Remember that one day when you could wake up without an alarm? When you would get your favorite bowl of cereal and sit between the hours of 8 and 12? This is a blog dedicated to the greatest time of our childhood: Saturday mornings. The television programs you watched, the memories attached to them, and maybe introducing you to something you didn't realize existed. Updated every weekend.
Retro TV network MeTV had announced its latest spinoff channel: MeTV Toons, which, as the name implies, will feature classic animated programs. Today, they released the first tentative schedule breakdown for the first wave of shows--and a number of Saturday morning hits have made the cut.
Weekdays will feature Captain Planet, The Real Ghostbusters, Beetlejuice, Underdog, Inspector Gadget, The Smurfs, Wacky Races, The Perils of Penelope Pitstop, Atom Ant & Secret Squirrel, Scooby-Doo Where Are You!, The Adventures of Rocky & Bullwinkle and Friends and The Mask: The Animated Series.
Saturdays add ALF: The Animated Series, ALF Tales, Histeria!, Josie and the Pussycats, Duck Dodgers, Freakazoid!, Challenge of the GoBots, The Completely Mental Misadventures of Ed Grimley and Mister T.
Additionally, there will be a number of theatrical shorts such as Woody Woodpecker, Popeye, Mr. Magoo, Tom and Jerry, Yogi Bear and Casper, prime time hits like The Jetsons, The Flintstones and Johnny Quest and more.
Keep an eye out for the network starting June 25th!
By the end
of the first decade of the 21st Century, Hasbro decided they wanted to transition into
an entertainment company first, and a toy production company second. In 2008,
they reacquired the rights to the 80s programs they made with Sunbow Productions
from TV-Loonland AG.
In 2009, they formed their own studio—initially called Hasbro Studios, later AllSpark—to develop, produce
and distribute their own multimedia from concepts conceived by new division HasLab, run by
Creative Manager Rik Alvarez.
And in 2010, they launched their own network, The
Hub, in partnership with Discovery
Communications.
Map of Cybertron from the Binder of Revelation.
One of
their primary goals for Transformers
media outside of the recent live-action films was to create a unified
continuity between projects going forward; offering a kind of consistency in
the brand. Within the previous decade, Transformers had undergone a
number of reinventions between multiple animated series from both sides of the
globe, the film series, and the comic books from Dreamwave and IDW Publishing. The groundwork for this
idea, dubbed the Aligned
Continuity, was laid out in the massive document called the “Binder of Revelation”
written by Alvarez, Vice President of Intellectual Property Development Aaron Archer, and various other
Transformers experts and fans. It took elements from every Transformers
incarnation to date to outline the definitive franchise bible that would
affect everything outside of the films. However, creative teams were still
given the leeway to craft their own stories and art styles, and were not strictly
beholden to established facts found in the Binder. It was essentially meant to
be an outline for the broad strokes of the overall story that must be touched
on. Archer would call this the “squint test”—as in if you squinted just right,
it all lined up.
The first
entry under this new continuity was the video game War for Cybertron,
released in mid-2010 by Activision, and
supplemented by the novel Exodus,
written by Alex Irvine and published by Del Rey Books.
These would introduce a corrupted version of the Transformers’ power source, Energon, called Dark Energon. The first
television show in this new continuity, and one of the earliest entries on The
Hub, was Transformers: Prime; a co-production with Darby Pop
Productions. The name was meant to symbolize the establishment of a new “prime”
continuity for the franchise. Prime was developed by Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci, the screenwriters
for the live-action Transformers
film and its sequel, Revenge
of the Fallen. The series was their chance to delve into the mythology
and character arcs of the Transformers that the limitations of the
films—such as how long the expensive CGI characters could appear on
screen—didn’t allow them to properly explore.
Team Prime: Bumblebee, Bulkhead, Optimus, Arcee and Ratchet.
Team Prime
consisted initially of Optimus Prime (Peter Cullen), Arcee (Sumalee Montano), Bumblebee (Will Friedle),
Ratchet (Jeffrey Combs) and
briefly Cliffjumper (Dwayne “The
Rock” Johnson & Billy
Brown) as they operated out of a former military
missile silo near the fictional town of Jasper, Nevada. They operated in
secret from the humans (besides their traditional human allies) as they
continued their battle against the Decepticons.
Megatron (Frank Welker), Starscream (Steve Blum), Soundwave (Welker) and his
minion, Laserbeak, were
the only notable Decepticons amongst an army of identical drones, but others
would join as the story progressed. The discovery that Earth’s core was really
the planet-sized Transformer Unicron
established that the planet was truly Cybertron’s twin. This
led to a race between the factions for Cybertronian artifacts strewn across the
planet and the Omega Keys to
restore Cybertron; destroyed by Megatron with Dark Energon, which was more
abundant on Earth. The Dark Energon in Prime was depicted differently
from War for Cybertron as it was more of a legendary substance with
supernatural abilities (like raising the dead) while in the game, it was merely
a powerfully dangerous substance.
A prequel to Prime published by IDW.
Although War
for Cybertron was more influenced by Generation 1 and Prime
took greater inspiration from the films, events from the game and novel were
referenced in flashbacks on the show, and the sequel game, Fall of Cybertron, featured
references to Prime. The only hangup in the grand plan was with IDW. HasLab
had tried to convince them to reboot their comics to become more in line with
the Aligned Continuity, but as they were already so deep into their own
stories, they refused to abandon that investment of time and effort. They
would, however, publish separate books
related to Prime.
Despite Prime’s
overall success, it was decided to end the show after three seasons. Reasons
for this included Prime’s out of control budget and The Hub receiving
lower-than-expected viewership numbers, which would see Hasbro give a majority
stake back to Discovery and the channel renamed Discovery Family the following year.
Additionally, plans for Prime’s third season had to be abruptly scrapped
and reworked when the franchise received a new head toy designer and introduced
the Predacons–a race of
ancient Cybertronian dragons–to the Prime line. They now had to be worked into Prime’s
third season, subtitled Beast Hunters. Takara Tomy, Hasbro’s Japanese
partners in the Transformers franchise, opted to not even air the Beast
Hunters season in Japan. Instead, they created their own continuation of
the Prime story called Triple Combination: Transformers
GO! featuring original Japanese-themed
characters battling the Predacons for the time-twisting Legendiscs.
While High Moon Studios, the makers of
the Cybertron games, was fully on board with the idea, the creators of
the animated shows wanted freedom from the Binder to do their own thing. That’s
why Rescue
Bots, based on the then-upcoming pre-school
toys in the franchise, was said to be in continuity with Prime
against HasLab’s plans. It was argued that a second series on the same network
with the same production companies should be connected. Rescue Bots was
kept largely insular from the larger Prime story, but Optimus and
Bumblebee would make guest appearances.
The last gasp of the Aligned Continuity in game form.
Additionally, Hasbro’s ambitions at
being an entertainment company was falling far short of expectations. They had put
a lot of money into the film adaptation of Battleship, which
ended up sunk at the box office. High Moon Studios owner Activision laid off a
large number of their staff, and assets from the two games they produced were
cobbled together to create the lackluster midquel Rise of the Dark Spark;
meaning now Hasbro lost their video game partner in their plans. A direct video
game for Prime, Transformers
Universe, was also scrapped after years of developmental difficulties.
Finally, Hasbro started making budget cuts and shut down HasLab, laying off
most of its staff (the HasLab name would later resurface as Hasbro’s crowdfunding arm
for one-shot collectors’ items that wouldn’t see mass release to stores).
The Bee Team: Drift, Sideswipe, Grimlock, Bumblebee, Strongarm, Fixit, Optimus and Windblade.
Even though the Aligned Continuity
imploded, projects for it were still coming out. The next entry was a sequel to
Prime called Robots in Disguise (not to be confused with the 2001
anime of the same name, and initially working under the title TF2). Developed
by producers Adam Beechen
and Jeff Kline and Duane Capizzi, the series was set
three years after the defeat of Megatron. Bumblebee (Friedle, reprising from Prime)
had become a seasoned police officer on the restored and prosperous Cybertron.
A vision of a presumed-dead Optimus (Cullen) appeared to him and led him back
to Earth to deal with the threat of recapturing the escaped Decepticons from a
crashed maximum-security ship. This would be the first Transformers
program where Bumblebee was the central focus; playing off of his growing
popularity thanks to being prominently featured in the film franchise.
Russell and Denny Clay in their scrapyard.
