Transformers Animated (franchise)



Transformers Animated is the latest television-supported Transformers franchise, which began in December 2007. The latest re-imagining of the Transformers brand brings a highly dynamic and stylized look to the toys and fiction.

The franchise consists of the following components:
 * A cartoon series
 * A comic book series
 * A toyline

The cartoon began with a 3-episode mini-movie, first aired on Cartoon Network on December 26, 2007, and followed by a full 13-episode season, which started airing in January. The toyline, however, did not hit stores till the late spring of 2008, due to the ongoing popularity of the 2007 movie toys.

The series has adopted a new visual art style and form of storytelling which has not been used before in Transformers. The changes in design were created in an attempt to attract the modern youth viewer. The new art style incorporates a more "organic" feel to the Transformer characters. This style of art and character movement was introduced to emphasize dramatic movements and to allow the animator to express more emotion than in previous series.

Homages
Even more so than Energon, Animated is saturated with frequent and obvious references and homages to Generation 1 and other lines, possibly intended as a celebration of the Transformers' 25th anniversary year. Among them are:


 * Arcee is based on her Generation 1 namesake.


 * Blackarachnia is based on the Beast Era character of the same name.


 * Blitzwing is based on his Generation 1 namesake, but has some Quintesson-like qualities.


 * Blurr is based on his Generation 1 namesake. He was also voiced by the guy who voices Blurr in G1.


 * Bulkhead's green color resembles that of Hound. He is not to be confused with another green guy from Energon. His head design is awkwardly based on a Decepticon.


 * Bumblebee is based on the Generation 1 character of the same name. Elite Guard Bumblebee has a similar color scheme to movie Bumblebee's "stealth" mode with some elements of Shattered Glass Goldbug.


 * Cliffjumper is based on his Generation 1 namesake.


 * Constructicons Scrapper and Mixmaster are loosely based on their G1 counterparts, as well as their movie counterparts.


 * Dinobots Grimlock and Swoop are based on the Generation 1 Dinobots of the same name; and while Snarl shares a name with Generation 1 Snarl, but his alt-mode is based on the Generation 1 Slag. Grimlock talks exactly like the original.


 * Elita-1 "shares" her name with her Generation 1 namesake, but her body is based on her namesake's original form Ariel.


 * Ironhide is based on his namesake with the same southern accent but sounds more youthful.


 * Jazz is based on the Generation 1 character of the same name. Jazz has the same cool attitude like the original, but his voice is smoother.


 * Cybertron Mode Megatron is based on the Generation 1 character of the same name, with some similarities to movie Megatron. Earth Mode Megatron is based on Battlestars Super Megatron, but still also based on the original.


 * Omega Supreme is based on his namesake, while his alt form is based on the Autobot spaceship, the Ark.
 * Cybertron Mode Optimus Prime is loosely based on the Generation 1 character of the same name, specifically The War Within. He also bears a slight resemblance to Orion Pax. Earth Mode Optimus Prime is based on the Generation 1 Prime, as well as Robots In Disguise Optimus Prime and Battlestars Star Convoy. His faceplate is retractable like his movie counterpart.


 * Prowl has a police-based alternate mode and a logical mind, like the Generation 1 character of the same name.


 * Ratchet is based on the Generation 1 character of the same name, with some design elements of movie Ratchet, and an attitude reminiscent of G1 Ironhide and Kup. Like the original, Rachet talks with a gravely voice and has a grumpy personality.


 * Sentinel Prime is named after the Generation 1 character of the same name.
 * Seekers Skywarp, Thundercracker, Sunstorm and Starscream are based on the Generation 1 characters of the same name.


 * Shockwave is based on the Generation 1 character of the same name, though with a new alternate mode. He even has the same voice actor as he did in G1.  He also transforms into an Autobot, Longarm Prime, as a double agent, much like Punch / Counterpunch.  However, unlike Punch and Counterpunch who shared the same alt-mode, both Shockwave and Longarm have their own respective alt-modes. Shockwave is a tank, while Longarm is a crane, though they are very similar in apearence.
 * Soundwave is based on the Generation 1 character of the same name, though with a new alternate mode loosely based on an unproduced Classics toy of his G1 counterpart. He still has his partner, Laserbeak, who is based on his G1 namesake, but with an all-new alt-mode. Soundwave even talks like the original.


 * Swindle is based on his namesake's cartoon model.


 * Ultra Magnus is based on the Generation 1 character of the same name.


 * Wreck-Gar is based on the Generation 1 character of the same name; in addition, this incarnation is voiced by "Weird Al" Yankovic. One of Weird Al's songs was the bgm for the scene that introduced G1 Wreck-Gar in Transformers: the Movie.


 * Waspinator is based on Beast Wars Waspinator.


 * The Headmaster Unit was based on an idea from the namesake in Generation 1.

In addition, there are characters seen in the cartoon that also have strong homages (The Witwicky family, Omega Supreme, Wasp, etc). These may yet become toys. And of course there's the familiar theme song.

Trivia

 * This is the second Transformers series (the first being Beast Machines) wherein a strict separation is made in the type of weaponry used by either side. According to Derrick J. Wyatt, "To me the Autobots were built as a labor force, and the Decepticons were created as the Military. This is one reason that the Decepticons use military weapons, while the Autobots use 'tools' (ex: Optimus Prime's axe) to fight with."
 * An early working title for this incarnation was Transformers: Heroes.