The Energon Pub

MTV has recently scored two Transformers: Prime related interviews. MTV Movie Blog had the opportunity to chat with Transformers: Prime executive producers Jeff Kline and Roberto Orci (co-writer of the first two Transformers live action movies). They discuss how fan reaction impacts their work.

Orci, who admitted he reads fan commentary almost incessantly, revealed that he pays close attention to fan reactions for fresh and new perspectives on the work, particularly when plot details or spoilers leak online.

They also talk about Movie Arcee's fate and how it influenced the development of Transformers: Prime Arcee.

One specific example is with the case of Arcee, a beloved female autobot who almost made it into the first live action film, was barely in the sequel, but has found new life and fan favoritism on the animated series.

To view the original interview at MTV Movie Blog click here!

Next MTV Geek caught up with legendary voice actor Frank Welker. Among the topics discussed are his involvement with the Transformers franchise over the years including Transformers: Prime.

Geek: How is Megatron being handled in Transformers Prime ? How’s he different from previous iterations?

FW: I think first, physically when you look at Megatron, he’s quite a bit different: he doesn’t have the gun on his arm like he did in G1 and now he’s a jet fighter and he’s a little bit different in the Transformers Prime series [in that] he has a slightly different look, but when you look at him you go, “Oh yeah, that’s Megatron!”

To read the entire interview at MTV Geek click here!

HAHA first post!! Prime rocks. Its great to here these people browse fan sites and actually listen to fans... who would have guessed?

GetRightRobot wrote:HAHA first post!! Prime rocks. Its great to here these people browse fan sites and actually listen to fans... who would have guessed?

You know, the more I think about it, the more I have sympathy for those guys. I mean, seriously, the fans here are mostly whining little babies when it comes to any kind of changes to the franchise and they nearly nit pick as much as Star Wars or Star Trek fans. I give credit to Orci for actually reading some of this trash and not committing suicide. The guys are stuck between what the Hub is(a children's network), what they may want to do with the franchise, what Hasbro wants, and this whiny bunch here. They literally cannot win no matter what they do with the fans here, and this is what would be termed the "vocal minority".

Personally, change is what Transformers is all about- whether it's changing from mode to mode or changing from line to line. If you look at it, very few toy lines EVOLVE as m uch as Transformers. Let's face it: Star Wars hasn't had anythying fresh for years; GI Joe, though slightly more fun, still largely remain the same figures and equipment. Pokemon, Bakugan, Yi-Gi-Oh, and the others are just fads. But this mythos and toy line continually change. Can you imagine lining all the Optimuses (Optimi?) up in chronological order from 1983 to now and looking at them? It's simply phenomenal. And THAT is the best thing about being a Transfan.

(If you listened closely, you could hear "Battle Hymn of the Republic" playing in the background during my speech...)

First-Aid wrote:

GetRightRobot wrote:HAHA first post!! Prime rocks. Its great to here these people browse fan sites and actually listen to fans... who would have guessed?

You know, the more I think about it, the more I have sympathy for those guys. I mean, seriously, the fans here are mostly whining little babies when it comes to any kind of changes to the franchise and they nearly nit pick as much as Star Wars or Star Trek fans. I give credit to Orci for actually reading some of this trash and not committing suicide. The guys are stuck between what the Hub is(a children's network), what they may want to do with the franchise, what Hasbro wants, and this whiny bunch here. They literally cannot win no matter what they do with the fans here, and this is what would be termed the "vocal minority".

Personally, change is what Transformers is all about- whether it's changing from mode to mode or changing from line to line. If you look at it, very few toy lines EVOLVE as m uch as Transformers. Let's face it: Star Wars hasn't had anythying fresh for years; GI Joe, though slightly more fun, still largely remain the same figures and equipment. Pokemon, Bakugan, Yi-Gi-Oh, and the others are just fads. But this mythos and toy line continually change. Can you imagine lining all the Optimuses (Optimi?) up in chronological order from 1983 to now and looking at them? It's simply phenomenal. And THAT is the best thing about being a Transfan.

