Unknown Generation 1 animation studios
For the production of the second season of the original Transformers animated series, Marvel Productions and Sunbow Productions utilized multiple overseas animation studios. Among them was an as-yet-unknown Filipino animation studio. Little is known about the studio, including their name, thanks to the show's credits not identifying any specific animation studios.
It has been confirmed that for season 2 of The Transformers, Japanese studio Toei animated a total of 39 episodes, leaving the remaining 10 to be divvied up between AKOM and the Filipino studio. At least 3 episodes from that season are immediately identifiable as AKOM productions, leaving a remaining 7 to be the work of the Filipino studio.
They would not appear to have animated any of season 3. Toei has been confirmed as having animated 13 episodes from that season, leaving 17 episodes to be animated by other studios. AKOM clearly animated 16 of those episodes, while it has been long believed that Tokyo Movie Shinsha animated "Call of the Primitives".
...But seriously, if you know who these guys are, do us a solid, okay?
Possibly not Filipino
The lack of any real information about this studio, or even evidence proving the studio was located in the Philippines (beyond Paul Davids' interview), suggests that the origins of the studio may be incorrect. The only animation studios open in the Philippines at the time Transformers season 2 was animated were Optifex, who worked exclusively for Hanna-Barbera, and Burbank Animation. While Burbank did work on Sunbow/Marvel shows made around the same time, like Jem, My Little Pony and Defenders of the Earth[1], their resume does not appear to include any Transformers episodes. This suggests Davids may have been mistaken in his recollection.
Notes
- Although Toei has a Filipino branch, they were not established until 1986, which would have to be well after production of season 2 of The Transformers had already been completed.
- Unlike AKOM, which had an obvious style unique to themselves, the work of the unknown Filipino studio is not so clearly distinct from the efforts of Toei. Toei's work, even in the seasons where their contributions can be officially identified, was radically uneven. As such, it is next to impossible to distinguish episodes by the Filipino studio from episodes by Toei, at least when going exclusively by "visual cues". Bummer.
External links
- Interview with production coordinator Paul Davids at the Cybertron Chronicle, confirming the use of a studio from the Philippines: "Three to four weeks 'in-house' to prepare character designs, backgrounds, color models, record voices and edit soundtrack, complete the storyboard, and ship the show to Korea or Japan (and a few times we used an animation facility in the Philippines)."
