Nickelodeon & Hasbro's eOne Announce New Animated Transformers Series
Thursday, February 25th, 2021 11:38AM CST
Categories: Cartoon News, Press Releases, Company NewsPosted by: ZeroWolf Views: 80,133
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This series will initially be 26 episodes long (each being half an hour in length).
Full press release follows:
NICKELODEON AND ENTERTAINMENT ONE PARTNER
ON ORIGINAL ANIMATED TRANSFORMERS SERIES,
BASED ON HASBRO’S ICONIC GLOBAL FRANCHISE
Share it: @Nickelodeon @NickAnimation @Hasbro @Transformers @TransformersOfficial
BURBANK, Calif. - February 25, 2021 - Nickelodeon, the number-one network for kids, and Hasbro’s Entertainment One (eOne) have partnered to co-produce an original animated Transformers series (26 half-hour episodes), based on the iconic global property. In the action-comedy series, a new species of Transformers must find their place and purpose among Autobots, Decepticons, and the human family that adopts them. The series will premiere exclusively on Nickelodeon in the U.S. before rolling out internationally.
“As soon as I read the creative concept, which at its core is about family, I knew we absolutely had to tell this story with our good friends at eOne and Hasbro,” said Ramsey Naito, President, Nickelodeon Animation. “The series will tell a reimagined story featuring both original characters and fan-favorites for a whole new generation of kids and families. The creative team at Nick, overseen by Claudia Spinelli, SVP of Animation Development, can’t wait to get started on building this new world.”
“We’re thrilled to be working with Nickelodeon to expand the Transformers animated universe and bring an all-new more than meets the eye story to life,” said Olivier Dumont, eOne’s President of Family Brands. “This new series is a fresh creative take on the brand, which will excite longtime fans around the world and soon to be fans alike, all being introduced to the robots in disguise by an A list creative team led by eOne’s Mikiel Houser .”
Hasbro launched Transformers in 1984 as a toy line and animated series. Its success led to an animated movie in 1986, many future toy lines, and a series of live-action movies.
The all-new animated Transformers series is executive produced by Ant Ward (Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles), and Nicole Dubuc (Transformers: Rescue Bots) and developed and co-executive produced by Dale Malinowski (Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles). Produced by Nickelodeon Animation Studio, the series is developed for television by Spinelli and Dana Vasquez-Eberhardt, Senior Director, Current Series and Development, Animation. Production will be overseen for Nickelodeon by Conrad Montgomery, Vice President, Current Series, Animation and for eOne by Mikiel Houser, Director of TV Development.
The forthcoming Transformers co-production is part of Nickelodeon’s strategy to be the home of the biggest franchises kids and families love, and it expands Nickelodeon’s growing portfolio of influential properties that already includes SpongeBob SquarePants, PAW Patrol, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Blue’s Clues & You!, the first-ever SpongeBob spinoff, Kamp Koral: SpongeBob’s Under Years, the all-new animated Star Trek: Prodigy series and the recently announced The Smurfs partnership.
About Nickelodeon
Nickelodeon, now in its 41st year, is the number-one entertainment brand for kids. It has built a diverse, global business by putting kids first in everything it does. The brand includes television programming and production in the United States and around the world, plus consumer products, digital, location-based experiences, publishing and feature films. For more information or artwork, visit http://www.nickpress.com. Nickelodeon and all related titles, characters and logos are trademarks of ViacomCBS Inc. (Nasdaq: VIACA, VIAC).
About Entertainment One
Entertainment One Ltd. (eOne) is a talent-driven independent studio that specializes in the development, acquisition, production, financing, distribution and sales of entertainment content. As part of global play and entertainment company Hasbro (NASDAQ: HAS), eOne's expertise spans across film, television and music production and sales; family programming, merchandising and licensing; digital content; and live entertainment. Through its extensive reach and scale, and a deep commitment to high-quality entertainment, eOne unlocks the power and value of creativity. eOne brings to market both original and existing content, sourcing IP from Hasbro’s portfolio of 1500+ brands, and through a diversified network of creative partners and eOne companies.
