City of Steel (episode)

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"City of Steel"
Production code #700-18
Production company Sunbow Productions
Airdate October 17, 1985
Written by Douglas Booth
Animation studio AKOM
Continuity Generation 1 cartoon continuity

The Decepticons invade New York City.

Japanese title: スチールシティ (Steel City)
Brazilian title: Cidade de Aço
Italian title, dub 1: Battaglia per New York ("Battle for New York")
Italian title, dub 2: La città d'acciaio ("City of steel")

Synopsis

Where will you be... the Day after Tomorrow.

Over New York City, Laserbeak flies into the Decepticons' underground base. The Constructicons are digging a hole in the ceiling and the Autobots don't have a clue. After hours of digging, the Constructicons manage to sink the Empire State Building underground.

The Autobots finally get wind of this and head to the city. Optimus Prime, Ironhide, Bumblebee and Ratchet plan to meet the rest of the Autobots at Central Park. However, Laserbeak spots them and reports back to Megatron. He plans to give the Autobots a surprising welcome.

At Central Park, the Autobots are ambushed by Soundwave and his crew, whilst underground the Constructicons inform Megatron that they're directly underneath Optimus Prime. Megatron orders them to dig while Optimus Prime is fighting Soundwave. Taken by surprise, Prime falls into the Decepticons' underground base where Megatron severs his motor relays, making him powerless. Megatron then threatens the remaining Autobots that unless they leave he will melt the Autobot leader down to scrap. He also shows them his master plan, which is to rebuild New York into New Cybertron. The Constructicons raise the Empire State building back up, but now it looks like a Cybertronian fortress. Forced to leave the city, the Autobots are gloomy until Spike comes up with a plan to get into the city undetected.

"Aquaman calling all sea creatures!"

Seemingly victorious, Megatron gloats over Prime's still body. However, Megatron is still worried that Optimus Prime might try something and orders Hook to disassemble him, which he does with a handy energy blade. After Optimus is turned into a pile of parts, Megatron picks up his head and reactivates Optimus so he can gloat. Prime responds that even though he's in pieces he will still fight. Prime then activates his arms and trips up Megatron. Megatron orders the Constructicons to dispose of Prime's remaining parts how they choose, but he gets to keep the head.

Spike, Bumblebee, Ratchet, Hound and Mirage enter the City through the sewers in the hope of rescuing Prime undetected. Elsewhere, the Constructicons are very pleased with themselves for what they did with Prime's left over body parts. They have special plans for his right arm and weapon.

"What is it, Aquaman?"

While scanning for Prime, Hound is confused because his scans show Prime was behind them when before he was ahead. Mirage then spots a giant robot alligator (dubbed the Alligatorcon) and the Autobots run away. They trap it in a train and send it and the train packing. When they reach the underground base they find Prime's head and reattach his circuits so he can speak. Prime then activates his legs remotely to come to him and the rest of the Autobots figure out that the Alligatorcon was made up of Prime's parts. After capturing it, Ratchet reassembles Prime, minus the right arm. Now that Optimus is safe, the Autobots attack. The Decepticons have turned half of New York City into New Cybertron, complete with killer taxis, and they're using Prime's arm as a weapon on top of their fortress. The taxis go for Bumblebee, Sideswipe, and Sunstreaker, but Prime runs them down.

Of course you do...

After breaking through the Decepticon defenses, Optimus Prime, Ironhide and Ratchet plan to scale the fortress to reclaim Prime's arm. Bumblebee and Spike plan to help by distracting Megatron and Soundwave. Megatron orders an air strike, but when Starscream is downed, the Constructicons become Devastator and he follows Prime's team up the building. Meanwhile, Spike and Bumblebee manage to sneak in and annoy Megatron, by calling him Megaklutz, and tricking him into destroying the device that controlled Prime's arm. Outside Devastator captures Prime and knocks Ironhide and Ratchet into the fortress. Wheeljack then comments that the whole thing reminds him of King Kong as he tries to assist with his remote controlled helicopters. Spike then informs Prime that his arm is no longer controlled by Megatron, and Prime takes the opportunity to use it against Devastator. After Devastator gets hit Prime falls but is saved by Ironhide and Ratchet and as usual the Decepticons retreat.

