IGN Interview with Transformers Animated Director

No mentions of the uber-cool Decepticons. I can't wait to hear the fans comments about Starscream, Blackarachnia and Blitzwing. Man, Megatron's going to have his hands full watching his back with his new crew.

I can see Screamer and Blackarachnia being back-stabers, but Blitzwing? I'm not gonna complain, because after Classics Astrotrain it'd be a sort of a good idea to do new Blitzwing and Octane figures, wouldn't it? Just my opinion.

Screw the negativity, I'm looking forward to this. G1 will always be special to me, but I was SO WRONG about Beast Wars I'll put my skepticism aside. I've had G1, time for the new generation.

Oh, I smell Rodimus Prime a mile away. Yay, if only they used him instead. I do love the idea, always have, just not for Prime, Primal and Rodimus it works, not Prime.

why not Prime? every one starts somewhere.

Because it just won't feel right :/ Unless, maybe they use the Cyber form for the first ep, then when has confidence, er, be Prime-ish, give him the new body.

I still thinking giving him Rodimus's thing isn't a good idea when you could, you know, use Rodimus. I may be using too much logic there, using a character already with those qualaties.

This was posted yesterday by Sephron1335 here: http://www.seibertron.com/forums/viewto ... 10863&sid=

Anyway, Youngberg is SO right; it WAS the G1 characters themselves that we loved, more than any one cartoon or comic, so I'm really happy to hear that TF Animated is going to be about the characters, not just action.

I also love the idea that the Cons are a legitimate threat to the Bots. "these Decepticons are war machines." That's awesome.

Yeah, I have a very good feeling about this new show.

As it was mentionned in the interview, I wasN,t to sure about the show when the first pic of Prime showed up. Then the other tidbits started to get released and have made it so that I really want to see an episode now. The very idea of using classics characters for the Decepticons like Bliztwing and Screamer and then adding fan favorites like Blackarachnia and Waspinator (apparently) makes me wanna see just how they'll interact, especially BA and SS. And the eventual inclusion of Grimlock and two other Dinobots, well... That just makes my day.

And didn't Hasbro recently trademarked the name 'Slag'? Wonder where that'll show up...?

Yeah I'm actually looking forward to this now.

They have F'ing superpowers now? Did I miss something?

I, too, am looking forward to this show. As Matt mentioned, when the first piece of Optimus art was released, there was a backlash. I know I didn't like it. As the second piece was released of the 5 main Autobots, as well as some details of the actual 'toon, my disliking subsided and I had cautious optimism. Now, after BotCon and having read a few interviews with the main staff behind this, I can actually say that I'm looking forward to this. It will be nice to see the Decepticons pose an actual threat for a change. I like that they won't be the sole villains, too. The "robot gang war" line is very accurate to how the G1 cartoon was, and even every subsequent TF toon since. I'm curious to see the Autobots handle other threats. I also like the getting back to the TF's (or at least the Autobots) being "robots in disguise". Very cool!! After all, that IS the whole point of the TF's anyway, right?! Wonder when we'll start seeing more art and learning more details about the 'Cons? I just really want to see the toys now!!

I'm thinking the characters look like that to attract the kids since the previous shows had poor ratings. It sounds like it could be good. I'll check it out before I bash it anymore.

gogleman374 wrote:They have F'ing superpowers now? Did I miss something?

Yeah you missed G1. They had powers then too.

Hound-Holograms
Mirage-Invisibility
Trailbreaker-Force Field
Skywarp- Teleportation
...just to name a few.

I wonder if Bumblebee will still have the power to operate underwater for long periods, or if they'll give him something new.

ShGarland, you'll be pleased to hear that the Hasbro chaps had concept art for Octane under the banner of 'Universe', the continued Classics line kicking off towards the end of next year. They said their plans were 'to redo all the triple changers'. I assume that means Autobots as well, at some point.

-Nick

Whats the gimmik this time? Its a cartoon network show im sure there will be a gimmik. Evrey TF has had a gimmik since Armada. I just hope its not as lame and stupid as "cyberkey powers". Some one mentioned superpowers. Im guessing that'll be it.

Megatron_Wolf wrote:Whats the gimmik this time? Its a cartoon network show im sure there will be a gimmik. Evrey TF has had a gimmik since Armada. I just hope its not as lame and stupid as "cyberkey powers". Some one mentioned superpowers. Im guessing that'll be it.

