Evel Knievel Jump

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He knows the ways....of the Ninja.
"Evel Knievel Jump"
Airdate	June 17, 2008 (DVD release)
Written by	Marty Isenberg
Directed by	Matt Youngberg
Animation studio	Studio 4°C

Prowl attempts a death-defying stunt, but is interrupted by Bumblebee's usual antics.

Synopsis

Some bots have no sense of humor...and others are big jerks.

The scene opens as Prowl is silently meditating with only a single spotlight shining upon him. He quickly propels himself into the air and transforms to vehicle mode, taking off down a small roadway. The road reveals itself as a large ramp, whereby Prowl launches off the end flying through the air over his Autobot comrades, who are lined up in vehicle mode. However, just as he is about to clear the jump, Bumblebee transforms back to robot mode and jumps up, startling Prowl and causing him to lose concentration as he transforms back and crash lands on the opposite ramp. Bumblebee laughs at his ally's faceplant, mocking him, but Prowl throws a ninja star at the back of Bee's head and marches off angrily. Bumblebee rubs his head in pain and mutters about his friend's apparent lack of a sense of humor.

Featured characters

(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Autobots
Prowl (1) Optimus Prime (2) Bulkhead (3) Ratchet (4) Bumblebee (5)

Quotes

"Man... some bots have no sense of humor!"

—Bumblebee isn't laughing about Prowl not laughing

Notes

• The DVD containing this short does not list the title or feature any production credits. This information comes from Animated designer Derrick J. Wyatt.
• The short later appeared on Hasbro's "Monkeybar TV" online video service, where it was simply called "Prowl".

Animation Errors

• As Prowl makes the jump and the camera cuts to a first person view shot (presumably Prowl's), the angling seems to indicate that Prowl would have crashed into the ramp after passing Bumblebee, making Prowl appear really, really low to the ground. However, as Bumblebee leaps up and Prowl loses focus, he's extremely high over everyone's heads.

Continuity errors

• Prowl's ninja stars have cut through metal objects in previous episodes, so why isn't there a scratch on Bumblebee's head after the projectile connects?

References

• The title, of course, refers to world-famous daredevil Evel Knievel known for his death-defying motorcycle stunts. This isn't the first time that Knievel has been referenced in a Transformers series...far from it, actually.

Trivia

• This is the most Japanesey-animated bit in all of Animated so far.
• Optimus Prime, Bulkhead, and Ratchet all appear in vehicle mode, but do not transform to robot mode or speak.

Home video releases

DVD

2008 — Transformers Animated — Transform and Roll Out (Paramount) — English and Spanish audio.
2008 — Transformers Animated — Transform and Roll Out (Paramount) — English and German audio.
2008 — Transformers Animated — Transform and Roll Out (Paramount) — English and German audio.
2008 — Transformers Animated — Transformieren und Abfahrt (Paramount) — English and German audio.