Transformers: Robots in Disguise (2015 cartoon)

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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).

Template:Nav-Rid2015

Features more beast-hunting than Beast Hunters!

Transformers: Robots in Disguise is an animated television series that acts as the sequel to Transformers: Prime. Set years after its predecessor, the show follows Bumblebee as he travels back to Earth after the prison ship Alchemor crash-lands on the planet. Charged with rounding up the escaped Decepticon prisoners, he reluctantly takes command of a new team of Autobots.

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. The series subsequently debuted on Cartoon Network in numerous countries before the first 26-episode season finally premiered in the US on March 14, 2015. A second season of thirteen episodes began screening on February 20, 2016, followed by a six-episode "mini-series"/"TV event" later in the year that was referred to as "season 3" by some sources,[1] causing some confusion among audiences over how to count the seasons. A full third season was confirmed in October 2016, planned for broadcast in 2017 under the subtitle Combiner Force.[2] It will premiered in the US on April 28, 2017 on Cartoon Network.

Seasons 1, 2, and 3 of the show are currently available on Netflix in certain regions.

Overview

Years after the Great War, the Autobot prison ship Alchemor crashes on Earth near Crown City, sparking a mass Decepticon jailbreak. Meanwhile, on a rebuilt Cybertron, war veteran Bumblebee is now working as a street cop, mentoring Cadet Strongarm. Bumblebee is alerted to the danger on Earth by a vision of a ghostly Optimus Prime, who directs them to a nearby space bridge.

Bumblebee unwillingly finds himself accompanied to Earth by Strongarm, and the delinquent Sideswipe, where they encounter Fixit, sole caretaker of the former prison ship. They're joined by the ex-Decepticon prisoner Grimlock, human scrapyard owner Denny Clay and his son Russell. Although he's not confident in his leadership abilities, Bumblebee nevertheless pledges to round up the inmates of the Alchemor. Chief among the Decepticon threat is the charismatic Steeljaw, who seeks to organize the escaped prisoners into an effective cabal to conquer the planet.

Over the course of the first season, new Autobots bolster the ranks of the team, including the bounty hunter Drift, his two Mini-Cons Jetstorm and Slipstream, the mysterious Windblade, and finally Optimus Prime himself, returned to life by the Thirteen to defeat Megatronus.

Season 2 sees Bumblebee's team split into two groups: an "away team" to search the world for far-ranging Decepticons while Bumblebee, Strongarm, Grimlock, and Fixit hold down the fort near Crown City. Still recovering from his humiliating rout at the hands of Megatronus, Steeljaw allies with a mysterious group of Decepticons led by Saberhorn, Glowstrike and Scorponok, operating out of the crashed Alchemor. True to form, Steeljaw plots to rise through the ranks of this new army and seize control of the group for himself.

The second season features more frequent references to predecessor series Prime in an effort to forge a stronger sense of continuity between the two. Coinciding with this, the season sees the return of multiple regulars from Prime in special guest appearances: Ratchet, now partnered with a silent Mini-Con named Undertone, and Soundwave, still accompanied by Laserbeak. Mini-Cons were also a big focus of this season, with at least one appearing in every episode.

Season 2 proper was followed by a "mini-series" of sorts, referred to as Season 3 by several official sources before the announcement of a full third season. This six-episode run sees the return of Starscream, who seeks the mysterious Mini-Con Weaponizers, who have reluctantly partnered with a group of Decepticon Scavengers searching Earth for abandoned Cybertronian relics.

Season 3 see Bumblebee's squad of Autobots figure out how to work together to take down the new threat, but the Decepticons aren't going to make it easy. In fact, the only way to beat them might require for the Autobots to do some combining of their own.

The Autobots and Sunticons will take the battle between good and evil to new heights with the creation of Combiners – teams of Transformers who combine forces to create larger, more powerful bots. Bumblebee and the Autobot team must learn how to fight the Decepticons when combined with one another and truly work as one.

Main cast

(Recurring characters only, listed in order of first appearance.)

Autobots Decepticons Humans Others

Main cast

Others

Thirteen

Episodes

Main article: List of Robots in Disguise (2015) episodes

Season 1

  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"
  14. "Sideways"
  15. "Even Robots Have Nightmares"
  16. "Some Body, Any Body"
  17. "One of Our Mini-Cons Is Missing"
  18. "Deep Trouble"
  19. "The Champ"
  20. "The Trouble with Fixit"
  21. "Lockout"
  22. "Similarly Different"
  23. "The Buzz on Windblade"
  24. "Ghosts and Impostors"
  25. "Battlegrounds, Part 1"
  26. "Battlegrounds, Part 2"

Season 2

  1. "Overloaded, Part 1"
  2. "Overloaded, Part 2"
  3. "Metal Meltdown"
  4. "Suspended"
  5. "Cover Me"
  6. "Brainpower"
  7. "Misdirection"
  8. "Bumblebee's Night Off"
  9. "Impounded"
  10. "Portals"
  11. "Graduation Exercises"
  12. "Decepticon Island (Part 1)"
  13. "Decepticon Island (Part 2)"

Season 2½

  1. "History Lessons"
  2. "Strongarm's Big Score"
  3. "Pretzel Logic"
  4. "Mighty Big Trouble"
  5. "Mini-Con Madness"
  6. "Worthy"

Season 3: Combiner Force

  1. "King of the Hill (Part 1)"
  2. "King of the Hill (Part 2)"

Shorts

  1. "Fixit Jam"
  2. "To Catch a Phrase"
  3. "Sticky Situation"
  4. "Carjacked!"
  5. "Perfect"
  6. "Knock, Knock!"
  7. "The Power of Dibs"
  8. "Back and Forth"
  9. "The Tragedy of Slipstream"
  10. "A Level Playing Field"
  11. "Two Plus Two Equals More"

Production

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.[3] Adam Beechen serves as the producer. Kevin Manthei and Kevin Kiner serve as series composers.[4] Once again, Polygon Pictures handled the animation.[5]

Japanese release

Robots in Disguise was released in Japan as two separately branded series.