About Hasbro
Hasbro (NASDAQ: HAS) is a global play and entertainment company committed to Creating the World's Best Play and Entertainment Experiences. From toys, games and consumer products to television, movies, digital gaming, live action, music, and virtual reality experiences, Hasbro connects to global audiences by bringing to life great innovations, stories and brands across established and inventive platforms. Hasbro’s iconic brands include NERF, MAGIC: THE GATHERING, MY LITTLE PONY, TRANSFORMERS, PLAY-DOH, MONOPOLY, BABY ALIVE, POWER RANGERS, PEPPA PIG and PJ MASKS, as well as premier partner brands. Through its global entertainment studio, eOne, Hasbro is building its brands globally through great storytelling and content on all screens. Hasbro is committed to making the world a better place for all children and all families through corporate social responsibility and philanthropy. Hasbro ranked among the 2020 100 Best Corporate Citizens by 3BL Media, has been named one of the World’s Most Ethical Companies® by Ethisphere Institute for the past ten years, and one of America’s Most JUST Companies by Forbes and JUST Capital for the past four years. We routinely share important business and brand updates on our Investor Relations website, Newsroom and social channels (@Hasbro on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn.
Thanks to fellow Seibertron user, Sabrblade, for sharing the news with us as well.
What do you think of this news? What animation style do you think they'll be using for this venture?
Shout out in the Energon Pub and stay tuned to Seibertron for all the latest news and reviews!
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Posted by Sabrblade on February 25th, 2021 @ 12:07pm CST
Posted by Avensis-Mahiya on February 25th, 2021 @ 1:23pm CST
But of course, following that is the shadow of doubt. I hope that Nick treats TF better than Cartoon Network did...but then again, let's look at how they did TMNT dirty.
Posted by Avensis-Mahiya on February 25th, 2021 @ 1:23pm CST
Posted by Autobot_Benz on February 25th, 2021 @ 2:10pm CST
Posted by o.supreme on February 25th, 2021 @ 3:25pm CST
Sabrblade wrote:We're going back to half-hour episodes. Yay.
We are still stuck in comedy mode though (isn't that what Botbots is for?). Unfortunately a lot I feared is coming to pass. Although the last decade gave us Transformers Prime, I don't see anything looking good on the horizon, once Kingdom is done. If the 2022 toy line does not retain anything for an older fans such as myself, I may be close to my 2nd hiatus from the brand entirely, which is sad.
Posted by Avensis-Mahiya on February 25th, 2021 @ 3:43pm CST
o.supreme wrote:Sabrblade wrote:We're going back to half-hour episodes. Yay.
We are still stuck in comedy mode though (isn't that what Botbots is for?). Unfortunately a lot I feared is coming to pass. Although the last decade gave us Transformers Prime, I don't see anything looking good on the horizon, once Kingdom is done. If the 2022 toy line does not retain anything for an older fans such as myself, I may be close to my 2nd hiatus from the brand entirely, which is sad.
Honestly, this is how I'm also feeling. I'm in hiatus mode from TF still (which stinks because I miss it), and I've been aching for something like Prime. Unfortunately, that may not be in the cards. It might be another decade of 'meh'.
Posted by Sabrblade on February 25th, 2021 @ 5:37pm CST
Nick's 2012 TMNT cartoon was awesome and it was an action-comedy full of lots of jokes and hilarity in addition to its dark and violent moments.Avensis-Mahiya wrote:But of course, following that is the shadow of doubt. I hope that Nick treats TF better than Cartoon Network did...but then again, let's look at how they did TMNT dirty.
Posted by Avensis-Mahiya on February 25th, 2021 @ 7:00pm CST
Sabrblade wrote:Nick's 2012 TMNT cartoon was awesome and it was an action-comedy full of lots of jokes and hilarity in addition to its dark and violent moments.Avensis-Mahiya wrote:But of course, following that is the shadow of doubt. I hope that Nick treats TF better than Cartoon Network did...but then again, let's look at how they did TMNT dirty.
