The Transformers: The Movie (second draft)

This page took fourteen years to make!

In early 1985, Ron Friedman's initial script for The Transformers: The Movie had been rejected (allegedly because it focused too much on the villains). However, the terms of his contract meant that the film had to be based on a script he wrote. So if they wanted to continue production they needed him to write a new script. Not willing to leave this to chance, an outline was created by Sunbow Productions and he was told to base the new draft on it. This isn't exactly a revision of Friedman's previous script, it's more like an entirely new one that was loosely based on the first draft that Sunbow would be able to further rewrite into the movie they wanted to make without violating his contract.

The new script was written in just under a month. While this draft would form the basis of the final film, it would be massively reworked by a "story consultant" (Flint Dille). The script first became public when it was purchased after being auctioned off by Friedman in 2010.<ref>"Disciples of Boltax Heritage Auctions -The Transformers The Movie draft Script</ref>

For practical purposes this article covers the initial Sunbow outline, the draft script, and a slightly revised draft

Background

Page 9 of the outline including Friedman's handwritten notes.

Sometime between February and 28th March 1985, (two days after he had completed his reworked story premises for everyone's favourite cartoon "Bigfoot and the Muscle Machines") a 16-page outline was given to Friedman by Sunbow to dictate the new film. It features the new cast and a scene-by-scene overview of the film. Since this also had details on the early plans of the 1986 range, Hasbro likely had some input in it. Much of the final film originates here, such as the future setting, character arcs, and locations such as Autobot City and the Moonbases. Thanks to Friedman's handwritten notes (as he presumably read through this outline for the first time) we can see his thought process. He questioned certain elements, brainstormed new ones, and suggested plot changes. This draft was written in just under a month, being finished on the 27 April. During this time Friedman seems to have stopped editing scripts, presumably to focus solely on this project.

Shortly after finishing this draft, Friedman revised the script by reworking the first 14 pages and nothing else. This draft was completed on May 2nd. He was paid for this draft and that marked the end of his involvement with Transformers. <ref> "He Killed Optimus Prime: An Interview With Ron Friedman the Writer of Transformers:The Movie</ref> We don't just mean the film, he stopped working on Transformers altogether and focused all his efforts on writing the script for the G.I. Joe movie, which would have a similarly hectic development...<ref>Heritage Auction G.I. Joe Movie Story ideas dated May 1985</ref> <ref>Heritage Auction G.I. Joe Movie Outline and early draft dated July 1985</ref>

Evidently this new script didn't meet Sunbow's standards. After it was submitted, Sunbow staff Joe Bacal, Tom Griffin, Jay Bacal, Flint Dillie, Roger Slifer, and Carole Weitzman held a meeting to try and rework the script. This lasted 16 hours. <ref>"A Lone Fan Crying In The Wilderness — My Animated Conversation With Buzz Dixon</ref><ref>"A Lone Fan Crying In The Wilderness — My Animated Conversation With Roger Slifer</ref> <ref>"The Flint Dille Interview Part II</ref> Ultimately, Flint Dille was chosen to edit the script; he spent the next several months reworking it into the final film over the course of 20 drafts.

Synopsis

Five years have passed since the Transformers awoke on Earth. From the moons of Cybertron, the Autobots launch a shuttle to send supplies to Earth. As it passes through an asteroid field, the Decepticons begin to trail the shuttle through space. At a fishing hole near Autobot City on Earth, Hot Rod and Daniel detect the incoming shuttle. Driving to the nearby Lookout Point they pass Kup cording off the area.

As the shuttle enters Earth's atmosphere, the Decepticons blast their way in and kill the crew. Through his observation binoculars Daniel spots the Insecticons eating the ship. Megatron flies off commanding his troops to destroy Autobot City. Spotting the young Autobot below, the Decepticon leader opens fire at him, destroying most of the mountain. Hot Rod fights the Decepticon soldiers on the crumbling mountain while trying to protect Daniel, until he's saved by Kup who fights off Blitzwing and Shrapnel. The trio rush back to the city as the attack continues.

At the city, Perceptor alerts Ultra Magnus to the attack, initiating Autobot City's transformation procedure. Hot Rod and Kup run over the Insecticons as they devour the last bridge into the city, leaving the Autobots trapped inside. From a "WAR SCREEN" Magnus commands the Autobots against the enemy forces. Spotting the Constructicons near the southern wall which houses the Roboto-zoo, he releases the Ani-Bots who manage to drive off the invaders. On Magnus's order, Blaster transmits a message to Optimus Prime. Soundwave attempts to intercept this, ejecting the cassettes Rumble, Frenzy, Ravage, and Ratbat to jam it. Blaster fights back with his own cassettes Cubbie, Stripes, Stinger, and Bolts.

