(OCT-2013) Animated Era Cartoon - Reviews and Favourites

[griffin]

The Animated series launched with a cartoon at the end of 2007, lasting 3 seasons but was barely a year on TV. The cartoon ended in the second quarter of 2009, due to Hasbro starting up their HUB cable TV channel and wanting new cartoons of their main brands to spearhead its launch later that year.The axing was so abrupt, that an official DVD release of the 3rd season is still yet to occur, because at the time, all marketing and merchandise was directed at the next series.
We are now finally expecting a DVD release in the next few months.

Details of the Animated era can be read about here (http://tfwiki.net/wiki/Transformers_Animated_%28franchise%29).

A total of 42 episodes were produced, using traditional animation and recording techniques.
- 3-part introductory story
- 13 episode 1st Season
- 13 episode 2nd Season
- 13 episode 3rd Season

Each Season incorporated cliffhangers, or at least in the case of Season 3, a number of loose ends to allow for a 4th Season. (it was already planned out, but the writers were aware of it not being likely before they finished the last episode of Season 3)

A number of shorts were also produced, and the cartoon was dubbed for Japanese release.


Did you watch any of the Animated cartoon?
If so, what did you think of it?

Here's your chance to re-watch and review the series.

Are any of the episodes recommended viewing for others?

[BigTransformerTrev]

Did you watch any of the Animated cartoon? If so, what did you think of it?
Watched every episode. Besides G1 the only series where I can remember every episode too :p Overall a great cartoon, definetly worth watching! :D


Are any of the episodes recommended viewing for others?
If you've never watched it, watch it all! If you can't be bothered, then I reccomend you at least watch these dozen episodes:

Season 1
Blast from the Past
Sound & Fury
Megatron Rising – Part 1 & 2

Season 2
Rise of the Constructicons
SUV – Society of Ultimate Villany
A Bridge too Close – Part 1 & 2

Season 3
Predacons Rising
Decepticon Air
Endgame – Part 1 & 2

[Lint]

Although the first season started as a very ensemble casted, kid orientated show it won me over quickly as it introduced new characters (Lugnut!), had interesting takes on exsiting G1 characters, fleshed out it's own universe's mythology and escalated the glorious amounts of fan-service.

The writing and voice acting were spot on and the humans didn't make me want to destroy a skyscraper.

It is the only Transformers series that has ever pulled me into that "just... one...more... episode" state for multiple (5 plus episodes) without resorting to cliffhangers or two-part episodes.

Wow I didn't realise there were so few episodes. It was as short lived series indeed!

[Golden Phoenix]

Although the first season started as a very ensemble casted, kid orientated show it won me over quickly as it introduced new characters (Lugnut!), had interesting takes on exsiting G1 characters, fleshed out it's own universe's mythology and escalated the glorious amounts of fan-service.

The writing and voice acting were spot on and the humans didn't make me want to destroy a skyscraper.

It is the only Transformers series that has ever pulled me into that "just... one...more... episode" state for multiple (5 plus episodes) without resorting to cliffhangers or two-part episodes.

Wow I didn't realise there were so few episodes. It was as short lived series indeed!

I would second this.

This is the only TF series I would show to my friends. I love the animation style. I love the voice acting (and that Spongebob is Starscream).

One of the greatest things that they did was make Optimus Prime a drop out and not the head honcho. Sure Opimus Primal wasn't really the big boss either, but he was still in the system and still an Officer.
Optimus Prime was not just a nobody, but he was kicked out of the army and is just in charge of a repair crew. It means he has to earn back the respect he had lost, creating some good character development.

I also love all the little nods to things outside the TF universe. Sentinal Prime had some design changes after the voice actor was assigned and happened to be the same voice actor who played the Tick. Bam. Sentinal Prime becomes very Tick-like.

The original takes on old characters is brilliant. I love the multiple personality Blitzwing. And Bulkhead. God I love Bulkhead. My favourite quote for him is "Sorry, my bad"

Ok.....I'll stop gushing now. I may or may love this series to bits........

[Lint]

I would second this.

This is the only TF series I would show to my friends. I love the animation style. I love the voice acting (and that Spongebob is Starscream).



The animation style is probably the hardest hurdle to get over. I remember gawking myself at Optimus 'the chin' Prime and the whole Nickelodeon art style. It actually kept me from watching the series until it was nearly over.

I tried introducing this series to some friends my age who had G1-appreciation but the animation style (and the kiddy start to season 1) were big barriers to getting them to go further.

Also a lot of the in-jokes and references in the series can probably only be fully appreciated by a more-than-casual TF fan.

Their loss I guess :D

[GoktimusPrime]

Here's how I feel...

Season 1 <--- not a fan. Lack of character development/drive and the series felt too silly.
Season 2 <--- hit and miss. Some episodes were great, others were cringeworthy.
Season 3 <--- thoroughly enjoyed! :)

So my enjoyment of Animated varies greatly depending on which season or episode I'm watching. On the whole I would rate it as a series with a lacklustre beginning but improves as it goes along (though not consistently). But the one thing I really don't like about Animated was how it started the current trend of having screen models dictate/influence the way that the toys were designed/engineered. :( Worse still, several recurring characters that were introduced into the show were never made as toys - e.g. Scavenger, Mixmaster, Wasp, Omega Supreme. I don't mind minor characters like Dirtboss, Elita-1, Warpath, Rattletrap, Grandus et al. not having toys, but the aforementioned characters seemed to have enough screen presence that warranted toys. What's the point of having characters occupy all that screen time if there aren't going to be toys of them?