Oof, I should've been more specific. I was talking about Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, not the 2012 cartoon. In reference to the former, I was worried that it will be screwed by the network.
Posted by ScottyP on February 25th, 2021 @ 8:31pm CST
Posted by Zeedust on February 25th, 2021 @ 9:06pm CST
Sabrblade wrote:We're going back to half-hour episodes. Yay.
Probably a good idea. Cyberverse and RBA both seemed to m to be struggling with the quarter-hour runtime; I stopped following RBA, but even after Cyberverse started finding its footing, it still seemed like it would have benefitted from full-sized episodes.
Avensis-Mahiya wrote:But of course, following that is the shadow of doubt. I hope that Nick treats TF better than Cartoon Network did...but then again, let's look at how they did TMNT dirty.
I don't know exactly what Nick did to the Turtles, but it cannot POSSIBLY be worse than how Cartoon Network has treated Transformers since all the way back to frickin' Armada.
Posted by Emerje on February 25th, 2021 @ 9:15pm CST
In the action-comedy series, a new species of Transformers must find their place and purpose among Autobots, Decepticons, and the human family that adopts them.
Suddenly feel my interest plummeting. I hoped we were done with human centered after Cyberverse proved a show can be good without humans chewing up the scenery. If it's more like Animated and less like Robots in Disguise I might be OK with this, but the choice of the word "adopted" doesn't leave me with much hope of this being good.
Emerje
Posted by Changewinds on February 25th, 2021 @ 9:34pm CST
Posted by Sabrblade on February 25th, 2021 @ 10:26pm CST
You mean Cyberverse. This will be the successor to Cyberverse. Kingdom's successor will be the next non-TV-show nostalgia-based Generations line.Changewinds wrote:This new show is probably where the toy line is heading after Kingdom as well.
Posted by Ultra Markus on February 26th, 2021 @ 12:20am CST
Posted by Sabrblade on February 26th, 2021 @ 12:21am CST
Silly, that's what Cartoon Network's shows look like. Nick's are much flatter and less balloony.Ultra Markus wrote:here's a leak of what the show will look like
Posted by Dead Metal on February 26th, 2021 @ 2:32am CST
Posted by ZeroWolf on February 26th, 2021 @ 3:43am CST
Besides which, let's save judgment till we actually see this in motion.
Posted by Munkky on February 26th, 2021 @ 4:57am CST
Posted by griftimus prime on February 26th, 2021 @ 7:26am CST
give me concept art or something. because thats not selling me.
Posted by Sabrblade on February 26th, 2021 @ 8:44am CST
Wouldn't the BotBots cartoon make more sense as that, though?ZeroWolf wrote:Couldn't this actually be the successor to Rescue Bots though? I mean there's been two Transformers cartoons on TV after all. The adopted line makes me think that this is going to be pre-school age or there abouts.
Posted by ZeroWolf on February 26th, 2021 @ 9:32am CST
Posted by Ultra Markus on February 26th, 2021 @ 10:58am CST
Sabrblade wrote:Silly, that's what Cartoon Network's shows look like. Nick's are much flatter and less balloony.Ultra Markus wrote:here's a leak of what the show will look like
Cyberverse was from cartoon network too
Posted by Sabrblade on February 26th, 2021 @ 11:13am CST
Nuh uh. It was from Boulder Media. That art is what CN's own in-house productions by Warner Bros. look like. Cyberverse was a third-party production (hence why CN mistreated it so much, putting it at 6am on Sunday mornings while all their first-party Warner Bros. shows get good timeslots).Ultra Markus wrote:Sabrblade wrote:Silly, that's what Cartoon Network's shows look like. Nick's are much flatter and less balloony.Ultra Markus wrote:here's a leak of what the show will look like
Cyberverse was from cartoon network too
Posted by Tuned Agent on February 26th, 2021 @ 1:01pm CST
The premise of the show sounds pretty cheesy, but I think it could be really good if it's written well.
Most importantly, it sounds like it could be something new, which would definitely be a breath of fresh air.