Well, not superpowers in the traditional sense, but more like what the Autobots were already portrayed as having. PowerMaster Jazz stated it well with:
"Hound-Holograms
Mirage-Invisibility
Trailbreaker-Force Field
Skywarp- Teleportation
...just to name a few."

So perhaps those'll be incorporated into this new show and, hopefully, the toys. But, I believe at BonCon, during the Hasbro panel, it was stated that the "gimmick" this time would be the transformation itself.

There we go! This is from the Hasbro panel at BotCon.

Takara has really helped out with these designs.
New sculpting style.
No more full line gimmicks!!! WOO HOO! Big round of applause ...
Transformation is the feature.
Signature weapons and poses - attitude and stance.
Range of motion is great!
Allows for the characterization to stand out more.
There are some things they won't be able to do because of joints and stuff.
Accessories will transform?

Here's the where the whole thing is covered...lots of great info here about the new 'toon and the toys.
http://www.seibertron.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=9226

Really looking forward to seeing more!!!

From what I'm hearing, I like alot of what is being said about this show, No stock footage transformations, and things like that.

I hate humans in TF stories, and the idea of them working together just gets me. If I wanted to look at people on TV, I'd put on a show, not a cartoon about robots.

As for the designs, we've only seen one or two so far, and they suck! But thats how most felt about the movie, and outside of when they moved to fast and all those features blurred, it came off well.

I'll give this a chance, but since the end of the Beast Era, I haven't realy been impressed with any of the shows. Too much stock, and to many people talking about teamwork and feelings, while all you realy want is "The Gang War".

So lets see what happens, I want to stay neutral, but history has given me a reason to be jaded though.

ShGarland_1383 wrote:I can see Screamer and Blackarachnia being back-stabers, but Blitzwing? I'm not gonna complain, because after Classics Astrotrain it'd be a sort of a good idea to do new Blitzwing and Octane figures, wouldn't it? Just my opinion.

To be honest, G1 BlitzWing was always one of my favorite characters. Granted he was always seconded by AstroTrain, but he was just a war machine that realy came into his own during Five Faces of Darkness.

I always wanted to see him return.

I just hope the Decepticons aren't all stupid and goffy like in the past 4 series. I think Armada Megatron said it best "All this way to find out they're incompitent"

Still not sure about the look, but the writing sounds like it'll be light-years past the crap we got in the Unicron Trilogy. Not like that's hard or anything, but still, I'd like to get a little entertainment with my thirty-minute commercials.

ha ha exactly! The writing on the latest cartoons was horrible! I will reserve judgment until I see an episode, but the writing is gonna have to be Shakespearian for me to get over the robot monkey designs. They just look really silly. Why can't we have kick ass super detailed animation and really good character development at the same time? I know I am asking allot but it would be nice to have a really good show that pays homage to the original but is light years ahead in terms of animation and writing. If you make it right you could satisfy 25-30 year old fans as well as attract new younger ones. Kids aren't' stupid, Mine are allot smarter than I was at their age. why do most companies think they can't grasp big ideas? Ok, I am rambling on now, I'll stop.

Liege Evilmus wrote:As for the designs, we've only seen one or two so far, and they suck! But thats how most felt about the movie, and outside of when they moved to fast and all those features blurred, it came off well.

Trust me, when you see the new designs in the cartoon, you'll love them. I mean, seriously, Megatron has his frikkin' black arm cannon! Everything they showed us looked truly incredible. I couldn't believe how quickly then won me over once I saw some of the cartoon and some of the upcoming designs and prototypes.

And hey ... John Moschita is reprising his role as BLURR!!! I mean, it doesn't get much better than that.

Hanch Prime wrote:Kids aren't' stupid, Mine are allot smarter than I was at their age. why do most companies think they can't grasp big ideas? Ok, I am rambling on now, I'll stop.

I think it's great that they are going back to the basics. It looks like a smart show to me. Not Beast Wars smart. Something that we haven't seen before in Transformers. I think all of you will like it. If you don't, well, that's the beauty of the Transformers hobby. There's something for everyone in this hobby.

Prime's always been a little insecure in some of his calls. Even in G1. (Don't ask me to source the ep.) War Within especially, And most anything post BM

Well, I hope I can get pass the ugly drawings I seen so far. The show sounds interesting, very promising and I'm really excited to see Starscream again with Megatron. I hope it's not all brainless or super evil vs smarty pants goody two shoes. I know there's evil in good, good in evil. I hope it becomes "Beast Wars" smart. I hoping too darn much Well, it's new and fun, and I'm going to be there. I'm excited to see what this cartoon will be like.

