{{w|Da Doo Ron Ron}}".
**"You check in, but you don't check out" - a parody of the tagline for {{w|Roach Motel (insect trap)|Roach Motel}} insect traps.
**"Breep, drit, aw rootie!" - part of {{w|Tutti Frutti (song)|"Tutti Frutti, aw rooty!"}}, from the 1955 song.
**"Happy motoring!" - the slogan of gas company [[Esso]].
**"Kill the Grand Poobah!" - a {{w|Grand Poobah|satirical term}} originating from {{w|Gilbert and Sullivan}}'s ''{{w|The Mikado}}'', likely referencing its use as the title of leaders of pseudo-Masonic lodges in ''{{w|The Flintstones}}'' and ''{{w|Happy Days}}''.
[[File:Tftm rosencrantz-and-guildenstern.jpg|thumb|Easy? You call that ''easy!?'']]
*The Quintesson jail cell includes robot debris ''strongly'' resembling [[:File:Tftm rosencrantz-and-guildenstern.jpg#parts|several mobile suits]] from 1985 Japanese animation ''{{w|Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam}}''.
*''[[Star Wars (film)|Star Wars]]'' sound effects (yes, even the high-budget Movie uses them):
**The ''[[Millennium Falcon]]'' engine burst noise is used extensively throughout the film, over and over and over, almost any time a Decepticon takes flight.

**[[Luke Skywalker]]'s deactivating [[lightsaber]] is used as the sound of the Quintesson ship's ramp extending.
**Clashing lightsabers are used as Unicron fires eye-blasts at the attacking Transformers.

**An igniting lightsaber is used as Rodimus opens the Matrix.
**An AT-AT foot stomp sound is heard as the Autobot shuttle crash lands on Junk.
**The whir of an AT-AT's leg hydraulics can be heard part way through Unicron's transformation.
*The ''[[Star Trek]]'' sliding door sound is used as Wreck-Gar pulls out his <s>iPhone</s> mini-TV.
*The sound used for the communicators on ''Star Trek'' is used when Daniel activates his blaster to save Spike.

==Adaptations==
*[[Transformers: The Movie (Marvel comic)|A comic adaptation of the movie]] was published by [[Marvel Comics]] in 1986, concurrently with the movie's theater run. It was based off a non-finalized version of the script, and differs in many details from the final film. Additionally, most of the major character models (and possibly their unedited original character write-ups) appear in issue #4 of the ''[[The Transformers Universe|Transformers Universe]]'' series.
*[[Transformers the Movie (Ladybird adaptation)|A storybook adaptation]] was released in the UK by [[Ladybird Books]].
*A four-part adaptation was released in 2006/2007 by [[IDW Publishing]], as part of the film's 20th anniversary celebration. It was titled ''[[Transformers: The Animated Movie]]'' to differentiate it from the [[Michael Bay]] [[Transformers (film)|live-action film]]. Unlike its predecessor, it adheres rigidly to the script and plot of the finished movie.

==Soundtrack==
{{main|The Transformers: The Movie - Original Motion Picture Soundtrack}}

==Promotions==
*Early in the movie's production, a [[The Transformers: The Movie promo|promotional trailer]] was made to sell the project to potential investors.
*The movie was advertised on related 1986 toy packages via the [[Decipher the Decepticon]] Sweepstakes, which included a pack-in poster and contest.
*The movie was heavily advertised directly by TV [[commercial]]s, and tail-end segments on Transformer toy ads. Portions of its story were also retold in altered fashion by animation segments of commercials for the movie character toys, such as a spot showing Springer doing battle with Wreck-Gar.
*[[Ziploc]] sandwich bags featuring an iron-on patch in boxed to advertise the movie. Each box contained one of eight potential characters.

==In the comic continuity==
The [[The Transformers (Marvel comic)|Marvel UK comic]] made extensive use of the Movie as the basis for a series of stories involving the Transformers in the future. However, there are several differences between the events seen on screen and those referenced in the comic:

*The comic always dates the movie to [[2006]], following the date given in a treatment that was all [[Simon Furman]] had when he wrote "[[Target: 2006]]".
*In "Target: 2006", [[Cyclonus (G1)|Cyclonus]] states that he was previously "[[Life Spark]]".
*The Matrix is always called the "Creation Matrix" in the comic, a name that predates the "Matrix of Leadership" but which is now used for the same physical object.
*[[Brawn (G1)|Brawn]] and [[Wheeljack (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Wheeljack]] both survive the events, both later appearing in "[[Space Pirates!]]" (set in [[2008]]).

In addition, [[Shockwave (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Shockwave]] definitely survives the attack by Unicron.

The US comic almost completely ignored the events of the Movie, though later in the run an alternative future is briefly shown in "[[Rhythms of Darkness!]]" and "[[A Savage Circle]]". In this timeline at least some of the events of the Movie took place such as the creation of [[Galvatron (G1)|Galvatron]] from [[Megatron (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Megatron]], which is dated to 2005, though [[Prowl (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Prowl]]'s death was overlooked. [[Prowl (TM2)|Wouldn't be the first time. Or the last.]]
*The US version of the future story "[[The Big Broadcast of 2006 (issue)|The Big Broadcast of 2006]]" implicitly has the events of the movie as part of its backstory. However, since the rest of the US series ignored the movie, this issue's place in the continuity is questionable.

==Edits==
Several English-language versions of the film exist, with the following differences in content from the American theatrical run:

*In some versions (notably the European version) the opening credits are replaced with a scrolling text ("''Star Wars'' style") which provides backstory.
*In some versions (notably the European version) the film ends with [[Victor Caroli|a narrator]] reassuring the audience that Optimus Prime will return.
*Instances of swearing in the film (there are two) were edited out; sometimes one, sometimes both. Those instances are: Spike yelling, "Oh shit, what are we gonna do now?" after the self-destructing Moon Base 2 fails to scratch Unicron, and Ultra Magnus growling, "Open, damn it, open!" while trying to open the Matrix to fend off Galvatron and the Sweeps on Junkion. The United Kingdom cinema version had the swearing included but, when it was released on VHS in the United Kingdom, Spike's line was cut ("damn" not being considered especially offensive in the UK). However it has been restored on all United Kingdom DVD releases.
*In some early FHE video releases, the shot of the Matrix falling out of Optimus Prime's hand and being caught by Hot Rod is edited so that it appears that Ultra Magnus simply takes the Matrix from Prime. Why this was done is not known, and the replay of the Hot Rod catch on Unicron's monitors was left intact.
*The original FHE video release of the film painted out all instances of Megatron's green-colored "bleeding" from the end of the battle of Autobot City up to his meeting with Unicron.
*Instead of DEG, the {{w|Rank Organisation|Rank Film}} "{{w|Gongman}}" appears before the British release of the film, as Rank were the United Kingdom distributors. Ironically, the DEG logo at the beginning uses the "Gongman" sounds, rather than its own fanfare, possibly due to a plastering mistake.

None of these edits significantly affect the story. They should not be confused with various other sequences which were changed before the film's final release:

*Originally, Ultra Magnus's "death sequence" on Junkion called for him to be lassoed and drawn and quartered by the Sweeps' energy beams, but this was deemed too graphic for audiences, hence the less disturbing "shot to death" sequence seen instead. There is evidence that the original sequence had been fully animated when the decision was made, however; the Sweeps still kept their solid energy lassos when they fire upon Magnus, and Magnus is seen visibly straining against what appears to be said lassos (edited out and replaced with laser fire) before exploding. This also explains why the Junkions only have to put his limbs back on to repair him.
*A number of other sequences were illustrated as [[storyboard]]s but dropped, presumably without ever being animated. Among them were:
**A short scene showing Ironhide piloting the Autobot shuttle through ''huge chunks of ice'' from the tail of a passing comet, explaining how the Decepticons caught them unawares. In response to a reprimand by Prowl who prickishly disapproves of Ironhide's piloting shenanigans, Ironhide exclaims, "I can sure as shootin' dodge a couple of ice chunks". When the Autobots are suddenly jolted by the Decepticon strike force as Megatron and his troops attempt to enter the shuttle, Ironhide tells the others on board, "That was no ice chunk...". Heroic nonsense ensues...
**An extended sequence with Hot Rod and Daniel outside the city.
**A sequence of Mirage blasting Bombshell and being fired on by Megatron.
**The Autobots finally bringing down Devastator with a barrage of missiles (and the Constructicons subsequently shooting Red Alert in the back).
**The Decepticons dogpiling Optimus Prime, explaining why he seems to be standing up just before his fight with Megatron, and no longer holding his rifle. According to storyboards, Prime gets bum-rushed by Blitzwing (who causes Prime to drop his gun), Starscream, Astrotrain, and Skywarp. While it is not clear how Prime defeated the first four hand-to-hand combatants, Dirge is later shown attempting one final sneak attack (and gets his can handed back to him) as Prime is talking to Megatron before the two leaders' final fight.
**Trailbreaker is shown dead among the wreckage of Autobot City as the Decepticons begin their retreat.
:Some of these concepts were in earlier versions of the script, and hence made it into the comic adaptation.
*Rumors have occasionally circulated in the fandom of additional animated footage that was dropped from the film, such as ultra-violent battle scenes.<ref>https://groups.google.com/g/alt.toys.transformers/c/B0ZMv7tdDMk?hl=en#8aee0b30765b2b4a</ref> No evidence has ever surfaced to back these claims; the only known edits of any storyline or character importance are those listed in this section.
:{{see|Misconceptions and urban legends about Transformers#The Transformers: The Movie|Urban legends about ''The Transformers: The Movie''}}

==Reception and box office==
{{quote|''The Transformers'', in which Orson Welles plays a planet, is pure headache material. Target audience of cartoon-watchers also will probably find the film unintelligible, noisy and unoriginal. Boxoffice prospects are dismal.|2=[http://books.google.com/books?id=DHNZAAAAMAAJ&q=Hasbro+Transformers&dq=Hasbro+Transformers&lr=&as_drrb_is=b&as_minm_is=1&as_miny_is=1983&as_maxm_is=12&as_maxy_is=2005&num=50&as_brr=0&cd=69 Variety's Film Reviews 1985-1986, Volume 19]}}

{{quote|Obnoxious animated feature about the title good guys, who defend the universe against an evil planet (which has a voice of its own... provided by Orson Welles.) That deafening rock score certainly doesn't help. Little more than a feature-length toy commercial.|Leonard Maltin, ''1987 Movie & Video Guide''}}

{{quote|While all this action may captivate young children, the animation is not spectacular enough to dazzle adults, and the Transformers have few truly human elements to lure parents along, even when their voices are supplied by well-known actors. |2=[http://www.nytimes.com/1986/08/09/movies/screen-transformers-animation-for-children.html The New York Times]}}

{{quote|Transformers -- The Movie, a feature-length animated film inspired by the syndicated TV cartoon series inspired by the Hasbro toy imported from Japan, is utterly uninspired entertainment. |2=[http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=DM&p_theme=dm&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0ED3CE8EA8D40CCA&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM The Dallas Morning News]}}

{{quote|If you can swallow, without gagging, a large measure of sentimental and offensive religiosity - lines like "Do not grieve. Soon I will be one with the Matrix," whispered by a failing hunk of Autobot metal - then you have a better than even chance of leaving the theatre on your own two feet. |2=[http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=01kiAAAAIBAJ&sjid=W6gFAAAAIBAJ&pg=2445,1286000&dq=transformers&hl=en The Montreal Gazette]}}

{{quote|Everything is poorly drawn and - when it's in focus - one dimensional. It is terribly hard to separate the robots from the backgrounds, and there is no easy way to tell the good guys from the bad guys. In an earlier movie based on the same sort of robot toys - "Go-Bots: The Battle of the Rock Lords" - the good guys were either white or colorful and the bad guys were dreary, and they had distinct personalities. Not this movie; everyone looks and sounds alike, except one pink robot who is a female good guy. Her tin voluptuousness makes her stand out. |2=[http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=kw4wAAAAIBAJ&sjid=OgMEAAAAIBAJ&pg=6957,6334152&dq=transformers&hl=en The Toledo Blade]}}

{{quote|Even with an all-star cast doing the voice overs... and a rock music score, this is still nothing more than a ripoff of a successful toy line. |2=[http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=AYckAAAAIBAJ&sjid=dtsFAAAAIBAJ&pg=4192,1494652&dq=transformers&hl=en The Palm Beach Post]}}

{{quote|The great animated villains, like the Wicked Queen in Disney's "Snow White," had motivations as compelling as any live-action character. Unicron apparently destroys entire worlds because it has nothing else to do. |2=[http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/latimes/access/57996397.html?dids=57996397:57996397&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Aug+8%2C+1986&author=CHARLES+SOLOMON&pub=Los+Angeles+Times+(pre-1997+Fulltext)&edition=&startpage=8&desc=%60THE+TRANSFORMERS%27%3A+STRETCHING+A+POINT The LA Times]}}

{{quote|A surprisingly dark, emotional, and almost excessively cynical experience for Transformers fans.|2=[http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/transformers_the_the_movie/ Rotten Tomatoes]}}

''The Transformers: The Movie'' was almost universally panned by professional critics upon its release.

Well-known film critic and animation enthusiast, Leonard Maltin, gave it a rating below 1 1/2 stars in his ''1987 Movie & Video Guide'', regarding it as a "bomb", then proceeded to write an unflattering blurb denouncing the film as a "feature-length toy commercial".

Caryn James of the ''New York Times'' admitted in the [[August 9]], 1986, edition of the paper that the film was intended for young children, pointing out that the kids in the audience were having a grand ole time with the ''Transformer'' toys and comics they brought with them to the theater, but derided the film as having little to no appeal to adults.

''Variety's Film Reviews 1985-1986, Volume 19 '' was far less even-handed in their review, claiming the film had no appeal to adults ''or'' children. They predicted the film would perform poorly in the box office (and were correct, in that regard).

Carrie Rickey of the ''Dallas Morning News'' chided the film in the [[August 13]], 1986, issue of the paper, describing it as "essentially a cartoon ''Star Wars'' about robots from a toybox galaxy far, far away". She then went on to say that the film "never takes off" and derided it as "uninspired".

Janice Kennedy of the ''Montreal Gazette'' verbally disemboweled the film in the [[August 23]], 1986, edition of the paper, criticizing it as overly commercial, profane, loud, violent, humorless, heavy-handed in its religious messages and chaulk-full of gratuitous celebrity voice-overs. Her only compliment: "But ''The Transformers: The Movie'' does have at least one good thing going for it, a howlingly appropriate song by [["Weird Al" Yankovic]]. It's title? ''Dare to be Stupid''." ''Ouch''.

Nanciann Cherry in the August 13, 1986, edition of the ''Toledo Blade'' claimed the robots in the movie had little personality and faded into the background. She even went on to say that ''[[GoBots]]: {{gb|GoBots: Battle of the Rock Lords|Battle of the Rock Lords}}'' was a superior film! Her review was filled with inaccuracies, however, citing characters such as "Unicon" and claiming that the destruction of Cybertron's moons by "Unicon" is what caused the Autobots to travel to Autobot City, at which point Megatron attacked. To be fair, she readily admits, "About 20 minutes into the film, I gave up on the plot and tried to count all the ideas that were stolen from other sources. Now that kept me busy." So she wasn't really paying attention, anyway.

Kathryn Buxton in the [[August 22]], 1986, edition of the ''Palm Beach Post'' gave the film a whopping ''one'' star, calling it "a ripoff of a successful toyline", whatever ''that'' means. In the same article, she also gave David Cronenberg's ''[[Fly|The Fly]]'' one star, just for reference.

In the August 8, 1986, edition of the ''LA Times'', critic Charles Solomon made clear his dislike for the film centered primarily on the fact that none of the characters had interesting or believable motivation. He stated, "Not even the best actor can create a character out of nothing. Not one of the robots has a reason for doing what he does." Solomon then pointed to Unicron specifically as an example of the lack of deep, multi-dimensional motivations in the characters.

