New Information About Transformers Animated!

Front paged and Credited!

This isn't comforting news to me in the least... D: Blech!

On the upside, it's only 26 episodes. Hopefully when it bombs they won't produce a second season and let this thing die...

I'll take these self-contained episodes with a cartoony style over the horrid anime-light Armada/Cybertron/Energon slop which stretched out a single boring story over eight episodes.

Detroit? Awesome! Slapstick Cartoon Action? Whatever. Let us see where this goes. I'm guessing it won't go over too well. But I've been wrong before...

Still, they could have come up with a secondary series that's more serious. You know, for the hardcore fan. BUT, my nephew (he's 2) might actually be really into it. So, Here's hopin'...

Careful, it looks like the report was posted twice. It restarts after the last paragraph...

Detroit? Uh oh. "Quickly, Autobots! Let us scan these fine, high-quality vehicles fabricated by honest, hard-working Americans!"

Man, I hope the franchise manages to pull itself out of this fail-dive real soon. This is really bugging me.

Cartoon Network really ought to have hired Bob Forward and Larry DiTilio, I'm sure they'd be able to salvage this wreck.

(Look, I'm trying to be optimistic, but frankly it's getting harder and harder.)

eh

So they will be having the Autobots interact with the people of Detroit, and teach the kiddies some valuable lessions about caring and sharing and getting along. Thanks but I already sufered through the era of Barney the purple dinosaur.

Why can't they bring beast wars neo or some other Jap. toon over here and dub it? Especially with rereleases.

Oh god i think the Movie will be beeter! XD

More info about the series up on IGN. Here is what is in the article that hasn't already been mentioned(emphasis added).

IGN wrote:In a move that will certainly raise the eyebrows of longtime Transformers fans, the series is intended as a very different take on the concept, with the heroic Autobots serving as a sort of superhero team that face threats from evil humans most of the time, rather than constantly fighting their longtime enemies, the Decepticons.

The Hollywood Reporter says the plan is to give the robots "more human qualities" on the series, to allow for kids to better identify with them. Cartoon Network's Bob Higgins tells Cartoon Network "We've used the basic Transformers and characters as a springboard, but then we're pretty much reimagining the whole thing. What we're doing with it is basically turning it into a superheroes story. We're really excited that we're able to take this decades-old property and hopefully turn it into something that kids haven't seen or expected from a Transformers series before."

Crap designs + less focus on Decepticons = Pure shit

I'll give it chance but it just seems to be getting worse and worse.

I'll reserve judgment until I see the first couple episodes. Seems like a lot of people changed their mind about the film after they started seeing transformations and action shots. Might happen with this series too.

A TF cartoon with no decepticons?

The writers dont actually know anything about the franchise, do they?

thank primus they seem to have spared starscream from this bad comedy.

but it is only 26 episodes of terrible designs.

As long as the toys are decent, and are somewhat homages of the G1 gods they are meant to be, I couldn't care less about the cartoon.

i'm afraid of what the decepticons will look like

Shinobi Rendar wrote:Set on Earth in the near future in Detroit, the alien Transformers are thrust into a world populated by humans and automatons. As visitors to Earth, the Transformers--Optimus Prime, Bumblebee, Prowl, Bulkhead and Ratchet--work in the human world, interacting with the 'natives' in exciting and humorous ways. "Transformers Animated" has been created to showcase the heroic Autobots working together to battle the evil Decepticons and save Earth with kid-relatable plot lines filled with humor, distinctive character personalities, and dynamic action.

The bolded bits do not bode well tbh, I predict lame fart/vomit jokes. Really not liking the sound of this at all.

don't forget.. this is, after all, a cartoon aimed at kids. While I know we'd all like to see more adult and grown up themes.. that's not what the franchise is meant for. We're gettinig our grown up TFs with the Movie I think.

sniper_samurai wrote:

IGN wrote:In a move that will certainly raise the eyebrows of longtime Transformers fans, the series is intended as a very different take on the concept, with the heroic Autobots serving as a sort of superhero team that face threats from evil humans most of the time, rather than constantly fighting their longtime enemies, the Decepticons.

Crap designs + less focus on Decepticons = Pure shit

I'll give it chance but it just seems to be getting worse and worse.

Ok as a Decepticon fan this is really bad for me. I like Decepticons. I watch the cartoons for the Decepticons. I accept that as it's a kids show they will always loose at the end of the series, but I like to cheer them on anyway. So thats it for me, I tryed to stay positive and hope that the writing would be good, but thats it.

Im almost thankful i wont be able to see this because of Cartoon Networks usual crazy schedual shuffles and bad promotions.

They are fighting evil humans instead of the Decepticons?! That pretty much leaves out the possibility of the story being decent. I'll give it an episode or two, but I can't see it being worth a damn.

