David Wise

This article is about . For other uses of "David", see David (disambiguation)|The name or term "David" refers to more than one character or idea. For a list of other meanings, see David (disambiguation).}}

David Wise (February 1, 1955 — March 3, 2020) was an American television animation writer. He was perhaps best known as the head writer for the 1987 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles series, where he wrote or co-wrote over seventy episodes (and story-edited many more). He was also the single most prolific writer for the The Transformers cartoon, penning fifteen episodes.

Wise passed away of lung cancer at the age of 65 on March 3, 2020.

Episodes written

The Transformers cartoon

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3

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• "Attack of the Autobots"
• "Day of the Machines"
• "Microbots"
• "Make Tracks"
• "The Secret of Omega Supreme"
• "Kremzeek!"
• "Auto-Bop"
• "The Girl Who Loved Powerglide"
• "The Key to Vector Sigma, Part 1"
• "The Key to Vector Sigma, Part 2"
• "War Dawn"
• "Trans-Europe Express"
• "The Rebirth, Part 1"
• "The Rebirth, Part 2"
• "The Rebirth, Part 3"

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Convention appearances

• BotCon 1998
• BotCon 2004 (unofficial)
• BotCon 2009

Notes

• Wise was a big fan of Doctor Who, and claimed to have inserted the line "reverse the polarity" whenever he could in his writing; in Transformers, that happened in "The Rebirth, Part 3". Meanwhile, in "The Rebirth, Part 2", one of the Nebulan Hive rallies that they must "exterminate! exterminate!" the newly created Headmasters.
• Wise was interviewed as a special feature for Kid Rhino's The Transformers Season 3 Part 2 and Season 4 DVD set.
• The character of Sōji Yoshikawa is named after the real-life animator [[wikipedia:{{#if:|:}}Sōji Yoshikawa|{{#if:of the same name|of the same name|Sōji Yoshikawa}}]], who was a co-worker of Wise's during his time working at DiC Entertainment.

Recycle-o-matic

David Wise frequently recycled concepts and ideas from older work for use in later scripts. As a result, many Transformers set pieces, concepts and even plots wound up appearing in other series, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles in particular, while many other ideas seem to have actually started life as plots for earlier series, such as He-Man and the Masters of the Universe.

Which Transformers stories were recycled? Wellll...

• "Attack of the Autobots" — Recycled for the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles episode "Slash - The Evil Turtle from Dimension X" (specifically, the rocket chase sequence during the climax).
• "Day of the Machines" — Recycled from the He-Man and the Masters of the Universe episode "Day of the Machines" (specifically, the computer program that takes over other machines). Later recycled for the Defenders of the Earth episode "Audie and Tweak" (specifically, an evil supercomputer—represented by a giant ugly face on a screen—that remotely controls or influences other machines and taunts the heroes as they enter its lair), The New Adventures of Speed Racer episode "B.O.S.S." (specifically, an evil computer system controlling other machines by placing remote command devices on them), and the Mighty Ducks episode "The Return of Dr. Droid" (specifically, an evil computer that takes control of various machines and makes them attack the heroes).
• "Microbots" — Recycled from the He-Man and the Masters of the Universe episode "Day of the Machines" (specifically, the sequence where a character shrinks down and enters a machine to fix/sabotage it). Recycled again for the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles episode "Shredder & Splintered".
• "Kremzeek!" — Recycled from the He-Man and the Masters of the Universe episode "Day of the Machines" (specifically, the little energy-based monster that makes trouble). Later recycled almost completely for the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles episode "The Big ZIPP Attack", and once again for The Mighty Ducks episode "Zap Attack". Also recycled for the Defenders of the Earth episode "Audie and Tweak" (specifically, the heroes' computer babbling nonsensically after being affected by an outside force).
• "Auto-Bop" — Recycled for the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles episode "Corporate Raiders from Dimension X" (specifically, the villains brainwashing people in New York to build a doomsday device via a phony business).
• "The Girl Who Loved Powerglide" — Recycled wholesale for the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles episode "Poor Little Rich Turtle" (specifically, every character, motivation and set piece).
• "Trans-Europe Express" — Recycled for the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles episode "Hot Rodding Teenagers from Dimension X" (specifically, the weather machine that goes out of control in the climax and has to be destroyed in midair).
• "The Rebirth, Part 3" - Recycled for the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles episode "Shredder & Splintered" (specifically, the circumstances where Galvatron and Lord Zarak bicker over leadership being nearly identically reused for Krang and Shredder, right down to the dialogue, "We shall see...").

External links

• David Wise on the Internet Movie Database
• A Spy in the House of Tomorrow - David Wise's blog
• Interview with David Wise on the Moonbase 2 podcast
• Interview with David Wise at Geewunner