It sounds like these guys know what they are doing so I'm just going to shut up and go for a ride with the show.

As for the animation I just need to see them moving then I might go or Why Oh Why!!!!

When are we gonna start seeing these designs?

Everyone that has seen them is pretty excited about them and that excitement is infectious. Still, if you wait to long to reveal them, they'll NEVER live up to my imagination of what they're like.

I went from being very jaded about this to being ok with it to now being pretty excited about this. I may have some sort of Transformers ADD. :p

Hold on, WTF? How can Prime be the Leader yet be outranked at the same time? I'm not really understanding that.

Unless if he's just a simple soldier that is smarter than those above him, but it still sounds kind of strange to me...

Liege Evilmus wrote:From what I'm hearing, I like alot of what is being said about this show, No stock footage transformations, and things like that.

I hate humans in TF stories, and the idea of them working together just gets me. If I wanted to look at people on TV, I'd put on a show, not a cartoon about robots.

As for the designs, we've only seen one or two so far, and they suck! But thats how most felt about the movie, and outside of when they moved to fast and all those features blurred, it came off well.

I'll give this a chance, but since the end of the Beast Era, I haven't realy been impressed with any of the shows. Too much stock, and to many people talking about teamwork and feelings, while all you really want is "The Gang War".

So lets see what happens, I want to stay neutral, but history has given me a reason to be jaded though.

I completely agree with you. The article mentioned a few details which made me cringe...

1. they will have powers similar to super heroes, yet they are mechanical beings so its a part of what they are..

2. they will be in a futuristic Detroit..

3. they will be fighting with humans, and humans already have robots called Automatons...sounds like a way to sneak minicons into the mix under a different guise..

4. Optimus Prime is an inexperienced leader trying to find himself, and there are superiors to him tat out rank him??

5. the art work still sucks, I don't care if the toys look great, it's still Teen titanformers to me..


6. working on shows with super heroes helped in their understanding and eventual team roster..

It's transformers not Super heroes!!


I guess I'll take a wait and see attitude, but as of right now this is my perception of the show and its not good so far.

Yeah, this is very interesting. I'm looking forward to it.

As for Prime being inexperienced, War Within (one of the best TF comics ever in many fans' opinions) revolved around the same thing. Chill.

Actually, I'm glad to hear that Optimus isn't the "top dog," so to speak. There has to be superiors, and Prime being "the boss" just doesn't make a lot of sense.

I mean, really--is it smart for the heads of power to put their lives on the line battling evil forces? No. That's what generals are for. Prime's leading a small group of Autobots on Earth. If he was leader of all the Autobots, then he'd be stuck at a desk listening to complaints about energon shortage in Sector 8, equal rights for all minicons, trying to appease anti-war demonstrators, and signing legislation into law.

Prime is a war leader: always has been, always will be. But that does not make him "The" top leader.

Even Captain Kirk reports to someone else

Now i wqas with those of us who bashed the design of these new Formers but after a while theyve sort of grown on me i still dont like the fact that prime will be the teen-bot of the series but that may change but ill give this series a fair try ..but the first instance that its a teen titan carbon copy with the humor and story line i wash my hands of the series humor is fine in my oppinion but not random stupidity at every moment...and why must there be the silly human chars again spike was awesome he had an intregal part of the story but from then on the humans have been comic relief

I like this bloke. He sounds like someone we can trust.

Bring it on, says I.

By the way, just to respond to a bit that stuck out while I was reading the comments:

skywarp-2 wrote:I completely agree with you. The article mentioned a few details which made me cringe...

1. they will have powers similar to super heroes, yet they are mechanical beings so its a part of what they are..

2. they will be in a futuristic Detroit..

3. they will be fighting with humans, and humans already have robots called Automatons...sounds like a way to sneak minicons into the mix under a different guise..

4. Optimus Prime is an inexperienced leader trying to find himself, and there are superiors to him tat out rank him??

5. the art work still sucks, I don't care if the toys look great, it's still Teen titanformers to me..

6. working on shows with super heroes helped in their understanding and eventual team roster..

1. As somebody said earlier, a lot of the G1 TFs had mechanically-based 'superpowers', just like these: invisibility, forcefields, teleportation etc...

2. You have a problem with Detroit? It's Motor City, it makes as much sense to me to have this technologically-based series set there as anywhere else. And like the man said, it'll be a lot more exciting than fighting in the desert all the time.