Initially joining Bumblebee was his
partner, cadet Strongarm (Constance Zimmer), who could transform into a police
SUV and whose by-the-book mentality often clashed with Bumblebee’s loose style,
and Sideswipe (Darren Criss), a rebellious “bad boy bot” that Strongarm
apprehended causing some vandalism in his futuristic sports car alt form and
forced to come with her to Earth. The Bee Team’s ranks would be
bolstered by the addition of Mini-Con
Fixit (Mithcell Whitfield), who worked aboard the prison ship and ended up
damaged in the crash, causing him to frequently glitch; Dinobot Grimlock (Khary
Payton), a former prisoner whose headstrong destructive tendencies as both bot
and T-Rex was put to use for the good guys; bounty hunter Drift (Eric Bauza), a former
Decepticon thief named Deadlock that operated with a code of honor and
transformed into a futuristic car; Drift’s Mini-Con students Jetstorm, who was
impulsive and often acted inappropriately, and Slipstream (both Roger Craig
Smith), who was more obedient to Drift; and Windblade (Kristy Wu & Erica Lindbeck), an ancient
warrior with a clairvoyant instinct for finding Decepticons that could
transform into a VTOL jet. Additionally,
they had two human allies: child-like junk collector Denny Clay (Ted McGinley)
and his son, Russell (Stuart Allan), who came to live with his father while his
mother was in Copenhagen. It was in their scrapyard, the Vintage
Salvage Depot for the Discriminating Nostalgist, just outside of Crown City, where the Autobots
set up their base.
Sideswipe finds someone he can relate to in Blurr.
Occasionally the Bee Team would be
joined by cool and collected Jazz
(Arif S. Kinchen), who was
tasked with cultural observance and analysis and became a sports car; medical
officer Ratchet (Combs, reprising from Prime), tasked with tracking down
rogue Decepticons with Mini-Con Undertone,
and could become an ambulance; Blurr
(Max Mittelman, reprising
from Rescue Bots), a hotshot Rescue Bot who loved speed and never
hesitated to show it in his race car form; and the powerful-yet-gentle Bulkhead (Kevin Michael Richardson,
reprising from Prime), who transformed into a SUV.
Optimus meets the Primes.
Optimus Prime had sacrificed
himself to save Cybertron during Prime. But instead of dying, he was
taken to the Realm of the
Primes: an ethereal plane outside of time and space inhabited by the
original Thirteen Transformers. There
he was trained by Micronus
Prime (Adrian Pasdar) to
combat a coming threat. That threat would come sooner than anticipated and
Optimus was sent to Earth infused with the power of the Primes. Once the threat
was defeated, however, they took their power back, leaving Optimus weakened. He
would join Bumblebee’s team and work under his old friend to aid in their missions.
Bumblebee with his Decepticon Hunter.
A special weapon utilized by the
Bee Team were the Decepticon
Hunters, found on the prison ship. They were multi-purpose tools that could
read its wielder’s mind and become whatever weapon or device they needed.
However, there was a trick to them: the user needed to have an absolutely clear
image in their head of what they wanted, or else it would change into random
objects. Additionally, if a Decepticon Hunter wasn’t working perfectly, it
could severely damage both itself and its user.
Steeljaw's Pack: Thunderhoof, Fracture, Underbite, Steeljaw and Clampdown.
The primary antagonist was the wolf-like Steeljaw (Troy Baker), a brilliant
schemer and revolutionary with goals to take over Earth as a new home for
Decepticons under his rule, and who could become an off-road vehicle. He would form his own Pack that included Underbite (Liam O’Brien), a Chompazoid whose strength was
determined by how much metal he consumed and could become a four-wheeled tank; Thunderhoof (Frank Stallone), a former crime
boss with moose-like antlers and hooves that could become a tractor; bounty
hunter Fracture (Kevin Pollak), who had no
loyalties or scruples so long as he got paid, and could become a chopper; his
Mini-Cons Airazor (Smith), a dimwit that took pleasure in doing bad things to
others, and Divebomb (Payton), the smarter of the pair with razor-sharp claws
he WASN’T hesitant to use; and Clampdown
(Jim Cummings), powerful yet
cowardly and always willing to do anything to save himself, who could become a
hatchback.
The Stunticons: Slashmark, Heatseeker, Motormaster, Dragstrip and Wildbreak.
Transformers: Robots in Disguise
was meant to return to the Transformers’ former home of Cartoon Network, but made several
international detours along the way. The first 13 episodes of the series were
dubbed in Chinese and premiered in China on December 31, 2014 on the website 1905.com;
where they could be purchased for roughly $3-4 each until January 15th.
Purchasing them also entered viewers into a contest to win an assortment of
Hasbro toys and a roughly $5 digital coupon. It then premiered on Canal J in France, Biggs
in Portugal, and Cartoon Network in Hungary,
Australia and New Zealand before finally
hitting the United States on March 14, 2015. This would continue for the
duration of the show, with episodes premiering in Singapore, Australian iTunes, Cartoon Network UK (which aired 2
episodes a week), Teletoon (now Cartoon
Network) in Canada, and Gulli in France
days or sometimes even months ahead of the US broadcasts.
The ultimate teamwork: Ultra Bee!
The series ran for 3 ½ seasons. The
first season was more episodic, focusing on a “villain of the week” that would
introduce a typically animal-based Decepticon that had to be recaptured by the
Bee Team and put back into stasis. Only Steeljaw and members of his crew
escaped this fate so they could become recurring threats. The series was
decidedly lighter in tone compared to Prime, as Hasbro wanted to target an
audience that was somewhere in maturity between Prime and Rescue Bots
for a healthier consumer base. A number of running gags were established as a
result: such as Bumblebee’s inability to come up with a unique rallying cry;
Strongarm and Sideswipe engaged in a constant rivalry; Grimlock attempting to
find a better disguise than being a giant dinosaur; and Fixit glitching and
causing trouble for his teammates. Some of these running gags were further
expanded upon in 11 online shorts that supplemented the season.
The Bee Team meets Mini-Cons.
The second season split the
team—whose ranks were bolstered over the course of the previous one—into one
group searching for Decepticons around the world while Bumblebee, Strongarm,
Grimlock and Fixit stood watch over Crown City. The season saw a greater
attempt to connect Robots in Disguise with Prime, bringing in
characters from that show for guest appearances while also engaging in longer,
building narratives. It was also heavily toy-driven, with characters who had
newly-released toys being included and leading to a greater focus on Mini-Cons.
Enter: Starscream.
A short 6-episode mini-series was
made following the second season, which was considered the third until the
third was officially announced. Considered season 2.5, the mini-series saw the
return of Starscream seeking to utilize the Mini-Cons created by the
Decepticons. The true third season, titled “Combiner Force”, saw the Bee Team
have to harness the power of combination to create Ultra Bee to deal with
serious threats. Along with dealing with more Decepticon escapees, the Bee Team
found themselves embroiled in a political conflict as Cybertron’s High
Council had decided to label them criminals and sent the very Decepticons
they captured after them.
In Japan, the series aired as two
separately branded shows. Transformers Adventure debuted on satellite
network Animax on March 15, 2015—the
first to be aired on satellite since Super Lifeform Transformers:
Beast Wars Returns—which meant
there was no reason for it to be edited for time like network broadcasts.
Localization was headed up by Keiichiro
Miyoshi, who had also done so for the live-action films, making it the
first since Generation 1 to not be handled by Yoshikazu Iwanami. As a result,
it lacked the fourth wall-breaking humor and extensive adlibbing that had
become synonymous with the franchise under Iwanami. The intro featured a mix of
episode clips and new animation by LandQ Studio
and the theme “Save the
Future!!” by Mitsuhiro Oikawa,
and an all-new outro
by Nakano Design with the theme “Try☆Transformers
Adventure↑↑↑” performed by the main cast. Transformers Adventure –Prime
of Micron- (New Enemies) combined the second season and mini-series
episodes into a new series that debuted on July 3, 2016. The new title
emphasized the connections to Prime. While Prime of Micron had
new clips in its intro sequence, the outro and music remained the same. Much
like Prime before it, the final season of Robots in Disguise was
never dubbed or aired in Japan.
“Pilot, Part 1” (12/31/14 China, 3/14/15 US) – Bumblebee
gets a vision from Optimus that sends him back to Earth with Strongarm and
Sideswipe to discover a crashed and empty prison ship.
“Pilot, Part 2” (12/31/14 China, 3/14/15 US) – Minicon
Fixit, Dinobot Grimlock and humans Denny and Russell Clay join the team to help
round up the escaped Decepticons, starting with Underbite.
