Well, its been some time since the DVD set came out, and even I'm surprised
that no one has attempted to catalogue all the differences between the
season 1 Rhino version episodes as seen on the new DVD box-set and the
original episodes. But since there's been a couple of weeks for me to make
this (thorough but I'm sure not complete) list, I thought I'd put it on the
group. As has been well documented, Rhino used whatever original film
materials they could find to ensure the highest possible picture quality for
the episodes' release onto DVD. However, since some scenes' original film
materials could not be found, some scenes were taken directly from the 1
inch master tapes (these are the finished episodes after retakes). Looking
at the actual film materials found, it can be seen that most of the
animation is exactly the same as what was ultimately used. However, there
were numerous scenes that were animated incorrectly (mostly involving the
colors of the characters). What follows is as complete a list of differences
between the original and Rhino episodes as was possible for me to make. The
differences are in chronological order for each episode.

"More Than Meets The Eye Part 1"

No Differences

"More Than Meets The Eye Part 2"

Original-Last episode recap had a blue tractor beam coming from Decepticon
ship (obviously not the final footage used)

Rhino-episode recap has purple beams (since footage was taken from actual
episode)

"More Than Meets The Eye Part 3"

Original-episode recap showed the last two digits more pronounced on
Wheeljack's bomb as well as again showing the blue tractor

beam from the Decepticon ship

Rhino-episode recap shows all the digits at equal brightness and a purple
tractor beam from the Nemesis

"Transport To Oblivion"

No differences

"Roll For It"

No differences

"Divide And Conquer"

Original-Shockwave's weird space bridge coordinates symbol appears on screen
over a blank (blue) background.

Rhino-The symbol appears over the space bridge receiver background Shockwave
was previously standing in front of.

Original-In the battle near the space bridge, the central Reflector robot's
lens opens and flashes for a second before blinding light appears

Rhino-Reflector's lens just opens, with no initial flash

Original-When Megatron orders the Decepticons to return to base for further
orders, Starscream is colored correctly

Rhino-Starscream is colored like Thundercracker in this sequence.

"Fire In The Sky"

Original-Snow falls downwards in opening scene

Rhino-Snow falls upwards

Original-Camera zooms out from Optimus watching Teletraan's monitor

Rhino-Camera remains static in this scene

Original-When Starscream explains to Skyfire that they are on Earth, Skyfire
has no symbol on his chest

Rhino-Skyfire has a red Decepticon symbol

Original-When Skyfire says "Hail Cybertron", his cockpit is colored
correctly and he has the Decepticon symbol on his chest.

Rhino-His cockpit is white, and he has no symbol

Original-When Skyfire says "Destruction", his Decepticon symbol is purple

Rhino-His Decepticon symbol is red

Original-When Skyfire is on patrol (just before he sees the Autobots), his
symbol is purple

Rhino-His symbol is red

Original-Just after Skyfire exclaims "Autobots!", you can make out the
Decepticon symbol on his chest

Rhino-There is no symbol

Original-When Skyfire says "You must be destroyed!" and "Destruction to all
Autobots!" before and after the commercial break, his symbol is purple

Rhino-It is red

Original-When Skyfire blasts the ice, his symbol is purple

Rhino-It is red

Original-When Skyfire picks up Spike and Sparkplug and talks to them, he has
a normal Decepticon symbol

Rhino-He has a red incomplete Decepticon symbol (except for the closeup shot
of the symbol, which is correct)

Original-When Skyfire stands up to take Spike and Sparkplug to Megatron, he
has a normal Decepticon symbol

Rhino-The symbol is red

Original-Just after Hound says "Come on, guys" in the tunnel, Bumblebee
drives towards Prime's group

Rhino-The background and cels were not aligned properly, showing Bumblebee
driving a little above the ground, and the edge of the (static) cel Prime
and the other Autobots were painted on. You can also see the incomplete
painting of Prime's trailer on this cel

Original-When Prime reverses up the tunnel, his trailer appears out of
nowhere

Rhino-His trailer doesn't appear and he still drives off (Note: Looking at
the original version of this scene, there is a bit of print damage, so Rhino
may have not wanted to substitute this scene back in)

Original-When Prime and the Autobots drive up to the now-freed Spike and
Sparkplug, Prime has his trailer

Rhino-His trailer is missing

Original-When Starscream blasts Skyfire, you can see his null ray

Rhino-The null ray is missing

Original-When Skyfire is shown to be relieved that Hound and the others are
functioning, his Decepticon symbol is purple

Rhino-It is red

Original-When Ratchet is repairing Skyfire, his Decepticon symbol is purple

Rhino-It is red

Original-In the very last scene, the Autobots surround the glowing circles
on Skyfire's "grave"

