April 2021 Update

 

Toyfair Catalogues

An ongoing project at the archive for this month will be to add the relevant catalogue sections to each show page.  Links and listings will be updated here as needed:

G.I Joe (part 1)

1982 Hasbro

1983 Hasbro

1984 Hasbro

1985 Hasbro 

G.I Joe (part 2)

1986 Hasbro Pre-Toyfair

1986 Hasbro

1987 Hasbro

1988 Hasbro

The Transformers (part 1)

1984 Hasbro

1985 Hasbro

The Transformers (part 2)

1986 Hasbro Pre-Toyfair

1986 Hasbro

1987 Hasbro (contributor credit: Ryan King)

1988 Hasbro (contributor credit: Ryan King)

1989 Hasbro (contributor credit: Ryan King)

1990 Hasbro (contributor credit: Ryan King)

Robotix

1986 Milton Bradley

Inhumanoids

1986 Hasbro

Jem

1986 Hasbro 

1987 Hasbro

1988 Hasbro Pre-Toyfair (Jem removed from main catalogue)

Air Raiders

1987 Hasbro (contributor credit: Ryan King)

Battle Beasts

1987 Hasbro (contributor credit: Ryan King)

Ninja Warriors

1987 Hasbro (contributor credit: Ryan King)

Visionaries

1987 Hasbro (contributor credit: Ryan King)

1988 Hasbro (Toyline cancelled in late 1987, too late to be removed from the catalogue)

Production Material

MP 700 The Transformers

The newest addition to the archive, auctioned off by Flint Dille and scans contributed by new owner Steve Chu, are storyboards for Megatron's Master Plan, Part 2. 

Drawn by Keith Tucker, they cover the Additional Material insert that was added to Act 3 of the episode.  As Don Glut's script ran three to four minutes short of the required runtime.  This copy was sent to Flint Dille, in his role as Associate Producer of the show and was uncovered from his storage in late 2020.

NWA 6640 Biker Mice From Mars

Recently, I stumbled upon the unofficial fansite www.bikermice.com , which had lain untouched since 1998.  From the site, I salvaged and formatted two full scripts.  One for the season 2 episode Return To Mars, Part 3 and the late season 3 episode Caveat Mentor.

Biker Mice From Mars was the last show commissioned under the banner of Marvel Productions.  Solicited in trade adverts in 1992 and debuting in September 1993.  During 1993, changes within Marvel Entertainment Group saw the production company reorganised and renamed to New World Animation.  The writing of the series was reaching its conclusion at the end of summer 1994.  However, because the show remained on weekends during it's initial run and did not make the jump to weekday afternoons, new episodes kept airing until February 1996.

The dialogue recording

Once a script was marked as "final", it could then be made available to record the dialogue.  It would then fall to the production company to book a recording session and voice director, as well as contact the voice actors' respective agencies to book them for the session.

A voice actor would have a maximum number of three speaking roles for every session.  If there were one-off roles or incidental voices required in the script, these would be distributed among the actors who had not reached their three character limit.  On shows with large ensemble casts, there would sometimes be a small amount of dialogue lines from a character in the script that proved insufficient to justify booking that character's voice actor for the session.  In these instances, dialogue would be reassigned to a character whose voice actor was already booked.

If a voice actor was unavailable for a particular session due to prior bookings, a separate "pick-up" session would be booked to allow their dialogue to be recorded as soon as possible.
For shows intended to be broadcast on one of the three US networks (ABC, CBS and NBC), scripts were reviewed and approved by network executives and the approved dialogue had to be rigidly adhered to.  For syndication broadcast, a looser approach was permitted, with changes made in the recording session itself.  One notable instance of major change was to the opening scene of Transformers episode Five Faces Of Darkness, part 1.  The broadcast scenes of the Constructicons fighting over energon cubes had to be created on the spot, as the original dialogue scripts reveal that the miniseries was meant to open with a fight between the Insecticons (characters who were reformatted in Transformers The Movie and who effectively no longer existed) in a fight with Menasor.

Five Faces Of Darkness, part 1 dialogue script on the bottom left....

...and the broadcast version.

However, allowing changes during the session could lead to potential errors, as dialogue would sometimes be swapped between characters.  Or at other times, characters would read written on-screen text differently to what had been directed in the script and first-draft storyboards.  In both cases, due to the hectic production schedules, there was often no time to accommodate these changes in the final storyboard revisions that were sent to the overseas animators.

Where scheduling permitted, the dialogue scripts that every voice actor worked from would be drawn up using scene numbers from the first draft storyboards.  This has been confirmed as being the case on all of G.I Joe season 1, Inhumanoids and Transformers up to and including the episode The Insecticon Syndrome.

At the beginning of 1985, a change was made on Transformers starting with Dinobot Island, part 1.  From then until the end of the series, finalised scripts would have each line of dialogue numbered and transcribed to the dialogue scripts.  This enabled recording sessions to be booked and take place ahead of the completion of the first draft storyboards.  

 MP 700-28 The Insecticon Syndrome dialogue script, organised by storyboard scene numbers

MP 700-29 Dinobot Island, part 1 dialogue script.  Drawn up using dialogue lines numbered on the full script.

Script page from Bucky O'Hare episode MP 6610-12 Bye-Bye Berserker Baboon, with dialogue numbered, to be transcribed for the dialogue script.