“Trust Exercises” (12/31/14 China, 4/5/15 US) – Bumblebee
tries to build the team’s trust while having to stop Sharkticon Hammerstrike
from recreating his home environment.
“More Than Meets the Eye” (12/31/14 China, 4/11/15 US) –
Russell attempts to make friends with the local kids while Fixit tries to prove
himself in the field by going after combiner Chop Shop.
“W.W.O.D.?” (12/31/14 China, 4/18/15 US) – Bumblebee must
learn to lead as humans discover a stasis pod inhabited by Terrashock.
“As the Kospego Commands!” (12/31/14 China, 4/25/15) –
Sideswipe’s loyalty is questioned when he and Bumblebee encounter Thunderhoof
looking to get back to Cybertron.
“Collect ‘Em All” (12/31/14 China, 5/2/15) – While the team
pursues a kleptomaniac Decepticon, Denny and Russell must fend off a greedy
memorabilia collector.
“True Colors” (12/31/14 China, 5/9/15) – Bumblebee must
figure out why Grimlock has suddenly turned on the team.
“Rumble in the Jungle” (12/31/14 China, 5/16/15 US) –
Strongarm’s first solo mission in South America is hampered by an
over-protective Bumblebee.
“Can You Dig It?” (12/31/14 China, 5/23/15 US) – Jazz pays
the team a visit as Decepticon Ped seeks to monopolize their Energon supply.
“Adventures in Bumblebee-Sitting!” (12/31/14 China, 5/30/15
US) – Quillfire’s toxic quills reduces Bumblebee’s maturity, increasing the
team’s difficulties in apprehending him.
“Hunting Season” (12/31/14 China, 6/6/15 US) – Bumblebee
learns there’s a price on his head when Cybertronian bounty hunters come to
Earth.
“Out of Focus” (12/31/14 China, 6/13/15 US) – The team
attempts to stop a group of thieves while Optimus is trained in the Realm of
Primes to face an evil that will threaten both worlds.
“Sideways” (6/20/15) – Clampdown leads the team to Steeljaw,
who has assembled his own team of Decepticons.
“Even Robots Have Nightmares” (6/27/15) – Vampiric
Nightstrike brings the team’s worst fears to life with his sonic scream,
leaving only a panicked Russell to save them.
“Some Body, Any Body” (7/4/15) – Insane scientist Vertebreak
kidnaps Sideswipe and transplants his head onto his body.
“One of Our Mini-Cons is Missing” (7/11/15) – Drift returns
to Earth to search for his missing Mini-Con while Springload and Quillfire
escape and take control of an experimental military tank.
“Deep Trouble” (7/18/15) – Grimlock hides his injury from
the team as they head to the ocean to stop Octopunch from leaving Earth.
“The Champ” (7/25/15) – Fromer gladiator Groundpounder takes
part in a televised fight and the team must rely on Grimlock’s strength to
bring him down.
“The Trouble with Fixit” (8/1/15) – Denny attempts to fix a
malfunctioning Fixit but ends up activating his guard program and causes him to
view the team as Decepticons to capture.
“Lockout” (8/8/15) – Steeljaw’s gang penetrates the
scrapyard to free their fellow Decepticons and lock out the Autobots with a
sonic field.
“Similarly Different” (8/15/15) – Grimlock’s encounter of
another Dinobot has him contemplating going back to his old ways.
“The Buzz on Windblade” (8/22/15) – Ancient Autobot Windblade
teams up with the team in order to stop Zizza from taking control of humans’
minds.
“Ghosts and Impostors” (8/29/15) – Bumblebee tries to show
his team the beauty of Earth by taking them to a ghost town that is unknowingly
inhabited by a Decepticon waiting for them.
“Battlegrounds, Part 1” (9/5/15) – Strongarm, Windblade and
Sideswipe are captured by Steeljaw’s gang and the Primes decide to deploy
Optimus despite his training being incomplete.
“Battlegrounds, Part 2” (9/12/15) – Megatron returns to
destroy both planets and it’s up to Bumblebee’s team and Optimus to stop him.
Season 2:
“Overloaded, Part 1” (2/20/16) – Optimus is stripped of the
power of the Primes just as an ancient enemy he once defeated returns to wreak
global havoc.
“Overload, Part 2” (2/27/16) – Bumblebee chases down
Overload while Prime leads his own group against Polarclaw and the harsh arctic
elements.
“Metal Meltdown” (3/5/16) – Strongarm tries to recreate her
partnership with Sideswipe with Grimlock while they chase a new Decepticon, and
Steeljaw discovers a new group of Decepticons.
“Suspended” (3/12/16) – A mistake in the field causes
Strongarm to take herself off of active duty.
“Cover Me” (3/19/16) – Windblade’s concern for Optimus
impacts the team on their latest mission.
“Brainpower” (3/26/16) – Grimlock attempts to make himself
smarter by absorbing data from a data cylinder, but something goes wrong and
impacts the team’s latest mission.
“Misdirection” (3/27/16 UK, 4/2/16 US) – The team goes off
to investigate a Decepticon island while Steeljaw plots to infiltrate the
scrapyard.
“Bumblebee’s Night Off” (4/2/16 UK, 4/9/16 US) – Bumblebee
is encouraged to attend the concert of one of his favorite bands but ends up
having to discreetly stop a Decepticon attack there.
“Impounded” (4/3/16 UK, 4/16/16 US) – Bumblebee and
Strongarm are trapped in an impound lot and Grimlock’s search for better
camouflage is interrupted by Quillfire’s return.
“Portals” (4/9/16 UK, 4/23/16 US) – Fixit’s attempts to fix
the GroundBridge end up summoning Soundwave and Laserbeak to the scrapyard
while Bumblebee is banished to the Shadowzone.
“Graduation Exercises” (4/10/16 UK, 4/30/16 US) – Slipstream
and Jetstorm accidentally put Drift in danger when they try to prove they can
work without their teacher.
“Decepticon Island, Part 1” (4/16/16 UK, 5/7/16 US) – The
Autobots discover the Decepticon’s lair and that Steeljaw is leading his own
army.
“Decepticon Island, Part 2” (4/16/16 UK, 5/14/16 US) –
Tensions rise between Bumblebee and Optimus as the Autobots find themselves
greatly outnumbered by the Decepticons.
Season 2 ½:
“History Lessons” (9/10/16 CAN, 10/22/16 US) – A trip to the
original Autobot base reveals a new enemy with sinister plans.
“Strongarm’s Big Score” (9/17/16 CAN, 10/29/16 US) –
Strongarm attempts to impress Fixit and ends up running afoul of a Scavenger.
“Pretzel Logic” (9/24/16 CAN, 11/5/16 US) – Grimlock ends up
befriending a human monk while on a mission at a monastery.
“Mighty Big Trouble” (10/1/16 CAN, 11/12/16 US) – The
Scavengers discover the long-lost Dark Star Saber made of Dark Energon, which
Starscream plans to put to good use.
“Mini-Con Madness” (10/8/16 CAN, 11/19/16 US) – Optimus
leads the team to rescue Bumblebee, Fixit, Slipstream and Jetstorm from
Starscream.
“Worthy” (10/15/16 CAN, 12/3/16 US) – The team must prevent
Starscream from linking with all seven Mini-Con Weaponizers.
Season 3:
“King of the Hill, Part 1” (4/25/17 FR, 4/29/17 US) – A
missile-firing Stunticon proves to be too much for the team near a nuclear
waste disposal site.
“King of the Hill, Part 2” (4/25/17 FR, 4/29/17 US) – The
Stunticon continues to give the team trouble while they try to keep it from
detonating the nuclear waste site.
“Defrosted” (4/25/17 FR, 5/6/17 US) – Grimlock wants to
learn new fighting techniques from Drift while Soundwave sends another Mini-Con
after the Decepticon Hunters.
“Blurred” (4/25/17 FR, 5/13/17 US) – After accidentally
freeing Ragebyte, Sideswipe tries to recapture him out of fear of being
replaced by Blurr.
“Sphere of Influence” (5/20/17) – The team discovers a
sphere that alters Cybertronian minds and causes them to fight each other.
“Bee Cool” (5/27/17) – Bumblebee struggles to lead the team
against two Stunticons while trying to be as cool as Sideswipe and Blurr.
“The Great Divide” (6/3/17) – A combiner accident causes
Sideswipe to split into two beings, while Soundwave gets ahold of his
Decepticon Hunter.
“Get a Clue” (6/10/17) – Strongarm investigates a strange
series of Decepticon thefts.