I hope the makers of Teen Titans die horrible gruesome deaths. Oh well, at least the cartoons will be scripted by Americans instead of Japanese, so I'll hold onto the hope that this will be better than the last three series, plot-wise. Seems unlikely though.

The only hope this show has is with the return of the "now you know!" PSA's.

Especially since it's set in Detroit, and aimed at teaching kids lessons. I'd kill to hear any Autobot say.

"Remember kids, don't shoot your homey for stepping on your kicks."

I am really iffy about this one, knowing cartooon network it's going to be meant for kids under the age of ten.

That explains the animation style, I hate it, but it sounds OK for kids? Robots fighting evil humans, well that's just so lazy. I want Autobot against Decepticons, and sure, what not humans, but please, not humans against machines for the entire time. Just lame. It's for kids, so I'm not really going to care to watch.

Echoing what's been said before, this cartoon is clearly for the kiddies. To be honest, I don't think we're likely to get a more "mature" Transformers series in animated form because, let's face it, that's just not where the money is.

We'll have to be happy with the upcoming movie, and of course, the comics, which seem to skew towards an older audience as well.

Okay, I am officially willing to give this a chance...

sniper_samurai wrote:More info about the series up on IGN. Here is what is in the article that hasn't already been mentioned(emphasis added).

IGN wrote:In a move that will certainly raise the eyebrows of longtime Transformers fans, the series is intended as a very different take on the concept, with the heroic Autobots serving as a sort of superhero team that face threats from evil humans most of the time, rather than constantly fighting their longtime enemies, the Decepticons.

The Hollywood Reporter says the plan is to give the robots "more human qualities" on the series, to allow for kids to better identify with them. Cartoon Network's Bob Higgins tells Cartoon Network "We've used the basic Transformers and characters as a springboard, but then we're pretty much reimagining the whole thing. What we're doing with it is basically turning it into a superheroes story. We're really excited that we're able to take this decades-old property and hopefully turn it into something that kids haven't seen or expected from a Transformers series before."

Crap designs + less focus on Decepticons = Pure shit

I'll give it chance but it just seems to be getting worse and worse.

OMG, fuck the assclowns responsible for this. This is going to make Bayformers look like high art!

i thought the desgins of these charcters look famlar they look more like teen titans than the starwars animated show this will suck if they decide not to change there minds and add decepticons with decepticons there are no trnaswformers autobots.

its like taking away lex luthor fomr superman and everyone knows how many superman films there where superman fights lex luthor four all together

Well, damnit. I'm all out of rage for this.

That Wyatt guy better show the goods.

It better be good... and fun.. just like the original..

...WTF???

Oh god I pray for the Decepticons ;__; this sucks big time

I don't really know why i'm bothering with this argument again...but:

Can't we wait until we've seen some...like...animation....or some actual storylines....or....maybe the pilot... before plunging into the depths of "OMG THS IZ GONNA B SO LAME LOLZ" and whatnot?

I know TF fans love to whine...but come on!

I can't believe I'm saying this, but Primes face plate better come off.

So far from wat I've seen and read they took everything that TF fans don't like about the past series and embelished on that.

Please keep in mind that I do try to keep an open mind, but the first 26 episodes will air in brief good time slots than straight to 6am.

The 90min episode, aired once on Toonami, then split up for a 6am timeslot.

Another 26 episodes will be greenlit in loo of failing ratings. The first 8 will be shown at a decent time slot, then played in full at 6am.

This will repeat at 6am till the next TF series takes it's place.

The eye-bleeding 2-D animated series is a lame twist on the original high-octane, animated action-adventure series with new characters alongside legends such as Optimus Prime and Megatron(maybe).

Fixed.

Why is it that these studio exec's think that kids are stupid? Do they honestly think that kids cant sit though a 30min cartoon that doest rely on simplistic art style, that they cant follow an ongoing plot over several episodes, chracter deveoplment is a waste of time, etc. etc. I just want to know who exactly they are supposed to be aming this crap at? Because lets be honest here, I dont see many kids watching this when there is stuff like dragon ball, yu-gi-oh, naruto, etc. etc. out there that puts this stuff to shame.

Oh so it's Justice League/teen titans with Transformers characters. Gee you wouldn't want to be original now would ya Cartoon Network...

It's like buying one of those Transformer's bikes. Sure it's Bumblebee plastered all over it but it really has nothing to do with Transformers, it's still the same old shitty bike.

I thought Hasbro liked the Transformers brand. I guess the money speaks more than a lasting quality image. Even a brand as strong as Transformers has been can't take much more of a beating.

If they wanted kid freindly images why not make it based on the new designs of the robot heroes. They are cute. They could be like lil bush on comedy central.

Oh well nothing has been good since beast wars. Still I am more a G1 person.

Nk

No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No!

