Animated not reflecting the style of the Movie?

[Kyle]

I would have preferred a TV cartoon series that ties in with the Movie. But I'm now perfectly happy with Animated.

[Paulbot]

Move these last 11 posts from the Universe comments thread because they had nothing to do with Universe toys at all.

The Movie did influence Animated that's why Animated has characters named Bumblebee and Ratchet and a macguffin called the AllSpark.

[TheDirtyDigger]

The Movie did influence Animated that's why Animated has characters named Bumblebee and Ratchet and a macguffin called the AllSpark.

I think Animated has taken concepts from a lot of Tf lines but I would say the Movie was the least of the influences.

[Paulbot]

I think Animated has taken concepts from a lot of Tf lines but I would say the Movie was the least of the influences.

Yes but those characters were renamed because of the movie, and the AllSpark was an added element because of the movie too.

[roller]

yeah, Armada trilogy copied G1 in the Unicron respect.

Now, instead of trying to blow up a monster planet in every series, we'll be seeing both factions dukin it out for a box/cube

Thats why RID rocks, so unique

[loophole]

I personally dont mind the cartoony styling of Animated its different and i like cartoony looking stuff hell i have Daffy Duck tattood to my arm. btw i like cartoons.

With Gok's comparisons between the movies and the cartoons saying that they have a "new" look because of the movie is only minor i mean the look of Batman hasnt really changed in the last 20 years at least for Batman and the 90's animated series was a still a verly dark and gritty cartoon and awesome, and then theres Spiderman he hasnt looked any different since 1963 except for putting on a different coloured suit every now and then. They are alot more influenced by there original sources COMICS!!! having them as a movie is the current "in" thing and is then played on by having the cartoons so all the kiddies can watch them in the morning and then go out that afternoon to buy the toys. Just that sometimes not all the time they have good solid stories to drive the cartoons as well.

[TheDirtyDigger]

There was a great CGI Spidey cartoon that only lasted one series that was in-continuity with the movies. Another example of expanding on the live action movies.
The newest Spidey cartoon, Spectacular Spiderman, just isn't all that flash (although the figures aren't bad).

[Golden Phoenix]

Just with the comparison with Star Wars...the cartoons actually add to the story (movies) so that a much larger and more complex picture is drawn in one continuity. Which I like.

I like that to. In the Star Wars universe basically every character you see has some small detail about them, others have vast detailed histories and yet you only see them for half a second in the films.
Aurra Sing comes to mind. She has a big back story and yet is only in Episode I for half a second

On the other hand though, I also like having some stories that a different. The whole What If? thing. Having multiple continuities allows this, and you can see the same thing through different views or ways. It is interesting to see how each Optimus Prime is the same and yet different.

I like the current three pronged (Movie/Animated/Universe) TF approach. It casts a wider net.

I do too. The main advantage I see is variaty. There is something for everyone (well at least almost everyone)
I like Animated's style, and the figure have some really good engineering and design. But I also like the more traditional style that we see in Classics/Universe. And I also dislike the style seen in the Movie line, we can't win them all, but I can have at least 2 out of 3. The Point I'm trying to make is that this way, we get something that we can enjoy. They may not enjoy as much as if they had put 100% into it, but the pay off is is that you get something to enjoy, otherwise they might take the other road and you would get stuck with something that they put 100% into that you think is 100% crap

WB's Batman animated series followed up on the movies with a new darker/grittier look and that's been really successful.

For Batman:The Animated Series, yes very true, for The Batman, not so much.
The latter was a lot more light hearted. Just look at the way they did the villains, especially Joker, they were crazy and comical. And the latter seasons because a lot more campier. Have you heard the Theme song for Season 3,4 & 5?!?!?!
Think a cross between Hawaiian Surf music and the Batman theme from the 1960s live action TV series with Adam West

[i_amtrunks]

I'm glad that Animated didnt visually follow on from the movie, the movie characters looked mostly like scrap metal, and although the designs look much better in the sequel comics having to animate all that useless horrible "detail" would have cost a fortune for any close up shots.

Story wise, if the Animated series expanded on the movie it would have more or less a blank slate as the movie had about as much plot and characterisation in it as the AHM comic series.

A different angle incorporating some of the more popular movie elements as Animated did was the smartest move Hasbro could make. Sure it could have been a bit more mature, but Hasbro had a target audience in mind and stuck with it.

[GoktimusPrime]

Although saying that X-Men movie influenced X-Men evolution is a bit of a stretch it still serves to make your point

Well there are varying limits of influence - and there is some influence in X-Men Evolution visually... e.g. the uniforms are darker; Wolverine isn't wearing yellow spandex.

Transformers now has so many totally different continuities (which I don't like) and with the movies we can expect 3 x 2 hr (approx) episodes. If the cartoon was in movie continuity we could have so much more from one Universe.

To be fair, Transformers has never had a single universe/continuity.

The Movie did influence Animated that's why Animated has characters named Bumblebee and Ratchet and a macguffin called the AllSpark.

When I spoke to Eric he told me that a lot of those were "last minute" decisions. Initially Hasbro intended for Animated to be entirely unrelated to the movie - and it is - but then much later on in the developmental stage they decided to put in references from the movie, such as naming their Cosmic MacGuffin(TM) the AllSpark(R). I'm not sure if the inclusion of Ratchet was influenced by the movie or not - we've had Red Alert (who was called Ratchet in Japan) in the Unicron Trilogy. But I read somewhere that Bumblebee was originally slated to be Hot Shot, but they later changed him to Bumblebee - I think that was a later decision made that was influenced by the movie.

So there are influences from the movie, but as TheDirtyDigger said, it's a relatively minor influence. I would have preferred a greater/stronger influence.

Again - JMHO yo.

Story wise, if the Animated series expanded on the movie it would have more or less a blank slate as the movie had about as much plot and characterisation in it as the AHM comic series.

Oooh! A double janglies-kick to Bay and McCarthy!