The Untold Story of TRANSFORMERS: THE MOVIE

[@myriadmediamusings]

At the SDCC 2023 panel's trivia portion, Mr Flint Dille was asking us in the audience what the original title of the Transformers movie script. I was the only one to raise my hand and answer that it was Transformers: The Secrets of Cybertron. I was surprised that I was the only one to get it, and even more surprised that my prize for winning was a copy of the dead Ironhide & Prowl Buzzworthy Bumblebee pack.

[@adamntcaponewholikesbigcoo1749]

Congrats, have corpses

[@Prime-Productions]

If this isn’t sarcasm that’s hilarious😂

[@myriadmediamusings]

@@Prime-Productions Nah yeah true story, there is a YT video of the panel and at the 31:00 mark is where it happens.

[@japanesepokemoncardsbuydir9657]

A copy ? So a KO then.

[@Jeddostotle7]

@@japanesepokemoncardsbuydir9657 no, "a copy" as in "a single specimen of a widely-produced work or item", the same way you'd say it for a book or movie or something. "a copy of Grapes of Wrath" or "a copy of Terminator", etc.

[@jackdubz4247]

With regards to all of that gorgeous (used and unused) Floro Dery concept art, all I can think of is someone at Hasbro looking at it and thinking, "How on earth are we supposed to make toys out of all of this stuff?"

[@rockhandrecords1342]

I’d love to se an art book collecting all the art that was created. Reminds me a lot of the artist Moebius.

[@manjackson2772]

He did a second, greatly simplified pass on his designs to make them more usable. The concept art stage is just that, concept.

[@jayfink2199]

Floro Dery is one of the people responsible for what made this silly commercial feel "alive" and like an actual "story" as opposed to a bunch of schmucks in suits wanting to get as much shekels from dumb kids as possible. I want to create a Floro Dery shrine... Flint Dillie is also one of the key people responsible for whatever life this silly show had

[@jayfink2199]

@@KevinSeyson dag, boo. Im a monkey

[@ProfDragonite]

Star Wars, Weird Al, Orson Welles, the death of Prime... It's amazing how a TOY COMMERCIAL, of all things, could create something so iconic.

[@tylerbertram7065]

Don't forget a Monty Python member and Mr Spock

[@manjackson2772]

Misread as idiotic at first. It's both for sure.

[@Mecha82]

Movie dared to be stupid and it was alright.

[@liljenborg2517]

Iconic? Traumatizing is what I remember. I still struggle to watch the movie because I can't get past the death of all these characters I loved, just because their toys had been discontinued. I picked up a few Transformers from friends who sold them off to me for a buck or two because they'd been so alienated by the movie. "At least we still have GI Joe," they said. And then THAT movie came out . . .

[@jasonelliott7977]

This toy commercial took on a life of its own and became something more. We’re still talking about this movie almost forty years later.

[@Troublethecat]

It's always confused me how Hasbro created the Transformers cartoon in the first place to get kids attached to the characters enough to beg their parents to buy the toys, but then they were shocked that kids were upset at the characters being killed so they could sell new toys.

[@christophermire3872]

There were so many better ways they could have handled that. They could have been sucked through a wormhole never to be seen again. Or they could have done the same thing they did when they introduced all those new characters in season 2. Just have them not appear again and not explain it at all. 😂

[@brianng8350]

That is what happens when you have corporate greed that doesn’t understand the audience. They should never work on children related stuff.

[@benreilly9513]

“Dry your eyes, and buy Rodimus Prime.”

[@Troublethecat]

@@christophermire3872 I mean to be fair they couldn't do that second thing with Optimus Prime because he's leader of the Autobots and basically the main character of the first two seasons. They still could have gotten rid of him without killing him, especially killing him in a way that kinda made it the fault of the guy who replaced him. I don't know how that part ended up being something that survived through all the revisions into the final movie. They could've just had the characters whose toys were being discontinued leave earth for some reason like they ended up doing with Rodimus's crew in Headmasters.

[@clownplayer7265]

They underestimated the attachment. They assumed kids are fickle minded no matter what, ignoring that they did a great job creating a connection between the characters and the audience, especially Optimus Prime. Plus, Optimus' dead scene takes itself with reverence and seriousness even modern movies tend to lack, and even other characters' demise are notably taken with enough gravitas to the situation, the shuttle members Ironhide specially are killed and we can see the decepticons are indeed pieces of work, Arcee contemplating the bodies of Windcharger and Wheeljack is fast but enough to showcase how brutal the battle is getting, and even after the jokes Starscream's death serves to highlight they're dealing with a new threat they cannot underestimate.

[@TalentCaldwell]

My heart literally sank when the video says it was ending as I did not want it to end. This was absolutely captivating. Great job.