On Cybertron, Prime and the Dinobots receive the message and board a shuttle headed to Earth. En-route they are attacked by Astrotrain. On Earth, the battle continues with the Constructicons forming Devastator. Seeing this, Magnus commands the Ani-bots to merge into Dragon Beast to fight the combiner. Prime's shuttle arrives and the Dinobots leap out to face the enemy forces. This begins to turn the tide, as the Decepticons are forced to retreat. Outside of the city, Megatron commands his forces to keep fighting, unaware of Optimus's shuttle landing next to him. Just like last time, the fight is pretty much identical to the final film.

A dying Megatron demands Starscream to take his Life Spark back to Cybertron as the Decepticons board the newly arrived Astrotrain. Gathering around Optimus, Perceptor declares his wounds fatal. Prime gives Magnus his Life Spark, a tiny glowing version of himself, and names the reluctant Autobot his successor as he dies. Ultra Magnus's first orders are for the Autobots to fortify the planet against further attacks and construct a shuttle to follow the Decepticons into space. As Astrotrain reaches Cybertron, the Decepticons argue over who will be the new leader. Fighting breaks out with Megatron pitifully stating that he's still alive. Arriving at the Hall of Heroes, the dying Megatron begs for his Life Spark to be enshrined alongside the past leaders. The fighting spills into the Hall, wrecking the statues and causing the leaders' Life Sparks to fly off into space. One of the statues crushes Megatron, finally killing him and his Life Spark is left to float into space with the others.

As the Life Sparks drift through space, a furious Megatron demands to have his body restored at any cost. The ghostly voice of Ingestor hears his cries and with a "PALE, COLD RAY" drags the Life Sparks to the "HELL-LIKE, MECHANICAL" planet of Unicron. Ingestor offers him power in exchange for permanent servitude, which Megatron is forced to accept. Bathed in a beam of light he is rebuilt into Galvatron. The other Life Sparks are also rebuilt as Scourge, the Sweeps, Cyclonus, and his armada. On Ingestor's command they fly to Cybertron to claim its remaining energy.

Starscream's coronation is basically the same, so we can skip that. Under the command of their new leader the Decepticons gather the planet's Energon for Ingestor, which he absorbs with his Cold Rays and the planet Unicron begins to rebuild itself as it nears Cybertron. From Cybertron's third moon, Jazz and Cliffjumper alert Earth to the approaching planet. As the moon is destroyed, Ingestor orders Galvatron to drain Earth next. Galvatron briefly attempts to resist only to be inflicted with pain.

At Autobot City, the superfast messenger, Blurr, brings news of the moon's destruction and warns of the imminent arrival of the Decepticons. The Decepticons arrive and a massive battle ensues. Magnus orders Hot Rod and the Dinobots to one of the newly constructed shuttles. The shuttle takes off under enemy fire as Magnus begins his own launch, using the rocket's thrust to melt the attacking Sweeps. Taking off they are pursued by a squad of Decepticons led by Astrotrain before managing to outrun them using a "hyper vault" to blast off at infinite speed. Later, as his troops begin harvesting Earth's Energon, Galvatron learns of the Autobots' escape, boarding a "SPACE CARRIER" to follow them.

On the shuttle, Kup tells the Dinobots an old war story. Perceptor realizes the Decepticons are beaming energy into space and, with no other options, the Autobots are forced to follow it into space. Connecting himself into the shuttle's "SCANNER-MONITOR" to track the signal, Perceptor briefly catches a glimpse of Unicron. Galvatron's armada catches up to them, destroying Hot Rod's shuttle and throwing its occupants into space. Magnus escapes by detonating three quarters of his ship, making it appear to have been destroyed as they sneak to a nearby planet for repairs. Back on Earth, Scourge and the Sweeps hunt down the surviving Autobots. Tracking a signal they find only the burnt remains of a Decepticon soldier. As they leave, Blaster and the other Autobots come out of hiding. Wheeljack realizes that draining Earth's energy is weakening the planet. They only have 48 hours left until it's destroyed. (Blaster's group doesn't appear again. Just so you know.)

Hot Rod and Kup land on Quintesson, running into a mechanical squid. (Like the last time, we can skip over this.) Magnus's shuttle has a rough landing on planet Junkion. The Autobots attempt to salvage parts from the junk that makes up the planet. Unnoticed, the Junkions prepare to fight the intruders. Hot Rod and Kup are captured by the Sharkticons and taken to their masters, the Quintessons. While they are imprisoned, their fellow prisoner, a rock robot Granix, tells them that their fate will be to fight to the death in the arena. Outside, the Dinobots have found their way to the Quintesson Castle looking for their friends, only to be turned away by a guard who points them in the wrong direction.

In space, Unicron has absorbed more energy and grown even larger. Ingestor tells Galvatron that Magnus still lives, ordering him to kill the Autobot leader. Galvatron resists, only for Ingestor to inflict his "cold rays" on him, then using one of the metal trees that cover the planet to throw him into space. Briefly content, Unicron devours another of Cybertron's moons.

