Google Groups no longer supports new Usenet posts or subscriptions. Historical content remains viewable.
Dismiss

Interview with Paul Davids - Part 2/3

25 views
Skip to first unread message

Rik Bakke

unread,
Mar 9, 2002, 8:43:42 PM3/9/02
to
P A U L D A V I D S
In conversation with The Cybertron Chronicle
© 2002 HOLOGRAM HOMEMADE STUDIOS

P A R T I I

TCC: Come the third season, I notice you went from sole credit
as Production Coordinator to sharing the bill, as it were, with
Elise Goyette and Hildy Mesnik. What necessitated the need
for more people to handle those responsibilities?

Davids: As I recall, there never really were any added responsibilities.
I was the only Production Coordinator for Marvel Productions in
California, actually working hands-on covering day-to-day physical
production chores, from the time I began (around show #14) to when
my work was completed (about show #95). Elise Goyette and Hildy
Mesnik worked with Carole Weitzman at Sunbow--I'm not sure, but
while Carole was stationed in New York, one or both of them might
have worked out of Sunbow's offices in L.A. Either way, as Carole
had to work on additional shows, such as POTATO HEAD KIDS
and others, she probably had less time for acting as the
TRANSFORMERS mediator with Hasbro, and I assume she or Jay
Bacal brought in Elise and Hildy to help with what Carole was doing
before. Their job on the show, I believe, would have related to
everything that was of direct interest to Hasbro. That would have
included getting approvals on voice actors auditioning to be the
voices of new toys, and getting Hasbro approvals of our artists'
renditions of animation characters of new toys, as well as what colors
would be used to portray them in robot and transform mode. The credit
Sunbow selected for Hildy and Elise was the same as mine, 'Production
Coordinator,' although we were performing very different functions.

TCC: I'm sure this was brought up at BotCon, but let me ask again: The
TV show, though containing many great elements, such as dynamic use
of background music and sound effects, energetic and credible voice
acting, and generally good--sometimes even stunning--art and animation,
WAS also marred by more than its fair share of mistakes. Most notably,
these mistakes consisted of erroneous colouring or the wrong characters
drawn in place of a given character while speaking one of his lines, for
example. Was there any kind of system for 'proofreading' the episodes
during production before they were completed and released to the
viewing public?

Davids: Those kinds of mistakes probably entered the system as we simply
got too busy to handle everything with the staff we had. Some of those
errors might have been mine--things I should have caught while looking
for where we needed 'retakes'--and perhaps Nelson Shin was busy with
the movie and didn't have time to double-check those details. However,
at the time, we all thought that the checks and balances we had were
sufficient to catch such mistakes, i.e., each show had an editor who
checked everything, I had to check it, and each show had an assigned
producer. There were times when there was so much pressure to get the
shows out (we had a broadcast schedule to keep) that we found we simply
had no time to get a retake we wanted. Or we might have called for a retake
and found that it still came back wrong, with no time left for us to ask again.
That's what happens when you're producing 95 episodes of a show on a
tight schedule, rather than spending 6 months or a year (or more) creating
one single animated movie or TV special.

TCC: How long after production was completed on an episode was it usually
aired?

Davids: Our nightmare in the production was how close our air-dates were
to our completion dates. It was always a battle to get the shows completed
and shipped out in time to make their air-dates. But it was not uncommon
to finish a show on Monday morning, race it the post-production facility to
do the 'telecine' to convert the 35mm film to broadcast master tape in the
early afternoon, add the credits on tape, and dupe the Master Monday mid-
to-late afternoon, only to race to make FedEx by close of business Monday.
Syndicated stations would receive the masters Tuesday and air Wednesday!!
Even in a luxury situation, I think we rarely beat our air-dates by more than
a few days. This will help TRANSFORMERS fans understand why mistakes
slipped into the shows that were impossible to correct. Often if something
came back from overseas wrong, there was no time to correct it--or we could
just ask for corrections in the most 'blatant' mistakes because that was all the
animation house overseas could handle and get back to us in time for us to
ship the show on time.

"Well, Soundwave, has Laserbeak returned with the visuals?"
--Megatron, COSMIC RUST

TCC: On perhaps a more monumental level, there were a number of continuity
inconsistencies as well. One of the most talked-about is the existence of at
least three origin stories for the original combiner team of the Constructions.
Although there is plenty of evidence that the writers drew from a common
source--the series 'bible,' I take it--and often created stand-alone tales that
still contained little bits of information that reflected those of other stories,
the above inconsistency is one of a number of examples that seems to
indicate that writer communication may not have been all that it could
have been. Were such inconsistencies addressed in any fashion or form?