[@thegreatpurplefishlord4911]

Chris, I'm not normally one to comment on videos, but that was epic. Thank you so much. Best things you've ever made.

[@society7394]

“Wheeljack is an old-fashioned misogynist” Is the funniest thing I’ve ever heard.

[@benreilly9513]

As funny as that concept is out of context I’m glad it was dropped. In practice I feel like putting up with that running “gag” for an hour and a half would have been completely exhausting, and to this day I’m so glad Arcee was just… allowed to be in the film and nobody acts like it’s weird or unusual that she’s a girl robot.

[@davidkrane7026]

Man, if only Dr Smoov was still making videos, this would be perfect for his version of Wheeljack lol

[@sargonsblackgrandfather2072]

Can you imagine if YT existed how many videos would have been made whining about how Transformers went “woke”

[@MDestron2282]

@@benreilly9513 Yeah, it would've gotten really old really fast. Arcee already got and still gets enough hate from some fanbros. I'm good with her being on equal terms with the rest of the cast of characters and no one making a big deal about her being a female bot in the movie.

[@Prime_76]

You need to understand the meaning of the word misogynist... it's means you hate women and WheelJack doesn't hate women he believed she wasn't fit for the job which I believe should of been kept in 🤷🏽‍♂️

[@benreilly9513]

Of all the things that were iterated on in all the versions of the script, I have to admit, I was not expecting “Starscream dumping a dying Megatron out into space only to get blasted into atoms by Galvatron” to be one of them. It’s so iconic and fits in so perfectly with the status-quo-evolving nature of the film that I’m flabbergasted that it’s the result of a plot mechanic being changed late in the writing process.

[@felmaster3534]

I want to see more of Cranix and Lithone. I reckon they'd be depicted as a colony world nowadays of Cybertronians who lost the ability to transform and had to rely on actual vehicles, but I would like the idea of a "cousin race" of robots.

[@manjackson2772]

So... Action Masters?

[@matthewsimpson5529]

A Colony world that, after being cut off from Cybertron and the other Colonies, were forced to rely on Nucleon for power after running out of Energon, so they lose their ability to transform.

[@AxeManOfSuburbia]

I prefer the idea that Cybertronians are unique in their ability to transform because of the great war.

[@allhailme8457]

I just think there are other mechanical races/species. We see some in Lithone, but we also see convergent mechanical animal species on the Quintesson planet. Cybertronians seem to be a species that can transform their bodies completely. Some stories say they had to learn to do it, but I think Primus created them from the beginning to have that capability.

[@LoveableNerd]

We already know that's not true. All the Quintesson guard robots, the Sharkticons, the Junkions. None were (originally) Cybertronian in oririn.@@AxeManOfSuburbia

[@jonathanboetto8849]

This is absolutely amazing. The revelation that Kranix was originally a stone-based Transformer named Granix makes so much sense. I've always wondered why his planet was called Lithone ("lithos" being the Greek word for stone), despite seemingly having nothing to do with stone. It would be kind of a fun callback if Kranix and Arblus (or "Granix") got Legacy United toys in the Infernac Universe to finally see this idea come to full fruition. Speaking of Infernac, I wonder if Mentlar's name was repurposed for the Inhumanoid, Metlar, when he was replaced by Perceptor...

[@JustinWahlne]

Forget Tigerhawk. Forget Tidalwave. Forget Magmatron. Right now all I want from Legacy United is a Granix figure that transforms into a jet.

[@cryssnail]

I would LOVE a Granix/Kranix rock figure

[@jonharrison9222]

Maybe they got advance notice of what the go-bots were doing with the rock lords.

[@lorcan0c]

Had a chance to see this presentation in-person back in August (shame the actual presentation of The Movie was a bust... ah well, technical difficulties happen!) it was a great time, glad more people get to see it!

[@ChrisMcFeely]

Rest assured, there's more included in this than there was in that! 😉

[@skydarksparksworld1675]

​@@ChrisMcFeelyPlease I hope to see the basics on Decepticon Lugnutz

[@pupunoob]

A train that transforms into a giant serpent is insane. We need that in toy form.

[@jayfink2199]

Lol actually I'm glad a lot of these ideas never got used. You can literally tell when someone unfamiliar with Transformers comes in on the side & starts creating shit to add to it...

[@Chokun-Gaming]

Rails sounds like a fun character, it's a shame he never left the concept stage

[@brockbaby]

It was a real toy in Japan (diaclone or such) . Hasbro never got around to prepping it for the US market.

