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In February of 1987, the Transformers animated series aired part one of the two-part “The Return of Optimus Prime” storyline. The same reasons that factored into Prime’s death, toy sales, ironically contributed to the character’s resurrection - this time, back on the small screen. The new line of figures launched by the movie, like Hot Rod (voiced by Judd Nelson) and Wheelie, struggled to match the sales figures and popularity of the Generation One line. Hasbro was also getting negative feedback in the form of less-than-stellar toy sales. We were getting a lot of nasty notes about it.” “We heard about people leaving the movie. “The kids were crying in the theaters,” Dille says on the commentary track. But this business decision did not quite work out as Hasbro planned.
#Transformers animated season 1 episode 4 movie
The movie had a mandate to deep-six the old guard so more robots from Cybertron could take their place on toy store shelves. Once you establish an icon, you’re a fool if you don’t try to preserve it.”ĭespite Friedman’s objections, Hasbro moved forward with the hero’s demise and those of other memorable Transformers like Starscream. You cannot pass that over and have any hope of duplicating the success you had. They didn’t recognize that Optimus Prime was the heartbeat of the Autobots. “To remove Optimus Prime, to physically remove ‘Daddy’ from the family, that wasn’t going to work,” Friedman reveals in a 2013 interview. Friedman saw Prime as more than just a leader, he was a father figure to the Autobots - one that Hasbro should not be so quick to retire to the rust pile. Screenwriter Ron Friedman, who had several animated episodes of GI Joe and Transformers under his belt when he was tapped to write Transformers: The Movie, strongly urged Hasbro not to kill off their flagship character.
But one of Transformers: The Movie‘s filmmakers was aware of the character’s appeal, and tried to prevent his death. The more adult themes and violent robots-killing-robots action helped the movie endure as a load-bearing column of ’80s pop-culture in the minds of its passionate fanbase. The miscalculation on Hasbro’s part gave the movie a darker edge that allowed it to stand out from the era’s usual animated fare. We just thought we were killing off the old product line to replace it with new products.” “We didn’t know that he was an icon,” admits story consultant Flint Dillie on the movie’s Blu-ray commentary. Why would Hasbro scar its young audience with such disturbing, “we’re-not-messing-around” imagery? So they could hopefully inspire their audience to buy more Transformers toys. This massacre set the tone for Prime’s death, which occurs after an epic brawl with Megatron (Frank Welker) sees Prime succumb to his fatal injuries, blacken and die. (The Autobot Prowl, after being shot in the chest, leaks small plumes of fiery smoke from his eyes and mouth). The death march kicked off in an early scene aboard an Autobot shuttle, where Megatron and his fellow Decepticons murder fan-favorites like Ironhide in shockingly graphic fashion. So when parents took their kids to see Transformers: The Movie on opening weekend 35 years ago, they were not expecting to be greeted with a high body count. Hasbro Developing 30 Brands For Film/TV to "Supercharge" Entertainment StrategyĪt the time, the Autobots and Decepticons had spent two years on the animated series, where they traded blows and laser blasts with neither side registering any battle damage or fatalities. While the bold choice to kill off this fan-favorite character and leader of the Autobots gave Transformers: The Movie the type of “no-one-is-safe” stakes rarely afforded in animated films at the time, the motives behind that decision would ripple effect across the franchise for more than three decades. Prime (Peter Cullen), at first, wasn’t a casualty of narrative necessity. Among those action-packed sequences is one of the most traumatizing events for Transformers fans and ’80s kids everywhere: The death of Optimus Prime.
#Transformers animated season 1 episode 4 full
The birth of the Transformers’ big-screen adventures began with the death of its most iconic hero.ģ5 years ago this week, Transformers: The Movie (now on disc in 4K from Shout! Factory) blasted into theaters full of stadium rock needle drops (Stan Bush!) and a production budget that allowed for some truly epic - and violent - set pieces that the Hasbro toyline’s animated series could not afford.
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