“Out of the Shadows” (6/17/17) – Drift’s former mentor comes
to recover the Mini-Cons he took from him, exposing his past to the rest of the
team.
“Disordered Personalities” (6/24/17) – A combining
experiment causes the team to switch personalities.
“Guilty as Charged” (7/15/17 UK, 7/29/17 US) – The team
tries to rescue Strongarm’s old classmate from a powerful foe.
“The Golden Knight” (7/16/17 UK, 8/12/17 US) – Bumblebee and
Fixit head to a remote English island to investigate an ancient Cybertronian
signal.
“The Fastest Bot Alive!” (7/22/17 UK, 8/12/17 US) – Grimlock
acquires super speed that he has a hard time controlling.
“Railroad Rage” (8/5/17 CAN, 8/19/17 US) – The team tries to
prevent the Stunticons from getting the fusion engine being transported on a
runaway train.
“Combine and Conquest” (8/12/17 CAN, 8/26/17 US) – Bumblebee’s
new leadership style is put to the test when they must go up against
Motormaster and the Stunticons.
“Moon Breaker” (8/19/17 CAN, 9/2/17 US) – When Optimus
recruits Drift for a special mission, Sideswipe and Strongarm compete to see
who’d be better to go than him.
“Exiles” (8/26/17 CAN, 9/9/17 US) – The team must abandon
their base when Steeljaw attacks, and Sideswipe’s abandonment issues begin to
rise.
“Breathing Room” (9/16/17) – Fixit tries to keep Steeljaw’s
crew busy while Bumblebee, Sideswipe and Strongarm figure out a way to escape
their capture.
“Prepare for Departure” (9/23/17) – As the team deals with
retrieving radioactive fuel rods from Steeljaw, Grimlock tries to learn the
difference between work and play.
“Prisoner Principles” (9/30/17) – Soundwave takes over
Steeljaw’s gang as they threaten a nuclear power plant.
“Collateral Damage” (10/7/17) – Soundwave escapes the
Shadowzone and sets up a Beacon Generator to summon Megatron.
“Something He Ate” (10/14/17) – Underbite eats part of the
GroundBridge and gains the ability to teleport.
“Five Fugitives” (10/28/17) – Strongarm’s old mentor arrives
from Cybertron to arrest the team.
“Enemy of My Enemy” (10/29/17 UK, 11/4/17 US) – Optimus
warns of a Cybertronian invasion of Earth, splitting up the team to defend both
of their homes.
“Freedom Fighters” (11/4/17 UK, 11/11/17 US) – The team must
save Earth from the invasion while liberating Cybertron from the High Council.
Shorts:
“Fixit Jam” (4/29/15) – Russell and Grimlock retrace
Grimlock’s steps to figure out where he saw Fixit last.
“To Catch a Phrase” (5/13/15) – Bumblebee continues to
search for his signature catchphrase.
“Sticky Situation” (5/26/15) – Denny eats some messy food
while riding inside Bumblebee.
“Carjacked!” (6/23/15) – A car thief ends up getting into
some encounters with Transformers.
“Perfect” (6/23/15) – Denny helps Grimlock find his
signature weapon.
“Knock, Knock!” (10/28/15) – Fracture and his Mini-Cons
release a Mini-Con from a stasis pod known as a Cyclone: an unpredictable and
unaligned version of Mini-Cons.
“The Power of Dibs” (10/28/15) – Sideswipe introduces
Slipstream and Jetstorm to the human custom of calling “dibs”.
“Back and Forth” (11/6/15) – Fracture pursues the Cyclones
to little avail.
“The Tragedy of Slipstream” (11/6/15) – Slipstream recounts
what turned him into a criminal.
“A Level Playing Field” (11/6/15) – The Cyclones cause a
brawl between the Autobot and Decepticon Mini-Cons.
“Two Plus Two Equals More” (11/6/15) – The Mini-Cons decide
to form a truce in order to put a stop to the Cyclones.
He voiced Horace Scope in an episode of The Magic School Bus, played
Principal Peter Prickly in the Recess franchise, and played the mayor in
several episodes of Pound Puppies (2010).
Known as “King of the Bs”, he was notable for making independent films
on a small budget that wound up becoming cult classics and giving many established
actors their big breaks. His 1960 horror comedy film, The Little Shop of
Horrors, was adapted in the 1991 animated series Little Shop on
which Corman served as a consultant.
For the history of Transformers, check out this post here.
While Hasbro was in a transitional period with their
business concerns, their new CEO, Brian Goldner, decided
it was time to take Transformers “back to basics” after the Beast-era—which replaced the
vehicle-themed transformations of the line with ones based on animals and
insects—ran its course. Hasbro had imported the Japanese-exclusive anime Transformers:
Robots in Disguise and its toyline
to fill the gap between projects while they worked with their Japanese
counterpart Takara Tomy on their
first coproduction in the franchise’s history.
Dubbed the “Unicron
Trilogy” due to the planet-sized Transformer Unicron being central to the story,
the series Armada,
Energon
and Cybertron
were a completely new continuity at the behest of Hasbro (they were originally
intended to be set in the Generation 1
continuity). It was notable for introducing a new faction of Transformers
called Mini-Cons; roughly
human-sized robots bursting with energy that could impart a portion of that power
to their larger Cybertronian cousins, granting them extra abilities or
increasing their strength through a process known as Powerlinxing. Each series ran for
over 50 episodes, airing between 2002-2005. Despite being produced in Japan, an
English dub of Armada was rushed out to air first on Cartoon Network’s Toonami programming block
before episodes were properly finished; leaving the dubbed episodes riddled
with technical errors that were fixed by the time they aired in Japan.
Character designs by Derrick J. Wyatt.
Returning
production to America, Hasbro partnered with Cartoon Network for their next
animated project. Originally entering development as Transformers: Hero,
executive producer Sam Register
began formulating the concept and story ideas for the series with Ford Gilmore, and Sean Gallowayand Yoshihiro Watanabe provided some early concept art. Marty
Isenberg was brought on board as the story editor and made adjustments to
Gilmore’s work; particularly when it came to the setting and character
personalities. Derrick J. Wyatt
was hired as the series’ lead character designer and art director, and the
emphasis was on stylization to make it appear different than anything that had
come before. However, the production worked closely with Hasbro and Takara Tomy
toy designers to ensure those designs could be translated into action figures. Register
also brought on Matt Youngberg
as a director and supervising producer.
Our heroes: Bulkhead, Ratchet, Optimus Prime, Prowl and Bumblebee.
A choice
was made to set the series long after the conclusion of the Great War for Cybertron;
with the Autobots having won
against the Decepticons, who
were now exiled from the planet Cybertron. The central
characters were five Autobots who, rather than being the best warriors, were
instead a lowly repair crew sent to fix the Space Bridges that allowed
Cybertronians to instantaneously transport from one planet to another. They
were led by the young and inexperienced academy washout Optimus Prime (David
Kaye, who actually auditioned to reprise the role of Megatron from previous
series), with a desire to become a hero. This marked the first time that “Prime” was used as a standard
rank designation rather than a title bestowed to the leader of all Autobots and
the holder of the Matrix
of Leadership; that rank instead being “Magnus” and belonging to the Supreme Commander.
Optimus’ alt mode was initially a half-tack truck resembling a Mitsubishi Fuso Hybrid
concept truck, but on Earth became a firetruck cab that could tow a variety
of trailers. His team included impulsive loudmouth Bumblebee (Bumper Robinson),
who transformed into a sub-compact car; gentle giant Bulkhead (Bill Fagerbakke),
whose brute tendencies tended to hide his more insightful nature and who
transformed into a 6-wheeled armored military truck; cranky medic Ratchet
(Corey Burton), suffering from PTSD
from his time in the Great War that could become an ambulance (with flashbacks
to his original alt mode as a quad-treaded van-like vehicle); and clever ninja
Prowl (Jeff Bennett), who found himself stuck with a team he had no use for and
could become a sleek police motorcycle. Although a character named Bulkhead appeared in Energon,
this Bulkhead was an all-new character and the first designed by Wyatt. Wyatt
used him to set the style tone for the other characters since he felt it would
help him avoid nostalgia dictating the designs of established characters as he
was a life-long fan of the franchise.
The Decepticons.
While on a mission, the Autobots
discovered the AllSpark,
a legendary life-giving artifact, buried in an asteroid. This attracted a group of Decepticons
who wanted the AllSpark in their bid to reclaim Cybertron and oust the Autobots.
