Sunbow Sundays

[The Doctor]

NEW FEATURE!

Let's watch the Sunbow Transformers show an episode a week starting this Sunday and then each Sunday thereafter. Post your thoughts! Watch the show in order perhaps for the first time!

Sunday, August 16th: More Than Meets The Eye Part 1.

-Ralph

---

WEEK	WHEN	SERIES	EPISODE	NAME
1	16/08/2015	1	1	More than Meets the Eye, Part 1
2	23/08/2015	1	2	More than Meets the Eye, Part 2
3	30/08/2015	1	3	More than Meets the Eye, Part 3
4	06/09/2015	1	4	Transport to Oblivion
5	13/09/2015	1	5	Roll for It
6	20/09/2015	1	6	Divide and Conquer
7	27/09/2015	1	7	Fire in the Sky
8	04/10/2015	1	8	S.O.S. Dinobots
9	11/10/2015	1	9	Fire on the Mountain
10	18/10/2015	1	10	War of the Dinobots
11	25/10/2015	1	11	The Ultimate Doom, Part 1
12	01/11/2015	1	12	The Ultimate Doom, Part 2
13	08/11/2015	1	13	The Ultimate Doom, Part 3
14	15/11/2015	1	14	Countdown to Extinction
15	22/11/2015	1	15	A Plague of Insecticons
16	29/11/2015	1	16	Heavy Metal War
17	06/12/2015	2	1	Autobot Spike
18	13/12/2015	2	2	Changing Gears
19	20/12/2015	2	3	City of Steel
20	27/12/2015	2	4	Attack of the Autobots
21	03/01/2016	2	5	Traitor
22	10/01/2016	2	6	The Immobilizer
23	17/01/2016	2	7	The Autobot Run
24	24/01/2016	2	8	Atlantis, Arise!
25	31/01/2016	2	9	Day of the Machines
26	07/02/2016	2	10	Enter the Nightbird
27	14/02/2016	2	11	A Prime Problem
28	21/02/2016	2	12	The Core
29	28/02/2016	2	13	The Insecticon Syndrome
30	06/03/2016	2	14	Dinobot Island, Part 1
31	13/03/2016	2	15	Dinobot Island, Part 2
32	20/03/2016	2	16	The Master Builders
33	27/03/2016	2	17	Auto Berserk
34	03/04/2016	2	18	Microbots
35	10/04/2016	2	19	Megatron's Master Plan, Part 1
36	17/04/2016	2	20	Megatron's Master Plan, Part 2
37	24/04/2016	2	21	Desertion of the Dinobots, Part 1
38	01/05/2016	2	22	Desertion of the Dinobots, Part 2
39	08/05/2016	2	23	Blaster Blues
40	15/05/2016	2	24	A Decepticon Raider in King Arthur's Court
41	22/05/2016	2	25	The Golden Lagoon
42	29/05/2016	2	26	The God Gambit
43	05/06/2016	2	27	Make Tracks
44	12/06/2016	2	28	Child's Play
45	19/06/2016	2	29	Quest for Survival
46	26/06/2016	2	30	The Secret of Omega Supreme
47	03/07/2016	2	31	The Gambler
48	10/07/2016	2	32	Kremzeek!
49	17/07/2016	2	33	Sea Change
50	24/07/2016	2	34	Triple Takeover
51	31/07/2016	2	35	Prime Target
52	07/08/2016	2	36	Auto-Bop
53	14/08/2016	2	37	The Search for Alpha Trion
54	21/08/2016	2	38	The Girl Who Loved Powerglide
55	28/08/2016	2	39	Hoist Goes Hollywood
56	04/09/2016	2	40	The Key to Vector Sigma, Part 1
57	11/09/2016	2	41	The Key to Vector Sigma, Part 2
58	18/09/2016	2	42	Aerial Assault
59	25/09/2016	2	43	War Dawn
60	02/10/2016	2	44	Trans-Europe Express
61	09/10/2016	2	45	Cosmic Rust
62	16/10/2016	2	46	Starscream's Brigade
63	23/10/2016	2	47	The Revenge of Bruticus
64	30/10/2016	2	48	Masquerade
65	06/11/2016	2	49	B.O.T.
66	13/11/2016	Movie		Transformers: The Movie
67	20/11/2016	3	1	Five Faces of Darkness, Part 1
68	27/11/2016	3	2	Five Faces of Darkness, Part 2
69	04/12/2016	3	3	Five Faces of Darkness, Part 3
70	11/12/2016	3	4	Five Faces of Darkness, Part 4
71	18/12/2016	3	5	Five Faces of Darkness, Part 5
72	25/12/2016	3	6	The Killing Jar
73	01/01/2017	3	7	Chaos
74	08/01/2017	3	8	Dark Awakening
75	15/01/2017	3	9	Forever Is a Long Time Coming
76	22/01/2017	3	10	Starscream's Ghost
77	29/01/2017	3	11	Thief in the Night
78	05/02/2017	3	12	Surprise Party
79	12/02/2017	3	13	Madman's Paradise
80	19/02/2017	3	14	Nightmare Planet
81	26/02/2017	3	15	Ghost in the Machine
82	05/03/2017	3	16	Webworld
83	12/03/2017	3	17	Carnage in C-Minor
84	19/03/2017	3	18	The Quintesson Journal
85	26/03/2017	3	19	The Ultimate Weapon
86	02/04/2017	3	20	The Big Broadcast of 2006
87	09/04/2017	3	21	Fight or Flee
88	16/04/2017	3	22	The Dweller in the Depths
89	23/04/2017	3	23	Only Human
90	30/04/2017	3	24	Grimlock's New Brain
91	07/05/2017	3	25	Money Is Everything
92	14/05/2017	3	26	Call of the Primitives
93	21/05/2017	3	27	The Face of the Nijika
94	28/05/2017	3	28	The Burden Hardest to Bear
95	04/06/2017	3	29	The Return of Optimus Prime, Part 1
96	11/06/2017	3	30	The Return of Optimus Prime, Part 2
97	18/06/2017	4	1	The Rebirth, Part 1
98	25/06/2017	4	2	The Rebirth, Part 2
99	02/07/2017	4	3	The Rebirth, Part 3