Davids: Though I haven't researched the specifics you cite above, here's
what I think happened. At first, when Bryce Malek and Dick Robbins were
the sole story editors, they were able to keep everything consistent. When
those responsibilities were spread out to other people, including Marv
Wolfman and Flint Dille, I would assume that they never watched every
single episode of the series in preparation for taking on their editing
responsibilities. There just wasn't time. (Flint was also writing for G. I. JOE
then and other shows, too.) I would assume that there are similar problems
with super-hero comic books, in which inconsistencies creep in when story
editors come and go. While we took our TRANSFORMERS UNIVERSE very
seriously, we never did expect that we would be encouraging an entire
generation of TRANSFORMERS 'scholars,' who, years later, would catalog
our every mistake! And even if we knew that would happen, the system we
were working under, the incredible time pressures (in which often three new
shows per week HAD to be shipped overseas for animating or we would miss
our broadcast dates) didn't give us leeway to take the time for more precision.
For instance, I'm sure that when Marv Wolfman began with us, when he
moved out from New York, he had to 'hit the ground running'--he didn't
have the luxury of taking the time to watch and study every pre-existing
episode.

TCC: I've noticed that a TV season very often consists of 13 or 26 episodes.
Neither of THE TRANSFORMERS' three seasons seemed to follow that 'rule.'
The first season was 16 episodes, the second was an astounding 49, and the
third sported 30 tales. Does it relate to the shows being syndicated? Also,
what might the reason be for the incredible bulk of SEASON TWO?

Davids: There's no relationship between a normal network TV season and
a syndicated show, especially a syndicated show based on a toy product
line. You can't get around it: TRANSFORMERS, as imaginative as the
stories and characters were, existed because it was advertising. The huge
jump from the initial 16 episode season, to the next order for 49 shows, was
entirely based on Hasbro's plans for massively expanding the toy line. They
calculated the number of new toys they were manufacturing and the release
dates for the toys and came up with an order for a number of shows that
could service that unveiling product, for introducing these new Transformers
to an eager, youthful target audience. The drop in number for the third season
probably heralded their realization that THE TRANSFORMERS would be
'winding down'--and that when the flood of new toys stopped, the old shows,
as re-runs, would be just as effective as spending money for producing new
shows.

TCC: As far as your role as a writer on the show is concerned, you didn't
come into the game before the end of the second season was imminent.
Did you submit any story ideas for the show that, for whatever reason,
didn't get picked up?

Davids: What a writer would submit first is a 'premise.' The premise isn't a
whole story, it's just one or two paragraphs of a basic idea. If they like the
premise and want to work with you as a writer, they'll commission the
script, which you write in stages: beat-sheet first (the key story beats and
act breaks for ads), the narrative story, then first draft, then revised draft.
I'm sure I submitted premises to Bryce Malek (my first story editor) that
were rejected. The first premise of mine that they took was COSMIC RUST
(originally called RUST IN PEACE). In one paragraph they could see a
crystal clear idea: An infectious disease dangerous to metallic robots is
spreading among Autobots and Decepticons, Megatron is rusting away,
and Perceptor comes up with a cure. My other ideas that were accepted
were equally easy to grasp: Grimlock becomes a genius for a short period
and then loses his new intelligence (inspired by the film CHARLY), and
that became GRIMLOCK'S NEW BRAIN. And then there was the idea
that great monuments throughout the world are being stolen by Decepticons
(THIEF IN THE NIGHT). CHAOS was a more complex idea. After the movie
came out, they were looking for a way to put the spotlight on Kup, and I
came up with a way to portray Kup as a storyteller who spins yarns of old
adventures we hadn't heard about before. The moral is, when you have an
idea that's reducible to a sentence, it can be an 'easy sell' (once they decide
to work with you as part of their team of writers).

TCC: To what extent did you get to 'know' the characters for whom you
wrote?

Davids: Being at the recording sessions for so many shows really helped
me to get to know all the major characters. I had a feel for Megatron,
Optimus, Perceptor, Grimlock, and Kup, and the other characters I featured,
before I worked them into stories. Of course, when introducing new toys
as characters, we had to start with a blank slate, as writers.

TCC: How long did it usually take you (and writers in general, for that
matter) to produce a complete script?

Davids: As I recall, it was always a process of about three weeks to go
from premise to completed script--certainly never more than a month!
The story editors would usually get back to the writer in one to two
days each time something was turned in (beat-sheet, first draft, etc.) I
had to write at nights and weekends, since I had another 'day job' as
Production Coordinator, so I may have been granted a little extra time
if I needed it. Still, $5,000 for a half-hour episode animated screenplay,
for one month of work, when it was your 'second job,' was good money
in those days! We didn't complain about not getting residuals. Now that
they're releasing videos of our old stories, however, it seems like it would
have been very nice to have residuals as part of the deal, like the actors
did!

"My kids, they need the dough, and Galvatron promised!"
--Skuxxoid, GRIMLOCK'S NEW BRAIN

TCC: Let's take a few moments to examine the quartet of episodes you
wrote for THE TRANSFORMERS, if you will. Could you tell me about
your inspiration for each of them?

Davids: I may have covered this already. With COSMIC RUST I was
definitely inspired by the tragedy of AIDS. The epidemic was fairly new
when COSMIC RUST was written. With THIEF IN THE NIGHT there was
an element of satire of some of the terrorism prevalent in the Middle East
and thoughts about OPEC nations that essentially held the West 'hostage'
during the Jimmy Carter years over oil. With GRIMLOCK'S NEW BRAIN,
again, the inspiration was the film CHARLY that starred Cliff Robertson--
the idea that a 'retarded' person could become a 'genius' for a short period
of time and then lose it. With CHAOS it was a sort of 'monster movie'
inspiration--a monster that 'haunts' a mineshaft.

