Transformers animated human error

The Autobots wake up on Christmas morning to find they have become human!

Japanese title: «The Autobots Became Humans» (人間になったオートボット Ningen ni Natta Autobot)

Synopsis

While Optimus Prime is patrolling the city, he sees Soundwave toys running everywhere, some of which have suspiciously glowing red optics. He decides to return to base where Sari is making oilnog for them. In the base a Soundwave toy, which was smuggled in as Bulkhead’s present, uses some sort of electric device on the oilnog Sari has made. The Autobots drink it and find that it makes them disorientated. As one, they decide to take a stasis nap.

The next morning, Optimus and his crew realize they have become organic humans, but Ratchet can find no logical explanation for their transformation. Prowl is the only one who is not particularly concerned by his new form (which resembles his human hologram, mustache and all) but the others are horrified. They start wondering what happened to their original bodies and decide to go to Sumdac Tower — on foot.

The Auto-Humans get hungry and stop to eat, but their meal is interrupted by Starscream attacking the city. The humanized Autobots attempt to stop them, but find their human bodies soft and weak. When Starscream realises what has happened to them, he predictably starts taunting them, but is cut short when they flee, realising that he cannot distinguish one insignificant human from another! He dismisses them, and continues his rampage. The Autobots are then surprised to see that Cybertron is coming towards the Earth. It landed near the surface, sucking up some debris. Next, Strika, Oil Slick, Spittor, Shockwave, Lugnut, and Megatron arrive. The Decepticons plan on killing the Automen.

The Automen realise that what’s happening is completely impossible, and Prowl reasons that it clearly must be an illusion, and if you believe it can happen, then it will. The Autobots, still in human form, totally kick all of the Decepticons’ skidplates. (How’s that for ya’ huh, Megatron? Got your aft kicked by organics!) The Autobots then use the power of «belief» to make themselves Transformers again. This brings them to realise that they are in a virtual reality.

Sari, who had now gotten a jetpack for Christmas along with a dancing Soundwave figurine, goes to the base to find the Autobots. She looks all around, and cannot find them. She realises that they are in the building and finds the «basement». There, she finds the Autobots in deep stasis, controlled by Soundwave. She is attacked by Soundwave, who now has Laserbeak, who can transform into a totally awesome keytar. After losing the fight, Sari vowed to come back.

Meanwhile, the Autobots are still stuck in Soundave’s virtual reality. They try to escape, but a giant, white Soundwave stops them from doing so. Soundwave then proceeds to reprogram the Autobots into… Decepticons.

Stats

Featured characters

(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Quotes

Isaac Sumdac: That toy rightfully belongs to me Powell! You are a thieving crook!
Porter C. Powell: And a Merry Christmas to you too Professor Sumdac. But I acquired this toy’s patents fair and square when I owned your company. Now I’m sharing Soundwave with the entire world! For only 19.99 each!
Isaac Sumdac: 19.99?! How does he do it?!

—Business is business.

(After Bumblebee and Bulkhead, in human form, crash and slip into a tower)
Bulkhead: There’s no antilock brakes on these servos!
Bumblebee: I think humans call them «legs».
-Get real Bulkhead, humans don’t have airbags or ESP.

Ratchet: I’m telling you, there is no way this Santa Claus can deliver billions of presents in one night.
Prowl: I… can think of at least one way. (smiles as he creates two holographic duplicates of himself) Ho.. ho… ho!
Optimus Prime: A sound theory, Prowl. I did see multiple Santa’s in the shopping district tonight.

—The Bots try and explain the magic of Christmas, maybe they can try to explain the case of the missing trailer next.

Optimus Prime: We need to get to Sumdac Tower! Auto uh.. men. Transfor… er uh roll… er uh… let’s just go…

—Easy there Human Prime, after all, you are only human.

Sari Sumdac: A… Soundwave toy?
Isaac Sumdac: To replace the one that tried to take over the world.
Sari Sumdac: Dad… that thing tried to kill me!
Isaac Sumdac: Ah but this is an action figure, assembled in China and not by Megatron.

— Sumdac fails to see the obvious. Again.

Ratchet: Hey, how come your fuel is different from ours?
Prowl: I choose the vegetable fuel because it burns cleaner. Don’t you know where that animal flesh comes from?
Bulkhead: (With his mouth full) No, but I know where it’s going!
Bumblebee: Half of its going on your clothes.

—Bulkhead is starting to enjoy human life.

«C’mon you guys can’t still be sleeping, it’s Christmas! Hello, guys, cute girl with jetpack is here! Okay, you guys better not be messing with me. Nice try, but you can’t hide your energy signatures… which are coming from right here? All right, no more hide and seek. I’m going home, hear me, I’m going ho-ome! Fine, guys, don’t spend Christmas day with me.»

—Sari is being ignored like every human sidekick.

Starscream: Prime? Ratchet? I thought I recognized those voices! HAHAHAHAHAH! You’ve been living with these pathetic organics for so long, you’ve become them! It will be a simple matter to crush you out of existence right now! Huh? Where did you go? I can’t tell the difference between one insignificant human and the next. (blows up some cars) Ah well, no matter. There is much more Decepticon fun to come.

—Starscream gets easily distracted…

Bulkhead: No. It can’t be…
Prowl: …Yet there it is.
Optimus Prime: Cybertron!

— Whoa, deja vu.

Icy Blitzwing: Vhy vould ze Autobots choose to be human?
Random Blitzwing: Not for ze fashion sense, I can tell you zat. HAHAHA!
Hothead Blitzwing: Who cares!? I vill crush zem into human meat pies!

—We missed you guys.

Bulkhead: Leave him alone! (smashes through Blitzwing’s leg)
Icy Blitzwing: Vhat?
Hothead Blitzwing: How?!
Random Blitzwing: Ooh, look! I have a hole in my rocket!

Random Blitzwing: Not ze!
Icy Blitzwing: Faces!
Random Blitzwing: Oh!
—Bumblebee taking a shot at the faces.

Soundwave: (lets Sari escape in the elevator) The human is of no consequence.

—Soundwave you idiot! NEVER underestimate the plucky human sidekick!

Soundwave: Escape is impossible. Autobots inferior, Soundwave superior.

—Racist much?

