Make Tracks
| This article is about the Generation 1 cartoon episode. For the Marvel UK comic story with a similar title, see Makin' Tracks!. |
| |||||||||
 "I really think we should exchange insurance." "Nah, nah man, it's fine. You can totally fix that easily." | |||||||||
| "Make Tracks" | |||||||||
| Production code | #700-42 | ||||||||
| Production company | Sunbow Productions | ||||||||
| Airdate | October 30, 1985 | ||||||||
| Written by | David Wise | ||||||||
| Continuity | Generation 1 cartoon continuity | ||||||||
The Transformers go to New York, and Tracks makes a friend.
- Japanese title: 戦士トラックス (Senshi Tracks, "Tracks the Warrior")
- Russian title: Nastoyashchaya droozhba (Настоящая дружба, "The Real Friendship")
- Italian title, dub 1: Autorobots ("Autobots")
- Italian title, dub 2: Sulle tracce di Tracks ("On the trail of Tracks")
Synopsis
In New York City, two thugs carjack a familiar looking car, which also has a stereo sitting in the front seat. Heading to a chop shop, the punks try to sell the car...at which point the car turns into Tracks, and the stereo turns into Blaster. The chop shop head, Winston, tries to run, when Optimus Prime arrives. Winston vainly tries to shoot Optimus as the actual police arrive and arrest him.
The Autobots are helping the NYPD in a crime busting program, but their never ending war is also on Prime's mind. The Autobot leader is convinced that the Decepticons are nearby, plotting mischief, as they are prone to do, but the Autobots just can't find them. Heading back to Sparkplug Witwicky's garage, Tracks is enjoying the city so he decides to go for a drive, while Powerglide, Cosmos, Seaspray, Huffer and Hoist go out on patrol.
Tracks has a run-in with some more punks and scares them off, but one of the punks shoots a tire out, causing Tracks to crash. Unable to transform or call the garage, he is found by young Raoul, who drags him to an alley and plans to sell him to the Geddis brothers. Once he learns that Tracks is alive, he decides to fix him up, but he's still planning on selling him. Raoul accidentally cuts a wire that connects Tracks' computer to his body and silences the Autobot, but reconnects it. (That's one important wire.)
On patrol, Seaspray is disgusted with what the humans have dumped in the East River (aren't we all). Cosmos swoops down to inspect an accident, which Huffer and Hoist help clear up. They update Prime, who is getting worried about Tracks.
Back at the alley, Raoul is done, and is having second thoughts about selling Tracks. The Geddis brothers arrive and start to rough up Raoul, only for Tracks to transform and "ask" them to stop. The Geddis brothers flee, mentioning how shocked they are that a Transformer is attacking them. Tracks and Raoul follow, Tracks having deduced that they must be dealing with the Decepticons. They lose the Geddis brothers, but Raoul knows their main garage is down by the wharf. Heading there, Tracks and Raoul follow the legion of stolen cars.
Above them, Powerglide spots Starscream, and follows him. Powerglide and Cosmos chase the Air Commander into a human mall, only for Starscream to threaten the civilians and escape. Prime calculates that Starscream is heading for the Pine Barrens in New Jersey, and the Autobots roll out.
Somewhere in the Pine Barrens, the Geddis brothers are working with the Decepticons to provide them with 500 stolen cars. The Geddis brothers demand their million dollar payment. Megatron shows them the business end of the fusion cannon, and one of the brothers fires off a few shots at Megatron. A single blast from Megatron sends the Geddis brothers running. Tracks tries to contact Prime, but his radio is still damaged, so he decides to get up close and personal, seeing what Megatron intends. When he discovers that the Constructicons are intending to dismantle the cars, Tracks attempts to flee, only for the wire connecting his computer to sever again. Tracks is placed on the conveyor belt with the other cars ready for demolition.
Realizing Tracks is in danger, Raoul reveals himself to the Decepticons and says he placed a bomb in his car. Megatron allows him to disarm it, but instead Raoul reconnects the wire that reactivates Tracks and the pair bail. Soundwave sends Rumble and Ravage to hunt and kill, and Tracks is running out of power. He tells Raoul to run, but Sideswipe, Jazz and Bumblebee arrive and drive the two cassettes off.
