TF Animated General Discussion

[STL]

After 10 episodes the tone and mood of the series has been set and it is very unlikely to come away from it and sadly this is not to my taste. This is the first Transformers series that I have found so frustratingly annoying to watch that I am quiting watching it altogether, not even Armada and its dumb Pokamon plot managed that, so this is a first.

Come on, Kup, there are disappointments to the stories but they're still pretty decent. I've seen bits of Cybertron and Armada and I think those are far more cringeworthy and I can't be bothered following those. The dialogue is also second rate but here I think it's far better controlled.

Yes the cringeworthiness factor can be high but I think the caricatures are good here b/c I feel each character has a voice. Bulkhead may be dumb but he serves his purpose to the young audience. Bumblebee is annoying and immature but that's cool too. I think you need that rather than everyone's favourite little bot. Making him a little snot actually makes the team dynamics work better. I could keep going but what I think is that between the 5, I think they synch together far better. They're bigger than the sum of their parts. They are strongest when they bounce off each other imo.

I think more of the "Earth" elements birthdays, Halloween in themselves are fine. I think it's good to connect with kids even though they gnarl at me.

Overall, you don't have a perfect cartoon but I think for there is still a charm to it with a small core cast allowing us to warm to the characters. It's just that key that keeps making everything trivial that holds it down for me.

[kup]

That's my point, I am not criticizing the core of the story or the main characters, I am criticizing its overall execution.

The silly moments ruin the atmosphere for me and on top of that several episodes dont even feel like Transformers to me and more like a Super Hero series. Sometimes it even reminds me of Beast Machines in the sense that sometimes it doesn't even feel as if I am watching a Transformers series at all. Thankfully, unlike BM some episodes do go back to form (Thrill of the Hunt) but in most other episodes, even when the plot premise is good, it ends up being ruined by some stupid overhanging silly theme and the solution is almost always that damned key.

I did give this show a good worthy try but overall after watching 10 episodes, I have found it to be a poor attempt at Transformers and overall substandard despite the promising bits.

I am happy that you guys are enjoying it but to me it has become pretty crappy.

In regards to the 'kiddy' themes: I used to hate them when they were used back in the 80s and 90s when I was a kid for basically the same reasons that I am hating them now. They felt out of place and hurt the overall 'inmersiveness' of the fantasy world created. Fortunately back in the 80s it was the odd episode in a series that had this overly kiddy 'birthday!' or 'Halloween!' theme unlike animated which seems to have it every second episode at least.
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[GoktimusPrime]

STL: I find it amusing that you're far more forgiving toward Animated compared to your far less forgiving appraisal of Furman's work at IDW.

[STL]

STL: I find it amusing that you're far more forgiving toward Animated compared to your far less forgiving appraisal of Furman's work at IDW.

I hope I'm not going OT. If I am, feel free to move it mods.

The reason I'm less forgiving of the Animated concept is because I can understand the audience it's generated at and hence the limitations that I expect to impair it. It's like when you walk into McDonalds you don't expect the same service as you'd be when dining on Collins Street. I'm a harsh critic of today's cartoons for kids but when I measure TF Animated by those standards, I can accept the corny elements with Halloween, birthday parties etc b/c there's another audience they're evidently catering too. I'm not thrilled but I know that coming in. If I had it my way, the brat would be gone. Megatron would've exterminated her and her daddy. We'd be in the middle of an all out war between the Autobots and Decepticons with the hordes of both alliances converging on Earth. There wouldn't be thanksgiving or halloween or a birthday party. It'd be war. But of course, that's not animated. It's probably closer to IDW's G1.

Furman's IDW work on the other hand is directed to mature, devoted fans of G1. He is supposed to be a master of his craft. I think he's underperforming and hasn't adopted well to the serialised format. To him its still one ongoing series between his minis and his spotlights. However the retail reality isn't the same. They are minis. They need to be written like they are. I, hence, expect better.

That said, I've constantly said I'm a big fan of the IDW universe. It's the execution that has frustrated me. And there have been issues that I've liked and been glowing about like the Stormbringer mini, Escalation, Optimus/Blaster/Magnus/Nightbeat/Shockwave spotlights.

Anyway, if you saw Furman's run incorporating half of the Halloween, birthday, dumb professor, righteous brat (wait, didn't he do that with Verity) stuff, then if you think I'm harsh now, you'd be in for one heck of a surprise.

[GoktimusPrime]

The thing that continues to irk me with Animated is how it fails to adequately engage me as an adult audience member. While I appreciate that the show's target demographic audience is children, I don't see why it cannot be written at multiple levels where it can also simultaneously appeal to adults like Beast Wars.

[i_amtrunks]

The thing that continues to irk me with Animated is how it fails to adequately engage me as an adult audience member. While I appreciate that the show's target demographic audience is children, I don't see why it cannot be written at multiple levels where it can also simultaneously appeal to adults like Beast Wars.

That would require more effort though.

I seriously believe that the writers believe themselves to be doing enough for the older viewers with all the G1 nods and Easter eggs...

[kup]

G1 nods are not enough I reckon. To me having random nods like that with no purpose to the world and story feel forced and annoy me more than it pleases me, specially when its done as often as in animated.

Beast Machines tried throwing in random but pointless G1 tributes in places but it didn't do them any good because they were useless when it came to the context of the story and felt rather forced and random, particularly when the overall story was trying very hard to 'revolutionize' transformers into something radically different.
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