[@Chokun-Gaming]

@@brockbaby can you tell me its name? A google search only shows me what was recolored into the trainbots

[@manjackson2772]

@@Chokun-Gaming There was no train/bullet train/robot snake in the transformers line. The trainbots are probably what they were thinking of.

[@doobles9253]

Megatron just got a studio series toy based off of bumblebee concept art, maybe Rails has a chance of being a toy in the future (titan class pls hasbro)

[@hexxxenmeister6069]

Odd choice for an autobot, giant fire breathing snake

[@tannerprice2018]

It’s funny to think that not only was Arcee originally gonna be a medic, but that she was paired up with Wheeljack decades before TF Prime or Rise Of The Beasts. It’s most likely coincidental, but I like to think the writers of ROTB took inspiration from this early script.

[@KasumiKenshirou]

In season 3 some Arcee lookalikes (but blue rather than pink) are medics on Sandstorm's planet, Paradron.

[@agentnacho2029]

Highly doubtful

[@cryssnail]

Considering this draft was literally lost until 2022, no.

[@GideonFerrante]

I'm glad we got Susan Blu's feminine and flirtatious yet tough and fearless Arcee, rather than a modern lame Mary Sue or feminist self-insert. The one in Transformers Prime was great too, especially the rivalry with Airachnid. I always thought they should have made Nightbird a reoccurring character, and a proper Decepticon (with or without a voice, maybe they could visit Vector Sigma again lol). An ideal transformation would be a stealth drone with dual wing embedded rotors with a third silent motorcycle mode. Or maybe Megatron could build a team of Ninja-cons inspired by Nightbird, "Shurikaine", "Kickstart", "Samur-Ion" & "Show-Gun" (all female, or mixed combiners). I always thought the cons lacked choppers, that's real air superiority. Don't go stealing my ideas though, I'll know it's you guys 🤣 (JK! PLEASE, feel free to plagiarize if it gets a new G1 based reboot, except for more adult fans like the comics & TF: Prime).

[@propane_salesman]

I'd definitely say I prefer the final product. This is still an awesome video, though. Props to all the artists, and to people like Chris McFeely for helping to preserve this as part of history.

[@elsapoelsapo1821]

Yeah ...I agree ... Pew

[@dukenukem9770]

I completely agree! IMHO, the movie wasn’t perfect, but I think it was better than this alternative storyline…

[@nachonachoman]

Any version without starscream kicking an injured Megatron and dumping him into space is inferior 😂. Loved starscream

[@kidrobot.]

@@dukenukem9770 its far from perfect, but im glad you guys enjoy such low bar content

[@AlexReynard]

Watched the whole thing, and the only thing I wish they'd kept is Rails.

[@Acelister]

I've seen The Transformers: The Movie more than any other movie, and yet I've never looked into its production. This was facinating, thank you!

[@Defx10]

The first draft actually sounds like the most compelling story of all. I think I really would have enjoyed that. I really like the idea of Unicron being trapped in an orbit, and the Earth sub-plot. Wish those ideas had stayed in the final movie.

[@davidawilliams252]

Yes. I think elements of the 1st and the 3rd would have been great. I hate Rusty and Claire (humans) involvement and I like that Spike and Daniel are in it.

[@BranchingTangents]

Blurr is one of my favourite Autobots, but still, the idea of the contrast between his speed and a Jimmy Stewart voice and manner of speaking is a great one to me

[@sargonsblackgrandfather2072]

He became Kup in the finished film

[@LoveableNerd]

Jimmy Stewart was still with us in the mid-80's and did voice acting (Wyatt Burp in Fivel Goes West).... imagine he could have been the original intended voice of Blurr. It could have been the last role for two Hollywood legends instead of just Orsen Welles.

[@peterdanior4538]

I’m so glad they reworked the movie. What we end up getting is so much better than the early drafts

[@trubluhue9969]

Maybe the secret of cybertron script was so unfathomably good that the universe had to make sure nobody could read it, lest their minds be shattered by its glory

[@jayfink2199]

lol nah, I don't think so

[@jayfink2199]

Given that what we got became historic despite suckin' balls I dunno about all that

[@nine_tails137]

I always like learning new things about Transformers. Especially unused ideas for the Transformers 1986 movie.

[@KGTstudios]

This was great! The movie was amazing in nearly every single version of it! Thank you for sharing all of it!

[@JMurdochNZ]

Great video. I like the idea of long dead deceptions being used to create Galvatron's crew rather than the end result where known characters were basically raw materials to create new characters.

[@MDestron2282]

I actually really wish that idea made the final cut.

[@TonyG718]

I will eat up any new media spotlights on Transformers the Movie 86. It’s such an important and timeless piece of historical film in both Anime, TF and 80’s rock, the older I get the more sad I get thinking this will get buried in lost media with new generations. great job, instant sub.