Rhino-Cliffjumper is standing in-between the last two circles

"S.O.S. Dinobots"

Original-Ironhide's chest scanner shows a detailed image of a dinosaur skull
inside rock

Rhino-Ironhide's scanner shows the skull, but with no rock detail around it

Original-Dinobots shoot lasers from theirs heads to clear up some rocks,
which glow and then disintegrate

Rhino-Dinobots don't shoot lasers from their heads, the rocks glow and don't
disintegrate

Original-When the Autobots arrive at the dam, Bluestreak transforms from
vehicle to robot

Rhino-Bluestreak transforms from robot to vehicle

Original-When Starscream shoots the generators at the dam, the beam comes
from his arm-weapon

Rhino-The beam comes from mid-air to the left of Starscream

Original-When Megatron lands at the dam, there is nothing in front of him

Rhino-There is a rainbow in front of Megatron (Note: In the G1 Panini album,
the sticker for this scene does actually show the rainbow)

"Fire On The Mountain"

Original-In the opening scene, there is an overhead shot with Trailbreaker
in vehicle mode which is colored correctly

Rhino-He is colored completely red (like Ironhide)

Original-When Skywarp leaves Starscream & Thundercracker, calling Starscream
"Screamer", he is colored correctly

Rhino-Skywarp is colored like Thundercracker

Original-When Thundercracker and Starscream place the deactivated Skyfire
inside the temple, Skyfire is colored correctly

Rhino-Skyfire is colored like Skywarp

Original-In the following shot, Starscream(later joined by Megatron) is
standing over Skyfire and is colored correctly

Rhino-He is colored like Thundercracker

"War Of The Dinobots"

Original-When the Dinobots talk of usurping Prime, the camera cuts to
Sludge, who just stands there until Slag asks him for his opinion

Rhino-Sludge's mouth moves to Slag's words first, and then he speaks
properly

Original-When Starscream warns Megatron that Grimlock will never betray
Prime, he is colored correctly

Rhino-He is colored like Thundercracker

Original-When Grimlock moves towards Megatron and Starscream, saying "Bad
Megatron!", Starscream is colored correctly

Rhino-Starscream in colored like Thundercracker

"The Ultimate Doom Part 1"

Original-The Maharaja's computer monitor had (hard to read) glowing text on
the screen

Rhino-The screen shows easy to read white text over a black background

Original-When Bumblebee talks to Wheeljack after trying to console Spike
over Sparkplug's capture, Wheeljack's "side-lights" flash when he speaks

Rhino-When Wheeljack speaks, his "side-lights" don't light up

Original-Hound's hologram of Prowl's plan is shown with dark lines over a
solid yellow background beam

Rhino-The hologram shows white outlines over a translucent yellow background

Original-In the scene where Megatron talks to Shockwave over the viewscreen,
Megatron just stands in front of the screen, and Shockwave's light pulsates
when he speaks

Rhino-In the opening of this scene, Megatron is briefly above the ground and
floats down in front of the screen, while Shockwave's light simply remains
lit  (but doesn't pulse) while he speaks

Original-When Starscream and the other jets are (very easily) fooled by
Meagtron's Optimus Prime construct, and are prepared to attack, they are all
colored correctly

Rhino-Starscream is colored like Skywarp, and Skywarp is colored like
Starscream

Original-When Starscream climbs back into Decepticon Headquarters after
falling through the hole Cliffjumper made, he is dripping water (which
actually remains static at the end of this scene)

Rhino-He seems to be bone dry (in the shot from his front)

Original-When Dr. Archeville watches Sparkplug on the monitor and tells him
to only fix the injured Autobots, his mouth moves when he speaks

Rhino-His mouth just remains open

Original-Just after Spike shoves the spanner into Teletraan's circuits,
there are some bright sparks

Rhino-The sparks are still there, but they are much less intense

"The Ultimate Doom Part 2"

No differences

"The Ultimate Doom Part 3"

Original-Shockwave's light pulses when he shouts after Spike, and just
before he shoots at him, and just before he shoots at Brawn's girder

Rhino-His light still pulses, but it looks like in the film Rhino had, his
light didn't pulse, so it looks like Rhino themselves have added the effect
with an overlay. Looking at the original finished footage for this sequence,
it can be seen that it contains many tape splices and dropouts over the
image, so Rhino possibly felt that substituting the finished scene in this
part of the episode would result in a very noticeable change in

picture quality.

