Transformers 40th Anniversary Special Movie: Difference between revisions

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* [[Hot Rod (G1)|Rodimus Prime]] opening the Matrix is made to parallel ''Armada'' [[Sparkplug (Armada)|Sparkplug]] using that series' Matrix to resurrect his Optimus in "[[Miracle (episode)|Miracle]]" and Dai Atlas raising the Zodiac above his head, presumably meant to nod to Optimus Prime's resurrection as Star Convoy in the [[Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers: The Battlestars (story page)|''Battlestars'' story pages]].
* [[Hot Rod (G1)|Rodimus Prime]] opening the Matrix is made to parallel ''Armada'' [[Sparkplug (Armada)|Sparkplug]] using that series' Matrix to resurrect his Optimus in "[[Miracle (episode)|Miracle]]" and Dai Atlas raising the Zodiac above his head, presumably meant to nod to Optimus Prime's resurrection as Star Convoy in the [[Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers: The Battlestars (story page)|''Battlestars'' story pages]].
* The live-action films get some representation in the form of the [[Transformers (film)|first film]]'s Autobot and Decepticon teams charging their opposites down on a barren highway. ''[[Transformers: Rise of the Beasts (film)|Rise of the Beasts]]'' gets some love too, with its versions of [[Optimus Primal (ROTB)|Optimus Primal]], [[Stratosphere]], [[Cheetor (ROTB)|Cheetor]], [[Mirage (Movie)|Mirage]], [[Bumblebee (Movie)#Rise of the Beasts film|Bumblebee]], [[Rhinox (ROTB)|Rhinox]], [[Airazor (ROTB)|Airazor]], [[Arcee (Movie)|Arcee]], and [[Wheeljack (ROTB)|Wheeljack]] staring off into the distance. As it was in the film, Airazor is the only one without a robot mode.
* The live-action films get some representation in the form of the [[Transformers (film)|first film]]'s Autobot and Decepticon teams charging their opposites down on a barren highway. ''[[Transformers: Rise of the Beasts (film)|Rise of the Beasts]]'' gets some love too, with its versions of [[Optimus Primal (ROTB)|Optimus Primal]], [[Stratosphere]], [[Cheetor (ROTB)|Cheetor]], [[Mirage (Movie)|Mirage]], [[Bumblebee (Movie)#Rise of the Beasts film|Bumblebee]], [[Rhinox (ROTB)|Rhinox]], [[Airazor (ROTB)|Airazor]], [[Arcee (Movie)|Arcee]], and [[Wheeljack (ROTB)|Wheeljack]] staring off into the distance. As it was in the film, Airazor is the only one without a robot mode.
* The final scene sees the Generation 1 versions of Optimus and [[Megatron (G1)|Megatron]] stare each other down, as several human families from across the franchise's history look on: [[Denny Clay]] and his son [[Russell Clay|Russell]]; the adult version of [[Spike Witwicky (G1)|Spike Witwicky]] with his wife [[Carly (G1)|Carly]] and his son [[Daniel Witwicky (G1)|Daniel]]; the [[Malto (disambiguation)|Malto]] family from ''EarthSpark''; and [[Koji Onishi]] and his parents [[Kenneth Onishi|Kenneth]] and [[Kiko Onishi|Kiko]] (notably, Kiko's ''only'' prior animated appearance having been a single scene in the [[Battle Protocol!|first episode]] of ''Robots in Disguise''). The angle then cuts back to Prime and Megatron, only now, they have been replaced with their ''EarthSpark'' counterparts shaking hands—the series' more black-and-white roots have thematically given way to its more nuanced present (while also likely nodding to the use of the G1 designs for the flashback sequence in the [[Secret Legacy, Part 1|first episode]] of ''EarthSpark''). We then pan up to see [[Unicron/Generation 1|Unicron]]'s head orbiting Cybertron as the credits roll.
* The final scene sees the Generation 1 versions of Optimus and [[Megatron (G1)|Megatron]] stare each other down, as several human families from across the franchise's history look on: [[Denny Clay]] and his son [[Russell Clay|Russell]]; the adult version of [[Spike Witwicky (G1)|Spike Witwicky]] with his wife [[Carly (G1)|Carly]] and his son [[Daniel Witwicky (G1)|Daniel]]; the [[Malto (disambiguation)|Malto]] family from ''EarthSpark''; and [[Koji Onishi]] and his parents [[Kenneth Onishi|Kenneth]] and [[Kiko Onishi|Kiko]] (notably, Kiko's ''only'' prior animated appearance having been a single scene in the [[Battle Protocol!|first episode]] of ''Robots in Disguise''). The angle then cuts back to Prime and Megatron, only now, they have been replaced with their ''EarthSpark'' counterparts shaking hands—the series' more black-and-white roots have thematically given way to its more nuanced present. We then pan up to see [[Unicron/Generation 1|Unicron]]'s head orbiting Cybertron as the credits roll.


