Celebrating 25 years by just rolling along agelessly
Okay, maybe not agelessly. For many people out there, they’re completely unaware of what the U.S. government has taken away from them. Gone are the days of Transformers and G.I. Joe and what’s left are shows strictly put on an educational leash. Before I get into this soapbox argument, let’s talk about the beauty that is Transformers: The Complete First Season on DVD.
If you’ve been stuck up the butt of Michael Bay and truly believe that what he has presented is the Hasbro intent for Transformers, boy are you sorely mistaken. Shout! Factory has thankfully bought up the rights to the animated cartoon of the 80s and released the first season on DVD. It contains everything you ever wanted with the show. For you young whippersnappers, you’ll be introduced to an entirely new origin (which is the original) for the metal beast; at the same time you’ll be introduced to the original Megatron (who was a gun, not that thing that Bay created). You’ll be able to experience first hand how wonderful the show was originally. You’ll find that the original Optimus Prime works better under cel animation than…. well, I’ll leave Bay alone.
Anyway, the first season which brings all the goods it promised, has a damn interesting option that allows you to either watch all the episodes individually or watch them as one continuous story. The story follows the fall of the autobots from their home on Cybertron, which leads them to earth. Much like the film, the autobots are trying to stop the decepticons. Unlike the film, there is no cube involved, it’s simply that Cybertron is running out of power and the decepticons want to cypher the power of the earth and basically steal it away. Along the way, the quest for energon cubes becomes essential. The autobots want to protect the planet and its inhabitants from the decepticons, which leads into their motivation. The series itself really does flash back to when cartoons really meant something, which is why this 25th Anniversary Edition of The Transformers is so darn important. You get all the wonderful violence, explosions, barely any deaths, but no educational value whatsoever. It’s purely good (autobots) versus evil (decepticons). What more do you need in a cartoon?
The first season of The Transformers does shine the brightest. You’ve got all your favorites in the show such as: Starscream, Megatron, Optimus, Bumble Bee, Jazz, Rachet, and a few others. The personalities and situations are classic and certainly deserve your attention. Now, the downer to all of this could be that the cartoon does look a bit aged. It’s true what it says on the box that Shout! Factory did clean it up, but it still feels a bit old. Some of the dialogue is a bit cheesy and many fans of the movie may not appreciate what they’re seeing; it’s a shame, but it’s true. I think that each 22 minute episode, and there are 16 episodes in this season, really do bring some good stuff. The problem is that those most affected by these episodes and that will flock to these episodes are my age (33 — shhhh, don’t tell anyone) and that demo may not be where the money is now. Plus, you have this generation of kids who have seen the four other renditions of The Transformers in episodic form that won’t readily identify with the first version of them. That’s quite regretful, but it’s very true.
Now, with that said, you bet your energon cubes that my generation really does miss this type of cartoon. If I didn’t review this I would certainly be purchasing it against my wife’s wishes. In the early 90s when the Children’s Television Act was announced, which pretty much crapped on cartoon entertainment, as we know it, The Transformers and G.I. Joe went the way of the Dodo bird. So, this is potentially the last great cartoon that can be truly enjoyed because the U.S. Government didn’t interfere with it. While it’s true this probably only adds a minimal amount of educational content (more morals than anything else), this set represents everything that was good about Saturday morning cartoons.
You must decide, for those of you who have kids, do you want to get this for them? I would and I have shown my daughters (six and five years old) this DVD set. Guess what? They loved it, as will you.
As for the features on this set, you probably need to count the continuous episodic player as one. It’s a brilliant idea and something I certainly would welcome in future cartoon or television sets. I know it’s been around in Family Guy and what not, but this really works with a purpose here. As for actual features, here’s what you get:
– Triple Changer
– Printable “Transport to Oblivion” Script
– Archival Hasbro Toy Commercials
– Rare PSA (man, I see VOs on these)