Flint Dille's 'lost' first draft of what would become the Transformers the Movie has remained an enigma because so far no copies have surfaced. All we know about it are sketchy details he remembers, foremost of which is a scene where Cybertron transforms. Also we know that it may reside on a floppy disk in his garage. Well I got to thinking about some interesting things that have happened recently and how they might point to an upcoming reveal that The Secret of Cybertron has been found.

Flint was clearing out that garage during the covid lockdowns and auctioning items he found on ebay, but I'm pretty sure "The Secret of Cybertron" was never in any of those auctions. Since he is aware of its significance I am sure he would have been actively searching for it.

There was a Friday night panel at TFCon LA 2022 called "The Secrets of Five Faces of Darkness with Flint Dille & Jim Sorenson". Jim is a well known Transformers historian who actively searches out documents and other paperwork from G1 writers. He's like an Indiana Jones of Transformer fans and that first draft is like a holy grail of Transformerdom. So I wonder how close of a connection he's been able to make with Flint. Has Jim seen the garage?

And finally a couple weeks back another fan named Chris McFeely announced on the February 19th episode of Radio Free Cybertron that he would be on a panel with Jim at the upcoming TF Nation 2022 In Birmingham England. (Check out his teaser here: https://youtu.be/8FL4-GpfTwk?t=10881 ). Chris described it as "One of the most exciting and significant panels ever held at a Transformers convention."

So what is left that could merit that sort of hype? I'm thinking 'The Secret of Cybertron' has been found. I'm just throwing this out there to see if any of us here who are known to be good friends with Jim might have any details (or if said unnamed ATTers will remain conspicuous in their silence).

On Saturday, March 26, 2022 at 5:14:07 PM UTC-6, evil.king.m...@gmail.com wrote:

> So what is left that could merit that sort of hype? I'm thinking 'The Secret of Cybertron' has been found. I'm just throwing this out there to see if any of us here who are known to be good friends with Jim might have any details (or if said unnamed ATTers will remain conspicuous in their silence)..

It's sure possible. I wouldn't say I'm good buddies with Jim, but I've e-mailed with him a few times. I can reach out and see what he's willing to tell me, if anything. If it's such a monumental discovery as you're suspecting, though, I imagine he'll keep a lid on it until the big Radio Free Cybertron reveal.

Zob (I think I would have vastly preferred a Flint Dille version of The Transformers: the Movie, honestly)

On Saturday, March 26, 2022 at 5:14:07 PM UTC-6, evil.king.m...@gmail.com wrote:

> So what is left that could merit that sort of hype? I'm thinking 'The Secret of Cybertron' has been found. I'm just throwing this out there to see if any of us here who are known to be good friends with Jim might have any details (or if said unnamed ATTers will remain conspicuous in their silence)..

It's sure possible. I wouldn't say I'm good buddies with Jim, but I've e-mailed with him a few times. I can reach out and see what he's willing to tell me, if anything. If it's such a monumental discovery as you're suspecting, though, I imagine he'll keep a lid on it until the big TF Nation 2022 reveal. But, I'll ask.

Zob (I think I would have vastly preferred a Flint Dille version of The Transformers: the Movie, honestly)

On Saturday, March 26, 2022 at 5:14:07 PM UTC-6, evil.king.m...@gmail.com wrote:
<snip>

Got a reply from Jim. He says:

a) It'll be big.
b) It's not "The Secret of Cybertron."

Zob

On Sunday, March 27, 2022 at 1:02:37 PM UTC-7, Zobovor wrote:
> Got a reply from Jim. He says:
>
> a) It'll be big.
> b) It's not "The Secret of Cybertron."

Well thanks for following up on this. I appreciate it. That he's working with McFeely on the panel makes me think it's something more cartoon focused and not toyline or comic centric.