Now the city is saved, Prime is back together and Bumblebee got a souvenir (an 'I (heart) NY' bumper sticker). The Autobots roll out and return home.

(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Autobots Decepticons Humans

Quotes

"I didn't join this outfit to be a dump truck!"

—Long Haul, commenting on his alternate mode.


"I feel like I'm in some messy swamp, not under the biggest city in North America."

—Ratchet, trudging through the sewers of New York.


"It sickens me to say it, Reflector, but this one time I have to hand it to Megatron. The place is finally starting to feel like home."

—Starscream agrees with one of Megatron's plans, which heralds the coming of the apocalypse.


"I may not have a weapon, but I can still transform and roll!"

—Optimus Prime, preparing to crush the battle taxis.


"O-hoo-hoo-hoo, here they come! Auto-Auto-Autobots!"

—Mix-Mix-Mixmaster!


"Say 'uncle' or I'll shove your nose in your afterburner!"
"Uncle, UNCLE!"
"Gee, I didn't know Decepticons had uncles!"

—Sideswipe lovingly deals with Starscream. He's obviously been practicing his jet judo.


"You'll never catch us, Megaklutz!"
"Megaklutz! You dare to insult me in my own command post?!"

—Spike Witwicky daring to insult Megatron in his own command post.


"It will take more than your puny arm to stop Devastator!"
"Right. Which is why it's lucky the hand at the end of that arm... is holding a gun!"

—Devastator reels as Optimus Prime points out the single flaw in the gestalt's otherwise brilliant tower-climbing plan.

Notes

Animation or technical glitches

As a Season 2 AKOM episode, "City of Steel" features the standard character model oddities:

  • Soundwave's backpack is gray instead of blue.
  • Megatron's gun barrel is dark gray instead of light gray.
  • Prime's backpack is white.
  • The "disk" on Bumblebee's back is dark gray instead of yellow.

As an AKOM episode in general, "City of Steel" features an absurd number of straight-ahead animation mistakes:

  • Laserbeak's beak is the same dark gray as his head as he flies through the sewers.
  • It's not without precedent, but Soundwave usually has to push his shoulder button to open his chest compartment. As Laserbeak returns, it opens of its own accord. In the same shot, Soundwave's shoulder button is dark blue instead of light gray.
  • As Scavenger rolls past Soundwave, he starts growing larger before he even begins to climb the ramp that's supposed to be bringing him closer to the camera's point of view. At the end of the same pan shot, Hook's head is green instead of black.
  • Scavenger's cab window is green instead of white as he rides the lift.
  • There is no way in Hell's Kitchen that dinky little scissor lift is strong enough to support the weight of the Empire State Building.
  • Bumblebee's fists are light gray instead of dark gray as Prime orders the Autobots to transform.
  • Wheeljack's team is vastly oversized as they cruise past the Statue of Liberty.
  • For some reason, Prime's voice is muffled as if it's a radio transmission as the Autobots drive along the highway.
  • There appears to be a total of ten Constructicons working on the Empire State Building.
  • Laserbeak's beak is dark gray (again) as he reports the Autobot sighting. He also has a little bird tongue!
  • Soundwave's shoulder cannon is red and Megatron's face is a darker gray than usual as Megatron laughs about his "terminal welcome" joke.
  • Frenzy's mouth isn't moving as he says "Can be hazardous".
Baby Bluestreak watches in horror as Giganticus Prime commences his rampage.
  • As the Autobots transform, a truly mind-boggling layering error results in a tiny Bluestreak standing in front of a normal-sized Ratchet and Ironhide, next to a Devastator-sized Optimus.
  • Ironhide doesn't so much get knocked down by Frenzy and Rumble's earthquake attack as he does just walk along and randomly fall over. His back is colored light gray instead of dark gray in the sequence.
  • When Scavenger is beating the bucket of his vehicle mode against the ceiling below Central Park, a misplaced cel means the cracks that are supposed to be forming in the ceiling appear in front of his arm instead.
  • As usual in the cartoon universe, metal cracks, splits and crumbles just like rock.
  • In a long shot of the Autobot/Decepticon battle in Central Park, Bumblebee is inexplicably grappling with Bluestreak while Ratchet fights Reflector.
  • The back of Soundwave's legs are white instead of blue as Prime picks him up.
  • In the Central Park sequence, Scavenger's vehicle mode is huge, towering over Megatron and with a bucket significantly larger than Optimus.
  • Prime falls a long way into the Decepticon base, but in the previous shot, he was standing on Scavenger's shovel. When Prime finally lands on the base's floor, Scavenger is there waiting for him.
  • Prime's "motor relays" are right there in his stomach-grille? Wha? (AKOM shows Jazz having critical circuits in his car-mode grille in "The Core", as well.)
  • Soundwave's shoulder button is blue again as he presses it to communicate with Megatron. The sound effect that plays is usually reserved for an opening hatch or door. And Soundwave doesn't usually have to push that particular button to radio someone.
  • The shot of the submerged Empire State Building is recycled from the earlier scene (ten Constructicons, remember?) Two of the tiny figures shown are supposed to be Megatron and Soundwave, but they're both shown to be on the surface by that point.
  • The scene freezes for several seconds as the rebuilt Empire State Building is about to be raised above ground, complete with non-moving clouds of dust and smoke. After the building is raised, the same shot is recycled, showing it back down in the ground.
  • Ironhide is dark gray instead of red as the Autobots cross the Brooklyn Bridge.
  • Spike says "take a left", but the Autobots take a ramp that goes right.
  • As Megatron gloats over Prime, Mixmaster is colored like Bumblebee.
  • A layering error has Megatron's hand passing in front of Prime's smokestack, which is much closer to the camera. Result: a visually microscopic Megatron.
  • Prime's eye-flashes don't quite line up with his optics.
  • Scrapper's mouthplate isn't moving as he carries Optimus Prime's arm.
  • For all their reaction to the Alligatorcon, the Autobots sure aren't in any hurry to get away from it. They stroll away at a very leisurely pace.
  • Scrapper has Sideswipe's voice as he says the "riding down their own grave" line.
  • Starscream has only one wing insignia as he admires the cityscape.
  • When Optimus activates his dismembered legs, his head crest is colored entirely in dark gray instead of light gray and blue.
  • What the heck were Prime's legs supposed to be, anyway? Part of a crypt or something? They're just standing there in a tunnel when Prime summons them.
  • Ratchet's voice is more like Gears' as he says the "don't let go" line.
  • One of the series' most infamous dialog screwups happens as the Autobots wrestle with the Alligatorcon. Mirage and Ratchet say, in perfect sync, "This alligator is big and heavy!" Prime then responds with the sage observation: "From the looks of it, I'd say a little of both." The scene appears to be the result of an editing and directorial snafu. Prime should be responding to the Autobots' previous lines: "Now we've got him!" "Or should I say, we've got you?" "I'd say a little of both!" And the combined Ratchet and Mirage line was likely intended to be a series of ad libs as the Autobots struggle with the Alligatorcon, rather than a straight line delivered before Prime's line.
  • Prime's telekinetic waves change from wide circles, to a narrow band. The narrow band finds its way to.... nothing. It then snaps off with a really loud sound effect.
  • Ratchet's mouth disappears for a split second as he finishes repairing Prime.
  • One of Prime's chest windows, and one of his exhaust stacks, are among the leftover parts as he stands up.
  • Wheeljack's ears aren't flashing as he says "This sure isn't little old New York anymore".
  • As Megatron and Soundwave zero in on the Autobots on their monitor, Prime has both his arms.
  • Appearing/disappearing Autobots:
    • Jazz suddenly shows up for a single shot as the Autobots scatter from Prime's rifle fire.
  • Hound and Bluestreak get two sequential transformation effects as they change to car mode, with a slight pause between them, instead of one continuous sound.
  • Don't Hound and Bluestreak look where they're going when they drive? There's this huge hole in the street and they just drive right into it.
  • Scrapper's voice comes out of nowhere to say the "A train" line to Hound and Bluestreak.
  • The first shot of Frenzy driving the train shows him colored like Rumble.
  • The car-mode Autobots just kind of float over the battle taxis. How'd they do that?
  • How long's it take for the animators to forget that truck-mode Prime is missing an arm? Only one shot! He's intact for his entire ramming sequence against the taxis and the Constructicons. Only when he rolls up to Ironhide and transforms is his bumper/arm missing again.
  • As he rams the Constructicons' position, one of Prime's headlights isn't colored white. Of course, it shouldn't be there at all, being part of his missing arm.
  • Lots of missing Seeker insignias as the Decepticon jets launch their attack.
  • Is Megatron supposed to be touching the blue button on his belly to radio Scrapper? 'Cause he totally misses it.
  • Scrapper's voice is a bit off as he gives the order to combine. It's not quite as bad as before, but still not the correct hoarse rasp.
  • Devastator's scale is always an issue, but he's really oversized here, smashing an entire multi-story building aside with a single blow. Man, Dreamwave must've really loved this dorky episode, huh?
  • Two Laserbeak cassettes (red details) leave Soundwave's chest. One should be Buzzsaw, with gold details. The condors don't get a transformation sound effect as they convert to robot form.
  • Devastator has two eyes instead of an eyeband as he holds Optimus, and again as he fends off the helicopters.
  • Why is Wheeljack upset? Devastator didn't manage to touch his helicopters!
  • Does Prime really have to telekinetically control his rifle? Wouldn't pulling the trigger suffice?
  • As is normal when a good guy's life is at stake, Devastator falls for an absurdly long time. He's moving incredibly slowly as he passes Ironhide and Ratchet.