Soundwave: Initiating final phase of Operation «Autobot Reprogramming». Soon, the Autobots will unite with us. Soon, they will call themselves… Decepticon.

— Soundwave’s plan is revealed.

Bumblebee: What’s in this stuff any way?
Bulkhead: (burps) I don’t know but my processor is pretty fuzzy.
Ratchet: (yawns) Yeah, it sure got me ready for a status nap.
Prowl: (yawns) And me as well.
Sari: What no waiting for Santa? You guys are a bunch of party poppers!

—Bulkhead burps and Sari can’t spend time with her best friends for Christmas? Well, she should have seen them as humans. Maybe that would have changed her mind (especially Bumblebee.)

Notes

Animation and/or technical glitches

• Besides, why is Megatron’s arm hollow all of a sudden? Where are all the wires and circuitry? Or is that just what virtual things do

• When Random Blitzwing is first shown, his eyes appear connected instead of their normal appearance. This happens twice in the episode.

• Optimus suddenly pulls an axe out of nowhere and throws it into Megatron’s cannon, causing it to backfire.

• Before Bulkhead puts down his present, the horizontal ribbon was visible underneath the vertical ribbon but as be put the backed back, the horizontal ribbon was gone.

• When the Autobots first wake up human, everything else seems to have grown with them; things like Optimus’ bed and Ratchet’s medical equipment. Soundwave seems to have a very loose concept of scale.

• When human Bulkhead was grabbing his burger again and when he said the rumble wasn’t him, the burger was in perfect shape after he munched on it.

• Megatron’s arm is quite large when he is being hit with it.

• After the Autobots are caught by Soundwave, Prowl’s helmet is missing.

• When Sari is steering the oilnogg, her stockings are below her thighs. In the next clip they are just below her dress.

• Lugnut appears when the main Decepticons arrive for a full-scale assault, but when the auto-men are fighting the Decepticons, Lugnut disappeared.

• When Blitzwing passes by in his tank mode, his treads are missing.

In the last scene when giant Soundwave emerges from the ground, Prowl is seen not wearing his samurai helmet

Continuity errors

• Where did Soundwave get images and voices of the various Decepticons to use for his virtual world? Of all of them, he’s only seen or heard Megatron, and him in his Cybertronian form (as seen on the television screens in the shop window.) It’s possible that he downloaded from the memory banks of the Autobots, but even then, he wouldn’t know about Team Chaar, or what Shockwave looks like from the neck down.

• Speaking of Team Chaar, it’s also curious that Cyclonus and Blackout are missing and Shockwave is taking their place. (Much more destruction would have been guaranteed had Blackout been there.)

• The scene where Sari discovers the Autobots in the basement, after she blasts Soundwave’s speaker, it reappears in the next scene, prefectly healed. Of course, it’s back to broken in the next episode.

• Most of the «errors» listed can be explained away by the fact that it was all a «Matrix»-like illusion created by Soundwave. Still, it’s never actually explained just HOW Soundwave came back online, rebuilt himself, created something as awesome as Laserbeak and Ratbat, e.t.c.
  • It is possible that Megatron built Soundwave with auto-repair systems, but this was never stated.

Real-world references

• The designs of Autohumans’ clothing, reflecting their humanoid modes.

• This is the second Transformers Animated holiday-related episode, the first being Along Came a Spider which took place on Halloween.

• This is the first Transformers TV Christmas special EVER!!! — Only its premiere was not broadcast in December. Urgh!

• After the human Autobots destroy Megatron and his Decepticons, Bumblebee says, «I don’t think we’re in Detroit anymore», a reference to the Wizard of Oz.

• Though the colors are different, the woman in the burning tower is dressed in an EFSF uniform from the Gundam franchise.

• Cybertron fired a laser on Sumdac Tower, resembling the White House’s destruction from the film «Independance Day». Also, Bumblebee says «We’re baaaack» once returned to his normal form, which is similar to another line in this movie.

• After human Bulkhead smashes through Blitzwing’s leg, Blitzwing says «I have a hole in my rocket.», a reference to when Ringo Starr in the movie «The Yellow Submarine» says, «I’ve got a hole in my pocket.»

Transformer references

• Does this episode sound familiar?. The Autobots are mind-controlled to do evil by Decepticon control!

• This episode is similar to The Transformers episode «Only Human», whose plot is Autobots turned into humans. However, «Only Human» had human criminals turn the Autobots into humans accidentally while in this episode, Soundwave made them just think they were human, intentionally.

• Prowl in his human form looks exactly like his hologram, right down to that rather stylish moustache and the helmet. This makes him a ninja-cop, which is awesome.

• The scene where Cybertron appears above Earth and emits a beam of light, which sucks up some rubble resembles the scene where Unicron sucks up some of Lithone in the G1 movie.

• In addition, the idea of Cybertron appearing above the Earth suddenly has kind of happened before.

• Starscream totally hated being touched by Bulkhead («You dare touch me?!»). This is similar to how his Generation One counterpart hated being touched (when he was touchable before he died and turned into a ghost), for example, if any Transformer was on top of him, he would complain, «Get off me!»

• …and as seen in those episodes, Cybertron has apparently shrunk quite a bit.

• The smiling missiles that Starscream fires resemble those of Terrorsaur.

• Soundwave restates one of his awesome lines, although this time to the Autobots. And the fandom rejoiced.

• When Ratchet contemplates facing the Decepticons, he asks, «What chance do we have?».

• Too much «oil nog» leaves the Autobots suffering the effects of «over-charging», which also hearkens back to oil’s use as a stand-in for beer in the Constructicon episodes, though Soundwave’s tampering may have had more to do with it.

• In the virtual world when Soundwave appears, he looks like he’s in his Generation One counterpart’s Music Label color, later known as Electrostatic Soundwave in the Transformers Animated toyline — which has been cancelled.

• In the virtual world, the Decepticons talk as if they are in an old Saturday morning cartoon, especially Megatron.

• The boy dressed with a Kung-fu-styled clothes and a man with sunglass and a necktie in Burger Bot respectively looks like Cancer and Hydra from Masterforce. Besides, the guy sitting in middle of them is Marty Isenberg, the head writer of the show.

