More than Meets the Eye, Part 1

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Prime spends a few hours at a discount tanning salon.
"More than Meets the Eye, Part 1"
Production code	4023
Season	1
No. in season	1
Production company	Sunbow Productions
Airdate	September 17, 1984
Written by	George Arthur Bloom
Animation studio	Toei
Continuity	Generation 1 cartoon continuity
Packaged with	Optimus Prime
Watch this episode on YouTube

In search of energy, the Autobots leave Cybertron and are pursued by the Decepticons.

Synopsis

"That's not that impressive. I can transform too, y'know."

On Cybertron, many millions of years ago, the Autobots are on the verge of extinction. Eons of war with the Decepticons, their bitter enemies, have drained the planet's once plentiful resources. Autobots Wheeljack and Bumblebee have managed to find a scant few energy conductors and muse that what they've found won't last very long. Bumblebee loads the conductors into Wheeljack and they head back towards Iacon. However, as they reach the bridge to home base, they run into a Decepticon patrol. Wheeljack's attempt to drive through is cut short by enemy fire, and they're soon literally surrounded by a ring of fire, thanks to the Decepticons' flame throwers. The pair manage to escape the flames and ram their way through the Decepticons, two of whom give chase. The pursuing Decepticons manage to hit Bumblebee with their lasers, and the smaller Autobot is forced to drive aboard Wheeljack. Wheeljack manages to evade the two Decepticons by heading underground and arrives at Iacon. As they enter the fortress, a nearby sensor lamp reveals itself to be Soundwave, who dispatches Laserbeak to do some spying. Also returning to Iacon is Jazz, who reports to Autobot leader Optimus Prime that he was unable to find any energy in Cybertron's lower regions. Optimus confers with Jazz, Prowl and Trailbreaker on the plan to leave Cybertron on a mission to search for energy elsewhere. Having heard all they need, Laserbeak and Soundwave depart.

Starting a long, long tradition of Transformer ships crashing on Earth.

Inside their base, Decepticon leader Megatron plots to intercept the Autobots, and leaves his first lieutenant Shockwave in charge of Cybertron. Starscream asserts the war would have been won if the Decepticons were under his leadership.

The Autobots blast off aboard their spaceship, and the Decepticons give chase in their Decepticon cruiser. The Autobots immediately run into trouble when two large asteroids collide in front of them, resulting in a storm of rock that pelts both ships, until Ironhide uses the ship's weapons to clear a path. The Autobots next detect the pursuing ship, but are unable to outrun the Decepticon cruiser, which locks onto them with tractor beams. The Autobot ship's lasers are out of power, so the Autobots are forced to instead engage the Decepticons in combat once they board. With no one at the respective helms, both ships drift into Earth's gravity well, and despite Prime's best efforts to right the Autobot ship, both vessels spin out of control and crash. The Autobot ship embeds itself in the side of a volcano.

Four million years pass. It is the year 1984, and volcanic activity stirs the half-buried ship, awakening the computer systems aboard. Teletraan I sends out a Sky Spy satellite to reconnoiter this new world, and scans examples of terrestrial machinery in order to reformat the Transformers into new alt modes. The Decepticon Skywarp happens to be the one who is in the path of the repair beam, and thus is awakened first. He revives Megatron, and the other Decepticons follow. Leaving the Autobot ship, Megatron observes that much time has passed since the crash but declares their mission to find energy is unchanged. An impudent Starscream leaves a parting shot, blasting the rocks over the ship in an attempt to bury it further. However, he unwittingly knocks Optimus Prime into the repair beam and the Autobot leader is revived.

"You see the size of that gun he fired at us? It was bigger than him!"

The Decepticons locate a clearing and Megatron puts Starscream in charge of converting the area for the construction of a new star cruiser. Soundwave, Starscream and Rumble head for a nearby power station to find the needed raw materials. Meanwhile, the Autobots have all been repaired. Optimus Prime announces that they need to find out what the Decepticons are doing, and dispatches Hound and Cliffjumper to scout the area. Starscream and his team arrive at the power station, where Starscream again grouses about wanting to lead the Decepticons, and has Rumble use his pile drivers to level the plant. Some time later, Hound and Cliffjumper find the Decepticons in the middle of work on their ship. Though Cliffjumper's keen to wade in, Hound listens in as the Decepticons plan to take energon cubes back to Cybertron. Cliffjumper rashly takes a shot at Megatron, but misses, and Soundwave unleashes Laserbeak in pursuit. Though the pair split up, Laserbeak detaches a laser cannon so he can pursue both Autobots. While Cliffjumper manages to deal with the cannon, Laserbeak blasts Hound, sending him off a cliff.

Do yourself a favor, don't smoke at a Cybertronian waterpark.

Autobot medic Ratchet and Hauler come to fetch Hound. Cliffjumper apologizes for giving away their position as Hound is winched to safety. Meanwhile, Decepticons Thundercracker and Reflector spot an Earth vehicle approaching. The two human workers find the demolished power station, but while they're puzzling over what happened to it, Ravage attacks and frightens them away.

Hound is repaired, and reports what he overheard: that the Decepticons are on the hunt for energy. Prime has Jazz assemble a battle group to go after them and the Autobots roll out. Elsewhere Laserbeak returns to the Decepticon construction site with the news that he's found a new source of energy. The Decepticons attack an off-shore oil rig, where Sparkplug Witwicky and his son Spike work. The humans attempt to resist, but it's futile and they end up jumping or falling overboard. The Decepticons begin filling energon cubes from the oil pipeline, but as Megatron is telling Starscream that they will need a lot more energy, the Autobots arrive to spoil their party. A battle erupts on the drilling platform until the Decepticons simply grab what they can and take off. Megatron blasts the rig's supports, tipping it into the ocean and taking the Autobots with it. Another shot ignites the oil, turning the surface of the sea into an inferno. Realizing the humans are in danger, Optimus Prime tries to save Spike and Sparkplug while the Decepticons retreat with their energon plunder.

To be continued...

Featured characters

(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Quotes

"Prime told me there'd be days like this."
"And you didn't believe him?"
"I do now!"

—Bumblebee and Wheeljack under fire.