Continuity errors

  • Laserbeak's shoot-to-enter door system seems rather improbable, or at least pointlessly complicated. In particular, how does the manhole cover know to land right back on top of the entrance?
  • Let's not even get into the plausibility of lowering a thousand-foot building into the ground, rebuilding it for beings several times the size of a human, and then rebuilding it again into its original form. Ditto for the rest of Manhattan, actually.
  • Prime has telekinetic control of his body parts! He can make his severed arms float up into the air to knock over Megatron, and "activating" his legs consists of somehow making them come magically tumbling through the air to him.
  • With all the freaking huge cannons that the Decepticons installed, it's Prime's firearm that's the big cause for panic?
  • Megatron, ensconced in his headquarters, responds to a comment of Spike's while Spike is riding down the street inside Bumblebee. How could he possibly hear what he said?
  • Why on earth do the Decepticon jets just fly right through their own building? If the idea is that the Autobots shot them and made them lose control, the animation completely fails to show it.
  • Spike's "Now, Bumblebee!" line is ridiculous filler. The elevator door opens, they step into Megatron's headquarters, Megatron and Soundwave are right there in front of them... when else were they going to enact their brilliant plan? And how come Megatron's HQ has no security system to keep them out to begin with?
  • Where did Wheeljack find two missile-equipped helicopters?
  • Megatron retreats, saying "The Autobots may have destroyed our city of New Cybertron"... but the Autobots really have done nothing of the sort.
  • Why didn't the Constructicons find the Matrix when they took apart Prime?
  • Even more curious, how is it that Optimus can survive being reduced to a talking head, when the much lesser damage he took in The Transformers: The Movie was enough to kill him? Is this because he was supposedly "disassembled", for the most part, rather than damaged?

I Love New York errors

  • The opening pan from the Hudson River shows the Chrysler Building south of the Empire State Building. It should be north. Both buildings are way too far south relative to the Twin Towers.
  • "Meet us in Central Park" is an incredibly vague order, considering the size of the place.
  • The Autobots don't really stop in Central Park; there's buildings on two sides of them. No traffic or pedestrians, though. Or sidewalks.
  • As the Decepticons prepare to raise it back into position, the Empire State Building is drawn as if it borders a park.
  • The Brooklyn Bridge is more than just three lanes wide. It also does not have an exit ramp at mid-span.
  • Oh, man. Spike went swimming in the East River in 1985? He is a super-human.
  • It could just be chalked up to Hound's optimism, but most subway tracks don't end at a river.

Continuity notes

  • Powers and gadgets:
    • Wheeljack and company all use their hydrofoils to cross New York Harbor.
    • Hook uses a lightsaber laser sword to disassemble Prime.
    • Then of course, there's Prime's bizarre telekinetic limb control, something he evidently shares with a far less fortunate bot.

