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Out of all the cartoons in the Transformers franchise, Armada, Energon, Cybertron, Animated etc, Generation One is the original and the best!

Discuss

If you want people to discuss something then you need to do more than just make a definitive statement based on your own opinion.

Try starting with a question like "Out of all the cartoons in the Transformers franchise, do you believe that Generation One is the best?" and then follow it with your own reasoning as to why.

Personally? No. It's not. The plots were bad, the animation errors were abundant, and it was nothing but a glorified ad to sell toys. This became more obvious when you had a well written and well animated series like Beast Wars hit the screens.

'If you want people to discuss something then you need to do more than just make a definitive statement based on your own opinion'.

Sorry to have offended you Burn, I was merely trying to create a healthy discussion.

However, if the statement itself is designed to be the subject of debate, then it serves it's own purpose. Therefore there is no need to justify the statement further.

Burn, you found the need to comment, and hopefully others will to. Never the less thanks for the critique.

MightyMagnus78 wrote:Sorry to have offended you Burn, I was merely trying to create a healthy discussion.

Not offended in the slightest. To me, and i'm sure others will see it the same way, you're stating an opinion as a fact. That's how it can be conveyed (yay for the power of misinterpretation of the written word!). And you really should have added your thoughts as to why you feel that way instead of just asking everyone else to join in.

So tell us MM78, why do you feel the G1 cartoon is the bomb diggity?

I just bought recently the DVDs of the original series. I remember watching it when I was just a wee rotten teenager 20 years or so ago and thinking the animation was lacking. There are so many other animated series from that time period that were beautifully animated - don't laugh - like Disney's "Gummy Bears". Watching this old stuff is really fun, and the whole heart of Transformers, but I don't think it's the best TF series out there.

To be fair, I've never seen another TF cartoon series - I think I watched one episode of Beast Wars. I'm not sure why I didn't watch the whole series...But the animation in that - from what I remember - was pretty good! I think I wrinkled my nose at the one and only "Animated" I watched because the characters were so...out of character (looking).

So, as far as story lines go...I got no opinion. I'm just gonna have to wait until a few more TF series show up on DVD.

Hahaha! It just occurred to me that I didn't really contribute much to this discussion.

No. It's not. Of course, nothing can beat Energon in the crap factor, but G1 was horribly animated and full of plot holes, but so were other cartoons of the time. Beast Wars, Beast Machines, and Animated are all cut of a better quality cloth, but Energon and Armada are definatley inferior, so G1 is somewhere in the middle.

So Generation One then, some weak story lines, some dodgy animation, and some very poor continuity, but to a six year old in 1985 it was pure magic!

OK, I admit that other cartoons in the Transformers franchise were better written, better animated, with better plot development, but none of that would have even been possible without the success of that original ground breaking series. What G1 did was create fantastically believable characters, that instantly appealed to the 'small boy' in all of us. Despite all of its faults, it sensationally established the Transformers brand World wide almost over night. That's why, in my opinion, Generation One is the best, and that's why 20 something years later we are still talking about it. G1 was Genesis!

Maybe I'm being a little over nostalgic, but I'll put it this way, your first girlfriend is always a lot more memorable than your third!

Well to a six year old (or a 10 year old Burn if you want to get technical), yeah, it was pure magic.

But then again, so was Voltron and Robotech 'cause it was all sci-fi and things went kablooey.

Now the thing is, yes, G1 gave us a lot of great characters, and was "ground breaking". BUT ... and i'm going to throw this out for everyone else to latch onto ... what if Beast Wars came first? (With a slight change in the storyline of course).

Would Beast Wars then be the ground breaker? The first to give us great characters?

What if it was Beast Machines? Or the A/E/C cartoons?

If you've read my "What happened to the innovation?" thread you'll know i've grown bored of the same old characters and the same old storyline being rehashed. That's another reason I don't feel the same way as others do about how "great" G1 was. Yeah sure, it gave my childhood many happy memories, it caused a number of "NO! I want Megatron NOT Omega Supreme!" arguments with my parents, and it laid the foundations for a franchise that has been a part of my life for 20+ years ... but to me, I can't keep living in the past. Yeah those characters are classics, i'll remember the joy they gave me, but I know Transformers as a whole can give me a lot more if they stopped rehashing things.

I think i've babbled too much ...

I'll be short: prejudiced by nostalgia.

But it did have (arguably) the most varied voice cast of them all, those classic voice-actors are what draws me to it.

I should probably stop watching and just listen to it!!

I have to admit as a kid growing up I used to run home from school to watch Gen 1 because I thought it was the best thing ever. Now though I have to admit its got its flaws. BUT it does make my creativity spike, unlike some of the other series, that just me. The gaps, and holes and other such instances serve me as a chance to fill in with what could have happened. Could be the fact that it was a child hood thing that makes me so into Gen 1. I've watched most others, they just don't seem to have the same pull to me.

I'd sidestep the question by asserting that TF: the Movie, the ultimate expression of the first generation, is, by far, the best and most compelling Transformers story to date.