Unique to the series was the fact that the Autobots were not only smaller than
the Decepticons, but wielded ordinary tools that were used as mele weaponry
while the Decepticons, who were built for war, had actual weaponry like guns,
blades and missiles. This particular group was led by Megatron (Burton), who initially
changed into a spacecraft with VTOL
turbofans before becoming a helicopter on Earth. Following him was the
fiercely-loyal former gladiator Lugnut (Kaye) that became a retro-futuristic
bomber plane; Blitzwing (Robinson), suffering from a split personality due to
his ability to triple-change into a mech tank and a fighter jet; Blackarachnia
(Cree Summer), who was once Optimus’ friend Elita-1 until she was cursed with a
spidery techno-organic form she sought to be free of; and the duplicitous
Starscream (Tom Kenny), who transformed into a forward-swept winged fighter jet
and looked for any chance to eliminate Megatron and rule the Decepticons
himself. In fact, it was Starscream’s machinations that led to the Autobots’
ship crashing on Earth and sending them into stasis for 50 years in Lake Eerie. The Autobots awakened
in a future robot-laden Detroit and became
public heroes after saving the city from a threat.
Captain Fanzone, Sari and Isaac.
They
befriended the spunky Sari Sumdac (Tara Strong), a young girl who was the
daughter of absent-minded scientist Isaac Sumdac (Kenny, using an Indian accent).
Isaac was the head of robotics company Sumdac Systems, whose
technological advancements were due to his finding the remains of Megatron (whom
he didn’t know was still active) and reverse-engineering Cybertronian
technology. Sari was chosen by the AllSpark to wield a special key that
channeled a portion of its energy that she would use at times to help the
Autobots and also cause a bit of trouble since, after all, she was just a kid. Other
characters included Captain Carmine Fanzone (Bennett), the machine-hating
police captain; Porter C. Powell (Robinson), a shrewd businessman who did
whatever he had to in order to achieve money and power; Mayor Augustus Edsel, the silent
mayor of Detroit who communicated with his actions, as well as some
interpretation from his press secretary, Adrias (Strong); and the Witwicky
Family, Spike (Burton, reprising the role from The Transformers),
Carly, Daniel (both Strong) and Nancy.
Society of Ultimate Villainy: Angry Archer, Professor Princess, Nanosec and Slo-Mo.
To keep the
Decepticons viewed as a legitimate threat rather than easily-defeated clowns,
the production introduced a number of human supervillains into the mix to serve
as opponents for the Autobots. Some became evil of their own accord, while
others were empowered by Megatron in an effort to rebuild his body. Prometheus Black (Peter Stromare) was an expert
biologist who hated Sumdac and his machines, and used his talents to turn
himself into a walking acid-based man named Meltdown; Cyrus Rhodes (Burton) was
a biotech-enhanced human that worked for Meltdown and used super steroids to
become the muscular brute called The Colossus (making his name a play on the Colossus of Rhodes);
Nino Sexton (Brian Posehn,
basing his voice on Megadeth lead singer
Dave Mustaine), a
thief given a speed suit by Megatron to become the super-quick Nanosec; A.A. Archer (based on
Transformers design director Aaron
Archer, voiced by Bennett imitating John Cleese) who adopted a Robin Hood-esque look
(contrasted by his robotic left hand) and quasi-Shakespearean
diction to rob from the rich and give to the poor (himself) with various
gimmick arrows as Angry Archer; Penny “Princess” Sutton, Ph.D. (Kath Soucie), became Professor Princess in
order to eliminate all of the violent boys’ toys in the world using a “magic”
wand, razor-edged flowers, exploding kitten dolls, and a flying unicorn with a
complete arsenal (a play on girl-centered toy franchises); Henry Masterson (Alexander Polinsky), a young
scientist that spoke in computer l33t speak
and created a robot head that allowed him to take over the body of any living
robot, making him the Headmaster;
Master Disaster (Fagerbakke), an Australian who hosted an illegal street racing
broadcast; and 1930s moxie-speaking Samantha Lomow (based on Hasbro’s former Vice-President of Marketing
that relaunched the Transformers brand in 2001, voiced by Strong), who
used an AllSpark-infused watch to slow down time as Slo-Mo. Slo-Mo would even
unite the other villains into the team S.U.V.: Society of Ultimate
Villainy. Several human villains ended up never making it onto the show,
including crime boss Lazarus Undershaft; the Wrecking Crew, a bunch of rednecks
in tech-wrecking vehicles who believed robots stole their jobs; and The Wraith,
a glory-seeking superhero who constantly tried to upstage the Autobots. Originally,
Prometheus was considered to be a distinct character from Meltdown and would
have bio-engineered the show’s supervillains, with Nanosec having been one of
them along with Meltdown. Megatron would also be responsible for the creation
of this series’ version of the Dinobots, tricking Sari
into creating them with her key, but they ultimately wanted to stay out of
things and just live in peace on their island off the coast.
Elite Guard members (from front) Sentinel Prime, Jazz and Ultra Magnus.
Earth
wasn’t an island, however. Other Cybertronians would make frequent appearances
either through flashbacks or by coming to the planet to somewhat aid or cause
new trouble for the Autobots. They included the Cybertron Elite
Guard, the pinnacle of the Autobot military, comprised of Optimus’
egotistical rival Sentinel
Prime (Townsend Coleman),
cool and collected ninja Jazz
(Phil LaMarr), lightning-fast spy Blurr (John Moschitta, reprising the
role from The Transformers), surly and disagreeable Warpath (Kaye), Autobot
leader Ultra Magnus (Bennett), scientists Wheeljack and Perceptor (PlainTalk), and the twins
Jetfire (Kenny), who controlled fire, and Jetstorm (LaMarr), who could control
wind, and could combine to form Safeguard; Cliffjumper
(Kaye), a member of Autobot Intel; Arcee (voice director Susan Blu, reprising from The
Transformers), a schoolteacher-turned-intel courier whose memory was
accidentally wiped by Ratchet during the war; Yoketron (George Takei); head of the Cyber-Ninja Corps that
trained Prowl; Omega
Supreme (Kevin Michael
Richardson & LaMarr), a living weapon that was put into stasis as the
Autobots’ ship when he was seriously wounded in battle; Lockdown (Lance Henriksen), a bounty
hunter that often worked with the Decepticons but had no real allegiances;
Soundwave (Bennett), who sought to end indentured servitude of robots by humans;
Swindle (Fred Willard), a smooth-talker
always ready to make a deal and trading with anyone willing to do business; Rodimus Prime (Judd
Nelson, reprising the role from Transformers:
The Movie), once known as Hot Rod, he rose quickly in the ranks to be
accepted into Autobot academy before any of his classmates and to become the
youngest Autobot with his own command; Waspinator (Kenny, after they were
unable to have Scott McNeil
reprise the role from Beast
Wars), a former Autobot that was framed for being a Decepticon spy and
accused by his one-time friend, Bumblebee; Shockwave (Burton, reprising the
role from The Transformers), a size-changing master of disguise who
worked as an infiltrator for Megatron; Starscream clones including Skywarp
(Kenny), Slipstream (Strong), Sunstorm, Thundercracker and Ramjet (all Kenny);
and Team Chaar including war-loving
Strika (Strong), the titanic Blackout (Robinson), chemist Oil Slick (LaMarr), the
disgusting Spittor,
and mysterious and nihilistic Cyclonus.
The many faces of Blitzwing.
Jetfire, Jetstorm, Sentinel Prime
and Blitzwing, despite being established characters, were radical re-imaginings
from what came before. Jetfire and Jetstorm, both early Galloway creations,
were modeled after Eastern European circus acrobats and were given European
accents as a result. Sentinel Prime came from Isenberg’s love of M*A*S*H. He believed
the franchise needed a jerk of a character that considered themselves superior
to all others like that series’ Major Frank Burns, portrayed by Larry Linville. Rodimus Prime
was originally planned to fill this role, but Hasbro didn’t like the notion of
his being that type. When Coleman was cast in the role, Sentinel was redesigned
to better resemble another Coleman character—the superhero The Tick from the 1994
animated series—by giving him blue coloring and a pronounced chin. The
writers even gave Sentinel some Tick-esque nonsensical phrases. Isenberg
envisioned Blitzwing was a Joker-like
character that could transform into anything, which was driving him mad as a
result. However, as the idea would be impossible to do in toy form, he was
refined to just be a triple-changer suffering from multiple personalities
(which pleased designer Eric Siebenaler
as he always wanted to do a Blitzwing with face-swapping action). Robinson
improvised a German accent for Blitzwing based on his name and the character
was redesigned to appear more German, gaining a WWII-era Stahlhelm
helmet and goggles. The Decepticons were going to have a more
cobbled-together aesthetic to represent their years of exile from Cybertron,
but this ended up being discarded for more simplistic designs. Megatron was
originally going to use a katana
as his primary weapon, but it ended up becoming twin swords that would be used
to form his rotors in helicopter mode. Along with Wyatt, the final character
designs were done by Irineo
Maramba, Brianne Drouhard
and David Sherburne. One
character that never materialized would have been a wise man giving Optimus
advice and inspiration about good leadership qualities. That role would have
gone to original Optimus voice actor Peter Cullen.
