Feature: A+
Can you believe that the Transformers have turned 25 years old? I can’t either but it’s more of coming to grips that I’ve been around long enough to remember when these “Robots in Disguise” broke on the scene. The Shout Factory and Hasbro are putting out a new DVD collection of the long-beloved Transformers Generation One cartoon, the series that started it all.

It had been some time since I last saw the Transformers cartoon series, having bought the series for my nephew through the DVDs that Rhino released some years ago. But it didn’t take me long to relive rushing home from the school bus and plop myself in front of the tube. I’m not sure if it was the cool intros and outros, the slick music full of orchestrated trumpets and flutes, light-saber sound effects or Casey Kasem voicing nearly every damn character. But I made sure I never missed an episode, and I made short work of this release.

Paired up with Hasbro’s other giant, G.I. Joe, I was locked down in the Autobots v. Decepticon war. Two races of robots who found themselves crash-landed on Earth millions of years ago only to have awaken to much more primitive, organic earth, home computers with five-inch floppies, the urban sprawl filled with the sound of ghetto blasters, wow, 1984 seems like millions of years ago for us too! Suddenly awaken and repaired to disguise their alternate selves to everyday vehicles and objects, the Decepticons are bent on heading back home to their planet of Cybertron but are going to rape the Earth’s natural resources for their energy and consumption. The Autobots? Well, they’re there to stop them and to hopefully get back home too.

The first season put it all out there, the entire scope of the story and was fearless of what kids would gravitate to. Multi-part stories, the leaders on both sides depended on their teams. I learned military words like “reconnaissance” and “espionage,” and understood at the ripe age of eight the importance of our natural resources. The Decepticons, were often more appealing than the Autobots. Who didn’t love the ever-loyal Soundwave with his suave Roger Troutman-voice box and his array of cassette beasts? I loved how Starscream made it public of his plans to overthrow Megatron and become leader of the Decepticons, and how others plotted to take over both of them.

The introduction of new robots timed conveniently with toy counterparts always brought excitement. The simple-minded Dinobots were featured the most in this first season, and deluxe action figures like Shockwave, Skyfire, and everything blew up when Devastator and the Constructicons wreaked havoc on this first-grader’s mind, and still does today. Yes there are guys who get shot and in the next scene are seen okay, characters are colored incorrectly, and multiple other miscues, but that was part of the fun. It’s how I still like to remember the Transformers which have taken on a different life on the big screen. People identify with it so much that Peter Cullen was brought into to voice Optimus Prime again for the big screen, the only thing that seemingly remains true to the original series. While awesome and visually arresting in its own way, the charm of the G1 cartoon will never be repeated, even with all of its flaws and if you haven’t purchased them before, now is a great time to relive those after-school memories.

Shout Factory released news of a complete series, “Matrix of Leadership” Edition Collector’s 16-DVD Set due out in mid-July packing the entire G1 series. 38 hours, extras, and collectible book. But for those who can’t wait or afford the big box, here’s a breakdown of the episodes included in the first season.

Disc One
More than Meets the Eye, Pt. 1-3
Transport to Oblivion
Roll For It
Divide and Conquer
Fire in the Sky
S.O.S. Dinobots

Disc Two
Fire on the Mountain
War of the Dinobots
The Ultimate Doom, Pt. 1-3
Countdown to Extinction
A Plague of Insecticons
Heavy Metal War

There’s also an option to play the multi-part episodes seamlessly.

Video: C+
It was apparently too much to ask for the video to be cleaned up for the 25th anniversary. While color is vibrant and looks like its original 1.33:1 airing, the transfer is full of dirty white specks and lint throughout the picture. We’re not talking VCR bad, but I expected lots more work to have been put into cleaning up wherever the original was wrong. Animation inconsistencies, for example Optimus in one episode is seen as a yellow truck instead of red, the changes were not made. Shout Factory does make a note in the accompanied booklet and explains that the original broadcasts were compared to the much altered Rhino DVD release and they claim that all efforts were done to correct as best they could. Rhino did put in a lot of added mess that has been since stripped back out. Are these disappointments enough to take away from the enjoyment of it, no, but I wonder if the effort was a sincere attempt or just a rush job to capitalize on the upcoming film?

Audio: B
The 2.0 Stereo soundtrack is new and created from the original audio tracks. It sounds better than the artificial 5.1 tracks that Rhino provided which was too much, but I wouldn’t have minded another attempt at surround sound if done more tastefully. Still this should appeal to the purists who were up in arms over the last DVD release of these episodes.

Extras C-
The third disc of the set contains all of the extras but don’t get too excited. It’s an anemic sampling of what should have been a large collection of archival material. The presentation is an upgrade from the Rhino editions, nicely animated menus, a black and white magnet, and episode booklet. Three discs are housed in two slim-pack cases and a slipcase cover. The rest is as they say, is cheese.

Triple Changer: From Toy to Comic To Screen (19:54) – Executives of Hasbro’s Transformer line are interviewed about that magical mid-80’s period when they struck gold finding out about a line of transforming toys from Japan with with no story or war of good vs. evil. The executives and marketing group put those elements along side the toys and created what eventually became what it is now. Color schemes, faces, and design are all lightly treaded and interestingly a Marvel Comic written by Bob Budiansky and edited by Jim Shooter allowed a more complete story to be constructed so that audiences to dig deeper into the story. But because of such a fast track to success, there were plenty of inconsistencies between cartoon, comic, and toys. The communication line just couldn’t keep up. It’s the only extra of real substance and quality but is sadly too short.

Original Commercials (1:31) – Three TV spots: Optimus Prime and Megatron, Insecticons and Dinobots, G2 Optimus Prime for the action figures are terrible condition, as if it were taken from a warped VCR tape, faces of the kid actors are blurred out, it looks like a nightmare but it’s fun nonetheless.

Running Away From Home with Bumblebee (0:31) – is just one of the classic Public Service Announcement to steer kids in the right direction because, “Knowing is Half the Battle.”

Printable Transport to Oblivion Script is a PDF file when placed into your computer allows you to view and print the full script of that episode.

They Have Risen…AGAIN! Overall Shock Value: B-
That seems a bit harsh for an anniversary edition of one of my most treasured child cartoon series, but it’s not a diss towards the series itself but rather Shout Factory’s rather meager attempt at capitalizing on the success of the Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. I would have preferred a video transfer cleaned of all of the debris and some better thought-out extras than just pulling what was and has been lying around for all these years. Kind of makes you want to hold out for the “Matrix of Leadership” box set doesn’t it? Me too.