[@Firedrake-SP]

It's sad that Rails and Tanker never made it in the spotlight.

[@videogollumer]

What? No love for Mentlar?

[@EvilCerealBoX]

​@@videogollumeror chemo!

[@videogollumer]

@@EvilCerealBoX Why are you bringing the Metal Men's archnemesis into this? This isn't DC.

[@EvilCerealBoX]

@@videogollumer chemico* my bad.

[@kinglord7707]

Maybe they will very soon

[@WhiskeyShred]

I still watch this movie and listen to the soundtrack whenever I need to…and I need to a lot!

[@davidcatlett4052]

Just love it a lot, or feeling down too much?

[@rayray6490]

The scrapped idea of Autobot City rising up into the air and closing up like a fist sounds very intriguing

[@vxrdrummer]

I've read the draft scripts and I keep wondering if they will ever use any of the characters that never appeared. Like Rails and the Anibots, or include Rusty and Ellen. I also love how Megatron has to race to be interned and that his essence is lost into space. I really liked those scenes and they painted a great picture in my mind's eye. There really were some great parts in the different scripts. Like on the surface of Unicron with what the terrain and surroundings are like. Its very good.

[@EmbertheWildfire68.999]

Rails most likely became Sky Lynx, and the Anibots became the predacons, just in case you’re still wondering

[@Oliverfan2005]

Undoubtedly my favorite episode of the Basics, and I’ve watched every friggin episode (god help me) The amount of history and ideas related to the 86 movie are so fascinating and you present it all masterfully. Ace job dude, love this one a lot

[@BalrogsHaveWings]

Almost as if the technical difficulties accidentally made a magnificent work of art!

[@krank23]

Just happy little accidents?

[@rashakor]

I like very much the look of the black colored Sweeps drone! Together with a black Scourge it would have work pretty well. That’s the only I like from that first draft! The story was a mess!

[@Katdad79]

Someone needs to fully animate that first draft into an actual movie. I'd watch it.

[@optimusgaming8629]

I was thinking the same thing. But have it take place in an alternate universe

[@darklordmalthric3633]

Someone should start a petition to do just that

[@theonewhowatches869]

Or maybe more realistically, pull a "The Star Wars" and adapt that first draft as a comic

[@TheMegops81]

I would be down for that.

[@myriadmediamusings]

@@theonewhowatches869Down for that for sure. It would most certainly be a better TF Movie what if comic than the actual what if TF Movie comic we got.

[@171QA]

As much as I hate Wheeljack getting killed off in the movie I'd chose that over him being sexist over Arcee.

[@MrLnikolloj]

I don't know i bet it would have been hilarious wheeljack not realizing Arcee is the reason he didn't die and has no idea

[@erinnorton6984]

Finally an explanation as to what happened to Blaster during the movie! A storyline that was cut makes sense at last.

[@MonsterKidCory]

Okay, Kup as a WWII tank is awesome! But speaking of WWII, that spiked helmet is not a "Nazi helmet"... It's called a "Pickelhaube" and was part of the Prussian and German uniform from the early 1800's to 1918. It was long since out of use by WWII.

[@ChrisMcFeely]

That was a deliberate choice for the unofficial artists impression. The script specifies a Nazi helmet (because the Junkions are a biker gang, and Nazi regalia is not uncommon in that subculture) but we simply didn't want to make art of an actual Nazi helmet, so we subbed in a pickelhaube.

[@KasumiKenshirou]

@@ChrisMcFeely Wreck-Gar already has that unfortunate in hindsight UK comic panel where he says, "Jim'll Fix It!", he doesn't need Nazi helmets!

[@gannydonzalez3763]

​@@ChrisMcFeely Cowardice.

[@natek4488]

So let me see if I can see where all these ideas for all of these drafts of the film went in the future. Optimus Prime's Matrix became the physical Matrix of Leadership. The Entity and the planet Unicron became the Chaos bringer, Unicron. Lifesparks became sparks. The Quintessons and Sharkticons. Cybertron becoming a massive robot became Primus. Wreck-Gar and the junkions, Unicrons vulnerability to the Matrix, and the 1986 cast. It's amazing how massive the transformers lore got with the development and production of this one movie. It's why I love Transformers so much.

[@Maswartz226]

I'd love to see the unused characters from the earlier drafts show up in new stuff.

[@Rhedosaurus_]

Loved the presentation at TFNation. I managed to get to Chicago last year and saw another version of it with Ron Friedman. Ron Friedman is a wonderful speaker and I could honestly listen to him for hours. He gave novel-length answers in his Q and A, a lot of truly bizarre and hilarious stories about his life (maybe exaggerated for comedy but a lot of it seems to be true). Sadly he didnt have much to say about his first draft TF script - understandably, he might not remember it well after all these years. I think one of only things he touched on specifically was why he prominently included a mother character (while fhe final film has a father - Spike) and how his own mother was important to him and inspired that.

