Transformers Animated: The AllSpark Almanac/Events Real-world references

Transformers Animated: The AllSpark Almanac is chock-a-block with references to things both Transformers and not-Transformers. Chapter 4 - Events in particular has too many real-world references to reasonably list on the main page.

Chapter 4 - Events

Real-world references

Stardates

The timecodes given on Autobot Incident Reports are all Stardates from the Star Trek franchise.

Animated Episode	Date	Star Trek Episode
"Transform and Roll Out" - Part 1	9521.6	Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country
"Transform and Roll Out" - Part 2	46379.1	DS9 - "Emissary"
"Transform and Roll Out" - Part 3	46423.7	DS9 - "Babel"
"Home Is Where the Spark Is" (Angry Archer confrontation)	46424.1	TNG - "Ship in a Bottle"
"Home Is Where the Spark Is" (Pocketbot Attack)	46461.3	TNG - "Aquiel"
"Total Meltdown"	46477.5	DS9 - "Captive Pursuit"
"The Thrill of the Hunt"	46531.2	DS9 - "Q-Less"
"Survival Skills"	8130.3	Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan
"Nanosec" (apprehending Sexton)	46578.4	TNG - "Birthright, Part I"
"Nanosec" (confronting Nanosec)	46579.2	TNG - "Birthright, Part II"
"Along Came a Spider"	46682.4	TNG - "Starship Mine"
"Sound and Fury" (confronting Professor Princess)	46729.1	DS9 - "The Storyteller"
"Sound and Fury" (confronting Soundwave)	46731.5	TNG - "The Chase"
"Headmaster"	46778.1	TNG - "Frame of Mind"
"The Insincerest Form of Flattery"	46830.1	TNG - "Suspicions"
"Nature Calls"	46844.3	DS9 - "Progress"
"Megatron Rising - Part 1"	46852.2	TNG - "Rightful Heir"
"Megatron Rising - Part 2"	46853.2	DS9 - "If Wishes Were Horses"
"The Elite Guard"	46910.1	DS9 - "Dax"
"Velocity"	46915.2	TNG - "Second Chances"
"Rise of the Constructicons" (skirmish with Blitzwing and Lugnut)	46922.3	TNG - "Dramatis Personae"
"Rise of the Constructicons" (encounters with the Constructicons)	46925.1	DS9 - "The Forsaken"
"Black Friday"	47025.4	TNG - "Descent, Part II"
"A Bridge Too Close, Part I"	471711.2	DS9 - "Cardassians"
"A Bridge Too Close, Part II"	47182.1	DS9 - "Invasive Procedures"

Cybertronix

The symbol writing that decorates many pages of Chapter 4 is Cybertronix, the coded writing used in the Beast Wars animated series. In this book, as in the cartoon, translating it reveals many secret messages! All pages presented as "Autobot incident reports" use the "Maximal" font. Likewise, "Decepticon internal logs" use the Predacon script.

• Pg 108
  • Taken together, the header (the text surrounding the Autobot logo) and background text (behind the image of Megatron) translate as the opening blurb from the instruction manual of the 1988 video game, Wasteland. It reads: "The following is an excerpt from The History of the Desert Rangers, The Early Years, by Karl Allard, 2087, Allard Press, Ranger Center. Tensions grew with the coming of 1998. The United States' Citadel Starstation was slated to be fully operational by March, Soviet charges that the space station was merely a military launching platform alarmed a number of nonaligned nations. The right wing governments in the South and Central Americas, many of them set up by the U.S. during the Drug Wars (1987-1993), pledged their support to the U.S. The NATO nations, including the new African members also declared their alliance with the U.S. That move forced most of the remaining neutral powers to join the Soviet protest. In six short weeks, only Switzerland, Sweden, and Ireland continued to declare themselves neutral nations."
  • The page footer translates as "40 degrees 45' 53.39" N, 74 degrees 10' 2.75" W", co-ordinates of latitude and longitude denoting the location of the Intrepid Sea-Air-Space Museum, where author Bill Forster used to work as Art Director.

