Left: Examples of pre-final character models (notice the "cheekbone" lines on the face) and flat coloring used by the unknown studio.
Right: Examples of final character models (again, notice the sharper lines on the face) and shaded coloring used by Toei.

Animation for the originalTransformers cartoon was primarily created by Japanese studioToei Animation and South Korean studioAKOM. At times, they in turn would also sub-contract the services of other studios, includingDai Won Animation Co.,Sam Young Studio,Sei Young Animation Co. Ltd.,Ashi Productions,Trans Arts Co.,Anime R,Nakamura Production, andStudio Look (see below). The lack of appropriate accreditation on individual episodes has made identifying exactly which studio worked on which episode a challenge for fans, with certain episodes being the work ofunknown animation studios.

Episodes

Season 2

The existence of work by a studio other than Toei or AKOM was first indicated by Toei's own website resume, which confirmed they (and their sub-contractors) produced all 16 of the first season's episodes, but only 39 of the second season's 49 episodes.^[1] Of the remaining 10 episodes, 3 are immediately identifiable as AKOM productions, matching the style of the work they would later produce for the third season, leaving a remaining 7 to be the work of an unknown studio. Identifying exactly which episodes were done by this unknown studio has always posed a challenge, as the quality of their work does not differ significantly from that of Toei, but extensive research by your friendly neighborhood TFWiki editors has yielded the following list. The main identifying feature is the consistent use of outdated pre-finalcharacter models for a handful of the new season 2 cast members that are not seen anywhere else in the season outside of this limited group of episodes. Those episodes are:

• "Auto Berserk"

Features pre-final models forRed Alert,Inferno,Grapple,Hoist,Smokescreen, andThrust

• "A Decepticon Raider in King Arthur's Court"

Features the pre-final model for Hoist

• "Make Tracks"

Features pre-final models forTracks, Hoist, and Inferno

• "The Secret of Omega Supreme"

Features pre-final models for Tracks,Astrotrain, andOmega Supreme

• "Kremzeek!"

Features pre-final models for Inferno, Hoist, and Smokescreen

• "Triple Takeover"

Features prefinal models for Tracks,Skids, Thrust, and Astrotrain

Immediately obvious features of the pre-final models used include: Red Alert being colored bright white instead of gray; a rounder head for Inferno, rather than the more toy-accurate design seen in his final model; a black helmet with orange horns for Grapple, as opposed to solid orange (which is, for the most part, actually toy-accurate); a green-and-orange hinge in the centre of Hoist's chest rather than solid orange, burgundy parts instead of red on Smokescreen; red pectorals and shoulder-vanes on Thrust instead of black, as well as a black face; black windows on Tracks's robot mode (but not vehicle mode); a gray helmet, shoulder-wheels and wings on Astrotrain instead of purple; more toy-based tech-detailing all over Omega Supreme; and a pale blue torso instead of dark blue on Skids. There are other, more subtle differences, including "softer" facial designs; check the "Notes" section on each character's individual article for details. All of these early models appear in the originalcommercials advertising the toys; most of the Autobot characters did not reappear in later seasons, but Omega, Astrotrain, and Thrust's pre-final models continued to be consistently used for all season three appearances by the characters that were animated by AKOM.

The remaining episode is harder to pin down, but exhaustive research indicates it is "A Prime Problem", which features the same general softness of line and warmth of color as "Auto Berserk," as well as some unique airbrushing effects seen in that episode, and in the aforementioned commercial. It also features a lot of very un-Toei block-shading lifted overly literally from character models.

Check out this article's talk page for our very thorough dissection of the particulars!

Season 3

The episodes "Starscream's Ghost" and "Only Human" are an unusual case, where confusion over their production was caused by sub-contracting. Both were widely accepted as being Toei's work by fans in the 1990s simply because they are visibly of vastly superior animation quality than any AKOM offering, but when Toei's aforementioned website resume revealed that the studio produced only 13 of the season's episodes, the numbers didn't add up. In 2019, production documents emerged that confirmed "Starscream's Ghost" had, indeed, been assigned to AKOM,^[2] but given the huge visual gulf between it and AKOM's usual output, it's evident that the company must have sub-contracted the job to another studio—but as is the case with almostall instances of sub-contracting in the series, the precise studio to which the work was sub-contracted is unknown. This was perfectly common on the series, but rarely did it result in such a noticeable visual difference. It seems certain that the same occurred with "Only Human," as both episodes share some noticeable features: in addition to using outdated colors from pre-final model designs on the final models themselves forRodimus Prime andGalvatron (like AKOM), they alsoconsistently use the incorrect, pre-final designs for Rodimus, Galvatron,Cyclonus,Arcee, andSpringer, which doesn't happen anywhere else in the season. Even AKOM proper was more up-to-date in their reference material than that!

In another case of sub-contracted work causing confusion, the stylized, high-quality anime-like animation of "Call of the Primitives" led fans to assume for decades that it, too, was producted by a studio other than Toei or AKOM, withTokyo Movie Shinsha being a popular theory. It was finally confirmed by the episode's director in 2020 that "Call" was, in fact, a Toei production, and that they had sub-contracted the work (at least in part) toStudio Look.^[3]

Possible locations

Series production co-ordinatorPaul Davids referred to a third studio in a 2002 interview, noting it was only used "a few times" and claiming it was in thePhilippines. Davids appears to be mistaken in his recollection, however; the only animation studios open in the Philippines at the timeTransformers season 2 was animated were Optifex, who worked exclusively for Hanna-Barbera, and Burbank Animation. While Burbank did work on Sunbow/Marvel shows made around the same time, likeJem,My Little Pony, andDefenders of the Earth,^[4] their resume does not appear to include anyTransformers episodes.

Although Toei has a Filipino branch, they were not established until November 1986,well after production of both season 2and 3 ofThe Transformers (bar "The Return of Optimus Prime") had already been completed.

As such, there has been no luck in determining the identity of this mysterious studio.

References

External links

• Interview with production coordinator Paul Davids at the Cybertron Chronicle, suggesting the use of a studio from the Philippines: "Three to four weeks 'in-house' to prepare character designs, backgrounds, color models, record voices and edit soundtrack, complete the storyboard, and ship the show to Korea or Japan (and a few times we used an animation facility in the Philippines)."