• The giant Soundwave that comes out of the ground resembles the Music Label Sonic White Soundwave’s alt mode.

• The child that Prowl saves from the fire wears a shirt with Generation One Optimus Prime’s face on it.

• When Starscream called the Automen «pathetic fools», he almost sounded like his namesake from another continuity.

Notes

• This episode takes place on Christmas Eve and Christmas. Considering the presence of snow at the end of Season 1, and one Halloween before then, it seems to have been well over a year since the Autobots were re-activated from their 50-year stasis under Lake Erie.

• When the Autobots became human, their voices sound slightly different, and you finally realise how much the robotic voice filter makes a difference.

• Sari finally returns, after four episodes. Excluding G1, this may be the longest absence of a Transformers series’ main human sidekick. When asked about this in an interview, Dereck Wyatt claimed that he received orders from Hasbro to give the human characters less screentime, including Sari.^{[May, 2009]}

• Sari uses her cyborg form in this episode, and manages to control it easily, joyriding around without any city-wrecking or overloading. Looks like Ratchet’s tinkering payed off.

• Sari’s gift from her father seems to be an upgrade of her trike-jetpack thingy from the early stages of the show’s production. Like Sari herself, it transforms with the high-pitched variant of the transformation noise.

• It seems Prowl is a vegetarian while in his «human» form… no surprise, right?

• Carlee can be seen in the Burger Bot sitting next to that baby Prowl was playing peek-a-boo with. Remember, the one she was pregnant with in the episode «Garbage In, Garbage Out.

• Spike and Daniel can be seen riding the bus that the Autobots take to Sumdac Tower. Recession’s a pain, huh?

• When Sari is opening her presents, she holds off on complaining about her Soundwave toy until after she opens it. Yet the box has a clear plastic window…

• How does Sari know how to make Oilnog in the first place anyway?

• None of the Autobots question why Starscream is among the Decepticons, though they were kinda preoccupied with trying not to get vaporized at the time.

• This is the first time Blitzwing has an ongoing spinning face.

• Soundwave sounds very different, but he was still voiced by Jeff Glen Bennett.

• Powell’s new mass-produced Soundwave toys were quite smaller than the toy form of the original Soundwave, who was quite taller than 8-year-old Sari.

• Human Bumblebee seems markedly younger than any of the other Automen, including Bulkhead — he can’t that much older than Sari. The other Automen buy into this completely as his transformation into a human, and everything about their human modes reflects their robot modes. Considering how Bumblebee has already applied to join the Elite Guard, it poses a slightly disturbing question — is he in Cybertronian optics considered a child soldier?

• Each of the Automen’s forms seems to correspond with their fan-percieved «age»: Ratchet (late-50s), Prime (adult — mid-30s), Prowl (adult — mid-20s), Bulkhead (late teens), and Bumblebee (early teens).

• Bumblebee is the token black kid. Notably his voice actor Bumper Robinson is the only African-American among the main cast.

• This is the second time Prowl has cut off Megatron’s hand although it was the left arm this time instead of the right arm.

• Professor Sumdac sure can dance…

Human Error, Part I

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Humans Animated is a very popular show on Cybertron.
«Human Error, Part I»
Season	3
No. in season	8
Airdate	April 18, 2009
Written by	Henry Gilroy
Directed by	Kalvin Lee Christopher Berkeley Naoto Hashimoto
Animation studio	Mook, Studio Wanpack
Continuity	Animated cartoon continuity

With the Christmas season upon them, the Autobots are not quite themselves following a run-in with Porter C. Powell’s new mass-produced Soundwave action figures.

Contents

Synopsis

It’s Christmas in Detroit, but Optimus Prime is not in a festive mood. The hottest toy of the year is Sound Wave, being marketed by Porter C. Powell, who acquired the schematics and patent when he ran Sumdac Systems. Observing a commercial for the new toy, Optimus notices one of the small robots running across the plaza near the trains. Trying to follow it, he is nearly run over by a train and finally decides that he may be obsessing.

At the plant, Bulkhead and Bumblebee are interested in what they got for Christmas, but Sari tells them that Santa Claus will know if they try to peek. As the two help Sari decorate, a Sound Wave toy breaks out of the present and does something to the oilnog that Sari made for the Autobots. The toy is barely able to hide as Optimus, Ratchet, and Prowl weigh in on Santa’s ability to deliver presents to all the children. Sari tells them to just accept the holiday magic and be thankful for what they have, like family, leading to a toast of the spiked oil. Soon, the Autobots all begin to feel tired and decide to call it a night, as Sari heads back to Sumdac Tower.

The next morning, Optimus wakes up, still woozy, and discovers something frightening: his hands are made of flesh! Falling off his bed in shock, Prime’s eyes fall upon a mirror, and he discovers the horrifying truth—He’s become a human! Optimus hears Bumblebee and Bulkhead cry out, and discovers that all the other Autobots are human as well. Optimus is convinced that there must be a reason, but a few scans by Ratchet are unable to determine the cause of the change. Looking for Prowl, the Autobots head outside, where they find the ninja is mostly at home with the situation, except he feels that something is wrong. Since they’re unable to contact Sari, the Autobots decide to roll ou—er, walk to Sumdac Tower.

The Sumdacs, meanwhile, are exchanging Christmas presents, although Sari is less than impressed with the Soundwave toy she receives, having less-than-fond memories of her previous experience with the musical menace. The next present, a scooter, likewise fails to excite, until her father reveals that it also transforms into a jetpack! Thrilled at the gift, Sari takes off to show the Autobots, leaving her dad dancing and singing along with Sound Wave.

On their way to Sumdac Tower, the Autobots stop at Burger Bot when Bulkhead experiences the odd sensation of «hunger». Before long, he is also experiencing the thrills and spills of «the bathroom», while Prowl makes the most of his new human form, having a salad and playing peek-a-boo with a greatly amused baby. The light-heartedness is brought to an end by a sudden explosion outside, and the Autobots race onto the street to see an armada of airborne Decepticons, with Starscream in the lead, opening fire on the city! As chaos erupts around them, more Decepticons led by Shockwave come stomping up the street . A blast from Shockwave sets a nearby building on fire, and Prime orders the Autobots into action despite their frail new forms. While Bulkhead and Bumblebee fight the fire, Prime and Ratchet rescue a woman, and Prowl heads upstairs to save her son. At the last minute, Prowl dives out a window several stories up with the boy in his arms and lands with ease, prompting Bulkhead to wonder exactly how he accomplished such a seemingly impossible feat. Before any thought can go into the matter, Starscream transforms to robot mode and lands in front of them!

