The Transformers: still going strong after 37 years
September 17, 1984, was an important date in entertainment history. It saw the first broadcast of Transformers as a cheap cartoon series to tie in with a popular range of toys. At the time, shops were full of the plastic robots that could be transformed into cars or other objects. In the TV series, two opposing factions of giant alien robots - the heroic Autobots and the evil Decepticons - engage in a long-standing battle that puts the fate of Earth in the balance. Sound familiar?
The toys were originally produced by Hasbro and Takara. The series was produced by Marvel Productions and Sunbow Productions in association with Japanese studio Toei Animation. Production eventually moved to the South Korean studio AKOM. In Japan, the first two seasons of the show were collectively released as Fight! Super Robot Life-Form Transformers.
The series ran for three years and proved popular as VHS and later DVD releases. It was followed by a first feature film, The Transformers: The Movie (1986), set between the second and third seasons. The movies have since grown into a hugely popular franchise that features state-of-the-art special effects.
How does the original eighties animation stand up to today’s superbly crafted movies? Some original fans are still hooked. “Despite how old-school the animation looks by today’s standards, I'll take watching the original Transformers series over those Michael Bay movies any day,” according to one uber-fan, Andrew Proulx.