Due to the manic production schedule of season 3, several episodes would have their scripts finalised on a Monday or Tuesday, then go into a dialogue session on the Thursday or Friday of that same week.  Among those episodes that were rushed to dialogue were Thief In The Night, The Big Broadcast of 2006, Only Human, Grimlock's New Brain and Call Of The Primitives (see the production timeline for dates): https://drive.google.com/open?id=1TFC7OLnf6RuMh4_8UkFbNjZrp7gp4O4W

To listen to a sampling of dialogue recording from this era, follow this link to a playlist of deleted dialogue from Transformers season 1 (Thanks to Transformers At The Moon).

For a lot of animal noises or human sounds known as "Body English", particularly ones that were strenuous for an actor to perform at every session.  Additional Dialogue Recording sessions would be booked to put these sounds on tape.  The tapes could then be re-used by the production company sound editors over and over again.  Some notable ADR tapes include:

• The late Bob Holt recorded stock roaring sounds for The Incredible Hulk in 1982.  The recordings would be frequently used by Marvel Productions on multiple shows.  Including Juggernaut on Spider-Man And His Amazing Friends, various monsters in Dungeons and Dragons and the barbarian Ramar in the first G.I Joe miniseries.  As well as the final, posthumous use:  the roars of Unicron in Transformers The Movie
• Shortly after production of Transformers season 1, director Wally Burr recorded Frank Welker to make a stock library of sounds for the Decepticon jaguar Ravage.  Excerpts from this session would be used for all of Ravage's appearances throughout the rest of the series.  The tape would see it's final use in 1986 on the final episode of G.I Joe: Into Your Tent I Will Silently Creep.  The tape can be listened to at this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cBmu3_oInc8
• Around a similar timeframe as the creation of the Ravage tape.  Chris Latta was brought in to record a stock library for Laserbeak, which again was used for all of Laserbeak's appearances throughout the series.  For over 30 years, it was assumed that the role of Laserbeak had been performed by Frank Welker, due to his long association with performing animal noises for animation.  However, when Transformers dialogue recordings surfaced in 2016, it was revealed to have been Latta's role all along.  The tape can be listened to here: https://youtu.be/20a4ukL8CK8

From draft to final, the story editing process: Cosmic Rust

In the last article we looked at the process of submitting a draft script.  Now we will look at the process of story editing using one of the most recent additions to the archive: The Transformers episode Cosmic Rust.

The story editors for the Transformers main series from 700-01 Transport To Oblivion to 700-64 B.O.T were Bryce Malek and Dick Robbins.  After which, they were tasked by Marvel Productions to relaunch and be story editors for the stalled production of Defenders Of The Earth.  A 65-episode series produced on behalf of King Features Entertainment.

From 700-02 Roll For It until at least 700-42 Make Tracks, they were assisted by Ron Friedman who was credited as providing "Additional Dialogue".  In practice, this meant Friedman largely re-writing every line of dialogue and the story editors accepting most of what he gave them.  Whilst there has not yet been any paper verification beyond the scripts that Friedman himself has sold off, it seems likely that his involvement with the series ended in March 1985 due to him being needed to finish writing The Transformers The Movie, then writing the third G.I Joe miniseries and then beginning work on G.I Joe: The Movie.

Cosmic Rust (originally title Rust In Peace) was completed by series' production co-ordinator Paul Davids on 10th September 1985.  While the archive does not have the finalised copy of the script, it does have the full storyboards and dialogue script, which were drawn up using the version of the script that was passed out of story editing.

First draft script: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1-5Kxze4JCWNMN5POOclnK32LiF_cnsrU

Full storyboards (with final revisions made by producer George Singer): https://drive.google.com/open?id=1Ure-xu61MrvzdMQNj_GXATTIPQrazaEW

Full dialogue script: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1hbJS1BKwKN_HZ8TmjmY7nx2_4DTn8CRz


I know you are, but what am I?
The opening exchange between Rumble and Astrotrain is changed to be more adversarial.

Original:

RUMBLE: Hey, Astrotrain, look out for those asteroids!

ASTROTRAIN (VO): Relax, Rumble!  Do you always have to be a back-seat driver?

ASTROTRAIN (CONT): Well, fry my heat shield!  Get a load of that -- the Autobot symbol!

Final:

RUMBLE: Astrotrain!  Look out for those asteroids!

ASTROTRAIN: Quiet, pipsqueak! You're bothering me!

ASTROTRAIN (CONT): Well, fry my heatshields!

RUMBLE: I'll do more than that if you call me pipsqueak again!

ASTROTRAIN: Get a load of that, pipsqueak - the Autobot symbol!

Sadly, while the storyboard scenes are left intact, this added joke was deleted from the soundtrack.  Sometimes dialogue would be cut from scenes where the visuals were retained, in order to better pace out the amount of dialogue.

Till All Are One
By September 1985, the major details for The Transformers The Movie were locked in as production of the movie went full steam ahead.  As such, there was a drive to drop in early references in order to set up for the movie.  Such as bringing in female Transformers in The Search For Alpha Trion or generally dialling up the violence level in the last dozen or so episodes of the season.  One such reference was inserted by the editors when Starscream laments that none of them can read Ancient Autobot, Megatron intercedes:

Original
MEGATRON:  I do, you illiterate clod!  I am fluent in every planetary language!

(CONT): It says the Thirteenth Legion of Autobots arrived here the first millennium after Autobots were first created.....

(CONT): -- which would make it about five hundred thousand years before we Decepticons left for Earth!