Original-Just after the above sequence of events, Shockwave says "Take the
boy...", and his light pulses

Rhino-His light doesn't pulse (looks like they missed overlaying this bit)

Original-When Wheeljack talks to Spike just after Skyfire shoots Shockwave,
his side-lights fully light up when he speaks

Rhino-Just the front-middle part lights up when he speaks (I think this is
another Rhino overlay, with the original footage showing no lighting up.
This overlay was obviously inaccurate)

Original-Just after Spike is cover with the glow from Shockwave's chest,
Shockwave walks over to him and says "We've been expecting

you". His light pulses normally when he says this.

Rhino-When Shockwave walks over to Spike, the image is covered with the same
ambient light that Spike was covered with. Shockwave's light pulse when he
speaks is even more intense when he speaks, and is the most noticeable
overlay added by Rhino

Original-When Shockwave stands over Sparkplug, holding Spike, he speaks and
his light pulses normally

Rhino-His light doesn't pulse (another missed overlay opportunity by Rhino)

Original-When Mirage make himself visible inside the starship, the slave to
the left of him suddenly turns back

Rhino-This scene was reconstructed by Rhino themselves. In the new version
of this scene, footage taken from the 1 inch master is used showing Mirage
reappearing inside the starship, the image is then immediately paused,
resulting in no further movement from the slave, and an image of Mirage is
overlaid (badly) onto the picture. Again I think the only reason Rhino did
this, was because the film they had access to was incomplete for this
sequence, and they didn't want to simply substitute this scene from the 1
inch master tape because the picture quality is low.

"Countdown To Extinction"

No differences

"A Plague Of Insecticons"

Original-When Bumblebee and Spike board Skyfire, the doors close behind them
normally

Rhino-When the doors close, Bumblebee and Spike can still be seen over the
doors

Original-In the sequence where Wheeljack flies up to assist Skyfire and is
subsequently shot down, his side-lights light up whenever he speaks

Rhino-Wheeljack's lights don't light up

Original-When Shrapnel shoots his control beams down to Sunstreaker and
Sideswipe, a side-shot shows him in the air shooting the beams to them

Rhino-The beams are there, but Shrapnel isn't

Original-When Shrapnel is initially struck by lightening, there are
rainclouds above him, and his dialogue matches his mouth movements

Rhino-There is a clear blue sky behind him, and his mouth movements are
delayed from the actual dialogue, so after he speaks, his mouth then moves

Original-Just after Wheeljack shoots Shrapnel, Shrapnel flies off to avoid
the shot. He is standing in front of a dark background (due to the
rainclouds in the sky)

Rhino-He is standing in front of a different part of the refinery that has a
clear blue sky above it

Original-There are rainclouds above the Insecticon clones as they shoot at
Optimus

Rhino-The sky is clear blue above them

"The Heavy Metal War"

Original-When Bonecrusher, Long Haul and Mixmaster transform for the first
time, the camera pans up until they have fully reached robot mode

Rhino-The camera doesn't pan up, so after they transform, the image is of
their feet and legs

Original-When Long Haul transforms back to vehicle mode, the stolen
components can be seen in his back

Rhino-The components are still there, but they are an overlay added by Rhino
themselves and seem to pop up more suddenly. Rhino used another overlay
possibly due to the original film print not not having the components drawn
in and the 1 inch master tape being of a noticeable lower picture quality

Original-Hook and Scavenger can be seen working on Scrapper's device as the
camera pans across to Starscream and Megatron standing in front of it

Rhino-The camera is already on Starscream and Megatron for the duration of
this scene, resulting in them just standing there for a few seconds

Original-In the following close up shot of Megatron and Starscream, they are
both colored correctly

Rhino-Starscream is colored like Skywarp

Original-When Cliffjumper shoots his glass gas at Megatron, he is correctly
colored red

Rhino-He is yellow, like Bumblebee

Original-After Optimus orders the Autobots to stop firing at Megatron,
Megatrron floats to the ground in front of them

Rhino-After Optimus orders the Autobots to stop firing at Megatron, mirrored
footage of Cliffjumper looking over his left shoulder (from just after he
first shoots at Megatron) is shown, followed by footage of Megatron landing
on the ground taken from the later battle between Optimus and Megatron

Original-When Cliffjumper and Wheeljack (on either side of Optimus) talk to
Prime after Megatron has made his offer, the camera pans across from
Cliffjumper, to Prime, and then to Wheeljack

Rhino-Rhino attempted to recreate this scene themselves, with the camera
starts on Cliffjumper, but doesn't pan across, and then a still image of
Wheeljack to the right of Optimus is seen, with his side-light flashes being
achieved with overlays.

