User:JW/Sandbox
Beast Wars
Relationship to Generation 1
The relationship between Beast Wars and the Generation 1 cartoon became most prominent at the end of the second season, and throughout the third season. The Maximals and Predacons discover the Ark, and the Maximals spend their time defending it in an effort to preserve their history. This can be seen as a metaphor for the relationship between the two TV series. The Maximals are literally walking among their own history, surrounded by giants out of their past, respectfully striving to preserve it and them untainted. This is a reasonable analogy for how the creators of the Beast Wars handled its relationship to Generation 1, and is part of why the show is admired by fans.
Dehumanizing
The opposite of humanizing, dehumanizing occurs when the writers of Transformers fiction deliberately remove "human" elements from the characters, replacing it with robot-specific elements. Examples:
"I got something in my optics." (Not "eyes".)
"I used to chase turbo-foxes back home." (Not "foxes".)
"I've got a bad feeling in my carburetor." (Not "gut".)
Sometimes this can get kinda silly.
"You can lead a Cybertronian robo-horse to an oil slick, but you can't make it lubricate."
Toyetic
"Toyetic" can refer to one of two things:
- A toy which can easily be marketed in a piece of fiction. (Like Transformers, but unlike a hula hoop, for example.)
- An element from a piece of fiction (a character, a prop, a location) which can easily be made into a toy.
The relevance to Transformers is obvious. Uniquely, Hasbro's impetus to create the Transformers brand began with neither a work of fiction they wished to adapt, nor specific toys they wanted to market, but rather simply a nebulous desire to create a new toy/cartoon/comic book property akin to G.I. Joe.
Named for parts they don't have
Optimus Prime's disappearing trailer
One conceit of Transformers cartoons that one has to learn to live with, is the fact that Optimus Prime's trailer keeps disappearing and reappearing. In the original cartoon, Optimus's robot mode transformed into part of his vehicle mode. When he changed into a semi cab, his trailer would magically slide in from off camera. When he changed back to robot mode, the camera would often tilt up, quietly letting the trailer disappear out of frame. There were many variations on this. E.g., if Prime is standing in the middle of a group, and there is no place for his trailer to appear from when he goes to vehicle mode, it would instead not appear until after a cut. Similarly, in comics, while it's easier to hide the transition "between panels", there is still often no explanation provided for where his trailer was just a minute ago.
This conceit has continued beyond Generation 1, for other Optimuses who also turn into part of their altmodes. For example, Optimus Prime from Transformers Animated is sometimes just a semi cab (an emergency semi cab, with a light bar), and sometimes an entire fire truck, with the rest of the truck just popping up with no explanation. His case is particularly unusual, since A) firetrucks aren't usually base don semi cabs, and B) in full-firetruck mode, he appears to be all one piece, not articulated like a traditional tractor-trailer.