In the final edit, the second line is changed to say "...the first millennium after the creation of the Autobot Matrix."  The third line was then given to Starscream.  This early attempt to introduce the Matrix was cut in the final storyboard revision.

A MacGuffin by any other name:
The draft script refers to Perceptor's rust-proofing agent as the Ultra Compound.  This was changed to Corrostop in the final version.  Often a device or other plot-relevant item might have it's name changed in order to make the dialogue flow more easily.  For instance, the weather core in the previous episode Trans-Europe Express was originally titled The Pearl Of Jehuddin.  This was changed to Bahoudin for better dialogue flow.

Always picked last
During the G1 35th Anniversary Reuinion at TFCon in 2019, Paul Davids made his collection of production material available to view for the attendees.  One item was the edited outline for this episode.  One key change between outline and script was that Paul intended for Shockwave to be on the mission to Antilla.  A handwritten note states "No, leave him on Cybertron".
It is likely that many of the scenes featuring Starscream throughout the first act, including those of him providing medical care to Megatron, were originally meant for Shockwave.

Action! Action! Action!
Originally the cliffhanger to Act 1 was for the Aerialbots to pursue Blitzwing into New York City, with Silverbolt opting to fly above.  The last line before Fade Out being Skydive's "Keep your wings tucked back, guys-- It looks like trouble!"
The editors must not have felt this to be a sufficiently exciting cliffhanger, so an insert scene was added where Blitzwing banks around a skyscraper and opens fire on the Aerialbots.  We go to break with the explosion caused by his laser blasts filling the screen.  We return from break to find that the Aerialbots have dodged the blasts unharmed, Fireflight commenting "Lucky that guy can't aim straight!"
The entire scene was cut, along with a lot of material from the subsequent chase through the city, in the final storyboard revisions.  The act break was moved up to Perceptor being shoved into Blitzwing's hold by Breakdown, fading out on Dead End's line of "You've got an appointment with Megatron"

2 for 1 special
The scene of Blaster riding aboard Cosmos through space, lamenting their inability to find the secret ingredient, was shortly followed by them arriving at Autobot HQ to report their news to Prime.  The information the audience needed from the second scene was added to the first and the second scene deleted in the story edit.  Originally, Blaster reports the more plausible explanation that they have searched the entire solar system (Playing on past story given that Cosmos was making a return trip from near Titan in The God Gambit).  This was changed to the more vague line from Cosmos of "There is no more Ingredient X - anywhere!"

You're on your own.....or are you?
Once the Autobots realise that Megatron is frying their headquarters with the heat ray, Prime calls the Aerialbots for support, their response?

SKYDIVE: (noncommittal) It's unfortunate that you are under siege.  However, it's very inadvisable that we expose ourselves to Cosmic Rust!"

SLINGSHOT: Yeah!  We don't wanna catch your disease!

SILVERBOLT: Sorry, Optimus -- you're on your own!

*Aerialbots fly out, screen fades out*

OPTIMUS PRIME: (softly) Then we are doomed.

Megatron and Rumble then fly off carrying the lightning bug, with Megatron proclaiming "Another hour or so, and there will be nothing left of Prime and the Autobots!"

This subplot of the Aerialbots walking out on the Autobots in their time of need somewhat plays on plot elements from The Key To Vector Sigma, part 2.  During the battle on Liberty Island, the Aerialbots return to attack Menasor with the following exchange:

OPTIMUS PRIME:  You...you came back!

SILVERBOLT (VO): You didn't think we'd really leave you in the lurch, did you?

SLINGSHOT (VO): What d'ya think we are?....cowards?!

Perhaps due to it's nature as a recycled story point, this entire subplot was deleted in the final edit.



That's all for our look at story editing.  Next up: A look at the storyboarding and slugging process.

From premise to outline to script: Cobra Stops The World

In this article, we will take a look at the process of animation script writing during the 1980's.  Using the early G.I Joe episode Cobra Stops The World, written by Joe story editor Steve Gerber.

The process began either by a script being assigned to a staff member, some of whom had a script quota on their contract, or by the story editor contacting a freelance writer.  During 1986 and 1987, declining budgets led to a heavier use of staff writing.  To the point that most of Inhumanoids and all of Visionaries' scripts were written in-house.

When a freelance writer was contacted to write a script, they would be sent a list of GI Joe and Cobra characters and vehicles to incorporate into a story.  As time went on and the same writers were hired back again and again for multiple shows, this process became less rigid.

The writer was then expected to submit three premises, which could run between a paragraph and a full page.  The premise gave the basic idea to a story, as demonstrated with this example from the Transformers episode Money Is Everything:

PREMISE:

"Money Is Everything" is Free Trader DIRK MANUS self-serving motto; he proves it by selling the Technobots into the Quintesson's tentacles, not once, but TWICE ... or DOES he?

If a premise was approved, the writer would receive half of their script fee in advance to write an outline.  This would run between 12 -14 pages roughly and would lay out the story, organised into story beats.  Once an outline was submitted, it would be reviewed and any notes or changes passed back to the writer for them to begin the full script.

Once the full script was submitted, it was sent from either Sunbow's Westwood offices in LA or from Marvel Productions' offices (For Transformers season 1 and 2) via commercial email to Sunbow's main offices in New York.  Where Hasbro's representative in that office would review the script and send it back to the story editor with notes of any changes required by Hasbro in the story edit.

