Double Dinobot
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 "Hmm. He looks good, but is he tasty...?" | |||||||||
| "Double Dinobot" | |||||||||
| Production company | Mainframe Entertainment | ||||||||
| Airdate | November 5, 1996 | ||||||||
| Written by | Rowby Goren | ||||||||
| Directed by | John Pozer | ||||||||
| Animation studio | Mainframe Entertainment | ||||||||
| Continuity | Beast Wars continuity | ||||||||
Megatron creates a non-transforming clone of Dinobot in an effort to disable Sentinel.
- French title: Le Clone ("The Clone")
- French-Canadian title: Double DinoBot
- Japanese title: ダイノボットが二人に? (Dinobot ga Futari ni?, "Two Dinobots?")
- Latin-American title: El Doble de Dinobot
- Italian title: Il vero e il falso ("The real and the fake")
- Brazilian title: Dinobot Duplo ("Double Dinobot")
Synopsis
In a scene reminiscent of a certain early horror film, Megatron creates a velociraptor clone based on the DNA of the Maximal Dinobot, Clone One, which also possesses a copy of Dinobot's mind.
Terrorsaur attacks the real Dinobot while on patrol, leading the Maximal into a cave where a swift move allows Terrorsaur to escape and bury Dinobot in a cave-in. Meanwhile, Clone One is sent to infiltrate the Maximal Base in his place. Clone One tells Optimus Primal that there's a Predacon camp in Grid Omega and insists Primal himself should go. Primal instead sends the Clone and Rattrap to fix the camp's exact location.
Rattrap transforms to attack the alleged base and almost discovers the Clone's inability to transform, but stands down when the Clone reminds him this is a recon mission. Rattrap is puzzled by this uncharacteristic show of restraint, but stands down. While crossing an open lava flow, Clone One kicks the bridge out from under Rattrap, apparently sending him to his death.
In the meantime, the real Dinobot digs himself out of the rubble in the cave.
Clone One returns to the Axalon (now crewed only by Optimus Primal) and fakes an injury, telling Primal that they discovered the Predacon camp under cover of a "stealth device" and Rattrap is trapped. Despite having just received a report from Rhinox that Grid Omega shows no signs of Predacon activity, Optimus Primal activates Sentinel and leaves to rescue Rattrap. Clone One struggles to deactivate the shield without Dinobot's authorization codes and is repeatedly shocked by Sentinel, who recognises him as Dinobot, but doesn't detect a Maximal spark.
Primal and Cheetor rendezvous in Grid Omega, where they pick up Rattrap's trail. Rattrap, who landed on a chunk of rock, rides it along the lava flow, but is forced to leap for his life when the flow becomes a lava waterfall. He lands up on a ledge and then grenade jumps back to stable ground, where he encounters Cheetor and Primal and informs them of "Dinobot"'s treachery.
Meanwhile, the real Dinobot returns to the Axalon and deactivates the perimeter shield. Clone One believes he has finally succeeded and summons Megatron. The two Dinobots come face to face and are momentarily baffled as their identical reflexes cause them to mirror one another's reactions. Clone One realizes the situation first and attacks, but Dinobot transforms and challenges his clone to a fight. Discovering that his double cannot transform, Dinobot returns to Beast Mode and the two fight on equal terms. The Clone is losing ground, but a lucky blow appears to knock Dinobot unconscious. Clone One eagerly goes to meet Megatron, not realizing that Dinobot was playing robo-possum.
Dinobot poses as his clone and greets Megatron outside the base and flatters his ego while discovering his plan to ambush the Maximals as they return from Grid Omega then use their own defense grid to finish them off. Dinobot activates the perimeter shield just as Megatron is walking through it, shocking him badly. Megatron initially believes the clone has betrayed him just as Dinobot did, but is cheered to learn that's not the case. With the arrival of the other Maximals, Megatron retreats.
The Maximals survey the damaged command center in dismay and inquire what happened to the clone. Dinobot informs them that it is gone for good…and was 'quite tasty'.
Featured characters
(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)
| Maximals | Predacons |
|---|---|
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Quotes
"At last, an end to the boredom!"
- —Dinobot, delighted to be attacked
"Peaceful as an R-chamber. Looks like old chopper face is seein' things."