[Shockprowl]

We're a bit into My Little Pony (PINKY PIE RULES) and Peg+Cat at the mo, but they've been asking about Transformers again, and we never finished our run first time round...

So shifts depending- I'm/we're in, Doc'!

Great idea!!!

[The Doctor]

Well I'm just thinking each Sunday is when folk can start discussing 'that week's' episode.

-Ralph

[Pinwig]

I'm definitely in. Been waiting for something like this to kick off since I joined as I missed all the older rewatches. Sunday is now Sunbow day!

Which gives me a few days to work out how to region free my player as it's changed since I last needed to watch a region one disc.

[Andy Turnbull]

Think I can manage that.

Andy

[Shockprowl]

I think it's a magnificent and beautiful idea.

[Benn]

Yeah, I'm in.

[primenova]

I've just started watch the original series from yesterday & am on series 2 disc 1. Go red miscoloured Trailbreaker & black Skyfire.

[Andy Turnbull]

More Than Meets The Eye Part 1.

First off the credits. I've long held that the S1 credits are the best of the three. In terms of the music you may not agree, but in just shy of a minute is a perfect encapsulation of the Transformers that sets the stall out from the start.

The opening narration sets the shows stall out early doors and gets rid of what would otherwise be a chunk of exposition that some poor sod would have to deliver. and is all the better for it. I'm not going to go into the plot as we are all pretty much aware of it and some of us can recite it from memory with sound effects on cue. What strikes me in the first episode, is that with so many characters we get introduced to, that there are some very nice dynamics being set up right away. Megatron has Starscream jockying for position and is clearly looking to take charge at some point. All done in their first scene together.

From the Autobot side of things I would say it's Hound and Cliffjumper that come off quite well, Hound showing an earnest sense of wonder at the Earth and Cliffjumper displaying a very brash and impulsive side. Jazz, is also quite clearly being positioned as an important character, being someone that delivers critical information to Optimus and then to set up the battle unit.