Transformers Adventure

Transformers Adventure (トランスフォーマー アドベンチャー Toransufōmā Adobenchā) aired on the satellite network Animax with a Sunday, 9am timeslot. Adventure was 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 was headed by Keiichirō 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. While an effort was made to emulate the dubbing style of Iwanami, which has become synonymous with Transformers cartoons in Japan, the adlibbing was not nearly as extensive and fourth wall-breaking humor was non-existent.

Since Adventure aired on a satellite network and not a broadcast network, it was not edited for time like previous Transformers cartoons. The episodes were fully uncut and featured extended opening and ending sequences. The title sequence was comprised mostly of clips from episodes, but new animation (mostly group shots) was provided by LandQ Studio. The end credits sequence featured a newly animated "stage performance" from the cast (which really must be seen to be believed), animated by Nakano Design.

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. The Adventure series did not alter the scripts to account for this, although it mostly played as a separate entity from Prime.

Animax aired the episodes using the Australian broadcast order rather than the US order, which is actually the incorrect continuity sequence. As a result, "Sideways" aired before "Out of Focus".

The theme song for the series is "Save the Future!!" by Mitsuhiro 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).

Transformers Adventure -Prime of Micron-

The season 2 and "season 2½" (or "miniseries") episodes of Robots in Disguise were combined into a newly branded sequel series which began airing on July 3, 2016[6] under the title Transformers Adventure -Prime of Micron- (トランスフォーマー アドベンチャー -マイクロンの章- Toransufōmā Adobenchā -Maikuron no Shō-). Incidentally, the "Maikuron no Shō" portion of the Japanese title actually translates to "Micron Chapter", but nobody tell them that. Like the previous season/series, it aired on Animax with a Sunday morning, 9:00am timeslot.

Prime of Micron includes a newly cobbled together title sequence (comprised of clips from episodes), but maintains the same theme song as Adventure. Likewise, the end credits sequence and song are the same.

Notes

  • "TF2" was an early working name for the series.
  • Robots in Disguise did not have the most successful record when it came to premiering new episodes; to date, every episode of the series bar the first half-dozen of season 2 has been released through an international venue before it was broadcast on U.S. television.
    • The first 13 episodes of the series were released, dubbed in Mandarin Chinese, on December 31, 2014 in mainland China, but not Hong Kong, several weeks in advance of their US broadcast. 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 paid for the episodes!
    • The show went on to premiere on Canal J in France, Biggs in Portugal, and Cartoon Network in Hungary before the U.S. airings began. In particular, the English-language version of the show premiered on Cartoon Network in Australia and New Zealand about a month before the US airing; the channel aired two episodes a week instead of one, and so quickly tore through the first thirteen episodes of the season.
    • The fourteenth episode debuted on Singaporean television two months before its US airing.
    • The final twelve episodes of the season were then released in two six-episode chunks via Australian iTunes in the first two weeks of June, 2015, allowing viewers to see the season finale three months before it aired in the US.
    • After the first six episodes of season 2 were broadcast on US television, Cartoon Network UK—airing two new episodes a week instead of just one—caught up to, and overtook, the US broadcast, airing the season finale around a month before the US.
    • The "History Lessons" through "Worthy" mini-series aired in its entirety on Teletoon in Canada before a US premiere date had even been announced.
  • On April 19, 2017 a teaser trailer was posted on Comicbook.com ,revealing Blurr, Ultra Bee and The Sunticons. [7]

Foreign names

  • Japanese: Transformers Adventure (トランスフォーマー アドベンチャー Toransufōmā Adobenchā, season 1), Transformers Adventure -Prime of Micron- (トランスフォーマー アドベンチャー -マイクロンの章- Toransufōmā Adobenchā -Maikuron no Shō-, season 2)
  • Czech: Transformers: Roboti v utajení ("Transformers: Robots in Disguise")
  • French: Transformers Robots in Disguise : Mission Secrète ("Transformers Robots in Disguise: Secret Mission")
  • German: Transformers: Getarnte Roboter ("Transformers: Disguised Robots")
  • Mandarin: Biànxíng Jīngāng: Lǐngxiù de Tiǎozhàn (变形金刚：领袖的挑战, "Transformers: Leader's Challenge")
  • Russian: Transformery: Roboty pod prikrytiyem (Трансформеры: Роботы под прикрытием, "Transformers: Robots in Disguise")

References

  1. ↑ Botcon 2016 - Q& A Interview with Hasbro Transformers Team
  2. ↑ "Transfrormers: Robots in Disguise rewned for season 3" at ComicBook.com
  3. ↑ Mairghread's Tumblr Post
  4. ↑ Kevin Manthei's Tumblr post
  5. ↑ Tweet by Polygon Pictures CEO Shuzo Shiota
  6. ↑ [1]
  7. ↑ [2]
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