The Energon Pub

Oh.



My.



Golly.


Great success

YAY! :3 TIME TO CELEBRATE! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gN2hntZBIUQ *GROOVES TO THE CELEBRATING MUSIC OF EPIC AWESOME*

SlyTF1 wrote:

Oilspill wrote:Personally I'm more worried that Kurtzman and Orci are involved after their efforts with ROTF. As much as Michael Bay may have added his own touches to it, it was still terrible in terms of plot and character development, and some of that has to have been their doing.

Why is everyone so obsessed with this plot and character development bullshit? I could understand if it was any other movie other than Transformers, but it just doesnt fking matter! Its robots coming to earth looking for a fuel source to get back to their planet, end of story...with some explosions in there somewhere. Besides, ROTF did have character development. Sam, Leo, Simmons, Jetfire, Wheelie, Sam's parents, and maybe even Optimus all changed through the movie.

I agree the movie did have character development, but most of it was the humans. Particularly the Witwicky's and Simmons. I don't really expect the Transformers themselves to change a lot. They've been fighting the war for thousands of years, it's all just another day at work to them.

Energon Is My Drug wrote:

Diem wrote:
Well, we already know it has Prime and Bumblebee and I'll bet any amount of money that it has Megatron and Starscream too. The Autobots will arrive on Earth and befriend the locals, Starscream will stab Megatron in the back, Prime and Megatron will battle at the end while spouting philosophy at each other...

I'm really getting sick of the same characters getting trotted out over and over.

If it does turn out to be different I'll be both very pleased and very surprised. I really hope they can do something new.

Amen, Diem, I'm with ya. I'm sick of the SAME...OLD...PREMISE time after time.

Beast Wars and Beast Machines didn't follow that formula and they're considered as possibly the best TFs cartoons ever! Well, Beast Wars is, anyway... (Seriously, though, I love Beast Machines!)

Beast Machines was mature writing and a theme that as far away from G1 as you can get (but still stayed in the G1 continuum, AMAZING, it actually progressed the story!), no surprise why people didn't like it, it didn't tread over the same story, and reboot itself AGAIN and AGAIN. It's a curious point, the cartoon is rebooted regularly, but a movie can't be rebooted in the same short space of time, I wonder why that is? Does it prove that cartoons really are a medium for selling toys, nothing more, and can't be considered an interesting piece of media in it's own right? Because that sure is a shame if you ask me. Was it that Beast Machines was made at such a time when the brand didn't have much to lose, so therefore you take risks? But now that it's a guaranteed cash cow you stick to the winning formula that made you millions before, so it must be good right? No sense in compromising the bottom line for "creativity" and "interest". But theres got to be a point when old ideas get so stale, that something new has to sprout forth, we really DO need a fresh take on the franchise, but whats left? Can Transformers Transcend, again?

Energon Is My Drug wrote:

Diem wrote:
Well, we already know it has Prime and Bumblebee and I'll bet any amount of money that it has Megatron and Starscream too. The Autobots will arrive on Earth and befriend the locals, Starscream will stab Megatron in the back, Prime and Megatron will battle at the end while spouting philosophy at each other...

I'm really getting sick of the same characters getting trotted out over and over.

If it does turn out to be different I'll be both very pleased and very surprised. I really hope they can do something new.

Amen, Diem, I'm with ya. I'm sick of the SAME...OLD...PREMISE time after time.

Beast Wars and Beast Machines didn't follow that formula and they're considered as possibly the best TFs cartoons ever! Well, Beast Wars is, anyway... (Seriously, though, I love Beast Machines!)

Beast Machines was a horrible abomination.

gigazarak wrote:Beast Machines was mature writing and a theme that as far away from G1 as you can get (but still stayed in the G1 continuum, AMAZING, it actually progressed the story!), no surprise why people didn't like it, it didn't tread over the same story, and reboot itself AGAIN and AGAIN. It's a curious point, the cartoon is rebooted regularly, but a movie can't be rebooted in the same short space of time, I wonder why that is? Does it prove that cartoons really are a medium for selling toys, nothing more, and can't be considered an interesting piece of media in it's own right? Because that sure is a shame if you ask me. Was it that Beast Machines was made at such a time when the brand didn't have much to lose, so therefore you take risks? But now that it's a guaranteed cash cow you stick to the winning formula that made you millions before, so it must be good right? No sense in compromising the bottom line for "creativity" and "interest". But theres got to be a point when old ideas get so stale, that something new has to sprout forth, we really DO need a fresh take on the franchise, but whats left? Can Transformers Transcend, again?

