ConDrewfus wrote:Ramrider wrote:The show I think was a combined effort between Marvel/Sunbow, who wrote it, and Toei, who did the animation. Someone else could probably give you a more definitive answer, though.
Correct.
Correct, they could give a more difinitive answer, or correct in the statement?
You want a more difinitive answer....well here you go....hope you like it????
Soon after the Federal Communications Commission did away with regulations that prohibited toy companies from broadcasting cartoons based on their products the toyline that would become the Transformers started with a meeting between Hasbro and Takara at the Tokyo Toy Show in 1983. Hasbro wanted to take the Diaclone and Micro Change toylines of Takara, a Japanese company, and turn them into the Transformers. Hasbro and Takara have subsequently worked together for decades, including up to today, on character creation and concept work for the Transformers franchise.Hasbro markets and sells the toys internationally, though Takara still sells "Convoy" (known better here as Optimus Prime) and the rest of the "Cybertrons" (also known as Autobots) in Japan.
The back story for the Transformers toyline was developed by Denny O'Neill and Jim Shooter, two writers for Marvel Comics at the time. Comic book writer Bob Budiansky was also responsible for subsequent Transformer character names and profiles after O'Neill and Shooter’s original concept. Jim Shooter was a writer for DC's Adventure Comics,
created characters for The Legion of Super-Heroes, and, eventually became editor-in-chief of Marvel Comics from 1978 to 1987. He helped develop the massive and enduring popularity of the X-Men during the 1980s and also revitalized The Fantastic Four and The Amazing Spider-Man under his watch. It was his connection to Marvel that would help bring Transformers to life in comic books as well as the toy aisle, an essential cross-platform marketing that helped turn the toy into more than just a plaything.
Denny O'Neill is best known for his incredibly influential Batman work (and came up with the name Optimus Prime), and Bob Budiansky helped re-define Ghost Rider before becoming largely responsible for what many fans consider the prime era of the Transformers. Budiansky was responsible for a large share of the Transformers legacy after the original
back story by Shooter and O'Neill. Budiansky named Megatron, Ratchet, and Ravage, along with writing the vast majority of those awe-inspiring tech spec biographies that inspired every kid's imaginations from the back of their toy packages. Budiansky also developed The Transformers comic at Marvel and would write most of the entire series, which ran for 80 issues, though the title was originally only planned as a four-issue mini-series (the final issue's cover cleverly read "80 in a 4-issue limited series").
The Transformers toys first hit US markets in 1984, and their success was almost immediate. In those early days, kids became obsessed with Megatron, the Decepticon leader, who became a Walther P-38 pistol (gun + robot = immediate boy-toy success), but he wasn't produced again after that initial run because of laws governing toy guns. In other words, if you have an original Megatron that can transform into a toy gun, keep it in its packaging. For those first
couple years, Hasbro essentially just remarketed the already-existing Takara line for the US market and found instant success because of their clever cross-marketing with toys, comics.Still later in 1984, Marvel and Hasbro decided to try launching a cartoon based upon the Transformers comic book and toy line, perhaps to reach a larger audience and/or to compete with the new Go-Bots cartoon/toy line. The cartoon storyline was drastically simplified in order to reach a younger and wider audience, and poor quality writing and animating were thrown together to produce a three part pilot episode, and later an entire first season (in most episodes, characters drastically change in size, color, or voice spontaneously due to fast, poor quality work). It’s hard to say whether the toys brought attention to the cartoon or the cartoon brought attention to the toys, but either way, both quickly gained tremendous popularity.All of the episodes were writtin by various wriiers for writtin by Marvel/Sunbow with most of season's one and two animated by Toei animation house.
Before the cartoon even had a chance to hit its stride, the Transformers were already a sudden American success.If you were the right age in the mid-'80s, the Transformers were probably popular in almost every medium that you loved, making them nearly unavoidable.
Almost immediately, the TV world became an essential part of the Transformers legend. The classic cartoon started with a three-episode miniseries (later titled "More Than Meets the Eye") in 1984 and introduced kids everywhere to Optimus Prime, Megatron, and the rest of the gang. The classic show not only told cool sci-fi robot stories, but (to the chagrin of many parents) also served as 22-minute advertisements for kids who were desperate to get the toy versions of their favorite cartoon characters. As the Transformers cartoon became an unexpected success, Marvel began taking it more seriously. While neither the plot nor
the animation for Season Two improved significantly,blatant animation errors became less frequent and the cartoon was given a better opening theme, with improved music and animation.
The original 65 episodes of the cartoon pretty much defined the Transformers legend for a generation, and it had a catchy enough theme song to become a pop culture classic. ("The Autobots wage their battle to destroy the evil forces of the Decepticons...").
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