Transformers Animated (franchise)

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Transformers Animated is the latest television-supported Transformers franchise, which began in December 2007. The latest re-imagining of the Transformers brand brings a highly dynamic and stylized look to the toys and fiction.

The franchise consists of the following components:

• A cartoon series
• Three comic book series
• A toyline
• Several books

The cartoon began with a 3-episode mini-movie, first aired on Cartoon Network on December 26, 2007, and followed by a full 13-episode season, which started airing in January. The toyline, however, did not hit stores till the late spring of 2008, due to the ongoing popularity of the 2007 movie toys.

The series has adopted a new visual art style and form of storytelling which has not been used before in Transformers. The changes in design were created in an attempt to attract the modern youth viewer. The new art style incorporates a more "organic" feel to the Transformer characters. This style of art and character movement was introduced to emphasize dramatic movements and to allow the animator to express more emotion than in previous series.

Reception

On January 25, 2008 the first regular episode of the Transformers Animated cartoon premiered as the #1 boys show in its time slot, significantly better ratings than previous CN programming.

On February 24, 2009 the seventh wave of Animated Voyager-class toys was canceled for unknown reasons.

Homages

Even more so than Energon, Animated is saturated with frequent and obvious references and homages to Generation 1 and other lines, possibly intended as a celebration of the Transformers' 25th anniversary year. It would, in all seriousness, take less time to list the characters who are not homages to past series, but nonetheless, such references include:

• Arcee is based on her Generation 1 namesake.
• Blackarachnia is based on the Beast Era character of the same name.
• Blitzwing is based on his Generation 1 namesake.
• Blurr is based on his Generation 1 namesake. He even has the same voice actor as his G1 counterpart.
• Bumblebee is based on the Generation 1 character of the same name, however his racing stripe recalls Bumblebee's 2007 Movie iteration. Elite Guard Bumblebee has a similar color scheme to movie Bumblebee's "stealth" mode with some elements of Goldbug, the rebuilt version of Generation 1 Bumblebee. This Bumblebee's personality recalls Armada Hot Shot.
• Cliffjumper is based on his Generation 1 namesake.
• Constructicons Scrapper and Mixmaster are loosely based on their G1 counterparts, as well as their movie counterparts.
• Dinobots Grimlock and Swoop are based on the Generation 1 Dinobots of the same name; and while Snarl shares a name with Generation 1 Snarl, his alt-mode is based on the Generation 1 Slag.
• Elita-1 "shares" her name with her Generation 1 namesake, but her body is based on her namesake's original form Ariel.
• Jazz is based on the Generation 1 character of the same name.
• Cybertron Mode Megatron is based on the Generation 1 character of the same name, with some similarities to movie Megatron. Earth Mode Megatron is based on Return of Convoy Super Megatron.
• Cybertron Mode Optimus Prime is loosely based on the Generation 1 character of the same name, specifically The War Within. He also greatly resembles Orion Pax. Earth Mode Optimus Prime is based on the Generation 1 Prime, as well as Robots In Disguise Optimus Prime and Return of Convoy Star Convoy.
• Prowl has a police-based alternate mode and a logical mind, like the Generation 1 character of the same name. He also has the ability to create holographic images, an ability shared with Generation 1 Hound.
• Ratchet is based on the Generation 1 character of the same name, with some design elements of movie Ratchet and Cybertron Red Alert, and an attitude reminiscent of G1 Ironhide and Kup.
• Sentinel Prime is named after the Generation 1 character of the same name.
• Seekers Sunstorm, Skywarp, Thundercracker and Starscream are based on the Generation 1 characters of the same name. Animated Dirge, though not a Conehead, recalls his G1 color scheme.
• Shockwave is based on the Generation 1 character of the same name, though with a new alternate mode. He even has the same voice actor as he did in G1. He also transforms into an Autobot, Longarm Prime, as a double agent, much like Punch/Counterpunch.
• Soundwave is based on the Generation 1 character of the same name, though with a new alternate mode loosely based on an unproduced Classics toy of his G1 counterpart. He still has his partner, Laserbeak, who is based on his G1 namesake, but with an all-new alt-mode.
• Ultra Magnus is based on the Generation 1 character of the same name.
• Wasp's later appearance is based on Beast Era Waspinator.
• Wreck-Gar is based on the Generation 1 character of the same name.

In addition, there are characters seen in the cartoon/comic that also have strong homages (The Witwicky family, Omega Supreme, Wheeljack, Perceptor, etc). These may yet become toys. And of course there's the theme song.

Trivia

• This is the second Transformers series (the first being Beast Machines) wherein a strict separation is made in the type of weaponry used by either side. According to Derrick J. Wyatt, "To me the Autobots were built as a labor force, and the Decepticons were created as the Military. This is one reason that the Decepticons use military weapons, while the Autobots use 'tools' to fight with."
• An early working title for this incarnation was Transformers: Heroes
• An edited 10-minute preview of the first episode was shown at the NTFA Mini-Con fan convention held in Arlöv, Sweden, on November 3 and 4, 2007. The full episode had been promised and secured by Hasbro Nordic for the event, but Hasbro US overruled them in the last second, allowing only an abbreviated and for the event created edit to be shown.

External links

• Transformers animated press release
• Exclusive Transformers Animated Producer Interview
• Cartoon Network Transformers Animated site
• Transformers Animated on Kabillion (Full Episodes and Games
• Hasbro's official Transformers Animated homepage