Well I don't think it's that. Everyone has their own problems with Beast Machines, it's one of those things you shouldn't generalize because then you start an unending argument (not that this hasn't been going on SINCE Beast Machines of course). MY problem with Beast Machines is that it attempts to tie it's self into the continuity of G1, like it's saying "This is how the entire thing ends." At least that's what it seemed like it was saying to me. It's putting a cap on something that I think is better left open-ended. The method of how they did it didn't sit well with me either. The prospect of Cybertron becoming a half biological half cybernetic planet is, I'll be honest, too strange of an idea for me. I mean, if they found a planet that was biological/organic then that's fine, but turning cybertron into that just seems kinda strange to me. I just can't picture Primus awakeing from within Cybertron to defeat Unicron, only to transform into a green, flower-covered organic robot (of course that's going with the idea that Cybertron even transforms at all).

Other people's reasons for not liking Beast Machines are most likely different from mine, so you're not likely to get a solid answer any time soon.

gigazarak wrote:

Energon Is My Drug wrote:

Diem wrote:
Well, we already know it has Prime and Bumblebee and I'll bet any amount of money that it has Megatron and Starscream too. The Autobots will arrive on Earth and befriend the locals, Starscream will stab Megatron in the back, Prime and Megatron will battle at the end while spouting philosophy at each other...

I'm really getting sick of the same characters getting trotted out over and over.

If it does turn out to be different I'll be both very pleased and very surprised. I really hope they can do something new.

Amen, Diem, I'm with ya. I'm sick of the SAME...OLD...PREMISE time after time.

Beast Wars and Beast Machines didn't follow that formula and they're considered as possibly the best TFs cartoons ever! Well, Beast Wars is, anyway... (Seriously, though, I love Beast Machines!)

Beast Machines was mature writing and a theme that as far away from G1 as you can get (but still stayed in the G1 continuum, AMAZING, it actually progressed the story!), no surprise why people didn't like it, it didn't tread over the same story, and reboot itself AGAIN and AGAIN. It's a curious point, the cartoon is rebooted regularly, but a movie can't be rebooted in the same short space of time, I wonder why that is? Does it prove that cartoons really are a medium for selling toys, nothing more, and can't be considered an interesting piece of media in it's own right? Because that sure is a shame if you ask me. Was it that Beast Machines was made at such a time when the brand didn't have much to lose, so therefore you take risks? But now that it's a guaranteed cash cow you stick to the winning formula that made you millions before, so it must be good right? No sense in compromising the bottom line for "creativity" and "interest". But theres got to be a point when old ideas get so stale, that something new has to sprout forth, we really DO need a fresh take on the franchise, but whats left? Can Transformers Transcend, again?

Ah Beast Machines. The great divider.

Seriously though, Beast Machines was a fantastic experiment, a very brave attempt to do something new and exciting with Transformers and probably the least traditional series there is (Masterforce being a close second). It did feature character change and growth and could be generous called artistry.

On the other hand it was a repetitive series which treated all its cast unfavourably, denying many of our new favourites (Rattrap, Waspinator et al) happy endings. Despite nods to G1 it broke down more shibboleths of TF tradition than even an iconoclast like me feels comfortable with. And it introduced Nightscream.

It's a little easier to like it now, much like Action Masters because we can look back secure in the knowledge that Transformers kept rolling along anyway. But at the time it was scary and disappointing.

Fires_Of_Inferno wrote: MY problem with Beast Machines is that it attempts to tie it's self into the continuity of G1, like it's saying "This is how the entire thing ends." At least that's what it seemed like it was saying to me. It's putting a cap on something that I think is better left open-ended.

I can understand where you would feel that way, but remember that for Mainframe, Beast Machines wasn't to be the end as they were already working on Transtech, when Hasbro decided to shelve it in favor of dubbing RID.

