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Tommy Kennedy, Found – An Interview with Jason Jansen

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Tommy Kennedy, Found – An Interview with Jason Jansen

Postby Sabrblade » Fri Jan 04, 2013 2:40 pm

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The elusive Jason Jansen, who played the human youth Tommy Kennedy during the long-forgotten fifth season of the Generation 1 cartoon, has at long last been found and interviewed.

http://digestmybrain.wordpress.com/2013/01/04/tommy-kennedy-found-an-interview-with-jason-jansen/
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Re: Tommy Kennedy, Found – An Interview with Jason Jansen

Postby PrymeStriker » Fri Jan 04, 2013 4:58 pm

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Holy crap. They found him.

Who's next, Tupac?
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Re: Tommy Kennedy, Found – An Interview with Jason Jansen

Postby El Duque » Sat Jan 05, 2013 1:39 am

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Okay folks we have a bit of a rarity here, an interview with Transformers Generation 1 Season 5's Tommy Kennedy. Many of you may not be aware, but a 5th season of Sunbow's Transformers Generation 1 did air in 1988. It was a retrospective season comprised of reruns from the original series and The Transformers: The Movie cut down into five episodes. The only original content to come out of Season 5 were live action bumpers featuring a stop-motion/animatronic Powermaster Optimus Prime talking to a young boy named Tommy Kennedy. The episodes played out as if Powermaster Optimus Prime were telling a stories to Tommy.

After season 5 Tommy Kennedy virtually disappeared from the fandom, all that was known is that he was played by the child actor Jason Jansen (Jankowski). After all these years he's turned up and was recently interviewed by the Digest My Brain blog. Click here to read the full interview.

Image


Here's a YouTube clip from the Seibertron.com channel featuring some of the bumper footage.


If you were a fan, how did it feel “talking” to Optimus Prime? Did they have a crew member say his lines off camera to help with timing or was Peter Cullen’s voice prerecorded?

When saying my lines (if i remember correctly) there was mix of things that were going on. At times someone off camera would recite Optimus Primes lines, but I believe it was a member of the crew and not Peter Cullen. Other times, if the scene was shorter and the camera cut away, I would just pause my lines while saying them to account for another voice to be inserted later. I actually just read through the transcripts on the wiki and remember saying every single one of them – I was able to memorize quite a bit – but I my memory serves me correctly I believe I definitely had some large cue cards up there behind the cameras as well. They were color coded to help break up the lines.

Optimus looked great – up close you could tell it was made from wood and plastic, but it was a real dam good job. A little bit of info, we had two puppeteers working Optimus Prime. I believe one guy was inside his head and moving his mouth while another moved his head from side to side. One of the guys was a famous puppeteer and had worked on Sesame Street inside of “Snuffalupagus” not sure if I have spelled that correctly. I remember he was known for his work.
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Re: Tommy Kennedy, Found – An Interview with Jason Jansen

Postby Sabrblade » Sat Jan 05, 2013 2:05 am

Motto: "I am an intellectual... not a jock."
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For those curious about the Season 5 episodes, here's a YouTube compilation video of all the new Tommy/Optimus footage created specifically this season:

If you've read Exodus, wanna read the War For Cybertron comic? PM me.
Shadowman wrote:This is Sabrblade we're talking about. His ability to store trivial information about TV shows is downright superhuman.
Caelus wrote:My wife pointed out something interesting about the prehistoric Predacons. I said that everyone was complaining because transforming for them mostly consisted of them just standing up-right. She essentially said, 'So? That's what our ancestors did.'
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Re: Tommy Kennedy, Found – An Interview with Jason Jansen

Postby ausbot » Sat Jan 05, 2013 2:17 am

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I've always wondered why do this and the G2 reruns when they could have just re voiced Victory, headmasters and Masterforce? They has 3 perfectly good series already animated, the toys why not use them?
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Re: Tommy Kennedy, Found – An Interview with Jason Jansen

Postby Fires_Of_Inferno » Sat Jan 05, 2013 2:29 am

Motto: ""Would you just shut up and listen to me so I can tell you how much you all SUCK!""
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Hm, never knew about this lost fifth season.

.... Wh.... Ah.... um...

Is that Terry O'Quinn?
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Re: Tommy Kennedy, Found – An Interview with Jason Jansen

Postby PrymeStriker » Sat Jan 05, 2013 2:37 am

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Fires_Of_Inferno wrote:Hm, never knew about this lost fifth season.


It's not lost, as in, nobody could ever find it. Rather, very few people remember it.

This season's been on YouTube for years.

Is that Terry O'Quinn?


Jason Jansen.
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Re: Tommy Kennedy, Found – An Interview with Jason Jansen

Postby Fires_Of_Inferno » Sat Jan 05, 2013 2:41 am

Motto: ""Would you just shut up and listen to me so I can tell you how much you all SUCK!""
Weapon: Venom Blaster
PrymeStriker wrote:
Fires_Of_Inferno wrote:Hm, never knew about this lost fifth season.


It's not lost, as in, nobody could ever find it. Rather, very few people remember it.

This season's been on YouTube for years.


Yeah, was making a reference/joke, however...

Is that Terry O'Quinn?


PrymeStriker wrote:Jason Jansen.



Oh, I thought Jason Jansen was the dude with the hair.
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Re: Tommy Kennedy, Found – An Interview with Jason Jansen

Postby Adimus Prime » Sat Jan 05, 2013 2:52 am

I remember getting up at 6:30 am every Thursday and recording this on my VCR on some obscure cable channel in Kenosha, Wi. It was the highlight of my week. I kept waiting to see if animated episodes featuring the 1988 toy line would start running- obviously to no avail.

This was refreshing.
Make a Masterpiece Arcee Hasbro please.
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Re: Tommy Kennedy, Found – An Interview with Jason Jansen

Postby PrymeStriker » Sat Jan 05, 2013 2:56 am

Motto: "Brilliant"
Weapon: Viper Pistol
Fires_Of_Inferno wrote:
PrymeStriker wrote:Jason Jansen.



Oh, I thought Jason Jansen was the dude with the hair.


I thought you meant the dude with the hair. Derped out and forgot who Terry O'Quinn was. :P
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Henry921 wrote:You can always be counted on to listen to reason, Pryme.

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