"When do we start the search mission?"
"Soon as you're ready to launch."

—Prowl is told to hurry up by Optimus Prime.

"Fear not, Megatron. Cybertron shall remain as you leave it."

—Shockwave, more accurate than he realizes.

"Leakin' lubricant!"

—Ironhide

"What about materials?"
"Use your imagination!"

—Starscream and Megatron

"Here's something to keep you warm."

—Megatron as he ignites the oil spill.

Season 5

"There's no air in space!"
"But there's an Air in Space Museum!"

The young human Tommy Kennedy, a resident of Autobot City, needs help from Powermaster Optimus Prime. He runs out into the middle of a barren wasteland, calling Prime's name. Prime arrives via rocket-boots and, after lifting Tommy up to his head, asks him what's the trouble. As it turns out, Tommy has a "special project" for school that's due soon and only Prime can help him. Optimus inquires what the project is about, but Tommy dodges the question, simply saying that he needs to know how the Autobots arrived on Earth. Prime concedes, "Okay Tommy, I've handled enough emergencies to know that some things just can't wait." Prime then launches into the tale of how the Autobots and the Decepticons left Cybertron, crash-landed on Earth and began their war for energy anew...

Prime continues into the next part of his story, about their first encounter with humans and whatnot, but Tommy stops him. Tommy says he's out of time and he really has to get back to Autobot City. Prime offers to give him the ride on the condition that next time they hang out, he tells him the juicy details of this "special project". Prime then blasts off into space with Tommy clinging to his shoulder (and somehow not dying horribly).

Notes

Production information

• Script revisions: 13th March 1984
• Returned to the US for telecine: 27th August 1984
• Official Sunbow Productions synopsis:

In search of the precious energy needed to rebuild their war torn planet Cybertron - the Autobots venture forth into outer space. But the evil Decepticons attack them and the two robot armies crash on Earth.

Four million years later, the Autobots and Decepticons are reactivated and the battle between the forces of good and evil rages anew. Megatron, the brutal leader of the Decepticons, vows to conquer the Universe. And only the Autobots have a chance of stopping him. Megatron's first step: to plunder the Earth's sources of energy.

The Decepticons capture an offshore oil rig, convert the oil into Energon cubes and destroy the rig, leaving the workers and their Autobot rescuers trapped in the burning wreckage.

Then the evil robots create a tremendous tidal wave which threatens to destroy a power plant and flood an entire valley...

And Megatron discovers the Ruby Crystals of Burma - the ultimate power source that will enable him to conquer the universe...

In a race against time, the Autobots track the Decepticons to the Crystal Mines of Burma, but their dangerous mission backfires and Optimus Prime must risk his very existence in a desperate space battle as the Decepticons rocket back to Cybertron with enough energy to rule the universe forever.^[1]

Deleted scenes

Added Scenes

• Shockwave's appearance was added in script revisions during March 1984, under the early name of Flash Beam. Presumably as a reaction to the toy line's retail success at Toyfair 1984 the month before, as Hasbro would have given the green light to plans for the toyline's second year.

Changed Scenes

• After the montage at the start of Act II, after the volcanic eruption “Four Million Years Later”. We cut to “Several Days Later” when the lava from the eruption has dried and hardened. Inside the ship, Teletraan I comes back online. It uses an Electron Gun that emerges from the side of the ship to blast through the rock. Its beam punching through the volcano wall and bouncing off several rocks in the area to form a “satellite dish” of energy. Through this energy, Teletraan receives data on Earth, displayed on its monitor. It then uses this data to repair the wrecked occupants of the ship, with Soundwave the first to be revived. This sequence was changed during storyboard revisions to have Teletraan I send out manual Sky Spies to collect data for Earth modes, rebuilding those placed in its repair beam into those new modes.
• Throughout the miniseries, wherever possible to do so without affecting the plot, instances of the Autobots flying are replaced by them driving or are cut entirely.
• Some scale issues are present, likely due to using toys for reference. The script describes Soundwave as being the size of Andre The Giant, while Megatron does not mass-shift when transforming to gun mode, nor is he wielded by other Decepticons. Instead he transforms into a giant gun mode and remains in mid-air while firing (similar to the show's intro).

Deleted Scenes

• The Decepticon “welcoming committee” is a blockade at one end of a bridge. Wheeljack deploys his deflector shields and he and Bumblebee crash through the barriers, with several generic Decepticons in pursuit. The two get halfway across the bridge before they see another blockade waiting for them at the other end. Wheeljack swerves to a halt as the two Autobots are now caught in crossfire.
• As Wheeljack brings the damaged Bumblebee into Iacon, Soundwave is skulking in the shadows outside. We get many establishing shots of the Ark being constructed. Ratchet works on Bumblebee in the med bay, who is praised for his energy-finding efforts by Optimus Prime.
• After Soundwave recalls Laserbeak and takes off, we cut to a “futuristic” airfield with the Decepticon starship in the distance, resting at a launch tower. A plane-mode Soundwave lands and transforms. Like his earlier lamppost mode, this was an example of George Arthur Bloom's idea that the Transformers could assume any form for disguise, which would be largely eliminated during script revisions to maintain toy-accuracy.
• General scenes aboard the Ark include Trailbreaker and Prime consulting on energy sources. Ironhide complaining to Mirage about wanting to see action. Mirage in turn reminiscing about Cybertron before the war.
• Prowl reports to Prime that they're possibly being followed. Prime orders “release the Viewtrex!”. A metallic sensor rod emerges from the ship and scans space. Meanwhile, aboard the Decepticon ship, Megatron orders Soundwave to “execute cover phase”. Much to Starscream's irritation, who suggests blowing up the Autobots instead. Megatron shoots down that idea “If Optimus Prime knows of an energy source, let him lead us to it.”, thus explaining why Megatron didn't take Starscream's suggestion and just end them right there when they were all in one place. “Cover phase” is a form of cloaking device, the Decepticon ship disappearing both onscreen and on the Autobots’ monitors.
• Rumble uses his piledriver arms at the base of a mountain that supports one end of a railroad trestle. A freight train above is crossing as the trestle begins to fall apart, its cars plunging into the water while the engine makes it to safety. The other Decepticons collect the steel girders of the wrecked trestle, Starscream noting “I’m glad you’re on our side, Rumble!”
• While Hound and Cliffjumper are spying on the Decepticon base, Skywarp and Thundercracker are grumbling about doing grunt work. Megatron appears before them and berates Skywarp. When Thundercracker attempts to apologise, Megatron hits him in the head with such force that he is sent flying across the construction site. Landing in a heap and having to twist his own head back into place.
• As Thundercracker reports back to base about the approaching humans, Skywarp randomly finds a frisbee (“some Earth gadget”). Throwing it to a disinterested Starscream, who throws it back, only for it to be blasted out of mid-air by Megatron. Demanding Starscream get to work, who then chafes at being given orders. This argument is interrupted by Thundercracker's transmission reaching Soundwave.
• Discussing Hound's report, Prowl suggests warning humanity about the Decepticons, to which Jazz replies “They’d never believe us, Prowl.”. Optimus Prime agrees, stating “...and it’s up to us. We brought them here.”
• The Autobot “battle unit” is brought to a halt by Prime, who sees on his “vista scope” the Decepticons flying to the oil rig. The Autobots transform and take to the skies in pursuit.
• The final major scene of the episode sees Brawn and Huffer atop the last intact derrick on the burning oil rig, carrying the rig's large hose. Ignoring Huffer's complaints that it won't work, Brawn calls down to Windcharger to turn the water on. Their firefighting efforts aren't enough, even with the water supply turned all the way up. The derrick collapses and tips into the sea. Brawn jumps free, but Huffer lands with the Derrick and is entangled in the metal girders. Brawn rushes over to free him, while a short distance away, Prime is still trying to free Spike and Sparkplug with the ring of fire coming ever closer.