Had Mainframe continued, that storyline would have moved beyond the ending of Beast Machines.

Having Peter Cullen as Prime in the new series is awesome news! This is exactly as it should be.

Now the big question I have is...have the rest of you all gone f-ing MENTAL??? I mean, seriously, you folks are over-analyzing character developement and plot for a KIDS CARTOON!
I want to see a show of hands of all the posters so far that ACTUALLY fall within the target demographic for this cartoon. Those that aren't within that range need to pull the stick out of your a## and just enjoy the show for what it is. If your really THAT uptight that you have to pick apart a childrens cartoon, I'll loan you 20 bucks and you can go find yourselves a 10 dollar hooker and run thru TWICE!
This isn't gonna be G1, not that it matters if it is because todays kids have never heard of G1 anyways, and Kurtzman and Orci are not to blame for the live action movies. That blame falls upon a combination of Bay screwing with the script, too much stuff to cram into a 2+ hour time slot and fans being entirely too damn UPTIGHT to begin with! Honestly, it's the fans more than anyone else ever involved with the franchise that truly make it difficult for me to want to continue this hobby.

T-Macksimus wrote:Having Peter Cullen as Prime in the new series is awesome news! This is exactly as it should be.

Now the big question I have is...have the rest of you all gone f-ing MENTAL??? I mean, seriously, you folks are over-analyzing character developement and plot for a KIDS CARTOON!
I want to see a show of hands of all the posters so far that ACTUALLY fall within the target demographic for this cartoon. Those that aren't within that range need to pull the stick out of your a## and just enjoy the show for what it is. If your really THAT uptight that you have to pick apart a childrens cartoon, I'll loan you 20 bucks and you can go find yourselves a 10 dollar hooker and run thru TWICE!
This isn't gonna be G1, not that it matters if it is because todays kids have never heard of G1 anyways, and Kurtzman and Orci are not to blame for the live action movies. That blame falls upon a combination of Bay screwing with the script, too much stuff to cram into a 2+ hour time slot and fans being entirely too damn UPTIGHT to begin with! Honestly, it's the fans more than anyone else ever involved with the franchise that truly make it difficult for me to want to continue this hobby.

Then leave, and gimme that $20.

Oi, stop it right now before this gets ugly, just as a friendly reminder without picking on anybody. Don't force your opinions on others and respect their opinions.


Now my comment:

I think this is pretty cool news, and I want Frank Welker to come back as Megatron too, his was my favourite voice in the G1 cartoon.

I agree with Dead Metal quick it with the bickering please. Why can't we be just happy with this good news, I certainly am. Just my 0.02.

Imo, this is the first good news about this new show. Hopefully, it isn't the last.

Diem wrote:

gigazarak wrote:

Energon Is My Drug wrote:

Diem wrote:
Well, we already know it has Prime and Bumblebee and I'll bet any amount of money that it has Megatron and Starscream too. The Autobots will arrive on Earth and befriend the locals, Starscream will stab Megatron in the back, Prime and Megatron will battle at the end while spouting philosophy at each other...

I'm really getting sick of the same characters getting trotted out over and over.

If it does turn out to be different I'll be both very pleased and very surprised. I really hope they can do something new.

Amen, Diem, I'm with ya. I'm sick of the SAME...OLD...PREMISE time after time.

Beast Wars and Beast Machines didn't follow that formula and they're considered as possibly the best TFs cartoons ever! Well, Beast Wars is, anyway... (Seriously, though, I love Beast Machines!)

Beast Machines was mature writing and a theme that as far away from G1 as you can get (but still stayed in the G1 continuum, AMAZING, it actually progressed the story!), no surprise why people didn't like it, it didn't tread over the same story, and reboot itself AGAIN and AGAIN. It's a curious point, the cartoon is rebooted regularly, but a movie can't be rebooted in the same short space of time, I wonder why that is? Does it prove that cartoons really are a medium for selling toys, nothing more, and can't be considered an interesting piece of media in it's own right? Because that sure is a shame if you ask me. Was it that Beast Machines was made at such a time when the brand didn't have much to lose, so therefore you take risks? But now that it's a guaranteed cash cow you stick to the winning formula that made you millions before, so it must be good right? No sense in compromising the bottom line for "creativity" and "interest". But theres got to be a point when old ideas get so stale, that something new has to sprout forth, we really DO need a fresh take on the franchise, but whats left? Can Transformers Transcend, again?

