The Autobot Run: Difference between revisions
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* The idea of a [[Transfixatron|device to keep a Transformer frozen in one mode]] would be revisited over the years in other fictions, with [[Tarantulas]]'s [[transformation lock lens]], [[Megatron (BW)|Megatron]]'s [[transformation lock virus]], the [[Protectobots]]' [[Child's Play|mode lock]] used on [[Blaster (G1)|Blaster]], and [[Spotlight: Soundwave|an experimental weapon]] created by Shockwave. | * The idea of a [[Transfixatron|device to keep a Transformer frozen in one mode]] would be revisited over the years in other fictions, with [[Tarantulas]]'s [[transformation lock lens]], [[Megatron (BW)|Megatron]]'s [[transformation lock virus]], the [[Protectobots]]' [[Child's Play|mode lock]] used on [[Blaster (G1)|Blaster]], and [[Spotlight: Soundwave|an experimental weapon]] created by Shockwave. | ||
* Chip climbs inside Bulmblee while still sitting in his wheelchair. He is then sitting in his wheelchair inside Bumblebee. Apparently, VW Beetles are wheelchair accessible. | * Chip climbs inside Bulmblee while still sitting in his wheelchair. He is then sitting in his wheelchair inside Bumblebee. Apparently, VW Beetles are wheelchair accessible. | ||
* Bumblebee says he would only race if it were "under the speed limit". He then | * Bumblebee says he would only race if it were "under the speed limit". He then proceeds to drive off really fast. | ||
* Seriously, ''guinea pig- | * Seriously, ''guinea pig-o-tron''?! | ||
==External links== | ==External links== | ||
Revision as of 07:07, 25 April 2009
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| File:The Autobot Run title shot.JPG See Autobot. See Autobot run. Run, Autobot, run! | |||||||||
| "The Autobot Run" | |||||||||
| Production code | #700-22 | ||||||||
| Production company | Sunbow Productions | ||||||||
| Airdate | October 31, 1985 | ||||||||
| Written by | Donald F. Glut | ||||||||
| Continuity | Generation 1 cartoon continuity | ||||||||
When the Autobots perform a race for charity, the Decepticons take the opportunity to trap them in their vehicle modes.
- Japanese title: トランスフォームをとめろ! (Transform o Tomero!, "Stop the Transforming!")
- German title: "Wer ist der schnellste Autobots?" ("Who is the fastest Autobot?")
- German Generation 2 title: "Die Geheimwaffe" ("The Secret Weapon")
Synopsis
While watching a car race, Spike and Chip comment on how cool it would be to see the Autobots perform in a race as well.
Meanwhile, in an old west ghost town, the Constructicons have completed the Transfixatron, a new device that will lock a Transformer in the mode they currently occupy (usually vehicle mode). Laserbeak arrives, informing the Decepticons about the Autobot race.
Starscream complains that Megatron is wasting time with the device instead of leading an attack. In response, Megatron tests the device on his whiny subordinate, and it's a success. Starscream is stuck in jet mode and begs to be released, saying he'll do whatever Megatron wants and he's too valuable to the Decepticon cause. Megatron gets bored of Starscream's pleas and frees him. Satisfied with the test, Megatron orders the Constructicons to start working on a second device whose purpose will be revealed later.
Chip and Spike suggest their race idea to the Autobots, and Optimus Prime agrees, as long as it's for charity. Huffer complains that it's a waste of time and a bad idea (as usual), but the Autobots decide to do it. Huffer, Brawn, Ratchet, and Wheeljack remain to guard the base.
The Autobots arrive at the track and wait at the starting line in robot mode before they compete "in the greatest automobile race in history." Some numbskull in the audience wonders aloud where their cars are. The Autobots transform, and the race is on with a whole lot of trash talk. Jazz, Sunstreaker and Mirage rush ahead of the slower vehicles like Trailbreaker and Ironhide.
During the race, Skywarp teleports to a position over the track and uses the Transfixatron on the Autobots, who don't notice. The Autobots near the finish line, but they're kicking up so much dust it's impossible to tell who won. "The real winners are us, folks!" says the announcer.
Next up, the Autobots line up to do some stunts and make "Evel Knievel look like a kiddie car driver", according to Spike. But Sunstreaker's attempt to jump the other Autobots falls short and he has to be saved by Windcharger's magnetic powers.