Back at the garage, Tracks and Raoul fill the Autobots in on what's happening, just as the Autobots discover first-hand that the rebuilt cars are heading into New York. Prime, Blaster, and Ratchet defend the Washington Bridge, as Tracks, Bumblebee, Inferno, and Sideswipe defend the Chrysler Building, while Ironhide, Huffer, and Windcharger defend another part of the city. Just when the Autobots believe they have the upper hand, the cars transform into gun-wielding drones, presenting a severe tactical deficiency.
Ratchet realizes that the drones are being remotely controlled, and that the Jersey base is the source. Blaster jams the control frequency, allowing the Autobots time to break off to attack the Decepticon base. Raoul tries to take a crow bar to the controls of the car drone factory. However, Megatron captures Raoul, and orders the Autobots to surrender. Raoul opens a panel on Megatron's chest, and uses a spray paint can to short circuit the Decepticon leader. Rumble orders a retreat back to the base before Starscream can declare himself the new leader. The Autobots destroy the factory, causing the drone army to shut down.
At Sparkplug's garage, the poor fleshling predicts that it will take weeks to restore the cars to their original configuration, even with Ratchet, Hoist, and Wheeljack's help. Raoul takes that as his cue to leave, only for Tracks to "volunteer" Raoul for repair duty.
Featured characters
(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)
| Autobots | Decepticons | Humans |
|---|---|---|
|
|
|
Quotes
"Well, nobody seems to want you, so that makes you mine."
- —Raoul demonstrating a very lax understanding of property law as he steals Tracks.
"Look, I've been shot at, smashed up, and stolen three times tonight, and I'm in a most foul humor."
- —Tracks. Some days, it just doesn't pay to be an ambiguously gay car.
"That car... talks!"
"You've got a mind like a steel trap."
- —Raoul and Tracks
"First time in my life I try to steal a car, and I get one with a big mouth."
- —Raoul discovers karma.
"How do you do, Starscream? Not very well, I hope!"
- —Cosmos introduces himself with laser blasts.
"Come in, Soundwave: Uh-oh!"
- —Starscream just wanted Soundwave to know he's okay.
"I have no desire to be carved up into Auto-sushi!"
- —Tracks
"They don't look all that smart to me. Ha! Their aim's not too good either."
"Maybe, but they've got us outnumbered. Fire!"
- —Blaster and Optimus Prime on the drones.
"Let us stomp out these cheap imitations!"
- —Tracks disapproves of knockoffs.
"I'll teach you to mess with the Chrysler Building!"
- —Tracks to the drones.
"Throw down your weapon, Prime!"
- —Megatron, about to experience his most humiliating defeat yet.
Other notes
Animation or technical glitches
- As Blaster throws the punks on the ground, one of them clips through the police officers.
- As Tracks leaves Sparkplug's garage, he's drawn with over-sized tires and a squished doors.
- As Cosmos swoops down on the New York streets, one of the semi trucks on the right side of the screen is colored exactly like Optimus Prime (including the stripe on the side of the trailer)! Not impossible, but it is interesting.
- When Hoist hauls the damaged '4WD' (which is actually a sedan car) away, he drives floating mid-air into the background.
- Starscream, Powerglide, and Cosmos have no trouble fitting in a shopping mall. They even run up (what must be an incredibly wide) escalator!
- The first time we see Megatron, his gunbarrel is on the left side of his back. In the next shot, it's (correctly) on the right side.
- All of the Decepticon drones look the same, despite transforming from cars of wildly different makes and colors.
- Sideswipe is colored as Soundwave twice — once in an overhead shot at the Autobot base, and again when the Autobots charge towards Megatron's building.
- When leaving to intercept the drones, Tracks is behind Optimus and moves towards the screen, but he's layered as if he's in front of Prime and therefore appears to be taller than Prime for a moment.
- As Blaster notes, "They don't look all that smart to me," Optimus Prime is the one shown to be speaking.
- The bridge fight has several errors: Sometimes the ground is smooth, while other times it has rectangular lines; several times, the drones and the Autobots are drawn with a sky background where the bridge towers should still be shown; and as Blaster activates his jammer, the cable wires disappear.
- Blaster activates his jamming frequency using the same switch the thieves pressed at the beginning of the episode to turn on his radio.