- —Rattrap
"I just knew I smelled a rat... and it wasn't even me!"
- —Rattrap jumps to the wrong conclusion.
"What in the Inferno are you?"
"What you might have been, had you not betrayed Megatron."
- —Dinobot meets Clone One
"Ooh, your brilliance is an inspiration to me!"
"Oh, you are an enchanting creature! I may just clone the rest of my troops."
- —Dinobot posing as his clone, to Megatron
Rattrap: "If there was a clone, then where is he, huh?"
Dinobot: "I'm afraid he's gone for good. A shame, really; he was such a handsome creature. And… quite tasty."
[Dinobot flicks a piece of flesh from his teeth at Primal and belches loudly. Cheetor gives him a thumbs up.]
Optimus Primal: "…You're disgusting."
[Dinobot smiles]
- —The Maximals discover the clone's deliciously gruesome fate.
Notes
Animation and technical errors
- More of an oddity than an error, but due to the angle the shot was rendered in, as Dinobot transforms into robot mode to enter the cave, you may notice how his robot torso and sword miraculously appear in shrunken form behind or above (but clearly separate from) his dinosaur mode, before merging with the rest of his body to complete transformation. Later, as he tries to fight his clone, the robot torso correctly appears from within the beast's body.
- When Terrorsaur creates a cave-in to trap Dinobot, the latter hurries towards the screen, and you can very briefly see the insides of his animation model's head, as the "camera" passes into him.
- During the clash between the Dinobots, the one who gets launched forward by the chair has some very weird things going on with his body. Namely, it gets so distorted, that the point where the legs meet the torso seemingly turn inside out, and flesh that wasn't there before (or afterwards) juts out of his sides. Also, while barely noticeable, his left arm jumps out of position for just a frame a few seconds before the chair hits him.
Trivia
- Clone One's skin will later be seen on the wall of Dinobot's room. Maximal, No More Code of Hero
- Megatron was extremely pleased to learn the clone had not betrayed him. Had Dinobot led him to think his clones were unreliable, it probably would have saved the Maximals a lot of trouble…. Ah, hindsight.
- Megatron would clone Dinobot twice more; the Cyber raptors in Cutting Edge and Dinobot II in Feral Scream Part 1. The Oracle would use DNA from Dinobot's spark to create the Dinobots in Beast Machines.
- The Chamber Dinobot's clone was created in appears to be an extensively refitted Predacon R-Chamber.
- Megatron is seemingly incapable of cloning Dinobot on sunny days with lots of butterflies. SOMEONE has been reading too much Mary Shelley, folks.
- When Dinobot first encounters his clone, and the two mimic each other's movements, it is perhaps a reference to the famous mirror scene from the Marx Brothers movie Duck Soup.
- While the Dinobot clone is trying to deactivate Sentinel, a holographic Maximal logo appears with Cybertronix writing under it saying "who is this putz scally user". Then the shot changes to behind the projection as some more text appears next to a diagram that says "hey ian go f**k yourself", making one wonder what either Ian Corlett or Ian Pearson did to piss off an animator. Then the words 'Merv Griffin' display.
Home video releases
- VHS
1998 — Beast Wars: Super Lifeform Transformers — There are 2 Dinobots? (Pioneer LDC) — Japanese audio only.
2001 — Beast Wars: Transformers — The Beginning: Vol. 3 (Universal)
- Laserdisc
1998 — Beast Wars: Transformers — Predacon Edition (Pioneer LDC) — English and Japanese audio.
- DVD
2000 — Beast Wars: Transformers — DVD Box (Pioneer LDC) — English and Japanese audio.
2003 — Beast Wars: Transformers — The Complete First Season (Rhinomation)
2005 — Beast Wars — Classic Episodes: Volume 2 — The Saga Continues! (Alliance Atlantis) — English and French audio.
2005 — Beast Wars — The Complete First Season (Alliance Atlantis) — English and French audio.
2006 — Beast Wars: Transformers — Season 1 (Madman Entertainment)
2009 — The Transformers: Beast Wars — Complete Collection (Madman Entertainment)
External links
- Double Dinobot Script on BWTF.com (PDF)
