Beast Machines: Transformers (cartoon)
| "Battle for the Spark" redirects here. For the online game in the live action film continuity, see Battle for the Allspark. |
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.
- Japanese name: Super Lifeform Transformers Beast Wars Returns (超生命体トランスフォーマー ビーストウォーズ リターンズ, Chō Seimeitai Transformers Beast Wars Returns)
- French-Canadian name: Mécanimaux ("Mechanimals")
- Russian name: Transformers: Beast Robots (Трансформеры: Зверо-Роботы, Transformery: Zvero-Roboty)
Note: Beast Machines is the similar to Brother Bear 2.
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 is abandoned, and the streets are patrolled by mindless Vehicon drones serving Megatron, who somehow escaped his captivity.
Worse still, they learn that they are infected with a deadly virus that will kill them in a matter of hours. Salvation comes from the mysterious supercomputer known as the Oracle, who sees them fit to complete its mission of a planetwide "reformatting", and turns them into technorganic warriors, a perfect blend of organic and technological matter.
As the show progresses, Primal and his fellow Maximals learn to balance their technological side with their newly introduced organic aspects, mastery coming in slow stages. Unlike the previous conflict, where sides had been roughly equal, the four original Maximals were quite outnumbered by their Vehicon enemies, and the battles took on a "guerilla warfare" feel, with the Maximals using sewers and underground levels to their advantage and avoiding surface levels unless for combat purposes. As the show progresses, two brand-new Maximals and a returning face boost their numbers and together, the Maximals eventually turn Cybertron into an technorganic paradise, though at the cost of their leader's life.
Reception
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, discussing such issues like what it meant to live in an increasingly technological society, the dichotomy between the desires of the individual and the needs of the whole, the inevitability of conflict and inequality in a free society, and the paradox of a living technological world. Story editor Bob Skir describes the series as a "religious epic novel for television."[1] Most of the Transformers franchise lore about sparks, their abilities, and the mechanism of their life cycle, was introduced or developed in this series.
The series amassed many detractors early on, who complained that core cast portrayals were inconsistent with how these personalities had been established over the years of the preceding Beast Wars series. Critics also alleged a "hippie" agenda behind Beast Machines, with Optimus Primal becoming an anti-technology guru (throughout season 1, anyway). The show's "epic novel" storytelling structure meant that at times it was forced to tread water, relying on repetitive chase scenes and expository speeches. It was also, at that point in time, by far the most serialized American Transformers cartoon, making it difficult for new viewers to join at some random episode and be hooked in; it didn't help that the series began "in medias res", with many foundational issues deliberately left vague until at last resolution was established in flashbacks in episodes 7-9 (by then, Mainframe executive Asaph Fipke had become somewhat notorious for repeatedly assuring fans that "all will be revealed.") Some detractors were so sure the series had ruined Transformers forever that they sent death threats to Bob Skir, causing him to cancel a convention appearance in 2000.
The show was and remains the darkest Transformers animated series (even its fans will grant that it almost entirely lacks the humorous, occasionally zany approach of Beast Wars, though this was a deliberate artistic choice), and the most thought-provoking. It is also the final animated entry into the Generation 1 story canon, bringing the events in that universe to a rather conclusive ending (which also didn't win it many popularity points). If nothing else, the creators had ambitions to do more than sell toys.
Despite all the criticisms, the show continued the high production values of Beast Wars, with solid scripting, excellent voice acting, and CGI that was a considerable step up in quality even from Beast Wars. Mainframe's animators showed their considerable talents in giving highly emotive expression to such alien characters as the Vehicon generals and even the Diagnostic Drone, which didn't have a face at all. As with Beast Wars, Robert Buckley provided the series background music, this time creating a stylized electronic music in keeping with the mechanical environment of Cybertron.
With Beast Machines perhaps not quite living up to Hasbro's hopes, the followup line to Beast Machines was subsequently scrapped. 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, and with the passage of time, some fans have re-evaluated 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...
- The Reformatting
- Master of the House
- Fires of the Past
- Mercenary Pursuits
- Forbidden Fruit
- The Weak Component
- Revelations Part I: Discovery
- Revelations Part II: Descent
- Revelations Part III: Apocalypse
- Survivor
- The Key
- The Catalyst
- 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.