Carried by her new jetpack to the Autobot plant, Sari is surprised to discover it locked up tight, and even more surprised when the Autobots don’t respond to her knocking. She flies into the plant through a skylight, but the whole building seems deserted, so she uses the computer to scan for the Autobots’ energy signatures, which turn out to be coming from. inside the plant?

As Starscream tears up the street and sends humans scattering in fear, Bulkhead and Bumblebee rather foolishly attempt to attack him, and the results are rather predictable. When Optimus tries slashing the Decepticon with an axe, Starscream backhands him into a wall, breaking his leg. Hearing the Autobots refer to each other by name, Starscream realizes who his opponents are, but is so busy smirking over their predicament that he loses sight of them and finds that he can’t tell one human from another! Dismissing them, he departs for more destruction elsewhere, leaving the Autobots to have their injuries tended to by paramedics. Requiring some of Professor Sumdac’s technology to fight the Decepticons, the Autobots board a bus to get to the tower quickly.

Back at the Autobots’ plant, Sari is still searching for her friends, when suddenly, a large, robotic bird flies out of a shaft in the floor, followed by a small army of Sound Wave action figures! Sari blasts the evil toys and heads down the shaft to investigate.

At the foot of Sumdac Tower, the Autobots have just stepped off the bus when suddenly, a huge shadow falls over Detroit. Looking up, the stunned Autobots see the entire planet of Cybertron itself hanging in the sky. Sumdac tower is obliterated by a huge planetary laser weapon, and a full-scale Decepticon invasion force swarms the sky, led by Megatron himself! The Decepticons are just as surprised by the Automens’ appearance as they are, but Megatron decides to take advantage by destroying them last, so that they may watch their adopted home be destroyed. The sheer impossibility of everything that is happening finally hits Optimus Prime and Prowl, who realize that whatever may be happening to them, none of it is real. Megatron seizes Prowl, but amazingly, the Autobot breaks free of his grip, and with a single swipe of his hand, severs Megatron’s arm. Blitzwing attempts to crush Prowl beneath his foot, but Bulkhead runs forward and smashes straight through the Triple Changer’s leg. As Bumblebee pummels Blitzwing’s faces and Prowl knocks out Starscream by phasing into his head, Optimus Prime beats Megatron with his own arm, then hurls his axe into the barrel of the Decepticon leader’s cannon, causing it to explode. As the dust cloud fades, Cybertron and all of the Decepticons have vanished, and the Autobots come to the realization that they are trapped in some kind of virtual reality.

Sari makes the same discovery as the Autobots when she reaches the bottom of the secret shaft and discovers their bodies, plugged into machinery being operated by the full-size Soundwave, who is planning to use the illusion to reprogram the Autobots into Decepticons. Within the virtual world, the Autobots are able to will themselves back into robotic form (although Bulkhead has a little trouble), but before they can take any further actions, a gigantic arm bursts out of the ground beneath them, scooping them up in its hand. Soundwave’s giant face looks down upon the Autobots, declaring escape impossible and shocking them all with blasts of purple energy. Soundwave also has his hands full in the real world, as Sari blasts a chunk out of his shoulder with one of her energy-balls,. Soundwave summons Laserbeak, the robotic bird Sari saw earlier, into his arms, where it transforms into a guitar and hits Sari with a powerful sonic shock wave. The wounded Sari retreats, promising to come back for her friends and leaving Soundwave to resume the final phase of his Autobot reprogramming with another musical instrument that bathes the heroic robots in waves of sonic energy. As Soundwave gloats, Optimus Prime’s optics activate and begin glowing Decepticon-red.

Featured characters

(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Quotes

«That toy rightfully belongs to me, Powell! You are a thieving crook!»
«And a Merry Christmas to you too, Professor Sumdac, but I acquired your toy’s patents fair and square when I owned your company. Now I’m sharing Sound Wave with the entire world, for only $19.99 each.»
«$19.99? How does he do it?!»

—Professor Sumdac unwittingly provides PR for Porter C. Powell’s products. Say that three times fast.

Ratchet: And I’m telling you, there is no way that this «Santa Claus» could deliver billions of presents in one night.
Prowl: I can think of at least one way. Ho. Ho. Ho.
[Prowl projects holograms of himself]
Optimus: A sound theory, Prowl. I did see multiple Santas in the shopping district tonight.

—The Autobots weigh in on the debate of how Santa does his job.

— Don’t act like you don’t know where Ratchet is going with this.

«PRIME!? Look at you! You’re hideous!»
«We’re all hideous! We’re. people!»
«And you’re so small!»
«Knock it off! I’m bigger than you!»

— Bumblebee and Bulkhead assessing their human forms.

Prowl: «Here I am. Hahaha. Peekaboo! I’m over here! Hehaha.»
*baby laughs*
Ratchet: «You think she’d be laughing if you were a giant robot?»
Prowl: «That’s the point. Being human gives me a better sense of what this holiday season means. I’m…thankful, for just being alive in any form.»

— Prowl, who apparently is the only one who isn’t completely pessimistic about becoming human, reminding the team to have some Christmas spirit.

«Hey! There’s no antilock breaks on these servos!»
«I think the humans call them…legs.»

— Bulkhead and Bumblebee discover one of many unfortunate human limitations.

«We need to get to Sumdac Tower. Auto—uh, men. Transfo—er, uh, roll—er, uh, oh, let’s. let’s just go.»

—Optimus Prime has a few slips on his «roll out» command.

«Why would ze Autobots choose to be human?»
«Not for the fashion sense, I can tell you that. A-ha-ha-ha!»

—Icy Blitzwing and Random Blitzwing, the next Tim Gunn.

«A-who cares? I will crush zem into human meat pies!»

—Hothead Blitzwing, the next Valeriano Weyler.

«Not a creature was stirring, not even a—[Laserbeak flies out of the Autobrand on the floor] creepy robot bird?»