Over time, however, the movie has acquired something of a cult following beyond the core base of [[fandom|Transformers fans]], particularly among children of the '80s. It is sometimes screened as a midnight movie at colleges. Online, it is not hard to find amateur reviews lauding everything about it as utterly awesome, from the premise to the soundtrack, and dismissing more critical views out of hand. ''The Transformers: The Movie'' currently holds a 62% "fresh" rating based on 25 professional reviews at online review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes.<ref>http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/transformers_the_the_movie/</ref> In response to the film's cult following, several reviewers have compared the film in a favourable light to the [[Live-action film series|live-action film]]s (prior to the unprecedented critical success of [[Bumblebee (film)|Bumblebee]]), stating that they lack the heart or nostalgia of the '86 movie.<ref>https://www.inverse.com/article/7309-6-enduring-legacies-of-1986-s-animated-the-transformers-the-movie</ref><ref>https://slate.com/culture/2007/07/transformers-why-the-original-animated-movie-is-still-the-best.html</ref><ref>https://www.cinemablend.com/new/Sorry-Michael-Bay-Why-1986-Transformers-Movie-Best-43582.html</ref>

===Box office===
An [[August 30]]th, 1987 ''Los Angeles Times'' article on the decline and fall of the DeLaurentiis Entertainment Group listed ''The Transformers: The Movie'' as grossing $2.6 million in the United States on a $5 million budget.<ref>https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1987-08-30-fi-5144-story.html</ref> Both it and ''My Little Pony: The Movie'' (which earned $2.8 million on a $5.5 million budget per that same article) were financial failures, together losing Hasbro about $10 million in an otherwise profitable year.<ref>{{citesocial|quote=... we just accidentally found the budget for The Transformers: The Movie while skimming a book about My Little Pony. Thanks, @sherilyn! https://t.co/epw3GW83lE|link=https://twitter.com/tfwiki/status/895169922678042625|name=TFWiki|site=Twitter|year=2017|month=08|day=09|(defunct=)}}</ref>

Confusingly, in comparison to the ''Los Angeles Times'' article, modern box office tracking sites<ref>http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=transformers.htm</ref><ref>http://www.the-numbers.com/movies/1986/0TRTM.php</ref> list ''The Transformers: The Movie'' as having made $5,849,647 in domestic (e.g., United States) theaters. Comparing this with the other online box office takes from animated films of 1986, the results are not particularly charitable; while it did better financially than ''{{gb|GoBots: Battle of the Rock Lords}}''<ref>http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=gobots.htm</ref> ($1,338,264) and ''Heathcliff: The Movie''<ref>http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=heathcliff.htm</ref> ($2,610,686), it performed worse than the 1986 ''[[My Little Pony]]'' movie<ref>http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=mylittlepony.htm</ref> ($5,958,456) and the '''second''' ''Care Bears'' movie<ref>http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=carebearsmovie2.htm</ref> ($8,540,346). Bringing up ''The Great Mouse Detective''<ref>http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=greatmousedetective.htm</ref> ($25,336,794) and ''An American Tail''<ref>http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=americantail.htm</ref> ($47,483,002) would really just be overkill.

==Significance in Transfandom==
''The Transformers: The Movie'' remains one of the most important elements of the entire Transformers brand, both within the fiction and from the perspective of the brand's popularity and "mindshare".

Fictionally, it established several story concepts that have been used repeatedly in the years since 1986, some of which—such as Unicron and the Matrix—are now central to the entire Transformers mythos. The movie is also the centerpiece of the most well-known Transformers continuity: the Generation 1 animated universe. The ''Transformers'' cartoon is split into "pre-movie" and "post-movie" sections which feature different characters and settings, and even somewhat different visual styles. (Most pre-movie episodes were animated by the studio [[Toei Animation|Toei]], while most post-movie episodes were animated by [[AKOM]].)

On a practical note, it was widely available on videotape, and remained so long after the ''The Transformers'' cartoon had gone off the air. Only a [[Family Home Entertainment|handful of series episodes]] were available on video, making ''The Transformers: The Movie'' the logical choice for someone looking to pick up a ''Transformers'' cartoon; this made it far more well known among fans than any particular cartoon episode.

To an entire generation of young fans, the movie was the most visually spectacular and narratively epic ''Transformers'' experience of their entire youth. Events such as the death of Optimus Prime are widely reported to have reduced many kids to tears. It is hardly a surprise that these emotional experiences embedded themselves deeply in many fans' memories.

Latter-day ''Transformers'' stories have made uncountable references (though [[The Transformers: The Movie/references|we're trying]]) to the movie, lifting or borrowing elements of its [[Minus One|dialogue]], [[The Transformers: Autocracy|fight sequences]], [[A Flash Forward|subplots]], [[Heavy Is the Head|details]], [[Less Than Zero|settings]] and more, as writers have discovered that a shout-out to the movie is a quick and easy way to win cheers from [[GEEWUN|some segments]] of [[Fandom|their audience]]. Even Hasbro and Takara themselves have gotten in on the act, producing a variety of toys based on the minutia of the film: [[Starscream (Armada)#Cybertron|Starscream's crown]], [[Galvatron (G1)/toys#United|Galvatron's creation]], the awakening of [[Hot Rod (G1)/toys#Masterpiece|Rodimus Prime]], and more. The fandom, for their part, pores over new ''Transformers'' fiction, often latching on to even the most tangential of details as a [[The Search for Alpha Trion#Quotes|"reference"]] to the movie, [[The Burden Hardest to Bear|coincidental or not]]. Call-outs, real or perceived, were once a rare treat - but now are so common that many fans are more likely to groan than cheer whenever some version of Optimus Prime declares that "[[One Shall Fall|One shall stand...]]" or a damaged character states that "[[Unfinished|I still function]]" or a vengeful blast is preceded by "[[The Illusion of Control|Here's a hint]]" or yet another Soundwave says yet another variation of "[[Human Error, Part II|Soundwave superior]]", or... well... this:

<center><gallery>
File:Transformersanimatedfilmposter.jpg|'86
File:TFTM1.jpg|'86 again
File:Botcon2000-movieposter.jpg|2000
File:TFvol1 31cvrRI.jpg|2010
File:Timelines10 diamonded.jpg|2014
File:Echoes and Fragments cover.jpg|2016
File:LL1 Riptcvr.jpg|2018
</gallery></center>

In 2016, thirty years after the release of the film, [[Optimus Prime (G1)/2005 IDW continuity|Optimus Prime]] gave us perhaps one of the most meta comeback lines in franchise history. When [[Galvatron (G1)/2005 IDW continuity|Galvatron]] declares that "Today — one shall stand, and two shall fall!", Optimus simply punches him in the face with a flat "No cliches, Galvatron", voicing once and for all just how sick we've gotten of '86 quotes. {{storylink|All Hail Optimus Part 6: No Fair Fights|No Fair Fights}}

{{quote|...wait, I only just noticed something. Did they actually manage to go the entire episode without quoting the 86 movie?|[http://www.allspark.com/forums/topic/94625-episode-65-beast-hunters-episode-13/page-4#entry2360303 Allspark poster Unit Eleven]}}

==Criticisms==
[[File:TFTM Ratchet dies.jpg|left|thumb|Only [[Stormtrooper (SW)|Imperial Stormtroopers]] are so precise.]]
All this is not all to say that the movie is a "masterpiece", exactly. The film met with extremely harsh critical reviews on its release, and some of those criticisms still ring true today.

The film displays an arguably cynical attitude towards itself as [[To sell toys|a vehicle for advertising toys]], especially in the way [[The Transformers (cartoon)/cast|beloved characters]] are killed—sometimes gratuitously—for sake of justifying the story's focus on a new group of toys. (Note that with the exception of Laserbeak and possibly Buzzsaw, the poster at the top of this article features ''only'' new characters.)

Further, the two primary plot devices—[[Unicron/Generation 1|Unicron]] and the [[Matrix of Leadership|Matrix]]—have no prior establishment in the fiction. Unicron is given no backstory ([[Call of the Primitives|until season 3]]) or justification; he simply exists, is very dangerous, and is afraid of the Matrix, all for no adequately explained reason. The introduction of the Matrix itself is a heavy [[retcon]]. The story asks the audience to accept that this cosmically powerful artifact has been in Optimus Prime's possession all along (even though Prime's open-chested repair scene in "[[Divide and Conquer]]" and his X-ray scene in "[[A Prime Problem]]" show absolutely no signs of said Matrix), but has somehow never been relevant before. In fact, this lack of prior establishment is what led [[Simon Furman]] to develop the divinity backstory of Unicron and [[Primus]] in the UK comics run.

[[File:Megatronlightsaber.jpg|thumb|Your powers are weak, old man!]]
The movie bears many similarities to ''[[Star Wars (film)|Star Wars]]'': There are several character-parallels ([[Springer (G1)|Springer]] is a [[Han Solo]]-type and [[Arcee (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Arcee]] even has Princess Leia's hairdo!), the primary threat is similar (it's the [[Death Star]]... [[Unicron/Generation 1|but it transforms!]]), and both feature a climactic battle where the [[Hot Rod (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|young hero]] hears the voice of his [[Optimus Prime (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|dead, wise mentor]] one last time before saving the day.

To be a bit more fair to ''The Transformers: The Movie'', however, most of these similarities are either superficial (Arcee's Leia-hair; Megatron's "lightsaber" he briefly uses in his duel against Optimus Prime) or can be seen as elements common to thousands of years' worth of epic storytelling through human history, not just common to ''Star Wars''. As a simple example, the phenomenon of two charismatic leaders dealing each other mortal injuries in battle hearkens back to some versions of the "[[King Arthur]]" myth; in their final battle, [[Optimus Prime (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Arthur]] and his arch-enemy [[Megatron (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Sir Mordred]] deal one another lethal injuries and both apparently expire—though Arthur according to the legend will [[The Return of Optimus Prime, Part 1|return]] when [[Cybertron (planet)|England]]'s need [[Darkest hour|is greatest]].
{{--}}

==Formatting==
[[File:Tftm widescreenesque.jpg|upright=1.66|thumb|The "widescreen" picture (left) actually ''cuts off'' the top and bottom of the fullscreen picture (right). Your eyes can deceive you; don't trust them.]]
Although it was billed in some advertisements before its theatrical release as being "widescreen", the movie was in fact animated in a 4:3 (fullscreen) aspect ratio. For its theatrical screenings, the film was matted down in the projector by the projectionist to a 16:9 aspect ratio (widescreen), chopping the top and bottom off the picture, but all video transfers of the movie were done without mattes, meaning that there was actually more picture visible in the fullscreen video and DVD releases than there would have been in theaters. Across 2006 and 2007, new editions of the DVD of the film were released by Sony BMG and [[Metrodome]] which applied the mattes in order to replicate the original theatrical presentation of the film for the first time in home entertainment. Some fans, however, didn't realize that the film wasn't actually ''animated'' in widescreen, and, hearing that the DVD was to be in widescreen, expected to see the fullscreen image with additional footage at the sides, causing them to complain that the top and bottom were cut off, thereby totally missing the point.
{{--}}

==International versions==
{{main|The Transformers: The Movie/dubs}}

==Commercial releases==
[[File:TFTM LaserDisc cover.jpg|thumb|The cover image from the original Japanese home media release of the movie.]]
*The movie was originally released in North America on VHS and Beta on [[September 17]], 1987<ref>http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1964&dat=19870911&id=YhAuAAAAIBAJ&sjid=Ls8FAAAAIBAJ&pg=3198,2881581</ref> by [[Family Home Entertainment]], minus Spike's swear. Just days before, on [[September 14]], 1987<ref>https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0003579/19870910/016/0016</ref>, it was released in the UK by [[Video Gems]]. This version featured the opening text crawl and closing narration inherent to the UK version of the film. In Australia, the film was released on video by RCA/Columbia Pictures/Hoyts. In Japan, [[Sohbi Kikaku|Hill Crane]] released a {{w|LaserDisc}} version alongside a VHS copy, both sporting a gorgeous painted cover that decorated many a fan's desktop back in the day.
*The movie was released spottily in the '90s, beginning with a budget VHS by Avid Home Entertainment in 1991. [[Malofilm]] released a VHS in Canada in 1995, notable for being the first home entertainment version to include Spike's swear. In 1998, Japanese company Pioneer produced another pair of LaserDisc and VHS releases. In 1999, things kicked off when American company [[Rhino Entertainment|Kid Rhino]] secured the Transformers license and released the film on VHS once again.
*The 21st century's flirtation with ''The Transformers: The Movie'' started with a UK budget VHS release of that country's version by [[Sony|Sony Wonder]], distributed by [[Maverick Entertainment]]. A Japanese company called CatCo followed this up with a VideoCD, and Malofilm—now Seville—were the first to release a DVD version of the film, though it was just a dump of their VHS version.
*In November 2000, ''The Transformers: The Movie'' got its first, full professional DVD release from Kid Rhino. This edition, labelled a "Special Collector's Edition", is the first to feature remastered video and audio, and several special features, including storyboards and an interview with [[Vince DiCola]]. Rhino concurrently released this version on VHS, sans extras.
*In 2001 in the UK, Sony Wonder released their own much-delayed DVD version of the film. It was the UK version of the film, but included Spike's swear. However, the release was burdened by badly interlaced video, though it notably included the [[Omni Productions]] dub version of the ''[[Transformers: The Headmasters (cartoon)|Headmasters]]'' episode "[[Four Warriors Come out of the Sky]]" as an extra. This version (including the ''Headmasters'' episode) was simultaneously released on VHS.
*The movie was released on DVD in Australia in 2003 by [[Madman Entertainment]], using the same video as the Maverick version, but distinguished by some nifty new cover art by [[Don Figueroa]], and special features not seen on other editions, such as ''[[Stan Bush|The Touch]]'' music video and 80s TV spots.
[[File:Tftm uk covers.jpg|thumb|The UK poster art (left) has been the most common DVD and VHS cover in its home country, but the Ultimate Edition featured new art by Andy Wildman (right).]]
*After acquiring the license to release ''Transformers'' DVDs in the UK, [[Metrodome]] focused on completing their run of series box sets before turning their attention to the movie properly, releasing only a cheap budget DVD of the UK version through Prism Leisure with no extras, and a [[PlayStation|UMD]] of the same version.
*In 2005, Metrodome released ''Transformers: The Movie - Reconstructed'', a new version of the film designed to expose as much of the animated picture as possible. This, however, only resulted in exposing the rough, unfinished edges of the animation, and an overly pale remaster was compounded by excessive interlacing due to an unnecessary NTSC to PAL transfer. This, coupled with a 5.1 remix from [[Magno Sound & Video]], featuring the same extra sound effects that they added to Rhino's season box sets, made this release both controversial and disappointing to many. This was the first time that the US version of the movie was released in the UK, and the first to feature the US poster art as a cover (although a Silverscreen store exclusive version of the disc included a reversible cover with the UK poster art as well). Extras include trailers, TV spots, the character biographies from the Madman release, a looped version of the Lion ''Transformers'' theme on the main menu, and a subtitled version of "[[Four Warriors Come out of the Sky]]".
[[File:Tftm sony covers.jpg|thumb|Sony's covers, by Don Figueroa.]]
*For the movie's 20th anniversary in 2006, new license holder [[Sony|Sony BMG]] released a two-disc special edition of the film, featuring both a high-quality widescreen remaster and the original fullscreen version, audio commentaries from crew and fans, several new featurettes interviewing those involved in the movie's production, storyboards, TV spots, American and Japanese commercials and more. Most notably, this version included the first Western release of "[[Scramble City: Mobilization]]", albeit silent and unsubtitled, featuring only audio commentary. Also very notable is that this version includes an actual deleted scene from the animated film as an extra, though it is more of interest as a curiosity than anything it actually contains, being an approximately 2-second-long aerial view of the Autobots running towards the critically damaged Optimus Prime. This release featured two covers by Don Figueroa: one is of the '84-'85 cast that appear in the movie, and one is of the movie's new characters, available either as a lenticular hologram that switches between the two, or as a reversible sleeve with the images printed on either side.
[[File:Tftm madman covers.jpg|thumb|Madman's 2003 DVD cover (left), and their 2007 Special Edition cover (right).]]
*Delayed a bit to coincide with the hype for the 2007 [[Transformers (film)|live-action movie]], Metrodome also released a two-disc "Ultimate Edition" with a different widescreen master. Like "Reconstructed", this version used the US edition of the film, but this time, the UK version was also included, in fullscreen, on the second disc. Extras include TV spots, commercials, the Madman biographies, storyboards, commentary, "Scramble City" (with audio and subtitles), featurettes with [[Flint Dille]] and [[Peter Cullen]], and more. The double-disc edition was sold in a steel case featuring new art by [[Andrew Wildman]], with the UK poster art adorning the standard case inside. Various store exclusives were available, including postcards from Play.Com, a reversible cover with the US poster art from HMV, art cards from Virgin Megastore and [[posters]] from Woolworths and [[Toys"R"Us]]. It was also available in an extra-less single-disc version. This version was premiered at the Mid Ulster Film Festival in Ireland which was the only cinema showing of the remastered version of the film to date.
[[File:ShoutFactory TFTM BluDVD.jpg|thumb|Shout! Factory's 2016 Blu-ray cover.]]
*The film was released in Full HD 1080p on Blu-ray in the UK in October 2007. The Blu-ray is not region-locked, so it will play anywhere in the world. It features a 2.0 soundtrack, 5.1 Dolby Digital track, and a full bitrate DTS 5.1 track. The master used was the same used by Sony for their US DVD. Sadly, there are no extras on the DVD. The version of the film on the Blu-ray is the US one, complete with curse words.
*Madman produced their two-disc special edition through some collaboration with Metrodome, and consequently it features much of the same content, with additional extras taking the form of The Touch music video and a bonus episode of ''[[Beast Wars: Transformers (cartoon)|Beast Wars]]''. This release again features cover artwork by Don Figueroa, specifically the cover of [[IDW Publishing|IDW]]'s ''[[Transformers: The Animated Movie]]'' adaptation.
*For the film's 30th Anniversary, and after being out of print in the US for 10 years, the film was rereleased on Region 1 DVD and given its first Region A Blu-ray release on [[September 13]], [[2016]] by [[Shout! Factory]]. Both versions are sourced from a brand-new 4K transfer which underwent extensive color-correction and remastering, and a Steelbook packaging variant of the Blu-ray was also made available.<ref>[https://www.shoutfactory.com/film/action-adventure/the-transformers-the-movie-limited-edition-30th-anniversary-steelbook The Transformers: The Movie Limited Edition 30th Anniversary Steelbook]</ref> The Steelbook Blu-ray was released in the UK by [[Manga Entertainment]] as a limited edition on December 12, 2016, followed by a standard edition release a year later.
*On September 27, 2018, Fathom Events screened the movie at select theaters in the United States. The movie was preceded by an interview with [[Travis Knight]] and [[Hailee Steinfeld]] and a preview of a scene from ''[[Bumblebee (film)|Bumblebee]]'', and followed by a short featurette of Stan Bush discussing the music he contributed to the movie and performing acoustic versions of ''The Touch'' and ''Dare''.<ref>[http://news.tfw2005.com/2018/08/01/1986-transformers-movie-hitting-theaters-one-night-only-369314 1986 Transformers Movie Hitting Theaters One Night Only!]</ref> Cineplex would later show the movie in Canadian theaters on October 4.
*For the 35th anniversary, Shout! Factory produced the first 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray release of the movie — presented in widescreen only — and a remastered fullscreen 1080p Blu-ray. Feature-length storyboards and the Stan Bush featurette from the 2018 Fathom Events screening were added as new bonus features. The two discs were first made available in a limited edition SteelBook with four art cards on [[August 3]], [[2021]]<ref>[https://www.shoutfactory.com/product/the-transformers-the-movie-35th-anniversary-limited-edition-steelbook?product_id=7636 The Transformers: The Movie [35th Anniversary Limited Edition Steelbook]]</ref>; a wide release in standard packaging followed on [[September 28]]<ref>[https://www.shoutfactory.com/product/the-transformers-the-movie-35th-anniversary-edition?product_id=7668 The Transformers: The Movie [35th Anniversary Edition]]</ref>, as did a third set comprised of the new fullscreen Blu-ray and a widescreen DVD<ref>[https://www.shoutfactory.com/product/the-transformers-the-movie-35th-anniversary-edition-1?product_id=7667 The Transformers: The Movie [35th Anniversary Edition]]</ref>. Cover art for the new releases was created by [[Matt Ferguson]].
**Region B versions of the Shout! Factory 35th Anniversary discs were distributed by Funimation and released on [[October 25]], and an additional collector's edition set was made exclusive to Zavvi, packaging the 4K and Blu-ray discs with an art book, poster and six art cards.<ref>[https://www.zavvi.com/blu-ray/the-transformers-the-movie-35th-anniversary-zavvi-exclusive-4k-ultra-hd-limited-collectors-edition-includes-blu-ray/13169855.html The Transformers: The Movie 35th Anniversary - Zavvi Exclusive 4K Ultra HD Limited Collectors Edition (Includes Blu-ray)]</ref> Zavvi also partnered with Ferguson to release a line of art prints and apparel featuring his cover art.
*Fathom Events once again returned the film to select theaters on [[September 26]]–[[September 27|27]], 2021, accompanied by a set of [[The Transformers: The Movie 35th Anniversary Stop Motions|stop-motion comedy videos]] inspired by the film.