- Fallout
- Savage Noble
- Prometheus Unbound
- In Darkest Knight
- A Wolf in the Fold
- Home Soil
- Sparkwar Pt. I: The Strike
- Sparkwar Pt. II: The Search
- Sparkwar Pt. III: The Siege
- Spark of Darkness
- Endgame Pt. I: The Downward Spiral
- Endgame Pt. II: When Legends Fall
- Endgame Pt. III: 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.
Japanese release
The Beast Machines franchise was not initially released in Japan. As such, the Beast Machines cartoon did not reach Japan's shores until late 2004, where it was retitled Beast Wars Returns. The series was initially broadcast on the satellite-only network MobaHO! - TAKARAND from November 6, 2004, to January 30, 2005. In February of 2005, it was reaired on Cartoon Network Japan and, following that, other networks including Gifu Terebi.
Though the editing was headed up by Iwanami Yoshikazu, the man responsible for the dubbing of Beast Wars, the Beast Wars Returns cartoon was not reworked to the same extent as the previous series had been in Japan. While the character quirks exclusive to the Japanese version of the series were retained, and a complete cast reunion from Beast Wars was achieved, the dub did not strive to be an overblown comedy series as before. Instead, Beast Wars Returns featured a tone more closely resembling the original English version. This less jovial attitude is reflected in the episode titles, which are no longer goofy and full of self-referential gags, but are almost awkwardly serious.
Given the low-key release of the series, a new theme song was not recorded. Instead, "Phat Planet" by Leftfield was retained. Only one original piece of music was recorded for the series, "Megatron Ondo" by Yukio Hibariya and partly performed by Shigeru Chiba, created exclusively for Volume 7 of the Beast Wars Returns DVD release.
Also exclusive to the DVD release of the series was an additional, goofy clip show akin to the silly ones created for the Japanese release of the Beast Wars:
- Shock! Of Course We're Doing it! Remix ("ドキッ!やっぱりやります!リミックス")
Home video releases
Japan
- Super Lifeform Transformers: Beast Wars Returns — Volume 1 (2004)
- Super Lifeform Transformers: Beast Wars Returns — Volume 2 (2004)
- Super Lifeform Transformers: Beast Wars Returns — Volume 3 (2005)
- Super Lifeform Transformers: Beast Wars Returns — Volume 4 (2005)
- Super Lifeform Transformers: Beast Wars Returns — Volume 5 (2005)
- Super Lifeform Transformers: Beast Wars Returns — Volume 6 (2005)
- Super Lifeform Transformers: Beast Wars Returns — Volume 7 (2005)
United States
- Beast Machines: Transformers — The Complete Series (2006)
Australia / New Zealand
- Transformers: Beast Machines — Season One: Volume One (2007)
- Transformers: Beast Machines — Season One: Volume Two (2007)
- Transformers: Beast Machines — Season Two: Volume One (2007)
- Transformers: Beast Machines — Season Two: Volume Two (2007)
United Kingdom
- Transformers: Beast Machines — Season One: Volume One — Reformatting (2007)
- Transformers: Beast Machines — Season One: Volume Two — Revelations (2007)
- Transformers: Beast Machines — Complete Season One (2007)
- Transformers: Beast Machines — Complete Season Two (2007)
France
- Transformers: Beast Machines — Intégrale Saison 1 (2009)
- Transformers: Beast Machines — Intégrale Saison 2 (2009)
Germany
- Transformers: Beast Machines: Die komplette Season 1 (2007)
- Transformers: Beast Machines: Die komplette Season 2 (2007)
Notes
- 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.
- In the May 2008 "DC Nation" editorial appearing in DC Comics publications, Dan DiDio recounted that writer Steve Gerber had once pitched a "wildly original take on Transformers" as part of the development of Beast Machines.
- The theme tune for the show was Leftfield's "Phat Planet". This was also used for a famous Guinness advert. The latter proved a more popular TV slot.
- Apart from flashbacks, visions and such, Beast Machines takes place entirely on (or in orbit of) Cybertron, thus making it the only television series not to feature any annoying human companions.
- Simon Furman thinks Beast Machines was too dark and serious for being a cartoon show for kids.[2] And trust us: the guy who wrote Generation 2 is something of an expert on 'too dark and serious for kids'.
- This ist the only Transformers Cartoon, which was completly dubbed into German.
