Optimus Prime’s traumatic death in TRANSFORMERS: THE MOVIE sparked a write-in campaign to bring him back

My uncle worked on the classic 80’s animated film Transformers: The Movie, so I had the opportunity to attend the premiere of the film, which I still remember like it was yesterday. It was a fantastic experience! I was a huge fan of the Transformers animated series, so of course I was excited for a movie to come and I was excited for the opportunity to watch that movie on the big screen!

I didn’t know the trauma I was about to experience. Many of my favorite characters were killed in the opening scene of the film! I couldn’t believe what the hell was happening! I sat there and watched in amazement and sadness as the lights went out in the eyes of these beloved characters. What the hell was going on!? My young Brian couldn’t comprehend the craziness that was happening!

Then suddenly I watch Optimus Prime in an epic battle with Megatron. Of course Optimus Prime would beat him and survive! There was no doubt in my mind that the Autobot hero would destroy Megatron until Hot Rod came running in and interfered, and because of that bad decision, I saw Megatron wipe out Optimus!

Not long after that I sat there watching as the light in Optimus Prime’s eyes went out and then he damn well went grey! GREY! He was dead and I couldn’t believe it! I was so sad, and that’s all I could think about throughout the movie. That first viewing of the film saw me face the fact that Optimus Prime had been killed and there was nothing I could do to bring him back to life! He was devastating. I got to know and love this character over the course of two seasons and 65 episodes and now he was dead.

During an interview with Collider, Optimus Prime voice actor Peter Cullen spoke about the role of Optimus and the stories he’s heard about children’s sadness over the character’s death:

“I made Optimus Prime until the movie in 1986, where I was put to rest. ‘There lies Optimus Prime. See ya, boy!’ And I didn’t come back, I wasn’t resurrected until the first Michael Bay movie. So, there’s a lot of time in between; but still, I came back to do two or three shows because a lot of kids obviously had trouble with that scene, and wouldn’t come out of their their rooms to hide under the beds, I was told.”

I don’t remember kids hiding under beds because of the character’s death, but it was definitely something kids of the time had to deal with. The experience was so traumatic that a letter-writing campaign was launched that convinced the studio to bring back Optimus Prime for a limited time.

Optimus returned for a two-part episode titled “The Return of Optimus Prime”. Hasbro had every intention of getting rid of Optimus Prime, but the letter-writing campaign forced them to bring him back. In another interview with THR, Cullen said:

“[T]hey, they brought me back here for three shows. The mothers of America turned on the powers that be and then they had to take me back. But then, that’s when I finally fell back asleep, and I didn’t touch it again until the first film with Michael.”

In Optimus’ return story, he was resurrected by a race of robots called the Quintessons, who were not aligned with the Autobots or Decepticons. They needed the Autobot leader to return to fight the “plague of hatred” that had caused everyone in the galaxy to fight each other. This was great for Hasbro, and as a kid, it was great to see Optimus Prime in action again!

The reaction the kids had to Optimus Prime’s death affected GI Joe: The Movie as well as and changed Duke’s fate from death to survival after being in a coma.

Optimus Prime was such a beloved character and fans were unwilling to let him go. He will always and forever be the face of the Transformers franchise. I still think it’s crazy that Hasbro killed it! It was a really brave move that he appreciates now more than I did as a child. They were really trying to do something different, but damn… it was sad.