Beachcomber entry from the AllSpark Almanac.
The black sheep of the series was
the character Beachcomber (Kenny, using a surfer-type voice); a hard-luck hippie
who was laid back and tried to be everyone’s friend. The production absolutely hated
the character. He was meant to debut in the episode “TransWarped”, where he
would have subsequently been killed off and turned to dust. Although it was
recorded, the scene ended up being cut from the episode and the character was
able to appear as a background character later on. Had the series continued on
longer than it did, the crew looked forward to finally giving
Beachcomber his final sendoff.
Red Alert and Hot Shot: denied stardom by circumstance.
The series, now called Transformers
Animated, debuted on Cartoon Network on December 26, 2007 with a pilot
movie presentation, later broken up into three episodes. The theme was composed
by Andy Sturmer inspired by the original series' theme, with the
rest of the music by Sebastian Evans
II. Fan reaction to the art direction was negative at first, but they
quickly embraced the series thanks to its deep storytelling, likable
characters, and infusion of various elements from throughout the Transformers
franchise up to that point. Not to mention bringing several actors from past
incarnations to reprise their earlier roles (Michael Bell reportedly auditioned to reprise
his roles of Prowl and Dinobot Swoop from The
Transformers, but wasn’t cast). As the first Michael BayTransformers film
was being developed around the same time as the series, steps were taken to
better align the two together despite neither project being related. For this
reason, the speed-loving rookie Hot Shot (Fagerbakke) and gruff medical bot Red
Alert (Strong) were replaced by Bumblebee and Ratchet on the Autobot team to
better match the film’s line-up. The AllSpark, which played a central role in
the film’s plot, was also included for this reason. As part of the promotion
for the series, a series of shorts were released on Hasbro’s website or
Monkeybar TV online video service introducing the characters and putting them
in brief situations; such as Optimus attending career day at a school and
having to deal with energetic human children.
The Constructicons.
The series ran for three seasons,
each with an overreaching story arc. The first season dealt with Megatron
working behind the scenes to restore himself, Blitzwing and Lugnut coming to
Earth to search for Megatron, and Blackarachnia seeking vengeance on Optimus
(blaming him for her condition) as well as a cure. The destruction of the
AllSpark at the end of the season led into season two; with fragments everywhere
creating new Cybertronians, such as the identity-seeking Wreck-Gar (“Weird Al” Yankovic, taking over when
original choice Eric Idle was unavailable)
and the evil construction-themed Constructicons. The
Decepticons were also working on creating their own Space Bridge back to
Cybertron with a captive Isaac. Season three revealed that Sari was a
Cybertronian protoform
(the early development stage of Cybertonians) discovered by Isaac that became
part human when it came in contact with his DNA, and the Autobots were trying
to root out a Decepticon saboteur operating on Cybertron. The third season also
saw a shift towards a darker tone and a return to the classic Autobots vs.
Decepticons battle to
put it more in line with other Cartoon Network offerings like Ben 10: Alien Force
and Star
Wars: The Clone Wars. The series was written by Isenberg, Michael Ryan, Rich Fogel, Kevin Hopps, Andrew Robinson, Henry Gilroy, Steven Granat, Todd Casey, Marsha Griffin, Len Uhley, Stan Berkowitz, Andrew R. Robinson, Dean Stefan, Larry DiTillio,
Bob Forward, Tom Pugsley and Rob Hoegee. Animation duties
were handled by Mook DLE
Inc., The Answer Studio Co. Ltd.
and Studio4°C.
The series made its Japanese debut
on April 3, 2010 on TV Aichi and TV Tokyo, airing under the Western title
and keeping most of the Western names intact for the first time. The series
featured a longer opening and ending sequence with the
songs “TRANSFORMERS EVO.”
by JAM Project and “AXEL TRANSFORMERS” by Rey, respectively, and
live-action segments featuring the Otoboto Family (based on the
Japanese pronunciation of “Autobot). The Otoboto Family were characters that
loved to talk about Transformers with anyone that would listen; which included
fun facts about the franchise and products from Takara Tomy. These required
that an average of 3-minutes of footage be cut from each episode. Originally,
TakaraTomy marketing director Masahiko Yamazaki had made
statements indicating that Animated would be altered to have it take
place within the film’s continuity, but the resulting dub of the series ended
up contracting that. Bulkhead was, however, renamed “Ironhide” (the show’s
Ironhide was, in turn, renamed “Armorhide”) as he was a member of the movie’s
team.
The season 4 Autobots: Ratchet going green, Optimus on fire, Bumblebee still awesome, and newcomers Jazz and Ironhide.
A 4th season had
entered the pre-production phase as they worked out the characters and ideas
going forward from their 3rd season finale, which saw Optimus
finally regarded as the hero he always wanted to be. An early concept for the
season would’ve seen the action moved almost entirely to Cybertron with
Blackarachnia as the central villain; having decided that being technorganic
was better than pure machine and plotting to unleash a virus to make the rest of
the planet just like her, but ending up turning the bestial Predacons into mindless zombies
instead. A new human character, Time Trucker (a time-travelling trucker, as the
name implied), would’ve been introduced and allowed a journey to a future where
Bumblebee led the Autobots and joined the Decepticons against the zombified
Predacons, as well as a trip to the past where Optimus managed to save Elita-1
and became the techno-organic spider-creature instead. An imprisoned Megatron
would have returned to the background manipulation he began the series doing;
this time with Sentinel Prime as his patsy.
AllSpark Almanac talking about Sari's lineage.
Hasbro, however, wanted the series
to be a closer match to the film and mandated that the season needed to stay on
Earth with Megatron as the central villain. Furthering that, Bulkhead and Prowl
would have been replaced with Ironhide and Jazz to bring the Autobot line-up
closer to the films’, Optimus would’ve gotten the flame decals his film
counterpart sported (turned into an award known as the “Flames of Cybertron”
for bringing in Megatron), and Ratchet would’ve gained a new green coloring.
While various titles and blurbs had been released for the planned season 4
episodes, BotCon 2019 featured a script reading for the
three-part season opener, “Trial of Megatron”. A 5th season was also
in very early planning stages, however the only details revealed about it was
an exploration of Sari’s origins.
Unfortunately,
none of those plans ever came to pass as the series was cancelled by Cartoon
Network after the 3rd season. One of the primary reasons many attribute
this to is Hasbro’s desire to become more active in its media production
endeavors. Hasbro was looking to partner directly with a network to air their
programming, even approaching Cartoon Network in the process, but they
ultimately signed a deal with Discovery
Communications in 2009. That partnership resulted in Discovery Family
becoming The
Hub Network the following year. And since Hasbro was now becoming the
competition, Cartoon Network had no desire to continue airing their programs. For
a time, Hasbro toyed with the idea of continuing Animated over on The
Hub, but instead opted for an all-new series, Transformers: Prime,
utilizing CGI for a more cinematic look.
Naturally,
a toyline
based on Animated would be produced by Hasbro. Its release was postponed
until mid-2008 based on the strength of the film’s toyline,
although some did show up at retailers in Cincinnati to coincide with that
year’s BotCon, followed by a wider Canadian release in May. There was no
line-wide extra play gimmick; opting to bring the line back to basics with a
focus on the core characters and making them available at multiple price points
to get them into as many hands as possible. The show’s designers, Hasbro’s
designers and Takara Tomy engineers all worked closely to ensure the show’s
designs could be accurately and effectively translated into figure form. The
line was ultimately cut short with several planned figures left unproduced,
both because of the show’s cancellation and the continued success of the movie
toyline. The Takara
Tomy releases overseas began in 2010, and while utilizing the same figure
designs, initially featured shiny metallic paintjobs. Takara Tomy would also
release some of the unproduced Hasbro figures. McDonald’s would produce
toys for their Happy Meals, featuring Optimus,
Bumblebee, Ratchet, Lugnut, Megatron and Starscream,
with Blitzwing
being exclusive to France and Latin America not receiving Ratchet or Lugnut.