TCC: COSMIC RUST is one of those episodes that dealt with Cybertronian
history, a chapter of the lives and times of the Transformers rather shrouded
in mystique until the third season. Perhaps most notably, it told of the
Autobot planet of Antilla, which marked the series' very first indication of
Transformers civilizations elsewhere in the galaxy. Was that something that
you had wanted to bring to the fore, and was 'Antilla' a reference to anything
specific?

Davids: The derivation of the word 'Antilla' was from 'Antilles'--always thought
of as the inaccessible 'hinterland' in the days of the explorers. The myth of the
'destroyed civilization' is a recurring one in human history, so I presented
'Antilla' as a sort of Autobot 'Atlantis'--a super-civilization that met its end.

TCC: This 'lost civilization' that you portrayed is probably the element that
fascinated me the most about COSMIC RUST. I assume the 'lightning bug'
was mainly a device to further the disease-spreading aspect of the episode,
but I remember being very taken with the 'Ancient Autobot' inscriptions on
the stone-like structure Starscream fiddled with to produce the hologram
warning. Did you design those symbols and markings for use in that scene?

Davids: One of our artists designed the symbols. I was fascinated with the
idea of 'ancient Transformers' that had their own language and symbols, just
as I'm fascinated with the fact that there are so many ancient human cultures
whose symbols, pictograms, and hieroglyphics we can only decipher with
difficulty. I honestly don't remember why I chose the 'lightning bug' but I
don't think it had any special symbolism. It could have been something as
innocuous as a kid in one of my childrens' classes telling me the day before
that he caught a lightning bug, and so I worked it into what I was doing.

TCC: Despite having more than enough to do on the series, you are also
cited as part of the 'Production Staff' on the movie. What was your
assignment on the film?

Davids: I received a 'Production Staff' credit on the movie because Gerald
Moeller often had more to do than he could handle, and he would ask me
to take care of details for him from time to time, especially in regard to
dealings with Wally Burr, since I would be going to the sound studio
anyway. I believe (if recollection serves me) that I also helped with reviewing
footage and suggesting needed retakes in some cases. My assessment of
the finished work? I think it's funny as I read the reviews today, about fifteen
years later, and see that the critics pretty much HATED the movie. VARIETY
and the Los Angeles Times gave vicious reviews. They just didn't get it at
all--the reviewers never watched the daily show and they resented that a
movie would come out that somehow 'assumed' a high level of familiarity
with the TRANSFORMERS characters and universe. The movie grows on
me through the years and today I think it's a sort of 'cult classic.' I especially
like the songs--and how many film buffs even KNOW that the voice of
Unicron was Orson Welles' VERY LAST PERFORMANCE before he passed
away? I really like the songs created for the movie. What I liked least was the
fact that the story 'destroyed' Optimus Prime, everyone's hero, and replaced
him with Rodimus. I found Galvatron more interesting as a new villain to
'replace' the old Megatron than I found Rodimus to be a reasonable
replacement for Optimus.

"This is grim news, indeed."
--Optimus Prime, COSMIC RUST

TCC: Although this may be a question better posed to the story editors,
as it pertains to the giant continuity leap between SEASON TWO and the
movie, it seems to me that Ron Friedman must have been writing the film
apart from the rest of the writers, since there was no evidence whatsoever
in the Pre-Movie shows to prepare us for things like the Matrix of Leadership
and the origin of the Transformers further examined in Flint Dille's epic FIVE
FACES OF DARKNESS. As the film was being produced alongside the
second season (a key point perhaps being DINOBOT ISLAND, which
simultaneously introduced key movie characters like Blaster and Perceptor
to television audiences), was there sort of a deliberate separation--because
the Pre- and Post-Movie eras really seem like two different continuities--
between the second season and what was to come?

Davids: The purpose in creating the movie was to undertake a challenge
of much bigger scope, for the big screen, that would 'dwarf' the daily show
by comparison. There was the intent not just to instill it with entirely new
science-fiction concepts but to have much more detailed animation (which
still the critics did not appreciate!) But at heart, the motion picture still had
an agenda to introduce new toy lines, and it stayed on target in fulfilling
that goal.

TCC: After writing for various characters in COSMIC RUST that were
not seen again after THE TRANSFORMERS - THE MOVIE, your third-
season episodes seemed bound by the selection of toys/characters
concurrently available, which is perhaps especially evident in CHAOS,
except for the inclusion of Grimlock and Decepticon Astrotrain. What
kind of freedom did you have with regards to your choice of characters
to write about?

Davids: After THE TRANSFORMERS - THE MOVIE, the marching orders
for writers were very clear: emphasize the new toys, the new characters.
Optimus was phased out, replaced by Rodimus Prime. Megatron had
become Galvatron. And new toys were coming out at an accelerated rate.
At that phase, the merchandising motivation became stronger and more
specific. Story editors looked over existing premises that had been
submitted and asked writers to come up with ways to weave new toy
groups into their pre-existing ideas.

TCC: Was the need for marketing-mindedness in your selection of characters
constricting to your writing in any way?