==Television broadcasts==
Following a segmented, five-part broadcast during [[The Transformers (cartoon)#Season 5|the fifth season of ''The Transformers'']], the complete feature film was aired on American television in 1989 via Fox stations. Air dates and times were June 17 at Noon, July 30 at 11 A.M. and September 2 at 10 A.M. Of course, this was the language-edited video release from Family Home Entertainment.

The movie was aired on [[Hub Network|The Hub]] on February 18, 2012, following [[Orion Pax, Part 1|the Season 2 premiere]] of ''[[Transformers: Prime (cartoon)|Transformers: Prime]]'' on what was called "Transformers Mega Saturday". Uniquely, this version combined the European opening narration with the US scrawl-free opening credits, muted the two swear words (rendering the lines as "It isn't even dented! ...What do we do now?!" and "Open... ''Open!''"), used the European closing narration at the end, and sped up the scroll of the end credits to cut it down for time, ending the lyrics of the [[theme song]] around the beginning of its second verse ("Strong enough to break the bravest heart..."). Subsequent re-airings on The Hub aired this version of the movie.

The American television airing of the feature film adds one extra sound effect, and it has never been heard in any other release. During the scene when Arcee is racing to jump aboard the departing Autobot shuttle, there is a distinctive sound effect when she jumps. In all other releases there is no sound effect.

A July 4, 2014 Hub broadcast of the movie markets it as ''Transformers: The Animated Movie'', distinguishing it from that computer animation/live action [[Transformers (film)|hybrid film]] with the similar title made two decades and one year later.

==Notes==
*According to [[Buzz Dixon]], Hasbro's decision to kill off Optimus Prime was actually an attempt to maintain some brand-storytelling parity with ''[[G.I. Joe (franchise)|G.I. Joe]]'', as Dixon had just convinced them to allow the death of [[Duke (G.I. Joe)|Duke]] in ''{{w|G.I. Joe: The Movie}}'' and both films were in production at the same time.<ref>https://web.archive.org/web/20151215034944/http://www.joeheadquarters.com/interviews_dixon.shtml</ref>

*After reading [[Ron Friedman]]'s [[The Transformers: The Movie (first draft)|first draft]] of the movie's script, [[Flint Dille]] and [[Jay Bacal]] hastily wrote and proposed a script of their own, "[[The Secret of Cybertron]]", which later informed the cartoon five-parter "[[Five Faces of Darkness]]". Elements of this script also supposedly made it into the finished film, but no copy of the script has ever surfaced.

*This film was the last professional performance by [[Orson Welles]], who died only a month later. According to production materials shown at [[BotCon 2000]] by Tim Finn, the voice recording sessions for ''The Transformers: The Movie'' were done on [[September 10]] and [[September 11|11]] of 1985. Welles died on [[October 10]] of that same year. It has often been speculated that Unicron's last line ("Destiny… you cannot destroy my destiny!") was recorded by another actor—possibly [[Leonard Nimoy|Nimoy]]—because it sounds different than the other lines. This speculation has been quashed by statements by Transformers voice director [[Wally Burr]].<ref>http://cybertronchronicle.freewebspace.com/60-astrominutes/wally-burr/wally-burr-3.html</ref>
[[File:Windcharger wheeljack otp.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|Uncle Owen! Aunt Beru!!]]

*With the exception of Starscream and possibly Shockwave, only the Autobots suffered fatalities in the movie. All of the other "dead" Decepticons from the Autobot City battle were rebuilt into Galvatron's new troops, and although more Decepticons were shown taking heavy damage and suffering huge casualties while fighting Unicron, their identities and their final condition are uncertain. Additionally, both Starscream and Unicron survived in the post-movie series in some form or another. Shockwave's death in the finished film is highly uncertain, although in the script it is fairly strongly implied. Regardless, Shockwave was originally intended to appear in the immediate post-movie story "Five Faces of Darkness", serving in the role that was ultimately given to Blitzwing, before an internal [[Sunbow Productions|Sunbow]] memo clarified that his character had been dropped from the series.<ref>[https://drive.google.com/file/d/1bid3TK_q2HxH7NR5MDAlGsKe5AlcbBnU/view Partial outline of "Five Faces of Darkness", covering Parts 3 to 5]</ref> Shockwave does make some miscolored appearances in crowd shots in later cartoon episodes, but these are probably examples of the fairly common animation errors in those episodes.

*Somewhat ironically, though only three of the original eighteen Autobots — [[Jazz (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Jazz]], [[Cliffjumper (G1)#Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Cliffjumper]], and [[Bumblebee (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Bumblebee]] — are definitively shown to have survived the movie, two would quite literally never be heard from again: [[Scatman Crothers]] passed away (though this didn't stop Jazz from making any number of background cameos) while Casey Kasem [[Casey Kasem#Notes|quit the show early in the third season]]. Fate's finger is fickle indeed.

*The Dinobots spend the majority of the film in their dinosaur modes, a practice that would eventually carry into season 3 of the cartoon. Swoop is the only one to spend extended amounts of time in robot mode, due to the anatomical issues of walking in a flight-based mode. However, there are some instances where they're briefly shown in robot mode for blink-and-you-miss-it moments, for no reason whatsoever. Additionally, despite his constant presence among the Dinobots, Sludge has no lines in the film at all.

*Unicron's roars in the movie were stock vocalizations originally created for Marvel Productions' 1982 ''The Incredible Hulk'' animated series and performed by voice actor Bob Holt, who voiced the [[Hulk]] in that show. Holt otherwise never voiced a character in the Marvel/Sunbow Transformers series (although he was a regular member of the ''{{gb|Challenge of the GoBots (cartoon)|Challenge of the GoBots}}'' cast as the original voice of [[Cop-Tur (GoBots)|Cop-Tur]]), and had passed away the year before ''The Transformers: The Movie'' was released in 1986. Thus, Unicron has the distinction of featuring ''two'' posthumous performances for the same Transformers character in a single production.

*[[:File:TFTM-MaybeBeachcomber.jpg|A robot resembling Beachcomber]] appears alongside Spike and the Autobots inside Unicron seconds before Daniel blasts the acid cover. Whether this was actually meant to be Beachcomber or just coincidental coloring is unknown, but regardless, Beachcomber shows up alive and well in "[[Five Faces of Darkness, Part 5]]".

*Pieces of music from the movie would later be used in the [[Commodore 64]] version of ''Turrican''. For instance, basically unaltered bits of "[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VWFx-Go6Y6A Escape]" make up [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w6jjpwpDVNY Subsong Two of the game's title theme].
{{--}}

===Foreign names===
*''German:'' '''''Transformers: Der Kampf um Cybertron''''' ("Transformers: The Battle for Cybertron", TV airings only)
*''French:'' '''''La Guerre des Robots''''' ("The War of the Robots")
*''Japanese:'' '''''トランスフォーマーザ・ムービー''''' ("Transformers: The Movie")

==External links==
*[https://www.boxofficemojo.com/release/rl3212281345/weekend/ ''The Transformers: The Movie''{{'}}s box office domestic gross]
*[https://sunbowmarvelarchive.blogspot.com/p/mp-4034-transformers-movie-sunbow.html ''The Transformers: The Movie'' outlines, scripts, storyboards, concept art and model sheets]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20211021062746/http://cybertronchronicle.freewebspace.com/cartoon-dossier/movie/movie.html ''The Transformers: The Movie'' Dossier at The Cybertron Chronicle]
*[http://web.archive.org/web/20080426020409/http://www.tftm.net/ ''The Transformers: The Movie'' "Unofficial Fansite", an extremely thorough site about the movie] (archived)
*[http://zobovor.tripod.com/transformers_the_movie_bloopers.html ''The Transformers: The Movie'' bloopers]

==References==
{{Reflist|2}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Transformers: The Movie}}

[[Category:The Transformers episodes]]
[[Category:Generation 1 media]]
[[Category:MSTF]]
[[Category:Real world films]]

Five Faces of Darkness, Part 2

2024-11-24T16:51:51Z

MartinOdoni: /* Continuity errors */

{{disambig3.5|the cartoon episode|the mobile game event|Five Faces of Darkness: Part 2|Five Faces of Darkness}}

{{episode
|series=G1toon
|ep=67
|series2=2010
|ep2=2
|prev2=Five Faces of Darkness, Part 1
|next2=Five Faces of Darkness, Part 3
|image=FFOD2 Galvatron sparks.JPG
|caption=Only Galvatron can see the Energon Fairies
|title="Five Faces of Darkness, Part 2"
|season=3
|season ep=2
|production code=#700-87
|production company=[[Sunbow Productions]]
|animation studio=[[AKOM]], [[Sam Young Studio]]
|airdate=[[September 16]], 1986
|written by=[[Flint Dille]]
|continuity=[[Generation 1 cartoon continuity]]
|video=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p3lMYnL28nw
|videosite=YouTube
}}
'''As a near-death experience on Chaar allows Rodimus Prime to discover who kidnapped the Autobots, Cyclonus and Scourge head to rescue Galvatron... only to find that something is very wrong with their leader.'''

==Synopsis==
[[File:FFOD2 Rodimus Grimlock asteroid ship.jpg|left|upright=1.1|thumb|If he dead, me Grimlock eat him.]]
On [[Chaar]], the [[Decepticon]]s have discovered the snooping [[Hot Rod (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Rodimus Prime]] and [[Grimlock (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Grimlock]]. However, the Decepticons cannot muster enough energy to power their weapons, so they opt to beat the two [[Autobot]]s to death. They overwhelm Rodimus and Grimlock, but scatter at the sight of a meteor... which turns out to be the [[Rockeroid|Skuxxoid ship]] commandeered by [[Springer (G1)|Springer]] and [[Arcee (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Arcee]]. They grab Rodimus and Grimlock, but Rodimus is non-responsive. [[Cyclonus (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Cyclonus]] allows them to leave, as he has more pressing matters... such as finding [[Galvatron (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Galvatron]].

[[File:FFOD2 Quintesson court.jpg|right|upright=1.1|thumb|I not only deny the allegations, I deny the Alligaticon!]]
On [[Quintessa (planet)|Quintessa]], the [[Quintesson]]s are interrogating [[Kup (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Kup]], who is Cybertron's [[Chief of Security]]. They seem to know the true answers to their questions, even though he lies. They learn that [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]] is militarily secure, but that Kup is worried about [[Earth]]'s security. [[Ultra Magnus (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Ultra Magnus]] and [[Spike Witwicky (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Spike]] are surprised that the Quintessons seem to know so much, but the Quintessons end their discussion by trying their hand at interrogating Spike.

Elsewhere, Springer sets the [[Skuxxoid]] ship down. A badly injured Rodimus is mumbling Springer's name and that of the [[Matrix of Leadership|Matrix]], and Arcee believes that Rodimus is naming Springer as the new [[Prime (rank)|Autobot leader]]. Suddenly, Rodimus's [[Spark|life force]] disappears. Arcee assumes the worst, but Grimlock points out that the Matrix didn't appear, so he is still alive. As for Rodimus Prime's life force, it's going on a very trippy journey through the Matrix, seeing [[Optimus Prime (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Optimus Prime]], [[It|a skull-like thing]], a few robots... and the Quintessons. Coming back online, Rodimus realizes that it was the Quintessons who kidnapped the others, not the Decepticons.

On Quintessa, Spike, Magnus, and Kup overpower their guards, taking a Quintesson judge named [[Deliberata]] hostage. When they confront the court, however, the Quintessons merely sentence him to die in the [[Sharkticon (species)|Sharkticon]] tanks as well. The pit opens, plunging Spike and the Autobots into the pit along with Deliberata. The side of the pit opens, allowing the other Quintessons to watch. They like to watch.

[[File:FFOD2 Scourge rescuing Galvatron.jpg|left|upright=1.1|thumb|Everyone out of the pool!]]
Heading to [[Thrull]], Cyclonus sends [[Scourge (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Scourge]] to pull Galvatron from the plasma pool. Cyclonus and the [[Sweep (G1)|Sweeps]] greet their leader, only to discover that he has been driven insane by the plasma baths. Galvatron immediately proceeds to lay the smackdown on his would-be rescuers, but Scourge, who speaks crazy, manages to talk him down. Galvatron declares that they have an empire to regain, and they depart, but not before Galvatron destroys Thrull.

[[File:FFOD2 Sharkticon pit.jpg|right|upright=1.1|thumb|Sharkticon infested custard.]]
On Quintessa, as the Sharkticons begin to swarm in, Spike asks why they're being executed, and the Quintessons say that Spike is guilty of associating with the Autobots, who are guilty of theft. Magnus assumes that they are talking about the Decepticons, but the Quintessons point out that the Autobots inhabit Cybertron. Above, the Skuxxoid ship flies through the sky, only to be destroyed by the Quintessons' defense systems. However, the Autobots were not on board, instead arriving in Springer's [[Alternate mode|copter mode]]. The Quintesson tribunal flees Grimlock's would-be assault, while Springer pulls the others out of the Sharkticon tank. The [[Aerialbot (G1)|Aerialbots]] arrive with their [[Broadside (G1)|escape ship]]. However, the Quintessons, obsessed with destroying the Matrix, detonate a [[core bomb]] on Quintessa. Safely in the distance, they watch their homeworld explode.

[[Five Faces of Darkness, Part 3|To be continued...]]