Animated characters modified into new ones for "The Stunti-Con-Job" box set.
Animated
versions of the characters were included in additional toylines as well. Animated
Bumblebee was included in the multi-pack “The Legacy of Bumblebee” along with
the G1
and movie
figure. For the Transformers:
Universe toyline’s “Legends
Class”, Bumblebee, Optimus and Prowl were released for the 3rd
wave, with Starscream joining in wave 4. BotCon 2011 featured Jazz, Rodimus, Arcee, Lockdown and Optimus retooled/recolored
into new characters as part of “The Stunti-Con-Job” box set--the latter two
further modified to become Sideswipe and
Toxitron
for souvenir packages; Ironhide was retooled into a trio of Autotroopers
(the Cybertronian police force) and Fistitron as
more souvenirs; and Arcee again modified into Minerva, given
to be painted and assembled by attendees of the customization class. Blurr,
remade into Beast-era Cheetor, was a
figure offered by the Transformer
Collector’s Club in 2011, while Jazz, remade into Jackpot, was
the first figure offered via their Figure Subscription Service in 2013. Jackpot
was later handed out to attendees under 13 at BotCon 2014. The 40th
anniversary Transformers:
Legacy line included Optimus, Prowl, Bumblebee, and an Autotrooper.
Sentinel Prime and Headmaster as Kre-O figures.
As part of
Hasbro’s LEGO-like Kre-O line, Bulkhead and Lugnut were part of
the 2nd collection of blind-bagged figures, with Slipstrike in
the 4th. A human figure resembling Captain Fanzone was included
with Bumblebee
as part of the Beast Hunters subset. At BotCon 2015, the show-exclusive “Earth’s
Most Wanted” multi-pack included Sentinel Prime
and Headmaster.
Takara Tomy released several exclusive figures for theTransformers movie,
which included a translucent Optimus
and Rodimus
in the “Sons of Cybertron” two-pack. Slipstream was
later released as part of their Transformers
Legends line in 2015.
Three video
games were made based on the show. Transformers Animated – The Game was
developed by A2M (now Behaviour Interactive)
and published by Activision on the Nintendo DS in 2008. It
was an action platforming puzzle game where players could switch between the
various Autobots to make use of their special attributes; such as Bumblebee’s
nimbleness or Bulkhead’s strength.Transformers Animated –
The Chase and Transformers Animated – The Shooting were
developed and published by Sega and released
to Japanese arcades in 2010 while the show was airing there. The Chase
was a racing game while The Shooting was a rail shooter. Both introduced
new characters Chromia
and Grinder, and took advantage
of the
cards included in the Japanese releases of the Animated toyline that
could be swiped to add the character into the game. Although the game and toys
were based on Animated, some of the cards featured characters and toys
from other lines in the franchise.
Transformers Animated: The Arrival #1.
IDW Publishing released two comics based
on the show. Transformers Animated adapted episodes utilizing
screengrabs arranged in comic book format. It ran for 13 volumes, adapted by Zachary Rau and Dene Nee and lettered
by Leslie Robbins, Robbie Robbins and Tom B. Long. A 14th
was planned, as was the sequel series Transformers Animated: The Adventure
Continues!, but both wound up being cancelled. The Arrival featured
original stories written by Isenberg that were said to be canon to the series,
included characters
that never made it into the cartoon itself, and filled in some of the story
gaps like how Blackarachnia got to Earth in the first place. The Arrival
featured art by Dario Brizuela, Leandro Corral, Marcelo Matere, Boo and Matt Frank, and additional coloring by Liam Shalloo. 5 of the
planned 6 issues were released before the series was cancelled. The 6th
issue would be included as a pack-in with the Safeguard two-pack, and
released in a collection of the entire comic series. IDW also released two
volumes of The AllSpark Almanac, which were encyclopedias written
in-universe about the characters and first two seasons. They were collected
with additional material in The
Complete AllSpark Almanac in 2015.
HarperCollins published a series
of books adapting episodes using screengrabs similarly to the IDW comic
series. They published four of these between 2008-09, as well as two entries in
their I Can Read! series, which were easy-reader books for younger kids,
and four from their Be the
Hero series, which was essentially choose-your-own-adventure books, as
well as a number of activity
books. The first story book, Attack of the
Dinobots!, was later reprinted in the United Kingdom as the only story
in the activity anthology Transformers
Animated Annual 2009. Bendon
Publishing International published five profile
books that discussed the characters, as well as Metal Warriors, which
featured one-on-one duels without any story or context. Phidal Publishing released three activity books—Go Autobots!, Roll Out! and Daring Defenders—which
they collected into the Super
Sticker Book, and the Sliding
Puzzle Book which, as featured said sliding puzzle embedded into the cover.
Million Publishing (now Hero-X) released Transformers
Animated Encyclopedia in Japan in 2010, featuring details about the
characters, the first 26 episodes, the toys and messages from the voice actors
and the Otoboto family. They also released Transformers
Generations 2011 Volume 1 the following year, which contained character
information for Animated including the revelation of Professor Princess’
full name.
Animated’s
mark would continue to be felt across various future Transformers projects.
Bulkhead became a featured character Prime and would be joined in Cyberverse
by Lugnut and Slipstream. Lockdown was a villain in the 2014 live-action film Transformers: Age of
Extinction. Ratchet’s grumpy persona would become the default for the
character in Prime and in IDW original comics. And, of course, the
various figure releases and script readings at BotCon for years to come.
EPISODE GUIDE:
Season 1:
“Transform and Roll Out Part 1” (12/26/07) – The Autobots
discover the AllSpark while clearing a space bridge and end up attacked by the
Decepticons, who get them all stranded on Earth.
“Transform and Roll Out Part 2” (12/26/07) – Prof. Sumdac’s
nanotech ends up creating a giant monster that revives Autobots and allows them
to become regarded as heroes when they stop it.
“Transform and Roll Out Part 3” (12/26/07) – Starscream
arrives on Earth and takes hostages to demand he be given the AllSpark.
“Home is Where the Spark Is” (1/5/08) – Sari accidentally
revives Megatron’s head and he tries to kill the Autobots with their own base.
“Total Meltdown” (1/12/08) – Prometheus Black experiments
with the fluid Bumblebee leaked after his funding was cut, gaining acidic
powers in the process and becoming Metldown.
“Blast from the Past” (1/19/08) – Megatron tricks Sumdac
into thinking he’s an Autobot and turns the dinosaur robots he’s repairing into
his new minions—the Dinobots.
“Thrill of the Hunt” (1/26/08) – A bounty hunter named
Lockdown uses Ratchet’s own EMP generator to capture Optimus.
“Nanosec” (2/9/08) – To get the volatile material needed to
rebuild his body, Megatron frees a thief and gives him a super-speed suit,
turning him into Nanosec.
“Along Came a Spider” (2/16/08) – While Sari introduces the
Autobots to Halloween, Blackarachnia comes looking for her AllSpark key in
order to purge the spider DNA from her body.
“Sound and Fury” (2/23/08) – Megatron creates Soundwave as a
toy for Sari that will eventually grow into his new body as she uses her key,
but Soundwave ends up forming a robot army instead.
“Lost and Found” (3/1/08) – Optimus decides the Autobots
should leave Earth when Blitzwing and Lugnut destructively arrive, but Sari
refuses to help them leave and sabotages their ship.
“Survival of the Fittest” (3/8/08) – Meltdown forces the
Dinobots to kidnap Sari for him to experiment with making a transforming human.
“Headmaster” (3/15/08) – Fired for creating weapons, Henry
Masterson dons an exo-suit to become The Headmaster and takes over Bulkhead’s
body to fight the Autobots.
“Nature Calls” (3/22/08) – Investigating a Cybertronian
energy signals leads Sari, Prowl and Bumblebee to discover Megatron’s body
taken over by Space Barnacles.
“Megatron Rising Part 1” (3/29/08) – The Decepticons get the
key and restore Megatron while Blackarachnia captures Sari.
“Megatron Rising Part 2” (4/5/08) – Megatron successfully
beats the Autobots until the fight moves to Dinobot Island and all the factions
battle it out, leading to Optimus dispersing the AllSpark.
Season 2:
“The Elite Guard” (4/12/08) – The Cybertron Elite Guard
arrives to search for the AllSpark while Megatron forces Sumdac to build a
Space Bridge and Sari learns there’s no proof of her existence.