Hot Rod and Kup are sentenced to fight the Sharkticons. The Dinobots run into Wheelie, the "Wolf Boy of Quintesson" who tells them that they've been deceived and they need to save their friends. In the arena, Hot Rod is able to take the lead Quintesson hostage. The leader just laughs at them as his head disconnects from his body and flies to safety, leaving them to face the Sharkticons. As the pair prepare to fight to the end, the Dinobots arrive and turn the tide, dropping bombs and setting the grandstand on fire. The few remaining Sharkticons turn on their masters and begin to devour them. Wheelie shows the Autobots a Quintesson cruiser that they use to leave the planet.

Back on Junkion the repairs are nearly finished. The Junkions lay in wait, retreating when they spot the arriving Decepticons. On Magnus's order, Perceptor has created "Pseudo-clones", non-sentient replicas of the Autobots. The clones are sent on a suicide charge to fool the Decepticons into thinking their enemies have been killed, but the ruse will be uncovered if they examine the remains. Realizing this, Magnus joins the clones knowing that the death of the Autobot leader will distract Galvatron. Magnus is ultimately overwhelmed by a horde of Decepticons and Galvatron kills him with a point blank shot from his fusion cannon. Cutting Prime's Life Spark out of Magnus with a laser saw and putting it in a glass bottle, the Decepticon leader demands his men head back to Earth while he deals with Ingestor.

As the Decepticons leave, the Autobots come out of hiding and mourn their fallen leader. This doesn't last long as the Junkions have returned, forcing them to try and flee. Unable to escape, they are cornered when more Junkions appear from underneath the scrap. The ensuing fight is halted when the Quintesson Cruiser appears overhead. As the ship lands Hot Rod approaches the Junkions with Energon Sticks and recites the Universal Greeting. This works. With everyone now friends, the Junkions rebuild Ultra Magnus. A more mature Hot Rod points out they still need to find where the Decepticons are beaming Earth's energy to. The surrounding crowd cheers and they all board their cruisers.

Back in space, Galvatron threatens Ingestor with a bomb to make him release Galvatron from servitude. This just makes Ingestor laugh, so Galvatron detonates the bomb to destroy Unicron. Ingestor happily reveals that was the last piece of energy he needed and the planet begins to transform into a massive robot revealing that Unicron is actually Ingestor! Ingestor restrains Galvatron in his eyebrows (yes, really), and for his insolence forces him to watch as Cybertron is destroyed. The Autobots arrive as his attack is underway, with Hot Rod ordering them to intercept him. As the Junkions and Dinobots fly out to distract the giant robot, Hot Rod's ship flies towards Ingestor's head, crashing into his ear. Racing inside, Hot Rod tells the others to keep Ingestor distracted while he tries to find the core of the creature. Sensing intruders, Ingestor picks up Galvatron and shoves him through his eye socket and telling him he may allow him to live if he kills the Autobot.

While the Autobots try to stop Ingestor, deep inside him Galvatron and Hot Rod fight, the Decepticon overpowering the young Autobot. In a last show of strength, Hot Rod grabs the bottle containing Optimus's Life Spark and is transformed, the ghostly voice of Optimus declaring him Rodimus Prime. The battle continues until Rodimus is able to destroy the bottle, releasing the Life Spark's energy. Ingestor begins to explode and tears himself apart to try and get the Life Spark. An explosion throws Galvatron into space. While escaping, Rodimus is able to free Cybertron's moons from Ingestor's stomach. A ghostly image of Optimus appears among the wreckage of Ingestor and flies into space, telling the dying creature that all evil must end.

On their ship the Autobots mourn Hot Rod, only to start cheering when they see their new leader flying towards them.

