Carnival

« Transformers: Armada ep 7 »
Meet Mr. Penguin, Mr. Bear, and Mr...er...Squidhead?
"Carnival" 祝祭 (おおさわぎ) (Ōsawagi) "Carnival: Clamor"
Production code	TF: A-07
Production company	TV Tokyo, NAS
Airdate	October 11, 2002 (English) 21 February 2003 (Japanese)
Writer	Ryō Motohira
Director	Osamu Kamijō
Animation studio	Actas Inc.
Continuity	Unicron Trilogy
Watch this episode on YouTube

A fair is a veritable smorgasbord.

Synopsis

Push it. Push it real good.

The kids puzzle why the Mini-Con in the panel recovered from Antarctica hasn't emerged yet. When High Wire tells them it's sleeping, Carlos tries to think of ways to wake it up. Alexis suggests they let it wake up naturally and do some cleaning while they're waiting. Meanwhile, Optimus and Hot Shot are watching Red Alert fix equipment. Hot Shot asks Rad and Carlos to pass him a huge spanner, which is, of course, too heavy for them to lift, a clear case of Autobot humor. Hot Shot returns to work, and the kids realize there's not much they can do to help.

This is an accident! I swear!

On the Moon, Demolishor clumsily gets in Megatron's way, earning a reprimand and his fellow Decepticons' ire. He then stumbles through the base hull, causing more damage. Disgusted, Megatron tells him to get lost.

Meanwhile, Rad and Carlos are growing bored. Carlos suggests some fresh air at the science carnival, and the pair sneak out with their Mini-Cons while Alexis and Sureshock are busy at the computer; Sparkplug spots them leaving. The two kids cruise through the fair, riding on their transformed Mini-Cons, who naturally want to have some fun too, but the kids tell them they can't change in public. Then they overhear some children talking about robots and spot Sparkplug, Longarm, and Jolt, who followed them from the base. High Wire and Grindor transform and join their fellow Mini-Cons, much to Rad and Carlos's dismay, but it seems the crowd is just assuming they're products of the laboratory that set up the fair. Soon, the Mini-Cons are enjoying the carnival, even taking part in a parade.

You now have the Millenial Fair music from Chrono Trigger in your head.

Also at the carnival are Fred and Billy. Fred spots the strange robots following Rad and Carlos around and tells Billy they should check out what's going on. Meanwhile, Rad, nervous at how long the Mini-Cons have been out in public, suggests they return to base. High Wire and Grindor transform to vehicle mode—observed by the spying Fred and Billy, who subsequently become convinced something is going on.

The children at the carnival are upset when Carlos tells them the Mini-Cons are going back to "the lab." Billy and Fred turn up armed with a net and rope to capture one of the robots, which Fred believes are invading aliens, but their quarry escapes while the pair argues. The Mini-Cons scatter through the carnival, causing chaos and confusion.

And knowing is half the battle

Laserbeak leads Alexis, Sureshock, and Hot Shot to the carnival, and Rad and Carlos are soon on the receiving end of a scolding. Fred and Billy have cornered Jolt, but a trio of children prevents them from making the capture. As Billy makes veiled threats, the children run off in fear—but only because Hot Shot is right behind Fred and Billy. The pair hug Jolt in fear, and the Mini-Con transforms to copter mode, carrying them high into the air before they bail onto a hot-air balloon. Rad asks Hot Shot to get the duo down, and the Autobot borrows a tennis ball cannon from one of the sideshows. After using it to burst the balloon, he stunt-jumps, transforming mid-air to catch Fred and Billy and flying them to safety with Jolt's help. The small children who watch him land are incredibly impressed. Rad, Carlos, and Alexis make Fred and Billy swear not to tell anyone what they've seen, and Hot Shot takes the Mini-Cons back to base.

Sometime later, Alexis lectures Rad and Carlos and repeats they should be cleaning. Rad is impressed by the amount of repair work the Autobots have done around the base, including a computer console that lights up at Carlos's touch. As the two boys watch, an image of the same Mini-Con that's currently lying dormant appears before them. Two more similar robots then join it. The three come together before the image of a sword replaces them, but the picture promptly sputters out and disappears before the boys can get a good look. Neither is sure what it means.

Featured characters

(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Quotes

Carlos: "Hey, I got an idea! OK, let's scare it! That'll wake it up for sure."
Rad: "So how you gonna do that?"
Carlos: "Huh, good point. Wait, I got another idea! How about we throw a bucket of water on it!"
Alexis: "Great plan! While we're at it, why don't I throw a bucket of cold water on your head too?"
Carlos: "Come on, Alexis; I was just pulling his leg!"
Alexis: "Hey, nothing like ice water for clearing out the cobwebs. So next time you're woken up from a comfy sleep by some ice-water in the face, remember who thought of it first!"

