There were plenty of questions surrounding Transformers One before it hit theaters:
Would it be good?
Would it pay homage to the old school Transformers I grew up with? Or the original Transformers: The Animated Movie from nearly 40 years ago?
Thankfully, the answer to all those questions is a resounding yes. Not only is Transformers One a truly great Transformers film that reinvigorated in me a genuine passion for the franchise I hadn’t felt in years, there are also are plenty of sly nods and hidden references to the original animated film that old school Transformers heads like myself can appreciate too.
The following is a list of five Transformers One Easter Eggs you might have missed.
You’ve got the touch
If you were a Transformers stan growing up during the 80s, then there was a good chance you were also a Stan Bush stan. That’s because Bush’s guitar-solo-laden, synth-infused power ballads “Dare” and more notably “The Touch,” were featured extensively in Transformers: The Animated Movie from 1986, with the latter being the theme song for Optimus Prime as he made his legendary charge through a gauntlet of adversaries to retake Autobot City from the invading Decepticons.
However, long before Optimus Prime becomes the noble, courageous leader of the Autobots, endowed with the Matrix of Leadership – a powerful artifact passed down from generation to generation to any Autobot worthy enough to wield it – he is a mischievous, inquisitive mining bot named Orion Pax (voiced by Chris Hemworth) who works alongside his friend and mining captain Elita-1 (voiced by Scarlet Johansson).
Optimus, who is still only Orion Pax (voiced by Chris Hemsworth) for the bulk of Transformers One gets reminded that he’s still only Orion by his friend Elita-1 (voiced by Scarlett Johansson) in the first act of the film after he makes a brash decision. Elita admonishes him with the line, “You don’t have the touch or the power.”
This line is a direct reference to the chorus of “The Touch,” with the hook of the song consisting of, “You got the touch/You got the power” (followed by Bush bellowing a hype-inspiring “Yeahhh!”).
Looks like you were way off when it came to predicting Orion Pax’s potential, huh, Elita-1? Remind us not to take your advice if you’re placing any bets on the Iacon 5000.
The Iacon 5000 and some (future) familiar faces
Speaking of the Iacon 5000, which is the Transformers equivalent of the Indianapolis 500 on Energon superchargers, there are plenty of Transformers who make cameos during the prestigious, 500-mile race (which takes its name after Iacon, Cybertron’s city-state capital) which will bring a smile to old head G1 Transformers fans and new ones alike.
During the Iacon 5000 there is a digital scoreboard suspended above the raceway which lists the names of the participants; some of the familiar names on the leaderboard in the beginning of the race include Mirage, Silverbolt, Meanstreak, Cliffjumper, Swerve, Powerglide, Windblade and Afterburner.
Towards the end of the race it looks like D-16 and Orion Pax, who have illegally entered the contest and are listed on the leaderboard as “Miners” might actually win; the leaderboard here shows a few more familiar names, such as Chromia, Ricochet and Hot Rod.
What’s a GoBot?
Elita-1 uses the term “GoBot” in derogatory fashion during Transformers One. But GoBot isn’t just some sort of esoteric Cybertronian putdown – it refers to a toyline of transforming robots that were released one year (1983) before the Transformers were in the United States.
The GoBots, which were owned by Tonka as opposed to Hasbro’s Transformers, even had their own cartoon series and an animated film. As we all know, Transformers proved to be the more popular brand by far; Hasbro bought out Tonka in 1991 and added the GoBots to Transformers lore as robots in disguise in an alternative universe.
D-12 and Megatron
Orion Pax isn’t the only one who got a name change when he leveled up in Transformers One. Before he became the mighty Megatron, Optimus Prime’s arch nemesis went by the miner bot designation D-16.
D-16 is a reference to the serial number which designated the original G1 Megatron toy released in Japan by Takara in 1986. The D stands for Destron, which is the Japanese word for Decepticon and the number 16 refers to Megatron being the sixteenth Destron released in the original Takara Transformers line, which were called Diaclone in Japan.
B-127’s friend
In the scene where Orion Pax and D-16 first meet B-127, AKA Bumblebee (voiced by Keegan-Michael Key) in Sublevel 50, Bumblebee shows Orion and D a collection of accumulated trash which he’s fashioned into imaginary friends like a robotic version of Tom Hanks’ character from Castaway.
Instead of a volleyball named Wilson however, Bumblebee introduces his cobbled-together comrades EP-508, A-A Tron and Steve. A-A Tron is a reference to a skit starring Keegan-Michael Key called “Substitute Teacher” from the “Key & Peele” show, where Key’s character humorously mispronounces the names of his students, including one named Aaron – whom he refers to as A-Aron.
Starscream’s voice
The character of Starscream over the years in Transfomers lore might be best associated with (aside from his devious, backstabbing nature towards Megatron and ambitions for usurping leadership of the Decepticons) his high-pitched, cowardly-sounding voice. Starscream’s trademark voice stems all the way back to his depiction in the original G1 series where he was voiced by voice actor Chris Latta (who also voiced Cobra Commander in G.I. Joe).
In Transformers One, we learn exactly how and why Starscream (voiced by Steve Buscemi) acquired such an ear-splitting voice – and it’s all Megatron’s fault.
During a scuffle between D-16 and Starscream in Transformers One, D-16 begins strangling Starscream, damaging his vocal chords to the point where he begins speaking with the voice we all love to hate.
The incident is not only a nod to the old school Transformers but reinforces the backstory regarding why Starscream is always trying to supplant Megatron as leader – it’s Megatron’s fault that he sounds “ridiculous,” as Sentinel Prime describes Starscream’s “new” voice upon first hearing it.
What did you think of our list of Transformers One Easter Eggs you might have missed? Are there any Easter Eggs we should add to the list? Let us know in the comments.