Indeed, if anything it's odd to think how little of Optimus' character comes across in this first episode. Where Megatron is clearly power-hungry and direct in his actions and methods, Optimus seeks to stop the Decepticons, but there is lack of any depth to him. At least in terms of the dialogue, the delivery of Peter Cullen is what gives you a sense of him. He's confident and knows he is right.

Indeed, it's the vocal performance that adds a lot to the characters. Skywarp is quite clearly a brutal thug, Ratchet comes across as a reassuring presence with a little warmth to him. Rumble is also a belligerent little punk. Prowl, sounds redoubtable, and like a right hand man.

The animation is pretty decent by the then current standards and is arguably far better than any cel animated show these days.

Sets up the Transformers in 1 episode and gives us a nice little cliffhanger and moves at a pretty brisk pace.

Really liked Laserbeak's Cybertronian mode, wish we'd seen more. Not sure why Ravage is presented as a bestial warrior, with what would appear at least in this episode to be limited intellect.

The voice cast is bang on, although the one thing that shines through is how similar Reflector's voice is to Starscream, probably the only misstep in the voice casting (at least at this point).

Andy

[Shockprowl]

More than Meets the Eye part 1.

I struggle to recall, in cartoon or live-action, a better first episode of anything! It's roller-coaster of action and information, plunging the viewer into this thrilling new world. As a child it was captivating. What is interesting, is watching it now through the eyes of my children. They're girls, so don't like the warmongering side of things as much as a boy would (I know that's a stereotypical statement, but it's true), but both are romantics and thrive on an entertaining Good vs Evil story. The fact that they're captivated as much as I was shows how good the source material is and how well it's presented. Yes they've heavily biased to liking it as their Dad likes it, but they're not stupid, and have inherited their mother's stubbornness, and would never watch it at all if it wasn't any good. I think it is the characterisation that drives it. Just magnificent, memorable, and easily identifiable characters. Sub-plots, personalities. My only criticism touches on what Andu said above about Ravage. They didn't get some of the characterisation right. Ravage lacking all intellect is one. For me, Prowl is not portrayed as second-in-command when clearly he is. And nothing is made of Thundercracker's lack of enthusiasm for the Decepticon cause. Maybe the latter is a touch too complicated perhaps for episode one, but the bones could have been laid. Some characterisation just doesn't happen, it's almost wasted. They're some great characterisations in the Transformers that just aren't used or aren't used enough. That's harsh to lay at the feet of episode 1, it is after all only episode 1, but the trend continues throughout Sunbow. Children then and now are more than capable of understanding and enjoying complex story-telling, and complex characters, why dumb things down? Let 'em have it (Dead End)!

But, freakin' arese spankingly great episode.

Childrens' favorite quote: Bumblebee, "Prime told me they'd be days like these!". Wheeljack, "And you didn't believe him?!". Bumblebee, "I do now!".

[The Doctor]

It's a very attention grabbing opening and moves like a rocket!

-Ralph

[Philip Ayres]

Aug 16, 2015 18:24:25 GMT Andy Turnbull said:

More Than Meets The Eye Part 1.

First off the credits. I've long held that the S1 credits are the best of the three. In terms of the music you may not agree, but in just shy of a minute is a perfect encapsulation of the Transformers that sets the stall out from the start.

You're wrong, the S1 title music is the best.

[The Doctor]

We'll see when we get to it in context but I have always felt the S2 theme to be far superior. So much punchier. The S1 theme feels so flat compared to how kinetic the first act of this first episode is.

-Ralph

[Andy Turnbull]

Oh I agree Phil, but Ralph dislikes it.

He is wrong.

Andy

[Philip Ayres]

VERY wrong

[Benn]

I must side with Ralph here, I actually prefer the S2 credits wholesale. It's a lot more dynamic. But anyway...