As for it being classified as "action-comedy", I'm not really concerned about that at this point. I think plenty of past TF cartoons could be called as such, it all just depends on how they balance the humor and what type of humor is used.
Maybe the most interesting thing is the reference to the main characters as "a new species of Transformers". Since I'm not expecting anything too far outside the box, I wonder if this could mean beast-formers? Hasbro does seem to seem to be interested in the beasts at the moment, so I wouldn't be surprised.
Posted by AllNewSuperRobot on February 26th, 2021 @ 1:45pm CST
As long as this new series isn't boring ala Siege, I'll at least give the pilot a shot.
Posted by Ultra Markus on February 26th, 2021 @ 1:55pm CST
Sabrblade wrote:Nuh uh. It was from Boulder Media. That art is what CN's own in-house productions by Warner Bros. look like. Cyberverse was a third-party production (hence why CN mistreated it so much, putting it at 6am on Sunday mornings while all their first-party Warner Bros. shows get good timeslots).Ultra Markus wrote:Sabrblade wrote:Silly, that's what Cartoon Network's shows look like. Nick's are much flatter and less balloony.Ultra Markus wrote:here's a leak of what the show will look like
Cyberverse was from cartoon network too
Yeah well anything anymore is geared forward the toddler age
So we should expect it to be that
Posted by bluecatcinema on February 26th, 2021 @ 2:10pm CST
Posted by WiseMan on February 26th, 2021 @ 3:32pm CST
Posted by Dead Metal on February 26th, 2021 @ 3:58pm CST
The whole marketing and announcement for it was built on lies, so maybe this is too.
Posted by Sabrblade on February 26th, 2021 @ 6:28pm CST
Yeah, and the intent behind that Prime marketing was to evoke The Iron Giant, how Hogarth and the robot bonded with each other.Dead Metal wrote:You know what, remember Transformers Prime's original marketing? Where they described the relationship the kids had with their TF friends in a way it sounded like Digimon?
The whole marketing and announcement for it was built on lies, so maybe this is too.
Posted by Cyber Bishop on February 27th, 2021 @ 2:20pm CST
Emerje wrote:In the action-comedy series, a new species of Transformers must find their place and purpose among Autobots, Decepticons, and the human family that adopts them.
Suddenly feel my interest plummeting. I hoped we were done with human centered after Cyberverse proved a show can be good without humans chewing up the scenery. If it's more like Animated and less like Robots in Disguise I might be OK with this, but the choice of the word "adopted" doesn't leave me with much hope of this being good.
Emerje
Yup.. Zero interest at all.. or maybe I am just old and cynical now..
Posted by Sabrblade on March 24th, 2021 @ 7:29pm CDT
Posted by Ultra Markus on March 24th, 2021 @ 7:46pm CDT
A disney CGI animated like TF series
Posted by PerfectVision on March 25th, 2021 @ 12:54am CDT
Posted by ZeroWolf on March 25th, 2021 @ 10:25am CDT
The following Image has been found on their website amongst their other titles that they've worked on.
The studio has worked with Disney (Monsters at Work, Elena of Avalor, T.O.T.S) and streaming services like Netflix (Super Monsters, Kong: King of the Apes). We have no indication of what the series art style at the moment other than it being CG animated.
What do you think of this news? Does this Studio fill you with some hope about this forthcoming series?
Shout out in the Energon Pub and stay tuned to Seibertron for all the latest news and reviews!
Posted by Sabrblade on March 25th, 2021 @ 10:34am CDT
Ubisoft
41 Entertainment
EA
Nickelodeon
Mattel
Netflix
Arad Animation, Inc.
Paramount+
AMC
Warner Bros. Animation
Perfect World
And more.
Posted by o.supreme on March 25th, 2021 @ 11:19am CDT
Remember, Polygon did The Clone Wars & Transformers Prime (both Beautiful and amazing Animated series). Polygon also animated RiD15, and the Current Netflix series, so budget is a big factor as well. You always get what you pay for...