===Real-world trivia===
===Real-world trivia===
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* Outside of Studio Trigger's staff, multiple animators veteran to previous ''Transformers'' series were brought on as guest animators; these include lead animators for the Japanese produced ''Transformers'' shows and Unicron Trilogy [[Munetaka Abe]] and [[Masahiro Yamane]], and even [[Studio OX]] artists [[Tsuyoshi Nonaka]] and [[Morifumi Naka]].
* Outside of Studio Trigger's staff, multiple animators veteran to previous ''Transformers'' series were brought on as guest animators; these include lead animators for the Japanese produced ''Transformers'' shows and Unicron Trilogy [[Munetaka Abe]] and [[Masahiro Yamane]], and even [[Studio OX]] artists [[Tsuyoshi Nonaka]] and [[Morifumi Naka]].
* Longtime Japanese ''Transformers'' artist [[Hayato Sakamoto]] also contributed to the ''Special Movie'' as another key animator and a project supervisor. As confirmed by Sakamoto himself, this video marks his debut as an animator.<ref>{{citesocial|quote=構成協力及び原画で参加しました!TF40周年記念作品に関われてとても嬉しかったです!そしてアニメーターデビュー!それもトランスフォーマーのアニメ!更にスタジオtriggerのアニメに!やった!超豪華スタッフと一緒にお仕事出来て信じられない感じです。是非見てくださいーーー!!|link=https://twitter.com/hayatoron/status/1834238504290976209|name=Hayato Sakamoto|site=Twitter|year=2024|month=09|day=12}}</ref>
* Longtime Japanese ''Transformers'' artist [[Hayato Sakamoto]] also contributed to the ''Special Movie'' as another key animator and a project supervisor. As confirmed by Sakamoto himself, this video marks his debut as an animator.<ref>{{citesocial|quote=構成協力及び原画で参加しました!TF40周年記念作品に関われてとても嬉しかったです!そしてアニメーターデビュー!それもトランスフォーマーのアニメ!更にスタジオtriggerのアニメに!やった!超豪華スタッフと一緒にお仕事出来て信じられない感じです。是非見てくださいーーー!!|link=https://twitter.com/hayatoron/status/1834238504290976209|name=Hayato Sakamoto|site=Twitter|year=2024|month=09|day=12}}</ref>
* For whatever reason, TakaraTomy's initial upload of the ''Special Movie'' to YouTube has been marked as unavailable to watch in most regions outside of Japan. It was reuploaded to Twitter without region locking around 12 hours later.
*TakaraTomy's initial upload of "Special Movie" to YouTube has been marked as unavailable to watch in most regions outside of Japan. It was reuploaded to Twitter without region locking around 12 hours later.
* The lack of the human cast from the live-action film series can be chalked up to actor-likeness licensing issues on both sides of the Pacific, especially since Japan is much more strict than America about that sort of thing.
* Somewhat ironically, despite the use of ''Earthspark'' as a means of book-ending the entire short, it would be announced less than 72 hours later that the Japanese dub of the series would be concluding with [[The Last Hope: Part 2|the Season 1 finale]].  
...'''PHEW!'''
...'''PHEW!'''



Revision as of 15:23, 15 September 2024

"Transformers 40th Anniversary Special Movie"

Touch the untouchable, break the unbreakable
Row, row, fight the power!
トランスフォーマー40周年記念 スペシャルムービー ()
(Transformers 40th Anniversary Special Movie)
Airdate September 12, 2024
Director Akira Amemiya
Animation studio Studio Trigger

"Transformers 40th Anniversary Special Movie" is a short 3-minute animated "promotional video" (or "PV", as it's usually abbreviated) created to, as the title suggests, celebrate the Transformers franchise's 40th anniversary. It was produced by Studio Trigger (with assistance from Production I.G., Production +h., Studio Colorido, Studio KAI, and Madhouse) for TakaraTomy and features the song "Mayday" by Bump of Chicken.

As it's essentially an animated music video, there is no plot to "Special Movie"—instead, the main draw is that it features characters and concepts from basically every major animated Transformers production to ever see screen time in Japan, plus the live-action film series. It's as rad as it is indicative of Trigger's love for the franchise... which is to say, it's rad as hell.