MORE THAN MEETS THE EYE - DAY ONE (as my DVD has it)

Despite what I said up there, the original credits do the job of getting us going into the first ever Transformers cartoon nicely, setting up the premise quickly. The show itself starts briskly enough, and wastes no time in getting to the first action sequence.
The Decepticons are set up as credible military force, and also as masters of subtlety with Soundwaves debut. The seeds of the Decepticons downfall is shown early as well, with Starscream openly displaying his ambition, and Megatron doing nothing to knock him into line. Even the Ladybird books didn't make that mistake! And of course, the desperate state of affairs on Cybertron is highlighted with the desperation of Prime to get his search in the air as soon as possible.
Once on Earth, the Decepticons modus operandi is set up straight of the bat, and again, Starscream leads to their downfall with his determination to do his own thing. This is the one point where the Decepticons actually get something wrong in this whole three-parter! The initial skirmish does a good job of showing the surprise on the Decepticons at being attacked, they really were not expecting to be attacked, and Cliffjumpers over-eagerness sacrifices the Autobots main advantage at this point. Now the elements of surprise and disguise are lost to them... and it's notable that the Decepticon who first states that it must be the Autobots is Starscream.
Powers and abilities are showcased right off the bat, with Starscreams Null-Ray, Rumbles piledrivers and Cliffjumpers Glass Gas gun. More of these will be showcased on day two.
Humans are bought in, and I like that the Decepticons have no idea what they are initially, assuming that the van is another Autobot. One of the few examples that the cartoon gave us that this is an alien world to the Transformers and its a nice touch.
The Autobots transformation scene is amazingly well animated, and one of my favorite sequences from any cartoon. The Decepticons set about their nefarious raid, and the episode ends with the Bad guys victorious and the goodguys adrift in a burning ocean. Hows that for a cliffhanger?

This is very much a Decepticon-centric episode, which is unusual for a childrens cartoon, much less an opening episode. And above that, I think this is Starscreams episode. He's in most of the Decepticon scenes, and gets the majority of the characterization. We see that he is ambitious, naive, headstrong and not too bright, needing, at this stage in his career, the guidance of Megatron to be most effective. And don't you just feel so sorry for poor old Shockwave?

In terms of opening episodes to a show, I think that only Animated comes close to matching this, of setting up the status quo and players where they need to be for the majority of the show. But Animated needed a much longer opener, and watching these as single episodes, there's enough here to bring you back. And speaking of, there's still two more to go!

[primenova]

I agree - like series 2 opening better than series 1. But with series 3 prefer the end credit to opening because of playing guess the episode.

[The Doctor]

Aug 16, 2015 22:26:56 GMT Andy Turnbull said:

Oh I agree Phil, but Ralph dislikes it.

He is wrong.

Andy

S1 theme is insipid. Lacks the energy a show like this needs. It is the paper and comb version of the theme. It's as dull as the GI Joe theme.

-Ralph

[Andy Turnbull]

You are cloth eared chum!

Andy

[Shockprowl]

I choose s1 over s2 as well. S2 is good, energetic, but s1 has a huge nostalgia factor and it's an iconic tune.

[Pinwig]

Late this week and I won't usually write this much, promise, but I had to dig out my old region free DVD player and hook it back up because I can't find an easy way to region free-ise my newer player. It was an issue that remained unresolved after I upgraded to blu-ray earlier in the year. Anyway, being the first ep it warranted a ramble:

More Than Meets The Eye - Part 1

It isn’t possible to watch these early episodes without recalling my first encounter with them as segments on Wacaday. I was going to say that this is the first time I’ve watched MTMTE part one as an individual episode, because the ‘Arrival from Cybertron’ video presented all three parts as a film, but Timmy Mallet’s daily school holiday breakfast show cut these early episodes into even smaller pieces, and I always used to question why the show for the most popular toy line of the day wasn’t being broadcast in a more sensible timeslot as complete episodes. Even back then I could recognise that having to watch Mallet’s Mallet just to get that intense five minute burst of Cybertronian goodness was a pretty high price to have to pay.