Before they can do anything else, the Decepticons arrive. The Autobots attempt to transform, only to find that they are all stuck in vehicle mode. Optimus orders the Autobots to ram the Decepticons, but they simply shoot out the Autobots' tires, fire rays to make their engines overheat and disable their radios. Helpless, the Autobots are herded away by the 'Cons.
Bumblebee takes Spike and Chip back to the base, hoping Ratchet and Wheeljack can figure a fix for the Transfixatron ray. As usual, Huffer complains, but a massive bearhug from Brawn gets him to shut up, while Ratchet and Wheeljack get to work.
At the ghost town, Megatron forces Optimus Prime to watch his soldiers die one by one in the Constructicons' second device, a horrific crushing machine, starting with Ironhide. The Autobot leader dispatches Roller to distract Megatron, allowing Prime to ram the crusher, which frees Ironhide. Hound manages to send a signal to Teletraan I, just as Ratchet and Wheeljack finish working on a device which will allow the Autobots to transform...a grenade. (Real good thinking there, guys.)
Spike and the other Autobots arrive to save their comrades, but Soundwave dispatches Ravage to deal with them. After a game of keep-away with the grenade, Chip manages to get it close enough to release its energy, allowing the Autobots to transform to robot mode.
The Constructicons form Devastator, but Cliffjumper and Wheeljack fire the Transfixatron at giant Decepticon, causing the Combiner to separate. The Decepticons retreat, and the Autobots destroy the Transfixatron.
Featured characters
(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)
| Autobots | Decepticons | Humans |
|---|---|---|
|
|
|
Quotes
"Transform."
"No, Megatron. You can't mean to—"
"What's a test without a guinea pig-o-tron? Transform, I say!"
- —Megatron selects Starscream as the test subject for his latest device.
"If you're going to do what I think, Sunstreaker, you've got boom glitches in your brain garage."
- —Mirage's colorful terms for Transformer anatomy.
"Well, guys, what's next? I'm for anything except demolition derbyin'."
- —Jazz
"I can't change back to my normal, handsome self!"
- —Modest and humble Sunstreaker
"I knew the racing bit was bad news, but would anyone listen to me? Oh, noooo!"
"Stifle it, Huffer, or I'll put my footio in your audio!!"
- —Huffer being an ass and Brawn looking to kick some.
"Ironic, isn't it, Autobots, that after so many valiant battles, you will meet your end in the crushing jaws of this device so lovingly fashioned by my Constructicons."
- —Megatron's concept of irony is off.
"Later, guys. It's been really great knowin' ya."
- —Headed for the crushing device, Ironhide accepts his fate.
"Hey, what's that?"
"I'd call it a TARGET!"
- —Thundercracker and Starscream spotting Roller.
"I'm transforming! I see my true beauty emerging!"
- —Sunstreaker
Notes
- In a visual gag, Devastator throws Optimus Prime and Ironhide into a line of three buildings, the middle one of which is labeled "GLASS". Prime and Ironhide smash through the buildings on either side, but the "GLASS" building remains unharmed.
Animation or technical glitches
- This episode's transformation sound effects are oddly applied, stopping and starting halfway through and even playing over the wrong transformation type (ie, vehicle-to-robot vs. robot-to-vehicle) at times.
- Ignoring the big, paved driveway right next to him, Bumblebee arrives at the race track by driving across the grass.
- That's okay, though, because as the race finishes, Chip nonchalantly turns his wheelchair and rolls across the grass.
- Chip then rolls into Bumblebee, and sits in the driver seat, while still in his wheelchair. Huh?
- For the duration of this episode, actor Michael Bell performs Scrapper with a very different voice than normal, sounding...well, frankly, quite normal, compared to Scrapper's usual hoarse rasp.
- As Laserbeak enters Soundwave's chest to report, Soundwave's eyeband is colored white like his faceplate, while his forehead is colored red like his eyeband should be.
- Starscream is missing one of his wings prior to the Transfixatron test.
- A moment later, in jet mode, Starscream has a random black stripe across his back.
- Instead of being provided by Neil Ross as usual, Bonecrusher's single line in this episode is supplied by Michael Bell, using the same unusual voice as he is for Scrapper. The temptation, of course, is to peg this on an animation error that mistakenly depicted Bonecrusher instead of Scrapper, but the script for the episode actually called for Bonecrusher to speak the line.
- As Skywarp transforms to robot mode over the raceway, he pulls the Transfixatron out of nowhere, despite it being as large as he is.
- A second later, Skywarp has a yellow stripe down his back where there should be black.