The timeline for this process is laid out in the G.I Joe Writer's Guide as follows:

• Receipt of character/vehicles list to turning in premises: one week
• Receipt of premises to story approval: one week
• Story approval to completion of outline: one week
• Delivery of outline to approval: one week
• Approval of outline to delivery of script: two weeks

Cobra Stops The World is, at time of writing, the only example of an outline and a full script available at the archive.  So let us begin our examination of how the story changes from outline to full script.

Outline: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1V4LMvbpxOeGTCS7nNCMtXahm2e4-znZh

Full script Act I: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1d957YAmh9lQ_IAOMYhJ_vMIQk3OXc3qT

Full script Act II: https://drive.google.com/open?id=12BrtLIW3DP6hEcHqQMGeGtx35DTLIVB_

Full script Act III: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1AuMbydjokOSWB8UWdet2gg-Ay19_skju

Don't be specific

One of the key changes was to not state that the action was taking place in real-life locations.  Originally, all of the city scenes take place in Los Angeles.  Duke and Ace's scenes are specifically mentioned as taking place in Venezuela, with the waterfall they eject over being named as Angel Falls, the world's tallest waterfall.  Cobra's secret base is named as being located on Tiera del Fuego, the "land of fire".

Story compression

The first three beats of the story are compressed and simplified in the full script.  Originally, the sequence of events were:

• General Flagg delivers an intelligence briefing at Joe HQ, while the montage of Cobra forces disrupting oil supplies across the globe plays out
• The Joes ruminate on the consequences of the oil supply running out when Cobra Commander interrupts all television broadcasts to deliver his demonstration of Cobra's diamond-powered cloaking device, seemingly making the desperately-needed oil tankers disappear from view.
• The Joes move out from HQ and Duke gives them their orders on the move.

In the full script, the sequence of events plays out as follows:

• The episode begins with Cobra Commander making his broadcast, the montage of Cobra in action plays as part of the broadcast with his narration over it.
• The Joes are already on the move as Colonel Sharp (from The Revenge Of Cobra) delivers his briefing from HQ.  Duke then gives the orders to the various teams.

No animals were harmed.....

The original cliffhanger for Act I was cut.  Duke and Ace in a Skystriker are pursued by three Cobra Rattlers.  Through some aerial manoeuvres through a canyon, Ace forces two of the Rattlers to crash.  The third one, however, is able to shoot them down and they are forced to eject over Angel Falls.  The Rattler makes another pass, opening fire and shredding their parachutes.  Once they have fallen into the river at the base of the falls, we go to break with Duke and Ace menaced by caimans, a South American relation to the crocodile.  We return from break with the caimans closing in.  Duke throws a grenade at the riverbank, toppling a tree into the river and causing a distraction that allows him and Ace to make it to the bank.

In the full script, the scenes with the caimans are completely removed.  With the intended cliffhanger gone, the act break is moved to when the third Rattler pilot fires their missiles at the Skystriker.  Once Duke and Ace hit the river, they swim to the bank without incident.

Don't point that thing at me

The original cliffhanger for Act II was changed.  In the episode, Ace tries to fake an injury but Major Bludd and his tribesman' allies are going to execute him anyway.  Originally, the tribesmen aim their Cobra-supplied laser weapons at Ace as we go to break.  Directly aiming and threatening human beings with firearms in a story was a major no-no (at least at this point) due to the fear of children imitating such behaviour.  In the full script, the cliffhanger is changed to Ace being dragged to a pit of snakes, about to be thrown in.  The weapons issue required some editing to the next script Jungle Trap, as well.  

Get out of jail free

Cobra Commander and Destro are captured in the outline.  As having them be captured in every episode wouldn't work for a main series, Cobra Commander escapes by emitting a choking gas from his mask in order to delay Duke.  Perhaps due to the show being in it's early days, the final scene with Duke and Scarlett in a Skystriker over LA has Cobra's escape weighing heavily on Duke's mind.  As the show progressed and Cobra escaping became a recurring trope, Joe characters seemingly ceased to be affected by it.

Even when a script had been completed and passed to production by the story editor, there was usually still material that would need to be deleted.  As the episode's running length had to be 21 minutes.  It was always preferred for scripts to run slightly longer, ideally to around 22 or 23 minutes, so that the production process could whittle the material down to the required running time.  A writer who attempted to turn in exactly 21 minutes of script ran the risk of the episode under-running.  Forcing story editors to write more material to bring the episode up to length and causing delay to the overall production of the show.  A writer who caused an episode to under-run usually found themselves unlikely, if ever, to be commissioned by the same production company again.

Cobra Stops The World is estimated to clock in at around 25 minutes.  Among the key scenes cut for time are:

Diplomacy is not for the patient

Destro is frustrated as the UN debates Cobra's demands.  Cobra Commander suggests another "fireworks display" (blowing up a tanker) to give them more incentive.

Reality ensues

In the broadcast episode, Scarlett is disguised as an old lady as she breaks in to a Cobra safe house.  Before she gets there, she is walking through the deserted streets of LA.  She stops at a food store which has been looted and smashed, with the emotionally shattered store owner sitting on the steps outside.  He explains that with no fuel for the truckers, food shipments into the city have stopped.  She asks him for directions to an address (the safe house) and when he answers, she tells him Cobra won't get away with it.  To which the despairing store owner replies "I wish I could believe that, ma'am..."

