Transformers: Robots in Disguise (2001 cartoon)

Robots in Disguise was the first dubbed Transformers show ever broadcast for a US audience. (Rather questionable english dubs of the Japan-exclusive G1 cartoons were produced in Asia, but have never aired in the US).

Car Robots, the original Japanese series from which it was adapted, premiered in Japan in 2000. Originally the series was not going to be imported from Japan, but when Hasbro scrapped the planned Transtech line at the eleventh hour the Car Robots line and its attendent cartoon were imported to fill the void until a new replacement could be designed.

RiD (as it is usually abreviated) was produced and dubbed by Saban, and aired from September 2001 to March 2002. It was something of a return to roots for Transformers fiction, in the sense that many characters transformed into realistic, modern Earth vehicles instead of animals or abstract/futuristic vehicles, as was standard in the Beast Era. It also marked the return of the Autobot faction and sigil for the good guys. (The villains, initially, remained Predacons, though the Decepticons are eventually added to their ranks as well, as a sub-group.)

Animation in the series was cel-based, moving away from the CGI that had been a hallmark of Transformers television series in the US since 1996. It features many standard anime light-comedy stylings, and is replete with overdone facial expressions, comic effects like bubbles surrounding a character's head to signify confusion or consternation, and the traditional streaked background behind the character for high-action shots or stock-footage transformation/attack sequences.

Takara at the time tended to aim their Transformers line and its fiction at younger audiences than Hasbro, resulting in a more light-hearted, comedic tone overall. Storylines were typically light or goofy and sometimes relied on bad jokes, absurd imagery and slapstick. Many fans appreciated the series' humorous approach, and others did not, but comic foil Sky-Byte became a fan-favorite character.

Most of the voice actors, though veterans of other Saban properties, had never worked on a Transformers series before--with the conspicuous exception of Michael McConnohie, one of the series voice directors and himself the voice of Hot Shot; McConnohie had provided voice talent for Cosmos and Tracks in the original Transformers cartoon.

All 39 episodes were scheduled to run during the afternoon Fox Kids programming block on the Fox television network. The third episode, Bullet Train to the Rescue, was scheduled to air on September 11, 2001, but was preempted in most areas because of the terrorist attacks in America that day. Areas where "Fox Kids" was aired on a secondary station (like KDFI 27 in Dallas/Fort Worth, TX) aired the episode that day. Later episodes were re-edited to remove scenes that might be jarring to a newly sensitive viewing public, causing these episodes to air out-of-order. Other episodes were cut entirely and were not seen in the US. Disney now owns the cartoon through their aquisition of Saban.

Connections to Other Fiction

Many episodes of RiD featured references to characters and events from earlier Transformers series. These were typically not written by the dub team but, rather, were added by Hasbro employee Andrew Frankel after the scripts were submitted to the company for broadcast approval. These "easter egg" continuity references lead some fans to speculate on possible connections between the RiD universe and previous franchises; but this died down as the series progressed, as the fact remains that despite these easter egg references, far too much of the RiD's story is far too different from any existing Generation 1 universe for it to fit well together.