So looked at individually rather than as part of the whole (and a quick check over at epguides.com tells me these first three episodes were originally shown over three consecutive nights on their first US airings, so it’s right to do that) Part 1 comes across as a solid setup episode that establishes the important core concepts. I find it fascinating how the comic and cartoon take the same basic premise but interpret it in subtly different ways, with the cartoon focusing on the quest for energy as the driving force behind the Autobots leaving Cybertron, then being drawn into Earth’s gravity after the Decepticon attack, and in contrast the comic using the more convoluted idea that Cybertron is shaken loose from its orbit by the ferocity of the war, sending it into the path of an asteroid belt which Prime leads a mission to clear, then deliberately crashing the Ark after the Decepticon attack. The similarities and differences between the two suggest that Hasbro’s original bible was very sketchy on the origin story, but there must have been one.

The biggest difference between the two is that in the comic Cybertron is portrayed as teeming with life, and Prime is shown as a fierce warrior rather than the outright leader. The Decepticons are a lesser faction with Megatron looking for a way to assert control. In the cartoon, Cybertron is shown as a barren wasteland from the start with very little life. The Autobots come across almost as a resistance movement with Wheeljack and Bumblebee trying to run a covert operation to find fuel before being caught by Thundercracker and Skywarp. The Autobots are bunkered underground; Prime and his immediate staff are anxious for the return of Wheeljack and Bumblebee. There’s a sense of claustrophobia and concern, which is amplified by the way Soundwave and Laserbeak eavesdrop on the proceedings as if to show Megatron always knows what the Autobots are up to. Obviously animating scenes as busy as the comic’s would be time and cost prohibitive, but the end result is a more subdued tone for the cartoon.

So when the Autobots leave Cybertron it almost feels like they’re deserting their home in search of a new one, after all this is Optimus Prime leading the mission, the outright leader, unlike the comic where an elder council details him with the task of leading the mission because he’s their best general. In the cartoon there’s no indication that affairs on Cybertron are left under Autobot control, whereas in Megatron’s camp he details Shockwave with the task of holding the fort. The war almost seems like it’s at a stalemate with each side entrenched.

This raises another interesting point; that the comic uses the full cast of characters very quickly and info-dumps the lot of them on the reader in the first issue, whereas in the cartoon the viewer is carefully fed new characters two at a time, rather like Bilbo introducing the dwarves to Beorn in the Hobbit. Obviously this is because with a paper comic you can use that intro spread as a point of reference to refer back to, which is why the UK comic even made a reference poster out of it, but the cartoon needs to be more careful about helping the viewer retain the information. So it does this by bringing characters in as a slow drip feed, sometimes not even naming them initially, but ensuring that when each is shown for the first time we’re given some snippet of info that allows us to identify that character again. Wheeljack’s the engineer, Bumblebee the inexperienced helper; Starscream is the usurper, Soundwave the spymaster; Cliffjumper the hothead, Hound the peace maker, and so on.

The other important point about the cartoon is that is comes across as better planned than the initial issues of the comic. The comic may have eventually had a better story over its intended four issues, but by the end of them it had adopted the cartoon character models and sorted out the kinks in the colouring. Through necessity the cartoon presents altered and simplified versions of the robots from the start, which have subsequently become the default way we identify them. Think about that; the way we perceive the characters now comes solely from the need for the cartoon to simplify their appearances for animation purposes. Had there been no cartoon, Ironhide and Ratchet may still today look like their toys in fiction, as that’s the way the comic was going until it changed to match the cartoon’s style guide.

The presence of Shockwave also demonstrates the cartoon was thinking ahead. The Decepticon forces are minimal compared to the full ranks of the Autobots, so none could be left behind on Cybertron, and the fact this sequence is actually in the first episode hints at Cybertron featuring in future episodes quite quickly. By using a character who would not be on toy shelves until the following year he could be kept in reserve. In contrast the comic doesn’t return to Cybertron until the beginning of 1986, a year and a half later, and uses far more imaginative ways to bring new characters into the story in the meantime.

Reflector is also an oddity; is he introduced at this point purely to bolster the Decepticon ranks in the way that vehicon clones would be in the post-Beast Wars era? Or is he here because it was intended his toy would be an early release which was then dropped?