Had Animated been a more traditional toy-first franchise, then I think we would have seen more toys. e.g. if the Constructicons were released a lot sooner, then there may not have been the issue of them 'cross competing' with the Revenge of the Fallen Constructicons (which was the reason why Hasbro never developed the Animated Constructicons as toys). If Omega Supreme wasn't going to be a viable toy, then why have him appear so prominently in the show? I know that this thread is about commenting on the cartoon, but for me my appreciation and enjoyment of Transformers cartoons, movies, comics etc. is tied to the toyline, since Transformers is primarily a toy franchise.

[Tetsuwan Convoy]

Slightly off topic here, but do we know for a fact that the toys were designed on the animation style and not together? My readings suggest (http://derrickjwyatt.blogspot.com.au/2008/09/hey-everybody-its-prowl.html) that the toy team worked with the design team at the same time.

[GoktimusPrime]

Yeah, they're developed in tandem w/ each other, hence my comment...

having screen models dictate/influence the way that the toys were designed/engineered
It's true that the cartoon designs influenced the toys, and the toys also influenced the cartoon designs (if you watch Bumblebee transform in the show, you can actually see that he follows the same transformation pattern as the Deluxe toy and even has the faux-roof/window kibble on his chest with the actual window kibble sitting on his back!).
IIRC from my conversation w/ Eric Siebenaler, they draw the characters as cartoon designs first; e.g. Bumblebee as a robot and car w/ some intermediate illustrations of transformation. Hasbro might then instruct Takara to make modifications to the toy to make it look more like the show model. This back and forth process continues until the product is finally approved by Hasbro.

This isn't an entirely new process and it didn't originate w/ Animated, although Animated seems to have 'standardised' this process as Transformers Prime was developed the same way and the old traditional way of just designing the toys as toys first without consideration of show models seems to have fallen by the way side. But this process did originate in G1 with some of the toys that were intended to appear in The Transformers: The Movie, namely Galvatron, Hot Rod, Blurr, Kup, Cyclonus, Scourge and Gnaw. That's why they're more stylised than other G1 toys (re: TF Generations Ono Koujin interview). The toys were also based on early designs for TFTM which were further stylised (by Floro Dery) by time animation began on TFTM - Galvatron underwent no less than seven different redesigns by time they settled on the final model for TFTM; the toy would've been based on one of the earlier designs.

I don't know about you, but I find the better toys of 1986 were those that were designed as toys first, rather than the ones that were designed in tandem w/ cartoonists. e.g. I find Ultra Magnus (re: Diaclone Powered Convoy) to be a far superior toy to the underwhelming Rodimus Prime. In 1986 I got Hot Rod, then I saw a friend's Rodimus Prime toy which I thought was rubbish compared to Hot Rod -- so I never even bothered thinking about getting Rodimus Prime. I later got that Rodimus Prime toy in the 90s when that friend decided that he was "too old" for toys and gave me his collection (:D), then later got the reissue -- but as a child that toy just didn't hold appeal for me. Ultra Magnus on the other hand was one a toy I dearly loved as a kid (and to this day still love :)).

Before Animated, most Transformers were designed as toys first. Transformers designed in tandem w/ screen characters or based off screen characters were uncommon. Now it seems to be the other way around. :(

[Tetsuwan Convoy]

Yeah, they're developed in tandem w/ each other, hence my comment...

I don't get why you are so against tandem working... so carried on in another topic.

[i_amtrunks]

A brilliant series, beaten only by Beast Wars in terms of story and character development.

It started off with a decent three parter that was turned into a movie. Optimus was the head of a repair crew, menial tasks, not the awe-inspiring leader. No-one was a war hero (bar the medic). It meant from the get go, the Autobots were seriously outmatched, even against a solitary Decepticon.
After the movie it slowed down and was a little repetitious (and focussed far too much on Bumblebee, before it became the thing for Transformers franchises to do). However as Megatron and more Decepticons were added to the mix to battle as opposed to human/sentient robots, it got better.

Come the second season the writers started getting their groove on, less silly humans, more characters from Cybertron arrived and changed the dynamic and scope of the series. this increased scope brought more Autobots including the one and only Sentinel Prime, a contender for "biggest jerk in TF lore"! Added to this Starscreams clones, Ultra Magnus being a higher rank and Omega Supreme!

Third season in and the writers pumped out great episode after great episode. Season 3 is one of those rare bits of TV where you could easily sit and watch the whole series back to back in one session.

As for episodes:
Season 1: Transform and Roll Out, Blast from the Past, Thrill of the Hunt, Lost and Found, Megatron Rising 1 & 2
Season 2: The Elite Guard, Mission Accomplished, Garbage in, Garbage out, Fistful of Energy, Autoboot Camp, A bridge too close 1, 2 & 3
Season 3: All of it.

[christalcase]

I'm going against the flow here, but I preferred Season 1 and 2 over the third one. I think it stood out to me because the Autobots were fighting not only the Decepticons (who were formidable forces, needing the whole team to defeat only one) but also supervillains. Yeah, some of the villains weren't that great, but I thought it was quite funny and enjoyable.

Then in Season 3 everything changed, and it felt more... stretched in terms of believability. What with Sari going into full robot gear to Soundwave taking over the Autobots. It felt like a complete change compared to the previous two seasons.

Anyway, I was one of the ones that was wary at the beginning due to the aesthetics but I liked it enough after a few episodes but it's not one of my all-time favourites. I appreciate all the references and designs, but to me, the cartoon wasn't too memorable. The characterisations were good though, loved Blitzwing's triple personality (it was perfect), Megatron's evilness and Prowl's awesomeness. Sentinel Prime and Ultra Magnus were annoying, typical story plot in which they don't believe Optimus even though the evidence is right before their eyes.

Overall, fun series to watch that doesn't get boring.

[BigTransformerTrev]

In preperation for the annual Halloween party our class has each year, I had the kids watch 'Along came a Spider' today :D As far as I know it's the only Halloween themed TF episode from any series