Continuity notes

• Wheeljack says there isn't enough energy in the conductors they find to "last a quartrex". Bumblebee and Wheeljack were "one megamile" from the bridge to Iacon. Prowl provides a report from the Autobot ship's "Viewtrex".
• Along with the first issue of the Marvel comic (of which this series is technically an adaptation), this episode establishes several iconic aspects of the cartoon and the entire Transformers brand. The planet Cybertron and its city Iacon both appear in many other media and continuities. The crash of the Ark and the four-million-year slumber of its inhabitants likewise recur in several other versions of the Generation 1 story.
• The orange Seeker from the "welcoming committee", visible for all of about two seconds, was retroactively established to be the neo-G1 character Sunstorm. Other characters in the same shot were later named Hotlink (the purple Seeker with the flamethrower), Bitstream (the blue Seeker behind him holding his weapon like a rifle), and Nacelle (the dark blue Seeker barely visible between Sunstorm and Hotlink).

Tommy! How's the peeping?

• We get a look at Cybertronian alternate modes for Bumblebee, Wheeljack, Skywarp, Thundercracker, Jazz, and Soundwave. Meanwhile, Laserbeak is given a Cybertronian robot mode. Soundwave's toy can totally be configured into that lamp-post mode.
• Trailbreaker's presence alongside Jazz and Prowl on Cybertron is just about the only indication of his "defense strategist" function in the cartoon.
• Three episodes from now, we will see that Shockwave was true to his word, and Cybertron has not changed one iota in four million years.
• The Decepticon vessel is last seen spiraling out of control, unpiloted, toward Earth. It will be rediscovered in the Season 2 episode "Microbots". The unnamed ship would finally be given a title almost 15 years later, when it was referred to as the Nemesis in the Beast Wars episode "Nemesis Part 1".
• The events of the Beast Wars cartoon take place during the 4 million years in which the Autobots and Decepticons lie dormant in the wreckage of the Ark... a time frame covered by about 5 seconds of footage in this episode.

• As the satellite-like probe (later dubbed a Sky Spy) leaves the Ark, we see a city skyline in the distance. While the cartoon's animation could never make up its mind about what was around the crashed ship (oceanside cliffs? desert? forests and rivers?), one might take this city to be Central City, later established to have jurisdiction over the land where the Autobot ship rests.

Yep, pretty clearly an SLR.

Repair bay optional.

• Gadgets and powers:
  • Wheeljack raises deflector shields^[2] in vehicle mode to block the Decepticon laser-blasts.
  • Wheeljack deploys a pair of tiny spinning blades from his front bumper, which lets him... drive through fire? Per the original script, it was supposed to be a metal battering ram with "spinning propeller-like blades" on the end of it.
  • Laserbeak spies with a pair of cylindrical doodads that come out of the side of his head.
  • Rumble demonstrates his earth-quake-making power, which consists of banging the ground with a couple of big pile drivers that replace his arms. This will become one of the cartoon's most frequently-seen special powers, to the point that it eventually would carry over to the Marvel comics as well. (This power also seems to exclude Rumble himself from its effects, as the ground under him never cracks open.)
  • Hound pops out a little wrist radar dish that lets him hear what the Decepticons are saying from some distance away.
  • Soundwave can display graphics—the space cruiser, in this case—on his chest door.
  • Cliffjumper somehow stores on his person a bazooka that's as big as he is. We don't want to know how he does this. Although it does look like it's collapsible.
  • Cliffjumper also can deploy a gun from the rear of vehicle mode that fires his signature glass gas.
  • Laserbeak's cannons are shown to be able to disconnect from him, fly on their own and target Autobots independently. Although an ability actively described in his Universe profile, this would be the only time Laserbeak would employ his weapons this way.
  • Ratchet is shown splitting into his robot form and his repair bay; however, the repair bay is never seen again.
  • Reflector, being a super-advanced space robot, can take a photograph and instantly spit out a paper print of the resulting image. Instant photographs?! It must be THE FUTURE!
  • Starscream "activates the noal null ray", which freezes the device it's aimed at.

Frank Lloyd Wrong.

