Bumblebee (Animated)


 * Bumblebee is an Autobot from the Transformers Animated continuity family.

Bumblebee the youngest, yellowest, and most energetic of the Autobots...as usual. A hyperactive wisecracker, Bumblebee is quite convinced he's the fastestand coolestthing on four wheels. He has a tendency to bite off more then he can chew, so it's a good thing he pals around with the massive Bulkhead. He does not take well to being called "short", and his over-eager ways can get on Ratchet's nerves all too easily. Still, Bumblebee is good people, as evidenced by his fast friendship with Sari Sumdac.

"I may be small, but I'm scrappy! And I can ride circles around your big, old, rusty chassis!"

- Bumblebee

Transformers Animated cartoon

 * Voice actor: Bumper Robinson

Bumblebee can save a little girl from a rampaging slug creature and retain his cheerfulness and good humor while doing so. He also calls Optimus "Big Bot"... sounds familiar.

His hands can transform intro electronic welders, which he can use to shoot electric jolts. Also, he has a strangely familiar faceplate—probably also for welding. Despite the fact that he maintains that he's a repair-bot and not programmed for combat, he's quite useful in battle.

Bumblebee is a member of Optimus Prime's repair crew, assigned to perform maintenance on malfunctioning space bridges. He proved agile enough to help his stronger (but much larger) teammate, Bulkhead, who had managed to lodge a wrecking ball in an asteroid. Even though he expressed significant fear of Megatron, he still managed to crack wise at the Decepticon leader's appearance once they were face-to-face. The humor vanished when Megs pulled out his sword. After Megatron was thrown off the ship, Bumblebee entered stasis with the rest of the crew just before the Ark crash-landed on Earth.

Upon awakening the crew to alert them to the intrusion of a nanite-powered bug-slug, the ship's computer scanned vehicle modes to disguise them. Bumblebee got reformatted into Captain Fanzone's car. Lucky him.

Upon noticing "a little creature" struggling with her "owner", 'Bee and Mr. Bulk showed their unfamiliarity with organic life by assuming the owner/pet relationship was reversed. Their speculation was interrupted by the attacks of the giant, nanite-fueled bug monster, and Bumblebee intervened to get Sari out of the way. Later in the battle, Bumblebee was called on to deliver the override command to the beast's nanites, as he was the fastest and most nimble of the crew.

His defeat of the monster seriously impressed Sari, who decided to befriend him. Sari's definition of befriending included cajoling him into sneaking her aboard the Ark. Of course, Sari wouldn't stay still as Bumblebee asked, compelling him to jettison her into a ventilation shaft. After introducing her to the group, Sari and 'Bee became fast friends. When Starscream attacked Detroit, Bumblebee took a shot intended for Sari, allowing Screamer to capture Bumblebee, Isaac Sumdac, Captain Fanzone, and the Mayor. Sari, with Prowl's help, managed to rescue them.

At one point, Bumblebee took part in a match against Cyrus "Colossus" Rhodes. Unfortunately, Cyrus hulked up, then proceeded to beat the slag out of Bumblebee. The other Autobots were forced to rescue him, using it as a chance to riff on his small stature. However, only Bumblebee was able to get into Sumdac Tower when Meltdown went to kill Isaac Sumdac. Bumblebee managed to get him to the ground floor, but Meltdown arrived. Bulkhead tried to stop him, but Meltdown threw a glob of acid at Bulkhead, which Bumblebee took instead (basically, 'Bee is a human shield). Bulkhead offered his apologies over his comments, saying he was only having a little fun&mdash;which sent Bumblebee into declaring his good moves and speed. He's going to be pretty impossible to live with for a while.

After showing a lack of ability to be subtle on Earth, Prime had Prowl try to teach Bumblebee how to blend in. This ruined some plans with Sari, as she wanted to attach some turbo-boosters to him to make him go even faster. During the exercise, they encountered Nanosec, a crook that had gained Professor Sumdac's new speed suit via unknown patrons. Unable to keep up with Nanosec, Bumblebee was convinced by Sari attach the turbo-boosters against Prime's orders. Unfortunately, he couldn't control them in vehicle mode, allowing Nanosec to escape from the Autobots twice. Worse, he was carrying enough Destronium to destroy all of Detroit. Overhearing Bulkhead and Prowl's comments on his change of appearance, Bumblebee realized that the suit was causing him to age the more he used it, so he purposefully ran him into old age (cold, Bee). With the Destronium about to go critical, Bumblebee, with help from Prowl and Bulkhead, managed to use his turbo-boosters to head into the outer atmosphere and get the Destronium away from the city before detonating. The whole experience seems have given Bumblebee a bit more respect for subtlety.

Animated

 * Bumblebee (Deluxe, 2008)


 * Bumblebee will be yellow, look a bit like the little car from Lupin the Third (and a little like a VW Bug with a Chevy Camaro's headlight design), and have these cute little rocket booster pods that can go on either side. It seriously looks to be the cutest Transformer ever (right up there with Moon). He cheats a bit in robot mode, with a fake car roof chest. He will not have a faceplate on the toy. Just a smirk. He will also have shock stingers.


 * Bumblebee (Activator, 2008)


 * A small-sized version of Bumblebee that automatically transforms at the touch of a button.

Trivia

 * Bumblebee's arm-mounted shock stingers are very likely inspired by an early weapon concept from the 2007 movie Bumblebee.


 * The character who would become Bumblebee was originally conceived as Hot Shot, but changed to Bumblebee in anticipation of his breakout popularity in the live-action film.