Showing posts with label Transformers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Transformers. Show all posts

Thursday 12 September 2024

Transformers: Flint Dille's Character Binder

The last major Transformers-related item uncovered from the storage of former Sunbow producer Flint Dille in 2020 has been released.  Flint's character binder, which received its last update on December 3rd, 1986.  Nearly all of the 1987 toy lineup is represented within its 333 pages, as well a copy of Bob Budiansky's 11-page treatment for the Marvel Comics' Headmasters miniseries.

Due to its size, the binder has been split up into three galleries, which can be viewed at: Briefing/Reference Binder Gallery Index



Saturday 13 July 2024

Transformers: The Secret of Omega Supreme storyboards

Thanks to Larry Houston for saving them from likely destruction back in the 1980s and thanks to Rich Helscher for making them available, the Archive now hosts the tenth full Transformers storyboard set: The Secret of Omega Supreme.

View galleries for all ten sets, as well as partial storyboards for ten more episodes at the Storyboard Viewing Gallery Index




Tuesday 21 May 2024

Transformers: the resurrection of Skyfire/Jetfire

With thanks to Rich Helscher, the Archive now hosts an earlier version of Transformers script Fire on the Mountain.  Accompanying the script are memos from story editor Bryce Malek notifying producer Nelson Shin of rewritten pages to accompany the 2nd July 1984 revision, the earlier first draft having already gone forward to storyboards (as was common during the series run):


The impetus for these revisions was to insert a scene where Wheeljack and Sideswipe rescue Skyfire from the Arctic ice, where he was buried at the end of concurrently-written episode Fire in the Sky

Insert pages 13 and 13A, as mentioned in the above memos

The original pages 12 and 13 from the first draft are included with this copy of the revised script, and show Doug Booth writing Skyfire as simply being an established part of the Autobot roster. Setting out from Autobot Headquarters with Brawn and Windcharger to investigate the destruction of their Sky Spy satellite by Megatron's new weapon.

These pages were replaced by the new inserts and the script handed over to Ron Friedman for his dialogue changes.

Both scripts can be read at The Transformers, Part 1






Saturday 4 May 2024

Transformers: Blaster Blues storyboard and 150 model sheets

Thanks to Ryan King, the Archive now hosts material found by Marvel Productions storyboard artist/producer/director Larry Houston.

Firstly, the full storyboard set for Transformers episode Blaster Blues. To view the boards, head to the Blaster Blues storyboard gallery




Next are two model sheet books: one covering the main 1984 cast and the other incidental models from the 13 main episodes of Season 1. Including designs that did not make it to air, such as Dr. Lynn Hyashi, whose role in War of the Dinobots was given to Chip Chase in script revisions.




Monday 25 December 2023

2023 Year in Review

2023 was an interesting year for the Sunbow Marvel Archive. Thanks to the various contributors, material from a wider variety of shows is now available and also helped in demystifying a series that has previously been considered "lost media."

In terms of general organisation, the website has been streamlined to collect the material for 24 shows on 6 pages.

For Transformers, the march towards series completion continued with full or partial storyboards for another 10 episodes, over 100 audition sheets from voice director Wally Burr's collection, plus various model sheets, backgrounds and the script for The Killing Jar.

The biggest Transformers-related item saw release in August. Three years since it was found by Flint Dille and scanned by Jim Sorenson, the very first script for The Transformers: The Movie is available to the public.

G.I Joe saw its first newly-revealed scripts in over a decade, with Flint Dille's Skeletons In The Closet and Doug Booth's My Favorite Things

An unexpected surprise came in the form of over a dozen My Little Pony storyboard sets, sold from the estate of artist Wendell Washer. Including the first special Rescue At Midnight Castle and a selection of episodes from the main series, spanning from the first episode Ghost Of Paradise Estate to the final one The Prince And The Ponies.

Beyond paper material, a selection of dialogue reels from various Marvel Productions' series came to light. Among them was audio from The Young Astronauts, Marvel's ill-fated series about space exploration that was cancelled in mid-production due to the Challenger shuttle explosion. The reels covered dialogue for the episode Ghost Ship, as well as auditions for the series narrator, featuring a who's who of 1980s voice actors.

 




With 2024 marking the 40th anniversaries of Transformers, Muppet Babies and My Little Pony making their television debuts, who knows what untold stories will be uncovered in the year ahead.





Monday 23 October 2023

(VIDEO) Transformers dialogue recording audio: The Revenge Of Bruticus

Thanks to the winner of a recent audio reel auction, who has supplied digital files, I can now present the full dialogue recording audio for Transformers episode The Revenge Of Bruticus.

54 minutes in total, the recording is effectively split in half, with one group of actors doing pickup sessions, and then the main ensemble from beginning to end.