[@KasumiKenshirou]

I bought his autobiography but I haven't gotten around to reading it yet. Freidman promoted it on Gibert Gottfried's podcast. The title of the book is "I Killed Optimus Prime", so you now have an audio clip out there with Gilbert Gottfried confessing to Prime's murder!

[@Phanto5692]

As much as I loved what we got, I wouldn't mind seeing an adaptation of Friedman's original script. Or at least the first act of it.

[@Mirage_Mach5]

It would have been nice in this draft to have Prowl take command of the Autobots after Prime's death. In the comics, Prowl became the leader of the Autobots for a time. For some strange reason, the writers never did Prowl justice. Thanks for the awesome video, sir!

[@juststatedtheobvious9633]

I remember reading once that one or more people writing the scripts had a hate-on for Prowl. Take it with all the salt in the Dead Sea (I can't even remember the source, unfortunately...), but it explains why his most memorable episode in the first season is him being tortured until a human saves his butt, and he gets one of the most horrifying deaths.

[@Mirage_Mach5]

@@juststatedtheobvious9633 Thanks for that! It helps put things in perspective about my second favorite character(Optimus is first).

[@Tsujanryo]

@@juststatedtheobvious9633 What? Prowl was friggin' badass, ever since the first episode he stood out...hell they were all cool. (Ok, Gears was annoying, and Seaspray talked funny.) But Prowl? Maybe they hated cops? Bluestreak was similar in form but he got no hate? I, for one, kind of think he's still alive. There's something there about greying out as a sign of real death.... #Prowlain'tdead

[@GalvyTheTom]

@@TsujanryoIt’s a bit hard to notice but Prowl’s body does turn gray as he dies in the movie. That’s a pretty good indicator that he died for real in the movie.

[@edwardshawe6395]

Something that never ceases to amaze me is how confident Hasbro were in the brand to explore movie options before the cartoon and toyline had even dropped....

[@petemercier4322]

While stationed in Iceland as as a 5-6 year old, this movie got me through our deployment as I watched it at least once a day for two years. Still my favorite movie of all time as a result, but I had no idea about the original design and development behind the movie. This was fascinating - thank you for posting this!

[@Ryder-a-Blaze]

Galvatron’s original colour scheme makes him look like a Chess piece

[@GalvyTheTom]

You know, it makes sense that Unicron would design Galvatron to look that way. Remind him that he’s nothing more than a pawn for Unicron to control.

[@lynngreen7978]

That first script had so many characters, and so much happening, it would have had a run time over two hours, with the audience struggling to remember who half were. Granix of Lithone? Rock lords Tie-in? And i notice a single letter change to Kranix of Lithone. Which derives from the Greek Lithic - stone.

[@Akuma12366]

Need more longer videos of Chris explaining Transformers like this plz this was amazing 🖤

[@Chord_]

First of all, this was an excellent video! I know these longer form videos are outside your usual wheelhouse, but I think you did a great job of keeping that informative momentum from your Basics and translating it over to this. Secondly, for being such a pivotal piece of Transformers media, it shocks me that this video is (from what I can tell) one of the first (if not THE first) to really delve deep into its creation and showcase the behind the scenes of it all that isn't just a listicle of "Here's all the deleted scenes THEY took from you." If anyone had to make this type of video, I'm glad it was you! ~23:40 My impression has been that at least part of the reason why Secret of Cybertron was rejected was because of that "great" contract of Friedman's, that Secret of Cybertron didn't contain enough "Friedman DNA" as it were to actually make it producible, legally speaking, hence the need to return to and rewrite his original draft. But, I'm far from an expert in this, so I don't know how much of that is just me reading between non-existent lines.

[@willnack5315]

I think they should try and use the concept of Rails in modern media, there are very few Transformers that turn from vehicles into animal and even fewer that are Autobots (cassette animals being the most prominent). It could be something interesting to see either as a toy, animated, or both!

[@恩陶梁]

Timegazer magician what are you doing here

[@verzieditz]

My all time favorite animated movie, this is 1000% going to be my favorite episode you've made!!

[@alaskanatomchild8801]

I've been a Fan of The Transformers since they debuted in America, and I truly thought I knew it all when it came to the 1986 movie. I was wrong. This was amazingly done and just a wonderful watch. Thank you for all the research and hard work involved!