While the question of whether to cut scenes and by how much was determined by running time.  One wonders if the producers felt more comfortable choosing this scene for deletion as it depicts a very realistic reaction to the episode's premise of the world's fuel supply being cut off.

Visionaries deleted scenes/dialogue

The following is a list of deleted scenes/dialogue from 870108 Visionaries.  These have been compiled using the available dialogue scripts, which exclude Act III of Quest For The Dragon's Eye.

For the episodes where full scripts are the only available material - The Price Of Freedom and Feryl Steps Out - deleted scenes are listed using the script page numbers.


01 The Age Of Magic Begins: 17-32, 59, 96-98, 173, 152, 154, 154A, 162, 162A, 217-223, 254-257, 315, 315A, 340-343, 345, 346, 353-357, 364A, 370, 376-382.

02 The Dark Hand Of Treachery: 8-17, 47A-49A, 56-62, 69-72, 77, 78, 109, 110, 139, 140, 154, 157-166, 176, 176A, 209*, 210, 214, 235, 236, 239*, 240.

03 Quest For The Dragon's Eye: (Act I and II only) 1-4A replaced by recap.  23A, 27, 29-32, 34, 35, 43, 47-49, 62, 63, 77, 97, 98, 102, 120-125, 132, 142A, 145, 158-160, 195-203, 207.

04 The Price Of Freedom: Cut material on script pages: 2, 9, 10, 11, 12, Act break moved to 16, 17-21, 27, 28, 32.

05 Feryl Steps Out Cut material on script pages:Act break moved to 15, 19, 22, 24, 25, Act break moved to 29, 34, 35, 41, 42.

06 Lion Hunt: 05-7B, 14, 43-45, 84-96, 111-115, 138A-138D, 156, 157, 179-188, 196-199, 207, 242, 245, 247B-247D, 267-267C, 320A, 321, 340-342, 345, 348, 362A, 377.

07 The Overthrow Of Merklynn: 1-30, 63, 93*, 95, 101, 102, 111, 201-205, 209-214, 229A, 235-237A, 243A, 247A, 248A, 248B, 265-270D, 274, 275.

08 The Power Of The Wise: 18A, 32, 34, 36, 62, 63, 66, 72, 201A, 229A, 237-239, 287-290, 304A, 306.

09 Horn Of Unicorn, Claw Of Dragon: 11B, 63, 163, 181-185, 191A, 222-233, 293-294, 332A.

10 Trail Of The Three Wizards: 7-10, 16-23, 65, 66, 77, 91-92A, 103-107A, 108-110A, 151-153, 156-159, 177, 178, 190-197B, 199, 215, 216, 221C, 227, 228, 255, 256.

11 Sorcery Squared: 5C, 6, 13A, 35, 36, 40D-41, 48F, 50, 60, 61, 122, 135-143, 164-171, 200, 208A-214.

12 Honor Among Thieves: 24A-28, 30C, 78-86, 152, 199, 236.

13 Dawn Of The Sun Imps: 14, 66, 67, 68*, 69, 70, 72, 91A, 93, 99-102, 108, 136A-146, 170B-, 171, 178, 179, 182, 195-203, 208.

Transformers deleted scenes/dialogue

The following is a list of storyboard scene numbers and dialogue lines that were deleted from Transformers episodes, after the scripts had been passed out of story editing.
The information for these cuts is sourced from the dialogue scripts available at the archive's main Transformers page, as well as cross-referencing with the available full scripts and storyboards.

At the beginning of 1985, a change of production method was introduced.  Whereas previously, the dialogue script was drawn up using the first draft storyboards, which meant waiting to book the recording session for two weeks.  Beginning with Dinobot Island part 1, all dialogue lines that were not deleted by the story editor were numbered.  This allowed the dialogue recording to proceed independently of the storyboarding process, with several verified instances in season 2 and 3 of the dialogue being recorded ahead of the first draft storyboards being completed.

Due to the edited nature of some of the dialogue scripts, and a lack of consistent numbering after line 100 on most of them, some of the cuts are best estimates.

* - line truncated, but partially used
+ - storyboard scene cut, but dialogue retained and moved.

Storyboard scenes

MP 4023 More Than Meets The Eye, part 1: 1-14: 1 scenes, 15-56: 18 scenes, 57-264: 85 scenes, 265-272: 1 scene, 273-452: 85 scenes, 464-531: 36 scenes. WIP

MP 4024 More Than Meets The Eye, Part 2: 1-3, 17, 39, 40, 51-55, 85, 99, 105-114, 127, 134-142, 144, 147-150, 155, 156, 160, 175, 176.196, 199, 201, 205-210, 217-221, 230 (Only Act I information available at present)

MP 4025 More Than Meets The Eye, part 3: 1-242: 54 scenes, 245-275: 16 scenes, 281-302: 5 scenes, 309-320A: 8 scenes, 325-335: 7 scenes, 338-502: 53 scenes. Final scene: 514

MP 700

02 Roll For It: 1-27: 7 scenes, 31, 41, 42, 44-46, 51-58, 61-65, 67-73, 76-79, 90, 98, 100, 133-159: 18 scenes, 205-208, 213, 214, 215-218 moved to 198A-198D, 277-279, 299-308, 385, 400, 401, 418, 421-423, 427, 430, 437*, 439, 440, 443-452, 461, 463-477: 2 scenes, 482-486: 2 scenes, Final scene: 516

