Ethiopian Review

The Transformers are back on the big screen with next week’s release of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, the sequel to the blockbuster 2007 film. In anticipation of that sure to be huge film, IGN TV is taking another look back at the History of Transformers on TV. We originally ran this feature in 2007, before the first live-action film, but you’ll note some changes and additions to the piece – reflecting what’s occurred since for the Robots in Disguise on television, who continue to be a hugely viable franchise.

The Transformers (1984 – 1987)

We’ll be talking about many Transformers TV shows in this article, but let’s face it, this is the Transformers series for the majority of the fans of the characters, and certainly for those who grew up during the 1980s. The Transformers was part of an aggressive push of new animated series that tied in with toy lines, and was easily one of the most popular, if not the most popular of all.

There was a Marvel comic book that launched at the same time as the cartoon that shared some similarities in the set up before going in very different directions. But unlike Hasbro’s other huge toy line at the time, G.I. Joe, where the comic book is probably considered the most “genuine” version of the story, it’s the cartoon that stands out most of all for Transformers fans. Many central conceits simultaneously introduced on the cartoon and in the comic became core elements of the characters in most of the later incarnations. Some of the most notable of these elements are the Transformers’ home planet Cybertron; their crash landing on Earth millions of years ago; and the Autobots’ friendship with a teenage boy with the last name Witwicky (“Spike” in the cartoon, “Buster” in the comic).

The Transformers was an extremely popular cartoon at the time it first aired, with plenty of kids quite thrilled to have animated adventures about the very cool robot toys. Beginning with a voiceover that presented the story as something huge and mythological (“Many millions of years ago, on the planet Cybertron…”) the show struck a chord with a Star Wars-fueled group of kids who loved stories about aliens caught in an intergalactic civil war. The cartoon also served to make icons out of many of the main characters of the series, including Bumblebee, Soundwave, Jazz, Ravage and more. However, the standouts were probably Megatron, Starscream and of course, Optimus Prime.

Megatron and Starscream made for a terrific villainous pairing, with the ruthless and evil Megatron (voice over veteran Frank Welker) constantly fending off the power hungry plotting of Starscream (voiced by Chris Latta, who would also become very familiar as the voice of Cobra Commander on G.I. Joe). As for Optimus Prime, as silly as it sounds, the giant robot who could transform into a truck became a huge hero for kids growing up on the cartoon, who loved to see his brave acts and hear the comforting voice of Peter Cullen intoning “Autobots, transform and roll out!”

Viewed 25 years after its debut, The Transformers is hardly what we could call great television. The stories are fairly simplistic and repetitive, consisting of variations on the same storylines, most of which center on Megatron attempting to get some new weapon or source of power (or create an occasional Space Bridge to Cybertron), with many of the same beats occurring time and again. But kids certainly weren’t troubled by how many times Megatron would yell “Decepticons, retreat!” or Spike and Bumblebee would get into trouble, or that the fight scenes are, well, kind of lame actually. They just enjoyed seeing giant robots change into other things and then fight each other. And to see how important these characters were to a certain generation, just bring up the 1986 spinoff/continuation of the cartoon, Transformers: The Movie, to anyone who saw it when it first came out, and see the amusingly touched reactions of those who remember crying when Optimus Prime died.

As we mentioned, The Transformers would have a huge influence on nearly all of the future versions of the characters. The current live-action Transformers movies are obviously filled with a ton of elements from the series, including Shia LeBouf’s character Sam Witwicky, a variation on the cartoon’s Spike Witwicky. And fan demand went a long way towards ensuring that the man who is Optimus Prime to most Transformers fans, Peter Cullen, would reprise his role in the films.

If nothing else, you have to treasure a TV show that has the line “Grab onto your crankshaft, I’m shifting into overdrive.”

Various Generation 1 Japan-Only Series (1987 – 1990)

Following the end of the U.S. Transformers series in 1987, a new animated series entitled Transformers: Headmasters began airing exclusively in Japan. The series picked up where the third season left off — the U.S. show’s fourth season, “The Rebirth” story arc, didn’t air in Japan. The titular Headmasters in the Japan series differed from the ones introduced in the U.S. series’ fourth season; in the Japan version the Headmasters were made up of Cybertronians who left Cybertron years ago and settled on a planet called Master. To survive in Master’s harsh climate, the Cybertronians built large bodies called Transtectors, to which they attached themselves as heads. Transformers: Headmasters aired for 35 episodes, completing its run in 1988.