In all, the first episode does an excellent job of setting up the premise for the series and presents a lot of information in bite-size chunks very quickly. Because of the way it’s done it’s easy to retain, but the way it concludes with the Autobots helping the workers on the oil rig destroyed by the Decepticon attack shows that this isn’t intended as a self contained introduction. There’s no conclusion to the narrative here and watching the episode in isolation leaves the viewer unsatisfied with the lack of resolution. That may seem obvious to say, but this is definitely cut off with a cliff hanger that comes from stopping the action after 22 minutes, rather than planning a proper break into the narrative such as you’d get with a serial. Spike and Sparkplug aren’t sufficiently established for the viewer to care that much that they’re in trouble, and none of the characters we’ve spent the last twenty minutes getting to know are in peril. But it’s gripping, original and more than enough to bring you back for part two.

[primenova]

3rd party should do Reflector but cartoon style where they all look the same. I guess Hasbro dropped the toy maybe because the toy didn't look like the character in the cartoon. All being purple/blue with cirle in torso.

[Pinwig]

Okay, so is the fact Sunstorm, Bitstream and Hotlink exist down to artistic licence on the part of the fans based on a colouring error, or was it intentional? when Wheeljack and Bumblebee approach the Decepticons on the bridge you can clearly see five figures. Then this split second image:



Gave rise to those three characters, when to me it looks more like a wrongly coloured Starscream, Skywarp with his colours reversed and Thundercracker with minor colouring errors. Was it only the Botcon 2013 set that first named Bitstream and Hotlink? and why was the set called the Rainmaker set when that confuses it with the other three tetrajets that seem to have that name in 'Divide and Conquer'? 

Does anything definitively explain that or is it all conjecture?

[The Doctor]

These characters do not exist. They never existed. Just a colouring error on a quick blurry panning shot.

-Ralph

[primenova]

Are some shots where we do see more than 3 jets. The green jet - I think it was in Megatron 2 parter in series 2 before the Autobots returned.

[Pinwig]

Aug 19, 2015 11:45:56 GMT The Doctor said:

These characters do not exist. They never existed. Just a colouring error on a quick blurry panning shot.

-Ralph

This to me is what logic dictates, this kind of thing didn't happen with the colouring errors in the early comic issues, they were just ignored. So when did Sunstorm and Acid Storm first become 'canon'? what defined that?

[Benn]

Sunstorm happened under Dreamwave's watch. I think Acid Storm first turned up as a toy (Universe?), then cameo'd in IDW's ongoing a couple of times. As did Sunstorm, actually.

[Philip Ayres]

Aug 19, 2015 13:21:43 GMT Benn said:

Sunstorm happened under Dreamwave's watch. I think Acid Storm first turned up as a toy (Universe?), then cameo'd in IDW's ongoing a couple of times. As did Sunstorm, actually.

Sunstorm's first toy is an e-Hobby exclusive in 2003. tfwiki.net/wiki/Sunstorm_%28G1%29#Collector.27s_Edition

His first comic appearance is early 2004. tfwiki.net/wiki/Night_of_the_Combaticons

His first western toy, an exclusive like most have been, was the same year. tfwiki.net/wiki/Sunstorm_%28Universe%29#Universe

[Fortmax2020]

Aug 19, 2015 11:45:56 GMT The Doctor said:

These characters do not exist. They never existed. Just a colouring error on a quick blurry panning shot.

-Ralph

Think of the amount of new characters Yomtov introduced!

[Benn]

Aug 19, 2015 15:22:29 GMT Philip Ayres said:

Aug 19, 2015 13:21:43 GMT Benn said:

Sunstorm happened under Dreamwave's watch. I think Acid Storm first turned up as a toy (Universe?), then cameo'd in IDW's ongoing a couple of times. As did Sunstorm, actually.

Sunstorm's first toy is an e-Hobby exclusive in 2003. tfwiki.net/wiki/Sunstorm_%28G1%29#Collector.27s_Edition

His first comic appearance is early 2004. tfwiki.net/wiki/Night_of_the_Combaticons

His first western toy, an exclusive like most have been, was the same year. tfwiki.net/wiki/Sunstorm_%28Universe%29#Universe

Oh, e-Hobby was it? Missed that.