Cast

Autobots

• Hot Rod/Rodimus Prime—The outline bluntly describes him as "reckless, headstrong, short tempered and cocky". The movie charts his "grow[th] from boyhood to manhood, both physically and mentally, eventually becoming the new leader of the Autobots". Rodimus Prime is apparently him "fully mature".
• Kup—Tanker is named Kup now, meaning his development for the final film is complete. He's named "Kup" "as in Pickup Truck", <ref>Kup's barely reworked early development notes/profile in The Transformers Universe #4</ref> though there is no indication that Friedman knew this. The outline has no info on his alt mode, so the closest the script gets is saying he has wheels.
• Ultra Magnus—He's still "the large and soldierly City Commander". His personality is serious and practical, with Friedman comparing him to [[wikipedia:{{#if:|:}}Horatio Hornblower|{{#if:||Horatio Hornblower}}]]. Also, at one point he turns his hand into a loudspeaker. Neat!
• Springer—Still "very muscular", though now he's a "bantering Indiana Jones type Autobot". While going through the outline, Friedman realized he could reuse Rusty Steel's personality for him. The outline calls him Ultra Magnus's wise-cracking second in command, though deep down he unquestionably respects him. He's still not a triple changer yet.
• Arcee—This time she actually gets to go on the adventure (and with barely any misogyny!). This version introduces her relationship with Hot Rod, and mothering of Daniel.
• Daniel—An all-American 12-year-old boy who looks up to the Autobots. He has trouble using his exosuit, but at the end is able to master it to save Arcee. He's still not Spike's son yet. The outline intended for him to stowaway on the Autobot shuttle, which Friedman disregarded.
• Perceptor—Mentlar has been replaced with the Autobot scientist we know and love. Like in the final film, his gimmick is that he uses too much scientific jargon which confuses the others, though there are way more examples of that in this draft.
• Anibots—A team of Autobots with animal alt modes who are kept in the "Roboto-Zoo lab". They are Simba (a lion), Pardo (a leopard), Shriek (an eagle), Thump (a buffalo), and Clump (a rhinoceros). They combine to form the Dragon Beast, a "huge, DRAGON LIKE MECHANO-BEAST". The outline simply dictated "the Anibots (lion, tiger, eagle, buffalo and rhinoceros) who also come together to form a huge robot" and said they'd fight the Constructicons. Given that description Friedman then came up with their names and combined form. Clearly, the Anibots are an early version of the Predacons, though there was a misunderstanding between Ron and Hasbro. Now, while the lineup of animals would change, the combined form was likely always intended to be the conventional giant robot made up of smaller robots. Ron didn't know this and from the "form a huge robot" line went wild and devised something that Hasbro never intended to release. At some point the group gets dropped from the film but not before concept art was drawn up.
• Blaster—Described as "a black rock D.J.". He has a larger role than in the final film, leading the surviving Autobots against the Decepticon-controlled Earth. The outline describes his cassettes as a "lion, tiger, scorpion and robot", which Friedman reworked into Cubbie, Stripes, Stinger, and Bolts. Only Cubbie would make it unchanged, though he was renamed to Steeljaw. Bolts would be split in two to become Eject and Rewind. Stinger and Stripes would be cut entirely. This lineup made it all the way to early storyboards.
• Blurr—a "fast, fast mover and fast, fast talker" Autobot special messenger. He's introduced alerting the others to the destruction of Cybertron's third moon. Besides changing jobs and showing up earlier in the actual film he's the final version of the character.
• Wheelie—An "Autobot like Robotoid kid" that lives as "the Wolf Boy of Quintesson". Stage directions explain Wheelie's backstory in greater detail than in the final film, revealing that he's the only survivor of a crashed spaceship after the Sharkticons ate the rest of the crew. He wears a necklace made of Sharkticon teeth. His weapons are "a three bladed laser knife" and a "SLING which hurls FIRE STONES".

Decepticons

• Galvatron—The rebuilt form of Megatron who "still resembles Megatron somewhat". The outline describes him as having a "cannon mode", which isn't explicitly mentioned in the script itself. After being reborn he declares "There is no Megatron! I am Galvatron and I rule!". Despite this the draft still makes several allusions to him being Megatron, such as in the climax when he reveals his identity to Rodimus, calling it his "true name".
• Scourge and the Sweeps—The bearded leader of the Sweeps. Built from the converted Life Spark of a former Decepticon leader (as are the other Sweeps), he's likened to a "mafia hit man" in the outline. His soldiers are now called the Sweeps seemingly due to a miscommunication between Ron and Hasbro. They still search for the surviving Autobots, so it sort of works. Like in the previous draft, they turn into land vehicles. Scourge has a mid-transformation form which features his head sticking up in vehicle mode to perform scans. Bizarrely, the Nazi imagery also carries over with the outline describing Scourge as an "SS trooper" and the Sweeps being "smaller" "similar creatures" wearing "dark and matching uniforms". Scourge went unnamed in the outline, being named by Friedman.
• Cyclonus—He's another converted essence and is the commander of the Decepticon planes. This "armada" or "Jet Force" consists of smaller, but similar-looking robots that turn into "FIGHTER PLANES". He disappears completely from the script after the Autobots flee Earth. His unnamed outline profile reads in its entirety "He needs to be developed".