• A Grapple-like crane named Hauler is seen with Cliffjumper, recovering Hound; he's never seen again, however. Fans have speculated that this was to be an earlier release of Grapple's toy, aborted for reasons unknown.
• Energon cubes make their first appearance here. They have to be compressed before they convert the fuel they have been filled with into energon, at which point they glow a sort of yellowish-white iridescent-y rainbow-y sort of color. The "compressing a stack" aspect of the cubes was quickly done away with after the pilot mini-series, but the rainbow-glow would stick around for a little while before being phased out in favor of a pink-purple coloration that became the standard representation of energon cubes down through Transformers history.
• Despite being known for the command "Autobots, transform!", Optimus Prime doesn't actually issue it until two episodes later, in part 3. Megatron beats him to it with the less-common counterpart "Decepticons, transform!" command to his troops on the oil-rig. They, however, do not actually transform - just Megatron himself.

Real-world references

• As with the corresponding first issue of the Marvel comic, the here-unnamed volcano is certainly inspired by the 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens.
• The Transformers made heavy use of the sound effects library that sprung out of the movie Star Wars. Fans have a tendency to make tiresome shocked exclamations that Laserbeak sounds like a TIE Fighter; it is therefore instructive to catalog these sound effects, which are used far more extensively than just a couple of TIE engine roars. About half a dozen sound effects tend to appear in nearly every episode, and at least a dozen total are known to have been used on The Transformers. In this episode:
  • The sound of the Death Star firing to destroy Alderaan, and Alderaan's subsequent explosion, is used as Skywarp and Thundercracker strafe Bumblebee and Wheeljack, and again as they abandon their pursuit.
  • The sound of the Seeker training sphere aboard the Millennium Falcon, along with Luke's lightsaber humming and igniting, is used as Soundwave begins making energon cubes.
• We also get the lesser-used Star Trek sliding door sound effect as Soundwave sends Laserbeak after Hound and Cliffjumper.
• There are also hints of the Sonic Screwdriver sound effect from Doctor Who, most notably Wheeljack opening and closing his rear door.

Animation and technical errors

• In the very first shot, stars are shown passing in front of Cybertron.
• Soundwave's mouthplate doesn't move during his "Autobots are set to launch" line.

Then again, Thundercracker has two wings.

• The Decepticon "welcoming committee" is a bit confusing:
  • The initial shot shows Starscream, Skywarp, and Thundercracker. None of these characters were in this scene in the original script, which just credited the characters as "Decepticons"; Starscream, in particular, is shown to be at Decepticon headquarters in a minute, and the voice that comes out of his mouth ("Autobots! Stop them!") is intended for a generic character and is provided by Dan Gilvezan instead of Chris Latta.
  • All three are absent from the second shot, which shows four new characters: a purple one with a flamethrower, a golden-yellow one, a rich blue one, and a dark navy one.
  • The third shot, as Wheeljack bears down on the group, shows a total of five Seekers, all very small figures with block coloring, one purple, one black, and the other three grey. In the very next shot, Wheeljack is shown barrelling through Starscream, Skywarp, and Thundercracker again.
  • The final shot of the group sees Thundercracker and Skywarp transforming to pursue them. Though originally scripted only to be generic Decepticons, the pair subsequently have lines in what will become recognizable as their normal voices ("They've gone underground, we'll never catch 'em now!"/"We'd better report back to Megatron," provided by John Stephenson and Frank Welker respectively), indicating the script was reworked with the genuine intention of placing the two characters in the scene.
  • Less explicable, though, is the voice heard declaring "After them!" just before Skywarp and Thundercracker take off. No speaker is obvious (nobody's mouth is seen moving on-screen) and the line was not in the original teleplay for the episode. Presumably, it was meant to be another generic Decepticon from the group ordering the two into action, but as the line is provided by Frank Welker, the possibility exists that it's supposed to be Skywarp speaking. If so, though, the voice is way off from his normal one, sounding almost exactly like Megatron.
• Bumblebee steps out of Wheeljack and immediately fires a shot in the completely opposite direction from their attackers. Was he testing his gun??
• Bumblebee is repeatedly shown to be a hovercar... yet somehow he's got wheels and an axle when the Seekers manage to hit him.
• Bumblebee is repeatedly shown to be wider than Wheeljack in vehicle mode, yet he has no trouble driving right into Wheeljack's cargo compartment. He keeps driving in until he's completely out of sight, even though we can see at least half of the compartment.
• As Wheeljack opens his cargo compartment to let Bumblebee in, the energy conductors clip through his vehicle mode.
• Coloring errors:
  • As Megatron gives Shockwave his orders, Starscream is missing his canopy lines, and Soundwave's eject button is blue, while his backpack is white.
    

    

    TakaraTomy later used this shot as a justification for giving Masterpiece Prowl his shoulder cannons.
  • Bluestreak is colored like Prowl as the Autobots stumble around in the wake of the asteroid collision; Trailbreaker, meanwhile, has one white and one gray hand.
  • Starscream has a red "collar" around his neck as he prepares the tractor beam.
  • When the Autobots and Decepticons fight aboard the Ark, there are two Starscreams - one fighting Prowl, the other fighting Ironhide.
  • As Starscream fires on the Autobot ship, the top segment of his canopy is red instead of gray in some frames.
  • As the gathered Decepticons gaze at the desert from atop the volcano, Skywarp's arm cannon is colored teal.
  • Part of Megatron's fusion cannon is white as he says "we'll set up here".
  • Soundwave's eject button is blue instead of white as Megatron orders him to plan the new space cruiser.
  • After landing at the power plant, Soundwave's eject button is blue, instead of... y'know what? Let's just say the colorists screwed up this little detail all the freaking time, and leave it at that.
  • As Starscream talks about his plans with Soundwave and Rumble standing behind him, the tip of Soundwave's shoulder cannon is colored entirely black.
  • When Optimus Prime assigns Hound his mission, the establishing shot has Cliffjumper with Bumblebee's yellow colors.
  • In the long shot of the Decepticons building their base, Soundwave appears in Sideswipe's colors. The Seekers also appear to have the wrong colors in this shot - the one standing behind Megatron is colored as Skywarp and the one opposite him is colored as Starscream, but in the next shot they become Starscream and Thundercracker respectively.
  • Cliffjumper's mirror housings are white instead of red as he delivers his "moonbeam" line.
  • Ratchet's Autobot symbol is gray before he jumps off the cliff.
  • Prime's running light housings are white instead of red as he orders Jazz to organize a battle unit.
  • In the pan across the battle unit, Sideswipe's helm is red instead of black, and the top of Trailbreaker's chest is white instead of black.
  • The center segment of Megatron's fusion cannon is white as the wrenches & etc. bounce off of him.
  • Soundwave's cheekguards are blue instead of white as he starts making energon cubes.
• The retracting segments of Iacon's dome appear to come out of solid, unbroken metal. The interior shot of the bridge also shows the segments retracting incorrectly. Since the ship is upright at a 90-degree angle, the retracting segments should go from camera-right to camera-left, down the length of the ship.
• Sideswipe's missing his shoulder launcher as he mans an Ark console.

