Transformers: Robots in Disguise (2015 cartoon)

This article is about the 2015 cartoon. For the 2001 cartoon, see Transformers: Robots in Disguise (2001 cartoon). For a list of other meanings, see Robots in Disguise (disambiguation).

Hopefully we won't be calling it "Transformers: Cancelled" within a year or two...

Transformers: Robots in Disguise is an animated television series that premiered on Cartoon Network on March 14 2015. Set years after Transformers: Prime, it will follow Bumblebee as he leads a ragtag group of Autobots back to Earth, pursuing a Decepticon prison ship that has crash-landed on the planet.

Crew members returning from Prime include executive producer Jeff Kline and writer Steven Melching, now story editor, and Mairghread Scott, serving as Script Coordinator/Writer’s Assistant. Adam Beechen will serve as the producer. Kevin Manthei and Kevin Kiner are serving as series composers. Once again, Polygon Pictures are handling the animation.

The show made its worldwide debut in late December 2014, with the first 13 episodes released as pay-to-view content on Chinese video streaming website M1905.

Story

When the Autobot prison ship Alchemor crashes on Earth near Crown City, its cargo of stasis pods carrying several hundred of the most-wanted Decepticons is scattered around the countryside, releasing their contents. The Mini-Con Fixit sends a mayday, however on Cybertron, Bumblebee, now working as a street cop for the repopulated planet, is instead alerted by a vision of Optimus Prime. Optimus gives Bumblebee a new mission on Earth, sending the young Autobot to the nearest space bridge. Bumblebee unwillingly finds himself accompanied to Earth by his cop partner Strongarm and the delinquent Sideswipe. Joined by the ex-Decepticon prisoner Grimlock and two humans — Denny Clay, owner of a vintage salvage depot for the discriminating nostalgist (a scrapyard) and his son Russell — Bumblebee and his team must track down the escaped prisoners and prevent harm coming to Earth or its native population. Chief among the threats poised by the Decepticons is the charismatic Steeljaw, who seeks to organize the escaped prisoners into an effective cabal to conquer the planet.

Cast

Autobots	Decepticons	Humans
Main Cast Bumblebee (Will Friedle) Sideswipe (Darren Criss) Fixit (Mitchell Whitfield) Strongarm (Constance Zimmer) Grimlock (Khary Payton) Others Optimus Prime (Peter Cullen) Jazz (Arif S. Kinchen) Drift (Eric Bauza) Jetstorm (Roger Craig Smith) Slipstream (Roger Craig Smith)	Steeljaw (Troy Baker) Underbite (Liam O'Brien) Hammerstrike (David Kaye) Bisk (Khary Payton) Chop Shop (David Hunt) Terrashock (Kevin Michael Richardson) Thunderhoof (Frank Stallone) Filch (Constance Zimmer) Minitron Springload (John Steven Rocha) Ped (Eddie Deezen) Quillfire (Andy Milder) Clampdown (Jim Cummings) Fracture (Kevin Pollak) Airazor (Roger Craig Smith) Divebomb (Khary Payton)	Russell Clay (Stuart Allan) Denny Clay (Ted McGinley)

Other characters from Prime will appear in the show's second season.

Episodes

1. "Pilot (Part 1)"
2. "Pilot (Part 2)"
3. "Trust Exercises"
4. "More than Meets the Eye"
5. "W.W.O.D.?"
6. "As the Kospego Commands!"
7. "Collect 'Em All"
8. "True Colors"
9. "Rumble in the Jungle"
10. "Can You Dig It?"
11. "Adventures in Bumblebee-Sitting!"
12. "Hunting Season"
13. "Out of Focus"

Japanese release

Re-titled Transformers: Adventure (トランスフォーマー アドベンチャー, Toransufōmā Adobenchā), the series airs on the satellite network Animax with a Sunday, 9am timeslot. Adventure is the first Transformers cartoon to be relegated directly to satellite since Beast Wars Returns. It premiered on March 15, 2015... only a day after the US premiere.

The localization for the series is headed by Kei'ichirō Miyoshi, who headed the localization of the live-action Transformers films for Japanese markets. This also makes Adventure the first American Transformers cartoon to be released in Japan without the oversight of Yoshikazu Iwanami since Generation 1. Despite that, Miyoshi is making a clear effort to emulate Iwanami's style, including lots of adlibbing and additional gags.

As is rather well-known, Transformers: Prime did not complete its run in Japan, ending at 52 episodes. To date, Japanese audiences have not received the Beast Hunters episodes or the Predacons Rising film. How this will affect the localization of Adventure is currently unknown; whether the missing material will be accounted for or the scripts reworked to ignore it. We'll just have to wait and see.

The theme song for the series is "Save the Future!!" by Mitsuhiru Oikawa and the ending theme is "Try☆Transformers: Adventure↑↑↑" performed by the primary cast of the show (Bumblebee, Strongarm, Sideswipe, Fixit, Grimlock and Optimus Prime).

Notes

• The first 13 episodes were released with Mandarin Chinese dubs on December 31, 2014 in mainland China, but not Hong Kong. The episodes were made available on website 1905.com, with five-minute previews being free and the whole episodes available until January 15 for CNY/RMB ¥19.5, which is around USD$3-4. You could even win a "fabulous" assortment of Hasbro toys (legion class) and a RMB¥30 digital coupon if you pay for the episodes!
• The show would go on to premiere on Canal J in France, Cartoon Network in Australia and New Zealand, and Biggs in Portugal before the USA screenings began.
• While it's possibly a coincidence, this series features antagonists with animal-like forms for the Autobots to fight, much like the series' 2001 namesake predecessor and its featured villains.

Foreign names

• French: Transformers Robots in Disguise : Secret Mission (Transformers Robots in Disguise : Mission Secrète)
• Japanese: Transformers: Adventure (トランスフォーマー アドベンチャー Toransufōmā Adobenchā)
• Mandarin: Transformers: Leader's Challenge (变形金刚：领袖的挑战)
• Czech: Transformers: Robots in Disguise (Transformers: Roboti v utajení)
• German: Transformers: Disguised Robots (Transformers: Getarnte Roboter)

External links

• Variety: Hasbro to Launch ‘Transformers: Robots in Disguise’ Show in Spring 2015
• SDCC footage