[@iBeamer]

I was at TFCon Chicago in Oct. 2022 and got to attend the panel when Jim Sorensen and Ron Friedman went through the first draft. It was a blast to hear the story he came up with!

[@TheDigitalApple]

Thanks to the film we did get, we got fan favorites such as Rodimus Prime/Hot Rod, Galvatron, Arcee, Wreckgar and Unicron, who continue to appear in future Transformers products to this day!

[@edr3158]

Hot Rod/Rodimus Prime a fan favorite?

[@pinkflare13]

​​@@edr3158Yep

[@travisfields157]

​@@edr3158Believe it not, he is. He's picked up quite a bit of love the last 5 years or so, as there have been other depictions of him. You ought to read the IDW comics he starred in.

[@BBoy_PopTart]

​@@edr3158lol

[@christophercameron2141]

​@@edr3158YES! He restored the Autobots to Cybertron! And won the Cybertronian war, as well as the war hero! The movie was dedicated to his character becoming a Prime! And no, he didn't get Optimus killed! Optimus prime didn't want to take the shot before saying his self righteous lines. That gave Megatron all the time he needed.

[@Jayfive276]

25:56 - holy crap, I just now realised after some 35 years that Kup's name is a shortening of "Pickup".

[@ChrisMcFeely]

Dreadful, isn't it!

[@NovexusNui777]

I have only few words to say about this. and that is simply, Masterful work McFeely, Masterful work.

[@artimusprime626]

It would be fascinating to get a limited legacy toyline of the bots from the earlier drafts, e.g Mentlar, Tankor, the black Sweeps, Rails, etc.

[@kevin71794]

I would 1000% watch that first script. it sounds so dark and full of cosmic horror, i love it! While I love the movie we got, now knowing what it could have been, i feel so robbed lolol

[@maskedriderweaver4122]

I would say "WOW", but that just isn't enough. This shows so many interesting ideas that could have been built on. I'm seeing multiple times lines forming in my head. I think this will give me the inspiration I needed to finish my rewrite of G1 that I had been working on...

[@Dumb850]

I love this movie so much

[@Lukehendo]

Thank you for making me fall in love with these characters again with your videos

[@dwalt187]

Exceptionally well presented Chris. Fantastic job.

[@mr.o6240]

I've watched this about 3 times already great job. I saw this when it came out on my Birthday as a kid and cried when Prime died

[@kelvingoce7587]

this all sounds like it should've been a comic book event or a full season arc

[@juliusbossman7280]

Rails sounds like a missed opportunity. A train that becomes a snake just sounds awesome.

[@michaelrlomax1977]

Well that was well worth watching and very entertaining. A Saturday night well spent.

[@michaelwaterman3553]

This was sooooo wonderful. Many new details I’ve never heard before and stuff I now finally understand. Thanks

[@ComicGuy74]

A very interesting and entertaining video. It's fascinating to see the Movie develop from the ground up, through numerous drafts to what it ended up as.

[@im2hastyle]

I've been waiting for a video like this since they first released the original screenplay for the movie a couple years ago. Thank you for the video!!!

[@prototype4122]

This is absolutely brilliant! The amount of work in between videos must be hard, keep up the outstanding work, btw I love ur vids, finna bidge watch them ALL

[@garym6315]

The first draft sounds like an actual movie, whereas the version we got was so stripped back it was little more than a space romp or quest.

[@blackstone1a]

"Thr Grizzled Tankor, an Autobot who turns into a **Sherman Tank** " WE WERE ROBBED OF GREATNESS! I love Autobots with military vehicles, and the iconic Sherman Tank would've been a great form for one.

[@Fenris30]

I prefer Warpath and his Tourette's. Blam! Kaboom!

[@anotherdimension9116]

A classic! Cannot wait to see all the behind the scenes information

[@palaguin]

The first draft sounded good at the beginning, but it looks like the writer couldn't help adding more and more to it that it became a hot mess, Definitely salvagable to make another animated movie somewhere sometime.

[@brockbaby]

First drafts never get made. Writers add enough content to get a dialogue going and let it evolve from there.

[@fbomb7184]

Great way to end the video. 40th anniversary of it’s release is coming up. Hope we can get an extended cut or dang, an alternate movie. Meg’s and Prime’s voice actor still alive. Let’s GO!

[@Renkencen]

OH! So this is where the whole Wheeljack X Arcee cane from? If you didn't know, a few deleted ROTB scenes was them two liking each other! While the first script was wild but I get why they changed most of it! It was all over the place and it would of been a much longer film! Shame about Rail as he sounded so cool! Same with Tanker too!

[@Fenris30]

I'm glad it was changed to Hot Rod in the Movie but I hated how it was then changed to Springer in the show. Maybe that's why writers feel like they can just pass Arcee around from partner to partner.

