The Transformers (cartoon)

More than any other of the many media which Transformers have invaded in the past 20+ years, it is The Transformers, the original cartoon (1984-1987) which captured the imagination of children and children-at-heart worldwide.

Overview

The cartoon set up the basic story of Transformers that all other incarnations were to follow: two warring factions of robots on the planet Cybertron leave in search of resources. The factions crash-land on Earth and, millions of years later, begin their battle anew in Reagan-era America and across the globe.

Through its 98-episode run this series took viewers to many strange places and times: the alien Cybertron, the Earth's prehistoric past, the Earth's then-future of 2005, the Metropolis-like society of Nebulos, and more. It is not the best animated series ever to air, but it stimulated viewers with its concept at the time, and continued to do so in the years to come.

Production

Writing and distribution for this series were handled as a joint effort by Marvel Productions and Sunbow Productions. Animation was produced overseas, primarily by Toei and AKOM.

The series was produced on an enormously rushed schedule, due to the need to get episodes on the air in synch with the toys appearing on shelves. That, combined with the vast number of characters and the difficulties involved with the overseas animation process, resulted in a cartoon that is notoriously riddled with animation errors and other mistakes. The producers were often aware of these mistakes, but tight deadlines left them no time to correct them.

Episodes

Note: These episodes are listed in production order rather than original airdate. In a few instances, this means that episodes are not in the correct chronological story order, the specifics of which are noted in their own articles. Note that Season 3, in particular, suffers from this - the Rhino DVD release of the season reordered the episodes in question so that they were in order, but also reordered many episodes that did not have any placement problems, throwing off the whole shebang. Conversely, the R2 Metrodome release of the season just reorganized the problematic ones.
Note: The Transformers: The Movie (1986) is part of this series, taking place between Season 2 and Season 3.

Season 1

The first season is primarily set on Earth, with a few excursions to Cybertron. It started with the 1984 toys as its charcters, and introduced the early wave of 1985 toys as it progressed -- the Constructicons, Dinobots, Insecticons, and Skyfire. 1. More Than Meets the Eye, Part 1
2. More Than Meets the Eye, Part 2
3. More Than Meets the Eye, Part 3
4. Transport to Oblivion
5. Roll For It
6. Divide and Conquer
7. Fire in the Sky
8. S.O.S. Dinobots
9. Fire on the Mountain
10. War of the Dinobots
11. The Ultimate Doom, Part 1
12. The Ultimate Doom, Part 2
13. The Ultimate Doom, Part 3
14. Countdown to Extinction
15. A Plague of Insecticons
16. Heavy Metal War

Season 2

The very long second season greatly expanded the cartoon's scope and cast. It breaks down very roughly into three segments: the first dozen episodes features the Season 1 cast; a second batch of episodes brings in the remainder of the 1985 toys; and the final nine episodes introduce the four combiner teams that formed the early entries in the 1986 line. The second season tends to feature more character-driven episodes than the first season, with many characters getting their own "spotlight" episode. 1. Autobot Spike
2. Changing Gears
3. City of Steel
4. Attack of the Autobots
5. Traitor
6. The Immobilizer
7. The Autobot Run
8. Atlantis, Arise!
9. Day of the Machines
10. Enter the Nightbird
11. A Prime Problem
12. The Core
13. The Insecticon Syndrome
14. Dinobot Island, Part 1
15. Dinobot Island, Part 2
16. The Master Builders
17. Auto Berserk
18. Microbots
19. Megatron's Master Plan, Part 1
20. Megatron's Master Plan, Part 2
21. Desertion of the Dinobots, Part 1
22. Desertion of the Dinobots, Part 2
23. Blaster Blues
24. A Decepticon Raider in King Arthur's Court
25. The Golden Lagoon
26. The God Gambit
27. Make Tracks
28. Child's Play
29. Quest for Survival
30. The Secret of Omega Supreme
31. The Gambler
32. Kremzeek!
33. Sea Change
34. Triple Takeover
35. Prime Target
36. Auto-Bop
37. The Search for Alpha Trion
38. The Girl Who Loved Powerglide
39. Hoist Goes Hollywood
40. The Key to Vector Sigma, Part 1
41. The Key to Vector Sigma, Part 2
42. Aerial Assault
43. War Dawn
44. Trans-Europe Express
45. Cosmic Rust
46. Starscream's Brigade
47. The Revenge of Bruticus
48. Masquerade
49. B.O.T.

Intermediate

The Transformers: The Movie

Season 3

Season 3 transformed the whole premise of the show. Gone were the two teams stranded on Earth, along with many of the characters that composed those teams. In their place was a galaxy-spanning tale of battles on alien worlds. The Decepticons were somewhat reduced as villains, with the Autobots in firm control of Cybertron; new enemies in the form of the Quintessons were introduced. Late in Season 3, as in Season 2, the forerunners of the 1987 toy line were introduced. 1. Five Faces of Darkness, Part 1
2. Five Faces of Darkness, Part 2
3. Five Faces of Darkness, Part 3
4. Five Faces of Darkness, Part 4
5. Five Faces of Darkness, Part 5
6. The Killing Jar
7. Chaos
8. Dark Awakening
9. Forever is a Long Time Coming
10. Starscream's Ghost
11. Thief in the Night
12. Surprise Party
13. Madman's Paradise
14. Nightmare Planet
15. Ghost in the Machine
16. Webworld
17. Carnage in C-Minor
18. The Quintesson Journal
19. The Ultimate Weapon
20. The Big Broadcast of 2006
21. Fight or Flee
22. Dweller in the Depths
23. Only Human
24. Grimlock's New Brain
25. Money is Everything
26. Call of the Primitives
27. The Face of the Nijika
28. The Burden Hardest to Bear
29. The Return of Optimus Prime, Part 1
30. The Return of Optimus Prime, Part 2

Season 4

1. The Rebirth, Part 1
2. The Rebirth, Part 2
3. The Rebirth, Part 3

DVD Releases

Kid Rhino (US)

• Transformers First Season Collector's Edition
• Transformers Season 2 Part 1
• Transformers Season 2 Part 2
• Transformers Season 3 Part 1
• Transformers Season 3 Part 2/Season 4

Madman Entertainment (Aus)

• Transformers Collection 1 - Season 1
• Transformers Collection 2 - Season 2 Part 1
• Transformers Collection 3 - Season 2 Part 2
• Transformers Collection 4 - Season 3 Part 1
• Transformers Collection 5 - Season 3 Part 2
• Transformers Collection 6 - Season 4
• The Best of Transformers Generation 1
• Transformers Generation 1 - Complete Collection

Maverick Entertainment (UK)

• Transformers - Original Series, Vol 1 (Season 1, episodes 9-13)
• Transformers - Original Series, Vol 2 (Season 1, episodes 1-6)
• Transformers - Original Series, Vol 3 (Season 1, episodes 7, 8, 14-16)
• Transformers - Complete Original Series (complete Season 1)
• Transformers - Five Faces of Darkness
• Transformers - The Rebirth

Metrodome (UK)

• Transformers - Season 1
• Transformers - Season 2 Part 1
• Transformers - Season 2 Part 2
• Transformers - Season 3 & Season 4
• Transformers - The Complete Generation 1 Collection
• Transformers - Generation 1 Bumper Special
• Transformers - The Classic Episodes
  
  
  From Teletraan I: The Transformers Wiki, a Wikia wiki.