—Sari Sumdac adds a new twist to a classic Christmas tale.

«Oh, look! I have a hole in my rocket!»

—Even horrible injury cannot faze Random Blitzwing.

«Hey, we’re baaaaack!»
«Not all of us!»
«It might help you if you make the noise with your mouth like this: Choo-chuh-chah-chik!»
«Sounds silly. But, okay. Choo-chuh-chah-chah-chik! Choo-chuh-chah-chah-chik!»

—Bumblebee and Bulkhead, making the transformation noise like so many of us do—DID. As children. Yeah.

«Escape is impossible. Autobots inferior, Soundwave superior.»

—Soundwave makes sure that line is never forgotten.

Notes

Transformers references

• Derrick Wyatt stated this episode was a partial homage to a «classic» Generation 1 episode.
• Sari’s transforming scooter-jetpack was an early idea that didn’t make it into the series, but which was featured in a promotional reel for the Animated series (seen on the convention circuit in mid-2007 and featured on the DVD included with the «Optimus Prime and Megatron: The Battle Begins» action figure set). The version introduced with this episode is somewhat different from the original concept, which was a pedal-powered tricycle that transformed using the power of the AllSpark Key.
• The scooter’s jetpack form is, in turn, based on the backpacks worn by the Acroyear/Acroyer, the villains from Takara’s Microman toyline.

• The Burger Bot patrons include series head writer Marty Isenberg, Carly Witwicky, her baby daughter Nancy (who was close to being born during the Season 2 episode «Garbage In, Garbage Out»), and Animated homages to the Super-God Masterforce characters Cancer and Hydra. Hydra, Marty, and Cancer are sitting together at one table, indicating a very interesting family.
• Speaking of Masterforce, this episode also features Transformers turning into people and back, though in this case, it actually makes some kinda sense.
• Starscream’s missiles feature the shark-toothed smiley faces sculpted into his Voyager-class toy’s missile accessories.
• Cybertron was brought into Earth orbit twice in the Generation 1 series: first in the multipart episode «The Ultimate Doom», and then in the series finale, «The Rebirth, Part 3». It would later happen again in the Movieverse.
• Soundwave’s declaration of «Autobots inferior; Soundwave superior» is a paraphrase of his Generation 1 namesake’s famous line of dialogue from The Transformers: The Movie: «Soundwave superior; Constructicons inferior.»
• The colors on the giant Soundwave in the virtual world come from Takara’s «Sonic White» Soundwave MP3 player.
• This isn’t the first time Prowl slices off Megatron’s arm.

Real-world references

• Appropriately enough, the first act of this episode incorporates traditional Christmas songs «Carol of the Bells», «Jingle Bells» and «God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen» into the background music.
• When Sari’s searching the Autobot base for her friends, at one point, her jetpack sounds like a podracer from Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace.
• Sari quotes from the Christmas poem, «A Visit from St. Nicholas» (more commonly known as «‘Twas the Night Before Christmas»), replacing the word «mouse» with «creepy robot bird».
• When Laserbeak chases Sari into the elevator, he makes sounds like a seagull.
• Bumblebee says «We’re not in Detroit anymore,» which is another twist on an oft-paraphrased line from The Wizard of Oz.
• The scene of Cybertron blowing up Sumdac Tower is straight out of the mid-’90s summer blockbuster Independence Day, in which an alien mothership blows up the White House in a similar manner while using the Death Star sound effect from Star Wars.
• The whole idea of the heroes acting in a virtual world where only those aware of its true nature can break the laws of physics is similar to the Matrix series.
• Prowl going into the burning building to save the child, despite being in human form, is highly reminiscent of a scene in Spider-Man 2 in which Peter Parker does the same thing, despite having temporarily lost his powers and not wearing his hero outfit.
• The number on Bulkhead’s football jersey is 72. This is appropriate, as that number is assigned to the positions «offensive lineman» and «defensive lineman» in the NFL, positions which are occupied by the largest and heaviest players on the team.

Animation or technical errors

• When Bulkhead sets down his Christmas present, the box is missing the horizontal ribbon it has in the preceding and following shots.
• When Ratchet scans Optimus, all the equipment is human-sized, instead of the much larger, Transformer-scaled size. Of course, it’s not actually real, but still.

• In the bus tram scene, Daniel is shown levitating over his seat.
• Marty Isenberg is drawn with only one leg.
• In the scene showing Isenberg, Hydra and Cancer facing forward, Isenberg’s, uh, buttocks is overlapping Cancer’s thigh.
• We first see Jennifer Nancy Witwicky for a few frames in the background next to a mom who isn’t Carly. She’s Carly later, though.
• After the explosion is heard outside the Burger Bot, Bulkhead’s previously half-eaten burger is now whole.
• Bulkhead punches Starscream with his right hand. then screams and clutches his left hand. then after a scene cut, he is shown clutching his right hand. and later he gets a bandage put on his left hand. Of course, it’s. oh, you get the idea.
• Of course, if this was real, we’d point out that the force with which Starscream smashed Optimus into the wall should probably have killed him, or at least caused a lot more damage than a broken leg. Good thing it’s not, then.
• When Cybertron approaches Earth, it’s entirely in front of the clouds, which is absurd for anything planet-sized. (Still not real, though.)
• The elevator platform in the Autobots’ base shrinks from Autobot-sized at the top (such that Sari is shown to be tiny in comparison to it) to human-sized at the bottom (such that Laserbeak couldn’t fit through the door even if it had been open).
• Blitzwing’s face changes from Icy to Random when he lifts up his leg, only to be Icy again when he’s looking through the hole after the shot changes.
• When Optimus beats Megatron with his own severed arm, the arm is freaking colossal, nearly as big as the rest of Megatron’s body. (Megatron’s face also goes significantly off-model in the same scene.) It’s also hollow, but that’s what virtual things look like on the inside.
• When Optimus commands the «Automen» to transform, one of his irises is bigger than the other.
• When being held by the giant Soundwave, Prowl is briefly missing his armor.
• The hole Sari blows in Soundwave’s backpack comes and goes. Hey, this bit is real!