The things I'd consider monumental big revelations would be-
1. Who created the Autobot and Decepticon sigils
2. Definitive toy release/retail shipping dates for every G1 case assortment
3. What other Marvel comic adaptations of Sunbow episodes exist, or what other filler material like Peter Davids' Bumblebee issue is out there
4. Definitive explanations for the inconsistent/nonexsistent character depictions of Jetfire, red Bumblebee, yellow Cliffjumper, Bumblejumper, etc.
5. What was the 1996 G2 line going to look like if Beast Wars never happened (esp. that unreleased combiner hinted at during Botcon '94)

What it will probably more likely be:
1. Previously unknown G1 scripts (not just episodes but maybe a movie sequel)
2. Previously unknown G1 prototypes (like a GI Joe/TF crossover line or Robotix crossover line or whatever 1991 would have been)
3. A discovery of a giant pile of G1 cartoon cels (deleted scenes from the movie or the show or whatever)
4. Someone related to the franchise faked their death and will return during the panel
5. The Secret of Cybertron

On Sunday, March 27, 2022 at 6:04:13 PM UTC-6, evil.king.m...@gmail.com wrote:

> 1. Who created the Autobot and Decepticon sigils

I'm sure it was somebody at Marvel, and they were obviously using the Prowl and Soundwave toys for reference. So it was far enough along in the design process that they'd figured out which toys were the good guys and which ones were the bad guys.

My guess is that they discovered David Wise's original five-part treatment for "The Rebirth" before it was whittled down into a three-part episode. I don't know how likely that is, but that's my guess.

Zob

I have no insight into what these options might be (though, I do remember when Chris posted here), but it's really cool to read and consider what they might be.

Unaired G1 carton scripts - even episode concepts - would be super cool. What is also neat to think on is how - even in this time and place - there really cool be "undocumented" TF mythology from G1 that could be revealed like this.

I'm enjoying this thought experiment. As a bonus in terms of rarities - here in Vancouver, we once had a Transformers-themed SkyTrain ad (in place for Expo '86, naturally):

https://buzzer.translink.ca/2020/12/marking-the-35th-anniversary-of-skytrain/

JB

On Sunday, March 27, 2022 at 6:13:41 PM UTC-7, Zobovor wrote:
> On Sunday, March 27, 2022 at 6:04:13 PM UTC-6, evil.king.m...@gmail.com wrote:
>
> > 1. Who created the Autobot and Decepticon sigils
> I'm sure it was somebody at Marvel, and they were obviously using the Prowl and Soundwave toys for reference. So it was far enough along in the design process that they'd figured out which toys were the good guys and which ones were the bad guys.
>
> My guess is that they discovered David Wise's original five-part treatment for "The Rebirth" before it was whittled down into a three-part episode. I don't know how likely that is, but that's my guess.
>
>
> Zob

On Sunday, March 27, 2022 at 5:04:13 PM UTC-7, Evil King Macrocranios wrote:
> What it will probably more likely be:
> 1. Previously unknown G1 scripts (not just episodes but maybe a movie sequel)
> 2. Previously unknown G1 prototypes (like a GI Joe/TF crossover line or Robotix crossover line or whatever 1991 would have been)
> 3. A discovery of a giant pile of G1 cartoon cels (deleted scenes from the movie or the show or whatever)
> 4. Someone related to the franchise faked their death and will return during the panel
> 5. The Secret of Cybertron

Okay here's more guesses as to what the big thing the panel will be will most likely about or reveal:

6. they found a ton of alternate boxarts that were never used
7. they found printer proofs for packaging of unreleased/non-catalog toys like Bumblejumper, Reflector, Arcee, other female Autobots, the rainmakers, etc.
8. they found animated footage of Marvel Productions' original Transformer concept
9. they found Denny O'Neil's original treatment that Jim Shooter threw away
10. they found an archive of photographs of every year of G1 Toy Fair presentations
11. they found model sheets/production documents for some unknown project like a video game
12. they found a binder of Floro Dery designs explaining how the movie character toy transforms should have worked
12. they found Zob's mockups of unmade decoys and think they're real
13. they found something frozen in the ice
14. they found the location of the lost Sunstreaker, Wheeljack, Mirage and Dinobot molds and will document the expedition to recover them in a new Netflix series
15. they found a 6th Face of Darkness

> Chris McFeely announced on the February 19th episode of Radio Free Cybertron that he would be on a panel with Jim at the upcoming TF Nation 2022 In Birmingham England. (Check out his teaser here: https://youtu.be/8FL4-GpfTwk?t=10881 ). Chris described it as "One of the most exciting and significant panels ever held at a Transformers convention."
>
> So what is left that could merit that sort of hype?

Turns out the big reveal was Ron Friedman's first draft of The Transformers the Movie. Jim and Chris did a presentation including art and narration revealing what the script contained. Here's a liveblog of the panel:

https://twitter.com/qweety_/status/1558515033465913345

I wonder how much of this is fan art and how much is actual Floro Dery
designs?

