What if The Goldrush Games was a theatrical short specials?

***Transformers BotBots: The Goldrush Games*** is a Canadian traditionally-animated sports science-fiction featurette produced by Boulder Media, Pixar Animation Studios, and Walt Disney Pictures directed by Pete Docter.

In 2023, *The Goldrush Games* premiered in theaters for the screening of *The Oswaldo Movie*.

## Plot

It's a bright new day in the mall, and Burgertron is confident that their recent victory over the killer security bots will surely mean the other BotBots will crawl all over each other in desperation to ask the Lost Bots to join them. They spy a huge gathering of BotBots on the floor below, which Burgertron is convinced is a "thank you" ceremony... but it's Spud Muffin instead making everything all about him. He's throwing the "funnest party ever", complete with a Fun-O-Meter devised by the Science Alliance to prove he's thrown the most kickin' party in all of BotBots history. With Snorg providing the tunes as DJ Brock O'Lonely is on vacation, the party gets into full swing. Burgertron is crushed that the Lost Bots are once again overshadowed, even moreso than normal as it looks like Spud is going to be scientifically proven to be the coolest BotBot ever.

As the Fun-O-Meter dings into maximum fun levels, there's a low rumble... and a piece of the wall splits open with a blinding light, revealing a golden trophy bot: The Gamesmaster! This bot of myth and alleged legend sensed their incredible fun levels and has come to decree the BotBots worthy of competing in the most glorious of mall competitions, The Goldrush Games, to prove which mall squad is the best! Bonz-Eye is immediately skeptical, but Burgertron insists there's no better way to prove the Lost Bots' worthiness. The Gamesmaster agrees that the Lost Bots can compete, but as they are not a "formal" recognized squad, this means they have to compete under "provisional status": failure to reach first place means they'll be banished to the Dark Side of the Mall! Much to the other Lost Bots' shock, Burgertron agrees readily.

Back at the Lost and Found, the other Lost Bots air their reservations about the whole setup; even ultra-competitive Kikmee is wary of the stakes, and notes that competition should be about fun. Bonz-Eye lightly grills Burgertron over his continued urge to re-join the Hunger Hubs, noting how awful they've been to him ever since he fell in with the Lost Bots. But the desire to get back in with the larger BotBot society still compels them all...

As the games begin, Gamesmaster reveals the squads' starting rankings: of the eight competing squads, the Hunger Hubs are in first, while the Lost Bots are (of course) in dead last. The first event is the Shopping Cart Launch, where the squads fling a BotBot off a speeding shopping cart, aiming to pop balloons of varying point values. Dimlit ends up bouncing off the 100-point star balloon (those Mylar ones are tough!) while the other three manage to pop lesser-value but easier-to-bust rubber balloons. Still in last place, Burgertron consoles his team: there's still plenty more events to win! And win events they do: Clogstopper finishes first in the Grip Strength Hanging Challenge without breaking a sweat, Bonz-Eye holds tight to win Guinea Pig Bronco Riding, and Kikmee sails to victory in the Escalator Ski Jump. By the time of the last challenge in the semi-finals, the Lost Bots have made it to fifth, just one win away from making it into the finals.

The final event is the Dumpster Dive Relay race, with the teams swimming through very gross trash-water in the mall's back storage area. Kikmee gets an early lead, but also gets her foot caught in an un-cut six-pack ring. Burgertron calls for a time-out, but the Gamesmaster refuses; the trash is part of the race! Kikmee manages to get free and tag in Burgertron, though the Lost Bots have a lot of "ground" to catch up. Burgertron consoles Kikmee with her own words: competition is about doing your very best when times are tough. He leaps onto a spray-can floating in the filth, and with a kick, the processed cheese-like product propels him at face-peeling speed to the finish, where he scores a photo-finish tie with Spud Muffin, putting them in fourth place and into the finals! Knotzel asks if Burgertron just cheated, but again he uses someone's previous words, recalling that the Gamesmaster said "help ye or hurt ye, the trash can affect your performance"... and the momentarily-flummoxed Gamesmaster agrees he did say that, so the spray-cheese move was legal and the shared win is legit. As the crowd cheers, Spud Muffin slinks off....

The Lost Bots are celebrating their victory when Spud Muffin approaches Burgertron, wanting a word in private. He says that after his performance in The Goldrush Games, he's convinced that the burger-bot should be allowed back in the Hunger Hubs, and as the squad's leader again. Burgertron is both excited and confused, pointing out it seems like Spud's been actively sabotaging the him, resulting in a melodramatic denial from the fries. He's even able to explain away the grease and salt found at the scenes, since there's lots of places in the mall where grease and salt feature heavily. Burgertron can't quite argue with that, and Spud Muffin asks again... is he coming back, or what?

Burgertron thinks back to the good times he had back when he led the Hunger Hubs... but images of the Lost Bots keep getting in his way. Spud Muffin shakes him out of his reverie and re-poses the question: does he want to re-join the Hunger Hubs or not? When the other members of the squad arrive and ask him to come back (in a considerably less menacing way), Burgertron agrees.

Back at the Lost and Found, Burgertron says his goodbyes the the Lost Bots, who all obviously have concerns. But he's adamant (or at least he tries to be), and Clogstopper gives him a goodbye gift of a necklace made out of used chewing gum, which Burgertron accepts and wears despite the sheer gross-out factor. And with that, he walks away to re-join his "real" squad in the food court. As he peruses the list of Spud's "suggestions" for the next round of challenges, he notices Brock O'Lonely is not on the roster, and Spud quickly explains he's still on vacation. And he also reacts not great to Burgertron's remarks that he's more interested in just having fun than winning.