A month after Headmasters completed its run, a new Transformers series started up with the rather ridiculous (when translated to English) title of Transformers: Super-God Masterforce. The series reimagined the Headmasters as human beings who combine with Trastectors to become Transformers, and oddly used recognizable robots from the previous series — such as Optimus Prime — but giving them different names. In Optimus Prime’s case, he was known as Ginrai, a human trucker who would transform into a Prime-like Transformer. Transformers: Super-God Masterforce ran for 42 episodes, ending in 1989.

The ’80s Japanese Transformers series continued to diverge from the U.S. series in style and story, and hit an apex of totally crazy titles with the 1989 series Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers Victory. Drawn in much more of an anime style and utilizing loads of stock footage and a large number of clip shows, the animation quality of Transformers: Victory (as the series is commonly referred to by fans) left a bit to be desired. The series ran for 38 episodes, finishing its run in December 1989.

The Japanese-exclusive run of late ’80s animated series ended in 1990 with the extremely short-lived (and disappointingly boring-named) Transformers: Zone, which aired just one episode before being cancelled. Zone focused mainly on the Micromasters Transformers.

Transformers: Generation 2 (1993 – 1995)

Transformers: Generation 2 was essentially a non-series that began airing to help promote the line of Generation 2 toys and comics that came out at the time. The show itself was a rehash of the original 1984 series, presented as though the stories were recordings of historical events by the “Cybernet Space Cube.” The only other considerable differences between Generation 2 and the original Transformers series consisted of a computer-generated title sequence and some occasional CG scene transitions, usually featured the Cybernet Space Cube.

Beast Wars: Transformers (1996 – 1998)

The most popular Transformers program outside of the original 1984 Generation 1 series would have to be Beast Wars. Emmy-winning (for Outstanding Individual Achievement in Animation in 1997) computer-generated graphics helped to create a new take on the existing Transformers world. Taking place in the same universe and timeline as the original series, the show took a drastically different approach with the series by focusing on the battle between the Maximals (descendants of the Autobots) and Predacons (descendants of the Decepticons) – while Optimus Prime and Megatron were fast asleep on the Ark.

Based on the Hasbro toy line of the same name, Beast Wars featured some of the best writing and story development in a Transformers series with the help of Larry DiTillio (executive story editor for Babylon 5) and Bob Forward (writer for X-Men: Evolution and G.I. Joe). Following Optimus Primal/Optimal Optimus (not Optimus Prime) and the rest of the Maximals as they battled Megatron (not the Megatron) and the Predacons, these two teams battled it out for Earth’s supply of Energon. Although the basic story of the series was similar to that of the older series, Beast Wars had no problem spicing up the show with new storylines and situations which the new Transformers would have to fight their way through. One notable aspect about Beast Wars was that it was the first Transformers series to kill off a main character within the course of the program – poor Dinobot… at least he got a valiant end.

Beast Era Japan-Only Series (1998 – 1999)

In 1998 and 1989, due to the time-consuming process involved in dubbing and airing Beast Wars in Japan, two series — Beast Wars II and Beast Wars Neo — were created and aired exclusively in Japan.

Both series utilized traditional hand-drawn animation (as opposed to Beast Wars’s CG) and were aimed at a much younger audience, instead of Beast Wars’s darker plots that even included the deaths of several Transformers. Beast Wars II ran for 43 episodes, while Beast Wars Neo ran for 35 episodes.

Beast Machines: Transformers (1999 – 2000)

Airing from September of 1999 to May of 2000 this short-lived sequel to Beast Wars drew heat from the Transformers community for its portrayal of many of the characters and the history and timeline of the series. Using the same characters from Beast Wars, Beast Machines took a more serialized approach with its storytelling by focusing more on full season stories which took Optimus Primal and the Maximals back to Cybertron to fight Megatron and the Vehicons.

While this series has many purist Transformers fans angry at the program’s take on the lore of the series, many less enthusiastic fans have learned to accept this story-driven series – as it isn’t as bad as many of the Transformers series which have aired since.

