The Energon Pub

[ZeroWolf]

Greetings Seibertronians! A new piece of concept art is causing a stir around the Transformers community. The art in question is of a design for live action Cheetor:















Now before people start expressing rage (or joy if they like it) it's important to note that this design is for the now abandoned Transformers 6 (Hasbro choose to go with Travis Knights Bumblebee movie instead of it) and as such, this art is over 5 years old at this point. The artist, Rob Wiggins also provided concept art for the Bumblebee movie. This work was posted to his ArtStation account.

On his ArtStation account you can also check out other Transformers art he's created, including an Omega Supreme for an untitled Transformers Augmented Reality Game.

What do you really think about this piece of art? Are you glad its consigned to history? Or are you sad it never got chance to live in plastic. Let us know in the Energon Pub and stay tuned to Seibertron for all the latest news and reviews!

[Quantum Surge]

Love the cheetah mode. Could be more yellow bit it reminds me of Night Slash Cheetor. Robot mode head is pretty generic and I don't like it (I can only imagine actual TF-fans and people who claim to be fans yet only report the news adding the cliche "WTF, FAIL" thumbnails on Youtube). Would work for a Genericon though.

[Blastback]

The Cheetah mode is good in my opinion. The robot mode, not a big fan off. But I've never been a fan of the bayformer asthetic, so take my opinion for what it's worth.

[Jeddostotle7]

Thank you SO MUCH for correctly labelling this up front as old art that probably has little to no bearing on the upcoming Beast Wars movie. So many comments on the post of this art over on TFW are people losing their minds and despairing over thinking this is representative of what the Beast Wars movie will be like, because the post over there wasn't clear enough about the timeline of it, and I was worried the same thing would happen here too. Thank you so so much for completely avoiding that situation.

[GeekyGamer Gal]

I have to agree with the general consensus, the cheetah mode is pretty decent, but looking at the bot mode... I'm still wondering where exactly the eyes and mouth are on that thing.
I mean, it could almost work like a Bayverse animated Shockwave or Punch/Counter Punch with the couple of different faces I see of that thing.

"Ah, yes I'll use these red gems-like things as optics when I'm a 'Con and actually open my optics when I'm a 'Bot."

[Sabrblade]

This old art was also almost adapted for Cyberverse Cheetor too:








Also, some old Orion Pax art:







Plus, three concept videos of a never-made Grimlock gimmick toy (cannot be embedded).

[blackeyedprime]

The world is a better place for not having a beast wars movie.

Sadly they will likely churn out five of them.

The design might have been okayish for beastmachines but it would probably look like a messy downgrade rather than an upgrade if it followed some actual decent beast wars designs.

[AllNewSuperRobot]

Beast Mode does look interesting. Why am I cynically thinking those massive "rabbit ears" on his Bot Mode head would have had some obnoxious twitch or movement to them?

The world is a better place for not having a beast wars movie.

Agreed. Much like The '86 Movie, if ever there was going to be a BW Movie, it should have happened during its peak. The Beast Era has passed and that moment in time, specifically the tone of the 90's, can't really be replicated decades later. Today, they wouldn't know how.

[TulioDude]

That cheetah mode is solid!
No opinion on the robot mode,since it's just an unfinished head.

[TOO MUCH ENERGON!]

Should the rumoured Beast Wars movie actually happen, I really hope they don’t go this route with the characters’ beast forms and keep their alt modes looking like organic animals.

[PerfectVision]

The world is a better place for not having a beast wars movie.

Sadly they will likely churn out five of them.

The design might have been okayish for beastmachines but it would probably look like a messy downgrade rather than an upgrade if it followed some actual decent beast wars designs.

BM has the the best Cheetor for me.
The head of this prototype look like a demon,the kind with the horn on the forehead,nothing like that in BM.

[AllNewSuperRobot]

BM [Vehicon] designs have always been the most pure version of the central Transformers concept - Alien shapeshifting robots. Their whole faction is the one shining light of that entire series.

[Munkky]

The cheetah mode kind of looks like something you'd see in a flashy high-budget car ad, like showing a CGI cheetah made of engine parts to emphasize how fast the car can go, that sort of thing. It looks decent either way, and while I'm not keen on the robot mode it's at least consistent with overall movie style, or at least more than some of the later designs like Hound, Drift or Crosshairs were.

[Deadput]

Should the rumoured Beast Wars movie actually happen, I really hope they don’t go this route with the characters’ beast forms and keep their alt modes looking like organic animals.

I cannot fathom how an organic animal Beast Wars movie could be anything but extremely uncanny and thus very distracting.

Like in just robot mode or just animal mode could potentially work but it's the in-between, the transformations that will ruin the whole movie.

Plus robotic robot modes with fleshy animal parts clinging onto their forms might gross out the audience.

Beast Wars is not meant for the big screen and never will be, the only way it could work is being robot animals like the concept art but of course fans would hate that.

[AllNewSuperRobot]

Robot animals negates the point of Beast Wars. They are an organic animal with a Robot in Disguise, under the skin.
They aren't meant to be Fake animals ala G1 Dinobots, Predacons, Monsterbots etc

[TOO MUCH ENERGON!]