The key word in that is story. TFs wouldn't have lasted this long at this scale if there wasn't a compelling story at it's heart. Transformers: the Movie has the best TF version of the classic Coming of Age story, and also possesses a simplified yet well wrought take on the Hero's Journey, as described by Joseph Campbell.

This movie had it all: it had great action, great heroes, great and even greater villains, humor, pain, loss, and triumph. We had a solid adventure that took us to places that we had not seen in TFs at that point, but still stayed recognizable and true to essence. At the heart of it all, we had a simple yet wonderful message about growing up and taking responsibility.
That message is timeless. We've had it in other TF stories, sure, but this is the best, because it's one that far more people can relate to, regardless of age, gender, experience, background, beliefs and so on.

If there's anything from keeping this film from true greatness, it's the Animation and the somewhat dated Soundtrack. Don't get me wrong, I looooooove the soundtrack. However, decade-specific music can be hard-pressed to stand the test of time. In terms of the Animation, as a former Animator myself, I'm impressed with what anyone did in those days, without the aid of computers to speed up the truly tedious aspects of the process. However, if the film could have had the same resources as a Disney film....again, true greatness.

I actually think its more of a nostalgia factor. I became a fan of transformers because of receiving a Unicron, and I then started to watch Armada. I never fully watched Armada, so I don't feel for it in any way. However, when Energon came in, I watched it and.........I... (Gasp!) Loved it. It was the first Transformers series I've watched. to me, it's the older fan's Generation 1, or for the newer fans, The Bay Movies. However, after watching many other series, Beast Wars was my favorite with storyline and animation. However, I have a nostalgic feeling when I watch Energon, of mess with my Energon figures.

But, I have to say, Generation 1 is what I think of when I hear "Transformers". I also think Generation 1 is a sort of "Definitive Continuity" (Hopefully I know what I mean by that...).

If I offended anyone in this post, I am deeply sorry.

G1-particularly season one-had some good thing. Nay, some great things. Compelling story, interesting characters...

but let's face it. It's aged somewhat decently, but Beast Wars blew it out of the water.

Although I think it's better than the Unicron trilogy.

Nothing beats the first one in line. Just like the Holy Bible's Old testament,which is chuck full of violent/sexy stuff as compared to the more refined kid friendly New Testament,G1 served as the foundation. Sure the story won't be winning Emmy's (though David Wise, who penned many of the memorable story lines did win a Kids Emmy or something like that)but it was a fun jaunt back in the 80's. The animation's chuck full or errors, but then again, it was American subcontracted quicky product/project for a product no one was even sure would click(just take a look at the horrid looking art of the late Frank Springer and Kim de Mulder in the first ever issue of the Marvel Comic limited series). Who would have thought it would be a cult phenomena like Gundam? To give it credit, Transformers had great TV ratings until Season 3 while Gundam 0079 was killed in the rating. It only became popular in the re-runs when the viewers started appreciating the bitter sweet story lines)

Burn wrote:Well to a six year old (or a 10 year old Burn if you want to get technical), yeah, it was pure magic.

But then again, so was Voltron and Robotech 'cause it was all sci-fi and things went kablooey.

Now the thing is, yes, G1 gave us a lot of great characters, and was "ground breaking". BUT ... and i'm going to throw this out for everyone else to latch onto ... what if Beast Wars came first? (With a slight change in the storyline of course).

Would Beast Wars then be the ground breaker? The first to give us great characters?

What if it was Beast Machines? Or the A/E/C cartoons?

I can't remember what cartoon got me into Transforming robots, it had three space ships that...collided..."combined" to form three different robots. I thought that was neat at the time, although the animation was lacking. I doubt that, if Beast Wars had come first, I would have stuck with Transformers. Not until it became Beast Machines, anyway. While I admit Beast Wars was excellent, I didn't much like transforming animals back then and probably would not have cared for the storyline because of that.

I think, sometimes you gotta grow up to REALLY enjoy some things that were around when you were a child.

MightyMagnus78 wrote:'If you want people to discuss something then you need to do more than just make a definitive statement based on your own opinion'.

Sorry to have offended you Burn, I was merely trying to create a healthy discussion.

However, if the statement itself is designed to be the subject of debate, then it serves it's own purpose. Therefore there is no need to justify the statement further.

Burn, you found the need to comment, and hopefully others will to. Never the less thanks for the critique.

This debate is hardly ever been healthy, it basically breaks down into a series of the same old statements:

1) G1 rocks and everything else sucks and/or is inferior to it.

2) G1 sucks and everything else rocks and/or is superior to it.

3) G1 is OK but nothing special.

4) The cartoon sucks go read the Marvel Comics.

5) The Marvel Comics sucks and go watch the cartoon.

6) The G1 toys rocks and everything else sucks and/or is inferior to it.

7) The G1 toys suck and everything else is superior to it.

You get the idea.

G1 is what it is an 80s toy/comic/cartoon show/animated movie and is the beginning of The Transformers. Some of it was cool and some of it was bloody awful. The show did have it's few great scripts and had it's fair share of awful scripts. But it's animation was and is at below average-to average at best.