• Pg 110
  • The header reads "A society that gets rid of all its troublemakers goes downhill", a quote from science fiction author Robert A. Heinlein.
  • The two chunks of background text are taken from the instruction manual of the original Legend of Zelda video game. Together, they read: "A long, long time ago the World was in an age of Chaos. In the middle of this chaos, in a little kingdom in the land of Hyrule, a legend was being banded down from generation to generation, the legend of the "Triforce": golden triangles possessing mystical powers. One day, an evil army attacked this peaceful little kingdom and stole the Triforce of power. This army was led by Gannon, the powerful Prince of Darkness who sought to plunge the World into fear and darkness under his rule. Fearing his wicked rule, Zelda, the princess of this kingdom, split up the Triforce of Wisdom into eight fragments and hid them throughout the realm to save the last remaining Triforce from the clutches of the evil Gannon. At the same time, she commanded her most trustworthy nursemaid, Impa, to secretly escape into the land and go find a man with"
  • The footer is another set of co-ordinates, this time reading: "40 degrees 34' .01" N, 74 degrees 11' 14.39" W", the location of the Fresh Kills Landfill in Staten Island, New York.

• Pg 111
  • The header reads "Sometimes the appropriate response to reality is to go insane", a quote from science fiction author Philip K. Dick.
  • The two pieces of text behind the image of the Crimson Angel jet are a pair of quotes from the TV series Max Headroom. They read: "You know how we said there's no future? Well this is it" and "You might care to call it the Phoenix, Mr. Bryce. My word, you could have all your politicians in little boxes. It's very handy."
  • The text behind the image of the dead Optimus is a list of the "Code of Virtues" from the video game Ultima V. It reads: "Thou shalt not lie, or thou shalt lose thy tongue. Thou shalt help those in need, or thou shalt suffer the same need. Thou shalt fight to the death if challenged, or thou shalt be banished as a coward. Thou shalt confess to thy crime and suffer its just punishment, or thou shalt be put to death. Thou shalt donate half of thy income to charity, or thou shalt have no income. If thou dost lose thine own honour, thou shalt take thine own life. Thou shalt enforce the laws of virtue, or thou shalt die as a heretic. Thou shalt humble thyself to thy superiors, or thou shalt suffer their wrath."

• Pg 113
  • The header reads: "Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds", a quote from the Hindu scripture, the Bhagavad Gita.
  • The text behind the image of the Pocketbot is a quote from Douglas Adams's The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, and reads: "Space is big. Really big. You just won't believe how vastly, hugely, mind-bogglingly big it is. I mean, you may think it's a long way down the road to the chemist's, but that's just peanuts to space."
  • The footer reads: "Even a mistake may turn out to be the one thing necessary to a worthwhile achievement", a quote from Ford Motor Company founder, Henry Ford.

• Pg 114
  • The header reads "To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield", a quote from the Tennyson's poem, "Ulysses".
  • The text behind the image of the church bell is the opening monologue from the second season of the television series, Babylon 5. It reads: "The Babylon Project was our last, best hope for peace. A self-contained world, five miles long, located in neutral territory. A place of commerce and diplomacy for a quarter of a million humans and aliens. A shining beacon in space, all alone, in the night. It was the dawn of the Third Age of Mankind, the year the Great War came upon us all. This is the story of the last of the Babylon stations. The year is 2259. The name of the place is Babylon 5."
  • The footer is another set of co-ordinates, "29 degrees 47' 25" N, 31 degrees 12' 33" E", denoting the location of the Bent Pyramid in Dahshur, Egypt.

• Pg 115
  • The header reads "Is the chemical aftertaste the reason why people eat hot dogs, or is it just some kind of bonus?", a quote from Death in Neil Gaiman's graphic novel Death: The High Cost of Living.
  • The footer is a quote from Planet of the Apes. It reads: "I'm a seeker too. But my dreams aren't like yours. I can't help thinking that somewhere in the universe there has to be something better than man. Has to be."

• Pg 118
  • The header reads "There's an angel on my shoulder, in my hand a sword of gold, let me wander in your garden, and the seeds of love I'll sow", lyrics from the Led Zeppelin song, "Houses of the Holy".
  • The text behind the image of Ratchet is the first paragraph of the Robert A. Heinlein novel, The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress. It reads: "I see in Lunaya Pravda that Luna City Council has passed on first reading a bill to examine, license, inspect—and tax—public food vendors operating inside municipal pressure. I see also is to be mass meeting tonight to organize "Sons of Revolution" talk-talk."
  • Yet another set of co-ordinates for the footer: "42 degrees 19' 53.76" N, 83 degrees 2' 51" W". That's slap-bang in the middle of Detroit, the setting for Animated.

