"Transformers" (1984) TV series 1984-1987

User Rating:

8.3/10   

Director:

Peter Wallach

Writer:

Roger Slifer (live-action sequences)

Seasons:

1 | 2 | 3 | 4

Release Date:

17 September 1984 (USA)

Genre:

Animation | Action | Adventure | Family | Fantasy | Sci-Fi | Thriller

Tagline:

More than meets the eye!

Plot:

Two opposing camps of alien transforming robots fight in a war that has the fate of Earth in the balance.

Plot Keywords:

Robot | Alien | Battle | Good Versus Evil | Alien Civilization

Cast

Frank Welker	...	Megatron / ... (68 episodes, 1984-1987)
Peter Cullen	...	Optimus Prime / ... (63 episodes, 1984-1987)
Chris Latta	...	Starscream / ... (63 episodes, 1984-1987)
Corey Burton	...	Spike Witwicky / ... (55 episodes, 1984-1987)
John Stephenson	...	Thundercracker / ... (51 episodes, 1984-1987)
Casey Kasem	...	Teletraan I / ... (51 episodes, 1984-1986)
Dan Gilvezan	...	Bumblebee / ... (50 episodes, 1984-1987)
Don Messick	...	Ratchet / ... (49 episodes, 1984-1986)
Michael Bell	...	Prowl / ... (46 episodes, 1984-1987)
Jack Angel	...	Ramjet / ... (37 episodes, 1985-1987)
Scatman Crothers	...	Jazz (34 episodes, 1984-1986)
Ken Sansom	...	Hound / ... (30 episodes, 1984-1985)
Michael Chain	...	Hoist / ... (28 episodes, 1985-1986)

Also Known As:

Super God Robot Force
Tatakae! Chô robot seimeitai Transformer (Japan)
The Transformers (USA) (new title)
Transformer 2010 (Japan) (third season title)
Transformers: Generation 1 (USA) (informal title)

Runtime:

Argentina:30 min | USA:30 min (98 episodes)

Country:

USA | Japan

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

UK:U (video rating) | Singapore:G | Canada:G (TV rating) | Argentina:Atp | Australia:PG (DVD rating) | USA:TV-Y7 | Australia:G (some episodes)

Company:

Sunbow Productions

Trivia:

Alpha Trion is the only Transformer in the series who aged since the beginning of the war between Autobots and Decepticons till the present time, judging by the difference in his look at "War Dawn" and "The Search for Alpha Trion".

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: Animation errors can be found in each and every episode, and some of these are quite noticeable. Characters are colored differently from shot to shot at times, robots that should be dead appear randomly, and sometimes, you can see the same character twice in the same shot. Another issue is the misplacing of animation cels, which resulted in characters appearing to be small/gigantic, and in some instances, full limbs and other body parts are missing.

Quotes:

Apeface: Yuck. Noble Autobots make me wanna puke.

Movie Connections:

Spoofed in "The Simpsons: Future-Drama (#16.15)" (2005)

Loved it when I was a kid, but not without its flaws.

Transformers, for me were the coolest toys as you could actually do something with them, hey they transformed. The cartoon was a very good compliment to said toys. It followed the story of the Autobots who were good and the Decepticons who were well not good. They raged most of their battles on earth and the show was at its best during the first season and parts of the second season. The ones that occurred after the movie were pretty good, but then I thought the headmaster and target master miniseries that would mark the end of the Transformers generation one was very weak as it was nothing but one big toy commercial and featured many Transformers that were never introduced before playing a rather large role. My favorite episodes usually involved the Decepticons called Constructicons. Six robots that formed the super robot Devastater. They were my favorite toys as a kid and I actually still have them. The show was not without other problems than just the weak ending. A lot of problems stem from problems with the plot and origins of some of the robots. Apparently, they didn't think a kid could remember how a robot was introduced so they created a new origin. Such as Devastator. Clearly introduced in season one as being created on earth they would in a later episode show them having been on Cybertron and they were good guys no less. Also, it was clearly shown you could make a new transformer on earth, but in later episodes it was shown you had to use a special device to infuse them with personality. Still, the problems were not enough to steer me away from this cool cartoon.