Robot animals negates the point of Beast Wars. They are an organic animal with a Robot in Disguise, under the skin.
They aren't meant to be Fake animals ala G1 Dinobots, Predacons, Monsterbots etc

This.

[Deadput]

Robot animals negates the point of Beast Wars. They are an organic animal with a Robot in Disguise, under the skin.
They aren't meant to be Fake animals ala G1 Dinobots, Predacons, Monsterbots etc

I mean yes that's true, that's part of what makes it Beast Wars

Regardless Beast Wars would still make for a rather bad movie if it's "live action" over an animated style.

It's like anime, it just will never work in that format ever.

[AllNewSuperRobot]

A purely CG film, equivalent to the show, would work. Back in the late 90's.

But again, it is better to just leave Beast Wars where it is. As one of the last times anyone was allowed to do something new, bold and different with Transformers.
Today it would only exist as a nostalgia cash-cow, with no merit beyond fleecing the fanbase.

[Deadput]

A purely CG film, equivalent to the show, would work. Back in the late 90's.

But again, it is better to just leave Beast Wars where it is. As one of the last times anyone was allowed to do something new, bold and different with Transformers.
Today it would only exist as a nostalgia cash-cow, with no merit beyond fleecing the fanbase.

So with that in mind, why shouldn't they just change the design into robotic animals?

It would be different and "original".

There's no reason the Beast Wars concept has to be limited to one show.

[AllNewSuperRobot]

So with that in mind, why shouldn't they just change the design into robotic animals?

Because it isn't Voltron. Remove the core Beast Disguise element and it isn't Beast Wars. It is just another Transformers line.

It would be different and "original".

Quite the opposite. It becomes a generic knock-off.

There's no reason the Beast Wars concept has to be limited to one show.

It wasn't. It had four shows. Technically five, if you want to include Car Robots. The thing is, the Beast Wars concept was played out to its entirety. From Beast Wars Part 1 to Endgame Part 3. The concept was fully explored and fleshed out. Beast Wars was never Sunbow. Wherein the real hook was the visual designs and voices. It had a story and told it very well. It left parts ambiguous that didn't need to be expanded, to tell that specific story.

The only thing they would do with Beast Wars concept today, in contrast to the late 90's, would be to squeeze every last drop of nostalgia and merchandising from it. To milk that cash cow for all it was worth. That, in itself, has no merit or value.

Beyond Endgame Part 3 is a huge untapped universe. But without the direct conceit of the Beast Wars series, it becomes another Transformers space story. Because the context for Beast forms is landlocked.

[Sabrblade]

Transmetals were a thing.

Beyond Endgame Part 3 is a huge untapped universe. But without the direct conceit of the Beast Wars series, it becomes another Transformers space story. Because the context for Beast forms is landlocked.

Beast Wars Neo got away with being a Star Trek-esque space-hopping series with organic beast-moded characters.

In fact, Bob and Larry originally felt that the Beast Wars cartoon should have been set in space all along, and is where they wanted to go with the series for Season 4 before Hasbro decided to make a sequel show instead.

[AllNewSuperRobot]

Transmetals were a thing.

Beyond Endgame Part 3 is a huge untapped universe. But without the direct conceit of the Beast Wars series, it becomes another Transformers space story. Because the context for Beast forms is landlocked.

Beast Wars Neo got away with being a Star Trek-esque space-hopping series with organic beast-moded characters.

In fact, Bob and Larry originally felt that the Beast Wars cartoon should have been set in space all along, and is where they wanted to go with the series for Season 4 before Hasbro decided to make a sequel show instead.

Yes, but The Beast Modes of Neo were not made for practicality, as in the main series. It was a cosmetic choice.

Also, talking Beast Machines is talking beyond Neo. As we all know that Beast Machines is at the end of the Beast Era show timeline. Personally, I think BM poisoned the well on Beast Mode designs too.
It is kind of why I grimly head-canon that Planet Tek in the pilot episode of Shadow Raiders was in fact, the fate of BM's Cybertron.

Ultimately though, it is why even after BM, I would have embraced Transtech. Which to me was blending the Beast Era into vehicle based Cybertronians. Plus I did want to see the Vok explored in depth. As BM completely ignored them.

[Sabrblade]

Also, talking Beast Machines is talking beyond Neo.

Wait, who was talking Beast Machines?

As we all know that Beast Machines is at the end of the Beast Era show timeline.

You mean in terms of real world production and broadcasting, right?

[AllNewSuperRobot]

Also, talking Beast Machines is talking beyond Neo.

Wait, who was talking Beast Machines?

I was, RE: Endgame Part 3.

As we all know that Beast Machines is at the end of the Beast Era show timeline.

You mean in terms of real world production and broadcasting, right?

Yep. Car Robots came next, after all.

[Sabrblade]

Also, talking Beast Machines is talking beyond Neo.

Wait, who was talking Beast Machines?

I was, RE: Endgame Part 3.

As we all know that Beast Machines is at the end of the Beast Era show timeline.

You mean in terms of real world production and broadcasting, right?

Yep. Car Robots came next, after all.

Got it. Though, from an in-universe perspective, Neo is eons after Beast Machines.