- The animations for muzzle flashes and lasers in this episode are very different and of a much lower quality than in most of the previous episodes (for instance, we usually see only the flashes and not the beams in closeups). The sound effects are different also, including Ironhide's weapon sounding like a chain gun, among other things.
Continuity errors
- The Geddis brothers rough up Raoul at midnight. Some time later, Powerglide and Cosmos harass Starscream in a shopping mall that's doing a pretty decent amount of business. Even in New York City, the malls don't stay open that late.
- Speaking of the mall, Starcream must be incredibly stealthy since all the mall patrons are oblivious to his presence. No one is screaming or running, and in fact people are just sitting down at tables or casually looking over ledges. You'd think by now they would realize that when a Decepticon appears, you don't want to hang around.
- Fighting against two flight capable Autobots, Starscream escapes... into the air?
- In one infamous scene, Hoist is seen driving Huffer.
- All the advanced technology at the Constructicons' disposal, technical know how to build transforming drones...and Scrapper is using a sword to slice the cars in half? And how does slicing them in half make them easier to convert into drones?
- Raoul must have a Doraemon-style inner-jacket pocket. There is no bulge or any other indication he is carrying a can that large... if basically materializes out of nowhere.
- And how did he know exactly what button opens Megatron's chest?
Continuity notes
- One new commercial bumper debuts in this episode: Hook.
- According to this episode, Sparkplug has a set of warehouses/garages in New York that can hold 200 cars and a makeshift Autobot base (complete with a copy of Teletraan I!).
- Raoul would appear again in "Auto-Bop".
- Tracks can be disabled by cutting one wire. It just happens to be right under his hood, which is one of the more vulnerable places on an Autobot's body.
- Megatron can be disabled by a can of spray-paint.
Real-world references
- Tracks comments on the cliche of loving New York, which is a reference to the famous New York advertising campaign. This ad was also seen earlier in the season in "City of Steel".
- In two different scenes (basically using the same background), a movie theater can be shown advertising The Transformers: The Movie.
- If you don't blink, you can see "Astoria" on one of the skyscrapers Powerglide flies by when he is reporting in to Prime. While presumably done to reference the famous Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, Astoria is also, coincidentally enough, the name of the girl who'll fall for Powerglide in "The Girl Who Loved Powerglide".
- After Tracks says "More than you need a friend?" The buildings say 'Banana' 'Victoria' 'New York Holidays' 'Astoria Hotel' 'Crown' 'Automat' and 'Lido'
Trivia
- The New York City of this episode, while still a cartoon, is a lot more grimy and grungy than the last time we saw it (some might say more true to life.) It's got stolen cars, gangs, punks, a river full of garbage, traffic jams, and an overall darkness that fits with the 1980s perception of the city.
- Even given that 500 cars have been stolen and it's late at night, there seems to be a severe lack of traffic (in the streets and on the bridge) in New York City. The Autobots and the drones are the only vehicles/robots we see towards the end of the episode.
Home video releases
- Laserdisc
1994 — Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers — Convoy Set (Takara) — Japanese audio only.
1998 — The Transformers — Autobot Edition (Pioneer LDC) — Japanese audio only.
- DVD
2001 — The Transformers — DVD Box 1 (Pioneer LDC) — Japanese audio only.
2003 — The Original Transformers — Season 2 Part 2 (Rhino Entertainment)
2003 — The Original Transformers — Season 2 Part 2: Vol. 5 (Rhino Entertainment)
2004 — Transformers — Season 2 Part 2 (Metrodome)
2004 — Transformers — Collection 3: Series 2.2 (Madman Entertainment)
2006 — Transformers — The Complete Generation One Collection (Metrodome)
2007 — The Transformers — Complete Collection (Madman Entertainment)
2009 — Transformers — Volume 05: Stagione Due Parte Terza (Medianetwork Communication) — English and Italian audio.
2009 — Transformers — Season Two: Part Two (Metrodome)
2009 — The Transformers — Complete Collection: Decepticon Edition (Madman Entertainment)
2009 — The Transformers — Season Two, Volume One: 25th Anniversary Edition (Shout! Factory)
2009 — The Transformers — The Complete Series: 25th Anniversary "Matrix of Leadership" Collection (Shout! Factory)