Continuity errors

• When Optimus is out patrolling, he has his trailer. It disappears when he transforms—in fact, it appears to start transforming along with him just before the shot switches to him in robot mode—and is absent when he returns to vehicle mode a few minutes later.
• Where did Soundwave get images of the Decepticons? In particular, since there are several conceivable ways to get the Earth Decepts’ images, what are Team Chaar and Shockwave doing there, as none of them have been to Earth? Even if you somehow presume the Autobots themselves generated the images, only Oil Slick—per The Arrival comic—and Shockwave’s head have been seen by any of Optimus’s team.
• Where did Sari’s jetpack go while she was on the lift? (For that matter, why did she transform out of her robot mode at all?)
• Lugnut disappears with the other Decepticons, despite the fact none of the Autobots fought him.
• Considering the noise that the Sound Wave toy made when he ran across the room to spike the nog, wouldn’t someone hear it?

Trivia

• Sari returns after being out of action from the events of «TransWarped Part III».
• When Optimus goes to bed, one can just barely make out his trailer in the corner of his room.
• This episode features an unusually high amount of stock footage by Animated standards. Starscream’s sequence is a few seconds longer than when it was last seen in «Megatron Rising — Part 1». Of course, all the sequences of the «human» Autobots transforming have been re-edited.
• Apparently, in future Detroit, you are allowed to use public transportation while bearing a giant axe. Well, it is Detroit.
• Back in «Sound and Fury», Soundwave’s voice was modulated using only one tone, meaning it never rose or fell. With this episode, more tones are introduced into his voice, allowing it to rise and fall in the same manner as his counterpart from the original cartoon.
• Sari’s abilities include being capable of holding a full barrel of oil on each hand and surviving getting slammed into a wall by Laserbeak and Soundwave. Plus, she makes a mean oilnog.
• Man, Professor Sumdac sure can dance.
• Now in his samurai armor, Prowl can make two or more holographic projections of himself, whereas he could only make one at a time before getting the armor. It’s just that awesome!
• Technically, since most of this episode wasn’t real, most of the errors above can be dismissed. So nyah!
• This isn’t the first time Bumblebee has a taste of human food.
• Considering the presence of snow at the end of the first season, and now again here, it seems fairly obvious that it’s been well over a year since the Autobots awoke from their stasis under Lake Erie. Additionally, while «Along Came a Spider» explicitly showed the Autobots’ first Halloween, this is never said to be their first Christmas.
• Just when you thought he couldn’t get any more awesome, Prowl becomes a Ghost/Cop/Ninja.
• As the Decepticon Jets attack Detroit, two Lugnuts are attacking: Lugnut in his regular color scheme, and behind him, the Atomic Lugnut redeco.
• A Christmas special in April? That’s unusual.

Foreign localization

• Title: «Erreur humaine, partie 1» («Human Error, part 1»)
• Original airdate: .

Spanish (Latin America)

• Title: «Error humano, primera parte» («Human Error, part 1»)
• Original airdate:24 November2009

• Title: «Ningen ni Natta Autobot» (人間になったオートボット, «The Autobots Became Humans»)
• Original airdate:20 November2010

• New transforming stock footage for Soundwave as he delivers the usual TV-viewing warning, starting with his more «innocent» voice before changing to his menacing voice.

Home video releases

2011 — Transformers Animated — Vol. 9 (Paramount) — Japanese audio only.
2014 — Transformers Animated — Season Three (Shout! Factory)
2014 — Transformers Animated — The Complete Series (Shout! Factory)
2014 — Transformers Animated — Season Three (Madman Entertainment)

Источник

While the Autobots are held captive by one of their deadliest foes, Sari must recruit a team of «Substitute Autobots» to rescue them.

Synopsis

In Soundwave’s virtual reality, the Autobots struggle to get themselves free of the giant Soundwave, only for a wire damaged by Sari’s recent attack to sever Soundwave’s connection to them. As Soundwave makes repairs, Prowl is briefly able to escape the virtual world using processor-over-matter. However, his attempt to free Optimus Prime is interrupted as Soundwave plugs him back into the VR computer. His control reestablished, Soundwave reverts the Autobots to their human forms. Recognizing that reprogramming will take longer now, Soundwave instructs his toy replicas to begin hypnotizing the humans of Detroit.

In the virtual world, Bulkhead has taken to smashing things in the hopes that it will get them out. Ratchet says that the only way they can do that is to find Soundwave’s interface, a virtual icon with his representation. Bumblebee quickly notices a potential icon: Soundwave’s vehicle mode, which nearly runs them down. Optimus orders the Automen to follow Soundwave in vehicles on which their own alternate modes are based, including the virtual Captain Fanzone’s car. Upon looking at the driving equipment, however, Optimus realizes that he may be in a little over his head.

Heading back to Sumdac Tower, Sari seeks out her father’s help. She is briefly found by a Sound Wave toy, but knocks it aside. Observing that she is immune to his hypnotics, Soundwave decides that she must be terminated. Finding her father in the lab, Sari is horrified when he tries to attack her, but is able to delay him by burying him under a fallen shelf. Sari quickly takes flight, hoping to find help elsewhere.

In the virtual reality, the Autobots are following Soundwave’s avatar, but not very well: Bulkhead and Bumblebee keep ramming into other drivers, Optimus’s fire-suppressant equipment is out of control, Ratchet is driving backwards, and Prowl is having trouble avoiding popping wheelies. Cornering Soundwave at a dilapidated drive-in movie, Ratchet is convinced that they have the Decepticon right where they want him—only for a dozen of the Soundwave vehicle modes to appear and surround them. It’s a trap! As the Automen try to flee, Soundwave appears on the movie screen and begins broadcasting a reprogramming frequency. Prowl begins another processor-over-matter attempt, but one by one, the Autobots’ optics begin to turn red…

On Dinobot Island, Sari looks for the Dinobots, but they find her when Swoop knocks her out of the air. Grimlock shows up and declares her an intruder. Sari says that she wants their help, but Grimlock informs Sari that Dinobots don’t help puny humans—they destroy puny humans! The two Dinobots transform and Grimlock attacks, only for Sari to return fire with a blast from her weapon as well. Grimlock decides against destroying her, but says that they won’t help either. Sari then notices that the triceratops is missing and asks where he is, but Grimlock says that they aren’t talking to him, as Dinobots aren’t pets. Heading to the shore, Sari finds Scrapper, who has been marooned for almost seven weeks, separated from Mixmaster and Dirt Boss after their last misadventure. Scrapper reveals that he’s taken the triceratops as a pet and named him Snarl (as the Dinobot didn’t take kindly to Slag). Scrapper also points out that even if he wanted to help, they’re stuck on the island. Sari asks why he doesn’t make himself a boat. Scrapper admits that he never thought of that.

