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)
- Latin American Spanish name: Transformers: Bestias y Máquinas (Transformers: Beasts and Machines)
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.
Initially, Optimus is driven by a crusade to restore the organic above the technological and to right his failure to stop Megatron. Over time, it becomes increasingly clear that he's becoming obsessed and overzealous. At the midpoint, after Cybertron is almost destroyed, he realises that the point should be to create a balance of organic and technological, not a supremacy. Under this new, saner cause, the Maximals eventually turn Cybertron into an technorganic paradise, though at the cost of their leader's life.
Reception
Most people hate it. Especially Transformer fans.
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)
Giveaways
- Beast Machines: Transformers — The Reformatting & Master of the House (1999)
- Beast Machines: Transformers: Battle for the Spark — Sparkwar Part I: The Strike (2000)
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.[1] And trust us: the guy who wrote Generation 2 is something of an expert on 'too dark and serious for kids'.
- Vector Prime, in contrast, thinks it was an awesome show. [2]
- This is the only Transformers cartoon that had a complete German dub.