As the Goldrush Games get back into gear, Kikmee tries to give the despondent Lost Bots a pep talk. It doesn't go well at first, as Clogstopper and Bonz-Eye remind her of the ways Burgertron's been a double-decker jerk in the past. But Kikmee has never been one to give up, and reminds them of the good he's brought into their lives, and that they can do this! And thusly pumped, do this they do! Dimlit conquers his fear of falling from great heights to win the Rubber Chicken Bungee Jump, Clogstopper and Bonz-Eye clean up in Synchronized Slime Swimming, and the Dimlit/Kikmee combo sweep the Curling With Sardines event. With these wins under their belts, the Lost Bots are now tied with the Hunger Hubs for first place! Burgertron pops back to congratulate the Lost Bots on doing so well, and they have some friendly talk... until Spud Muffin yanks Burgertron away, growling darkly that he is never to talk to "those losers" again.

The two squads get set for the final event, the Obstacle Course, a four-part relay. Kikmee gives some trash talk to Spud Muffin as they climb over park benches and bounce on trampolines, but the other face-offs are much friendlier competition. Fottle Barts accepts Clogstopper's invitation to check out his used ear swab collection after the Games before they wade through a deep dish lasagna. Ulf the Orange and Bonz-Eye trade compliments on each other's fancy footwork as they high-step through a field of big chewy pretzels. And of course, Burgertron and Dimlit... well, c'mon. The pair climb over a Connect Four rack, but on the way down, Dimlit gets his foot caught in one of the holes. Burgertron stops cold short of the finish line, and as Spud Muffin screams at him to just finish and win, Burgertron looks at the gum-necklace he's still wearing, thinking about the good times he's had with the Lost Bots...

...and runs back to the rack, pulling Dimlit free and carrying him, intending for them to finish the race together. But then Spud leaps in the way, pushing them both down and stealing the rigatoni baton and crossing the finish line himself, declaring a win for himself, err, the Hunger Hubs! Which does not sit well with the other Hunger Hubs. When Burgertron raises an objection, Spud cites "rule 319", and the Gamesmaster stammers out a confirmation. High on his win, Spud tells Burgertron to re-join the Lost Bots if he doesn't like it, which means he can join them in being exiled forever to the Dark Side of the Mall! A fate that Burgertron willingly accepts, having had enough of Spud Muffin's—aah the mall guard!!!

Every BotBot changes into their "hiding" modes, except for Burgertron... and the Gamesmaster, just as Burgertron predicted. Pulling on Gamesmaster's handles, Burgertron pulls off his helmet to see who it really is... Brock O'Lonely in a robot suit! Having heard Spud give different locations for Brock's supposed "vacation", Burgertron suspected that the Goldrush Games were a sham all along meant to get Burgertron and the Lost Bots exiled, which Brock corroborates, having been forced to go along with Spud's plan. When a hurt Ulf asks Spud if this is all true, he goes nuts, admitting his jealousy and anger at being thought the "sidekick" all this time, and even revealing how he was the one that sent Burgertron off-course during a round of vent-sliding, which landed him in the Lost and Found. He continues to rant and rave, unaware that the other BotBots are changing into their "disguise" modes once again, reveling in the fact that for everything he's done, he had nothing to do with Burgertron breaking the Sacred Rule of the Mall; he revealed himself to the mall guard all by himself!

And as the Lost Bots change to disguise mode, Spud gloats even more... until he realizes that Dave the guard is right behind him! Dave picks the terrified Spud Muffin up, but simply wants the fry-bot to relay a message to his "boss" the burger-bot... to thank him for getting his job back, and in return, he's done trying to convince anyone else they exist; nobody he ever told believed him anyway. And with a light pat on the deflated fry's head, Dave heads back to his office, probably for a nap.

As Dave leaves, the other BotBots transform and close in on Spud Muffin, intending to put him on an outbound truck, never to be seen again. But the Lost Bots step between them, Burgertron saying that if he's learned anything, it's that people deserve a second chance. So, for him to have the chance to redeem himself in the future, Spud finds himself sent to the Dark Side of the Mall, with its bad lighting and decrepit stores and the creepy dolls...

The unfortunate business taken care of, Ulf invites Burgertron back into the Hunger Hubs, with the other squads agreeing to take the other Lost Bots in as well. But the Lost Bots have their own idea: they've been together through so much, they ask the other squads to accept them as an official squad of their own! The other BotBots agree. But then, the Gamemaster was revealed that he still alive, and give them the trophy as the true winners, and declared, hereby and pronounce the Lost Bots in best of the mall as hailed as a heroes, then the BotBots congraultes them with cheers, confetti, and wicked tunes, another party starts in earnest, this time with the Lost Bots as the guests of honor.

Meanwhile, Dave returns to his office, where a lady in a snappy suit awaits him. Agent Wagner from government agency Sector Seven introduces herself, having gotten his voicemail about the "little robots". And she wants to know more....

## Voice cast

* James Hartnett as Burgertron
* Lisa Norton as Kikmee
* Josh Gad as Dimlit.
* Kevin James as Laceface.
* Anna Kendrick as Batsby
* Louisa Zhu as Bonz-Eye
* Patrick Warburton as Spud Muffin
* Chris Rock as Clogstopper
* Tom Kane as GamesMaster
* Demi Lovato as Ulf the Orange

## Production

In 2017, it was announced that film would be release in front of *The Oswaldo Movie.*

## Songs used in half-hour featurette

* Working for the Weekend - Loverboy
* September - Earth, Wind and Fire

## Trivia

* This is the first half-hour featurette to be released in theaters.