• Pg 120
  • The header reads: "Oh my God, it's full of stars", a famous quote from 2001: A Space Odyssey.
  • The text behind the Sumdac Systems technician (who is here named "Eddie"—check out page 200 to learn why!) is the first sentence of the Dan Simmons novel, Hyperion. It reads: "The Hegemony Consul sat on the balcony of his ebony spaceship and played Rachmaninoff's Prelude in C-sharp Minor on an ancient but well-maintained Steinway while great, green, saurian things surged and bellowed in the swamps below."
  • Behind the illustrations of Nanosec's aging head is an excerpt from the instruction booklet for the Metroid video game. It reads: "In the year 2000 of the history of the cosmos, representatives from the many different planets in the galaxy established a congress called the Galactic Federation, and an age of prosperity began. A successful exchange of cultures and civilization resulted, and thousands of interstellar spaceships ferried back and forth between planets. But Space Pirates also appeared to attack the spaceships."
  • Co-ordinates in this page's footer are: "35 degrees 52' 57" N, 76 degrees 30' 48" E", location of the mountain K2.

• Pg 121
  • The header contains three numbers: 136199, 134340 and 90377. These are the formal designations of the dwarf planets Eris, Pluto and Sedna, respectively.
  • Together, the two text passages behind the images of Sari form the complete lyrics to the Duran Duran song, "Electric Barbarella". We'll not bother recounting them here!
  • The footer for this page reads: "Right ascension 05h 55m 10.3053s, Declination +07 degrees 24' 25.426", coordinates denoting the position of the star Betelgeuse.

• Pg 123
  • The header reads: "the majesty of Rock, the pageantry of Roll", lyrics from the Spın̈al Tap song, "The Majesty of Rock".
  • Behind the image of the xylophone are some lyrics from the Electric Light Orchestra song, "Mr. Blue Sky". They read: "Mister Blue Sky, please tell us why You had to hide away for so long Where did we go wrong?"
  • More lyrics lurk behind the picture of the piñata, this time from the Blondie song, "Shayla". They are: "Lost in space and down she came, Suddenly some subtle entity, some cosmic energy, brushed her like shadows."
  • Co-ordinates in this page's footer are: "63 degrees 51' 36.13" N, 149 degrees 24' 50.62" W". These co-ordinates denote the location in Alaska where the body of wanderer Christopher McCandless was discovered. Go look up the book, Into the Wild, for some more info.

• Pg 126
  • The header is the opening sentence from Mary Shelley's Frankenstein: "You will rejoice to hear that no disaster has accompanied the commencement of an enterprise which you have regarded with such evil forebodings."
  • The text behind the images at the bottom of the page is from the opening monologue from Quantum Leap. It reads: "Theorizing that one could time travel within his own life time, Doctor Sam Beckett led an elite group of scientists into the desert to develop a top secret project known as "Quantum Leap". Pressured to prove his theories or lose funding, Doctor Beckett prematurely stepped into the project accelerator...and vanished. He awoke to find himself in the past, suffering from partial amnesia and facing a mirror image that was not his own, fortunately, contact with his own time was maintained through brain wave transmissions with Al, the project observer, who appeared as a hologram that only Dr. Beckett can see and hear. Trapped in the past, Dr. Beckett finds himself leaping from life to life"

• Pg 127
  • The header reads "watch out for snakes", a quote from the 1962 horror movie Eegah!, made famous by Mystery Science Theater 3000's lampooning of it.
  • Sticking with the theme, the text behind the image of Stiletto is the original Mystery Science Theater 3000 theme song.

• Pg 129
  • The header reads "Mars is wild, untamed. I'm forming a cadre of Martian knights charged with enforcing Martian law", a quote from Sealab 2021.
  • Get ready for this one... behind the image of the warbot are the lyrics to the theme tune of Neon Genesis Evangelion... in ROMANIZED JAPANESE! Zankoku na tenshi no you ni...
  • The footer carries on the theme started by the header, offering up the co-ordinates "51.2 degrees S, 30.9 degrees W", the location of the crater Galle on Mars.