If it's supposed to be transparent, then it probably shouldn't be blocking out the scenery behind it.

• The Ark's exhaust comes from behind the thruster ports.
• The Decepticon insignia on the Nemesis is missing its "eyes" as the Ark blasts off.
• Presumably, an impact is supposed to be knocking Jazz out of the pilot's seat; what the animation actually shows, however, is Prime saying "Jazz!", to which Jazz responds by spontaneously flying out of his seat.
• Immediately after a shot of Optimus Prime rallying his troops to prepare to repulse Decepticon boarders ("Prepare for battle!"), the same animation is re-used, but this time with Megatron's voice urging his troops to "Attack! Attack!" When the episode was re-done for the Generation 2 series, this scene was amended by placing a shot of Megatron sitting on this throne from earlier in the episode over the image, shouting the command. (In the same shot, Prowl's eye is missing and the cameraman's hand can be seen for a few frames during the second instance, which was fixed for the Rhino DVD release)
• A shot of Soundwave being kicked out of frame by Ironhide is immediately followed by Soundwave sparring with Ratchet.
• After Ratchet is thrown into the console, Optimus Prime and Megatron enter the frame, struggling with each other. Megatron is missing his fusion cannon in this shot, but it reappears when the angle changes to show them grappling as Prime asks for a status report.
• Ratchet is shown being thrown by Soundwave, but after Optimus Prime asks for a status report, Ratchet is seen fighting with Thundercracker on the other side of the room.
• When Soundwave tosses Ratchet into a console aboard the Ark, the Autobot Medic is sporting a Decepticon symbol in the center of his chest windshield, most likely the result of the animator carrying over Soundwave's design.
• As the above shot pans across the bridge to the right, we see Soundwave has teleported from one side of the bridge to the other, slumped against a console.
• In the pan shot on the Ark when the Transformers find out they're going to crash, there are TWO Soundwaves and TWO Starscreams.
• As the Ark rocks and sends the combatants tumbling, the left arm of the second Soundwave turns into an extended smear of gray paint for a couple of frames.
• The voice that reports about g-forces is Prowl's, but he's struggling with Starscream and doesn't seem to have time to read a console or make a report or anything. Although it's hard to tell due to the ship shaking, Jazz's mouth seems to be moving, and he does seem to be looking at machinery.
• Quite a few generic robots are mixed in among the identifiable inert Transformers in the crashed ship, including an orange one that might be Hauler and a yellow version of Jazz.
• The land around the volcano changes frequently between shots. Sometimes it's rocky desert; other times it's got forests and a river, sometimes both at once. This trend would continue throughout the whole series.
• When Megatron orders Skywarp to revive the other Decepticons, his voice is missing the metallic echo usually applied to it.
• Megatron is missing his barrel as he speaks to his newly revived troops. In a close-up, he has a "five o'clock shadow", as the central segment of his face is a darker shade than the rest of it.

• Starscream has no transformation sound as he lands at the power plant.
• Hound's voice carries a soundproof-room echo as he comments on how different Earth is.
• Hound says that he got shot in the drive train, but Laserbeak shot him topside. Did the shot go straight through him??
• Reflector's three component robots are standing shoulder-to-shoulder as they turn to look at the truck, but are standing in a line in the next shot.
• After Thundercracker informs Soundwave about the approaching vehicle, there's a scene transition. The final frame of the scene transition is faded into an image of Sparkplug and Wheeljack working on Optimus Prime from "Divide and Conquer".
• In the Autobot roll call scene, when Jazz calls Prowl's name, Cliffjumper transforms as well. Ratchet is shown in vehicle mode, even though Jazz never called his name. Finally, near the end, Optimus Prime's headlights are red instead of white, but in the next scene this is corrected.
• Rumble isn't a big guy, but he should at least be a few feet taller than a human. He's shown the same height as Sparkplug.
• Starscream is missing his wing insignia as Megatron returns to his robot form.
• Ironhide and Starscream are shown sparring with poles, while Prowl and Thundercracker have a shootout from cover. In the very next shot, Ironhide is taking on Skywarp and Thundercracker, while Starscream is now busy with Huffer and Gears, and Prowl is grappling with a Reflector. In the shot after that, Prowl is suddenly free from Reflector and charging toward Skywarp.
• A red robot of indeterminate character model is shown retreating with the Decepticons. It looks a bit like an upside-down Sideswipe.
• When Rumble knocks Spike into the water, Sparkplug yells "Pike!", due to an editing error in the creation of the dialog track. (The original 'unslugged' cassette from the recording session has "Spike!")
• Frank Welker is not listed among the voice actors in the credits sequence. This error would be repeated in the other two parts of the miniseries as well.

Continuity errors

Pale silver dot

• Later episodes will go to some length to establish that Cybertron is outside of our galaxy. There's even some implication that it's not inside any galaxy, but that unlikely notion is put to the lie by the very first shots of this episode, which show its surface illuminated by an unseen sun, and the space around it filled with stars.
• Whether for reasons of cost (unlikely considering how much effort was expended on this episode's artwork) or to avoid confusing the kiddies, hardly any of the Transformers were designed to have Cybertronian robot modes (Laserbeak is the sole exception). Thus we get the strange phenomena of, for example, Jazz having a Porsche 911 bumper on his chest, four million years before Porsches were invented. This also leads to some strange transformations, with guys like Bumblebee and Wheeljack not having a single part from their vehicle forms visible in their robot modes.
• Soundwave is in robot mode outside of Iacon, not transforming back to lamppost mode until Jazz is practically on top of him. How could Jazz have failed to notice the big blue Decepticon right in front of him?

