The Transformers 

Two opposing factions of transforming alien robots engage in a battle that has the fate of Earth in the balance.

Stars:

Frank Welker, Peter Cullen, Corey Burton

Cast

Series cast summary:
Frank Welker	...	Megatron / ... 93 episodes, 1984-1987
Peter Cullen	...	Optimus Prime / ... 69 episodes, 1984-1987
Corey Burton	...	Spike Witwicky / ... 68 episodes, 1984-1987
Christopher Collins	...	Starscream / ... 68 episodes, 1984-1987
John Stephenson	...	Thundercracker / ... 67 episodes, 1984-1987
Jack Angel	...	Ultra Magnus / ... 60 episodes, 1985-1987
Dan Gilvezan	...	Bumblebee / ... 54 episodes, 1984-1987
Michael Bell	...	Prowl / ... 53 episodes, 1984-1987
Casey Kasem	...	Teletraan I / ... 53 episodes, 1984-1986
Don Messick	...	Ratchet / ... 49 episodes, 1984-1986
Neil Ross	...	Springer / ... 39 episodes, 1984-1987

Storyline

During the great Cybertronian War, the Autobots and the Decepticons crash landed on Earth. Millions of years later, geological activity revives the warring factions - the Decepticons want to strip Earth of its vast energy resources, and the Autobots seek to protect the inhabitants of Earth from that fate. And so an endless battle begins in a crucial race to find an energy source for their homeworld Cybertron.

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Plot Keywords:

1980s | actor voicing multiple characters | alien planet | alien world | flying robot | 

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Taglines:

More than meets the eye!

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Genres:

Animation | Action | Adventure | Family | Sci-Fi

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Certificate:

TV-Y7

Details

Official Sites:

Hasbro home page

Country:

USA Japan South Korea

Language:

English

Release Date:

17 September 1984 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Transformers

Box Office

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$4,300,000

Company Credits

Production Co:

Sunbow Productions, Marvel Productions, Hasbro

Technical Specs

Runtime:

30 min (98 episodes)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

In Marvel Comics, Sparkplug has a son named Buster, Spike's younger brother. Buster was the first Witwicky depicted in fiction, and filled a similar role in the early comics that Spike filled in the animated series. According to the comics, Spike was away at college for the first few years of the war between the Autobots and Decepticons on Earth. When Buster was kidnapped by the Decepticons, Spike returned home and rescued his brother.

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Goofs

The second title sequence of Season 3 contains a number of notable animation errors. When the Sharkticon swims towards the screen and opens its mouth, it suddenly turns upside-down for a couple of frames. And in the last shot of the sequence, Ultra Magnus' head is colored entirely blues (his face should be gray), and Kup is drawn with Springer's head. These errors are easy to spot, since the appear in almost every episode.

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Quotes

Dirk Manus: Slimy, worm-fingered creep!
Quintesson: Unlikable, dry-skinned biped.

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Connections

Referenced in The Goldbergs: Happy Mom, Happy Life (2015)

User Reviews

Excellent cartoon that has something for both kids and adults

I love this series, it was a childhood favourite and I still am a fan of it. The animation is decent enough with the odd understandable inconsistency, with the robots wonderful to watch and the backgrounds and colours quite bold and fitting. The music is great, memorable while with an essence of complexity in some of the orchestration, the narrative is cool and does justice to some outstanding if simple story ideas. The writing is intelligent and humorous, in short enough to satisfy anybody who watches the show, and the characters are some of the memorable characters in a cartoon series for me, especially Megatron and Optimus Prime. This is helped hugely by a top notch vocal cast with Frank Welker and Peter Cullen born for their roles. All in all, an excellent cartoon that has something for everyone. 10/10 Bethany Cox