—The kids debate how to wake up Jetstorm.

They're gonna find Martin and Roland and kick their asses.

"Huh? It's them! Billy! Billy Billy Billy Billy Billy Billy."

—Fred subtly attempts to attract Billy's attention.

"They're getting away! What do we do?"
"I'll give you one guess."
"'K, to the hot dog stand!"
"We're going after them! Come on, ya goof."
"Aw, well, I tried."

—Fred and Billy.

And there go any pretenses of badassery Billy and Fred might have had.

"Better get out of the way while you can, otherwise something terrible might happen to ya. Like maybe... this robot will destroy the Earth!"
"You've been watching too much TV. Besides, everyone knows that red robots are always the good guys."
"OK, OK! So maybe it wasn't a good example!"

—Fred matches wits with a small child and loses.

"No! Please! I'm allergic to chromium."

—Billy fleeing from Hot Shot.

"My therapist was right—seventy dollars an hour does work out to mere pennies a day."

—A random passerby on seeing a giant flying robot.

"Remember, all bots were not created equal"

-Hot Shot as he leaves the Carnival

Notes

Differences with Legends of the Microns

• In Armada, Alexis tells Carlos to remember when he gets awoken by cold water thrown in his face that it was his idea. Legends of the Microns changes the tone slightly to make Alexis more intimidating as she tells Carlos that he'd enjoy a bucket of cold water poured on his head in the morning while hiding under the covers.
• Armada has Optimus ask Red Alert if he can fix the Trans-Accelerator Unit, and Red Alert says that it'll take a while but will "pay off in the long run." Legends of the Microns has Optimus explain that many of the ship's parts have been unused since it crashed long ago, and Red says that with some repairs, the unit will meet the base's "minimum requirements."
• Demolishor is only moving the Trans-Accelerator instead of bringing it to Megatron. Also, rather than berating Demolishor for his clumsiness and warning him to stay out of his way, Megatron says Demolishor is too slow to do anything besides combat. Cyclonus and Starscream's teasing quips toward Demolishor change accordingly, as they tease him for being clumsy in Armada but slow in the Japanese dub.
• Rather than Carlos teasing Rad for taking Alexis too seriously, Carlos says Alexis's words "didn't come from her heart anyway."
• Legends of the Microns reveals the carnival's purpose of celebrating the Cosmoscope Laboratory's founding. The point about Rad having an obligation to attend it is an Armada addition. His opening monologue states that he and Carlos forgot about it.
• As the civilians admire Sparkplug, Jolt, and Longarm, a point lost in the Armada dub is that they think they're robots made for doing household chores. Beforehand, when Rad and Carlos first spot the Mini-Cons, they say each of their names, and the young kids in the crowd say how the Mini-Cons talk is cute.
• As Rad, Carlos, and their Mini-Cons watch the parade, Armada has Rad call the Mini-Cons show-stealers, and Carlos translates Grindor's beeps as him wanting to take part in it ("go into showbiz"). In Legends of the Microns, Rad thinks things have gotten out of hand, and Grindor is merely commenting on how the human world is fascinating, to which Rad responds that it's more interesting to Transformers. Rad's sentiment is the same in Armada, but with an additional remark that he thinks the Transformers themselves are more interesting than the parade.
• In Legends of the Microns, Billy says he just washed the shirt Fred smears ketchup on; Armada changes this so that his mom did it.
• Before Billy and Fred decide to follow Rad and Carlos, Legends of the Microns features an oddly-paced moment where the pair, in complete silence, look off into the distance at... nothing. Armada tries to compensate for this by adding an extra line for Billy, who says, "I don't see nothin'!" which is undoubtedly accurate but a bit of non sequitur.
• Rad's reasoning for wanting to return the Mini-Cons to the base in Armada is because he wants to do it before people start asking questions. He wants to take advantage of how there's no chaos happening and move the Mini-Cons under the radar in Legends of the Microns.
• In Legends of the Microns, when trying to convince the younger kids that the Mini-Cons need to go, the boy tells Carlos he can't understand how they feel because the latter isn't a kid. The kids also accuse Rad of lying about the bots needing sleep because, according to them, "Robots don't need sleep!"
• While confronting Rad and Carlos, Fred says the Mini-Cons are aliens from the future, and Billy is unsure about that theory. Billy calls Fred a loser for believing they're from outer space in Armada.
• In Armada, after Rad, Carlos, and the Mini-Cons make a run for it, Fred suggests that he and Billy go to the hot dog stand. Legends of the Microns has Fred saying he and Billy ought to give up before Billy gives chase; instead of complaining about needing food and his blood sugar, Fred declares he hates running.
• Billy is silent after Jolt falls out of the popcorn maker in Armada while announcing finding Jolt in Legends of the Microns.
• Armada has Carlos make a pop culture reference before telling Alexis, the one he says has all the ideas, to think of a way to round up the Mini-Cons. Legends of the Microns has him ask Alexis what he and Rad are supposed to do since they've already tried everything they could. Rather than strictly ordering the boys around, Alexis is more mellow and polite, stating they should get the Mini-Cons home as a team effort.
• Rather than threatening the kids as he does in Armada, Legends of the Microns has Fred say something that makes more sense in context. He says even though Jolt hasn't done anything wrong yet, who's to say that he won't in the future and then gives his example of Jolt destroying the world. In Armada, the kids accuse Fred of watching too much TV since, according to them, "Everyone knows that red robots are always the good guys"; in Legends of the Microns, they think it's foolish to believe a cute robot like Jolt could do such an awful thing.