My honey my baby
Don't put Shockwave upon no shelf
She said don't gimme no lines
And keep your hands... hand... whatever... to yourself!

• During the scene in Decepticon Headquarters, Shockwave is consistently drawn with two hands. This may not be an error per se, as he shows up a couple of other times with two hands, and plenty of characters can retract their hands and replace them with various gadgets and weapons. Not to mention that the 4 million year gap between this episode and his next appearance (when his left hand is replaced with a laser cannon) leaves plenty of time for him to have lost and subsequently replaced the hand offscreen. However, this still goes against his toy design and his established character model.
• Two asteroids in deep space just show up out of nowhere and collide? Right by the passing ship? The cosmic improbability beggars the imagination.
• Oddly enough, nobody opens fire during the scuffle when the Decepticons board the Ark... not even Megatron.
• The Transformers' interplanetary cruise is incredibly short. At no point do they engage any kind of faster-than-light drive, yet somehow they go from Cybertron to Earth in what seems to be a matter of minutes. The only possible gap that might account for this is the scene cut between the Decepticon launch and the asteroid collision.
• The animation would have us believe that the Autobot spacecraft has just been sticking out of the side of this active volcano for ages, without anybody noticing. The intended gist might have been that the eruption uncovered it, but the animation doesn't show it.
• Cliffjumper somehow stores on his person a cannon that's as big as he is.
• Okay, maybe it's not an actual error. But considering how many ordinary Transformers are shown to have enhanced visual abilities (Hot Rod, Rumble, Arcee, etc.) it seems a tad ridiculous that Thundercracker needs to use Reflector's camera mode to zoom in a little bit on the approaching truck. It's insanely ridiculous that Reflector produces Polaroid prints. He's not even that kind of camera! (More to the point, he should just be able to see what's visible through his own viewfinder.)
• While he is getting repaired by Ratchet, Hound refers to an Energon cube as "some kind of cube", implying that the Autobots don't know what Energon cubes are. The inference that energon cubes are a Decepticon invention holds true for almost the entirety of the pre-movie cartoon, during which time they are never used by the Autobots (something that is even made a plot point in "Traitor"). We say "almost" because of a contradictory flashback in "War Dawn" that shows what appear to be energon cubes being used by Autobots nine million years in the past. By the time of the movie, the Autobots are shown to have begun using the cubes, and continue to do so throughout the third season. It's possible that Hound is a younger Autobot and was not created until after Autobots stopped using Energon cubes. Optimus would know what they are, since he was there back then in "War Dawn".
• During Jazz's roll-call of the Autobots, he neglects to call out Cliffjumper's name. The little red guy transforms anyway.
• The large cast frequently gave the animators trouble in remembering which secondary characters should or should not be present, especially concerning the Autobots. Thus, we frequently must catalog appearing/disappearing Autobots:
  • Jazz's battle group consists of Prowl, Cliffjumper, Trailbreaker, Wheeljack, Mirage, Sunstreaker, Sideswipe, and Ironhide. Even before they've left headquarters, the problems start, as Ironhide disappears and Ratchet takes his place. Ratchet is still with the group when they arrive.
  • Bluestreak joins the group as they fly toward the oil rig.
  • Huffer and Brawn are with them as they land on the platform.
  • Gears is visible in a wide shot of the battle.
• In what universe is it legal for a fourteen-year-old American kid to be working on an oil rig, even with his father? The original script offers an unexpected answer for this: Spike was SUPPOSED to be seventeen! While still not meeting real-life legal requirements (you have to be 18 to work on an oil rig), it's at least a little better. This intended info about Spike's age was either unnoticed or ignored by the writer(s) who put together the show's subsequent story bible, which declared Spike to be fourteen—a fact that worked its way into "A Plague of Insecticons", where Spike states he isn't old enough to drive yet.

• Until the oil platform attack, the episode has consistently portrayed the Decepticon forces as Megatron, Soundwave, 3 tapes, 3 jets, and 3 Reflectors. Things start to fall apart here, as a purple jet is shown diving alongside Thundercracker. It gets much worse in the following episodes.
• The Transformers had a tendency to frequently exaggerate the capabilities of humans to survive being dropped, punched, swatted, hit, etc. As a main protagonist, Spike Witwicky was especially susceptible to this treatment; thus we catalog the adventures of Superhuman Spike!:
  • Spike punches Rumble in the back without breaking or even seeming to hurt his fist.
  • Spike survives being bashed aside by Rumble's metal fist without even bruising a rib.
• When Starscream fires his null-ray, ice appears on the machinery that the ray hits. However, a null ray only stops the flow of electricity; it doesn't cause freezing. (Megatron prompts him with the strange command to "activate the null ray", as if it's some external piece of equipment.)
• Flying Autobots:
  • In this and the following two episodes, the Autobots are all shown flying just as easily as the Decepticons. Once the show went into full production, this ability mostly disappeared, with occasional exceptions due to special abilities (Wheeljack, Sideswipe, the Dinobots), and some scripting, animation and sound effect screw-ups. The change was, in part, to help distinguish the two forces (and perhaps because it doesn't make sense for the Autobots to drive places if they can just fly there instead).

Trivia

• Shockwave's appearance hints that Hasbro was already planning for expansion of the toyline. His toy was not among the initial 28 characters advertised by the 1984 Transformers catalog, yet there he is, making a short appearance that obviously sets up the possibility of future appearances. His toy would be one of the very first 1985 toys to see release, and his character would return in the very first post-pilot episode.