Transformers: Robots in Disguise (2001 – 2002)

Generally considered a filler series between Beast Machines and Transformers: Armada, Transformers: Robots in Disguise was brought over and dubbed from the Japanese program Transformers: Car Robots. This series worked separate from the main Transformers universe storyline, and instead opted to give an updated version of the Transformers story.

Using an anime style of animation, Robots in Disguise unfolded over 39 episodes – as Optimus Prime and the Autobots fought the evil Megatron and his Predacon and Decepticon forces. Apart from Transformers: Generations 2, Robots in Disguise was the most obvious Transformers series attempt at cashing in the brand with the toy line and merchandise.

Transformers: Armada (2002 – 2003)

A much debated re-imagining of the Transformers franchise, Armada was a co-production between Hasbro and Japanese toy company Takara, airing from 2002-2003. Once again Hasbro was taking the toys created by Tokara and developing a storyline for American audiences. This series was not a continuation of the original 1980s show, but a new continuity and mythology all together. However, many of the core elements remain. There are still Autobots fighting Decepticons, Optimus Prime and Megatron are still leader of their respective factions. Many other familiar characters appeared in the series, including the God-like Unicron.

The key concept introduced in this series were the “mini-cons” – human-sized robots that, when combined with the larger transformers, would give them a power boost. It was the mini-cons that the Decepticons and Autobots were warring over here, as opposed to the “energon” of previous incarnations. Love it or hate it, the series was successful – producing 52 episodes as well as the two sequel series Energon and Cybertron.

Transformers: Energon (2004 – 2005)

With Energon, Hasbro and Takara returned Transformers to computer-generated animation, albeit a much different style than Beast Wars, making use of cell shading. Energon continued to tell stores in the world established by Transformers: Armada. Airing from 2004-2005, the series picks up 20 years after Armada and the “war of the mini-cons.” Now, the Autobots and Decepticons are working together to mine Earth and the solar system for Energon – their power source.

This series produced another 52 episodes, again split into 13 episode like Armada. The series ended with a climactic battle that sees Megatron transform into Galvatron (as first seen in the Generation 1 Transformers movie), who then plunged into a newly created sun rather than be controlled by the consciousness of Unicron.

Transformers: Cybertron (2005 – 2006)

Another computer generated and Anime-influenced series set in the world introduced in Armada, Cybertron aired 52 episodes from 2005-2006. The transition from the previous series was a rocky one however, as the Japanese counterpart was a split from the world of Armada and something of a full reboot. It was in the process of dubbing into English that the series, at least for American audiences, was shoehorned into the existing continuity.

This series marked the last time Gary Chalk would perform as the voice of Optimus Prime – a role he’d inherited from Peter Cullen and performed since Armada (as well as playing Optimus Primal in Beast Wars. Cybertron is also the last of the Hasbro/Takara co-productions.

Transformers Animated (2007 – 2009)

Launched in the wake of the hugely successful first live-action film, Transformers Animated, produced by Hasbro and Cartoon Network, was a bit of a curiosity – attempting to appease several fanbases, with varying levels of success. There was clearly a very kid-oriented tone to much of it, starting with the more cartoony (for lack of a better word) designs of the characters, and extending into story decisions, such as making Optimus Prime a young, semi-uncertain rookie, rather than the experienced commander we’re used to – and yes, there was a precocious little girl in the mix, though she’d turn out to be a precocious little robot girl.

On the other hand, there was a lot here to amuse old school fans as well. The TV-Movie pilot included classic footage from the original series (though this series was in its own continuity) and familiar story beats would be used in new ways, from Starscream’s attempts at leadership to the creation of a Space Bridge to Cyberton. And the show wasn’t afraid to go for darker moments, including the death of several significant characters in Transformers history.

There was also some fun voice casting at work, as some of the originators of these characters from the 1980s returned to once more portray the characters, including Susan Blu (“Arcee”), John Moshhitta, Jr. (“Blur”) and Judd Nelson, who reprised his role as Rodimus from Transformers: The Movie.

Unfortunately, for fans of this series, it seems last month’s Season 3 finale is now the series finale, as Hasbro has said Transformers Animated is over. But if the past quarter of a century has taught us anything, it’s that there will be a new Transformers series in the not too distant future.

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