3. Humans don't have, as you say, "robots called Automatons"... automaton is an actual word. It's an automated robot. The show's set fifty years in the future, people have robots doing a lot of the work... sort of like they said we'd have twenty years ago back in the sixties...

4. Why not? Like Black Bumblebee pointed out, if he's the guy at the top of the foodchain, he'd have been back home on Cybertron, running the planet. Do see the US President (not just the present one ) running off to the frontline every time there's a war? No, he's got the rest of the country to worry about as well.

5.... alright, not much I can say to that one - if you don't like the designs, you don't like 'em.

6. The key point he was emphasising is not the superhero aspect, but the fact that such shows have given them experience in exploring team dynamics, which, as far as I can see, is one of the most important things in a show like this. If you have a limited cast of characters, you want to make sure you've got the best possible combination, so you can make the most of the interplay between them.

Ramrider wrote:

2. You have a problem with Detroit? It's Motor City, it makes as much sense to me to have this technologically-based series set there as anywhere else. And like the man said, it'll be a lot more exciting than fighting in the desert all the time.

HUzzah!!! I was about to give it a go there too about that. Detroit is the place where the future technology of cars basically started being produced en masse, so then why couldn't it be the center for the next future technology being massed produced...robots.

Skywarp-2, for someone with that moniker, I would expect you to be a little more open to 'bots with special abilities.

Besides those mentioned, I think Elita-1 could stop time briefly...I think she did it to save Prime, and Soundwave's bio has said that he can read the minds of some individuals.

I'm open, and it'll be interesting as the new year gets closer, what more we find out, and when we'll start seeing more of the toy designs released to the general public...perhaps after SDCC?

So Bumblebee was never supposed to be in the original 5. Wonder who was originally in the side then? Jazz?

This show just keeps sounding better and better. You can tell that they have put a great deal of thought and work into this series. The animation style may not be for everyone, but the story and characters seem to be getting a lot of time devoted to them.

Here's my take on this show....

No doubt it will have good voice acting, and will be very pleasent to listen to. Which is a much needed and welcomed change from the Japanese aquired animation dubbing the past 4 years. (I didn't count RiD because I think they did a good job voice acting with what they had there). So now we have Susan Blu, who was the master mind voice director behind the performances in Beast Wars, as well as having all the experience of working with the G1 professionals/actors. She probably learned alot from working with Wally Burr.

So it will sound good.

The story will probably turn out to be good after all, so I won't discount that. But then I don't know anything and I could be wrong and it could turn out to be pure garbage too.

What I do know at this juncture is it visually looks like pure crap. It's going to be hard to get into the story or even listen to the characters when I'm so disgusted by what I see and will be looking at. It's just distracting. It's the very same reason I could never watch a full episode of that Star Wars Clone Wars show, even as much as I wanted to be able to watch it. And that was only 5 minutes long!

That just shows you how important the look of the animation is. I prefer stuff like the new Fantastic 4 animated show, or the TNMT or Ben 10 shows. Even Loonatics unleashed and especially Tom and Jerry has nice looking animation. That's good quality animation right there. (And All of them are intended and targeted for young Kids to watch. It just so happens that they are of high enough quality that even adults with a childlike heart can and do enjoy them as well.) And those are all western/U.S. produced shows for a western audience.

And I don't understand why they insist that kids like to look at garbage. I turned on Cartoon Network for my 3 year old nephew and they were showing some garbage looking crap show that had their inmfamous paper miche cutout South Park style animation and he didn't want any thing to do with it. He asked me to change the channel so I tried the Disney Channel and they were showing Timone and Pumba (IIRC) from the Lion King and he asked me to keep it there and said, "I wanna watch this."

And he's only three so I don't understand where this, "It's being developed with a younger target audience" BS is comming from. Garbage is still Garbage no matter what age you are. Garbage went in a garbage truck to the junkpile in a landfill when I was 2, and it still goes in a garbage truck to the junkpile in a landfill now that I'm 27.

And if my nephew is any indication, Kids don't like Garbage either. Garbage is still garbage no matter how old you are. Don't sugar coat it and excuse being lazy and putting out a subpar product of animation at the the expence of creating quality. Why not try and create something could be considered artistic and brilliant that would impress pretty much all ages? If it's good, it's good. And people like it. And if it's bad, it's bad. And it will be harder for people (no matter how young) to like it and you'd be asking too much from your audience. No matter what age. Like I said, if it's bad, it's bad. Right now all I've seen from the style/look is that it's VERY bad.