Davids: It was constricting in the sense that a sub-plot of a story HAD to
make use of new toys that were just hitting the market. For instance, the
basic plot of GRIMLOCK'S NEW BRAIN could still have worked without
the Technobots. But as per Hasbro, it was necessary to use the story to
introduce the Technobots. As it worked out, it was probably a better
episode for it, because it gave pathos to the ending to have Grimlock
deliberately sacrifice his new-found intelligence for the benefit of the
new Autobot group, the Technobots.

TCC: Many fans have noted that, while the third season contained many
of the entire series' most well-written stories, it was somewhat uneven in
terms of art and animation. I would say, though, that your CHAOS episode
represented the best of both worlds--vibrant and colourful animation as
well as a good showcase for Kup, balancing very well events occurring
both in the past and the present. I enjoy its attention to detail, such as the
younger Kup's colour scheme having more luster than his present-day self.
Were visual details like that implemented as per your script directions, or
would the animators make judgment calls of their own when working on
the animation?

Davids: Because I was on-the-job every day as production coordinator, I
was able to sort of collaborate with the art team to give special contributions
to the stories that I wrote. It was especially true of CHAOS, where the artists
and I would go out to lunch and actually talk about how I visualized the
planet, the mines, the monster, the new weapons, etc. They would show me
the designs as they were creating them and ask for my input. That was a very
special opportunity--one that other writers, who were simply freelancing for
the show but had no direct contact with the production staff, did not have.

TCC: One thing that is never explained in CHAOS is what Galvatron's reasons
for destroying Cybertron with death crystals were. Did you ascribe a particular
motive to this, or was it just in keeping with Galvatron's unstable psyche?

Davids: This was in keeping with Galvatron's psyche. The Decepticons were
incredibly destructive. I think the Autobots were always more attached to
Cybertron than the Decepticons were, so by destroying Cybertron, Galvatron
was punishing his enemies more than his allies, in his demented electronic
mind.

TCC: THIEF IN THE NIGHT, your third episode to air, seems almost dedicated
to the obscure character. It offered the only other appearance of one Abdul
Fakkadi (the other being the first part of FIVE FACES OF DARKNESS), the
ruler of Carbombya (and modeled on real-life Libyan military commander
Muhammar al-Khaddafi), and rare showings for Autobot Metroplex's
components, Six-Gun, Scamper, and Slammer--especially the former. Was it
your intention here to make sure that as many characters as possible had
something to do, however meaningful, in the episode?

Davids: There were 'marching orders' to use THIEF IN THE NIGHT to feature
Metroplex. Whenever dealing with a Transformer that's made up of a group
of five or six characters (that we really haven't seen much of before), it's a
challenge for the writer to do something with the various characters to make
them memorable. The main point about THIEF IN THE NIGHT was that my
story editor (Flint Dille) and I were emphasizing satire about the situation in
the Middle East. Look at the name of the country: Carbombya (Car Bomb Ya).
This did create some controversy, because one of our top voice actors was
of Arab descent (as well as being a famous radio personality), and he felt
that we were offering 'caricatures' that weren't constructive, and he objected.
It was the first time I had heard that kind of criticism with one of my projects,
and I began to realize, as a writer, the importance of being attentive and
sensitive to portrayals of specific groups. However, Nelson Shin vigorously
defended us in that controversy and refused to 'demand' changes in the script,
which he took with the sense of humor that was intended.

TCC: It seems that, following the movie, more and more of the plots played
out on alien worlds. Dread, Menonia, Torkulon, Eurhythma, Samojin... the list
goes on and on. Conversely, of course, increasingly less time was spent on
Earth. Was that a consequence of the new TRANSFORMERS era?

Davids: When TRANSFORMERS began, the show emphasized the human
characters and their relationship with the Transfomers on Earth. There were
a lot of human characters early on, and 'home-town' stories and even time
travel stories on Earth. I think the writers were just looking for something
new as the series got up to 70 and 80 shows, so they felt less bound to Earth
and freer to invent other parts of the galaxy.

"In THIS part of the galaxy?"
--Rumble, COSMIC RUST

--
Rik Bakke
silve...@c2i.net

THE CYBERTRON CHRONICLE
http://cybertronchronicle.freewebspace.com/

Transformers Fan Code
G++ FR FW+ #74 D+ AA+ N++ W++ B++ OQP BC98-02++ CN+++ OM+


Zobovor and His Many Dragons

unread,
Mar 10, 2002, 12:20:05 AM3/10/02
to
Rik Bakke wrote:

>Carole had to work on additional shows, such as POTATO HEAD KIDS

There was actually a show called Potato Head Kids? Oy. :)

>There were times when there was so much pressure to get the shows
>out (we had a broadcast schedule to keep) that we found we simply
>had no time to get a retake we wanted.

It occurs to me as well that it must have been tough to consistently keep track
of the appearance, color models, etc. for over 200 individual Transformers.
Unless they're actually sitting there and comparing every single scene to the
color models, which would be *incredibly* time-consuming, I can certainly see
how a miscolored Sideswipe or Perceptor might look like a perfectly acceptable
Soundwave, at least at a cursory glance.