I don't hate the cartoon show, but I can certainly understand people who do hate it.

JetOptimus23 wrote:No. It's not. Of course, nothing can beat Energon in the crap factor, but G1 was horribly animated and full of plot holes, but so were other cartoons of the time. Beast Wars, Beast Machines, and Animated are all cut of a better quality cloth, but Energon and Armada are definatley inferior, so G1 is somewhere in the middle.

"G1 was horribly animated"...????

I'm sorry but I coul;dnt disagree with you more.

Granted the animation had its errors but compared to many other cartoons of the time G1 had some great animation.

Random wrote:I can't remember what cartoon got me into Transforming robots, it had three space ships that...collided..."combined" to form three different robots. I thought that was neat at the time, although the animation was lacking.

Think I can help you out there. Sounds like "Starvengers" to me:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vGPNDvkcaiw

According to Wikipedia, it's the U.S. version of Getter Robo G. I really don't know much about Getter Robo, but that's his main gimmick.

Couple clips of the combination(again, from Starvengers):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ggiSPnPIY0o

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eqat-StmlYk&feature=related

Can't find the third form, even in Japanese. Oh well. Hope I got it right, and maybe solved a mystery you may or may not have had.

Duke of Luns wrote:

Random wrote:I can't remember what cartoon got me into Transforming robots, it had three space ships that...collided..."combined" to form three different robots. I thought that was neat at the time, although the animation was lacking.

Think I can help you out there. Sounds like "Starvengers" to me:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vGPNDvkcaiw

According to Wikipedia, it's the U.S. version of Getter Robo G. I really don't know much about Getter Robo, but that's his main gimmick.

Couple clips of the combination(again, from Starvengers):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ggiSPnPIY0o

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eqat-StmlYk&feature=related

Can't find the third form, even in Japanese. Oh well. Hope I got it right, and maybe solved a mystery you may or may not have had.

Your link had all three. Star Poseidon, the orange one...Star Dragon, the red one...and Star Arrow, the blue one. Thanks for the link and info!

After watching that...

I'm gonna admit I had to be pretty naive as a kid to enjoy this stuff. The combinations don't make sense and the animation is sub par at best. I doubt this type of material would fly with children today. Guess they don't make 'em like they used to, and that may be a good thing...

sto_vo_kor_2000 wrote:

JetOptimus23 wrote:No. It's not. Of course, nothing can beat Energon in the crap factor, but G1 was horribly animated and full of plot holes, but so were other cartoons of the time. Beast Wars, Beast Machines, and Animated are all cut of a better quality cloth, but Energon and Armada are definatley inferior, so G1 is somewhere in the middle.

"G1 was horribly animated"...????

I'm sorry but I coul;dnt disagree with you more.

Granted the animation had its errors but compared to many other cartoons of the time G1 had some great animation.

Two words: Season Three.

G1 is what I grew up with, when someone mentions transformers that tends to be the first thing I think of.

G1 wasn't the greatest series by far but it was what got most all of us, Geewunners and haters both into the franchise. What makes me always go back to G1 though is the open ended story and numerous plot holes, though their annoying as hell when you just want to know what happened... They make for fun exercises in imagination and retconning.

MightyMagnus78 wrote:Maybe I'm being a little over nostalgic, but I'll put it this way, your first girlfriend is always a lot more memorable than your third!

That would depend on how far you got with the third girlfriend, and whether you married her.

JetOptimus23 wrote:

sto_vo_kor_2000 wrote:

JetOptimus23 wrote:No. It's not. Of course, nothing can beat Energon in the crap factor, but G1 was horribly animated and full of plot holes, but so were other cartoons of the time. Beast Wars, Beast Machines, and Animated are all cut of a better quality cloth, but Energon and Armada are definatley inferior, so G1 is somewhere in the middle.

"G1 was horribly animated"...????

I'm sorry but I coul;dnt disagree with you more.

Granted the animation had its errors but compared to many other cartoons of the time G1 had some great animation.

Two words: Season Three.

Your last post refered to the series as a whole, and even season 3 , with all its flaws,had comparable animation to other shows of its time.

sto_vo_kor_2000 wrote:

JetOptimus23 wrote:

sto_vo_kor_2000 wrote:

JetOptimus23 wrote:No. It's not. Of course, nothing can beat Energon in the crap factor, but G1 was horribly animated and full of plot holes, but so were other cartoons of the time. Beast Wars, Beast Machines, and Animated are all cut of a better quality cloth, but Energon and Armada are definatley inferior, so G1 is somewhere in the middle.

"G1 was horribly animated"...????

I'm sorry but I coul;dnt disagree with you more.

Granted the animation had its errors but compared to many other cartoons of the time G1 had some great animation.

Two words: Season Three.

Your last post refered to the series as a whole, and even season 3 , with all its flaws,had comparable animation to other shows of its time.

Point taken. maybe it wasn't HOrRIBLE, but it was flawed.