• Pg 130
  • The header reads "Please allow me to introduce myself, I'm a man of wealth" lyrics from the Rolling Stones' "Sympathy for the Devil".
  • Behind the image of the Bulkhead in Powell colors are the lyrics to the opening theme of the Adult Swim show, Saul of the Mole Men.
  • While most of them are not visible on the page, the text behind the other Bulkheads translates into the lyrics for The Doors' song, "Land Ho".

• Pg 131
  • The header reads: "The future is not fixed, there is no fate but what we make for ourselves", a quote from The Terminator.
  • Below the header, rather than as a footer, are another set of co-ordinates: "0 degrees 40' 0" S, 90 degrees 33' 0" W", denoting the Galápagos Islands.
  • Largely obstructed on the bottom left of the page are lyrics from Supertramp's "The Logical Song": "But then they send me away to teach me how to be sensible, Logical, responsible, practical, And they showed me a world where I could be so dependable, Clinical, intellectual, cynical."
  • In the bottom right on the page is the opening monologue from the first season of The Twilight Zone: "There is a fifth dimension, beyond that which is known to man. It is a dimension as vast as space and as timeless as infinity. It is the middle ground between light and shadow, between science and superstition, and it lies between the pit of man's fears and the summit of his knowledge. This is the dimension of imagination. It is an area which we call the Twilight Zone."

• Pg 132
  • The header reads: "What do you mean I ain't kind? I'm just not your kind", lyrics from the Megadeth song, "Peace Sells".
  • Behind Megatron's damaged body are the lyrics to the Bob Dylan song, "All Along the Watchtower".

• Pg 133
  • Behind the image of Megatron is a quote from the EgyptianBook of the Dead: "I am the Lion-god who cometh forth with long strides. I have shot arrows, and I have wounded my prey. I have shot arrows, and I have wounded my prey. I am the Eye of Horus, I traverse the Eye of Horus at this season. I have arrived at the domains. Grant that the Osiris Ani may come in peace."

• Pg 134
  • The header reads: 'My son, ask thyself for another kingdom", the spoke line which begins Iron Maiden's song, 'Alexander the Great".
  • The footer is another set of co-ordinates, "13 degrees 7' 0" N, 122 degrees 32' 0" E", resting place of the Japanese battleship, Musashi.

• Pg 135 – All three pieces of Cybertronix on this page translate into quotes from The Tick. This is, of course, nothing if not fitting: this page is from Sentinel Prime's private journal, and Sentinel was designed to resemble the Tick, and was voiced by the same actor, Townsend Coleman. The quotes are, from top to bottom:
  • "You're not going crazy. You're going sane in a crazy world."
  • "You know why super villains are so unhappy, Arthur? They don't treasure the little things."
  • "I hate broccoli, and yet, in a certain sense, I am broccoli."

• Pg 137
  • The header translates to lyrics from Eric Clapton's "Tulsa Time": "So there I was in Hollywood, Thinking I was doing good, Talking on the telephone line."
  • The text behind the image of the Tachyon Transmitter and rapid-transit system translates into Isaac Asimov's Three Laws of Robotics.

• Pg 140 - The sole piece of Cybertronix on this page is part of a quote from Exosquad; in full, the quote reads: "Gravity is the response matter makes to the loneliness of space."

• Pg 141
  • The header is part of a quote by George Carlin. The complete quote reads: "Honesty may be the best policy, but it's important to remember that apparently, by elimination, dishonesty is the second-best policy."
  • The large block of text behind the image of Bulkhead is part of a quote from Exosquad's Phaeton. In full, the quote reads: "Of all the creatures who have occupied the Earth, it is we, the Neosapiens, who have proved most fit to rule. The door to our future is opening, and beyond that door lies the road to greatness! Life is a journey. Every action we take, every decision we make, large or small, is a step on that journey! Only when we take the last step is the final destination revealed."