That being said, since Prime, Hasbro seems to have been quite reserved when it comes to shelling out cash for an animated series, much to the detriment of the franchise. Hopefully they offer Icon a bit more to make a nice looking show, but only time will tell.
It just seems like only once a decade or so do they hit that "sweet spot" of getting a show that both looks good and is well written. Usually it's one, or the other and sometimes (Prime Wars Trilogy) it's neither. I can only hope that they look at the upper tier of what Icon can offer, as opposed to bargain basement pricing.
Posted by Sabrblade on March 25th, 2021 @ 11:23am CDT
Animation-wise specifically, or overall (writing, directing, acting, etc.)? Haven't seen it myself.o.supreme wrote:I've seen the Kong animated series on Netflix, and it is complete garbage,
From the looks of their website, it seems that they only worked on the second season.
Posted by o.supreme on March 25th, 2021 @ 11:34am CDT
What Icon has done for Disney however looks better (thought I can't speak personally since I haven't seen any of it), so like I said, I'm not blaming the studio per se.
I mean I like Hamburgers, and I like Prime Rib also. But if Hasbro expects Prime Rib from a Hamburger Budget... I think we are all in trouble.
Posted by Sabrblade on March 25th, 2021 @ 11:38am CDT
I feel like Hasbro thinks that we cynical old farts aren't supposed to be watching the "kids' stuff".o.supreme wrote:I mean I like Hamburgers, and I like Prime Rib also. But if Hasbro expects Prime Rib from a Hamburger Budget... I think we are all in trouble.
I mean, they certainly never expected Rescue Bots to have such a big adult fan following when Prime was airing at the time.
Posted by o.supreme on March 25th, 2021 @ 11:56am CDT
I've stated this for years, and I just don't know why Hasbro doesn't give it a try. If they don't want to commit to making a long term animated series that both Adults & Children can enjoy together, why don't they go the WB/DC route, and give older fans a couple of direct-to-home media films per year?
They don't have to be super grim and dark like the current DC R rated animated films. Prior to 2016, most of their animated films were PG13, some were even PG, and they were really good. I mean there is almost 40 years of Transformers lore to pull from. We could get a film set in proper "Sunbow" continuity. We could get one from Marvel, one from Marvel UK, BW, Unicron Trilogy, DW, IDW....I mean the possibilities are quite open. Two Animated Films per year, that's all I ask as a fan in my 40's. I'll by them all. Then they can make all the cheaply animated stuff for kids they want until the end of time.
Posted by noctorro on March 26th, 2021 @ 1:58am CDT
Then at the bottom, Warhammer Space Marine. So they did do some teens and above stuff at some point.
I agree with you guys here, they are making these cartoons quite kiddy these days.
But you'all remember X-Men Animated in the 90's? That was a kids show and very cool and serious, Gargoyles was great, Spiderman had it's episodes. And of course Beast Wars was great.
It seems like they think you either go super serious (read boring and extremely slow) War for Cybertron (Netflix) or you go very cartoony and light hearted.
And I don't know about you guys, but I'm sick and tired of 3d animation. It looks like trash, the only 3d I liked was actually the Netfilx one but everything else in that series was lets say a tech demo, nothing more.
Give us 2D cell animation, that actually has soul.
But don't go overboard into Teen Titans Go territory.
It looks like no person at Hasbro has ever seen a Gundam episode.
Give us a 12 episode mini series Gundam seriousness in cell animation.
Posted by Sabrblade on March 26th, 2021 @ 9:24am CDT
No one uses cels anymore. It's all digital nowadays.noctorro wrote:Give us 2D cell animation, that actually has soul.
Posted by o.supreme on March 26th, 2021 @ 10:09am CDT
Sabrblade wrote:No one uses cels anymore. It's all digital nowadays.noctorro wrote:Give us 2D cell animation, that actually has soul.