“The Return of the Headmaster” (4/26/08) – Now running
Sumdac Tower, Porter rehires Headmaster who decides to try and take over
Sentinel Prime’s body.
“Mission Accomplished” (5/3/08) – The Autobots are sent back
to Cybertron to deal with a Decepticon uprising while Starscream is constantly
revived when he fails to destroy Megatron.
“Garbage In, Garbage Out” (5/10/08) – The AllSpark creates a
new Transformer from a pile of junk, which puts him at odds with Ratchet, Sari,
Lugnut and Porter’s micro-bots.
“Velocity” (5/17/08) – Bumblebee competes in an underground
race as an AllSpark fragment attracts the attention of Blitzwing.
“Rise of the Constructicons” (5/24/08) – Bulkhead befriends
two new AllSpark fragment creations, whom the Decepticons want to use to steal
supplies for Megatron’s space bridge.
“A Fistful of Energon” (5/31/08) – Prowl is forced to
team-up with Lockdown in order to successfully capture Starscream.
“SUV: Society of Ultimate Villainy” (6/7/08) – A mysterious
benefactor unites Angry Archer, Nanosec, Professor Princess and Slo-Mo together
to steal items from the Autobots.
“Autoboot Camp” (6/14/08) – The Autobots are alerted to an
escaped convict loose on Earth just as they intercept a message between
Megatron and a double agent on Cybertron.
“Black Friday” (6/21/08) – Blackarachnia frees Meltdown so
he can cure her, but first she must blackmail Optimus and Grimlock into getting
a genetic modifier for him.
“Sari, No One’s Home” (6/28/08) – The Autobots go out in
search of the Constructicons, who use an oil leak from Bumblebee to find their
base—and Sari.
“A Bridge Too Close Part 1” (7/5/08) – Bulkhead is forced to
help finish Megatron’s Space Bridge.
“A Bridge Too Close Part 2” (7/5/08) – The Autobots and
Decepticons battle, with the Autobot ship revealing the robot form Omega
Supreme and Sair cybernetic components.
Season 3:
“TransWarped Part 1” (3/14/09) – The Autobots attempt to
warn Cybertron of the pending Decepticon uprising while Megatron and Starscream
find and plan to use Omega Supreme.
“TransWarped Part 2” (3/14/09) – The Autobots must rescue
Bumblebee after he was TransWarped across the galaxy while Megatron works to
take over Omega’s body.
“TransWarped Part 3” (3/14/09) – Sari is now a teenager
after upgrading herself with the key, and Megatron and Starscream are sent
across the galaxy in Omega’s body.
“Three’s a Crowd” (3/21/09) – Bulkhead and Sumdac attempt to
rebuild Megatron’s Space Bridge and end up creating the bot-controlling Dirt
Boss, who sends Bulkhead on a rampage.
“Where Is They Sting?” (3/28/09) – Wasp comes to Earth for
revenge on Bumblebee and swaps places with him to evade the Elite Guard on his
tail.
“Five Servos of Doom” (4/4/09) – Given Sentinel Prime’s
uncanny success at capturing fugitive Decepticons, Prowl suspects something is
amiss.
“Predacons Rising” (4/11/09) – The Autobots and Elite Guard
chase Wasp into Blackarachnia’s hands, who then forces him to join her by
turning him into Waspinator.
“Human Error Part 1” (4/18/09) – Porter sells toys modelled
after Soundwave for Christmas, but the Autobots have bigger concerns as they
wake up one morning as humans!
“Human Error Part 2” (4/25/09) – Sari gets some unlikely
help in freeing the Autobots from Soundwave’s virtual reality trap before they
become Decepticons themselves.
“Decepticon Air” (5/2/09) – Swindle is revived during
transport and frees the Decepticon prisoners on the Elite Guard ship, prompting
Sentinel Prime to call Optimus for help.
“This is Why I Hate Machines” (5/9/09) – Ratchet follows
Fanzone through the reactivated Space Bridge when he’s accidentally sucked
through, ending up on Cybertron as the Decepticons invade.
“Endgame Part 1” (5/16/09) – Shockwave finally gets access
to Arcee’s codes and uses it on protoforms to create duplicates of Omega,
sending them to invade Earth.
“Endgame Part 2” (5/23/09) – Prowl sacrifices himself to
reassemble the AllSpark to save Detroit from Starscream while the Autobots
capture the remaining Decepticons.
Season 4 (unmade):
“Trial of Megatron Part 1” – Sari begins learning about
herself with Arcee and Kup, while Optimus and Sentinel are pushed into a
conflict for the position of Magnus.
“Trial of Megatron Part 2” – Sentinel gets Bumblebee to
endorse him for Magnus while he makes a deal with the imprisoned Megatron for
intel on raiding Decepticons.
“Trial of Megatron Part 3” – Megatron escapes from his trial
and launches the Decepticon capitol city of Kaon, crippling the Elite Guard and
heading on a collision course with Earth.
“Turf War” – The Autobots end up in a turf war with the Constructicons
and the Decepticons as Dirt Boss attempts to take charge by gaining control of
Detroit’s Energon deposits.
“This is Why I Hate Organics” – Rattrap ends up in the one
place he never wanted: on Earth and surrounded by humans.
“Mirror, Mirror” – TransWarping back to Earth sends Bulkhead
and Sari into a mirror universe where Autobots are evil and Decepticons are
good.
“Gremlins in the Geers” – Ratchet and Fanzone team-up to
stop renegade Minicons from disassembling all the machinery in Detroit.
“What a Tangled Web We Have” – Blackarachnia’s fall from
grace is revealed.
“S.T.E.A.M.” – Anti-technology vigilantes Save The Earth And
Mankind end up needing rescuing by the Autobots when they run into Soundwave.
“It Came from (Planet) Cybertron” – Autobot Cosmos comes to
Earth to deliver a message to Optimus, but ends up losing his memory after
choosing a flying saucer prop as his alternate form.
“Triple Threat” – New triple-changing Megatron sets out to
obtain tons of Energon, but his new body ends up giving him a destructively
unstable personality.
“AllSpark-alypse Now!” – Sentinel intends to use the
AllSpark to destroy Megatron, but Prowl’s essence alerts Optimus to that being
a bad idea.
“Process of Elimination” – Bumblebee investigates attacks on
his old boot camp platoon by a mysterious assailant.
“Trukk vs. Munky” – The Autobots deal with one of
Blackarachnia’s loyal subjects: failed cloning experiment Primal Major.
“Megatron Must Be Destroyed! Part 1” – The Autobots must
work with Slipstream’s Decepticons, the Predacons and the Dinobots to stop
Megatron from turning Earth into a new Decepticon home world.
“Megatron Must Be Destroyed! Part 2” – As Optimus battles
Megatron, Sari discovers a connection to a Cybertron deity that may save them
all.
Shorts:
“Career Day*” (6/17/08) – Optimus is speaking to children at
Black River Elementary’s career day.
*Included without a title on DVD, title confirmed by
Wyatt.
“Mime Time*” (9/24/08) – Sari introduces Bumblebee and
Bulkhead to a mime.
*Originally aired as “Bumblebee”, title confirmed by
Wyatt.
“Catch” (1/7/09) – Bulkhead plays some catch with
Grimlock—using a tree.
“Evel Kinevel Jump*” (6/17/08) – Prowl tries jumping over
his comrades in their vehicle forms.
*Originally aired without a title or as “Prowl”, title
confirmed by Wyatt.
“Operating Table” (1/7/09) – Sari struggles to help Ratchet
make his repairs on Bulkhead.
“Starscream Heckles Megatron*” (12/23/08) – While Megatron
addresses his minions, Starscream chooses to make faces at him behind his back.
*In-house production title, originally aired as “Mocking
Megatron”.
“Starscream’s Fantasy” (8/23/22*) – Starscream realizes his
ambitions about crushing all of his enemies and ruling supreme!
*Unreleased officially until Isenberg gave Transformers
content creator Keyan Carlile permission to do so after a Tweet
about the shorts went viral.
“Explosive Fist” (1/6/09) – Lugnut unleashes a devastating
punch on the environment.
“Logo” (8/23/22*) – Blitzwing uses a medallion with both
factions’ logos to mimic The Transformers scene transitions.
*Unreleased officially until Isenberg gave Transformers
content creator Keyan Carlile permission to do so after a Tweet
about the shorts went viral.
“Meet Optimus Prime” – Ratchet gives the lowdown on Optimus.
“Meet Bumblebee” – Sari talks about Bumblebee.
“Meet Bulkeahd” – Optimus gives information about Bulkhead.