> While we took our TRANSFORMERS UNIVERSE very seriously, we
>never did expect that we would be encouraging an entire generation of
>TRANSFORMERS 'scholars,' who, years later, would catalog our every
>mistake!

I... have no idea what he's talking about here. :)

>The first premise of mine that they took was COSMIC RUST (originally
>called RUST IN PEACE).

Heh heh. I think I prefer the final title, but it's nice to see he still got
to slip that joke in the episode somewhere. :)

>With CHAOS it was a sort of 'monster movie' inspiration--a monster
>that 'haunts' a mineshaft.

Now, that's weird. I didn't get a "monster movie" vibe from "Chaos" in the
least. Maybe it's the way he was animated, or lack of same. Most of the time,
he just stood there and looked menacing. It never even occured to me that he
was actually able to chase anybody down. :)

>Davids: The derivation of the word 'Antilla' was from 'Antilles'--always
>thought of as the inaccessible 'hinterland' in the days of the explorers.
>The myth of the 'destroyed civilization' is a recurring one in human
>history, so I presented 'Antilla' as a sort of Autobot 'Atlantis'--a
>super-civilization that met its end.

That's an interesting little tidbit. :)

>TCC: After writing for various characters in COSMIC RUST that were
>not seen again after THE TRANSFORMERS - THE MOVIE, your third-
>season episodes seemed bound by the selection of toys/characters
>concurrently available, which is perhaps especially evident in CHAOS,
>except for the inclusion of Grimlock and Decepticon Astrotrain.

Nah, the Dinobots and Astrotrain were still being sold by Hasbro in 1986.

>Davids: It was constricting in the sense that a sub-plot of a story HAD
>to make use of new toys that were just hitting the market. For
>instance, the basic plot of GRIMLOCK'S NEW BRAIN could still have
>worked without the Technobots.

What's interesting is that "Grimlock's New Brain" (and "Money is Everything")
actually aired quite a bit before the Technobot and Terrorcon toys were
available. The way they were all drawn with square heads was a pretty clear
giveaway that there were a couple of new combiner teams coming to toy stores
pretty soon, though. :)

>Davids: Because I was on-the-job every day as production coordinator, I
>was able to sort of collaborate with the art team to give special
>contributions to the stories that I wrote. It was especially true of
>CHAOS, where the artists and I would go out to lunch and actually talk
>about how I visualized the planet, the mines, the monster, the new
>weapons, etc.

That's pretty cool, actually. I've always wondered how much creative control
the writers had over the visual aspects of the show, so it's nice to know that
at least some of them got to plan out the visual elements on some level.

--
Zobovor

If you don't want me to eat you, say something.
http://members.aol.com/zobovor/index.html

Rik Bakke

unread,
Mar 10, 2002, 10:47:16 AM3/10/02
to
"Zobovor and His Many Dragons" <zob...@aol.com> wrote:

> Rik Bakke wrote:
>
> > Carole had to work on additional shows, such as POTATO
> > HEAD KIDS
>
> There was actually a show called Potato Head Kids? Oy. :)

Apparently so. I'd never heard of it, myself. :)

> > There were times when there was so much pressure to get the
> > shows out (we had a broadcast schedule to keep) that we found
> > we simply had no time to get a retake we wanted.
>
> It occurs to me as well that it must have been tough to consistently
> keep track of the appearance, color models, etc. for over 200 individual
> Transformers. Unless they're actually sitting there and comparing
> every single scene to the color models, which would be *incredibly*
> time-consuming, I can certainly see how a miscolored Sideswipe or
> Perceptor might look like a perfectly acceptable Soundwave, at least
> at a cursory glance.

Yes. Even a case like Perceptor being coloured like Grimlock in FIVE
FACES OF DARKNESS - PART 4 seems to fit in with that view.

> > The first premise of mine that they took was COSMIC RUST
> > (originally called RUST IN PEACE).
>
> Heh heh. I think I prefer the final title, but it's nice to see he still
> got to slip that joke in the episode somewhere. :)

You'll be interested to know that there were originally other titles
for CHAOS and GRIMLOCK'S NEW BRAIN, too. MAYHEM and
CREATION OF THE TECHNOBOTS, respectively.

> > With CHAOS it was a sort of 'monster movie' inspiration--a
> > monster that 'haunts' a mineshaft.
>
> Now, that's weird. I didn't get a "monster movie" vibe from "Chaos"
> in the least. Maybe it's the way he was animated, or lack of same.
> Most of the time, he just stood there and looked menacing. It never
> even occured to me that he was actually able to chase anybody
> down. :)

Regardless, that was the inspiration. :)

> > TCC: After writing for various characters in COSMIC RUST that
> > were not seen again after THE TRANSFORMERS - THE MOVIE,

> > your third-season episodes seemed bound by the selection of


> > toys/characters concurrently available, which is perhaps especially
> > evident in CHAOS, except for the inclusion of Grimlock and
> > Decepticon Astrotrain.
>
> Nah, the Dinobots and Astrotrain were still being sold by Hasbro
> in 1986.

Yeah, but they were hardly new.