==Featured characters==
{{featuredcharacters
|c1=
*[[Hot Rod (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Rodimus Prime]] (1)
*[[Grimlock (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Grimlock]] (2)
*[[Springer (G1)|Springer]] (14)
*[[Arcee (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Arcee]] (15)
*[[Kup (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Kup]] (21)
*[[Ultra Magnus (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Ultra Magnus]] (23)
*[[Optimus Prime (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Optimus Prime]] (24, in a vision)
*[[Broadside (G1)|Broadside]]? (29)
*[[Air Raid (G1)|Air Raid]] (30)
*[[Skydive (G1 Aerialbot)|Skydive]] (31)
*[[Slingshot (G1)|Slingshot]] (32)
*[[Fireflight (G1)|Fireflight]] (33)
*[[Silverbolt (G1)|Silverbolt]] (34)
|c2=
*[[Cyclonus (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Cyclonus]] (3)
*[[Swindle (G1)|Swindle]] (4)
*[[Dead End (G1)|Dead End]] (5)
*[[Breakdown (G1)|Breakdown]] (6)
*[[Vortex (G1)|Vortex]] (7)
*[[Wildrider (G1)|Wildrider]] (8)
*[[Soundwave (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Soundwave]] (9)
*[[Blast Off (G1)|Blast Off]] (10)
*[[Rumble (G1)|Rumble]] (11)
*[[Motormaster (G1)|Motormaster]] (12)
*[[Drag Strip (G1)|Drag Strip]] (13)
*[[Onslaught (G1)|Onslaught]] (16)
*[[Scourge (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Scourge]] (17)
*[[Sweep (G1)|Sweeps]] (18)
*[[Kickback (G1)|Kickback]] (22)
*[[Galvatron (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Galvatron]] (28)
|c3=
*[[Spike Witwicky (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Spike Witwicky]] (20)
|c4=
*[[Quintesson]]s (19)
*[[It]] (25, in a vision)
*[[Deliberata]] (26)
*[[Sharkticon (species)|Sharkticons]] (27)
}}

== Quotes ==
[[File:FFoD2 SwindleVortex.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.1]]
"It just don't pack the wallop it used to!" 
"Yeah, because we're out of energy, dummy!"
:—'''Vortex''' and '''Swindle''' exposit for the audience.

"You are the Autobot Kup. You are Cybertron's chief of security." 
"Naw, my name's Teaspoon! And I'm Cybertron's chief dishwasher." 
"Zero percent probability of truth. Identification positive." 
:—The '''Quintessons''' interrogate '''Kup'''. They apparently lack a sense of humor.

'''Ultra Magnus''': Where are you taking us? 
'''Quintesson''': To your judgement. 
'''Kup''': Right. We're gonna get a fair trial, and then they're gonna kill us.
:—Kup already knows how the Quintessons' justice system works.

"Alright, Quintessons, you have a choice. Release us, or I turn your buddy here into blooey juice!"
:—'''Spike'''

"Pay us no mind. We just... like to watch."
:—The '''Quintessons''' creepily enjoy Sharkticons attacking Ultra Magnus, Kup and Spike.

"Mighty Galvatron, I have learned your lesson! I now know not only that you are the leader, but also why." 
"Such insight is rare! Watch out for this one, Cyclonus. One day, he might take your place."
:—'''Scourge''' and '''Galvatron''' speak crazy.

"An asteroid?" 
"Yeah. So? I've seen thousands of 'em." 
"About to land on your head?" 
"I gotta admit that's new."
:—'''Ultra Magnus''' and '''Kup'''

==Season 5==
{{note|When this episode was rebroadcast in [[The Transformers (cartoon)#Season 5|the fifth season]] of ''The Transformers'', it contained new bookending segments with original story material.}}
[[File:TommyKennedy-claymation.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4]]
[[Tommy Kennedy|Tommy]] and [[Powermaster]] [[Optimus Prime (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Optimus Prime]] meet in the barren wasteland and Tommy begs to know who kidnapped [[Ultra Magnus (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Ultra Magnus]], [[Kup (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Kup]] and the rest. Prime tells him it would be more fun if he tried to figure it out on his own. Tommy recounts the clues from the previous story, but can't quite put the pieces together. Optimus tells Tommy if he calms down, he'll relate more of the tale...

Tommy is impressed by the explosion of [[Quintessa (planet)|Quintessa]], but shows no concern for the Autobots, as he figures they've gotten out of worse spots. Optimus tells him just ''how'' worse things are going to get for the Autobots by relaying details from the next segment of their adventure. Tommy becomes rightfully worried, at which point Prime sets him down and says the rest of the tale will have to wait. For now, he's promised to help [[Quickswitch]] test out [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]]'s new security system. As Prime blasts off, he promises to return soon to transform Tommy's day into an adventure.
{{--}}

==Notes==
===Production information===
* Miniseries outline revised: 18th February 1986 (edited by [[Steve Gerber]])
* Finalised script approved: 20th March 1986
* Dialogue recording: 31st March 1986
* [[Ted Schwartz]]' Rodimus Prime dialogue replaced by [[Dick Gautier]] ADR: 30th April 1986

===Continuity notes===
* At some point Earth gained a [[Lunar Colony]], whose [[Mecha-soccer#American_football|football]] team played a tough game against the (presumably [[Chicago]]) Bears.
* Spike threatens to turn Judge Deliberata into "blooey juice".
* [[Thrull]] has (had) plasma baths.
* A Quintesson judge refers to the [[Matrix of Leadership]] as "the Leadership Matrix".
* The Quintesson forces aim a massive [[proton cannon]] at oncoming Autobot rescuers.
* Quintessa is blown up with a "core bomb".

===Real-world references===
*''[[Star Wars (film)|Star Wars]]'' sound effects:
**The Sweeps take off from Chaar, and later from Thrull (to escape Galvatron's onslaught) with the sound of the ''[[Millennium Falcon]]''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s engine burst noise (most likely flying past cam before landing on Yavin IV).
**As Galvatron takes off from Thrull, a second Star Wars effect plays: this time the sound of the [[Death Star]]'s combined superlaser beam streaking towards Alderaan. The ''Millennium Falcon'' effect is recycled as Cyclonus and company follow their leader.
*The laser sound effect as the Autobot ship opens fire on the Quint gun emplacement is the same one used by the alien death rays in the original ''[[The War of the Worlds]]'' movie.<ref>[http://zobovor.tripod.com/five_faces_of_darkness_part_2_bloopers.html Zobovor's Bloopers list for "Five Faces of Darkness Part 2"]</ref>
*Spike describes a [[Mecha-soccer#American football|football game]] between the [[Lunar Colony]] team and "[[Chicago|the Bears]]".

===Animation and technical errors===
[[File:Bigrumle.jpg|right|upright=1.1|thumb|Awww, little Rumble's all grown up!]]
*The usual incorrect color models used by AKOM provide us with:
**Characters with the inside of their mouths colored to match their exterior colors. Cyclonus has a purple mouth, and Arcee's is dull pink in some shots.
**Cyclonus has dark purple eyebrows.
**In addition to appearing with his standard outdated AKOM color model, Rodimus Prime's gun is a light blue and gray, rather than the correct black (or the incorrect red that AKOM more often used, including just last episode.)
**Galvatron is colored to the specifications of an oudated color model, giving him "underpants" that are pale purple, instead of the same purple as the rest of him. As with Rodimus, these outdated colors will be his standard appearance throughout all AKOM episodes.
*Apparently, AKOM ''never'' got any model sheet updates. Older character models used in the episode include:
**Grimlock, who has his early, flattened robot head design (not seen since Season 1!)
**Soundwave, who has a white backpack instead of blue (it was just barely visible in one or two shots in "[[The Core]]".)
*Rodimus Prime gets a new voice... or more correctly, an ''old'' one! Actor [[Ted Schwartz]] had been originally cast as Rodimus and recorded several episodes, but was then replaced by [[Dick Gautier]], who dubbed over all his lines for the finished, broadcast episodes. The "previously on" segment in this episode, however, is compiled using the original Schwartz audio! A single Schwartz-spoken line can also be heard in [[Five Faces of Darkness, Part 3|the next episode]].
**Gautier himself continues to voice Rodimus within the actual episode, though he lacks the super-bass modulation he had in Part 1.
*Grimlock's dino mouth doesn't move for his "Me Grimlock no hurt" line.
*While walking with his fellow Decepticons, [[Rumble (G1)|Rumble]] is as tall as [[Soundwave (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Soundwave]]. He should be barely half as tall. Breakdown should also be a head or so shorter. The mid-section of his left arm mostly disappears for a few frames as Grimlock shoots him.
*The Decepticon advance during Rodimus's "en masse" line contains all sorts of strangeness. "Rumble" has a totally redesigned chest, "Soundwave" has two windows like Optimus Prime as well as a face instead of a [[mouthplate]], and "Breakdown" has a new chest and a Dead End-like head. A mangled Wildrider is also half visible at the screen's edge. That, or AKOM for some reason drew a bunch of [[generic]]s, but colored them like the actual characters. ("Rumble" also briefly has the square panels on his shins flicker from yellow to white and back for a second.)
*Someone forgot that Onslaught was beat to hell at the end of last episode, battered and with a broken backpack gun. He's totally intact here. For that matter, ''none'' of the Decepticons are in the sorry physical state we saw them in last episode; their damage is never seen again.
[[File:FiveFacesDarkness2 open Rockeroid.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.1]]
*The claws that pick up Rodimus and Grimlock are shown emerging from a circular hatch. A few shots later, they're shown to be permanently attached to the outside of the ship.
*Coloring errors:
**Cyclonus's jet windows aren't colored:
***As he turns from firing on the departing Rodimus on Chaar.
***As Galvatron bashes him away for the first time on Thrull.
***As Galvatron advises him to "Watch out for this one".
**Arcee's lower helmet segment is colored the same rose pink as her face as she monitor's Rodimus's life force. It should be the same white as the rest of her helmet.
**Rodimus's spoiler centerpiece is yellow instead of orange as he sits up after his vision.
**Arcee's legs are colored gray throughout the rescue, when they're supposed to be white.
*The energon cubes are glowing in the whitish-yellowish style seen in very early episodes of Season 1, rather than the pink that was seen throughout Season 2 as well as in the previous episode.
*Kickback is standing with Drag Strip as Cyclonus prepares to leave Chaar. He's supposed to be dead.
*Four Sweeps fly off with Cyclonus, even though seven were in the shot immediately prior.
*The floatation beam of the head Quintesson judge is off-center.
*When Kup sasses the Quintessons by referring to himself as 'Cybertron's chief dishwasher', observe the Quintesson on the throne (the one closest to the screen). One of the faces is mouthing Kup, word for word! This seems to persist for the rest of the scene.
*During the "answer he suppresses" line, the Quintesson's faces all slide around on their bulb together. The animators probably meant this to be expressive, but it's really not clear that they should be able to move around at all.
*Magnus is in prison, but he's still got his shoulder missiles. Shouldn't he be disarmed? Shouldn't he have ''used'' them?
*Even ''after'' being savagely beaten by the Decepticons to the point of death, Rodimus' character model shows absolutely no signs of damage. This is even more unusual when you consider the ''extremely'' damaged condition of the Decepticons earlier in the episode.
*Arcee's nose is missing its outlines in several shots on the asteroid. It's visible only by its shading.
*As Grimlock remembers rescuing Rodimus on Quintessa, his head is drawn too small (looking more like a lizard head than a T. Rex head).
*When Rodimus confirms that Grimlock saved his life on Quintessa, his helmet is drawn very... oddly.
*Weird technicality - When Kup is saying his lines ending with the words "Rush 'em and pray", his "ears" are bouncing up and down.
*In the previous episode, when Cyclonus first learns of Galvatron's location, the lava pool where Galvatron is submerged appears in a small crater. When Cyclonus actually does find Galvatron, the location not only seems different, but the crater has gotten larger as well. Finally, when Scourge pulls Galvatron out, the lava pool is the size of a small lake.
[[File:Springerfivefacescopter.jpg|right|upright=1.4|thumb|Lucky that Springer has a twenty-foot-high blade shaft.]]
*The Quintessons voices are all over the place in this episode, with four different voices ([[Regis Cordic]], [[Roger C. Carmel]], [[Jack Angel]], and [[Stan Jones]]) coming out of three different judges, a product of the script using various different descriptors to refer to the different Quintessons and their various different faces that had led to a bit of confusion (Cordic, Carmel, and Angel will remain the primary Quintesson actors throughout the season, as the Quints often operate in threes). A fourth Quintesson, Judge Deliberata, does appear in the back half of the episode, but for his single line, is voiced by [[Corey Burton]] rather than any of the other Quintesson performers.
*Kup is drawn delivering Magnus's line "You're confusing us with Decepticons."
*The line "Carry out the executions" is shown, via cross-fade, to be delivered by two different Quint faces, even though it's spoken by a single voice.
*Judging by how the Autobots (and Sharkticons) are standing, the Sharkticon pool is maybe 3 feet deep.
*As the Sharkticons move in, Kup is shown bashing two of them. The shot changes, and the two Sharkticons are both gone, with a new one now moving in from a distance.
*Arcee's first shot makes its laser sound effect before its fired.
*The spatial physics of Springer carrying the other three Autobots is pretty much physically impossible.
*As Kup says to keep fighting, both he and the Sharkticon facing him are doing some kind of funk hoedown dance, but neither is actually fighting the other.
*During the "as they die" line, the Egyptian-looking Quintesson in the center of the shot has a gray forehead, instead of blue.
*[[Silverbolt (G1)|Silverbolt]] is drawn [[scale|so huge]] in jet mode that the Autobots climb aboard him like humans boarding an actual SST. Now ''that'' is [[Size changing|mass shifting]]. Why did they even need a shuttle?

===Continuity errors===
*Grimlock and Rodimus's blasts have absolutely no effect on the Decepticons, despite them already being heavily damaged, low on fuel, and being fired upon from point blank range.
*Rodimus, you may not ''like'' being stomped ''en masse'', but that hardly makes your under-energized, weaponless attackers "cowards".
*Seriously, Grimlock? One of the biggest, baddest Autobots, subdued by a horde of half-dead Decepticons? What the hell? What happened to his [[fire-breath]], at least?
*After the Autobots retreat, Cyclonus just throws his gun away!
[[File:Ffod2 spike wrestles deliberata.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.1|"You're not going anywhere till you explain how you guys are still alive."]]
*Wait a minute. The Quintessons? The ''Quintessons''? You mean those guys who when we last saw them were seconds away from being massacred by their rebellious Sharkticon subjects? How are they not all dead?!
*Before his life force temporarily enters the Matrix, Rodimus says "My time in the light is short..." Arcee claims that's what Optimus Prime said when he was dying, but this never happened in the film. It ''did'' happen, however, in an early draft of the movie's script (dated to April 1985); to be precise, Prime said "My time in the light has ended..."
*Kup, Magnus and Spike are shown to be being escorted by an [[Allicon]] and at least five [[Quintesson Bailiff|Bailiffs]], however when they stage their uprising, the Bailiffs are missing, leaving just the Allicon for Kup to punch out.
*Death-by-Sharkticon was pretty much instantaneous in ''The Transformers: The Movie''. Here, the Sharkticons just stand around staring at their quarry while everybody gabs on and on.
*The Quintesson that was sentenced along with Spike, Kup and Ultra Magnus vanishes after they take the plunge, at least until Rodimus makes an attempt to rescue them, where he is once again seen with them.
*Referring back to the end of the movie; so, let's get this straight. Rodimus Prime is now so awesomely strong that he can hurl Galvatron through about 15 feet of the solid steel that makes Unicron's hull, and after the drag factor of that, Galvy is still travelling so fast that he breaks the combined gravitational pull of both Unicron ''and'' Cybertron, and within about, what, four months? ...he crashes onto a planet in a different galactic ''quadrant''? Can Rodimus hurl giant robots into hyperspace? It's true what they say about sci-fi writers and no sense of scale, you know.
*Galvatron's claim that he is "more powerful than ever" is pretty questionable, considering that he is never again shown atomizing anybody like he did to Starscream. Then again, pretty much ''everything'' he claims is pretty questionable. He is, no kidding, fruitcake flapjacks ''crazy''.
*When the Quintessons [[The Transformers: The Movie|previously tried the Autobots]], Kup and Hot Rod were found innocent.
*[[Broadside (G1)|Broadside]] makes his bizarre debut in this episode, as his jet mode character model is used as the Autobots' rescue ship. However, the next episode shows him being blown up. For a long time it was an open question as to whether this ship was intended to be Broadside or not, but the eventually-unearthed original script called for "a uniquely designed ship that serves as a space and atmosphere-worthy aircraft carrier for the Autobots"—indicating that his appearance was specifically interpretation on the part of the animators at AKOM. For a more in-depth breakdown, see: ''[[Broadside (G1)#Canon or error?]]''.
**In [[2017]], the ''[[Titans Return (toyline)|Titans Return]]'' and ''[[Transformers Legends (franchise)|Legends]]'' toys for Broadside included mini Aerialbot planes in reference to this episode.
*Silverbolt orders Slingshot to pull the others out, but it's Silverbolt who lands and carries them away.
*Fireflight was never given explicit orders to leave the ship, but is shown returning to it. Silverbolt, who ''did'' leave the ship, is ''not'' shown returning.