Others

• Ingestor/Unicron—At this stage the Entity has been renamed Ingestor. Other proposed names were Absorber, Unitron, the Amalgamator, Amalgamon, and Masticar. Sunbow felt the idea of a talking planet was "a stretch", and asked for his dialogue to be kept to a minimum. Friedman ignored this. The outline also claims they were going to cast Orson Welles. Good luck with that... His role is similar to the previous draft (introduced as "The Absorber of Unicron", rebuilding Megatron, the appearance of the planet Unicron, and growing larger the more energy he consumes) while his backstory has been removed entirely. This version also adds an extensive final battle on his massive body as the Autobots fight to stop him from destroying Cybertron. The first page of Friedman's revised script features a new intro where the planet flies through space. This would eventually evolve into the sequence of him devouring Lithone that opens the movie proper.
• Quintessons—Their role is similar to the final film. While their psychic powers have been removed, their appearance carries over from the previous draft. They still have slender bodies which are too small for their massive heads. But in an extra twist it's implied these are their true forms as when the leader disconnects his head, it flies away to attach itself to another body. The outline suggests they have a "friendly face, a stern face, an evil face, (a face of your choosing) and a face of Death", which Friedman reworked into "SMILING, ANGRY, GRIMACING, SUSPICIOUS" and "a DEATH'S HEAD".
  • Sharkticons—While their design and role as the Quintessons' guards carries over from the first draft, their shock sticks (which froze someone in time) are now just regular electric batons. In a scene repeated from the last draft their cries are revealed to translate to "we eat". Apparently, Grimlock inspiring them to rebel against their masters is to show they share "a kind of Proletarian commonality" with their fellow "lower life forms". <ref>I Killed Optimus Prime, Ron Friedman (p. 105)</ref> They are still the only Quintesson servants to appear.
• Junkions—A group of "Road Warrior-like robotic Hell's Angels"— made of rusty and disused metal. Like in the previous draft they are able to repair their damaged bodies with their planet's garbage making them essentially indestructible. However, their backstory and connection to Unicron have been removed. They also now ride into battle on their transformed comrades. The outline intended their language to be a mix of "alien lingo", Latin phrases, TV talk, and generic expressions, though only really the TV talk made it into the script.
  • Wreck-Gar—He remains the Junkion leader. Sensibly, his design has been switched with that of a generic Junkion from the first draft (as someone probably realized that having one of the heroes dress like a fascist might have been a bad idea). He now looks like "a rusty junk metal version of a Viking helmet and a BRILLO like wooly wire-metal vest". The Nazi-helmeted Junkion is still present, now as a generic who Springer briefly fights. He sounds like "a cross between Henry Kissinger, a TV talk show host like Bert Parks, and Mr. Rogers on amphetamines". Wreck-Gar isn't mentioned in the outline suggesting Friedman used him on his own initiative.

Notes

What changed

• This script takes place five years after the Autobots awoke on Earth, seemingly placing the events of the script in the year 1990.
• No opening on Lithone, though the revised draft features a brief scene of Unicron flying through space which would ultimately evolve into Lithone's destruction.
• The draft now opens on Cybertron's moons.
• Unlike in the final film we're given more details about the Autobot Moonbase. The fact it's also a munitions factory remains in the final film, though isn't mentioned on screen.
• Autobot City is introduced. We don't really get any details about the city besides it being a new headquarters, but the final film gives it an extra purpose of generating energy for the Autobots.
• Like in the final film, the Dinobots have a prominent supporting role. Unlike the previous draft, Slag is present, though weirdly he isn't explicitly mentioned until page 61 (with the others first being mentioned on page 21). There's still no Snarl for reasons that don't make any sense, with the only explanation being that since the outline didn't specify all of Dinobots, Friedman forgot about him and the production staff didn't add him back in later.
• Rather than intercept the Autobot shuttle, here the Decepticons trail it all the way to Earth. Friedman's revisited draft would add the attack on the shuttle which made it into the final film.
• All human characters from the last draft, except for Daniel, have been cut. He still isn't Spike's son, who still isn't present in this version.
• The script contains a brief scene of Magnus rebuking Hot Rod for leaving his post; this scene would remain up until the storyboard stage before being cut.
• Much of the battle of Autobot City would be reworked. Due to its length a more detailed overview will be given later.
• The Anibots would be dropped, presumably due to being reworked into the Predacons.
• Blaster's cassettes would also be massively reworked.
• We actually see Optimus Prime and the Dinobots receiving Blaster's message, boarding the shuttle and being attacked by Astrotrain.
• Optimus's Matrix and Megatron's essence became the same thing in the outline, later being named Life Sparks in the script. These are tiny glowing versions of Transformers or, more explicitly, Transformers' "souls" (though there's still no explanation as to why Optimus's Life Spark is able to transform Hot Rod or destroy Ingestor at the end). The outline told Friedman to rename the Matrix but at some point the name gets added back in. According to Friedman's notes on the outline "only leaders have essences". In the final film Megatron is only dying, not a ghost/disembodied soul.
• Hot Rod bemoans being responsible for Prime's death, but Kup and Arcee tell him it wasn't his fault.
• Most of the details about the Hall of Heroes carry over from the previous draft. In the final film the place isn't even named. The major addition here is Starscream's coronation.
• That said, Scourge, the Sweeps, Cyclonus, and his Armada being reformatted Life Sparks of former Decepticon leaders would be reworked into them being converted from dead Decepticons.
• The "Unicron is Ingestor" twist would be dropped for the final film. There, it was just Unicron.
• The shuttle launch is more complicated, with the Autobots having to escape the Decepticon forces in space by using the "hyper vault".
• The scene of Perceptor plugging himself into the shuttle's computer and briefly catching a glimpse of Unicron is dropped.
• The Quintesson planet, unnamed in the previous draft, is named here: Quintesson. This name actually made it into the final script of the film, though wasn't used on-screen.

What stayed the same

A few scenes from the first draft carry over.