For those wanting to follow along with the available written material, links are provided below
Timecodes:
0:00 Bruticus 
3:08 Kickback and Shrapnel 
05:00 Tracks
05:45 Walla (people screaming in terror) 
06:40 Inferno 
07:07 Shrapnel, Kickback and Ramjet (underground parking lot) 
07:53 Walla (refugees), Woman on rooftop (Morgan Lofting) 
09:21 Bruticus (final fight) 
11:01 Insecticon voracious eating 
13:35 Red Alert 
13:57 Ensemble recording (start to finish)
54:13 End


Friday 29 September 2023

Transformers: storyboards, unused premises, briefing material and more

Added to the Archive this month is a plethora of Transformers material, with storyboards from the following:

  • Unproduced pilot miniseries/Season 1 intro sequence 
  • More Than Meets The Eye, Part 2
  • More Than Meets The Eye, Part 3 
  • Transport To Oblivion 
  • Roll For It
  • The Ultimate Doom, Part 3
  • Countdown To Extinction
  • Unproduced Season 2 intro sequence
  • Unproduced commercial bumper
  • Autobot Spike
  • The Immobilizer

Additionally, a quartet of story premises, written by storyboard artist Wendell Washer during early Season 2, have also become available.  Along with the early version of the 1985 New Product briefing he was given for reference.

All of these can be viewed at The Transformers, Part 1

Below is an animatic edited by me of the unproduced season 2 intro sequence:



Wednesday 31 May 2023

The Transformers: Webworld storyboard

Thanks to tfwiki mod Monzo, the Archive now hosts storyboards for Act III of The Transformers episode Webworld.

Co-written by comics legend Len Wein and Diane Duane, this episode sees Cyclonus make the reluctant decision to have his unstable leader Galvatron committed to psychiatric care on the planet Torkulon.  Only to find that the methods employed by his "carers" are far more insane than the Decepticon leader ever was.

Head on over to Webworld storyboard gallery







Monday 22 May 2023

Storyboard Animatics, Part 2

Using the storyboards available at the Archive, I have been producing some more storyboard animatic videos.

Jem

View music video storyboard gallery

The Bands Break Up
Jem And The Holograms
Getting Down To Business, Version 2
Storyboards by Mike Vosburg



Trick Or Techrat
Jem And The Holograms
We Can Change It, Version 2
Storyboards by Larry Houston and Will Meugniot




Transformers

S.O.S Dinobots
Act III section (with deleted scenes)


Megatron's Master Plan, Part 2
Additional Material section




Sunday 19 March 2023

Storyboard animatics

A couple of home-made animatics I have made using recently-revealed Transformers storyboards, combined with episode broadcast audio.  If these pique your interest, then please follow the links to the full storyboard galleries.


Firstly, Attack Of The Autobots.

Full storyboard gallery



And secondly, Sea Change





Monday 13 March 2023

Transformers: Deleted dialogue audio vs storyboards: S.O.S Dinobots

In 2016, the Mapes brothers found an assortment of Marvel Productions cassette tapes containing dialogue recorded in the summer of 1984, principally Season 1 of The Transformers.  Deleted dialogue from those tapes is available on the Transformers At The Moon YouTube channel.

At the time of the recordings being found and made available, only one episode had a complete storyboard set available: Heavy Metal War.  Animatics utilising the deleted dialogue from that episode were created and presented by Chris McFeely for TFNation 2017.

Since then, the number of full episode storyboards available online has grown to seven.  Including a second episode for which a dialogue tape is available: S.O.S Dinobots.

To view the scenes in full context, head to: S.O.S Dinobots storyboard viewing gallery

Below is the video containing deleted recordings, along with the relevant storyboard pages and time indexes.



0:22 to 0:46
Scenes 8-15 cut
Brawn scene 13 dialogue moved to scene 18, scene 14 dialogue moved to scenes 17 and 17A


1:00 to 1:22
Scenes 31 -34 and 36-38 cut



1:25 to 1:40
sc. 44 and 47-50 cut, dialogue laid over long Truck In of sc. 45 and continues through sc. 51



1:52 to 2:11
sc. 56 and 57 cut


4:17 to 4:30
sc. 166-170, 174, 177-180 cut.  Sc. 175 and 176 moved between actions on sc. 173



5:20 to 5:35
sc. 240 to 243 cut



5:40 to 6:06
sc. 272 dialogue cut, sc. 273 visual cut, 273 dialogue over 272 visual.

6:14 to 6:23
sc. 304-306 cut, sc. 303 revised


7:19 to end
sc. 338 dialogue cut, sc. 342-351 cut.
Note - sc. 343-351 scripted to be re-used for MP 700-07 War Of The Dinobots, but deleted from that episode as well