===Trivia===
*After all the shadowy mystery surrounding the Quintessons' identity last episode, there's absolutely no drama to the reveal in this episode. We get an establishing shot of Quintessa, and then cut to the Quintessons interrogating Kup as if we were picking up from a commercial break or something.
*Despite "Five Faces of Darkness"'s reputation for horrific art, there are some decent moments here and there: the closeup of Vortex and Swindle; the Sharkticon fleeing from the exploding cannon.
*Galvatron takes a ''long'' time to transform to and from cannon mode when he leaves Thrull. His transformation speed returns to normal afterward.

===Foreign localization===
'''French'''
:*''Title:'' "'''Les cinq visages du mal, partie 2'''" ("The Fives Faces of Evil, Part 2")
:*''Original airdate:'' ?
::*This episode is one of those that has never been released on DVD in French.
::*Concerning the European French dub:
:::*In order to not pronounce some robots names, the narrator replaces the part about Blurr and Wheelie being sent to Earth by "The Autobots celebrate their triumph by organizing Olympic Games, but the events are interrupted by a sudden attack led by unknown assailants".
:::*The Quintesson's line "and then... how he faces death" was cut.
:::*While in the original version, Kup tells Spike they are going to live a "fair trial", the French dub ''almost'' makes a reference to ''The Movie''. Kup tells Spike that they are going to live a "parody of trial", while in the French dub of the Movie, Kranix said "parody of justice". ''We were on the verge of greatness, we were this close!''
:::*The Quintesson's scream as Spike is pulling his tentacles is missing.
:::*As usual, the Aerialbots' lines in plane mode are missing.

'''German'''
:*''Title:'' "'''Die fünf Gesichter der Finsternis, Teil 2'''" ("The Five Faces of Darkness, Part 2")
:*''Original airdate:'' ?

'''Italian'''
:*''Title (first dub):'' "'''I cinque volti del male, Parte 2'''" ("The Five Faces of Evil, Part 2")
:*''Original airdate:'' ?
::*Onslaught says "meteorite" instead of "meteor".
:*''Title (second dub):'' "'''Le cinque facce dell'oscurità, Parte 2'''" ("The Five Faces of Darkness, Part 2")
:*''Original airdate:'' ?

'''Japanese'''
:*''Title:'' "'''Yomigaeru Shin Hakai Taitei'''", (蘇る新破壊大帝, "The Revived New Emperor of Destruction")
:*''Original airdate:'' [[November 21]], [[1986]]

'''Mandarin'''
:*''Title:'' "'''Wǔmiànguài (2)'''" (五面怪 (二), "Five-Faced Monsters (2)")
:*''Original airdate:'' ?

'''Brazilian Portuguese'''
:*''Title:'' "'''A Desforra, Segunda Parte'''" ("The Rematch, Second Part")
:*''Original airdate:'' ?

==Home video releases==
{{homevidnote}}
;VHS
[[File:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 1990 — ''The Transformers'' — Five Faces of Darkness ([[Family Home Entertainment]])
;{{w|LaserDisc}}
[[File:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 1990 — ''The Transformers'' — Five Faces of Darkness (Family Home Entertainment) 
[[File:Flag of Japan.png|20px|Japan]] 1999 — ''The Transformers: 2010'' ([[Geneon Universal Entertainment|Pioneer LDC]]) — Japanese audio only.
;DVD
[[File:Flag of Japan.png|20px|Japan]] 2001 — ''The Transformers: 2010'' — DVD Box (Pioneer LDC) — Japanese audio only. 
[[File:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 2002 — ''Transformers'' — Five Faces of Darkness: Parts 1-5 ([[Maverick Entertainment|Sony Wonder]]) 
[[File:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 2003 — ''The Original Transformers'' — Season 3 Part 1 ([[The Original Transformers|Rhino Entertainment]]) 
[[File:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 2003 — ''The Original Transformers'' — Season 3 Part 1: Vol. 1 (Rhino Entertainment) 
[[File:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 2004 — ''Transformers'' — Season 3 and Season 4 ([[Metrodome]]) 
[[File:Flag of Australia.png|20px|Australia]] 2004 — ''Transformers'' — Collection 4: Series 3.1 ([[Madman Entertainment]]) 
[[File:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 2006 — ''Transformers'' — The Complete Generation One Collection (Metrodome) 
[[File:Flag of Australia.png|20px|Australia]] 2007 — ''The Transformers'' — Complete Collection (Madman Entertainment) 
[[File:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 2009 — ''Transformers'' — Season's Three & Four {{sic}} (Metrodome) 
[[File:Flag of Australia.png|20px|Australia]] 2009 — ''The Transformers'' — Complete Collection: Decepticon Edition (Madman Entertainment) 
[[File:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 2009 — ''The Transformers'' — The Complete Series: 25th Anniversary "Matrix of Leadership" Collection ([[Shout! Factory]]) 
[[File:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 2010 — ''The Transformers'' — Seasons Three & Four: 25th Anniversary Edition (Shout! Factory) 
[[File:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 2011 — ''The Transformers'' — The Complete Original Series (Shout! Factory) 
[[File:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 2014 — ''The Transformers'' — Seasons Three & Four: 30th Anniversary Edition (Shout! Factory) 
[[File:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 2014 — ''Transformers'' — The Classic Animated Series (Metrodome)

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20230305021906/http://cybertronchronicle.freewebspace.com/cartoon-dossier/season-3/synopses/700-87.html Episode Dossier at The Cybertron Chronicle]
*[https://drive.google.com/file/d/1X3ym3afjo_LVOUU6w4jvc9PPB7JLy7jF/view?usp=sharing Full episode script]
[[Category:The Transformers episodes]]

The Rebirth, Part 3

2019-05-25T17:18:02Z

MartinOdoni: /* Continuity errors */

{{episode
|image=Rebirth 3 title shot.JPG
|caption="Uh, I know this was Megatron's usual line, but... RETREAT!"
|series=G1toon
|ep=98
|title="The Rebirth, Part 3"
|written by=[[David Wise]]
|animation studio=[[AKOM]]
|production code=6701-03
|airdate=[[November 11]], 1987
|production company=[[Sunbow Productions]]
|continuity=[[Generation 1 cartoon continuity]]
}}

'''The battle for the Key to the Plasma Energy Chamber comes to an end.'''

==Synopsis==
[[File:Rebirth 3 Decepticons Hive.JPG|left|upright=1.1|thumb|"You mean you don't like the whole master idea, Mighty Galvatron?" "OF COURSE I DON'T! HOW DID YOU THINK I'D REACT?!"]]

With the arrival of [[Scorponok (G1)|Scorponok]], the [[Autobot]]s scatter, but [[Arcee (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Arcee]] and [[Daniel Witwicky (G1)|Daniel]] are captured. As the [[Decepticon]]s depart in Scorponok, [[Optimus Prime (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Optimus Prime]] orders the Autobots to move out. However, [[Spike Witwicky (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Spike]] insists on letting him and [[Cerebros (G1)|Cerebros]] remain behind. Though Optimus believes that Spike is their only hope if [[Galvatron (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Galvatron]] should activate the [[Plasma Energy Chamber]], he relents.

On [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]], [[Ultra Magnus (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Ultra Magnus]]'s forces are fighting off the Decepticons, but the tide is turned when the [[Headmaster (technology)|Headmasters]] and [[Targetmaster (technology)|Targetmaster]]s arrive, allowing Galvatron to claim victory. [[Scourge (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Scourge]] and [[Cyclonus (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Cyclonus]] explain what happened on [[Nebulos]], but Galvatron is so disgusted that he's on the verge of reducing all of them to [[scrap]]. However, [[Zarak (G1)|Zarak]] explains that he has the [[Key to the Plasma Energy Chamber|Key]], and has control over Scorponok. Though still disgusted, Galvatron agrees to at least talk, while ordering a new [[planetary engine]] he installed on Cybertron to be activated. They prepare to torture Daniel, but Arcee gives them the Key.

[[File:Rebirth 3 Earth Cybertron.JPG|right|upright=1.1|thumb|"They're going to collide!" "No, they're going to combine into a [[Duocon]]!"]]

Heading for Cybertron, Optimus receives a vision from the [[Spark|spirit]] of [[Alpha Trion (G1)|Alpha Trion]], telling the Autobot leader to preserve the key at all costs. However, [[Hot Rod (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Hot Rod]] and [[Kup (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Kup]] inform Prime that Cybertron has disappeared. Realizing Galvatron's intentions, Optimus orders the shuttle to head for [[Earth]]. On Cybertron, which has entered the [[Solar System|Sol system]], Galvatron reveals that he intends to activate the Plasma Energy Chamber, and let the [[Plasma energy|energy]] spread out and cause the [[sun]] to nova, destroying Earth and Cybertron. On Nebulos, Spike and Cerebros locate the [[Hive (G1)|Hive]]'s city, and begin using long-abandoned controls to begin modifying the city.

[[File:Rebirth 3 FortMax Scorponok.JPG|left|upright=1.1|thumb|Scale be damned.]]

Landing on Cybertron, the Autobots discover that their comrades have had their [[power pack]]s removed, and their lives will end if they do not get immediate [[energon]]. The [[Nebulan]]s think that they should just destroy the Key, lest the released energy reach Nebulos. However, Prime remains adamant, explaining that [[Vector Sigma]] has a plan. Unwilling to take the risk, the Nebulans simply abandon the Autobots and head to destroy the key, pursued by the weaponless and headless Autobots. However, they are attacked by the Decepticons, who are preparing to leave. Just then, Spike and Cerebros arrive in the Hive's converted city, which [[Transformation|transforms]] into [[Fortress Maximus (G1)|Fortress Maximus]], with Spike and Cerebros as its components. Fortress Maximus engages Scorponok, causing the Decepticons and the Hive to flee. Spike and the Nebulans deactivate the Plasma Energy Chamber, but not before it sends a wave of energy into the sun.

[[File:Rebirth 3 Cybertron gold.JPG|right|upright=1.1|thumb|The second golden age made Cybertron shrink.]]

Working quickly, Spike and the Nebulans begin preparing Vector Sigma to absorb the excess solar energy. Pumping it straight into the supercomputer, it directs the energy into Cybertron's storage capacitors, resulting in the complete revitalization of Cybertron. As Cerebros reactivates, he begs Spike to deactivate him, no longer wishing to endure the [[Great War (G1)|Great War]]. However, Spike tells him that Cybertron has been revitalized. Optimus declares that the Headmasters and Targetmasters are to become the guardians of Nebulos, and to destroy the Hive's machines. When this is done, Cerebros will become the guardian of Nebulos, and live in peace.

However, Scorponok survived the destruction, and it is obvious that Galvatron and Zarak do not see eye to eye. Galvatron plans to raid hundreds of worlds and destroy Cybertron, then conquer the universe, but Zarak doubts that Galvatron will be the ruler of the galaxy. As the would-be tyrants bicker, Nebulos stands free, while Cybertron begins a second [[Golden Age]] under the rule of Optimus Prime and the Autobots.

[['Til all are one]].

==Featured characters==
{{featuredcharacters
|c1=
*[[Sureshot (G1)|Sureshot]] (2)
*[[Optimus Prime (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Optimus Prime]] (3)
*[[Arcee (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Arcee]] (4)
*[[Hardhead (G1)|Hardhead]] (5)
*[[Pointblank]] (6)
*[[Kup (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Kup]] (11)
*[[Blurr (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Blurr]] (12)
*[[Brainstorm (G1)|Brainstorm]] (13)
*[[Hot Rod (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Hot Rod]] (14)
*[[Highbrow (G1)|Highbrow]] (15)
*[[Crosshairs (G1)|Crosshairs]] (16)
*[[Chromedome (G1)|Chromedome]] (17)
*[[Chase (G1)|Chase]] (23)
*[[Strafe (G1)|Strafe]] (24)
*[[Afterburner (G1)|Afterburner]] (25)
*[[Freeway (G1)|Freeway]] (26)
*[[Searchlight (G1)|Searchlight]] (27)
*[[Silverbolt (G1)|Silverbolt]] (33)
*[[Fireflight (G1)|Fireflight]] (39)
*[[Ultra Magnus (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Ultra Magnus]] (40)
*[[Hot Spot (G1)|Hot Spot]] (41)
*[[Groove (G1)|Groove]] (42)
*[[First Aid (G1)|First Aid]] (43)
*[[Blades (G1)|Blades]] (44)
*[[Streetwise (G1)|Streetwise]] (45)
*[[Cerebros (G1)|Cerebros]] (58)
*[[Alpha Trion (G1)|Alpha Trion]] (59)
*[[Fortress Maximus (G1)|Fortress Maximus]] (69)
*[[Bumblebee (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Bumblebee]] (70)
*[[Bumblebee (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Goldbug]] (71)
*[[Scattershot (G1)|Scattershot]] (72)
*[[Lightspeed (G1 Technobot)|Lightspeed]] (73)
*[[Nosecone (G1)|Nosecone]] (74)

|c2=
*[[Scorponok (G1)|Scorponok]] (1)
*[[Cyclonus (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Cyclonus]] (7)
*[[Scourge (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Scourge]] (8)
*[[Misfire (G1)|Misfire]] (9)
*[[Slugslinger (G1)|Slugslinger]] (10)
*[[Skullcruncher (G1)|Skullcruncher]] (18)
*[[Mindwipe (G1)|Mindwipe]] (21)
*[[Apeface]] (22)
*[[Rippersnapper (G1)|Rippersnapper]] (28)
*[[Sinnertwin (G1)|Sinnertwin]] (29)
*[[Blot (G1)|Blot]] (30)
*[[Hun-Gurrr (G1)|Hun-Gurrr]] (31)
*[[Cutthroat (G1)|Cutthroat]] (32)
*[[Blast Off (G1)|Blast Off]] (34)
*[[Galvatron (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Galvatron]] (35)
*[[Onslaught (G1)|Onslaught]] (36)
*[[Brawl (G1)|Brawl]] (37)
*[[Swindle (G1)|Swindle]] (38)
*[[Triggerhappy (G1)|Triggerhappy]] (46)
*[[Weirdwolf (G1)|Weirdwolf]] (47)
*[[Vortex (G1)|Vortex]] (68)

|c3=
*[[Daniel Witwicky (G1)|Daniel Witwicky]] (19)
*[[Spike Witwicky (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Spike Witwicky]] (20)

|h4=[[Nebulan|Nebulons]]|c4=
*[[Nightstick (G1)|Nightstick]] (48)
*[[Fracas]] (49)
*[[Vorath]] (50)
*[[Blowpipe (G1)|Blowpipe]] (51)
*[[Monzo]] (52)
*[[Aimless (G1)|Aimless]] (53)
*[[Spasma]] (54)
*[[Caliburst (G1)|Caliburst]] (55)
*[[Grax]] (56)
*[[Zarak (G1)|Zarak]] (57)
*[[Pinpointer (G1)|Pinpointer]] (60)
*[[Gort]] (61)
*[[Stylor]] (62)
*[[Arcana]] (63)
*[[Duros]] (64)
*[[Peacemaker]] (65)
*[[Spoilsport]] (66)
*[[Firebolt (G1)|Firebolt]] (67)
}}

==Quotes==
"At last... Cybertron is mine!" 
"You haven't even made the down payment, Galvatron!"
:—'''Galvatron''' doesn't faze '''Ultra Magnus'''

"Decepticons... prepare to face... Fortress Maximus!"
:—'''Fortress Maximus''' speaking for the first and only time in Generation 1—with a voice reminiscent of Patrick Allen.

"And we've got to get this oversized shopping center in the air. Now!"
:—'''Galvatron''', in reference to '''Scorponok's''' city mode.

"It's good to be together again. Arcee, I just wanna say...Arcee...I...I..." 
"You don't have to, Daniel. I feel the same way, too."
:—'''Daniel''' and '''Arcee''' set some...[[Transformers: Kiss Players (franchise)|concepts in motion. Oh god...]]

"Cerebros, when the last of the Hive's evil is gone, you shall remain here in peace as this world's guardian." 
"Thank you, Optimus Prime. It's a ''miracle''." 
''[scene change]'' 
"It's a ''miracle'' we finally got this flying junkpile of yours stabilized." 
"You were the idiot who opened the Plasma Energy Chamber, Galvatron." 
"SILENCE! There's much to do. We will attack other planets, we will suck them dry, we will rebuild a planet a hundred times more powerful than Cybertron and I will rule the galaxy!" 
"Who will rule the galaxy?" 
"ME! It is my destiny!" 
"We shall see, Galvatron. We shall see..."
:—'''Galvatron''' and '''Zarak''' close the series.