Okay, tag! You're it! [splat]

• As the panicked Fred tries to bring Billy's attention to Hot Shot crouching behind them in Legends of the Microns, he describes the Autobot as Jolt's "parent." Billy scoffs at the idea, pointing out that that's impossible because robots aren't mammals! Armada changes this to have Fred refer to Hot Shot as a "giant" robot, with Billy not buying it.
• In Legends of the Microns, Hot Shot playfully threatens Billy and Fred; in Armada, he asks them if he's interrupting anything. In Armada, as Hot Shot reaches toward Jolt, Billy makes an offbeat comment about being allergic to chromium.
• In Armada, Hot Shot says he can't shoot down Billy and Fred's balloon because he can't use his ammo; in Legends of the Microns, he doesn't have a gun to use.
• When the boy playing with the cannon tells his mother about Hot Shot, his mother asks what he's talking about; Armada adds lines like him making the TV reference that Carlos made earlier to describe Hot Shot spinning the cannon around his fingers. Then his mother makes a blasé remark about believing him and tells him to let her wipe his nose.
• The Japanese dub removes instances of the transformation noise added by Armada.
• The bystander who sees the flying Hot Shot is silent during his first scene in Legends of the Microns but has a few lines in Armada added as an internal monologue about his therapist being right. When he reappears a moment later with his friend, and they see the Transformers roll past, the friend asks for the therapist's number to work out some "childhood issues." Armada deliberately replaces the Legends of the Microns dialogue from this scene, which sees the man's friend think he might've been overworked and drunk, only to think he's also tired and could use a drink himself when he sees the same sight. During the latter scene, Legends of the Microns reveals the man's name to be Sam.
• Once they're back on the ground, Armada has Billy suggest that Fred come up with the ideas from now on, but Legends of the Microns has him say how he thought they were going to die.
• Before leaving with the Mini-Cons, Armada adds two lines for Hot Shot: first, he tells the kids to stand back so they don't get hurt, and secondly, he says not all bots are created equal. He only tells the kids to stay out of trouble in Legends of the Microns.
• Instead of Rad repeating how Alexis always likes getting the last word in, he says her nagging has increased. The sound effect heard immediately afterward as the scene fades to black is Armada-exclusive.
• In Armada, Rad says he sometimes wishes for a normal life in his ending monologue. In Legends of the Microns, he mentions how he and Carlos couldn't understand the importance of the dormant Mini-Cons' image combining into a sword at the time.

Animation and technical errors

• During Rad's opening narration, when Red Alert gives Hot Shot a wrench, the latter's back is partially miscolored for a second before changing to their correct colors in the same shot.
• When Demolishor apologizes for getting in Megatron's way, the Trans-Accelerator he's dropped is colored tan, like part of his legs, instead of grey.
• Demolishor's Decepticon symbol is slightly off-model in the next shot of Megatron telling him off.
• After Megatron scolds Demolishor for making a hole in the base, it looks like part of Starscream's jaw is miscolored like his face and blocking his mouth when he speaks.
• When Rad and Carlos talk to the group of kids, Grindor's skateboard mode is suddenly shorter than Carlos, compared to being as tall as him a few scenes ago.
• The whites of Carlos's eyes often appear and vanish on a whim.
• In the shot of Alexis demanding the boys to get the Mini-Cons back to base, High Wire's outline looks pixelated.

