Transformers On the Move Again

jonerik writes "In a sequel of sorts to Monday's post on Max Headroom, the Associated Press (by way of CNN) is reporting on the revival of the Transformers. Perhaps the ultimate '80s TV cartoon experience, the Transformers were (and still are) also marketed as a seemingly endless collection of toys; robots that could transform into cars, trucks, planes, and almost anything else their designers imagined. Rhino Records has just released a 4-DVD boxed set of the show's first season, and Hasbro is considering a reissue of the original '80s toy line, something that Japan's Takara Toy Company has already done, with great success."

Comments

This IS a big deal, actually

[gevmage]

Remember, that in 1986, Hasbro (producer of the transformers) was KING of the toy market. They had GI Joe and Transformers, the two best selling toy lines of that era.

The 1986 _Transformers The Movie_ included cast voice cast:
Lenard Nimoy
Robert Stack
Orson Welles
(the guy who did the micro-machines commercials)
Judd Nelson
It was not a small thing to be able to assemble a cast like that for any animated film.

Re:This IS a big deal, actually

[barawn]

You're also forgetting Eric Idle (I think...?) - whoever was the voice of Wreck-Gar, that is.

My personal opinion about TF: The Movie was that the people who wrote the script looked at the cartoons, and said "how the HELL do we write a coherent plot with decent dynamics with these characters?" I mean, seriously, Optimus Prime has little/no flaws, other than being overly trusting (though that always seems to benefit him in the end), and most of the other characters have very little unique personality (other than muttering a few choice phrases unique to their character).

So, what do we do? In the first 10 minutes of the film, we kill EVERYONE off except a few people we leave around for continuity, and we replace them with a cast of characters that has a much more dynamic set of personalities.

Optimus got replaced with Hot Rod (Rodimus) who is naive, eager, a little too hotheaded, but generally good-natured. I always liked Rodimus and I was really upset when Optimus came back and took the Matrix from Rodimus...

Megatron got replaced with Galvatron, who didn't have a whiny voice (big plus) and showed a BIT of personality: megalomania, mainly, but a bit of humor ("Coronation, Starscream? This is bad comedy.") - seriously, listen to the way Megatron speaks ("Die, Autobot!") and the way that Galvatron speaks ("It's a pity you Autobots die so easily... if it were harder, it might be enjoyable." - or something like that).

The new characters added all had quite a bit of personality to them as well, which is what made it interesting. There was weird sexual tension between Arcee, Springer, and Hot Rod, there was a wizened father figure with Kup, and Ultra Magnus was the perfect example of an uncertain leader. Grimlock mainly stayed in for comic relief along with a bunch of new guys (Wreck-Gar, Blurr - god, how I wanted him to die..., and Wheelie) whose presence was solely for amusement. Plus Unicron, which was a very good overarching all-powerful evil force. It was really impressive to see Galvatron basically wallowing in misery as he realized that there was something far more evil and destructive in the universe than his own quest for power.

Note that I'm not saying that there wasn't some dynamism in the old characters: it's just that certain characters were just there to serve functions and to show up from time to time, rather than actually have some sort of personality, whereas the cast in the movie was almost solidly there for personality or comic relief (save Blurr. Kill Blurr. I hated Blurr.)

Of course, that's the optimist in me. Everybody knows the real reason they axed everyone was so they could make more money with new toys.

My experience, now with my daughter....

[Rahga]

From what I can tell of the current line, it still reeks a bit of the beast wars transformers crap they pulled.... let's face it, robots that transform into animals make even less sense than the robot buildings Tom Hanks showed off on "Big". Cars and other machinery are still the way to go, and those poor decepticons aren't going anywhere if some of the best of them transforms into nothing more than a shark. Anyway.....

The 2-for-$10 packs they sell at Wal-Mart are good enough to make me and my 3-year-old daughter happy. She loves her "bobot cars".... All they need is to pull down on the nosecone, or pull up the spoiler, and poof, it transforms ;)

But don't take those toys on planes!

[rosewood]

As seen on this slate article:

According to information released by the Dallas Fort Worth Airport, an even more detailed list (requires Adobe Acrobat) was issued by the FAA in February that helpfully advises passengers not to bother trying to bring automatic weapons, hand grenades, blasting caps, or meat cleavers. Also banned are corkscrews and toy transformer robots.

Re:But don't take those toys on planes!

[Kredal]

Megatron should be banned.

I didn't realize how realistic he looked, until I bought him used a couple weeks ago.

Megatron in gun form

Actual Walther P-38