> > Davids: It was constricting in the sense that a sub-plot of a story
> > HAD to make use of new toys that were just hitting the market.
> > For instance, the basic plot of GRIMLOCK'S NEW BRAIN could
> > still have worked without the Technobots.
>
> What's interesting is that "Grimlock's New Brain" (and "Money is
> Everything") actually aired quite a bit before the Technobot and
> Terrorcon toys were available. The way they were all drawn with
> square heads was a pretty clear giveaway that there were a couple
> of new combiner teams coming to toy stores pretty soon, though. :)

Hell, their mere inclusion would have indicated that. :)

> > Davids: Because I was on-the-job every day as production
> > coordinator, I was able to sort of collaborate with the art team
> > to give special contributions to the stories that I wrote. It was
> > especially true of CHAOS, where the artists and I would go out
> > to lunch and actually talk about how I visualized the planet, the
> > mines, the monster, the new weapons, etc.
>
> That's pretty cool, actually. I've always wondered how much
> creative control the writers had over the visual aspects of the
> show, so it's nice to know that at least some of them got to plan
> out the visual elements on some level.

Well, only one, really, since Paul was in a very unique position.
It does occur to me that, if other writers like Douglas Booth and
David Wise cared at all about the premises/scripts they offered,
their inability to control or offer input to the visual representations
of their stories must have been a little odd. You know, "Gee, I
wonder how this one's gonna turn out." That would have been
me, at any rate. And as I seem to recall, Don Glut wasn't happy
with the way any of his scripts were handled visually.

Steven Acevedo

unread,
Mar 10, 2002, 7:44:28 PM3/10/02
to
On Sun, 10 Mar 2002 15:47:16 GMT, "Rik Bakke" <silve...@c2i.net>
wrote:

>> > Carole had to work on additional shows, such as POTATO
>> > HEAD KIDS
>>
>> There was actually a show called Potato Head Kids? Oy. :)
>
>Apparently so. I'd never heard of it, myself. :)

It really exiosted and I think at the time I did tape some episiodes
but I'm not sure.

crazysteve

unread,
Mar 10, 2002, 8:07:58 PM3/10/02
to
"Rik Bakke" <silve...@c2i.net> wrote

> P A U L D A V I D S
> In conversation with The Cybertron Chronicle
> © 2002 HOLOGRAM HOMEMADE STUDIOS

<snip>

> I'm sure I submitted premises to Bryce Malek (my first story editor) that
> were rejected. The first premise of mine that they took was COSMIC RUST
> (originally called RUST IN PEACE).

These rejected premises-did he remember what any of them wrere? I'd
find it interesting in a "lost episodes" sort of way.
By the way, this whole interview is of such a high caliber that it
should be commissioned by those professional monthly animation
magazines. This is the kind of subject matter they SHOULD be covering
instead of kissing Disney and Hanna Barbera butt all the time.
Outstanding job.

--
rustysteve
http://www.scrambledcity.com

ShadowWing

unread,
Mar 10, 2002, 9:44:32 PM3/10/02
to

Zobovor and His Many Dragons wrote

>
>>Carole had to work on additional shows, such as POTATO HEAD KIDS
>
>There was actually a show called Potato Head Kids? Oy. :)

The best I could get out of Yesterdayland:
http://www.yesterdayland.com/popopedia/shows/saturday/sa1226.php

"Potato Head Kids grew out of another Hasbro product. In this segment, the
title kids—Big Chip, Spud, Spike, Smarty, and Pumpling—got themselves in and
out of trouble. Mr. And Mrs. Potato Head popped up in different roles in
every episode."

Just a segment on "My Little Pony and Friends". Not even a mention of
the toyline when I brought up the search. Maybe in the "Mr. Potato Head"
article.....

{quick check}

No, but I did find out that C. Everett Coop had a hand in his dropping
the pipe accessory to be the spokesspud for the "Great American Smokeout".
Interesting.


>>The first premise of mine that they took was COSMIC RUST (originally
>>called RUST IN PEACE).
>
>Heh heh. I think I prefer the final title, but it's nice to see he still
>got to slip that joke in the episode somewhere. :)

Actually, I would of liked "Rust In Peace". However, some of the names
Rik brought up in his response would of been just ick!

>That's an interesting little tidbit. :)

There were a lot of those during the interview. Ace job, Mr. B!
______________________________________________
| HEROIC AUTOBOT ^ ^ {ShadowWing} |
| AMONG MAXIMALS |()| { transfan} |
| [CYBERTRON] \/ Ż||Ż||Ż||ŻŻ |
|ŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻ Ż Ż ŻŻŻŻŻŻ|
|Function: /\ /\ str: 7.0|
|Guardian / \ ()/ \ int: 8.5|
|Motto:"One's true / /\ o[]o/\ \ spd: 9.0|
|form lies within." / ——o—[]—o—— \ end: 7.0|
|Survivor of every / / / 00 \ \ \rnk: 6.0|
|Transformer war. 00 cor:10.0|
|More information on line ^^ fire:5.4|
|Visit THE TRANSFORMATION ZONE skl: 9.2|
|http://pages.cthome.net/ShadowWing |
|last updated on 4/1/2001 AD |
ŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻ


Aaron F. Bourque

unread,
Mar 10, 2002, 11:47:52 PM3/10/02
to
From: "ShadowWing" the...@SPAMBLOCKADEsnet.net

>Zobovor and His Many Dragons wrote
>>
>>>Carole had to work on additional shows, such as POTATO
>>>HEAD KIDS
>>
>>There was actually a show called Potato Head Kids? Oy. :)
>
> The best I could get out of Yesterdayland:
>http://www.yesterdayland.com/popopedia/shows/saturday/sa1226.php
>

> Just a segment on "My Little Pony and Friends".