==Season 5==
{{note|When this episode was rebroadcast in [[The Transformers (cartoon)#Season 5|the fifth season]] of ''The Transformers'', it contained new bookending segments with original story material.}}

[[File:PrimeTommyCommercialBumper.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.4|This was the REAL series finale. Choke on it.]]

[[Tommy Kennedy|Tommy]] meets with [[Powermaster]] [[Optimus Prime (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Optimus Prime]] in the barren wasteland and Tommy reminds Prime of his promise to make him a [[Headmaster (technology)|Headmaster]]. Prime tells him that he may not want to be a Headmaster anymore after he hears the rest of the story. Tommy tells him to just hurry up and finish the tale so that immediately afterward, he can become a Headmaster...

With the tale over, Tommy tells Prime the time has come to make him a Headmaster. Prime agrees that a deal's a deal, though he tells Tommy that as a Headmaster he'll be spending nearly all of his time half a galaxy away on deadly missions. Tommy chokes at the word "deadly". Prime also tells him that since, as a Headmaster, he'll be sharing leadership of the Autobots with him, Tommy will have to monumentally increase his study time. Tommy begins to have second thoughts and rattles off the excuse that he shouldn't rush into such a life-changing transformation, and also that it wouldn't be fair to his family and friends back in [[Autobot City (G1)|Autobot City]]. Tommy hopes there are no hard feelings and informs Prime that should he ever decide to go through with being a Headmaster, he wants to be ''Prime's'' Headmaster. Prime agrees and then blasts off into space, promising to return another day to transform Tommy's day into an adventure.

{{note|With this being the really for real final episode of ''The Transformers'', we may never know if Prime ever returned to make Tommy's day an adventure again.}}

{{--}}

==Notes==
===Continuity notes===
*Hot Rod shows a rare trace of his former Matrix-bearing life, immediately recognizing that to have spoken with Alpha Trion, Optimus must have merged with Vector Sigma.
*Apparently, [[Cerebros (G1)|Cerebros]] can't see in his alternate mode, given his dialogue exchange with Spike at the end of the episode. His alternate mode, by the by, is basically a tiny version of Fortress Maximus's city mode.
*The story ends with the Decepticons still at large, and the Autobots in control of a revitalized Cybertron.

===Real-world references===
*The Nebulans reverse the polarity of Galvatron's rocket thruster, a reference to the Third [[Doctor]]'s {{w|Third Doctor#"Reverse the polarity"|"reverse the polarity of the neutron flow"}} catchphrase in ''[[Doctor Who]]''.<ref>[http://princeospace.blogspot.com/2009/08/dude-i-have-doctor-who-connection.html Post on David Wise's blog]</ref>
*It's not the only time [[Megatron (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|some]][[Flame (Marvel)|one]] decided to [[Legion of the Lost!|turn Cybertron]] into a [[Meltdown!|mobile starship]].
*''[[Star Wars (franchise)|Star Wars]]'' sound effects:
**The C-3PO "NO!" laser blast is used repeatedly as the Decepticon Targetmasters take out the Protectobots.

===Animation and technical errors===
[[File:Cybersmallverysmall.JPG|right|upright=0.85|thumb|AKOM's wonderful sense of scale]]
[[File:FortMaxAndCerebros.jpg|right|upright=0.85|thumb|Fort Max, Cerebros, and...Cerebros?]]
*The action begins with a reset—as Scorponok advances, the Autobots are once again circled around Prime and Arcee. This time, they flee from an energy bolt instead of Scorponok's tail smash.
*Skullcruncher is shown lip-flapping, but it's Grax's voice speaking.
*Optimus is shown against a generic orange-yellow background as he speaks with Spike, rather than the rocks or sky that should be there.
*Coloring errors:
**Afterburner is colored like Crosshairs in the opening shot of the battle on Cybertron. In the foreground, an unconscious Searchlight has Hun-Grrr's colors.
**Alongside the fallen Silverbolt are several [[generic]]s, and an Aerialbot (Fireflight?) in Blot's colors. In the same shot, Brawl is colored like Peacemaker or Pinpointer.
**The red squares on Galvatron's shoulder panels are missing in several shots.
**As Cerebros sits up after his repairs, his eyeband is gray instead of blue.
**In the pile of deactivated Autobots, Wideload's head is all-white.
**Prime's [[Optimus Prime (G1)/toys#YearOfTheHorseOP|grille is yellow]] when the Autobots arrive at the junk pile on Cybertron.
**As Cerebros asks Spike what he's looking for, his eyeband is dark gray instead of blue.
**As he stops outside of "Gorponok", Prime's truck-mode grille is yellow again.
**"Gorponok" is entirely gunmetal gray, and completely off-model.
**When Cyclonus captures Optimus and the others, Vortex is miscolored as Blades.
**Cyclonus and the Combaticons run outside to see what's happening as Fortress Maximus approaches... but the generic figures who then are shown outside Scorponok have (more or less) the Terrorcons' colors.
**Zarak transforms into an all-white Scorponok head.
**In the next shot, Scorponok's scorpion head is white with green antenna.
**In the next shot, head-mode Zarak has black antenna instead of orange. Scorponok's legs are purple instead of green.
**Cerebros's eyeband is gray again as he thanks Optimus (and his Autobot symbol is black.) Seriously, blue and gray—how hard is that to remember?
*Quite a few shots in this episode show an ''incredibly'' small Cybertron, with the curve of the planet's surface visible in the same shot as the characters. Check out the shot of Silverbolt crashing, for example, or the Combaticons walking up to Galvatron a moment later.
*Once Silverbolt is shot down, the whole battle just disappears.
*The Combaticons are right there when the Protectobots attack. Why don't they help their leader?
*As the Targetmasters exit Scorponok and transform, the transformation sound effect plays and is nearly finished before any of them start transforming.
*Cerebros' mouthplate doesn't move during his first lines.
*Monzo is supposed to be torturing Daniel, but Vorath is shown.
*When Optimus Prime sees Alpha Trion holding the key to the plasma energy chamber, the key changes shape while he is holding it; it has its regular edges when he's holding it normally, but changes into a featureless triangle when he's holding it up.
*An establishing shot shows Cybertron rocketing toward Earth... and not just literally. As shown, the planets should have collided in a few more seconds.
*The Key is again missing its ridges when Cyclonus presents it to Galvatron.
*Magnus was piled, inert, in a pile of deactivated Autobots. As he listens to Galvatron's plan, however, both he and Silverbolt are stealthily hunkered down in a pile of random non-robot scrap.
*When Prime's shuttle lands on Cybertron, Earth looms in the background, but a layering error has Earth passing in front of several Cybertronian buildings.
*In the same shot (of the Autobots transforming into robot mode), Hot Rod looks huge compared to Optimus.
*The first time we see Magnus, the Autobot logo on his shoulder is missing.
*Prime's transformation sound effect plays and is finished at the start of his transformation.
*Highbrow is shown lip-flapping to Gort's words.
*As he drives off to stop the Nebulans, Prime's truck-mode stripe is HUGE, and he has ''side mirrors'' in one shot (the only shot of the series that he has them).
*In the following shot, Cyclonus is holding his regular gun instead of Nightstick, and Onslaught's eyeband is white.
*As Zarak pops out of Scorponok to mock Spike's "pathetic little darts", he's drawn at the same scale as the Scorponok/Zarak toy. Given how big cartoon Scorponok is supposed to be, however, this means that cartoon Zarak is gigantic—bigger than a regular Transformer.
*For his transformation to head mode, Cerebros doesn't get a transforming sound effect until after he's already finished. And it's not even shown on-screen.
*When Fortress Maximus transforms back to city mode after punching out Scorponok Spike is misdrawn as Cerebros, making it briefly appear that there are two of him.
*As alluded to above, the Transformers fleeing the battle between Max and Scorponok are remarkably large.
*Blades-colored Vortex shows up again, fleeing the battle between the city-bots.
*Scorponok reverts to city mode after Fortress Maximus beats him up, but when the Decepticons are trying to get past Max, Scorponok is in scorpion mode.
*As Prime tries to reason with Spike inside Scorponok, night sky is shown behind him.
*During the same dialogue, Optimus' fog lights are entirely white, even the bulbs (which are red in most other shots).
*After Galvatron sets the timer, the squares on his shoulders are outlined but not colored in (red).
*As Galvatron observes the Autobots' escape from Scorponok, Optimus' legs are completely white.
*After Spike blasts Arcee and Daniel free, Cerebro's face is completely white.
*When Spike turns to tell the Nebulons to remove their exo-suits, [[Highbrow (G1)|Highbrow]] and [[Brainstorm (G1)|Brainstorm]] in their (human sized) robot modes can be seen right behind him. According to Spike, it's supposed to be [[Gort]] and [[Arcana]], who correctly appear in the next scene.
*As Vector Sigma does its golden-age thing, Arcee is shown among the inert Autobots reviving. She's complete with her head, which should still be detached after Daniel separated from her. Also, why are she and the others in the same pile of scrap as Ultra Magnus? Did they just willingly throw themselves onto the Dead Autobot pile?
*Daniel is suddenly and inexplicably back in his exo-suit as Arcee drives up.
*As the Autobots celebrate their victory, Bumblebee shows up. Right next to Goldbug. In the foreground is a giant Pinpointer. Super-tiny Cybertron is particularly obvious in this shot.
*As Gort explains that there's still much work to be done on Nebulos, the Headmaster partners are Optimus's size.
*Rather than actually ''transforming'' into Arcee's head, Daniel disappears into her torso, then her head just slides out.
*Despite his exo-suit supposedly transforming into Arcee's head, Daniel is wearing the suit inside her head at the end of the episode.

===Continuity errors===
*"How're we ever gonna fight that thing?" Hot Rod wonders, apparently forgetting that they've got a whole giant living city-robot back on Earth. Unless he really DID have to kill Metroplex during the hate plague...
*Prime implores Spike to return to Cybertron with the others on the grounds that he's the only one who stands a chance if Galvatron releases the plasma energy. What about the dozen or so Nebulans boarding the ship, who are every bit as organic as Spike?
*Onslaught's single line is not in his usual voice.

*Shouldn't Cybertron's close proximity to Earth cause the planet to tear itself apart, as it did in "[[The Ultimate Doom, Part 2]]"? Prime seems blissfully unconcerned about it.
*Chromedome claims that the Autobot Headmasters are "stuck being vehicles without their heads", yet Hardhead was seen moving around and firing his Shatterblasters in dual wield fashion(!) in the [[The Rebirth, Part 2|previous episode]] for some time after Duros disconnected. Perhaps the automatic transformation into vehicle mode following a Headmaster pilot's disconnection can be delayed somewhat?
*Spike is able to construct a complex, super powerful Transformer single-handedly out of an entire city using alien technology in what may be no more than mere hours. This may be normal for Transformers to do, but Spike...?
*The 10-minute delay Galvatron sets on the Plasma Energy Chamber seems like a rather optimistic time frame to escape the destruction of an entire solar system. He would have to travel in ''318 times the speed of light'' just to pass Pluto in time!
*Two episodes ago, a crew of Autobots had to take a shuttle to reach the Plasma Energy Chamber. This episode, Spike apparently just runs there on foot in no time flat.
*And then of course, there's the mondo-unbelievable premise of the episode's resolution, that one can simply "reverse" a rocket engine to suck in energy in general, and excess energy out of an about-to-explode star in particular. Does this mean you can put your car in reverse and suck all the burnt gasoline back into it?

===Trivia===
*This is the final episode of the original cartoon. Had "The Rebirth" been the five-parter that was originally intended, the show would have ended with 100 episodes.
*Man, somebody sure doesn't care about selling Aerialbot toys anymore, huh? They get shot down one after the next in Part 1, are shown fleeing in disarray from Abominus in Part 2, and show up in Part 3 just long enough to get shot down again.
*Why did Galvatron get the [[Combaticon (G1)|Combaticons]] to construct the rocket engine when he has the [[Constructicon (G1)|Constructicons]]? The Constructicons' toys [[To sell toys|weren't on sale anymore]].
*Fortress Maximus and Scorponok's city modes make ''terrible'' space ships.
*After Galvatron sets the timer, we hear a snippet of music that was heard many times in the first season of the show.
*It's strange that Galvatron would want to unleash the Plasma Energy Chamber to destroy Earth's solar system if he still wanted Cybertron. The supernova created by the sun would have destroyed Cybertron.
*Why does Galvatron point towards Triggerhappy about Nebulons being in the Decepticon bodies (referring to Headmasters) when he is a ''Targetmaster''? (whose partners are their guns)
*David Wise, writer for this episode, [[David Wise#Recycle-o-matic|was rather notorious]] for recycling plots, scenes and dialogue from one show to another. The parting scene where Galvatron and Lord Zarak are sent hurtling away inside Scorponok, bickering over leadership, was recycled almost exactly for the original miniseries finale of the 1987 ''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'' series, "Shredder & Splintered". In that episode, the Shredder and Krang are sent hurtling back to Dimension X inside the Technodrome, bickering over leadership. Zarak's final, ominous line of "''We shall see...''" is even given directly to Krang. Wise recycled this idea incredibly quickly, as the ''Turtles'' episode first aired less than two months later.

===Foreign localization===
'''German'''
:*''Title:'' "'''Die Wiedergeburt, Teil 3'''" ("The Rebirth, Part 3")

'''Japanese'''
:*''Title:'' "'''Ginga Saidai no Kiki'''" (銀河最大の危機, "The Biggest Crisis of the Galaxy")
:*''Original airdate:'' [[1996]] (home video); [[July 21]], [[2007]] (broadcast)
::*"The Rebirth" was not initially dubbed for Japanese release, instead being replaced by the domestic series ''[[Transformers: The Headmasters (cartoon)|Transformers: The Headmasters]]''. The episodes were eventually dubbed in 1996 as special features on [[Geneon Universal Entertainment|Pioneer]]'s {{w|LaserDisc}} and DVD collections. "The Rebirth" received its first Japanese television broadcast in [[2007]], airing on [[Cartoon Network|Cartoon Network Japan]].
::*To further distinguish "The Rebirth" from the continuity of the Japanese series, it was released with the American ''The Transformers'' branding and [[title sequence]]. With a few exceptions (such as "Convoy"), most of the characters are referred to by their Western names. For instance, [[Hot Rod (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Hot Rod]] is not called "Hot Rodimus", [[Kup (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Kup]] is not called "Chear" and so on.
::*With the exception of [[Tesshō Genda]] (Convoy), [[Seizō Katō]] (Galvatron) and [[Issei Masamune]] ([[narrator]]), all characters were recast with new actors.
::*Voice direction for the 1996 dubbing of "The Rebirth" was conducted by [[Shōzō Tajima]].
::*Due to having been released straight-to-video, this is one of the few episodes of ''The Transformers'' not to have been edited for time in Japan. As such, Japanese DVD and laserdisc releases include an optional English audio track for the episode.

'''Russian'''
:*''Title:'' "'''Vosrozhdenye (Chastj 3)'''" (Возрождение (Часть 3), "The Rebirth, Part 3")

'''Italian'''
:*''Title:'' '''La Rinascita (Terza Parte)''' ("The Rebirth (Third Part)")
:*''Original airdate:'' [[November 21]], [[2014]] (on YouTube)
::*"The Rebirth" was not dubbed for Italian release, airing ''The Headmasters'' as a continuation of the series. The episodes were dubbed between 2012 and 2014 along with the redub of Season 3, and features the same cast. A DVD release couldn't be made at the time (even the redubbed Season 3 DVDs were made in a very small quantity), so the episodes were released for free on YouTube in November 2014 on the Contactoons channel (Contactoons is a cartoon block that airs on a few Italian regional channels, airing older programs that regular channels no longer carry). The videos were made private 24 hours after they were made available, but they can still be accessed by checking the channel's "film animazione e serie tv special" ("Animated movies and TV show specials") playlist.
::*The dub itself is basically an amateur production, with very unfitting voices and stuff. Many character names are also mispronounced.