Following a teaser on August 28, 2024, the Transformers 40th Anniversary Special Movie was officially uploaded to TakaraTomy's YouTube channel on September 12.

Characters

Hooooo boy, it's a lot! This short features over two hundred characters from across forty years of Transformers media!

Yes, Unicron Trilogy Optimus and Megatron both appear twice in the character list, due to differing portrayals in Japan. See "Continuity notes" below.

(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Autobots / Maximals Decepticons / Predacons / Vehicons Other robots Others

Generation 1

Beast Era Maximals

Unicron Trilogy

Live-action movie Autobots

Animated

Aligned continuity

Live-action movie Maximals

Other

Generation 1

Beast Era Predacons

Beast Era Vehicons

Unicron Trilogy

Live-action movies

Animated

Aligned continuity

Other

Mini-Cons

Others

Generation 1

Unicron Trilogy

Animated

Aligned continuity

EarthSpark

Production


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This article is a stub and is missing information. You can help MediaWiki by expanding it.

What's needed: Stuff from director interview, the multitude of crew posts on social media

Credits

For further information, see: Transformers 40th Anniversary Special Movie/credits

Notes

Settle in, folks, because in case that ridiculous character list up there didn't tip you off, there's a lot to unpack here:

Continuity notes

  • As we mentioned up top, this video is a tribute to just about every major animated Transformers production to ever be broadcast on TV, screened in theaters, or released direct-to-video in Japan, up through and including Transformers: EarthSpark (yes, even the Q-Transformers shorts) along with the live-action films. A notable exception is the War for Cybertron Trilogy, which did receive a full Japanese dub, but is otherwise absent from the proceedings... though considering how much it resembles Generation 1 and Beast Wars in terms of aesthetic, we'll forgive Trigger for excluding it.
    • Other missing shows include Rescue Bots and its sequel, the BotBots cartoon, and the Prime Wars Trilogy web shorts, all of which were never dubbed for Japanese release.
    • This somewhat-narrow focus also means that characters from other mediums aren't included, most notably the many Transformers comics, games, prose stories, and story pages. If you were looking forward to seeing Star Convoy, Super Megatron, the Primus Vanguard, and so on, we're sorry to disappoint you.
    • Also of note is how the Unicron Trilogy is implemented. In keeping with how those series were originally treated in Japan, Cybertron's cast is largely composed of discrete characters separate from the cast of Armada and Energon, leading to the absence of Optimus Prime and Megatron in their Energon bodies for the crowd shots of each faction's leaders.
  • Nearly all of the Beast Era characters are depicted as being considerably smaller than most of the other Transformers, in keeping with the scale established by Beast Wars. The only notable exceptions are acceptable outliers, like Car Robots Gigatron, who is twice as tall as his Autobot rival.

Transformers references

Real-world trivia

  • Notable among the Studio Trigger staff that worked on this video are key animators Masaru Sakamoto and Hiroki Mutaguchi and director Akira Amemiya. Sakamoto previously helped design Flame Toys' Furai Model Lio Convoy kit and was one of a few guest artists on the Generations Selects Special Comic Finale, Mutaguchi drew the cover for the Transformers Generations 2022 book, and Amemiya is a huge fan of the franchise that's done multiple official illustrations and designed various other Furai Model kits.
  • Outside of Studio Trigger's staff, multiple animators veteran to previous Transformers series were brought on as guest animators; these include lead animators for the Japanese produced Transformers shows and Unicron Trilogy Munetaka Abe and Masahiro Yamane, and even Studio OX artists Tsuyoshi Nonaka and Morifumi Naka.
  • Longtime Japanese Transformers artist Hayato Sakamoto also contributed to the Special Movie as another key animator and a project supervisor. As confirmed by Sakamoto himself, this video marks his debut as an animator.[1]
  • TakaraTomy's initial upload of "Special Movie" to YouTube has been marked as unavailable to watch in most regions outside of Japan. It was reuploaded to Twitter without region locking around 12 hours later.

...PHEW!

References

  1. ↑ "構成協力及び原画で参加しました!TF40周年記念作品に関われてとても嬉しかったです!そしてアニメーターデビュー!それもトランスフォーマーのアニメ!更にスタジオtriggerのアニメに!やった!超豪華スタッフと一緒にお仕事出来て信じられない感じです。是非見てくださいーーー!!"—Hayato Sakamoto, Twitter, 2024/09/12