"The Batman" "Teen Titans" "Ben 10" "kid-relatable plot lines"...ugh!

OK, "Teen Titans" was not horrible but "The Batman" and "Ben 10" are!

Grrr...[punches a hole in the wall]

This is yet another example of why Takara is so much better than Hasbro. Takara gives us Masterpiece and Binaltech. Hasbro gives us Michael Bay and now this...

[wishing he could thrash everyone involved with diluting the Transformers brand since 1985 and get away with it]

Arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrggggggggggggggggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

Okay, so far I've gone all the way through with the idea that I'm dubiously anticipating it. We were clearly looking at TT-style animation from the get-go, but I figured, yeah, Transformers can handle that, and as long as the writing's up to snuff, then it's worth at least giving it a crack.

I still hold with that attitude, but I must admit that given this information I'm somewhat more 'worried' now (the 'worried's in inverted commas because, let's face it, I hardly watched the last three series anyway).

The fact that they've made this more of a superhero gig kind of misses the point of Transformers. I like that they're interacting with humans (I thought, initially, in an RiD fashion), but the fact that humans will be their main adversaries is more concerning.

Good stories come from heroes taking on impossible odds, and if their opponents are weaker, it just looks like bullying. With the Decepticons, you have foes that only the Autobots can handle. By the sound of it, in this version there's nothing the authorities couldn't deal with on their own - surely bringing in a team of super-powerful alien robots to do the job for you is just taking the piss?

Hopefully they haven't completely written out the Decepticons... maybe they'll be brought in as a special treat now and again, or as a final threat in the last few episodes of the series...

I have a feeling the toys will look like My first Transformer

fuck "everyday heroes who do good deeds that triumph over evil" i don't want to see that i want giant fucking robots fighting. is that to much to ask for?

All I gotta say that they better have a good story line going if they want this to be successful. The previews that have been shown are already making fans doubtful and anyone who thinks kids aren't picky about what they watch is fooling themselves.

I wanted to post this here as well.

If it's anything like Teen Titans, this will be excellent. That series was panned by people for being too kiddy....Though more often then not, the episodes were quite serious. They had some funny ones of course, but a lot were very dark. Not to mention that the animation itself was extremely fluid. People are already trashing this when they've effectively seen nothing except for a picture. I don't have a problem with that for the most part. I just wish folks would hold off until they've seen a couple episodes.

Hell Titans first episode was pretty generic. It wasn't until the end of the first season where things really started getting good. I could see this being the same way. Having the Decepticons staying in the background for most of the first season, manipulating the humans into doing things for them. That way the Autobots think the humans are the cause of all the problems since they came to Earth. I mean come on guys, it's the writer who did the 2003 Ninja Turtles and X-Men. Those were both excellent series.

They say in the synopsis that the shows aren't linked....Freakishly enough they said the same thing about Teen Titans. And for the most part each episode was it's own self contained story. But many had a little thing happen that made you realize something was building in the background. I can definitely see them taking this approach. And I personally can't wait to see this show. Certainly a breath of fresh air compared to that Anime bullshit we've had for the last 4 series.

Just to let ya'll know, I won't be the Nay sayer who repents on his view!!!!

This show will so suckass!!! It will make Teen titans look engaging and serious in comparison...

Of course the Decepticons are going to be in the show. They've already cast Tom Kenny as Starscream and Corey Burton as Megatron. To already have cast VA's for characters who appear in the final episodes or whatever would be illogical. Remember, "more frequently" does not mean "always".

I'm expecting the Decepticons to be featured as major villains. They'll probably be like Slade in Teen Titans, popping up less frequently than the less threatening baddies, but still having some major storylines devoted to them.

You know...they could have (and preferably should have)easily done this with the Playskool Gobots that came out a couple of years back.
But no, the cartoon of THAT sucked, even by kiddie standards.

I know the animation/art isn't well liked, but this could still be the best 2D Transformers show yet (as far as fluidness and animation flaws). I'll give it a chance, since I've never really been won over or pushed away by one of Hasbro's press releases.

The animation style that Cartoon Network has developed really brings the lore and characters of the Transformers franchise alive in a way that has never been seen through animation.

The eye-popping 2-D animated series is a new twist.

Eye Popping? Maybe as in it makes me want to gouge my eyes out.

Laydies and Gentlemen! Let the PR Spin begin!

I guess they figure they beat most of the fans into submission with total B.S. Spinning tactics with the movie so they figure than can do it hear too. Sorry, I'm not one to be that gullible. I see what I see, and if I see garbage, you can forget about me getting on board with it no matter what kind of lie or BS spin you put on it.

Well, if the US is getting the show in 2008, does that mean the UK will get it till 2009? I'm not waiting that long

If a DVD release will be early of Heroes, I'll buy them off Amazon