• While Ironhide exclaiming "leakin' lubricant!" was in the original script, him physically leaking lubricant was not called for, suggesting the storyboard artist was unaware that Ironhide was merely using a catchphase from his character bio.
• The episode ends with a preview of "Part 2". While other multi-part Transformers episodes generally refer to the episode by its title ("Next time, on The Transformers: 'The Ultimate Doom'"), this preview uses the series title, The Transformers, as "More Than Meets the Eye" is a retroactive name for the three-part episode, which began as a mini-series before becoming a regular program.
• Many later episodes would mine this one for recycled footage, particularly the line up of transforming Autobots near the end. Transformation sequences (with and without new backgrounds) from this episode appear in "Heavy Metal War", "Blaster Blues", and others. Optimus Prime's third-act transformation sequence from this episode was revised and improved for "Transport to Oblivion", and the revision was used in dozens of episodes thereafter.
• Imagery of Cybertron from this episode was used to depict Iacon in the Marvel story "And There Shall Come...a Leader!". Several buildings are clearly taken from the cartoon, and the most precious comparison has to be the tunnel entrance used by Wheeljack and Bumblebee to get energy conductors to the cartoon's dome-shaped Autobot headquarters, which is exactly the same as the one Fusion and Bluestreak used to get shatter bombs to the Great Dome. The only difference is that the next piece of road for Fusion and Bluestreak is the same road Wheeljack and Bumblebee drove over before entering the tunnel.

The new RCA Colortrak, with Commercial-in-Commercial feature!

• The mid-80s Family Home Entertainment VHS release of "More Than Meets the Eye" was granted the Film Advisory Board Award of Excellence, proudly displayed on the video box cover above. However, this particular "award" does not reflect the quality of any work submitted, but rather that the work is "family-friendly". Cheeky, that.
• The three parter was released on video in the United Kingdom in 1986 under the title "Arrival from Cybertron".
• Footage from the commercial featuring the Autobot Double Targetmaster trio was spliced into the Generation 2 version of this episode by way of the Cybernet Space Cube. Outside of this, they never actually appeared in the cartoon.
• Footage from this episode was used to represent a historical video in "Transform and Roll Out", the opening movie for Transformers Animated.
• In 2016, "Transformers At The Moon" released onto YouTube^[3] a collection of audio clips from the original Sunbow Productions "unslugged" cassette tapes and included many scenes deleted from the final show.
  • Also on this tape is what Wally Burr terms "Body English", which consists of various Autobots and Decepticons grunting and groaning during the fight on the oil platform; "Body English" was recorded for Optimus Prime, Megatron, Starscream, Wheeljack, Reflector, all of the Decepticon troops, and the workers

Foreign localization

French

• Title: "Plein la vue - Partie 1" ("Show off - Part 1")
• Original airdate (France): June 1, 1985
• Original airdate (Canada): March 30, 1985

• Concerning the European French dub:

• When transforming back as Wheeljack arrives, Soundwave does not say anything. In the original version, he warns Laserbeak.
• For some reason, the dialog between Thundercracker and Soundwave is left in English. ("Thundercracker to Soundwave, Thundercracker to Soundwave!" - "Proceed, Thundercracker.")
• This is the first episode of a long series in which various Transformers names are replaced by additional dialogue to avoid pronouncing the rather difficult English names ("Move!", "We have no choice!", "Come on!", or Soundwave saying "Warning!" every time he ejects a cassette). Some other names are distorted (Irok, Soundax, Balbee...).

German

• Title: "Im Weltraum verschollen" (Generation 2, "Lost in Space")
• Original airdate: April 30, 1994

Italian

• Title (dub 1): "Fuga da Cybertron" ("Escape from Cybertron")
• Original airdate: ?

• Hauler is not named, so it looks like he is actually Grapple.
• Reflector is called "Reflectors".
• When Megatron orders Soundwave to release Ravage, in this dub he instead orders Ravage to attack, despite the latter being inside Soundwave.
• When Jazz calls the Autobots by name, he says nothing when he calls Sunstreaker in English, and then calls his name when he should instead call Sideswipe. The latter in not mentioned at all.
• In the next episode preview, Sherman Dam is called by its English name, despite being translated as diga di Sherman in the episode itself.

• Title (dub 2): "Molto più di quel che appare - Prima parte" ("Much More than What Appears - First Part")
• Original airdate: ?

• Hauler is renamed "Grapple" in order to retcon them as the same character.
• When Rumble is ejected for the first time, Soundwave calls him Frenzy.

Japanese

• Title: "Chikyū e no Michi" (地球への道, "The Road to Earth")
• Original airdate: July 6, 1985

• When the Seeker fires the ring of flame around Bumblebee and Wheeljack from his flame-thrower, he shouts out the name of his "special attack" in traditional anime-style. It was called the "Fire Attack", by the way.
• Cut: Immediately after Skywarp says, "Megatron, my leader, we are alive again", a few seconds of the close-up of him and Megatron staring at each other and the fade away into the next scene is cut. Megatron's line, "Quickly, we must revive the other Decepticons", followed by him carrying and dropping Reflector, was also cut. The sequence resumes right after Megatron sets Reflector down next to Soundwave.
• "Hauler" is not referred to by name in this version and most Japanese fans just presumed him to have been Grapple. Most Japanese fans, but not all.

Mandarin

• Title: "Dìyī Tiān" (第一天, "The First Day")
• Original airdate: ?

Brazilian Portuguese

• Title: "Mais do Que Os Olhos Veem, Parte 1" ("More than Meets the Eye, Part 1")
• Original airdate: ?

• This episode did not air in the 1980s and was first released on DVD with a different dub from the rest of the show.

Russian

• Title: "Ne vsjo tak prosto (Chast' 1)" (Не всё так просто (Часть 1), "Not All Is So Simple (Part 1)")
• Original airdate: ?

Serbian

• Title: "Više nego što se vidi prvi deo" (Generation 2, Више него што се види први део, "More than Meets the Eye Part 1"), "Sile zla prvi deo" (Generation 2, Силе зла први део, "Forces of Evil Part 1")
• Original airdate: ?

Toys inspired by this episode

WHAT HAVE WE DONE

• Collector's Edition 89 Sunstorm (Takara, 2003/2009)

An e-HOBBY exclusive redeco of the original Generation 1 Starscream toy, representing the yellow generic Seeker seen in this episode. In part thanks to being given additional prominence in Dreamwave Productions' comic books, the character would subsequently spawn a plethora of additional toys, including Masterpiece figures by both Hasbro and Takara. While most "Sunstorm" figures are based on the standard Seeker body-type that transforms into an Earth jet, both the Titanium Series "Cybertron Heroes" Sunstorm figure and the Legends of Cybertron Sunstorm figure (the latter of which represents the Unicron Trilogy version of Sunstorm) transform into Cybertronian fighter jets that are heavily inspired by the Seekers' "tetrajet" alternate mode seen in this episode. The original Sunstorm figure was later re-released in 2009, once again exclusive to e-HOBBY.

