The Transformers is an American animated television series which originally aired from September 17, 1984 to November 11, 1987 in syndication. The first of many series in the Transformers franchise, it was based upon Hasbro's Transformers toy line and depicts a war among giant robots that can transform into vehicles and other objects.[4] The series was produced by Marvel Productions and Sunbow Productions in association with Japanese studio Toei Animation[5] for first-run syndication. Toei co-produced the show and was the main animation studio for the first two seasons. In the third season Toei's involvement with the production team was reduced and the animation services were shared with the South Korean studio AKOM.[6] The fourth season was entirely animated by AKOM. The series was supplemented by a feature film, The Transformers: The Movie (1986), taking place between the second and third seasons. This series is also popularly known as "Generation 1", a term originally coined by fans in response to the re-branding of the franchise as Transformers: Generation 2 in 1992, which eventually made its way into official use.[citation needed] The series was later shown in reruns on Sci-Fi Channel, The Hub and Discovery Family. It is also the first installment in the Generation 1 cartoon era.