Beast Machines: Transformers (cartoon)
Beast Machines is a 26-episode cartoon that aired in the US from 1999 to 2000, in support of the toyline of the same name. It is a direct follow-up to Beast Wars, set in the same G1 continuity and featuring many of the same characters. Like Beast Wars, its computer animation was created by Mainframe Entertainment.
Overview
The show follows the adventures of the core Beast Wars cast upon their return home to Cybertron; there, Optimus Primal and his crew find that the whole planet has been made mindless slaves of Megatron, who somehow escaped his captivity. As the show progresses, Primal and his fellow Maximals learn to balance their technological side with a newly-retconned biological aspect, eventually turning Cybertron into an technorganic paradise.
Controversial even by the standards of other Transformers reinventions (!), Beast Machines is remembered by some as a series which tried to tackle heavy philosophical concepts, such as what it meant to live in an increasingly technological society and the dichotomy between the desires of the individual and the needs of society and the paradox of a living technological world. Story editor Bob Skir describes the series as a "religious epic novel for television." [1]
The series' detractors complained about the show's alleged "hippie" agenda, claiming it would ruin Transformers; a few went so far as to send Skir death threats, causing him to cancel a convention appearance in 2000. Even more sympathetic fans have commented that the show lacks Beast Wars' overall sense of fun, that it features seemingly endless scenes of the good guys running away, and that the requirements of the overall plot structure leave it treading water story-wise at times. The show was and remains the most grim Transformers animation to date, and the final animated entry into the Generation 1 story canon, bringing that story to a rather conclusive ending.
With Beast Machine perhaps not quite living up to Hasbro's hopes, Hasbro's next foray into animation would be to bring over a year-old Japanese show for consumption in the US, until a new story could be concocted. In light of the results, some fans have found themselves re-evaluating Beast Machines more favorably, though the newfound positive reception is still not universal by any means.
Episodes
Season 1
Season 1 largely centers on the Maximals' efforts to find out what has happened to them, as they arrive on Cybertron with no memories. In addition to Megatron and the core Maximal cast, three new Vehicon generals are introduced, as well as the new Maximal Nightscream. By the end of the season, Optimus Primal has been driven down a road of extremism, and an apocalyptic confrontation marks the season finale...
1. The Reformatting
2. Master of the House
3. Fires of the Past
4. Mercenary Pursuits
5. Forbidden Fruit
6. The Weak Component
7. Revelations Part I: Discovery
8. Revelations Part II: Descent
9. Revelations Part III: Apocalypse
10. Survivor
11. The Key
12. The Catalyst
13. End of the Line
Season 2: Battle for the Spark
The ultimate face-off at the end of Season 1 is resolved in a most unusual and cerebral manner, setting the tone for Season 2 as Primal realizes his mission is one of balance, not extremism. Silverbolt rejoins the Maximal ranks, a new Maximal arrives from off-world, and two dangerous new generals join Megatron's side as the Maximals search for the lost Sparks of their brethren and battle to regain control of Cybertron.
1. Fallout
2. Savage Noble
3. Prometheus Unbound
4. In Darkest Knight
5. A Wolf in the Fold
6. Home Soil
7. Sparkwar Part 1: The Strike
8. Sparkwar Part 2: The Search
9. Sparkwar Part 3: The Siege
10. Spark of Darkness
11. Endgame Part 1: The Downward Spiral
12. Endgame Part 2: When Legends Fall
13. Endgame Part 3: The Seeds of the Future
Characters
Because developing new CGI character models was, at the time, an expensive and time-consuming process, the number of named on-screen characters in Beast Machines was relatively small compared to most other Transformers shows. It is thus practical to list all the Transformers who appeared in the cartoon. They are listed in order of appearance. (Most drones are not listed, and neither are incidental flashback characters.) Note that many characters besides these are also full-fledged Beast Machines characters, having appeared in other media.
- Megatron
- Diagnostic Drone (sparkless, hence not a Transformer, but had a speaking role and a personality)
- Jetstorm
- Tankor
- Thrust
- Rhinox (nominally the same character as Tankor)
- Waspinator (nominally the same character as Thrust)
- Obsidian
- Strika
Other
- The Oracle (not much of a personality, but definitely a major speaking role)
Trivia
- Mainframe Entertainment executive Dan DiDio explicitly told Bob Skir and Marty Isenberg to ignore all previous Transformers cartoons when writing Beast Machines, because "Beast Wars was too continuity-heavy". It clearly did not work out that way.
- The theme tune for the show was Leftfield's Phat Planet. This was also used for a famous Guiness advert. The latter proved a more popular TV slot. It was also used in an episode of C.S.I. during a scene involving parasailing.
- Beast Machines is also unique in that it is the only Transformers series, thus far, that takes place almost entirely on Cybertron. Anything off-world was depicted in flashbacks (such as the world Botanica visited)
