Unknown Generation 1 animation studios
For the production of the second season of the original Transformers animated series, Marvel Productions and Sunbow Productions utilized the services of Toei, AKOM, and a third unknown animation studio.
The studio's existence was first suggested by Toei's own website resume, which confirmed they produced only 39 of the second season's 49 episodes. Of the remaining ten episodes, three are immediately identifiable as AKOM productions, leaving a remaining 7 to be the work of the unknown studio. Series production co-ordinator Paul Davids referred to the studio in a 2002 interview, noting it was only used a "couple of times" and claiming it was in the Philippines, but this does not seem to be an accurate recollection of its location; 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.
Episodes
This mysterious studio's work is not as distinct from Toei's as AKOM's episodes are, so identifying exactly which episodes were done by it has always posed a challenge. Some extensive research by your friendly neighorhood TFWiki editors has identified what we believe to be at least five of the seven episodes; animation quality varies between them, so the main identifying feature is the consistent use of outdated animation models for a small handful of the new season 2 cast members that are not seen anywhere else in the season outside of this limited group of episodes. Those episodes are:
- Features alternate models for Inferno, Grapple, Smokescreen, and Thrust
- Features alternate models for Tracks and Inferno
- Features alternate models for Tracks and Astrotrain
- Features alternate models for Inferno and Smokescreen
- Features alternate models for Tracks, Thrust, and Inferno
Immediately obvious features of the alternate modes include: a rounder head for Inferno, based on the one seen in his full-body character model, rather than the more toy-accurate design seen in other episodes from his close-up head turnaround model; a black helmet with orange horns for Grapple, as opposed to solid orange; burgundy parts instead of red on Smokescreen; red pectorals and shoulder-vanes on Thrust instead of grey/black; black windows on Tracks's robot mode (but not vehicle mode); and a grey helmet and shoulder-wheels on Astrotrain instead of purple. There are other, more subtle differences; check the "Notes" section on each character's individual article for details. The Autobot characters did not reappear in later seasons, but Astrotrain and Thrust's early models were consistently used for all season three appearances by the characters that were animated by AKOM.
Several other episodes are prominent candidates for the remaining two, but they have not yet been definitively identified. "A Prime Problem" features the same general softness and warmth of art as "Auto Berserk," along with similar block-shading lifted overly literally from character models, and unique airbrushing effects, as well as light-flare and high-contrast effects seen briefly in "Triple Takeover," making it one of the more likely possibilities. "Starscream's Brigade" has a similar warmth and softness, and also propagates an unusual error seen in "Auto Berserk" and "Triple Takeover" of Starscream's eyes occasionally being colored blue instead of red, but this also happens in some Toei episodes, and Tracks, Grapple, Astrotrain and Thrust all feature the correct models in it. And "War Dawn" features noticeably slipshod animation on the same level as "The Secret of Omega Supreme" or "Kremzeek!"
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.
External links
- Interview with production coordinator Paul Davids at the Cybertron Chronicle, suggesting 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)."