05 S.O.S Dinobots: 8-12, 14-16 (some dialogue moved), 17B, 18, 31-34, 36-38, 43, 44, 45 no pan, 46-50 (dialogue moved), 56 no truck-out, 57, 82-84 revised, 99 no pan, 100 and 101 swapped, 147, 150, 167-170, 174, 177-180, 237, 238, 240-243, 267, 268, 273 (dialogue moved to 272), 288, 304-306, 329 no pan, 342-351, 

13 Heavy Metal War: 39, 40, 41 revised, 44-51, 54, 64, 72-88, 89 truncated, 92-96, 101, 109, 110, 113, 114, 146-148, 150 revised, 155, 165, 166, 173-178, 185-189, 196, 202, 219 revised, 221, 223-238, revision scene inserted before 239, 240, no dialogue 262, 263, 264, 267 no pan, 274 no pan, 279-281, 309, 310, 321, 323, 326-329, 331 revised, 332, 333, 346, 371, 372, 374-385, 386 revised, 392, 411. Final scene: 433

16 Autobot Spike: 139, 149*, 151 revised to add Laserbeak, 152-167, 168-170 Soundwave replaced by Laserbeak, 174 (Act II information only).

18 City Of Steel: 6,7, 9, 18, 23-25, 53-56, 58, 60, 73-98, 166-168, 215-219, 232, 302, 304, 345-351.  Final scene: 449

19 Attack Of The Autobots: 7, 8, 9A-11, 20-25, 45-54, 86, 97, 103, 140 action on 139 layout, 141-158, 164 before 163, 188, 190, 193, 194, 202, 205, 208, 209A-218, 222-226, 240, 251 and 252 before 247, 263, Backgrounds changed for 260-279, 280-285, 304-308, 310-313, 318, 379, 385, 394-397, 398, 436, 440 and 441 revised, 469*, 473-475, 482, 484, 486, 488, 497, 500.

Final scene: 503

20 Traitor: 102-115: 10 scenes, 121-229: 5 scenes, 231-279: 4 scenes. Final scene count: 403

22 The Autobot Run: 42, 66, 67, 71, 91, 141-159: 10 scenes, 189-229: 4 scenes, 235, 237-244: 5 scenes, 259-300: 3 scenes, 316, 319-406: 25 scenes. Final scene: 430

23 Atlantis, Arise!: 1-4: 2 scenes, 24, 25, 62, 63 after 64, layouts revised 66-73, 74 revised, 77*, 79 before 78, 89, 91-100, 103-106, 108-122, 123 revised, 129-139, 141, 145, 150, 161, 172*, 176 dialogue on 175, 178, 189, 191, 192, 194-197, 200-202, 203*. 204*, 210 before 208, 211-227, 231-233, 238, 241, 248, 249, 252, 251A and B added, 324 revised, 372, 394 revised, 395-401, 425, 426, 449 and 450 combined, 458, 463, 464, 479, 480, 537-544.  Final scene: 544

24 Day Of The Machines: 1-17: 4 scenes, 34, 35, 38, 46, 129-217: 34 scenes, 219, 220, 224-265: 15 scenes, 347-457: 7 scenes, 459-483: 7 scenes. Final scene 486

25 Enter The Nightbird: 31, 32, 113-115, 131-149: 6 scenes, 154-226: 17 scenes, 231-288: 9 scenes, 298-301, 307-317: 3 scenes, 322-326: 2 scenes, 330-401: 11 additional scenes. Final scene 472

27 The Core 1-7 3 scenes, 12-20: 6 scenes, 79, 90-138: 3 scenes, 149-213: 3 scenes, 219, 339-381: 17 scenes, 383-388: 2 scenes, 390-399: 2 scenes, 451-460: 3 scenes, 462, 465-476

28 The Insecticon Syndrome: 84-137, 202-206, 285-302: seven scenes, 321-350, 385-396. Final scene: 485

48 Sea Change: 1, 17, 21, 22, 35-37, 39, 51-57, 85-87. 96-98, 101-103, 120 before 116, 125-129, 134 (dialogue on 135), 138-154 (140 dialogue on new scene 137A), 161, 164 before 163, 186, 197 no zip pan, 200 repeated shot on Act break, 218 action on 220 layout, 232-234, 236-241, 249-252, 254-256 (some dialogue moved), 258-261. 263, 293-296, 305-310, 313+, 326, 330-336, 348+, 365-368, 371-375, 381-385, 386 changed to underwater BGs, 388-393, 399, 401-402 no dialogue, 404, 405, 417, 431, 432, 437-439, 445-455.  Final scene: 505.

60 Cosmic Rust: 

Cut in final revision: 3 and 4 dialogue, 8, 17-19, 21, 35-37, 65-67, 80-83, 122, 123, 155, 162, 163, 167-170, 176-182, 266, 281 

Cut at Toei or in Post: 11, 12, 15, 39, 41+, 45+, 49 action on 50 layout, 69, 74+, 85+, 86*, 90 action on 91 layout, 113, 116+, 118, 128+, 161+, 164 and 166 combined, 185, 196-201, 203, 223, 224, 261+, 273, 282, 291*, 322-324, 370*, 375*, 380 action on 381 layout, 383.