On the way to the mainland, Sari says that the three of them will need to rescue the Autobots immediately, but Scrapper reminds her that he never said he’d help. He plans to take Snarl up north, having heard it’s good oil country. Sari angrily tells him that it’s time to be a hero, and a voice from underwater answers, jumping onto the raft—it’s Wreck-Gar! Reluctantly, Sari takes him. As the Substitute Autobots reach the mainland, Sari tells them to roll out, but they quickly leave without her. Once she catches up to them, Sari and the Substitutes are quickly confronted by Soundwave, when the Autobots appear as well. Sari is relieved at the sight of her friends, as she had little hope for the Substitute Autobots. But her cheer turns to horror as she realizes that the Autobots are under Soundwave’s control.

Converting to battle mode, Sari instructs the Substitute Autobots to attack. However, the Substitutes are not up to the Autobots’ own skills. Wreck-Gar follows the orders of everyone too literally, Scrapper’s snowball attack is just plain ineffective, and Snarl barely does anything. Sari is amazed that mindless zombies are more effective than her own team, until Scrapper comments that it’s because they’re being controlled by one guy. Sari realizes that he’s right, and orders the Substitute Autobots to attack on their own. Sure enough, it works: Soundwave begins having trouble multitasking, and the Substitute Autobots’ effectiveness begins to wear them down. One of Prowl’s attacks even saves Sari from being blasted by Bumblebee. Soundwave eventually decides to use just Optimus Prime instead, and he is able to take down each Substitute Autobot until only Sari is left. Prime nearly slices her in half before Prowl throws his shuriken at Soundwave, knocking his keytar out of his hands and freeing the Autobots. Sari had suspected that he had been faking, but Prowl admits that it took a great deal of effort to fight off Soundwave’s control.

Furious at Prowl’s deception, Soundwave orders Laserbeak and Ratbat, the keytar, to attack. Ratbat dispatches Prowl, while Laserbeak goes for Sari. Soundwave himself tackles Prime and knocks Optimus’s axe out of his hands, so Prime decides to use Soundwave’s other axe—Laserbeak. The two engage in what may be the most epic rock-off of all time as they try to counter each other’s harmonics. Ultimately, Optimus Prime uses the instrument-locked Laserbeak to shatter Soundwave and Ratbat, freeing the humans from Soundwave’s control. However, Laserbeak grabs Soundwave’s remaining functional piece and flies off.

Later, it’s a very merry Christmas indeed for the Autobots and the Sumdacs: Not only are they freed of Soundwave’s control, but Porter C. Powell is about to be financially ruined by the impending Sound Wave refunds. Scrapper decides to call it quits and head back to Dinobot Island for a long vacation, but Snarl refuses to let the Constructicon ride him. Wreck-Gar, however, chooses to stay and help clean up the mess from the battle, ending the fine career of the Substitute Autobots. Sari also has a better appreciation for what Optimus goes through being in command, while the Autobots understand the rigors of being human. As the Autobots reflect on their newfound understanding, Wreck-Gar begins distributing garbage to all the good little girls and boys.

Featured characters

(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Quotes

Driver: Hey! Take it easy, leadfoot!
Bulkhead: What, it’s not lead any more!
[Bumblebee’s car hits Bulkhead’s car]
Bumblebee: Virtual Fanzone’s gonna be ticked!
Optimus: I have to hand it to the humans, driving is much more difficult than it looks.
Ratchet: [Driving backwards] This ain’t so hard.
Prowl: It’s merely a matter of becoming one with the machiAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! [Begins popping a wheelie]

—The Autobots take their turn at driving… and fail miserably.

«Hey, weren’t there three of you? Where’s the other one?»
«Me Grimlock not talking to him. Him traitor. Dinobots not pets.»

—Sari Sumdac and Grimlock on the status of the Dinobots.

[Writing in the sand] «Day 48: Still no sign of my collea-…my buds. I have befriended and trained one of the local wildlife.» [Tide comes up and erases writing] «Oh, not again!»

—Scrapper just can’t win.

Sari: All right. Substitute Autobots, transform and roll out!
Wreck-Gar: Transform. What a good idea!
[Transforms and drives off]
Scrapper: [Riding Snarl] Hi-ho, Snarl!
[Snarl slips on some ice, knocking off Scrapper, who transforms and follows]
Scrapper: Hey, Snarl, wait for Daddy!
Sari: Hey, wait for me! I’m your leader!

—The Substitute Autobots aren’t getting off to a good start.

Sari: All right, big guy. I’d hate to do this, but..
[Sari fires a blast at Optimus, but he uses Wreck-Gar as a shield, causing some of his junk to fly out and hit him]
Wreck-Gar: [Dazed] Ha ha! The mighty Wreck-Gar is no match for…the mighty Wreck-Gar. Wait, whose side am I on again?

—Wreck-Gar, actually more confused than usual.

«Time to change your tune, Soundwave. Operation: face the music.»

—Optimus Prime, being awesome.

Notes

Continuity notes

• Soundwave toys are seen being sold at Wyatt Toys, previously seen in «Sound and Fury».
• Dinobot Island is missing a huge chunk of itself after the events of «Predacons Rising».
• Scrapper is revealed to have survived the explosion the Constructicons were caught in back in «Three’s a Crowd». According to him, it’s been forty-eight days since the events of that episode. The fates of Mixmaster and Dirt Boss, however, are less certain.
• Scrapper names the triceratops Dinobot «Snarl» as a second choice after the Dinobot took offense to «Slag», referencing the real-life name change for Snarl. This is the first time Snarl has been given a name in the cartoon—the pteranodon was never named in the show itself. The closest we got was Blackarachnia nicknaming him «Swoopy».
• Wreck-Gar has been at the bottom of the lake since his debut episode, «Garbage In, Garbage Out».

