Transformers Animated

Transformers Animated is a cartoon series which debuted in early 2008, in support of the franchise of the same name.

The cartoon is produced by Cartoon Network, scripted in the United States, with character and background designs by the crews behind shows like Teen Titans and Ben 10, while animation is being provided by Japanese studios Mook, The Answer Studio (the Japanese studio who animated Super Robot Monkey Team Hyper Force Go!), and Studio 4C.

Animated is notable for the fact it sees several G1 voice actors reprise their old roles (Susan Blu, Corey Burton, John Moschitta, etc.), and for the fact this is the first Transformers show featuring David Kaye where he won't be voicing Megatron.

Series details
The series eschews the ever-continuing space opera storylines of the past few anime to return to the episodic approach of Beast Wars; each episode will be a standalone story, but with an overall story arc that stretches through the whole season. The focus is being put firmly on characterization, dynamic action, and humor.

The episodes center not only on the war between the Autobots and the Decepticons, but also on the Autobots' interactions with many of Detroit's human supervillain denizens, including a maladjusted marksman, a speedy racer, and a guy who looks good in a pimp suit. The idea is to present the Decepticons as more of an ongoing background threat instead of having them be repeatedly defeated each episode and look like bumbling fools. Rather, the arrival of a Decepticon in battle is supposed to be a big deal, requiring multiple Autobots working together to stop even a single one. The human villains will give the Autobots "everyday" threats--and no doubt their schemes will turn out to be the result of Decepticon treachery. Note that human adversaries are not new in Transformers continuity. However, humans as major threats is very uncommon.

Season 2 is already in the works, and seasons 3 and 4 are quite possible.

While the series is not a sequel to the recent live-action movie, they have many thematic elements in common, most notably the central role of the All Spark cube and the revelation that all modern technology has been reverse-engineered from the dormant body of Megatron. Hasbro also carried over some design elements from the live-action movie into Animated designs, including not just the aforementioned cube but also Ratchet's medical readout striped deco and Megatron's helmet. These are meant to be "connection points," helping kids who had seen the theatrical film but had no prior Transformers experience ease into understanding the new series.

Autobots

 * Optimus Prime (David Kaye)
 * Bumblebee (Bumper Robinson)
 * Ratchet (Corey Burton)
 * Bulkhead (Bill Fagerbakke)
 * Prowl (Jeff Bennett)
 * Arcee (Susan Blu)
 * Blurr (John Moschitta)
 * Wreck-Gar ("Weird Al" Yankovic)
 * Elita One (Cree Summer)
 * Dinobots
 * Grimlock (David Kaye)
 * Swoop
 * Slag
 * Cybertron Elite Guard
 * Ultra Magnus (Jeff Bennett)
 * Sentinel Prime (Townsend Coleman)
 * Ironhide
 * Jazz (Phil LaMarr)

Decepticons

 * Megatron (Corey Burton)
 * Starscream (Tom Kenny)
 * Blackarachnia (Cree Summer)
 * Blitzwing (Bumper Robinson)
 * Lugnut (David Kaye)
 * Lockdown (Lance Henriksen)
 * Shockwave (Corey Burton)
 * Soundwave (Jeff Bennett)
 * Laserbeak
 * Constructicons
 * Scrapper

Humans

 * Sari Sumdac (Tara Strong)
 * Isaac Sumdac (Tom Kenny)
 * Angry Archer (Jeff Bennett)
 * Captain Fanzone (Jeff Bennett)
 * Nanosec (Brian Posehn)
 * Meltdown / Prometheus Black (Peter Stormare)
 * The Headmaster (Alexander Polinsky)
 * Colossus Rhodes (Corey Burton)
 * Porter C. Powell (Bumper Robinson)

Reception
Transformers Animated debuted January 5, 2008, at 10:30am EST as the number one television show among boys 6-11 in both cable and network television. In addition, the strength of the showing helped lift the ratings of all its neighboring shows in Cartoon Network's "Dynamite Action" scheduling block.

Trivia

 * Transformers: Animated reunites Jeff Bennett, Bill Fagerbakke and Cree Summer as regular cast members. Respectively, they have previously voiced Brooklyn, Broadway and Hyena from the Gargoyles series, three characters not unlike their Transformers counterparts.