Ah Beast Machines. The great divider.

Seriously though, Beast Machines was a fantastic experiment, a very brave attempt to do something new and exciting with Transformers and probably the least traditional series there is (Masterforce being a close second). It did feature character change and growth and could be generous called artistry.

On the other hand it was a repetitive series which treated all its cast unfavourably, denying many of our new favourites (Rattrap, Waspinator et al) happy endings. Despite nods to G1 it broke down more shibboleths of TF tradition than even an iconoclast like me feels comfortable with. And it introduced Nightscream.

It's a little easier to like it now, much like Action Masters because we can look back secure in the knowledge that Transformers kept rolling along anyway. But at the time it was scary and disappointing.

I agree with this perspective Diem. To me, it felt like MORE than just a kids show, maybe the repetition that you refer to is part of the kids appeal, repeat and reinforce simple themes/ideas for the kids, but have interesting ideas overarching many episodes for older viewers? Just a theory...

And if analysis of a kids cartoon makes you lame, and bad writing can be declared something that falls within the category of "kids entertainment", then thats a pretty sad reality to live in don't you think? Kids want a good FUN story, but can that fun be interesting to? Or is fun just pure dumb pleasure? Don't the Bayformers movies fit that category? Even though they aren't made strictly for kids? Dumb fun to me doesn't acknowledge the past and future of things, it's just contemporary throwaway nonsense, of the now. I'd think TF with it's rich history, of past, present and potential future fans, should be handled in an intelligent way, theres certainly plenty of scope for it. Reading too much into it? It's all just dumb fun right? It's a hobby to most, but can it be made of some substance too? Please?

As I've said before in other threads, I have two kids both boys (one 3y/o and one 6y/o) and while they aren't connoisseurs of fine art, they know trash from quality. Sure it's because I am the one bringing that entertainment to them, it's being filtered by an adult, but when left to their own devices, they partake in media that is fun and interesting. American dubs of Japanese series, like Bakugan, Yu-Gi-Oh, Naruto Shippuden, Pokemon, the list goes on... just don't interest them, in fact, it confuses the hell out of them! (Wrong age range perhaps?) Batman Brave and the Bold, TF:Animated, Ben 10:Alien Force (ok, borderline dumb) get them really hyped! They feature overarching stories, sure there and dumb moments, but theres lessons in there somewhere, and they are all INTERESTING CHARACTERS. I've said too much. You know where I'm coming from. Flame on!

I, as most here, is so happy Cullen is working again. I like the G1 idea being introduced again, but I'm afraid it will be ruined again, like the Bay movies. The Bay movies were OK, but it never was a good Transformer story or had a good feel to it...well to me anyway. I heart G1 but I'll keep an open mind, and hope this new series is wonderful too.

Burn wrote:

gigazarak wrote:So heres hoping that Alex Kurtzman and Robert Orci can give Cullen and others some good stories to work with.

We're doomed.

Maybe 30 minute cartoons is where they belong, they may deliver here. Glad Cullens back, don't see how anyone can view that with any negativity. What do we know of this show? Is it movie continuity?

Editor wrote:

Fires_Of_Inferno wrote: MY problem with Beast Machines is that it attempts to tie it's self into the continuity of G1, like it's saying "This is how the entire thing ends." At least that's what it seemed like it was saying to me. It's putting a cap on something that I think is better left open-ended.

I can understand where you would feel that way, but remember that for Mainframe, Beast Machines wasn't to be the end as they were already working on Transtech, when Hasbro decided to shelve it in favor of dubbing RID.

Had Mainframe continued, that storyline would have moved beyond the ending of Beast Machines.

Any chance they'd ever look again at doing that story? I'd love to see it, loved Beast Machines.