Dialogue lines

29 Dinobot Island, Part 1: 115, 116, 196.

30 Dinobot Island, Part 2: 29-34, 48, 49, 90, 115, 116, 130, 131, 146-148, 155-158, 167.

31 The Master Builders: 63, 72, 120, 121, 161, 177, 185.

32 Auto Berserk: 1, 26, 40, 87, 90, 95, 234.

33 Microbots: 80, 83, 84, 86, 92-94, 98-99, 104-106, 141-146, 178, 179, 201, 210, 215.

34 Megatron's Master Plan, part 1: 43, 64, 82, 105, 113, 128?, 129?, 173, 185, 212, 213.

35 Megatron's Master Plan, part 2: 16-25, 94, 141, 1 (additional)

36 Desertion Of The Dinobots, Part 1: 14, 49-54, 61, 74, 92, 99, 100, 108, 136.

37 Desertion Of The Dinobots, Part 2: 79, 91-98, 105-108, 111, 112, 133*-135, 139, 154, 184.

38 Blaster Blues: 8-10, 16-22, 89, 122-124, 159, 167, 173, 174, 196, 202, 203, 213-219, 223-227, 229.

39 A Decepticon Raider In King Arthur's Court: 1, 14, 15, 17*, 30, 43*, 44-50, 51*, 61, 72*, 77*, 81-84*, 95*, 99*, 130-131, 155, 159, 166, 168, 187, 199-204, 227, 246-256, 287, 288, 300*, 301-304,

40 The Golden Lagoon: 49, 50, four lines 111-119, three lines 124-169, 176.

41 The God Gambit: 50-54, 70-73, 82, 126, 130, 145, 166, 168, 169, 185-188, 191, 193, 194, 198, 202, 211,214, 223, 232 replaced.

42 Make Tracks: 21, 22, 131, 153, 154, 174, 182, 186, 206-215, 217, 224.

43 Child's Play: 1, 4-6, 11, 18, 20, 30-32, 35, 66, 198, 199.

44 Quest For Survival: 5, 12, 57-73, 93, One line 100-107, 110-114, four lines 121-129, five lines 135-149, four lines 164-186, four lines 222-238, two lines 240-247.

45 The Secret Of Omega Supreme: 7, 33, two lines 65-70, 74, 75 93, five lines 103-118, three lines 120-127, two lines 131-137, eleven lines 139-163, four lines 190-197, four lines 203-232, six lines 240-266.

46 The Gambler: 4-13, 20-23, seven lines 151-181, fourteen lines 201-227, two lines 231-263.

47 Kremzeek!: 4, 5, 16-18, 27-34, 43, 49 71-73, 87-89, 91, 92, 109, 124, 142-148.

48 Sea Change: 15, 21, 22, 26, 27, 58, 59, 61, 65, 67, 78-82, 88-96, 100, 103, seven lines 118-136, six lines 151-160, 163-166, 168-172, fourteen lines 182-213, 228, 232-239, eight lines 242-252, 258-263, three lines 273-280, 284, 285, five lines 289-296, 310, five lines 312-318, 332.

49 Triple Takeover: 25-61, 103, four lines 106-125, eleven lines 130-162, seven lines 176-188, 206, eight lines 237-252.

50 Prime Target: 33, 34, 40, 43*, 45, 55, 60-65, 68, 80, 112, 128, 140, 141, 143, 144, 148, 196-198, 203, 214-216.

51 Auto-bop: 5-8, 18-22, 25, 26, 30-32, 34-36, 69, 78-84, 87-101, One line 109-125, five lines 127-145, 155, 156, 166, 167, One line 170-182, 187-190, nine lines 213-229, eight lines 234-252.

52 The Search For Alpha Trion: 27, 31,40, 84-88, 91, four lines 100-117, four lines 119-148, 152-159, seven lines 171-199, four lines 208-227, 252.

53 The Girl Who Loved Powerglide: 6-8, 36, 43, 51, 90-93, 95-106, three lines 115-132, two lines 139-143, three lines 150-163.

54 Hoist Goes Hollywood: 33-36, 41,123, three lines 125-162, 218, six lines 219-236.

55 The Key To Vector Sigma, Part 1: 9-14, 44, 45, 57, 74, 101-106, 129-132, 134-140, 146-148, 161, 162, 177-179, 192-194, 210, 211, 215, 216, 239.

56 The Key To Vector Sigma, Part 2: 1-14, 22-25, 30, 48, 49, 59, 61, 62, 71, 72, 86-92, 120-123, 173, 174, 177-179, 181-184, 189, 198-200, 210, 228, 245-249.

57 Aerial Assault: 1*, 10*-12, 18, 51-54, 56, 57, 73, 77, 78, 98, 99, 112-138, 141-162, 184, 185, two lines 188-193, 228*.

58 War Dawn: 5, 8, 16, 20-22, 25, 26, 29-31, 33, 37, 42-44, 47, 54, 57, 71-76, 78, 84, 90, 145, 147, 2 lines 149-162, seventeen lines 169-217, 230, five lines 220-244, four lines 246-277, 279, 280, six lines 291-310.

59 Trans-Europe Express: 24, 26, 36, 40-48, 50-55, 73, 124, 132, 134-145, 155*, 157-159, 168, 202, 214, 253.

60 Cosmic Rust: 2, 4, 12, 13, 15-17, 26, 36, 41, 42, 65, 70, 71, 89-93, 96-100, 101, 108-110, 121, 122, 149, 163*, 170, 204, 205, 220, 237.