Okay . . . I vaguely remember the My Little Pony show--my sister
watched it sometimes. And I vaguely remember the Glo Friends--
mostly that I enjoyed the theme song somehow . . .

But I do not remember a second of Potato Head Kids or . . . "Moondreamers"? The
hell?

Aaron "The Mad Whitaker" Bourque
CRYOTEK WILL EAT YOUR WHERE THE MAGIC LIVES,
WHERE THE RAINBOW ENDS, FOLLOW, FOLLOW MY
LITTLE PONY, MY LITTLE PONY 'N' FRIENDS!

--
http://delinquents.keenspace.com/d/20010703.html
http://sinner.keenspace.com/ *COMING SOON!* (really)
Damn the tree and all its kind!
Nothing's impossible in the hot soul.

No One In Particular...

unread,
Mar 11, 2002, 12:22:14 AM3/11/02
to

>TCC: Although this may be a question better posed to the story editors,
>as it pertains to the giant continuity leap between SEASON TWO and the
>movie, it seems to me that Ron Friedman must have been writing the film
>apart from the rest of the writers, since there was no evidence whatsoever
>in the Pre-Movie shows to prepare us for things like the Matrix of
Leadership
>and the origin of the Transformers further examined in Flint Dille's epic
FIVE
>FACES OF DARKNESS. As the film was being produced alongside the
>second season (a key point perhaps being DINOBOT ISLAND, which
>simultaneously introduced key movie characters like Blaster and Perceptor
>to television audiences), was there sort of a deliberate
separation--because
>the Pre- and Post-Movie eras really seem like two different continuities--
>between the second season and what was to come?
>
>Davids: The purpose in creating the movie was to undertake a challenge
>of much bigger scope, for the big screen, that would 'dwarf' the daily show
>by comparison. There was the intent not just to instill it with entirely
new
>science-fiction concepts but to have much more detailed animation (which
>still the critics did not appreciate!) But at heart, the motion picture
still had
>an agenda to introduce new toy lines, and it stayed on target in fulfilling
>that goal.
>

But this still dodges around whether there was a *deliberate*
seperation, or whether it just sort of happened that way. Though, as you
said, the story editors would still be the better ones to ask.

NOIP

Zobovor and His Many Dragons

unread,
Mar 11, 2002, 1:05:25 AM3/11/02
to
Rik Bakke wrote:

>You'll be interested to know that there were originally other titles
>for CHAOS and GRIMLOCK'S NEW BRAIN, too. MAYHEM and
>CREATION OF THE TECHNOBOTS, respectively.

I knew about Mayhem being the original proposed name for Chaos, I think because
of the design sheets that Roe Tursi's got online somewhere. (Hey, you should
ask her if you can link to those images from your Paul Davids interview. It
would help to cement what Davids was talking about regarding the designs for
the monsters n' weapons n' stuff.)

Rik Bakke

unread,
Mar 11, 2002, 7:55:05 AM3/11/02
to
ShadowWing <the...@SPAMBLOCKADEsnet.net> wrote:

> Zobovor and His Many Dragons wrote
>

> > > The first premise of mine that they took was COSMIC RUST
> > > (originally called RUST IN PEACE).
> >
> > Heh heh. I think I prefer the final title, but it's nice to see he still
> > got to slip that joke in the episode somewhere. :)

"Well, rust in peace, Prime!" :)

> Actually, I would of liked "Rust In Peace". However, some of the
> names Rik brought up in his response would of been just ick!

I don't know that MAYHEM would have been so bad, but perhaps
CREATION OF THE TECHNOBOTS does seem somewhat less
imaginative. I guess you're not too big on DESERTION OF THE
DINOBOTS, either, then. :)

> > That's an interesting little tidbit. :)
>
> There were a lot of those during the interview. Ace job, Mr. B!

Thanks, Shad. :)
--
Rik Bakke
silve...@c2i.net

The Cybertron Chronicle
http://cybertronchronicle.freewebspace.com/

Transformers Fan Code
G++ FR FW+ #74 D+ AA+ N++ W++ B++ OQP BC98-002++ CN+++ OM+


Rik Bakke

unread,
Mar 11, 2002, 8:14:49 AM3/11/02
to
crazysteve <crazy...@scrambledcity.com> wrote:

> "Rik Bakke" <silve...@c2i.net> wrote
>
> > P A U L D A V I D S
> > In conversation with The Cybertron Chronicle
> > © 2002 HOLOGRAM HOMEMADE STUDIOS
>
> <snip>
>
> > I'm sure I submitted premises to Bryce Malek (my first story editor)
> > that were rejected. The first premise of mine that they took was
> > COSMIC RUST (originally called RUST IN PEACE).
>

> These rejected premises-did he remember what any of them were?