[@KasumiKenshirou]

@@Fenris30 I don't know if it was "changed to Springer" rather than the movie's story not being locked down when they were making season 3. E.g., Rodimus at one point says, "My time in the light is short," to which Arcee remarks, "That's what Optimus Prime said when he was dying." But that line is from an earlier draft of the movie but didn't end up in the final product.

[@Fenris30]

Putting "The Girl" with the Manly Man type so they Bicker is a Dille Trope. Arcee liked Hot Rod in the Movie and this was confirmed in many of the Early Drafts after they decided to wack to older cast. Arcee shows concern for Hot Rod or Daniel. I always Joke that Arcee dumped him cause he got old and Ugly as Rodimus LOL. Why they had to do my Boy like that? Have you see this kzbin.info/www/bejne/bKHEpmWloaqVpMU

[@TheSmart-CasualGamer]

​@@Fenris30And then she's a romantic foil for Chromedome in Headmasters!

[@rayb8572]

This video was great, thanks for putting in the time to create and upload!! I loved learning all these alternate possibilities for this great movie!

[@clayrodriguez_author]

Does anyone else wish that Rails the kaiju train snake survived to the final movie? He sounds awesome

[@davidkrane7026]

Feel like he probably eventually became Sky Lynx, but yeah, wish he was also made into a toy.

[@LatitudeSky]

Takara didn't entirely give up. Most of the Brave series Might Gaine is transforming trains. One of them triple changes from beast to train to robot. Quite a good series once it gets going.

[@dankerbell]

i love the fan design

[@MDestron2282]

Wow! Chris, this is one of the coolest videos you've done! I really enjoyed every minute of it. Fantastic work!

[@weirdkitty07]

The snake train would have been cool as one of the beasts in Dweller in the Depths.

[@timtenthousand]

this video makes me so excited for the concept art Studio Series toys

[@singletona082]

A lot of this is material I already knew in isolation. YUet I love your piecing it all together not just as a timelin4e but as a story. Thank you.

[@sketchasaurrex4087]

I'm glad for all the rewrites and revisions. Especially the first draft sounded completely random and disjointed in telling the story.

[@haydenreviewscustomcombos]

So, Daniel was always meant to be introduced in the movie. I really hope that this version was toned down from the version we got in the finished movie.

[@EllinoItalos]

I loved the soundtrack. As a matter of fact, a few 80's cartoons in had awesome music. Thundercats especially.

[@justinneese4449]

Is anyone else dreaming of a Snake train "Rails" toy? (I would also take one eyed tank Kup). After watching this all the way through, I feel like we got the best script in the end, but I was STILL a traumatized child for a wile LOL

[@rob1052]

Bravo job on this episode! I was delighted to learn much about one of my favorite films that I never knew before. Your presentation easily connected the gaps of missing continuity and made clear sense of why certain things were presented the way there were in the film, etc.

[@minilopgamer1950]

I’m so glad they didn’t make Wheeljack sexist

[@PhantomHarlock78]

Even more in the show that was thd first to have trans characters.

[@themollymachine]

Not me 😢

[@johnosbourn4312]

This was very fascinating, Chris, and I really enjoyed this deep dive into the unknown history of the first Transformers movie.

[@monkeydrajanka4798]

This is Going to be a Legendary Episode ^_^

[@JynxPryde]

This video is full of tidbits that make some scenes, in the movie that came out, make a LOT more sense.

[@Gaia_BentosZX5]

What an amazing story. The Key to Vector Ligma and all season 3 episodes are the result of scrapped movie ideas, including the return of optimus prime, now fully upgraded.

[@manjackson2772]

What's Vector Ligma?

[@KasumiKenshirou]

@@manjackson2772 A typo. Vector Sigma is the computer at the center of Cybertron that gives Transformers life who is apparently older than Cybertron itself. He is used to create the Aerialbots and Stunticons.

[@DHCR-core]

One thing I've always loved is that, if you're perceptive, you already know what the Matrix does before even being told. It being shaped like Unicron was a genius move.

[@gunnest1237]

While I agree with most of the changes I think were straight improvements I have to say I prefer the concept of Unicron being a trapped planet than a free-roaming one. I hope a future piece of media uses that.

[@leviticusprime4904]

Didn’t prime do that?