I wish they would consider those facts. Especially if my nephew is a significant representative sample of the age group that is their "target audience".

One other side note: My nephew also likes CGI animation too and Finding Nemo is his favorite movie with Cars a distant second favorite of his. I've never been a big CGI fan but those are some high quality animation productions that even some adults enjoy. I've seen the movies with him and there was enough in them for adults to enjoy too. And they are his favorite movies. But they are of high enough quality that both him being a three year old, and me being an adult can enjoy and enjoy together. So I don't get this "Target Audience" lame-brain excuses for subpar bad animation that these jokers making Transformers: Animated are comming up with. I can't emphasize enough: If it's good then it's good. If it's bad it's bad. Age has little to do with it. Everybody likes beautiful animation and high quality. It doesn't matter what age you are. But not everybody, even kids, can find it in them to like ugly animation. Especially if you want to leave a lasting impression on them in the long run that they are a fan of your product for a significant part of their lives like G1 did for so many of us Transformers fans. I know it wasn't flawless, but I look back on some episodes like Call of the Primatives and I am amazed at how much it holds up and even beats some of the stuff out there today. Some episodes were truely ground breaking for that day in age. After 20 years of progress you would think that isn't possible to happen but some of the Better G1 episodes prove how ground breaking they were, and that it is possible. Ultimate Weapon is another episode that comes to mind.

Let's look at it this way. We were all kids when Transformers came out. I was 7 at the very oldest when the show was cancelled. I was 5 when I first started watching G1. And you know what? It was good enough that we are all still here today devoted to this Hasbro brand and the product they put out back then that we all fell in love with. We are all still going out to the store and buying the newest Transformer toy. All because of something that made us fall in love with it so many years ago. For me it was the original show when I was a kid. And I know I'm definatly not alone in the fandom on that. Why not capture that magic and give it to todays kids and try to re-create that same lasting impression?

That's my take on it. Especially when the concept of Transformers at it's very core is such a powerful and interesting thing. I mean there is real long run potential here with this brand if you don't waste any oppurtunities. I'd like to see more kids as passionate about Transformers today as we were back in the 80s. Unfortunately, if the shows of this past decade is any indication, Hasbro doesn't seem to really care if they gather that devoted of a fan base in today's youth any more. They keep leaving good stuff out and I have yet to meet a significant group of fans online that grew up on RiD or Armada, and those fans should be teens by now wich means they would be old enough to join in the online fun if those incarnations really mattered enough to people. But so far, from what we can see, is that it didn't matter to them. It's gone and forgotten.

So why waste all this potential with the brand? Why not try to win some kids over as long term fans who grow up to be as passionate as we are in Transformers?

Seriously, if they put out ugly animation that is easily forgotten with age, then how is the brand going to survive after the concept wears out with the general public in the next 10-15 or 20 years? You need to win over a generation of fans to butter your bread and keep this thing going! Only quality can make that kind of lasting impression that those kids will still buy TFs as adults, and then get their children into them too. I mean if it's forgettable animation and nobody cares enough to remember Transformers through that, then how will parents want to be introducing Transformers to their kids in 15-20 years?

Transformers has so much unfulfilled potential these days.

tigertracks 24 wrote:

Ramrider wrote:

2. You have a problem with Detroit? It's Motor City, it makes as much sense to me to have this technologically-based series set there as anywhere else. And like the man said, it'll be a lot more exciting than fighting in the desert all the time.

HUzzah!!! I was about to give it a go there too about that. Detroit is the place where the future technology of cars basically started being produced en masse, so then why couldn't it be the center for the next future technology being massed produced...robots.

Skywarp-2, for someone with that moniker, I would expect you to be a little more open to 'bots with special abilities.

Besides those mentioned, I think Elita-1 could stop time briefly...I think she did it to save Prime, and Soundwave's bio has said that he can read the minds of some individuals.

I'm open, and it'll be interesting as the new year gets closer, what more we find out, and when we'll start seeing more of the toy designs released to the general public...perhaps after SDCC?

You know it's funny. We saw the special powers in the first season but never really saw much if any after that.

At any rate, I'm open to special powers. At least if used in moderation. It sounds like a nice new addition from what we've been seeing these days. Just so long as they don't go overboard with those powers. Then you'd just be treading on the Justice League, Fantastic 4, etc. , and Avengers' turf.

dang.. i dont like this 50 years in the future thing they have going... why cant they just make a modern take on transformers with something that ressembles real world vehicles and problems.