Transformers Animated

Transformers Animated is a cartoon series which debuted on December 26, 2007, 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, and Studio 4°C.

Animated sees several Generation 1 voice actors reprise their old roles (Susan Blu, Corey Burton, John Moschitta, etc.), and is the first Transformers show featuring David Kaye in which he won't be voicing Megatron.

Overview
Animated follows the adventures of a small crew of Autobots, who come into possession of the all-powerful AllSpark artifact. Stranded on Earth and living among the population of Detroit, they face off against a series of human villains and their mighty Decepticon foes, who seek to possess the AllSpark. Though they were originally a lowly space bridge repair crew, these five Autobots must rise to their circumstances to deal with threats large and small.

The series eschews the ever-continuing space opera storylines of the Unicron Trilogy cartoons to return to the episodic approach of Beast Wars; most episodes are standalone stories, but with larger story arcs that stretch through the whole series. The focus is 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. The arrival of a Decepticon in battle is a big deal, requiring multiple Autobots working together to stop even a single one. The human villains give the Autobots "everyday" threats, and some of their schemes are the result of Decepticon treachery. Note well: human adversaries are not new in Transformers continuity.

Season 3 is already in the works with it's debut set in Spring 2009, and season 4 is quite possible.

While the series is not a sequel to the live-action movie, they have many thematic elements in common, most notably the central role of the AllSpark 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, Bumblebee's black racing stripe, 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.

The series also includes many elements and homages to prior Transformers series. Most conspicuously, it has many parallels to Generation 1 character designs, personalities, and major characteristics; Shockwave and Blurr are even voiced by the same voice actors as their G1 analogues. Beast Wars gets nods in the form of the inclusion of new versions/homages of Blackarachnia and Waspinator, plus the overall plot structure: the main war is over, the good guys won, but now a small team of heroes never meant for combat roles must go up against an upstart cell of villains led by a charismatic rogue.

Creative Staff
There are some talented people working on this show. Among the more prominent- • 2

Home Video Releases

 * Transform and Roll Out (DVD, June 22, 2008)
 * A single DVD containing the three-part premier Transform and Roll Out! and two unaired shorts. Has Full Screen video and stereo sound in English and Spanish. A Target exclusive version contains a second disc with Home Is Where the Spark Is.

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.

The immediate response to the earliest promotional materials from the online fandom was the painfully traditional one, with an added dash of overblown paranoia that the franchise would be far too "kid-oriented" for longtime fans to enjoy, based on nothing more than its artistic style. Attitudes took an eyebrow-raisingly sharp turn with the premiere of the first footage from the show at the San Diego Comic Con and Hasbro's presentation at BotCon 2007, and after the debut of the show, it was essentially only the most ardent "already-made-up-their-mind-to-hate-it" viewers who were speaking ill. In particular, many fears were alleviated with the airing of The Thrill of the Hunt, which involved Ratchet savagely beating Lockdown for revenge, Ratchet coping with the loss of Arcee's memories, and a look at the horrors of war. This unusual level of maturity let many fans warm up to the new series.

The aforementioned ability of the series to carry on story arcs for multiple episodes and, in many cases, for an entire season also lends itself to enjoyment by older viewers. Multiple plot lines run simultaneously and are not resolved within a single episode, allowing a deeper, more intricate story than previous Transformers series. The return of Megatron took up most of season one, and the construction of the space bridge and the revelation of the identity of the Decepticon traitor among the Autobots unfolded throughout the second season, while the mystery of Sari's origin has been hinted at throughout the entire series.

Trivia

 * Despite being animated in a widescreen format, the series is delivered to Cartoon Network in a cropped-down, fullscreen format, and is subsequently broadcast this way. Alas, the series has been released on DVD in this format, too. Fans could glimpse various widescreen images in a promo reel screened at various conventions before the launch of the series, which was later included on the DVD packaged with action figure two-pack, "The Battle Begins".
 * The series is the first in over a decade to re-establish the classic Generation 1 convention of blue eyes for Autobots and red eyes for Decepticons.
 * As well as the aforementioned Generation 1 voice actors, Townsend Coleman returns to a Transformers series. He voiced Rewind in the original Generation 1 cartoon.
 * For some reason, a lot of fans want to believe that Animated is full of references to the anime Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann, selecting lots of random, generic, anime-influenced hand motions and assorted design quirks throughout season 1 as "obvious" nods to the series. Then Derrick Wyatt announced that he hadn't even seen the show until the production of Season 1 was finished. HA. Of course, the possibility exists that the second season may see some Lagann references, as Wyatt notes that it and Diebuster have since inspired the production staff, but Wyatt singles out Mighty Orbots and the British comic 2000 AD 's ABC Warriors strip as the biggest influences on the character designs, with Lagann/Diebuster producers Gainax animation studio as a constant source of influence.
 * In May 2008, when North American broadcasts of the series were only four episodes into season two, all the remaining episodes of the season aired in Dubai. While almost nobody in the fandom had personally seen these episodes (and no one had seen them in English as they were intended), gossip based on viewer reviews and screencaps resulted in many plot developments and potential surprises being spoiled. Hooray.
 * There is one possible continuity error throughout the entire first season: Megatron's decapitated head appears to be his Earth-mode head. However, it could be argued that this look is due to Isaac Sumdac's mechanical tinkering over the last few decades, or that falling through an atmosphere might do a fair bit of damage.
 * Yes, they have large chins. Shut up about it.

External Link

 * Derrick Wyatt's blog

Transformers Animated (cartoon)