He probably meant digital cells such as in The Simpsons. Yes the Occasional Gundam series as well as Young Justice are great examples of why 2D animation still looks great. Unfortunately we now live in this odd world where CG is actually less expensive to produce than 2D animation for some reason (although- yes- it's all done on computers)
Also yes, it appears the era of the 80's and 90's of having a good action show that appeals to both kids and adults no longer exists. Prior to the Pandemic, the movie industry made billions off riding the PG-13 rating, making films appeal to as many different demo's at once as possible. In animation however it seems to be only G/PG and R (not saying that Netflix WFC is R rated, but at DC you have Harley Quinn and pretty much all their animated films of the last 5-6 years are needlessly violent). They look amazing, but I'm not interested in gore/sex/violence just because "it can be done".
Even great CG shows such as Transformers Prime and The Clone Wars seem just not to exist anymore.
Posted by Sabrblade on March 26th, 2021 @ 10:13am CDT
Once in a blue moon, we do still get something great like Netflix Voltron and The Dragon Prince.o.supreme wrote:Sabrblade wrote:No one uses cels anymore. It's all digital nowadays.noctorro wrote:Give us 2D cell animation, that actually has soul.
He probably meant digital cells such as in The Simpsons. Yes the Occasional Gundam series as well as Young Justice are great examples of why 2D animation still looks great. Unfortunately we now live in this odd world where CG is actually less expensive to produce than 2D animation for some reason (although- yes- it's all done on computers)
Also yes, it appears the era of the 80's and 90's of having a good action show that appeals to both kids and adults no longer exists. Prior to the Pandemic, the movie industry made billions off riding the PG-13 rating, making films appeal to as many different demo's at once as possible. In animation however it seems to be only G/PG and R (not saying that Netflix WFC is R rated, but at DC you have Harley Quinn and pretty much all their animated films of the last 5-6 years are needlessly violent). They look amazing, but I'm not interested in gore/sex/violence just because "it can be done".
Even great CG shows such as Transformers Prime and The Clone Wars seem just not to exist anymore.
Posted by o.supreme on March 26th, 2021 @ 10:43am CDT
Sabrblade wrote:Once in a blue moon, we do still get something great like Netflix Voltron and The Dragon Prince.
True. Coincidentally my son and I just started a re-watch of Voltron Legendary Defender. Seasons 1-6 have been released on DVD, but still not 7 and 8. I believe the length of the show was just perfect (78 episodes over 3 years). Unfortunately it just didn't stick the landing. The last season is especially a point of contention for fans. Instead of a bigger bad, (or perhaps having the foresight not to kill off Zarkon so soon) they just kind of went "internal", I honestly at this moment can't even remember exactly how it ends... I still wish they would have introduced Vehicle Voltron. Also there was talk early on of a theatrical film to conclude the series. It's unfortunate they didn't go that route.
Posted by ZeroWolf on May 5th, 2021 @ 3:10pm CDT
While we have yet to see any concept work from this show, it is set to debut exclusively on Nickelodeon USA in 2022, before rolling out to international markets.
The brief of the show is that a new species of Transformer must find their place in the world amongst the Autobots, Decepticons, and the human family that adopts them. The show was announced back in February, and is being animated by Icon Media Entertainment.
Thanks to fellow Seibertron user, Sabrblade for tipping us off about this.
What do you think about this?
Shout out in the Energon Pub and stay tuned to Seibertron for all the latest news and reviews!
Posted by bluecatcinema on May 6th, 2021 @ 2:02pm CDT
Posted by TulioDude on May 6th, 2021 @ 4:08pm CDT
Posted by noctorro on May 7th, 2021 @ 1:49am CDT
Ultra Markus wrote:here's a leak of what the show will look like
What the French Toast? (Shout out to the Godfather Kevin Samuels)
No.
No.
Nooooooooo!!!!!!!
I hope this is a joke, this looks like Star Trek Lower Decks, Teen Titans Go. This looks like Transformers Animated (2007 or something) only 5 times worse.
Well, Generations is doing epic and will go on for a long long time. I hope Netflix ups it's game, so far the visual style and animation are very good. But the story, pacing and 0 humor is making it an extremely dull series.
This is a joke right?
I really enjoyed Cyberverse, they could just continue that after the 2 planned animated movies.