R2:Transformers The Movie.. widescreen vs fullscreen pics. (1 Viewer)

[nolesrule]

I find this highly unlikely-- animated films (and visual efx) are almost universally created in the intended aspect as it is a waste of money to animate or render things that will not be seen.

But the TF movie wasn't just intended to be seen on the big screen. It was also designed to be a multi-part episode that could be shown on TV. Since it's reasonable to say that in the mid-80s people were more likely to see the movie as epsiodes during the series run than they were to see it on VHS (and even then, there wasn't a demand for widescreen), it wouldn't be a stretch for them to decide to compose for 4x3 instead.

Weren't many Disney animated releases matted for theaters?