Transformers references

• While it’s unclear if the reference is intentional, «Soundwave hypnotises humans using miniature duplicates of himself» was also the plot of TakaraTomy’s Music Label toyline. A definite Music Label reference, though, is the coloration of Soundwave’s virtual form at the beginning of the episode: it’s based on the line’s «Sonic White» Soundwave MP3 player figure.
• Soundwave is heard saying «Soundwave superior, Autobots inferior» a reference of a similar line spoken by the original cartoon’s Soundwave in The Transformers: The Movie.
• Soundwave’s virtual avatars are depicted in the color scheme of the Electrostatic Soundwave toy.
• The traffic light Bulkhead swings around is based on the weapon that came with Prowl’s first toy.
• Laserbeak carrying away Soundwave’s core component is a reference to G1 Soundwave’s minions carrying his remains off after his destruction in The Headmasters

Real-world references

• The «castaway» Scrapper is dressed in Robinson Crusoe garb, including a rust beard.
• Both Wreck-Gar and his voice actor, «Weird Al» Yankovic, play the accordion.
• Optimus refers to Laserbeak as an «axe» (a common nickname for guitars) before forcibly transforming him into his alt mode.
• Scrapper’s cry of «Hi-ho, Snarl!» is a reference to the Lone Ranger’s cry of «Hi-ho, Silver!»
• Sari’s naming of her team as «The Substitute Autobots» is likely a reference to the DC Comics team the Legion of Substitute Heroes, as similarly rag-tag band of misfit «losers» mostly composed of rejected applicants to the Legion of Super-Heroes, who have nevertheless blundered their way into saving the Earth on occasion.
• The Christmas carols continue in this episode, as Scrapper starts singing a bit of «Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!» and Wreck-Gar offers up his own unique version of «Deck the Halls» (given his voice actor, this isn’t much of a surprise). Sari’s comment, «It’s supposed to be a ‘Silent Night.'» as she shuts Soundwave off refers to the carol of the same name. As in the previous episode, «God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen» is incorporated into the background music of this episode’s final scene.
• Some of the sound effects used when Optimus attacks Soundwave with Laserbeak date back to Hanna-Barbara’s Quickdraw McGraw, whose title character’s alter ego, El Kabong, used a guitar as a melee weapon.
• Meanwhile, Ratbat’s shrieks are taken directly from the original Scooby Doo, Where Are You! intro.
• The stylized animation of Optimus Prime’s final strike with Laserbeak is highly reminiscent of Haruko Haruhara’s attacks with her guitar in FLCL—one of Derrick J. Wyatt’s admitted influences for this show.
• When Soundwave breaks apart and his mind control power dissipates, the sound effect is of a dial-up modem.
• After Soundwave bursts out of the street in front of Sari and the Substitute Autobots, Soundwave says «I am Soundwave; resistance is futile,» which is a reference to the Borg from Star Trek.

Animation or technical errors

• After Soundwave catches up to the Autobots at the drive-in theater, Optimus’ arm is missing as he leans out of the window.
• Human Ratchet has his scar on the wrong side of his face in one scene.
• After Sari says, «Well, I sure am glad that’s over,» Snarl begins to walk off, and puts some good distance between himself and the group as Scrapper talks. Immediately after Scrapper hits the floor when Snarl kicks him off, Snarl appears close up again to the group, almost as if he’s just now leaving
• After Wreck-Gar is thrown to the ground by Optimus the hole in his backpack is missing although that AllSpark fragment could have fixed that.
• When Optimus is smacking Soundwave around with Laserbeak, the squares on Soundwave’s backpack are the same lavender color as Ratbat, rather than the gold they should be.

• When Optimus delivers his final strike with Laserbeak, the force of the blow snaps off the Decepticon bird’s frets, leaving a jagged break (circled in the image at right). When Laserbeak pops back up a few moments later to carry Soundwave off, however, he’s still in one piece; at the very least, he should be missing his tail.

Continuity errors

• Sari’s upgrade sequence from «TransWarped» is used as stock footage for her transformation sequence, even though she grows taller during the sequence.

Trivia

• Several questions were left unanswered in this two-parter, including how Soundwave was rebuilt after the destruction of his body in «Sound and Fury», and where Laserbeak and Ratbat come from.
• This episode marks the return of Captain Fanzone’s car. Even in the virtual world, it’s still absolutely filthy, inside and out.
• Soundwave says he «reprograms» the Autobots into Decepticons. However, it seems more like he put a receiver in their bodies and used them as puppets. If they were properly processor-washed, then they would do what he says on their own, not need directions from a remote. Perhaps the reprogramming is simply to make them easier to control.
• This episode marks the last appearance of quite a few characters, namely, Wreck-Gar, Scrapper, Soundwave, all three Dinobots, Porter C. Powell, Mayor Edsel and his aide, and the Witwickies.
• Captain Fanzone appears several times in the episode, but has no speaking lines. Even after coming out of hypnosis, he doesn’t make a remark about his reasons for disliking mechanical entities.
• The tag on Fanzone’s present reads «A machine even you could love.»
• Who knew Optimus could shred?
• Angry Archer was meant to make his Season 3 debut in this episode, but the scene was cut during production. Also cut was a cameo for Reflector. Transformers Animated: The AllSpark Almanac II

Foreign localization

French

• Title: «Erreur humaine, partie 2» («Human Error, part 2»)
• Original airdate: ???

Spanish (Latin America)

• Title: «Error humano, segunda parte» («Human Error, part 2»)
• Original airdate: 1 December 2009

Japanese

• Title: «Virtual Reality no Wana» (ヴァーチャルリアリティの罠, «The Virtual Reality Trap»)
• Original airdate: 27 November 2010

• Soundwave delivers the warning. For the intro, Optimus talks about being caught in Soundwave’s virtual reality trap while Sari talks about her problem in the real world. Both mention that Sari’s situation is similar to Momotarō on gathering extra help.

Home video releases

DVD

2011 — Transformers Animated — Vol. 10 (Paramount) — Japanese audio only.
2014 — Transformers Animated — Season Three (Shout! Factory)
2014 — Transformers Animated — The Complete Series (Shout! Factory)
2014 — Transformers Animated — Season Three (Madman Entertainment)