Goktimus' thoughts on Beast Wars vs Animated

[Omega Supreme]

Optimus Prime died???? C'mon people, SPOILER WARNINGS PLEASE

LOL!

Beast Wars is a great show, IMO the best TF's fiction on DVD. Animated's alright though.

[Ode to a Grasshopper]

To begin, in this case - the 'best show ever' bit - was more of a subjective valuation (albeit thoughtlessly lacking an IMO ) than an attempt at objective evaluation. Don't get me wrong, I love BW dearly and it's impact on the toys and the fiction is massive (personally I doubt Animated will be so big, but it's too early to tell yet). Quite beyond Goki's list of BWs innovations is the simple fact it was one of the first ever CGI cartoon series and not only doesn't totally suck but is actually really good. David Kaye's Megatron is my all-time favourite TF character, and alongside a complete Predaking my TM2 Megs is still my favourite toy acquisition to date. The Agenda trilogy is still my favourite example of animation/writing. Etc. etc. etc. - it's all already been said. I could rave on and on about BW for ages, but the fact remains I still prefer Animated overall.

For starters, I prefer the deliberately cartoony feel of Animated over the generally realist BW approach. It's a cartoon, so I like that it's blatantly cartoony. When I first saw the general aesthetic of Animated I really didn't see how Hasbro could get any kind of show-accuracy from the various alternate modes, and yet not only do the toys have good show-accuracy but they're also highly articulated and for the most part really sturdy. In all fairness, a lot of this is possible thanks to BW and the toy design trends it started, but time has marched on and technology has improved. And I have to agree that Blitzwing is kinda disappointing, though he is the only TF I've seen who can pull a convincing Hitler salute.

Similarly, while BW explored some pretty heavy themes and that is pretty impressive, as a general rule I like my TFs as light entertainment and will turn to suitable anime if I want animated depth. Animated has retained most of the elements I liked from BW - most notably ongoing meta/subplots over a series and focussing on a smaller number of central characters rather than the G1 sell-the-toys approach (even then I like the way Animated has gone in for cameo appearances) - but is more action- than issue-focussed.

Lemme see, what else? Animated's combat sequences in particular strike me as really well thought out, and so far I've liked Animated's take on all the characters they're covered, especially Starscream. Giving the Autobots civilian-based weaponry and the 'cons 'real' weapons is a beautiful move what with the whole Autobot/civilian Decepticon/military theory of TF evolution (which I've always liked). The homages are suitably gratifying and generally done with just enough of a twist to make me grin - especially the frequent terrorising of the Witwickys. I also like that they're (re)introducing more fembots, especially ones who aren't just motorbikes.

Basically put, I just enjoy watching Animated more and am more inclined to get more of the toys, not that there aren't a lot of BW figures on my list. Judging by my current hoard of about 50 TFs or so and Goki's 1238 I'm a lot more of a casual fan (can you have a casual fanatic?) than he is, so he and I probably look for different things from the cartoons.

[springah]

Transmetal Cheetor.

I like screw-hole ass Cheetor..

[GoktimusPrime]

And I have to agree that Blitzwing is kinda disappointing, though he is the only TF I've seen who can pull a convincing Hitler salute.

Heh.