[@erikrick]

Thank you for putting this together

[@sivanlevi3867]

This is absolutely amazing. So much detail and creative processing went into this and I'm grateful that this movie came out. There was also a lot more fighting done off-screen, with a comic page revealing that a battle was being fought by Omega Supreme and the Decepticon and Autobot Combiners not featured in the film like Superion. If you wanted to know the full death-count: Brawn dies first, followed by Prowl, Ratchet and Ironhide during the attack on the Autobot shuttle by the Decepticons. Windcharger and Wheeljack die during the battle in Autobot City. Then there's Optimus Prime's infamous death scene, followed by the reviving of Megatron, Thundercracker, Skywarp, and the Insecticons by Unicron. Then there's Starscream's death by firepower, and then Unicron's at the end. There were definitely others killed off-screen though, like Smokescreen, Mirage, and Red Alert. Shockwave is presumed to have died during Unicron's attack on Cybertron. It's also presumed that Huffer dies in Autobot City, since in the 3rd season episode "Dark Awakening", when Daniel visits an Autobot mausoleum, Huffer's name is among those enshrined there, but not Brawn, which spawns the in-joke about Brawn not really dying. Some we don't even know the fates of, including Tracks, Sideswipe, Sunstreaker, Bluestreak, Grapple, Gears, Inferno, Skids and Hoist. All of their toys were discontinued in 1986, but they aren't shown to be dead, though Sideswipe would later appear in the Headmasters confirming he is alive. In a continuity error, Dirge, Thrust and Ramjet die when they try to save Cybertron from Unicron, but instead are shown alive to continue appearing in the 3rd season of the cartoon. Jetfire and Reflector's fate are also a mystery, with the latter having his toy released as a mail-away exclusive in '86, but not appearing in the cartoon again. The only survivors are mostly those whose toys weren't discontinued. Bumblebee, Soundwave and his cassettes, Blaster and his cassettes, Perceptor, the Autobot mini-vehicles Warpath, Powerglide, Seaspray, Cosmos and Beachcomber, the Constructicons, Blitzwing, Astrotrain, and the Dinobots. Starscream's toy was still being sold too, so he had to return as a ghost in the cartoon. The exception to this was Cliffjumper and Jazz, who were rescued along with Bumblebee at the climax, even though their toys were discontinued, though sadly both their voice actors would depart from the show afterwards, one passing away and the other leaving for personal issues. And that's pretty much the gist of it.

[@williedoc4056]

Great summary. The only correction I would add is that Megatron was revived but the others (Thundercracker, Skywarp, and Bombshell) were already dead. Thanks for the showing the correlation of which toys were discontinued as well.

[@sivanlevi3867]

You're welcome. But to be completely honest, I consider Megatron dead anyway. Even if they are the same in the spark with a rebuilt body, I consider Galvatron different from Megatron. Hope that's not a bad thing.

[@williedoc4056]

@@sivanlevi3867 it's cool. It has been a question I have been mulling over for thr last 35 years. Just that Galvatron retains his memories as Megatron. Megatron was still barely alive when talking with Unicron. Nevertheless, I do agree the Galvatron is still wholly different from Megatron

[@DBWalks2010]

Fantastic untold story, characters and different drafts!👍👍👍😎😎😎😎Great job Chris👌

[@bpo1975]

Excellent video as always, Chris. You're the best in the business. It's fascinating to see this early version of the movie but I don't think 11 year old me would have enjoyed it. I'm grateful that we got the movie we got.

[@lordpuller2226]

After this summary I can see why Friedman's 1st draft wasn't fully embraced. Friedman overlooked the fact that the entire purpose of the Transformer's war was over Cybertron, not Earth. Having the Autobots care about Earth so much and destroying Cybertron as a plot point for Galvatron's revenge feels a little underhanded. At least with subsequent drafts they turned Unicron versus Cybertron into a more mythic battle for robotic souls!

[@christophercameron2141]

Under Optimus prime the Autobots were under siege and attacked, and needed a power source to survive and launch a counteroffensive. But to do so they left. MEGATRON wanted to know what they were after, and a battle ensued, crashing on earth. Optimus turned away from the Cybertronian war in hopes of protecting earth, in doing so the Autobots completely lost Cybertron under Optimus and was beginning to lose the Cybertronian war Autobots were killed under his command including himself do to his self righteous and explaining everything he does before engaging Megatron, in The Transformers the movie 1986.Under Rodimus the Autobots regained Cybertron and the Decepticons were displaced.

[@christophercameron2141]

The first draft was terrible!

[@christophercameron2141]

I liked the finish one.

[@Ezim]

Friedman's script somehow feels like so much stuff is going on and yet nothing of importance is happening.

[@TheophilusRapture]

Bravo, Chris…answered so many questions that I didn’t know I had.

[@That1DinoBoi]

While I didn’t grow up with it, I still love watching this movie, something about the animation makes me so happy inside :D

[@HisAutisticKnight]

I'm intrigued with the first draft. That sounds like it would've been one heck of a movie despite so much happening.