- When Skywarp uses it on the Autobots, the Transfixatron beam effect is not properly animated to glow.
- In the next racing pass, Gears is colored almost entirely red. It happens again later, when Prime revs up to save Ironhide.
- After the Autobots discover they're locked in vehicle mode, when Megatron laughs the other Decepticons just sort of... vibrate.
- When Chip is trying to locate the Autobots, Teletraan I is colored green instead of orange.
- As Wheeljack flees, he fires at a pair of Thundercrackers. One of them teleports away (indicating that it was supposed to be Skywarp.) When he re-materializes, he's colored like Starscream, but still speaks in Skywarp's voice.
- As Spike and company arrive at the ghost town, Ironhide is shown arriving and transforming instead of Ratchet.
- When the Autobots are un-transfixed and transform into robot modes, Gears is colored like Brawn.
- As the grenade does its work, a series of vehicle-mode Autobots simply appear out of nowhere.
- When Spike, Chip, Bumblebee, Wheeljack and the other Autobots come to save Optimus Prime and the others, Bumblebee is missing his headlights when he transforms into robot mode.
- Devastator's combining sequence is screwy. First Scrapper and Mixmaster are shown forming Long Haul's portion of the combiner robot in addition to their own. Long Haul then forms Devastator's upper torso, instead of the lower torso. Hook then forms a tiny part of the upper torso, including the head, and... Bonecrusher's bulldozer kibble.
- Just after Wheeljack pulls Cliffjumper out of the rubble his voice becomes much higher pitched.
- As Cliffjumper zaps Devastator with the Transfixatron, the glowing animation effect vanishes after a second or two.
- In one of the numerous errors that crept into the Kid Rhino DVD sets, the commercial bumpers for the second act break feature the theme music for G.I. Joe, not The Transformers.
Continuity errors
- Shockwave appears twice in this episode: first when Megatron is gloating about the Transfixatron, then when the Decepticons arrive at the race. Of course, it's possible that Shockwave came to Earth during this episode, but the idea of him just popping up and hanging around in the background seriously goes against the established notion that he always stays on Cybertron as its full-time guardian.
- Why the heck are Spike and Chip watching the race from next to the grand stands, instead of, y'know, inside them?
- How does the dust at the finish line get ahead of the Autobots?
- Bumblebee returns to the Ark to tell Wheeljack and the others of the Decepticon attack, and yet in the next scene he's with the transfixed Autobots in the western ghost town.
- Wheeljack states that the Transfixatron will "cancel Devastator's robot mode", though one would really expect it to just transfix Devastator as Devastator.
- Chip can stand. And he's in a wheelchair. Huh.
- While early in the episode Megatron was required to lift the Transfixatron off the ground in order to aim upwards at Starscream, Cliffjumper only needs to pivot the head to aim at Devastator. Perhaps the joints loosened up a bit.
Transformers references
- This is Roller's third and final appearance.
- This is the first episode where the Transformers formally refer to themselves as Transformers.
Miscellaneous trivia
- This is one of three episodes from Season Two which were animated by AKOM (the others being "The Core" and "City of Steel"). They share similar art and animation styles, prominent use of the Constructicons, slightly more juvenile plots than usual, Star Wars sound effects, and several character model oddities such as Megatron's dark gray gun barrel, Optimus Prime's white backpack, Huffer's white eyeliner, and Chip Chase's blue jacket.
- A one-time-only bit of Westernish background music plays across the opening scene in the Decepticons' ghost town.
- When instructing Starscream to transform out of vehicle mode, Megatron tells him to return to his "root mode". This was almost certainly the result of a typo in the script that was supposed to say "robot mode", but it makes a charming amount of sense as a term.
- Megatron can shoot laser beams from his eyes, especially when he wants to scare away earth germs.
- An early model sheet calls the Transfixatron a 'Satsitron.'
- The idea of a device to keep a Transformer frozen in one mode would be revisited over the years in other fictions, with Tarantulas's transformation lock lens, Megatron's transformation lock virus, the Protectobots' mode lock used on Blaster, and an experimental weapon created by Shockwave.
- Chip climbs inside Bulmblee while still sitting in his wheelchair. He is then sitting in his wheelchair inside Bumblebee. Apparently, VW Beetles are wheelchair accessible.
- Bumblebee says he would only race if it were "under the speed limit". He then proceeds to drive off really fast.
- Seriously, guinea pig-o-tron?!