Original-The light that comes from the power transferer's furnace is quite
bright

Rhino-The light is dull, being merely drawn in and not yet having been
properly treated

Original-The camera pans down Starscream's body when he opens his cockpit to
get his rectifier, which is a small glowing object

Rhino-There is a different shot here, with Starscream being further away
from  the camera when he opens his cockpit. The rectifier now seems to be a
small object that is invisible

Original-When the Constructicons transform inside the Decepticon base to
head towards the Ark, Scrapper's eyes glow briefly, and the Constructicons
can be seen transforming against the background of the Decepticon base

Rhino-Scrapper's eyes don't glow, and the Constructicons transform over an
exterior background seemingly near to the Ark. Scavenger, Mixmaster and Long
Haul aren't even standing on the ground when they transform, and Mixmaster
judders forwards and backwards when he drives off.

Original-When Trailbreaker transforms from robot to vehicle, the correct
background of Autobot Headquarters is shown behind him

Rhino-He transforms over an exterior background

Original-When Optimus Prime leads the Autobots out of the Ark, there are no
visible mistakes

Rhino-Optimus' left headlight flickers between red and white breifly as he
turns, and the next overhead shot of the Autobots leaving the Ark is paused
for a few seconds before skipping ahead (not sure if this one is just an
error on my copy)

Original-After arriving at the battleground, Ironhide can be seen
transforming from vehicle to robot

Rhino-He transforms from robot to vehicle

Original-When Megatron teleports to avoid the rock Optimus throws at him, he
glows and is then gone

Rhino-Megatron glows, but is still there afterwards, with the rock going
through him

Original-Skywarp is colored correctly when he comments on Megatron's
teleporting

Rhino-He is colored like Starscream, whilst sitting next to Starscream

Original-After Meagtron floats down to the ground during the battle, he
blasts Prime, and the blast can clearly be seen

Rhino-The blast isn't there, but Prime's right side still smokes from the
impact

Original-Just before Megatron blasts Prime for the last time, there is a
brief shot of a shocked Chip, Spike and Sparkplug looking on

Rhino-Chip and the others are still in this shot, but the animation is
different as they are drawn too off model

Original-When Megatron blasts Prime at the end of their battle, the camera
pans across from Megatron to Prime as he fires at his back

Rhino-The camera pans across a lot more slowly, and just before Prime is
hit, there is a different shot of Prime being hit in the

front in his chest (taken from earlier in the battle)

Original-There is a close-up shot of Spike remarking that Optimus is barely
functional

Rhino-The animation here is different, as Spike is again drawn off model

Original-As Mixmaster begins to shoot his acids at the cavern ceiling, the
camera zooms up to him

Rhino-The camera zooms up to him, but not enough to fit in with the
substituted footage from the master tape. (This was possibly done because
there was no beam drawn in the film Rhino had access to)

Original-When the Constructicons stand in front of Teletraan's "glowing
stick", the camera zooms into the stick

Rhino-The camera doesn't zoom into the stick due to this shot being a
composite image created by Rhino. The film they had access to showed the
Constructicons, but not Teletraan's stick, and due to the master tape being
of too low quality on its own, they seem to have combinedboth the film and
master tape to create this shot.

Original-When the Dinobots initially shoot at the Constructicons, there are
no visible faults

Rhino-For one brief second, there is a missing laser blast, and underneath,
part of Scrapper's arm and chest are missing (where the laser blast should
have been)

Original-When the Constructicons retreat backwards through the hole in the
volcano, there are no visible faults

Rhino-Part of the right wall is missing, showing the incomplete animation of
Scavcenger's legs (that would have been covered up by the wall)

Original-When Chip notices that something was wrong with the battle, he and
Spike are drawn correctly, and the camera zooms in on him

Rhino-The animation is different here, with no zoom on Chip, and both Chip
and Spike being slightly off model again

Original-Sludge shoots lasers from his eyes at the Constructicons

Rhino-No lasers can be seen

It seems that Rhino's original intention was to use as much of the film
materials as they could, while using the 1 inch masters to fill in the gaps
and to substitute into the episode if the animation on the original film was
different from the finished animation. They did actually do this for a
number of scenes spread throughout the episodes. For example, in "War Of The
Dinobots", when Soundwave scans the Dinobots, there are blue circles shown
over the three Dinobots in question. In the original film materials obtained
by Rhino, the blue circles hadn't yet been added. But on the DVD release,
they have substituted into the episode the final finished animation (from
the master tape). Unfortunately, not all such scenes were replaced with the
(lower picture quality) finished animation. The following information is
simply intended to present the differences between the final versions of the
episodes as originally broadcast and released on home video, with the new
Rhino masters created for the DVD box set. These differences have angered
some, and have been ignored by others. As for me personally, I enjoy the
very clear picture quality present throughout the episodes (especially as
season 1 episodes in particular had a very dark and grainy picture compared
to seasons 2 or 3), but in no way will I ever consider these episodes the
"definitive" versions.

Jon