===Toys inspired by this episode===
*'''''[[Transformers Legends (franchise)|Legends]]'' LG-54 [[Bumblebee (G1)/toys#Legends|Bumble]] & [[Spike Witwicky (G1)#Legends|Excelsuit Spike]] ([[TakaraTomy]], 2017)'''
:A redeco of Hasbro's ''[[Titans Return (toyline)|Titans Return]]'' Legends Class Bumblebee (which has nothing to do with this episode) that includes an all-new figure (based on the [[Titan Master]] template) representing Spike Witwicky, specifially in an [[exosuit]] as seen in ''[[The Transformers: The Movie]]'', who transforms into the head of [[Cerebros (G1)|Cerebros]], specifically based on his Western animation model as seen in ''The Rebirth''.
{{-}}

==Home video releases==
{{homevidnote}}
;VHS
[[File:Flag of Germany.png|20px|Germany]] 1987 — ''Transformers'' — Die Wiedergeburt (Dritter Teil) ([[Polyband]]) — German audio only. 
[[File:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 1988 — ''Transformers'' — Headmasters: The Rebirth (Parts, 1, 2 & 3) ([[Tempo Video]]) 
[[File:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 1989 — ''Transformers'' — Headmasters / The Return of Optimus Prime (Tempo Video) 
[[File:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 1991 — ''Transformers'' — Headmasters / The Return of Optimus Prime / Cosmic Rust (Tempo Video) 
[[File:Flag of Canada.png|20px|Canada]] 1998 — ''The Transformers: Generation 2'' — Rebirth: The Movie ([[Malofilm|Behaviour Entertainment]]) 
[[File:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 2001 — ''The Original Transformers'' — Heroes: The Rebirth ([[The Original Transformers|Rhino Entertainment]])
;{{w|LaserDisc}}
[[File:Flag of Japan.png|20px|Japan]] 1996 — ''Transformers: The Headmasters'' Set ([[TakaraTomy|Takara]]) — Japanese audio only. 
[[File:Flag of Japan.png|20px|Japan]] 1999 — ''The Transformers: 2010'' ([[Geneon Universal Entertainment|Pioneer LDC]]) — English and Japanese audio.
;DVD
[[File:Flag of Japan.png|20px|Japan]] 2001 — ''The Transformers: 2010'' — DVD Box (Pioneer LDC) — English and Japanese audio. 
[[File:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 2001 — ''The Original Transformers'' — Heroes: The Rebirth ([[The Original Transformers|Rhino Entertainment]]) 
[[File:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 2002 — ''Transformers'' — The Rebirth: Parts 1-3 ([[Maverick Entertainment|Sony Wonder]]) 
[[File:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 2004 — ''The Original Transformers'' — Season 3 Part 2 & Season 4 (Rhino Entertainment) 
[[File:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 2004 — ''Transformers'' — Season 3 and Season 4 ([[Metrodome]]) 
[[File:Flag of Australia.png|20px|Australia]] 2005 — ''Transformers'' — Collection 6: Series 4 ([[Madman Entertainment]]) 
[[File:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 2006 — ''Transformers'' — The Complete Generation One Collection (Metrodome) 
[[File:Flag of Australia.png|20px|Australia]] 2007 — ''The Transformers'' — Complete Collection (Madman Entertainment) 
[[File:Flag of Germany.png|20px|Germany]] 2007 — ''Transformers'' — Box-Set (3DVDs) ([[Flex Media]]) — German audio only. 
[[File:Flag of Germany.png|20px|Germany]] 2008 — ''Transformers'' — Box-Set (2DVDs) (Flex Media) — German audio only. 
[[File:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 2009 — ''Transformers'' — Season's Three & Four {{sic}} (Metrodome) 
[[File:Flag of Australia.png|20px|Australia]] 2009 — ''The Transformers'' — Complete Collection: Decepticon Edition (Madman Entertainment) 
[[File:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 2009 — ''The Transformers'' — The Complete Series: 25th Anniversary "Matrix of Leadership" Collection ([[Shout! Factory]]) 
[[File:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 2010 — ''The Transformers'' — Seasons Three & Four: 25th Anniversary Edition (Shout! Factory) 
[[File:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 2011 — ''The Transformers'' — The Complete Original Series (Shout! Factory) 
[[File:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 2014 — ''The Transformers'' — Seasons Three & Four: 30th Anniversary Edition (Shout! Factory) 
[[File:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 2014 — ''Transformers'' — The Classic Animated Series (Metrodome)

==References==
<references />

==External links==
*[http://cybertronchronicle.freewebspace.com/cartoon-dossier/season-4/synopses/6701-03.html Episode Dossier at The Cybertron Chronicle]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rebirth, Part 3}}
[[Category:The Transformers episodes]]

The Rebirth, Part 2

2018-06-26T19:13:20Z

MartinOdoni: /* Continuity errors */

{{episode
|image=Rebirth 2 Decepticon offerings.JPG
|caption=
|series=G1toon
|ep=97
|title="The Rebirth, Part 2"
|written by=[[David Wise]]
|animation studio=[[AKOM]]
|production code=6701-02
|airdate=[[November 10]], 1987
|production company=[[Sunbow Productions]]
|continuity=[[Generation 1 cartoon continuity]]
}}

'''The Autobot Headmasters prove to be a smashing success, but the Decepticons soon find Nebulan partners of their own.'''

==Synopsis==
[[File:Rebirth 2 Hardhead Hive machine.JPG|left|upright=0.85|thumb|Hardhead was the first Cannon head master, and the last.]]

On [[Nebulos]], the modifications to the [[Autobot]]s' heads are nearly complete. All that is left is to select their partners. [[Duros]], the combat veteran, takes [[Hardhead (G1)|Hardhead]]; [[Arcana]], the oldest and wisest among them, takes [[Brainstorm (G1)|Brainstorm]]; [[Stylor]] takes [[Chromedome (G1)|Chromedome]]; [[Gort]] takes [[Highbrow (G1)|Highbrow]]; and [[Daniel Witwicky (G1)|Daniel]] is placed in [[Arcee (G1)|Arcee]]. Upon activating, the Autobots feel different and decide to make a test run. The [[Headmaster (technology)|Headmaster]] process is thus proven as good an idea as Brainstorm believed, as with the rebels' guidance, the Autobots trash the [[Hive (G1)|Hive]]'s machines. Satisfied with their trial run, the Autobots and rebels decide that it's time to get the [[Key to the Plasma Energy Chamber|Key]] to the [[Plasma Energy Chamber]]. But the Hive is watching and recognizes Gort and Arcana within the robots. Some of them decide it's time to bring the pain, but their leader decides to watch...

Meanwhile, on [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]], the battle between the Autobots and the [[Decepticon]]s appears evenly matched. However, there is no sign of [[Hot Rod (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Hot Rod]] and [[Kup (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Kup]]'s team, or the Key. [[Optimus Prime (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Optimus Prime]] decides that it's time to find some answers, and leaves the battle, with [[Ultra Magnus (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Ultra Magnus]] following.

Back on Nebulos, [[Scourge (G1)|Scourge]] is torturing the captive Autobots for the key, to the amusement of [[Apeface]]. However, [[Cyclonus (G1)|Cyclonus]] realizes that these Autobots don't have the Key, or the others would be all over them. Bad choice of words, as the Autobot Headmasters appear. They quickly overwhelm the Decepticons and free the captives, taking the Decepticon ship in the process. Some of the Hive members believe that the Decepticons should be destroyed as well, but their leader has other plans. Capturing the Decepticons, Lord [[Zarak (G1)|Zarak]] offers them a deal: Submit to the Headmaster process and allow the Hive to be their partners, giving them the strength to destroy the Autobots. Scourge tells them to get bent, but Zarak reveals that the offer was only a formality. Grabbing the Decepticons, Cyclonus and Scourge agree to deal, but only with the heads of the animals. Apeface objects, but Cyclonus shows him who is boss. The "vehicle" Decepticons offer their weapons. Zarak agrees, and the modifications begin.

[[File:Rebirth 2 Optimus Alpha.JPG|upright=0.85|thumb|Come closer, little boy...]]

Back on Cybertron, Optimus and Magnus have reached the source of the Autobot leader's quest: the chamber of [[Vector Sigma]]. Using the [[Matrix of Leadership|Matrix]] as an interface, Prime activates the supercomputer to communicate with the spirit of [[Alpha Trion (G1)|Alpha Trion]]. Alpha explains that the Key is on Nebulos, and that Vector Sigma arranged for [[Galvatron (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Galvatron]] to learn of it. All of this is being done to bring about a second [[Golden Age]], which depends on the merging of a [[human]] with an Autobot. Before the discussion is ended, Alpha Trion tells Prime to preserve the key at all costs. Prime is confused, but it's kinda hard to argue with God's will, after all. Optimus departs for Nebulos, leaving Ultra Magnus in command of the Autobots until his return.

On Nebulos, the modifications are complete, and the Hive members bond with the Decepticons. Zarak, however, remains behind, having plans for the Hive's city. Meanwhile, the Autobots are dragging the ship to the rebel base, when [[Cerebros (G1)|Cerebros]] arrives, badly damaged and mumbling that he found a city. The Autobots are able to stabilize him, but the Decepticons show up. Brainstorm is pissed that the Decepticons have their own Headmasters. He's even more pissed when [[Mindwipe (G1)|Mindwipe]] takes the Key from him. However, Brainstorm manages to run a scan on [[Nightstick (G1)|Nightstick]] before the Decepticons run off. Using the scans gives Hot Rod and Kup an idea. Sometime later, Optimus Prime lands and is introduced to the Headmasters and the [[Targetmaster (technology)|Targetmaster]]s. With this force, the Autobots prepare to retake the Key.

[[File:Rebirth 2 Scorponok rising.JPG|left|upright=0.85|thumb|Upon seeing Scorponok, the other Decepticons had to reassure Trypticon that Galvatron still loved him more.]]

Elsewhere, the Decepticons are getting grumpy, having to wait for Zarak and with nothing to shoot. Their boredom is relieved when Prime leads the Autobots in an attack. Arcee and Daniel manage to take the Key and get it to Prime. The Autobots circle Prime and Arcee, vowing to let nothing get through. However, from beneath them, Zarak raises the Hive's city. Suddenly, it begins to [[Transformation|transform]] into something else. The city lands on the ground, and from the dust rises... [[Scorponok (G1)|Scorponok]]!

[[The Rebirth, Part 3|To be concluded...]]

{{-}}

==Featured characters==
{{featuredcharacters
|c1=
*[[Brainstorm (G1)|Brainstorm]] (1)
*[[Arcee (G1)|Arcee]] (2)
*[[Highbrow (G1)|Highbrow]] (3)
*[[Chromedome (G1)|Chromedome]] (4)
*[[Hardhead (G1)|Hardhead]] (5)
*[[Skydive (G1 Aerialbot)|Skydive]] (16)
*[[Slingshot (G1)|Slingshot]] (17)
*[[Fireflight (G1)|Fireflight]] (18)
*[[Air Raid (G1)|Air Raid]] (19)
*[[Optimus Prime (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Optimus Prime]] (21)
*[[Ultra Magnus (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Ultra Magnus]] (22)
*[[Punch (G1)|Punch]] (23)
*[[Fastlane]] (24)
*[[Cloudraker (G1)|Cloudraker]] (25)
*[[Blurr (G1)|Blurr]] (36)
*[[Hot Rod (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Hot Rod]] (37)
*[[Kup (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Kup]] (38)
*[[Crosshairs (G1)|Crosshairs]] (39)
*[[Vector Sigma]] (40)
*[[Pointblank]] (41)
*[[Sureshot (G1)|Sureshot]] (42)
*[[Alpha Trion (G1)|Alpha Trion]] (43)
*[[Cerebros (G1)|Cerebros]] (54)
|c2=
*[[Abominus (G1)|Abominus]] (20)
*[[Skullcruncher (G1)|Skullcruncher]] (26)
*[[Apeface]] (27)
*[[Snapdragon (G1)|Snapdragon]] (28)
*[[Weirdwolf (G1)|Weirdwolf]] (29)
*[[Mindwipe (G1)|Mindwipe]] (30)
*[[Triggerhappy (G1)|Triggerhappy]] (31)
*[[Misfire (G1)|Misfire]] (32)
*[[Slugslinger (G1)|Slugslinger]] (33)
*[[Scourge (G1)|Scourge]] (34)
*[[Cyclonus (G1)|Cyclonus]] (35)
*[[Scorponok (G1)|Scorponok]] (58)
|c3=
*[[Spike Witwicky (G1)|Spike Witwicky]] (6)
*[[Daniel Witwicky (G1)|Daniel Witwicky]] (14)
|h4=[[Nebulan|Nebulons]]|c4=
*[[Gort]] (7)
*[[Stylor]] (8)
*[[Duros]] (9)
*[[Spoilsport]] (10)
*[[Pinpointer (G1)|Pinpointer]] (11)
*[[Arcana]] (12)
*[[Peacemaker]] (13)
*[[Zarak (G1)|Zarak]] (15)
*[[Nightstick (G1)|Nightstick]] (44)
*[[Aimless (G1)|Aimless]] (45)
*[[Caliburst (G1)|Caliburst]] (46)
*[[Blowpipe (G1)|Blowpipe]] (47)
*[[Fracas]] (48)
*[[Spasma]] (49)
*[[Krunk]] (50)
*[[Vorath]] (51)
*[[Monzo]] (52)
*[[Grax]] (53)
*[[Recoil (G1)|Recoil]] (55)
*[[Haywire]] (56)
*[[Firebolt (G1)|Firebolt]] (57)
}}

==Quotes==
"Open the hatch! Anything you put in there will totally scramble the machine's circuits!" 
"Like what?" 
"Like your fist!" 
:—'''Gort''' and '''Highbrow''', discussing combat tactics.

"I am Zarak. I have a little deal to offer you, one which will enable you to defeat your adversaries. And all it will cost you is...your heads."
:—'''Zarak''', addressing the Decepticons.

"Did you get your questions answered?" 
"Yes. And every answer led to a bigger question."
:—'''Ultra Magnus''' and '''Optimus Prime''' after the Autobot leader's communion with Vector Sigma.

"The boys all call me Nightstick. I hope ya like bustin' heads! AHAHAHAHAHA!" 
"I like busting Autobot Head''masters'' better."
:—'''Nightstick''' and '''Cyclonus''' see eye-to-eye.

"You can call me Caliburst! Because I've never missed a shot in my life!" 
"But you've never taken a shot in your life."
:—'''Caliburst''' tells '''Slugslinger''' about his life.

"It's me, I'm Fracas! And if you think Blowpipe was bad, I'm ''worse''!" 
"And you're ''louder''."
:—'''Fracas''' fails to impress '''Scourge'''.

"Those creeps, swiping ''my'' idea, I'll sue!"
:—'''Brainstorm''' considers the legal approach when meeting the Decepticon Headmasters and Targetmasters.

"Autobots! Prepare to feel the sting of...'''SCORPONOK!'''"
:—'''Zarak''' attacks the Autobots.

==Season 5==
{{note|When this episode was rebroadcast in [[The Transformers (cartoon)#Season 5|the fifth season]] of ''The Transformers'', it contained new bookending segments with original story material.}}

[[File:TommyWreckageOfTheApocalypse.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.4|"We just gotta [[Optimus Prime (G1)/toys#Generations|rework Ultra Magnus' new look and change my name to Apex]]. We'll be the hottest thing in 2016!"]]

[[Tommy Kennedy|Tommy]] meets with [[Powermaster]] [[Optimus Prime (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Optimus Prime]] in the barren wasteland and Prime asks what Tommy wants to be ''this'' week. A computer engineer? A galaxy patrolman? Tommy reminds him that all he wants to be is a [[Headmaster (technology)|Headmaster]]! He insists that the Headmasters were the Autobots' coolest idea ever and wants to know more of their origin...

Despite hearing of all the hardships the Headmasters went through and being teased with all the hardships yet to come, Tommy '''still''' cannot be dissuaded. Prime reluctantly offers him a deal: If by the end of the story Tommy still wants to be a Headmaster, he will make him one. Tommy enthusiastically accepts the terms and watches as Optimus blasts off, promising to return and transform his day into an adventure.

{{--}}

==Notes==
===Continuity notes===
*Both Vector Sigma and Alpha Trion make a reappearance here, after long absences.
*Vector Sigma suddenly gains a whole lot of new powers, having complex plans and motives of its own, and arranging for certain events to happen in the outside world. Outside the realm of the cartoon, this would eventually be retconned as [[Primus]] working his god shtick.

