I thought I would do something new for a change with the blog section. I recently decided to watch through the entire run of Transformers. No, not just the original cartoon as I’ve done many times before. This will be a complete watching of all the Transformers lore. That means Japanese series, Beast Wars, and all the way up through today. As I end each season, I’m going to make a post on each one and highlight it.
Season one is among the shortest seasons in Transformers history, totaling 16 episodes when you include the three part mini-series that debuted entitled “More Than Meets The Eye.” This opened the series in the same way GI Joe was introduced with several mini series before a full season order was picked up.
This series was the epitome of my childhood and the main reason I woke up many mornings as a child. The opening music of this season is my default ringtone on my phone.
This season brings us the introduction of Optimus Prime and Megatron and their respective Autobot and Decepticon teams. As the season progresses, we see the introduction of Skyfire, the Dinobots, the Insecticons, and the Constructicons.
Some things are noticeable as you watch a series through back to back. At the end of the MTMTE mini series, it’s almost assumed the Autobots went back to Cybertron after finishing off the Decepticons, but by the time the series was picked up for a full season, that obviously wasn’t the case. Also, the Decepticons fate was a bit unknown at the end of Heavy Metal War. The series had not been picked up for season two yet, but the end of the episode would have a made a good endpoint had the series not been picked up again. It’s certainly not the last time vagueness and retconning will come into play in the franchise.
Many call it and other shows like it nothing more than half hour toy commercials. It may have been that, but Transformers was always much more. it is a rich backstory filled with memorable characters that will stick with us for a long time. It’ hard to find someone who doesn’t know the names Optimus Prime and Megatron. This short run sparked franchise that many enjoy with their own kids to this day. Short and sweet, but still memorable even now.