(If you listened closely, you could hear "Battle Hymn of the Republic" playing in the background during my speech...)

I agree with you on so many levels. back to the interview, It's nice to know that they look at fan reactions (even if they are always complaining.)

First-Aid wrote:You know, the more I think about it, the more I have sympathy for those guys. I mean, seriously, the fans here are mostly whining little babies when it comes to any kind of changes to the franchise and they nearly nit pick as much as Star Wars or Star Trek fans. I give credit to Orci for actually reading some of this trash and not committing suicide. The guys are stuck between what the Hub is(a children's network), what they may want to do with the franchise, what Hasbro wants, and this whiny bunch here. They literally cannot win no matter what they do with the fans here, and this is what would be termed the "vocal minority".

Personally, change is what Transformers is all about- whether it's changing from mode to mode or changing from line to line. If you look at it, very few toy lines EVOLVE as much as Transformers. Let's face it: Star Wars hasn't had anythying fresh for years; GI Joe, though slightly more fun, still largely remain the same figures and equipment. Pokemon, Bakugan, Yi-Gi-Oh, and the others are just fads. But this mythos and toy line continually change. Can you imagine lining all the Optimuses (Optimi?) up in chronological order from 1983 to now and looking at them? It's simply phenomenal. And THAT is the best thing about being a Transfan.

(If you listened closely, you could hear "Battle Hymn of the Republic" playing in the background during my speech...)

Do you really believe people have no right to an opinion here? Nor even the right to give criticism? You call it whining? If that's what you think, I honestly have no idea why you even post here First-Aid. Perhaps you're just missing the hole point of this site.

Do I think the franchise should evolve? Yeah sure, I mean it hasn't changed since 1984. Still Optimus Prime, still Megatron, Starscream, Autobots, Decepticons, Cybertron, etc. Honestly, I'm looking at my Transformers shelves and I'm getting seriously tired of the growing 'Prime' population. If Hasbro wants to do something fresh, seal the old bag and move the frack on to something really new. If they want people to stop complaining about them ripping a story or it's characters apart, why don't they just come up with a new slagging story? A story about robots that Transform. Takara and Sunrise accomplished it back in the nineties. How about now?

**Now for some non-Transformers related rambling**
Also Star Wars should never have been a franchise full stop. It wasn't meant to be some "To sell toys" 30 minute commercial, it was a series of epic films aimed at young adults. To me it's just a shell of it's former self. And I can barely get myself to watch the original films anymore, let alone the prequels or that stretched out God forsaken mess of a kid's cartoon series.

Just my opinion.
**End rambling**

I was honestly impressed by Frank Welker's resume. I never would have thought that Scooby Doo's Fred was the voice of the most loved mecha villain in all of entertainment history. Now I just need to hear him do a credit card commercial, in Meg's voice. I'd think about calling that company.

I also want to state that Transformers Prime absolutely rocks!! I love how they have taken my favorite elements from the movieverse and incorporated them in TP. Bumblebee is awesome as an R2D2 mute, as it allows the focus of the connection between the human and transformers to happen on more of an emotional level then one of just dialogue. Honetsly i think its brilliant and something i really love about the movie as well.

Peter Cullen is the most gifted voice actor of all time. That is one dude I would love to kick back and drink a few brews with. HAHA.

I love the work these guys have done on Fringe. Very talented and its awesome to see that they care about what the fans think. Even though I am glad none of the fans on here get what they want. *inserting personal rant* Because:

Things I love:
Transforming Earth Mode Transformers
I still think Soundwave should have taken on the mode of that Satelite instead of attaching to it...

Things I hate:
*Cybertronian Mode Transformers (i know they are important to the back story, but honestly i dont want to see them. the mystery is better here for me). - even the Cybertronian toys feel so lazy. we should really get amazing bot modes... cuz lets face it, Cybertronian vehicle modes are just folded up bots. very unimpressive.
*Human Transformers (seriously when Transformers and Terminator 4 were being made did the Directors accidently trade scripts??? dumb...)