Real-world references

Let the hate flow through you.
Giant: check. Empire State Building: check. But no beauty.
  • Star Wars sound effects:
    • Laserbeak uses a whole series of Star Wars effects as he rockets over Manhattan, including a Millennium Falcon engine noise, the TIE Fighter engine roar (several times), the TIE Fighter ambient cockpit noise, and the sound of an X-Wing diving to attack the Death Star.
    • Hook's lightsaber laser sword ignites with the sound of Luke deflecting the seeker ball's bolts aboard the Millennium Falcon.
  • Devastator climbs the Decepticons' "improved" version of the Empire State Building, very similarly to King Kong, as Wheeljack rather heavy-handedly points out.
  • The alligatorcon is likely an allusion to the persistent rumors of alligators living in New York City's sewers.
  • Various New York landmarks are seen and/or mentioned: the Twin Towers, the Chrysler Building, the Empire State Building, the Statue of Liberty, Central Park, the Woolworth Building (visible as the first Autobots leave Manhattan), the Brooklyn Bridge. Hound mentions Park Avenue, Madison Avenue, and Lexington Avenue.
  • Scrapper invites the Autobots to "Take the A Train".
  • The final shot in this episode shows Bumblebee with an "I ♥ NY" bumper sticker, part of a famous promotional campaign.

Trivia

  • Along with "The Core" and "The Autobot Run", this episode is one of a trio animated by AKOM, showcasing the Constructicons and featuring distinctively bright and "cartoonish" art and animation, lots of use of stock poses, a somewhat more juvenile plot and script than normal, and a common set of animation model oddities (listed above).
  • Though it is widely regarded in the fandom as his normal way of speaking, this is in fact the only time Mixmaster's speech oddity ("Right right right. Mega Mega Megatron!") ever shows up.
  • When Megatron warns the Autobots against interfering with his plans, he refers to a "minicon" as a unit of measurement. This term would be later used as the name for the Mini-Cons, a race of small Transformers (primarily) from the Unicron Trilogy
  • AKOM avoids screwing up Devastator's combination sequence by not actually showing it. The pieces of Devastator just fly in from off-screen, already formed.
  • Prime's vehicle mode gains toy-accurate cab stripes and his trailer has the additional blue stripes from the toy.
  • This was one of several episodes subjected to the MSTF treatment at BotCon 2000.

Home video releases

All releases listed are in English audio unless otherwise noted.
VHS

United States of America 1999 — The Original Transformers — Volume 1: Prime Threat (Rhino Entertainment)

Laserdisc

Japan 1994 — Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers — Convoy Set (Takara) — Japanese audio only.
Japan 1998 — The Transformers — Autobot Edition (Pioneer LDC) — Japanese audio only.

DVD

Japan 2001 — The Transformers — DVD Box 1 (Pioneer LDC) — Japanese audio only.
United States of America 2002 — The Original Transformers — Season 2 Part 1 (Rhino Entertainment)
United States of America 2002 — The Original Transformers — Season 2 Part 1: Vol. 1 (Rhino Entertainment)
United Kingdom 2003 — Transformers — Season 2 Part 1 (Metrodome)
United Kingdom 2004 — Transformers — Bumper Collection Special (Metrodome)
Australia 2004 — Transformers — Collection 2: Series 2.1 (Madman Entertainment)
United Kingdom 2006 — Transformers — The Complete Generation One Collection (Metrodome)
Australia 2007 — The Transformers — Complete Collection (Madman Entertainment)
Italy 2008 — Transformers — Volume 03: Stagione Due Parte Prima (Medianetwork Communication) — English and Italian audio.
United Kingdom 2009 — Transformers — Season Two: Part One (Metrodome)
Australia 2009 — The Transformers — Complete Collection: Decepticon Edition (Madman Entertainment)
United States of America 2009 — The Transformers — Season Two, Volume One: 25th Anniversary Edition (Shout! Factory)
United States of America 2009 — The Transformers — The Complete Series: 25th Anniversary "Matrix of Leadership" Collection (Shout! Factory)

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