SEXFIGHTER wrote:Maybe 30 minute cartoons is where they belong, they may deliver here. Glad Cullens back, don't see how anyone can view that with any negativity. What do we know of this show? Is it movie continuity?

The rumour (and only a rumour) is that it takes place during the War for Cybertron and shows the evolution of Optimus Prime. Of course the other rumour is that it's an alliance between humans and Autobots in the Movie Universe.

I'm hoping for the former.

Mkall wrote:

SEXFIGHTER wrote:Maybe 30 minute cartoons is where they belong, they may deliver here. Glad Cullens back, don't see how anyone can view that with any negativity. What do we know of this show? Is it movie continuity?

The rumour (and only a rumour) is that it takes place during the War for Cybertron and shows the evolution of Optimus Prime. Of course the other rumour is that it's an alliance between humans and Autobots in the Movie Universe.

I'm hoping for the former.

When you look at the image for the HUB channel we got a while ago, it shows Bumblebee on it, and he looks more movie-verse there, which leads me to believe that the new series will either have something to do with the movie, or it'll be heavily influenced by it. Looking at the differences between the War For Cybertron Bumblebee and the Bumblebee in the image, it's very unlikely that the two will be tied together.

Fires_Of_Inferno wrote:

Mkall wrote:

SEXFIGHTER wrote:Maybe 30 minute cartoons is where they belong, they may deliver here. Glad Cullens back, don't see how anyone can view that with any negativity. What do we know of this show? Is it movie continuity?

The rumour (and only a rumour) is that it takes place during the War for Cybertron and shows the evolution of Optimus Prime. Of course the other rumour is that it's an alliance between humans and Autobots in the Movie Universe.

I'm hoping for the former.

When you look at the image for the HUB channel we got a while ago, it shows Bumblebee on it, and he looks more movie-verse there, which leads me to believe that the new series will either have something to do with the movie, or it'll be heavily influenced by it. Looking at the differences between the War For Cybertron Bumblebee and the Bumblebee in the image, it's very unlikely that the two will be tied together.

The thing is, both hasbro and High Moon stated that Prime follows War for Cybertron and that the game was actually made with the series in mind.

Dead Metal wrote:

Fires_Of_Inferno wrote:

Mkall wrote:

SEXFIGHTER wrote:Maybe 30 minute cartoons is where they belong, they may deliver here. Glad Cullens back, don't see how anyone can view that with any negativity. What do we know of this show? Is it movie continuity?

The rumour (and only a rumour) is that it takes place during the War for Cybertron and shows the evolution of Optimus Prime. Of course the other rumour is that it's an alliance between humans and Autobots in the Movie Universe.

I'm hoping for the former.

When you look at the image for the HUB channel we got a while ago, it shows Bumblebee on it, and he looks more movie-verse there, which leads me to believe that the new series will either have something to do with the movie, or it'll be heavily influenced by it. Looking at the differences between the War For Cybertron Bumblebee and the Bumblebee in the image, it's very unlikely that the two will be tied together.

The thing is, both hasbro and High Moon stated that Prime follows War for Cybertron and that the game was actually made with the series in mind.

It could be trying to transition the serieses together for maximum salessynergy. WFC Prime grows up to be similar to Movieverse Prime, perhaps.

Holy flaming double crap on toast, they just keep piling on the awesome.

It's Peter Cullen, it's automatically awesome.

I just learned about TFP yesterday--ULTIMATE V/A EARCANDY!

I hope they get Welker for Soundwave (with the synthesizer(sp)) then Megatron.

I'm interested to find out who gets chosen for Screamer

My greatest hope in other areas no artists for TF:A. (4 me, TF:A's character drawings was a major turn off).

I hope I have the channel this new series will be on my the level cable I have and if not, I'm going to lobby big time to get it.

This makes me happy. Cullen's voice is wonderful.

And to everyone saying that this is the first good thing about Prime... what about Jeffrey Combs? Speaking as a Trekkie, I can assure you that he is a very good actor who can put a lot of distinct personality into a voice. For me, this is like my two main fandoms coming together. I think he'll do a fine job as Ratchet.

But I'm kinda an optimist. For me, Transformers: Prime will be wonderful until it proves itself otherwise.

I really hope I get this channel...