===Real-world references===
*The Hive line "exterminate, exterminate" is the catch-phrase of ''[[Doctor|Doctor Who]]'''s [[Dalek]]s, deliberately included by writer [[David Wise]], who is a huge ''Doctor Who'' fan. It's appropriate, too, since the [http://tardis.wikia.com/wiki/Dalek Daleks] were also alien beings who lived in mechanical bodies to compensate for the severe atrophy of their real bodies.
===Animation and technical errors===
[[File:Rebirth 2 Optimus Alpha.JPG|thumb|right|upright=1.1]]
[[File:Weirdwolfrebirthb.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.1]]
*AKOM episode. Watch for Prime's white backpack, which should be red.
*Coloring errors:
**Arcee's chest is entirely pink in several shots (like when Daniel first merges with her).
**Magnus is missing some of the blue at the top of his chest as Punch drives up to report.
**In the first shot across the Decepticon camp, someone - Slugslinger, presumably, though he's pretty off-model - is colored like Sinnertwin.
**Apeface's ape head is all white during his "Yuck!" lines.
**Triggerhappy is colored entirely in shades of gray as the claws grab Scourge and Cyclonus.
**At 00:08:40 into the episode, Zarak is shown with brown eye brows, instead of his normal white ones.
**Nightstick has gone from black to purple as Cyclonus holds him in weapon mode.
*The Autobot's heads are depicted as huge next to the Nebulans, and positively cavernous inside. Later, the heads are shown to transform into human-scaled exo-suits.
*When Hardhead rips off the tentacle from the machine, the electricity effects are not backlit to glow.
*As Blurr and Kup are interrogated, Blurr has sprouted a pair of lips (which lap over his "goatee" as he talks), and Kup is using his alternate character model (previously used in "[[Chaos (episode)|Chaos]]" as Kup's younger self).
[[File:Rebirth targetmaster torture.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.1]]
*When Kup is being stretched on the wrack, the channels that are supposed to be pulling at his wrists are missing.
*As Cyclonus argues with Scourge after torturing Kup, Cyclonus is ''also'' depicted with his alternate character model, which is subsequently used for most of the remaining shots that feature him.
*When Hardhead & Higbrow transform, Highbrow's animation layer is in front of Hardhead instead of behind as it should be, according to the scale of the characters.
*In addition, he's shown converting entirely into tank mode prior to the cut to Cyclonus' "what the devil?!" line. However, after Duros transforms into his robot mode, Hardhead is shown back in (headless) robot mode, firing his two guns before transforming into tank mode... again.
*When the newly created Autobot Headmasters attack the Decepticons to reclaim their Targetmaster-to-be comrades, [[Sureshot (G1)|Sureshot]] is missing.
*Scourge's gun (as well as most of the Headmaster's guns) uses the same sound effect as Optimus Prime's rifle.
*Nobody can make up their mind how to pronounce Scourge's name; in barely 30 seconds, we get "Skerge" two times with a "Skoorge" in-between.
[[File:Brainstormrebirthvehicle.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.1]]
*Arcana transforms and lands on top of Brainstorm's cockpit, rather than riding inside it.
*How in the world does Arcee's head turn into an exosuit identical to Daniel and Spike's standard suits?
*Cyclonus and Scourge leap off the Decepticon ship and run away from it... then are immediately shown running up to it as it starts to explode from the Autobot assault.
*Vector Sigma is transparent as it rises into place.
*The Matrix shell glows in this episode; it was burned out ("empty") [[The Return of Optimus Prime, Part 2|the last time we saw it]].
*Optimus' mouthplate isn't moving in several shots as he talks with Alpha Trion.
*After speaking with Alpha Trion, the vertical line in missing on Optimus' abs/grille.
*The first claws to lunge toward Scourge and Cyclonus are showing coming out of the <s>clear blue</s> cloudy pink sky.
*Snapdragon and Skullcruncher are missing as the Decepticons get to their feet inside the Hive's base.
*After the first commercial break, Zarak and company are depicted as ''larger'' than the Decepticons.
*Lord Zarak and Grax are the only Hive members who get character models depicting them in their pre-exosuit forms. The rest of the Hive are represented by recycled models of [[Kranix (G1)|Kranix]] and other [[Lithone (planet)|Lithone]] inhabitants - who are ''robots''.
[[File:Rebirth 2 Decepticon offerings.JPG|right|upright=1.95|thumb|Isn't that Brainstorm's old head? It's got that weird Count Dracula-looking giant brow.]]
*Throughout the episode, Mindwipe's face changes back and forth between two large square eyes and a conjoined eyeband. When he removes his head, he has a new face altogether - maybe one of the otherwise-unused pre-Headmaster head designs.
*As he says, "We don't make deals with organic creatures," Scourge's head crest is overly huge and red, and his face has a black line through the middle of it.
*In the group shot after the to-be Decepticon Headmasters remove their heads, one of the Decepticons with a missing head is Triggerhappy, who's destined to become a Targetmaster. Conversely, future Headmaster Skullcruncher still has his noggin attached (and is the only one of the beast Decepticons who does).
*When Grax reports that the modifications to the Decepticons' heads and weapons are complete, his eyebrows and mustache are the same dark green color as the rest of his hair, when they were white in the previous scene.
*Among the line of waiting Hive exo-suits are Triggerhappy, Slugslinger and Misfire. In the same scene, ''all'' the Hive members are shown as beige Lithone robots, even though some have already been shown to be green-skinned organic humanoids.
*Odd shot blocking makes Nightstick look almost as tall as Cyclonus as he walks up to him.
*Aimless and Caliburst don't seem to have any gun handles. This is reinforced in the third act, when Misfire is shown holding Aimless with two hands.
*Caliburst's blue disappears during his "See, would I lie to ya?" line.
*Vorath is drawn as Monzo when Mindwipe hypnotises him, and is colored entirely gray (not the right color for either character.)
*Monzo is drawn as Vorath and has Grax's voice. And he's looking at Skullcruncher (who already bonded with Grax) colored as Weirdwolf. In the following shot, Monzo and Weirdwolf bond.
*The Decepticon ship being towed by the Autobots is suddenly completely intact. It's also ridiculously small - barely large enough for one robot to fit inside of, if the whole bridge opened like a cockpit. In the same shot, an unidentifiable truck that's not Kup is colored like him.
*In the shot where Hot Rod says, "We've got company!," the top part of Arcee's head is missing.
*Everyone suddenly has Optimus Prime's rifle sound effect as the Decepticons attack the Autobots at the caves.
*When Weirdwolf transforms, his head (Monzo) detaches and transforms... and a ''second'' copy of his head (ie, another Monzo) flies out from behind Mindwipe and also transforms.
*Brainstorm's face is completely gray (instead of gold) when he says "Go hang upside down from a tree, Mindwipe!"
*In the big group shot as Prime walks up, Sureshot has been replaced by some red guy with white lower legs. Hot Rod and Blurr appear to have all-gray heads. Arcee's head is squished into a cylinder shape.
[[File:Rebirth2 Blurr with gun.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.1]]
*In the only shot in the whole story of Blurr holding Haywire, Haywire is drawn as Blurr's regular gun. The very next shot shows gun mode Recoil instead.
*"Zarak's modifications are nearly finished!" Once again, the Head/Targetmaster partners are nearly as large as the Transformers themselves.
*As Optimus stands on the hill above the Hive facility, the sides of his chest which should be grey are red instead.
*As he taunts Optimus, Scourge's face is black on the bottom
*Cyclonus gives the order to "'''E'''nnihilate them!" ''Riiiight.''

===Continuity errors===
*Superhuman Spike has become super-genius Spike, magically rebuilding Autobot heads into transformable exo-suits with virtually no tools or facilities.
*If the rebels are so pathologically afraid of machines, why do they have the claws that re-attach the Autobots' heads to their bodies?
*Daniel is supposed to be critically injured and on life support machines, yet there's no sign of them aside from a funky helmet. And then even ''that'' goes away when he's placed into Arcee's head.
*Where do Chromedome and Arcee go during the fight with the Hive machines?
*Brainstorm addresses his first line to Scourge... but it's in response to something that Cyclonus said.
*When the Decepticons are abducted by the Hive, they land next to a machine based on Scorponok's city mode... right down to the Decepticon symbol already in place on it.
*Last episode, Gort claimed that "the Hive's bodies are withered and useless" due to their extreme hibernation and dependency of technology as a means of survival. Yet Lord Zarak is freaking jacked and ripped like {{w|Franco Columbu}} when we finally see him. Intel must not be too good on Nebulos.
*Optimus correctly guesses that the Matrix could activate Vector Sigma. That idea didn't strike him when Alpha Trion sacrificed his life to activate it in "[[The Key to Vector Sigma, Part 2]]". The real-world answer, of course, is that the concept [[A Prime Problem|didn't exist]] [[Retcon|back then]].
*Alpha Trion's description of plasma energy's effects is gibberish. "Any entity that transforms matter into energy" includes pretty much any form of life, including the organic life which he then says is immune.
[[File:Rebirth2-Aimlesssuitsyoubetter.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.1]]
*What seems to be a cut script line results in one of the most awesome errors in the whole series. Aimless walks up to Misfire and says, "I live only to destroy our mutual enemies!" Misfire responds "I think the name Aimless suits you better!" As many fans have wondered, did Misfire think his partner was introducing himself as "I, Live-Only-To-Destroy-Our-Mutual-Enemies"?
*A character model incongruity becomes apparent when Apeface and Snapdragon join with their new partners. On both their toys, the Headmaster figure becomes the head of both the robot and the creature mode. However, the model designers (or the animators, or both) didn't get the memo. Both robots are shown in their [[beast mode]]s while separated from their smaller partners... who clearly have the beast mode faces on their backs!
*Right after the Decepticons steal the key from the Autobots, Spike says that "they can fly and you guys can't"... to Brainstorm and Highbrow, who both transform into flying vehicles.
*When [[Krunk]] is removing the key to the Plasma Energy Chamber from Brainstorm's body and declares, "The key, I have it!", Brainstorm's Headmaster partner Arcana replies, "Ah ha, but I have ''you'', Nightstick!" before Krunk leaves with the Key. Why not just, you know, grab Krunk?
*After the Decepticons escape with the key, Highbrow declares. "They can't get off this planet any more than we can!" As demonstrated countless times in season 3, Cyclonus and Scourge both transform into spacecraft. (Admittedly, Scourge's alt-form looks more like a hovercraft, but he has definitely broken the gravitational pull of various planets in that mode.)
*What kind of great strategy is it to throw away your gun as soon as the battle starts? Instead of a robot with a big gun, you wind up with a weaponless robot and a little guy firing a much smaller gun.
*In the Autobots' counter-attack after Prime's arrival, how does Arcee know Scourge has the key? Cyclonus is the highest-ranking Decepticon in the bunch.

===Trivia===
*Optimus seems rather dazed and confused throughout this entire episode. It's as if coming back from the dead left him as more of an old man than the hero from earlier episodes.
*Brainstorm announces his plan to sue for the theft of his Headmaster idea. Aside from the peculiar idea of a Cybertronian engaging in legal warfare, exactly ''who'' he would sue in the first place is a mystery.
*Cyclonus seems frighteningly willing to murder Apeface over a minor disagreement. Why not just let Apeface be a Targetmaster instead? Considering how few soldiers are on hand right now it seems like quite a risk to start shooting them right and left and still expect to be able to take on the Autobots.
*After Spasma and Krunk tell the Horrorcons to stay in line, Spasma spits on the floor. This causes a small trail of smoke to fume from the ground suggesting that Spasma's spit was some kind of corrosive acid. That's hardcore.

===Foreign localization===
'''German'''
:*''Title:'' "'''Die Wiedergeburt, Teil 2'''" ("The Rebirth, Part 2")
:*''Original airdate:'' ?

'''Japanese'''
:*''Title:'' '''Destron no Hangeki''' (デストロンの反撃, "The Decepticons' Counter-Attack")
:*''Original airdate:'' [[1996]] (home video); [[July 21]], [[2007]] (broadcast)
::*"The Rebirth" was not initially dubbed for Japanese release, instead being replaced by the domestic series ''[[Transformers: The Headmasters (cartoon)|Transformers: The Headmasters]]''. The episodes were eventually dubbed in 1996 as special features on [[Geneon Universal Entertainment|Pioneer]]'s {{w|LaserDisc}} and DVD collections. "The Rebirth" received its first Japanese television broadcast in [[2007]], airing on [[Cartoon Network|Cartoon Network Japan]].
::*To further distinguish "The Rebirth" from the continuity of the Japanese series, it was released with the American ''The Transformers'' branding and [[title sequence]]. With a few exceptions (such as "Convoy"), most of the characters are referred to by their Western names. For instance, [[Hot Rod (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Hot Rod]] is not called "Hot Rodimus", [[Kup (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Kup]] is not called "Chear" and so on.
::*With the exception of [[Tesshō Genda]] (Convoy), [[Seizō Katō]] (Galvatron) and [[Issei Masamune]] ([[narrator]]), all characters were recast with new actors.
::*Voice direction for the 1996 dubbing of "The Rebirth" was conducted by [[Shōzō Tajima]].
::*Due to having been released straight-to-video, this is one of the few episodes of ''The Transformers'' not to have been edited for time in Japan. As such, Japanese DVD and laserdisc releases include an optional English audio track for the episode.

'''Russian'''
:*''Title:'' "'''Vozrozhdenye, Chast 2'''" (''Возрождение, часть 2'', "The Rebirth, Part 2")
:*''Original airdate:'' ?

'''Italian'''
:*''Title:'' '''La Rinascita (Seconda Parte)''' ("The Rebirth (Second Part)")
:*''Original airdate:'' [[November 21]], [[2014]] (on YouTube)
::*"The Rebirth" was not dubbed for Italian release, airing ''The Headmasters'' as a continuation of the series. The episodes were dubbed between 2012 and 2014 along with the redub of Season 3, and features the same cast. A DVD release couldn't be made at the time (even the redubbed Season 3 DVDs were made in a very small quantity), so the episodes were released for free on YouTube in November 2014 on the Contactoons channel (Contactoons is a cartoon block that airs on a few Italian regional channels, airing older programs that regular channels no long carry). The videos were made private 24 hours after they were made available, but they can still be accessed by checking the channel's "film animazione e serie tv special" ("Animated movies and TV show specials") playlist.
::*The dub itself is basically an amateur production, with very unfitting voices and stuff. Many character names are also mispronounced.

==Home video releases==
{{homevidnote}}
;VHS
[[File:Flag of Germany.png|20px|Germany]] 1987 — ''Transformers'' — Die Wiedergeburt (Zweiter Teil) ([[Polyband]]) — German audio only. 
[[File:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 1988 — ''Transformers'' — Headmasters: The Rebirth (Parts, 1, 2 & 3) ([[Tempo Video]]) 
[[File:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 1989 — ''Transformers'' — Headmasters / The Return of Optimus Prime (Tempo Video) 
[[File:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 1991 — ''Transformers'' — Headmasters / The Return of Optimus Prime / Cosmic Rust (Tempo Video) 
[[File:Flag of Canada.png|20px|Canada]] 1998 — ''The Transformers: Generation 2'' — Rebirth: The Movie ([[Malofilm|Behaviour Entertainment]]) 
[[File:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 2001 — ''The Original Transformers'' — Heroes: The Rebirth ([[The Original Transformers|Rhino Entertainment]])
;{{w|LaserDisc}}
[[File:Flag of Japan.png|20px|Japan]] 1996 — ''Transformers: The Headmasters'' Set ([[TakaraTomy|Takara]]) — Japanese audio only. 
[[File:Flag of Japan.png|20px|Japan]] 1999 — ''The Transformers: 2010'' ([[Geneon Universal Entertainment|Pioneer LDC]]) — English and Japanese audio.
;DVD
[[File:Flag of Japan.png|20px|Japan]] 2001 — ''The Transformers: 2010'' — DVD Box (Pioneer LDC) — English and Japanese audio. 
[[File:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 2001 — ''The Original Transformers'' — Heroes: The Rebirth ([[The Original Transformers|Rhino Entertainment]]) 
[[File:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 2002 — ''Transformers'' — The Rebirth: Parts 1-3 ([[Maverick Entertainment|Sony Wonder]]) 
[[File:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 2004 — ''The Original Transformers'' — Season 3 Part 2 & Season 4 (Rhino Entertainment) 
[[File:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 2004 — ''Transformers'' — Season 3 and Season 4 ([[Metrodome]]) 
[[File:Flag of Australia.png|20px|Australia]] 2005 — ''Transformers'' — Collection 6: Series 4 ([[Madman Entertainment]]) 
[[File:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 2006 — ''Transformers'' — The Complete Generation One Collection (Metrodome) 
[[File:Flag of Australia.png|20px|Australia]] 2007 — ''The Transformers'' — Complete Collection (Madman Entertainment) 
[[File:Flag of Germany.png|20px|Germany]] 2007 — ''Transformers'' — Box-Set (3DVDs) ([[Flex Media]]) — German audio only. 
[[File:Flag of Germany.png|20px|Germany]] 2008 — ''Transformers'' — Box-Set (2DVDs) (Flex Media) — German audio only. 
[[File:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 2009 — ''Transformers'' — Season's Three & Four {{sic}} (Metrodome) 
[[File:Flag of Australia.png|20px|Australia]] 2009 — ''The Transformers'' — Complete Collection: Decepticon Edition (Madman Entertainment) 
[[File:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 2009 — ''The Transformers'' — The Complete Series: 25th Anniversary "Matrix of Leadership" Collection ([[Shout! Factory]]) 
[[File:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 2010 — ''The Transformers'' — Seasons Three & Four: 25th Anniversary Edition (Shout! Factory) 
[[File:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 2011 — ''The Transformers'' — The Complete Original Series (Shout! Factory) 
[[File:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 2014 — ''The Transformers'' — Seasons Three & Four: 30th Anniversary Edition (Shout! Factory) 
[[File:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 2014 — ''Transformers'' — The Classic Animated Series (Metrodome)

==External links==
*[http://cybertronchronicle.freewebspace.com/cartoon-dossier/season-4/synopses/6701-02.html Episode Dossier at The Cybertron Chronicle]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rebirth, Part 2}}
[[Category:The Transformers episodes]]