Continuity notes

• This episode is the first in the series where the Autobots don't have to find a new Mini-Con or deal with the Decepticons, and the 'Cons appear for only one scene.
• The pile of stuff Alexis orders the boys to clean up is the camping gear they brought into the Autobots' base previous episode.
• The Autobots recovered the still-inactive Mini-Con panel from Antarctica in "Soldier." Rad and Carlos recognize the computer image of the Mini-Con within from when it appeared above the panel in the same episode.
• Demolishor's clumsiness has now made him the prime target of ridicule and verbal abuse among the Decepticons. Guess no one wants to mess with Starscream now that he has a Mini-Con.
• This episode is the first where any of the Transformers interact with people in a public setting, though most of them are kids.
• Billy and Fred meet the Mini-Cons and Hot Shot for the first time.
• Gadgets and powers:
  • Hot Shot shows off the flight capabilities he gains when Powerlinxed with Jolt in robot mode for the first time.

Continuity errors

• The Armada dub swaps Grindor and Sureshock's names for the whole episode—an error that frequently occurs throughout the series, suggesting that some internal documentation switched their names. Legends of the Microns doesn't have this error.
• While mocking Demolishor, Starscream calls Swindle "Grid," his Japanese name.
• When looking at a map on her laptop, Alexis asks Sureshock if it's coming from "the" Mini-Con. It's unclear whether she means Jetstorm or a new Mini-Con panel, though her later dialogue suggests she means the latter. In Legends of the Microns, Alexis asks if the information has anything to do with the Mini-Cons.

Real-world references

• Hot Shot watches Spaghetti Westerns.
• When Sparkplug is racing through the funfair, we get a brief glimpse of a young blonde girl eating a fish. Though appearing to be nothing more than a generic crowd filler, Legends of the Microns Year Book 2003 explains that she's a very involved homage: the title character of the Japanese comic strip, Sazae-san, inspired her appearance but with blond hair. In her mouth, the fish she has is a nod because the strip's main characters' names were from sea creatures and other sea-related concepts. She'd make another Easter egg cameo in the Kre-O manga story, "Wheeljack's Bizarre Invention! Optimus Power Up!?"
• When Carlos asks Alexis if she wants him to "click his [my] heels together three times," he's referring to Dorothy and her ruby slippers in The Wizard of Oz.
• Billy's "a bot in the hand is worth two in the bush" line is a minor variation of the proverb, "A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush."
• Though it sounds weird when Billy says he has a chromium allergy, it's a metal allergy that does exist.

Trivia

• The kanji 祝祭 would usually be pronounced as "shukusai," while "oosawagi" is used for the kanji 大騒ぎ.
• A couple of days have passed since "Soldier."
• Cathy Weseluck makes a guest appearance in this episode, albeit in a minor role, and this marks her only appearance in Transformers media.
• This was the last season 1 episode to air in Germany—the station skipped all following episodes and continued with "Remorse" the following day. You know, the kids will never notice.
• A small boy wearing Billy's clothes is visible during the shot of the Mini-Cons with the children after both High Wire and Grindor join them; there's even a kid dressed like Alexis in the same shot.

Foreign localization

French

• Title: "Carnaval" ("Carnival")

German

• Title: "Karneval" ("Carnival")
• Original airdate: 9 December 2003

Hungarian

• Title: "Robotparádé" ("Robot-parade")

Italian

• Title: "Al parco dei divertimenti" ("At the Amusement Park")

• While previous episodes managed to get Sparkplug's name right, this doesn't happen with Swindle here. Starscream still calls him "Grid".

Korean

• Title: "축제의 날" ("Festival Day")

Polish

• Title: "Festyn" ("Picnic")

Portuguese

• Title: "Parque de Diversões" ("Amusement Park")

Home video releases

DVD

2003 — Transformers: Legends of the Microns — Volume 2 (Columbia Music Entertainment) — Japanese audio only.
2003 — Transformers: Armada — Vol:02 (Universal)
2004 — Transformers: Armada — Season One: Part One (Rhino Entertainment)
2004 — Transformers: Armada — Volume 2 (TFou Vidéo) — French audio only.
2005 — Transformers: Armada — Triple Collection (Universal)
2008 — Transformers: Armada — Bumper Double DVD Collection (Universal)
2008 — Transformers: Armada — Volume One (New KSM) — English and German audio.
2014 — Transformers: Armada — The Complete Series (Shout! Factory)
2014 — Transformers: Armada — Volume One (Shout! Factory)