• Megatron and Optimus Prime's final fight carries over nearly verbatim from the previous draft.
• Like in the last script, the Quintesson scenes are similar to the final film, the big change being that we see the Dinobots' rescue attempts:
  • The planet's appearance carries over from the last draft, still having a Mercury sea with red desert shores and metallic reefs which are home to robot fish.
  • The giant squid fight still occurs and is similarly resolved.
  • Kup and Hot Rod still encounter the Sharkticons on a ridge. To communicate with them, they use the "universal alien language salutation" (the name "universal greeting" is used later on). Like in the film, it only briefly works.
  • Hot Rod and Kup are taken to a "CASTLE LIKE STRUCTURE" where fellow prisoner Granix tells them about the Quintessons and their show trials.
  • The Dinobots arrive at the Quintesson castle only to be sent away by a Quintesson guard. This scene was cut from the final film.
  • Wheelie helps the Dinobots find Hot Rod and Kup.
  • The arrival of the Dinobots saves the pair from being devoured by the Sharkticons.
  • Most of the Quintessons are devoured by the Sharkticons.
  • The Autobots leave the planet on a Quintesson cruiser.

Remnants of the first draft

• Various other plot points carry over from the first draft that would be dropped for the final film. Since this script was publicly available for over a decade before the first draft surfaced, we're noting them here for completion's sake:
  • The twist of Ingestor/Unicron's dual identity.
  • Much of the description of Unicron's surface.
  • Unicron still has to absorb energy in order to be able to transform.
  • The Hall of Heroes's larger role.
  • While the Matrix has been removed in this draft, much of the relevant story beats carry over. This means Megatron still dies and his ghost ends up flying into space after his body is destroyed.
  • The Decepticons attempt to drain Earth's energy in a process that will destroy it.
  • Blaster's leading the surviving Autobots in guerrilla warfare on a Decepticon-controlled Earth.
  • The Quintessons' appearance as feeble humanoid figures remains, though their psychic powers don't.
  • Granix is a rock robot. Lithone is still only mentioned in passing, Granix being captured during a scientific expedition.

Other details

Like the previous draft, this script features a lot of details that couldn't fit in the summary without making it overly long; most of these other details are:

• The outline gave Friedman the okay to kill off the following characters: Gears, Huffer, Windcharger, Sunstreaker, Sideswipe, Hound, Trailbreaker, Ironhide, Ratchet, Prowl, Brawn, Mirage, Wheeljack, Bluestreak, Thundercracker, Skywarp, and Shockwave. Not all of these guys die.
• It also gave 1985 characters to use for background appearances: "Inferno, Smokescreen, Tracks, Red Alert, Grapple, Hoist, Beachcomber, Ramjet, Dirge, and Thrust". Not all of them appear in this draft.
• Cybertron has at least five moons.
• Like in the final film the occupants of the Autobot shuttle are Ironhide, Ratchet, Prowl, and Brawn, though their deaths are different. Here Megatron blasts through the main viewscreen as they are about to land, blowing Ironhide to pieces while the other Decepticons flood the ship, the Constructicons disintegrating Prowl and the Insecticons devouring Brawn. Friedman didn't include Ratchet's death.
• In the revised draft the Decepticons now intercept the shuttle in space. Megatron blasts Brawn in half, Prowl dies the same way, but Ironhide and Ratchet are fused together and then blown apart by enemy fire.
• Extended battle of Autobot City details:
  • Wheeljack isn't a horrible misogynist this time, here he works a control console in the "WAR SCREEN" with Magnus. Later he determines the amount of time until Earth is destroyed.
  • There is one final change in the revised draft: the Constructicons' fight with the Anibots is expanded by half a page.
  • Powerglide and Warpath (who can also fly apparently) intercept Blitzwing over the city, causing him to crash through the city walls, landing in the fishin' hole from the opening. They then drop bombs on him, blasting him into the air.
  • Thundercracker and Skywarp lead a group of Decepticons trying to break into the city, while Bluestreak, Hound, and Sunstreaker lay in wait. During the ensuing fight Bluestreak cuts Thundercracker in half with his "LASER SABER". Skywarp and the others swarm Bluestreak until Hound opens fire, blasting off their legs.
  • Just before Optimus and Megatron's final fight begins, Dirge attempts to tackle Prime from behind, only for the Autobot leader to grab him with one hand, turn him upside down, and throw him to the ground.
  • In the aftermath of the battle we get a brief scene of the surviving Autobots removing wreckage and dead Decepticons' bodies.
• Scrapper calls Starscream "a pompous Alumin-ass".
• The Hall of Heroes carries over into this draft. It is now a "METALLIC EQUIVALENT OF A CLASSICAL, ROCK-CUT MASOULEUM" in a metal mountain. Questionably, it's still described as "High tech" "Nuremberg Party Rally".