61 Starscream's Brigade: 30, 50, 58-61, 63, 64, 66, 72-76, 97, 127, 141, 144, 145, 153, 154, 158-159, 161, 171, 172, 175-179, 186-195, 205, 210-212, 227, 229. (incomplete due to heavy re-write of ending)

62 The Revenge Of Bruticus: 12,34, 36, 37, 57, 63, 74, 78, 79, 206.

63 Masquerade: 11*, 31-33, 54, 74, 129, 137, 146, 158, 159, 178-183, 194-197, 206, 242-247, 249, 267.

64 B.O.T: 14-18, 24, 25, 39, 41, 51, 62, 69, 74, 75, 82, 92, 99, 100, 105-109, 118-122, 125, 128, 130, 135-137, 156.


86 Five Faces Of Darkness, Part 1: 1, 3-5, 7, 9, 10, 21-34, 44, four lines 57-63, 65, 70, 71, 73, 74, 85, five lines 111-121, three lines 131-140, three lines 147-156, 166-174, two lines 201-207, 221.

87 Five Faces Of Darkness, Part 2: 9-18, 20, 27, 28, 35, 71, 119, five lines 132-148, eight lines 150-163, 179, 183, two lines 186-192, 204.

88 Five Faces Of Darkness, Part 3: 4-6, 81, 103, 114, 115, two lines 120-138, 1 line 142-146, 163.

89 Five Faces Of Darkness, Part 4: 13-22, 34, 35, 47, 48, 52-56, 64, 65, 71, 79-83, four lines 156-169, one line 171-179, one line 188-195, five lines 212-228.

90 Five Faces Of Darkness, Part 5: 27, 78, 79, 82, 83, 96-98, 125, 127, 128, 164, 197, 211, 212.

91 The Killing Jar: 32, 43, 51A, 52, 82, 86-88, 96, 129A, 134, 136, 140, 142, 145, 155, 160, 226, 228, 246, 247.

92 Chaos: 4, 5, 15, 25, 29, 30, 57, 64, two lines 68-71, 76, 79, 105-107, 112, four lines 139-162, four lines 164-177.

93 Dark Awakening: 9, 10, 38, 64, 89-94, 114, 146-155, 193, 201, 210, 211, 236, 252, 257, 258.

94 Forever Is A Long Time Coming: 19-23, 32-34, 36, 42, 58-63, 91-93, 96, 99-104, two lines 175-188.

95 Starscream's Ghost: No original script

96 Thief In The Night: 1-9, 12, 13, 24-28, 35, 37, 38, 51-57. 74-84, 93, 94, nineteen lines 107-129, 133, ten lines 148-179, 196-203, two lines 205-212, ten lines 214-232, 239, 242.

97 Surprise Party: 53-55, 72, 73, 100.

98 Madman's Paradise: 22, 30, 31, 80, 83, 96, three lines 98-104, 115, 122, 137, 144, three lines 154-163, 190, six lines 199-207, 209, two lines 219-232, two lines 234-239, 241, 242, 246, 248, 249, 254, 256, 258, two lines 263-274.

99 Nightmare Planet: 3, 12, 13, 15-18, 24, 36-44, 46, 50, 51, 60, 61, 82, 95, 101, three lines 111-115, six lines 120-140, two lines 143-149, five lines 151-157, 196, two lines 201-209.

100 Ghost In The Machine: 56-58, 61, 62, three lines 119-130, seven lines 132-154, sixteen lines 181-217.

101 Webworld: 3-5, 10, 11, 14, 15, 20, 22, 23, 25, 36, 39, 47-49, 61, 66, 68, 69, 71, 73, 74, 84-86, 90, two lines 163-175, 181-183, ten lines 214-223, two lines 225-246, three lines 251-258.

102 Carnage In C-Minor: 65-68, 72, 74, 75, 78, 88, 94, 95, 103, 129, 132, 133, 142, thirteen lines 144-159, 168-171, 175, five lines 177-202, two lines 207-215, eight lines 223-237, 240.

103 The Quintesson Journal: 8, 9, 24, 32, 57, 83, 84, 92.

104 The Ultimate Weapon:

105 The Big Broadcast of 2006:

106 Fight Or Flee:

107 Dweller In The Depths: 8, 39, 50-59, 65, 73, 77, 78, 85, 89, 91-93, six lines 96-110, two lines 112-115, seven lines 118-140, 168, 172, 173, six lines 175-187, five lines 210-231, six lines 248-270.

108 Only Human: 7, 13, 15, three lines 133-142, one lines 144-149, two lines 151-173, 206.

110 Grimlock's New Brain 77, 78, 81, 82, four lines 98-103, 136-141, nine lines 146-176, 179-182, three lines 197-205, two lines 225-230.

111 Money Is Everything 21, 37, 57, 92, three lines 115-133, three lines 135-143, eleven lines 150-179, 182, 204, 205, 229, three lines 231-238, 282.

112 Call Of The Primitives 12, 18, 19, 23, 24, 40, 155, three lines 159-179.

113 The Face Of The Nijika 1-5, 35, 43, 44, 79-81, 84, 96-98, six lines 180-219.

114 The Burden Hardest To Bear 3-5, 11, 12, 33, 58, 65, 68, 77, 78, five lines 216-229, 248.

115 The Return Of Optimus Prime, Part 1: 37-39, 60-65, 94, 95, 105-108, 111, 113, 120, 138 -145, 158, 166-168, 178, 179, 182.

116 The Return Of Optimus Prime, Part 2: 64-67, 102, 104, 107, 111, 128, 137, 145, 156, 172, 229.