Happy 40th birthday, G1 TF cartoon!

[JosephBardsley]

I understand that, on this day 40 years ago - September 17, 1984 - the
original Transformers cartoon premiered in North America.

Thought to mark it here. Of course, the original comic predated this by
a few months - May 1984 - which is equally momentous - but the cartoon
was deeply impactful for many, and for the mythos on a whole, and so -
to me - it deserves its own moment of appreciation.

Here's to the next four decades!

JB

[Travoltron]

I wish I had access to the vintage TV schedules of KSTW. The way I
remember it is that they aired the 3-part "More Than Meets The Eye"
pilot in the middle of the day when I was still in school.

This really irritated me. We had no VCR until 1986. So my younger
brother who not in school yet had to tell me what happened. But his
version didn't really make sense. "The truck guy fell down." Oookay.

After what seemed like a long time later, it started airing on Saturday
mornings. The first one I saw was Transport to Oblivion. They may have
started there because it directly followed More Than Meets The Eye. I
didn't see those first 3 eps until Season 1 had finished and went into
reruns.

[CodigoPostal]

Hear hear, JB!
What other cartoon from 40 years ago still inspires such devotion? I
think about Zob's Cartoon Viewing Club, going through each and every
episode of G1...there isn't another 80s toon that still attracts that
level of engagement, not even fellow one-time titan G.I. Joe. G1 may
still be relevant for another 40 years - with Youtube and remastering,
the new generations can still be hooked on the same cartoons we grew up
with. I've got friends with kids who enjoy G1 as much or more as
anything contemporary. Quality is quality!

[Optim]

Post by CodigoPostal
Hear hear, JB!
What other cartoon from 40 years ago still inspires such devotion? I
think about Zob's Cartoon Viewing Club, going through each and every
episode of G1...there isn't another 80s toon that still attracts that
level of engagement, not even fellow one-time titan G.I. Joe. G1 may
still be relevant for another 40 years - with Youtube and remastering,
the new generations can still be hooked on the same cartoons we grew up
with. I've got friends with kids who enjoy G1 as much or more as
anything contemporary. Quality is quality!

I am not surprised. I find that the Sunbow TF cartoon has aged well. I
think it was great because it didn't take itself seriously There were so
many different writers, each episode was self-contained and most had
charm. I had so many favourite episodes like cornball episodes
"Decepticon Raiders in King Arthur Court" "Girl who Loved Powerglide" to
action episodes like "Prime Target" "Kremzeek" to dark episodes like
"Dark Awakening" "Dweller in the Depths" and so on. I even liked the
story in "Carnage in C-Minor." It is a shame that the animation was not
great to match the story. Toei should have done that episode while AKOM
should have done "Dweller in the Depths". AKOM is good with black, moody
atmosphere settings. That is the only thing AKOM is good at.

I wonder how many Sunbow TF writers also wrote for the Sunbow G.I. Joe
cartoon because Sunbow G.I. Joe has not aged well.

I really can't think of any other cartoon that holds up well as Sunbow
TF. Maybe the Disney afternoon shows: TailSpin, Duck Tales and Darkwing
Duck does. Some would also say Batman: The Animated Series. I disagree.
I liked Batman: TAS at the time, but as an adult, it has not aged well
because it tried to take itself seriously. It should not have because
Batman is a ridiculous concept. It is not plausible that a human would
dress up like a bat. That human has no super powers, has a nocturnal
life fighting criminals and a daytime life as a fabulously wealthy
businessman. For those reasons Batman is the most ridiculous superhero
but all superheroes are ridiculous to varying degrees. The only reason
why Batman is the most popular superhero is because he has the best
costume and look of all superheroes and villians.