The Life Spark flames at the base of the statues

• The flames at the base of each Decepticon leader's statue contain their Life Spark. This detail actually made it into the final film where it means nothing.
• The former leaders named in the Hall of Heroes are Ghoulon, Murdron, and Bloodron.
• Galvatron is given the insignia of Ingestor.
• During Starscream's coronation, a reluctant Dirge performs a ritual from an ancient book to the new leader's annoyance.
• As Galvatron kills a confused Starscream at his coronation, he declares: "there is no Megatron! I am Galvatron and I rule!".
• Galvatron kills Starscream by disintegrating him with a blaster. To clarify: he pulls out an actual gun and shoots him dead.
• Ingestor uses his "cold rays" to pull Energon cubes through space to Unicron. This allows the planet to reform itself and travel to Cybertron.
• In one of less creative Friedmanisms, Dirge compares Unicron absorbing Energon with his Cold Rays to drinking "soda-oil through a straw".
• The moon Jazz and Cliffjumper escape from is the third moon. After devouring it, Unicron "swells in size so it looks even closer - like a baloon [sic]".
• The Decepticons have a new rallying cry of "Ingestor and victory".
• During Galvatron's attack on the city:
  • The script offhandedly reveals that some of the invasion force "have been on Earth all this time".
  • The Autobots learn of Ingestor's name (and existence) from Galvatron's battle cry.
  • Magnus releases "Optic Dazzler Gas", a white exploding gas cloud that blinds and disorients the Decepticons.
  • Springer throws grenades at enemy troops, causing them to fall over like dominos. Then he jumps around, drawing their fire and causing them to miss and melt the other troops in the crossfire.
  • Cyclonus and the Constructicons are commanded to melt the city. They succeed at this.
  • Similarly to the final film Blurr has to herd the Dinobots into the shuttle.
  • Perceptor karate-chops two Sweeps in half, from head to groin, with the halves then walking around and bumping into each other.
  • The Dinobots are caught in the fire bombing, having to use their "temperature monitors" to cool down.
  • Galvatron surveys the ruined city, plotting to overthrow Ingestor. He is driven off by Powerglide and Warpath.
  • Cyclonus "bombs Gears to pieces", the blast throwing Windcharger into the air as the Decepticon rams into him. His parts then rain down on Blaster's group of retreating Autobots.
• The story Kup tells the Dinobots is given slightly more detail here. The Ick Yaks are apparently cyborgs from Phospho-Norn.
• The shuttles have an "Intercom phone", which projects holograms.
• At the ruins of Autobot City, Autobot and human slaves are forced by the Sweeps to process and stack Energon cubes for Ingestor.
• Quintesson is described as "a huge Baroque pearl".
• After crashing in the sea of the planet, Hot Rod turns into an "undersea action" "auto mode", generating "a glass bubble head piece" to breathe.
• Hot Rod blasts a "Robotoid Squid" that is taking Kup apart, scaring it away. He then collects Kup's parts with his magnet powers that he apparently has.
• Quintesson has "low dune-like red metallic hills".
• Kup attempts to track the Dinobots with his homing sensors.
• On the top of a ridge, Hot Rod and Kup run into the Sharkticons. Kup uses the "universal alien language Salutation". Like in the final film it briefly works.
• Page 101 mentions that the Sharkticons have captured Sludge. This isn't mentioned again and we later learn that he is with the other Dinobots. This error is due to Friedman just reworking a portion from the previous draft where Sludge was captured as well.
• When the Dinobots enter the Quintessons castle, a Sharkticon tries to eat Grimlock only to stop when it finds he tastes terrible.
• We don't really get an explanation as to how Ingestor knows Magnus survived. In the final film it's because he sensed the Matrix, here - nothing.
• Hot Rod and Kup are found guilty of trespassing "under the laws of the Quintessons", a charge which is technically true. The trials are still a sham though, Granix says so.
• During the sentencing Kup realises that the Quintessons' heads are their weak spot.
• The Quintessons have other prisoners awaiting trial. The only one described in detail by the script is a "Huge Robotoid Warrior of Glass with Iron Fittings". He's seen cheering on the captured Autobots when they're thrown into the Sharkticon pit. After Grimlock crashes the trial, the prisoner escapes and helps them fight the Quintessons. He's last seen guarding some captive Sharkticons as the Autobots leave Quintesson.
• The Quintesson spaceship has a "five faced insignia of Quintessons".
• Wheelie is the one to suggest they try to make peace with the Junkions, which Kup rejects.
• The Junkions have a spaceship which is introduced with no fanfare.
• After he transforms, Ingestor is described by the script as a "galaxy sized robot". It's difficult to describe just how stupidly big this would make him. Even more laughable, the same page describes his arms as only being the size of a continent!
• Before he attacks Cybertron, Ingestor picks Galvatron up like an ant and drops him onto his eyebrow. His giant metal eyebrow hair acts like cables restraining Galvatron as he's forced to watch his planet be destroyed.
• During Ingestor's destruction of Cybertron:
  • Ingestor tears Shockwave's lab out of the ground like a carrot. In the process he ends up pinning Shockwave to a generator with his finger, before swallowing the base whole.
  • Skywarp and Thundercracker try to stop Ingestor with a barrage of Laser Cannon fire. He swallows the bombardments then eats the chunk of the planet they are standing on.
  • When flying in space, the Junkions wear "space-gear", which is "transformed tricycles which are space sleds and rocket belts".
  • When Hot Rod enters Ingestor, the others continue to fight on the surface of Ingestor's body.
  • Blurr attaches to himself a "bumper with flame nozzles" which spews fire after him as he races across Ingestor's chest and neck.
  • Arcee is knocked into a forest of metal hair on Ingestor's shoulder, which begins to strangle her. Daniel is able to leap down and, finally mastering control of his exo-suit, yanks the hair out.
  • Like in the final film, the Dinobots fly around and assault Ingestor; here they are also joined by the Junkions who use grappling hooks to traverse Ingestor's body.
  • Ingestor is able to scrape Magnus and Perceptor off of his neck with his fingers.
  • Despite Perceptor's warning, Ingestor is able to smash Blurr with his hand. This really looks like it kills him, but he is later revealed to merely be damaged.
  • When all hope seems lost, the Autobots hide behind Ingestor's horns to stay out of his sight.
  • Galvatron and Hot Rod fight in Ingestor's stomach where Cybertron's moons are caught in a web and are being slowly digested.
  • During Rodimus's fight with Galvatron, the Decepticon is able to overpower the Autobot. He is saved when Jazz and Cliffjumper are revealed to be alive in the remains of their swallowed shuttle and open fire on Galvatron. This gives Rodimus the chance to escape and beat the Decepticon until he collapses.
  • When Ingestor is being torn apart, Galvatron is blown into space. Jazz and Cliffjumper are also thrown into space, but since they are still in the remains of the escape pod they're probably fine.
  • At the end, Rodimus rushes back into Ingestor's stomach to free the moons, blasting through the webbing holding them in place, which allows them to float into space and back into Cybertron's orbit.

