Transformers Earthspark new series

[Convoid]

Transformers: Earthspark will screen on Paramount+ on Wednesday November 30. Starting with 2 episodes.

https://tvtonight.com.au/2022/10/air...arthspark.html

[griffin]

A 2 minute clip from various official socials, including facebook.

Looks like the Americans will get the cartoon almost 3 weeks before us, as they are noted as starting November 11th, which is 19 days before us.

[JJJ]

Well, that was fun!

It was a little bit slow in parts - it is after all a kids' show with focus on the human characters (plus they spent some time establishing the setting and the like - no in media res tom-foolery here), but when it got going - well, it was most impressive. They even managed to out-Bay the movies in terms of battle scenes (particularly the close-up scrambles with gigantic background action, but done comprehensibly and without shaky-cam) and honkin' great 'splosions.

And let there be no doubt, this season was largely about establishing things. Absolutely cannot wait for the next season given what was set up in this one. But at the same time it wasn't only about serving the future plot-lines; they managed to do that and tell nicely crafted stories for the now.

Highlights for me:

The voice acting cast - as much as I enjoyed WFC, the voice acting was often quite dire, but this was spectacular, and well cast. I now cannot think of Megatron without that Scottish burr.

The new character interpretations - recognisably G1 classics, modern twists that work and make sense. I appreciate some aspects of Arcee being carried over from Cyberverse, and the Seekers as women just works.

Skywarp actually teleporting, and doing so cleverly. Not just here's Skywarp, she can teleport, we'll show it once; no, teleporting is something you'd use a lot if you had it, so she does.


I can't say there was much I disliked. Just a few matters of preference. It was a bit kiddyfied, but of course it was, and it was full of squishies, but of course it was. Par for the course, and you'd have to be mad to honestly think those things wouldn't be in it. I have my dream Transformers cartoon that'll never happen, and this honestly doesn't fall too far short. Was shockingly satisfying for something aimed at pre-teens, and for all that, the combat was astoundingly brutal at points. And so was the flat-out torture.

I found the animation to be very well done, state of the art I suppose. And I was fascinated by the way they did all the objects and the world as 3D models, but used 2D animation techniques for fire and smoke and explosions and the like. It worked really well.

There were a handful of easter-egg references to G1 stuff that long-time fans will spot and enjoy, but you won't miss anything if you don't spot them - they were well done, not just shoved in for the hell of it (pay attention to the scant details given of the time-line, and in particular when Megs joined the Autobots).

So, they've gone full-bore with this one right from the start, unlike Cyberverse which took a season and a bit to get going properly. I think this will be well regarded.

I'm left with two things - I desperately need to know about the history between Dot and Megs (and so will find the wait for the next season quite annoying), and I expect to see the usual over-the-top nerd-rage backlash from certain quarters about shoving agendas and politics down our throats (mostly non-white characters of significance, and one enbie).

Three things, actually - I'm left wondering (by the G1-alike flashback bits) about the possibility of a new 2D G1 cartoon. Clearly such things can be done (they did it here, and I'll bet they did it with the same tools that are used for things like Rick and Morty), they would look awesome, and there's a big anniversary coming up soon... Probably not, but I can dream.

[griffin]

Still about a week away from being released to our region of the world, the first episode was posted on youtube but region-locked to the UK... so you will need a VPN add-on to your browser to see it.
I'm not sure if there has been a more global (legal) public upload of episodes yet, but let us know if there is (not unauthorised uploads - there are probably pirated copies of the American release by now, but that's for people to find or trade privately).

[griffin]

Some concept art, probably from someone who worked on the cartoon (they use an anonymous username here).

It reminds me of how they did concept images for the first live action movie, by using live examples of objects and colours, as a reference guide for different characters (and it seems the backgrounds as well).
We see examples of Megatron, Elita-1, Thrash, Twitch and Mo.

[griffin]

I'm not sure what has been delaying the Earthspark toys, while the other mainlines are still getting released on time... because the first wave of Earthspark was supposed to have been released at the beginning of November so that they were out in stores as the cartoon was released (in America earlier) so that it helps sell the toys. It is a month later and they have only now just showed up this week in Asia (Taiwan and Singapore).
Missing the release of the cartoon by over a month (in their main market), means that there are less people watching the cartoon while the toys are in stores.
It is why Movie toys are released a couple months before a Movie is released, so that there is full saturation during the peak viewing period.

[JJJ]

Well, maybe this is why only the first 10 episodes of the season have been made available for streaming so far. But it isn't like Hasbro has been doing at all well co-ordinating these things the past few years.

[KELPIE]

Probably worth mentioning, this series is now available on Foxtel through the Nickelodeon channel.

[Paulbot]

Oh yeah 10 eps available OnDemand. Will give it a shot

[Autocon]

So is it available on paramount plus or youtube?