It also makes me wonder how much of the final script was actually
Friendman's? Flint Dille and Roger Slifer are credited as "Story
Consultants" in the credits.

On Tuesday, August 16, 2022 at 8:44:53 PM UTC-7, Travoltron wrote:
> I wonder how much of this is fan art and how much is actual Floro Dery
> designs?
>
> It also makes me wonder how much of the final script was actually
> Friendman's? Flint Dille and Roger Slifer are credited as "Story
> Consultants" in the credits.

Both good thoughts, to be sure. My money's on Flint Dille, in any case, for at least a portion of the contributions....

JB

A great writeup with tons of slides from the presentation just showed up at the Allspark:

https://www.allspark.com/forums/threads/tfnation-2022.949/#post-47635

As with everything wonderful posted to Allspark forums, if you like it, download it because it's one server crash away from disappearing forever.

On Wednesday, August 17, 2022 at 8:29:06 PM UTC-6, evil.king.m...@gmail.com wrote:

> A great writeup with tons of slides from the presentation just showed up at the Allspark

Nice. That's a bit more informative than those vague Twitter posts.

It seems strange to me that they were already drafting a movie before the cartoon had even gotten off the ground. The notion that they were already talking about killing off Optimus Prime as early as 1984, and that Hasbro had actively *mandated* it, is almost unthinkable.

I wonder if the Tanker character was intended to be the Bonaparte Tulcas tank from Special Armored Battalion Dorvack. We know that Hasbro filed for a patent for the tank toy at the same time as Roadbuster and Whirl, but it was never produced as a Transformers toy. I think it's at least possible they were saving it for the movie, at least until such time as they reworked the character and turned him into Kup.

I mean, if they were planning the movie this early, I would only assume they were looking at the still-unused Diaclone and Microman designs and thinking about which of them could be incorporated. The Ultra Magnus toy makes sense as an upgrade for Optimus Prime, certainly, but it feels like the deeper they got into the development of Ultra Magnus, the more they downplayed his similarity to Prime and the less important he became.

But, it's also clear they were already experimenting with new ideas that had no Diaclone equivalents, like crazy snake train Transformers and Gestapo robots and such.

I wonder if the Battle of the Rock Lords movie went through this many drafts?

Zob (had no idea who Telly Savalas or Margot Kidder were when I was younger)

On 8/17/2022 8:25 PM, Zobovor wrote:
> The notion that they were already talking about killing off Optimus Prime as early as 1984, and that Hasbro had actively*mandated* it, is almost unthinkable.

So that "two years in the making" in the trailer was not hyperbole.

It actually makes a little more sense knowing this. Planned obsolescence
of the Optimus and Megatron toys and coldly killing the characters off
makes more sense if these decisions were made before the show actually
aired and nobody knew the impact these characters would have.

Pretty much all cast and crew that have been interviewed recall knowing
it was a mistake. Things were probably too far along and the genius
executives that made the decision were probably too stubborn and too
married to the idea to change it.

On Tuesday, 23 August 2022 at 05:21:51 UTC+1, Travoltron wrote:
> On 8/17/2022 8:25 PM, Zobovor wrote:
> > The notion that they were already talking about killing off Optimus Prime as early as 1984, and that Hasbro had actively*mandated* it, is almost unthinkable.
> So that "two years in the making" in the trailer was not hyperbole.
>
> It actually makes a little more sense knowing this. Planned obsolescence
> of the Optimus and Megatron toys and coldly killing the characters off
> makes more sense if these decisions were made before the show actually
> aired and nobody knew the impact these characters would have.
>
> Pretty much all cast and crew that have been interviewed recall knowing
> it was a mistake. Things were probably too far along and the genius
> executives that made the decision were probably too stubborn and too
> married to the idea to change it.

Following on from Jim Sorenson and Chris McFeely's panel presentation at TFNation this summer. Where they summarised and showed off fanart interpretations of Ron Friedman's first Transformers The Movie script. Approval has been given to publish my detailed outline of that script, written nearly two years ago and condensing 210 pages into just over 16,000 words. The outline endeavours to present the events of the story in an impartial manner, through the eyes of someone viewing the script as it was submitted in February 1985. There are no references to what would come later in the movie's production, save for the sub-headings given to each story beat.

To read the Movie that could have been, head to: https://sunbowmarvelarchive.blogspot.com/2022/11/detailed-outline-of-very-first.html