• Pg 142
  • Spoiler alert! The header reads: "Soylent Green is people", the famous twist revelation of the movie, Soylent Green.
  • The text in the bottom-left of the page is the opening text crawl from Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace. "Turmoil has engulfed the Galactic Republic. The taxation of trade routes to outlying star systems is in dispute. Hoping to resolve the matter with a blockade of deadly battleships, the greedy Trade Federation has stopped all shipping to the small planet of Naboo. While the Congress of the Republic endlessly debates this alarming chain of events, the Supreme Chancellor has secretly dispatched two Jedi Knights, the guardians of peace and justice in the galaxy, to settle the conflict..."

• Pg 144

The header reads: "He is the Kwizatz Haderach He is born of Caladan And will take the Gom Jabbar", lyrics from Iron Maiden's "To Tame a Land", which are in themselves a reference to Dune.

The text behind the devices is the opening monologue from the first two seasons of Farscape. "My name is John Crichton, an astronaut. A radiation wave hit and I got shot through a wormhole. Lost in some distant part of the universe on a ship, a living ship, full of strange alien life forms. Help me. Listen, please. Is there anybody out there who can hear me? Being hunted... by an insane military commander. Doing everything I can. I'm just looking for a way home."

• Pg 146
  • The header reads: "I'm not a number, I'm a free man, Live my life where I want to", lyrics from the Iron Maiden song, "The Prisoner". The entire song (and these lyrics in particular) are in turn a reference to the 1960s cult TV show, The Prisoner.
  • The co-ordinates hidden in the footer are "34 degrees 39' 54.65" N, 133 degrees 56' 9.79" E", the location of Okayama Castle (the second reference to Okayama in the book).

• Pg 148
  • The header reads "Don't forget to drink your Ovaltine." This is a terribly meta reference to the movie A Christmas Story, which features a subplot that involves a kid using a decoder ring to translate a secret message, only to find, much to his displeasure, that it is a commercial for Ovaltine.
  • The text behind the Rite of the Deceptibrand paraphernalia is a quote from the robot Box from Logan's Run, which reads: "Welcome, humans! I am ready for you! Fish, plankton, sea greens and protein from the sea. Fresh as harvest day. Overwhelming, am I not? Are you, too, startled? Am I too removed from your kin? I'm more than machine or man. More than a fusion of the two."

• Pg 149
  • The header repeats the lyrics from Blondie's "Shayla" featured on page 123.
  • The text behind Sari's damaged arm, and the final piece of Cybertronix in the book, is the closing narration from the final episode of Robotech. It reads: "Convinced that he will be able to find Rick Hunter's lost battle fortress in the vastness of space, Scott Bernard abandons his homeworld and his past, as he sets off toward the unknown, and his rendezvous with destiny."

Other references

• Pg 108b - The space bridge being repaired by Prime's crew in the series pilot movie is given the designation RA-678, the same alpha-numerical designation as the E-Frame shared by Nara Burns and Marsala in the animated series Exosquad.

• Pg 109 – This page is Entry 1.21 from Isaac Sumdac's journal. 1.21 was the number of gigawatts of electricity needed to activate the flux capacitor in Back to the Future.

• Pg 116 – The barcode of Venus reads 8757NC, the designation of an important Viper spacecraft in Battlestar Galactica.

• Pg 119 – The serial numbers of the weapons Swindle sells Lugnut and Blitzwing are all references to other shows, movies and suchlike.
  • The anti-gravity cannon's serial number is TOK715, the alpha-numeric designation of the character Cameron from the TV series, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles.
  • The triple-crusher cannon's serial number is VR-X9-4-M2, the full name of the character Aveeare from the comic strip SnarfQuest.
  • The decompression pump's serial number is NDR113, the designation of Andrew, the central robot character of Isaac Asimov's The Positronic Man.
  • The glass gas's serial number is CPE 1704 TKS, (the missile launch code from the movie WarGames), while the mace's number is BZ2UH, the password to Bryce's lab in Max Headroom.
  • The super glue's serial number is TTKR117, the license plate of robotic car KITT from Knight Rider.
  • The omega bomb's serial number is 2X4B-523P, the official designation of the mechanoid Kryten from the sci-fi TV series, Red Dwarf. It's from the planet Ganzvort; Swindle notes that he "must visit Okayama", which is also a city in Japan. Note that Ganzvort also has a region called "New Jersey."
  • The two nemesis shields have serial numbers LV426 (the planet from Alien) and TK412 (the "codename" of noted Star Wars fan Arturo Delgado) respectively.
  • The Chaosmaster bomb's serial number is 26517, the numerical classification of the USS Excalibur, a spacecraft from the Star Trek: The New Frontier series of novels.
  • The circuitry repair patches' serial number is N6MAA10816, the model number of Roy Batty, a replicant from Blade Runner.