Remnants

Cyclonus clearly explains his origin, rendering all debate pointless.

Some concepts from the script still partially made it into the final film as well as into media that were based on this script due to the lack of access to the final movie's script.

• Astrotrain's sudden appearance in the aftermath of the battle of Autobot City in the final film is justified here. He's been fighting Optimus Prime's shuttle in space and has only just arrived on Earth.
• Like in the first draft, Unicron doesn't just transform at the end for dramatic effect; he's only just absorbed enough energy to do so.
• The episode Five Faces of Darkness, Part 2 references this version of the script when recounting Optimus Prime's dying words.
• Most of the Transformers Universe profiles for the movie's cast appear to be slightly reworked development notes based on this draft. For example, Scourge's alt mode "handles any terrain", which would be an odd way to describe a plane, but it makes sense for a land vehicle.
• In the Marvel UK story Target 2006, the term Life Spark was misunderstood and ended up as the name of the Decepticon rebuilt into Cyclonus.

Miscommunications

It seems the outline provided to Friedman didn't quite work as intended. He and Hasbro appear to have misunderstood a few details.

• The outline gives no mention of what the movie cast turned into. As a result of this when they do transform their alt modes go undescribed.
• Friedman's second revision adds the sequence of the Decepticon ambush and takeover of the Autobot shuttle. This presumably happened because he re-read the outline and realized the Transformers weren't meant to be able to fly through space on their own.
• Friedman interprets the term "essence of leadership" very literally. Underneath it he wrote "only leaders have essence", which probably isn't what Hasbro intended.
• The Autobots that crash-land on Junkion were meant to send a distress signal which Hot Rod and Kup would intercept. However, Friedman didn't include this.
• Hot Rod saving the moons trapped inside Unicron stems from Friedman misinterpreting a line about Hot Rod hearing the "trapped Autobots from the moons of Cybertron and going back inside the Entity to rescue them". Obviously, Hasbro wanted a scene where the main hero rescues the surviving Autobots on the moon. Friedman interprets this rather literally with Rodimus managing to free Cybertron's moons from Unicron's stomach before he explodes.

Gallery

Despite the massive reworking of the script, a fair amount of concept art was drawn up using said script; while most of the designs were cut, some of them ended up in the final film.

• 
  Floro Dery's early version of Magnus. The script barely gives any details of his appearance, so Dery went wild.
• 
  Dragon Beast concept art.
• 
  Megas XLR}}]].
• 
  Patent and prototype of an unproduced sabertooth tiger cassette. Seems like someone mistakenly abbreviated it to just tiger for the outline.
• 
  Patent and prototype of an unproduced scorpion cassette.
• 
  Unused "Robot Cassette" character model from the episode "Auto-Bop".
• 
  Early storyboard featuring the cassettes, likely based solely on the script as none of them resemble the prototypes. Stripes
• 
  Stinger
• 
  Cubbie
• 
  Bolts; this is actually the best image of him, believe it or not.
• 
  Floro Dery's original design for the Quintessons.

References

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External links

• The Sunbow Outline
• The script itself
• The revised May Script
• A detailed summary on the Sunbow Marvel Archive