> I'd find it interesting in a "lost episodes" sort of way.

I believe he mentioned one to me entitled AUTOBOT PARK that was
not picked up. I will be in further contact with him about various off-
the-record matters, so hopefully more information will be forthcoming. :)

> By the way, this whole interview is of such a high caliber that it
> should be commissioned by those professional monthly animation
> magazines. This is the kind of subject matter they SHOULD be
> covering instead of kissing Disney and Hanna Barbera butt all the
> time. Outstanding job.

That... is without a doubt the very nicest thing anyone's ever said about
one of my interviews. I thank you from the bottom of my THIEF IN THE
NIGHT animation cel and my BotCon 2001 admittance pass.
--
Rik Bakke
silve...@c2i.net

The Cybertron Chronicle
http://cybertronchronicle.freewebspace.com/

Transformers Fan Code
G++ FR FW+ #74 D+ AA+ N++ W++ B++ OQP BC98-002++ CN+++ OM+


Rik Bakke

unread,
Mar 11, 2002, 8:15:21 AM3/11/02
to
No One In Particular... <blcj...@shawneelink.SPAMnet> wrote:

> > As the film was being produced alongside the second season
> > (a key point perhaps being DINOBOT ISLAND, which simultaneously
> > introduced key movie characters like Blaster and Perceptor to
> > television audiences), was there sort of a deliberate separation--

> > because the Pre- and Post-Movie eras really seem like two
> > different continuities--between the second season and what


> > was to come?
> >
> > Davids: The purpose in creating the movie was to undertake a
> > challenge of much bigger scope, for the big screen, that would
> > 'dwarf' the daily show by comparison. There was the intent not
> > just to instill it with entirely new science-fiction concepts but
> > to have much more detailed animation (which still the critics did
> > not appreciate!) But at heart, the motion picture still had an
> > agenda to introduce new toy lines, and it stayed on target in
> > fulfilling that goal.
>
> But this still dodges around whether there was a *deliberate*
> seperation, or whether it just sort of happened that way. Though,
> as you said, the story editors would still be the better ones to ask.

Yep. I've launched a personal "mission" to track down Bryce Malek
and Flint Dille and see if I can get them to talk to me as well. If anyone
would know, I think one of them would. :)
--
Rik Bakke
silve...@c2i.net

The Cybertron Chronicle
http://cybertronchronicle.freewebspace.com/

Transformers Fan Code
G++ FR FW+ #74 D+ AA+ N++ W++ B++ OQP BC98-002++ CN+++ OM+


Rik Bakke

unread,
Mar 11, 2002, 9:13:55 AM3/11/02
to
Rik Bakke <silve...@c2i.net> wrote:

> I will be in further contact with him about various off-the-record matters,


> so hopefully more information will be forthcoming. :)

That would be off-the-record in the context of the interview, not in general.
I wouldn't be betraying his trust or anything by sharing what he tells me. :)

Chris McFeely

unread,
Mar 11, 2002, 1:13:57 PM3/11/02
to
> > > Carole had to work on additional shows, such as POTATO
> > > HEAD KIDS
> >
> > There was actually a show called Potato Head Kids? Oy. :)
>
> Apparently so. I'd never heard of it, myself. :)

I vividly remember the Potato Head Kids. /:)

Chris


ShadowWing

unread,
Mar 11, 2002, 4:18:33 PM3/11/02
to

Rik Bakke wrote

>
>I don't know that MAYHEM would have been so bad, but perhaps
>CREATION OF THE TECHNOBOTS does seem somewhat less
>imaginative. I guess you're not too big on DESERTION OF THE
>DINOBOTS, either, then. :)

No, that one works. But "Creation...." was only part of the story, while
the focus was on Grimlock's mental upgrade.

>> > That's an interesting little tidbit. :)
>>
>> There were a lot of those during the interview. Ace job, Mr. B!
>
>Thanks, Shad. :)

Me Shadow say you welcome. :)

No One In Particular...

unread,
Mar 12, 2002, 10:52:05 PM3/12/02
to

Rik Bakke wrote in message ...

>Yep. I've launched a personal "mission" to track down Bryce Malek
>and Flint Dille and see if I can get them to talk to me as well. If anyone
>would know, I think one of them would. :)
>--
>Rik Bakke
>silve...@c2i.net
>

Hmmm... now *that* would be cool!

NOIP. Not to say that your other efforts aren't excellent in every respect.
They are. Kudos!


Rik Bakke

unread,
Mar 13, 2002, 5:11:44 AM3/13/02
to
No One In Particular... <blcj...@shawneelink.SPAMnet> wrote:

> Rik Bakke wrote in message ...
>
> > Yep. I've launched a personal "mission" to track down Bryce Malek and
> > Flint Dille and see if I can get them to talk to me as well. If anyone would
> > know, I think one of them would. :)
>

> Hmmm... now *that* would be cool!

That it would. :)

> NOIP. Not to say that your other efforts aren't excellent in every respect.
> They are. Kudos!

Thank you. :)
--
Rik Bakke
silve...@c2i.net

The Cybertron Chronicle

0 new messages