Pg 122 - The stationery on which Professor Princess writes her account of "Whatever Happened To Whatisname?" is produced by a subsidiary of "Seventh Son Industries", presumably a reference to the Iron Maiden concept album "Seventh Son of a Seventh Son", given author Bill Forster's love of the band.

• Pg 124A – The Assistant District Attorney mentioned in the article, Harrison Schweiloch, is named for a friend of the authors, who is thanked for his proofreading help in the acknowledgements of the two Ark books, as well as this one. There is also a real ADA named Harrison Schweiloch... same guy?

• Pg 124B - Hannah and Sarah Rose Isenberg are (one would assume!) the real-life daughters of Animated writer Marty Isenberg.

• Pg 125 – Adverts on this page refer to:
  • The Dancitron is located in St. Nick's Hall, location of Iron Maiden's first concert; author Bill Forster is a big Iron Maiden fan, and this is the first of several references to the band contained in the book. This theme is continued in the location of the hall—"22 Acacia Avenue", the title of an Iron Maiden song. The phone number of the hall is "KL5-3226" (the number of Homer's Mr. Plow service from "The Simpsons"). Musical acts attending are all fictional groups from other shows, comics, books and so forth, and include: The New Originals from This Is Spiral Tap, Vitaly Chernobyl from Neal Stephenson's Snow Crash, Dingos Ate My Baby from Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Shag Carpeting from Ben 10, King Thunder from Quantum Leap, Jerrica Benton from Jem and the Holograms (misspelled—perhaps deliberately—as "Jessica"), Josie McCoy of Josie and the Pussycats, Scrantonicity from The Office, Mystik Spiral from Daria (misspelled "Mystic Spiral"), Billy and the Boingers from Bloom County, The Lords of the Underworld from South Park, and The Electric Insects from Life on Mars.
  • Wyatt Toys is located on the "corner of Winslow and Arizona", a reference to the Eagles' song, "Take It Easy", which includes the lyric: "Standin' on the corner of Winslow, Arizona".
  • At the same theater as Monster from Mars are the following fictional movies: Happy Scrappy Hero Pup from Clerks, The Flower That Drank the Moon from Ghost World, Jack Slater II: Above Reproach from The Last Action Hero, Who Dat Ninja? from 30 Rock, Colonel Dracula Joins the Navy from The Simpsons, Where Apes Fear to Tread from King of the Hill (misquoted as Where Apes Dare to Tread), Bikini Party Summer from Futurama, Coupon: The Movie from Mr. Show, Shao Pai Long from Macross, Exploder: Evacuator Part II from Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, Tinfins from Sealab 2021 and Prognosis Negative from Seinfeld.

• Pg 138 – Garbage O's are a product of Extensive Enterprises, the evil corporation run by Cobra operatives Tomax and Xamot in G.I. Joe.

• Pg 139 – More from the "fueltritional facts" box; there are references to several types of Vibranium from the world of Marvel Comics; Morbidium from Babylon 5; Kryptonite from the pages of Superman; Tillium from Battlestar Galactica; Dalekanium from Doctor Who; Dilithium from Star Trek; Molecular Acid from the Alien movies; Impervium from Star Wars; Bassnium from Mega Man; scrith startch (referring to Scrith from Larry Niven's Ringworld); chakan oil from Farscape; protocultured yeast (referring to the Protoculture from Macross); Chemical X from The Powerpuff Girls; janick jaAm from Iron Maiden guitarist Janick Gers); m'kraan crystal salt (referring to the M'Kraan Crystal from Marvel Comics); heinlein honey (named for sci-fi writer Robert A Heinlein—anyone picking up on a recurring Heinlein theme here?); melange from Dune; and lastly, aluminum mallard (referring to a space ship from the Space Quest video games).