The shoulder cannons absolutely needed to be justified with an episode screencap… which actually shows an animation error.

• Collector's Edition 88 RoadHauler (Takara, 2003)

An e-HOBBY exclusive redeco of the original Generation 1 Grapple toy in a Constructicon-inspired green color scheme, intended to represent the Grapple lookalike seen in this episode, with the choice for his colors taking inspiration from "The Secret of Omega Supreme" and "Five Faces of Darkness, Part 4".

• Masterpiece MP-13 Soundwave (TakaraTomy, 2013)

One of the accessories included with the figure is a display grid that attaches over his chest door: The last page of the instruction booklet features a pair of cutouts you can place underneath the grid to simulate Soundwave projecting them on his chest, one of them being the space cruiser blueprints from this episode.

• Masterpiece MP-17 Prowl (TakaraTomy, 2013)

Although they were technically based on the original Generation 1 toy, TakaraTomy specifically used a screencap from this episode to "justify" the inclusion of shoulder cannons with their Masterpiece toy of Prowl… a screencap that actually depicts an animation error with Bluestreak colored like Prowl (see above), hence the shoulder cannons.

• Masterpiece MP-29 Destron Laserwave (TakaraTomy, 2016)

Among the other accessories, this figure includes a normal left hand that replaces his laser gun to recreate Shockwave's two-handed appearance in this episode, plus an alternate right hand to recreate the salute he gives to Megatron.

• War for Cybertron: Siege (2019)

Representing Cybertronian forms rather than Earth modes, many of the figures from Siege are either directly based upon or incorporate features or design elements referencing this episode. Voyager Starscream transforms into a tetrajet based on thie episode, Soundwave has an "easter egg" third mode of "Cybertronian Sensor Lamp", and although Siege Laserbeak still resembles his more bird-like form, his head design is a direct reference to his cartoon Cybertronian form.

• War for Cybertron: Earthrise Cliffjumper (2020)

This figure comes with the giant cannon from this episode as one of its accessories. The Buzzworthy Bumblebee redeco of the figure features a deco that closely resembles the weapon's color in the show.

• War for Cybertron: Kingdom Autobot Ark (2021)

A Titan-class transforming figure based directly off the Ark's appearance in this episode. One of its included accessories is the Sky Spy drone that provided the Autobots and Decepticons their Earth alt-modes

• Buzzworthy Bumblebee Origin Bumblebee (2021)

This figure is based on Bumblebee's Cybertronian form, and comes with five conductor rods.

• Studio Series Coronation Starscream (2022)

The throne accessory included with this figure is based on the one Megatron uses in the Nemesis from this episode.

• Buzzworthy Bumblebee Origin Autobot Jazz (2023)

This figure is based on Jazz's Cybertronian form.

• Transformers Legacy Evolution Nemesis (2023)

A Titan class transforming figure based directly on the ship the Decepticons used to follow the Autobots to Earth. One of its advertised features is a boarding dock to simulate the Decepticon attack on the Ark.

• Transformers Legacy United Origin Wheeljack (2024)

A Voyager class based on his Cybertronian form, being the first on-screen Transformer, and can fit Bumblebee (even including sculpted conductor rod storage racks!) into his trunk. Oddly, this toy is not part of the Buzzworthy lineup.

Home video releases

VHS

1985 — The Transformers — Volume 1: "More than Meets the Eye" (Family Home Entertainment)
1985 — Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers (VAP) — Japanese audio only.
1986 — The Transformers — Arrival from Cybertron (A.M.T. Video Gems)
1988 — The Transformers — Arrival from Cybertron (V.I.P. Video Gems)
1991 — The Transformers — Arrival from Cybertron (Little Gems Junior Video Club)
1999 — The Transformers: Generation 2 — More than Meets the Eye (Seville Entertainment)
2001 — The Original Transformers — Exclusively from Blockbuster (Rhino Entertainment)

LaserDisc

1994 — Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers — Convoy Set (Takara) — Japanese audio only.
1998 — The Transformers — Autobot Edition (Pioneer LDC) — Japanese audio only.

DVD

2001 — The Transformers — DVD Box 1 (Pioneer LDC) — Japanese audio only.
2002 — Transformers: Generation 2 (Sony Wonder)
2002 — Transformers — Original Series: Volume Two (Sony Wonder)
2002 — Transformers — Complete Original Series: Deluxe Edition (Sony Wonder)
2002 — The Original Transformers — First Season Collector's Edition (Rhino Entertainment)
2002 — The Original Transformers — Volume One (Rhino Entertainment)
2003 — Transformers — Collection 1: Series 1 (Madman Entertainment)
2004 — Transformers — Season 1 (Metrodome)
2004 — Transformers — Volume 1 (Déclic Images) — European French audio only.
2006 — The Best of The Transformers (Madman Entertainment)
2006 — Transformers — The Complete Generation One Collection (Metrodome)
2006 — Cult Sci-Fi Legends (Metrodome)
2007 — Transformers — The Classic Episodes (Metrodome)
2007 — Classic Transformers — Series One: Part One (Metrodome)
2007 — The Transformers — Complete Collection (Madman Entertainment)
2008 — Transformers — Volume 01: Stagione Uno Parte Prima (Medianetwork Communication) — English and Italian audio.
2009 — Transformers — Season One (Metrodome)
2009 — The Transformers — Complete Collection: Decepticon Edition (Madman Entertainment)
2009 — The Transformers — The Complete First Season: 25th Anniversary Edition (Shout! Factory)
2009 — The Transformers — More than Meets the Eye (Shout! Factory)
2009 — The Transformers — The Complete Series: 25th Anniversary "Matrix of Leadership" Collection (Shout! Factory)
2011 — The Transformers — The Complete Original Series (Shout! Factory)
2014 — The Transformers — The Complete First Season: 30th Anniversary Edition (Shout! Factory)
2014 — Transformers — The Classic Animated Series (Metrodome)

External links

• Full episode script, with revision pages dated 13th March 1984

References