It's an amazing time to be a Transformers fan...
So, it should go without saying by now that Transformers fans are as passionate as the fans of other great science fiction(fantasy) with large fan followings, namely Star Wars and Star Trek in terms of commercially successful product lines supporting the franchises. As far as the toy collectors, it is an incredible time for the product lines. The engineering involved has advanced to the point where it is really the imagination of the designers limiting the potential greatness of any single figure. As far as the fiction, it's a mixture of extremes.
The live action film did wonders for the franchise by bringing to the attention of the mainstream. It has allowed Hasbro to really stretch the potential of the mythology and the toy line. As result, there are three main branches of the current mythology: the films, the comics, and the television show. Each branch has a distinctive stylization in mechanic and character design. They each have varied in quality and accessibility.
Transformers and Revenge of the Fallen are based on the idea that these aliens could actually exist in the world today and the characters are design with that in mind, utilizing the mechanical parts of each vehicle to build up the physical robotic forms that are taken on Earth. The result is visually fascinating and spectacular. It also makes it difficult for the uninitiated to distinguish one character from the another beyond the general color: Bumblebee is yellow, Optimus is Red. The films also fit into the genre of action movies, which alleviates them of the need to develop these characters in any profound way, or to possess of plot that explores the nature of non-organic sentient beings and their societies.
Most of the robotic characters are based in concept and design on the cast of Generation One, the original series of toys in the eighties whose adventures were chronicled in the cartoon series and the comics from Marvel. This is where the mythology is rooted, the history, the origins, the politics, and the drama, which is the stuff the movies only reference or imply in passing. The characters are generally one-dimensional and do very little to pay tribute to their respective namesakes.
This leads to the second branch of the toyline, Transformers Classics/Universe. IDW currently has the license to produce and publish the comics based on this iteration of Transformers, and they are running with it. The studio that held the license previously, Dreamwave, brought the Generation One Transformers back into comics in a big way, but with what turns out to be the same storytelling sensibility as the films: utilizing the existing mythology to establish a point of departure, but relying too much on visual spectacle and sycophantic fan dedication for sustained readership. There were very sincere and earnest efforts by some of the writers and artists at Dreamwave, but without someone at the top who shared the same level of passion or intent, it all fell through numerous cracks.
With Simon Furman at IDW's writing helm, Generation One has been re-imagined, drawing from and respecting the mythology that came before. However, there is a weakness. While the characters are treated much better in the recent comics than in the films, the plots have become so complex and intricately connected that it's difficult to follow along without having started from the beginning. I managed to keep up through Devastation, but got lost when the stories started to be told through multiple one-shots and miniseries running simultaneously. This was the main reason I stopped reading the X-men books (which aren't bad, just a bit more than I feel like handling, and since I love Transformers more than X-Men should say a lot).
The third and most recent line: Animated. About ten or so years ago, Hasbro struggled with finding a way to continue the Transformers line due to increasingly floundering interest. They could only take Generation One so far (they had already re-released the original line under the banner "Generation Two"). Someone, I don't know who, came up with the brilliantly obvious notion of having the Transformers change into biological alternate modes. The Beast Wars was born. The best move they did was give the animation license to the CGI animation studio named Mainframe.
The reason this was a smart move was because Mainframe approached the series with the idea of focusing on the characters rather than just their adventures. They did this very well. Admittedly, they were sort of left with little choice. They were limited to a small cast due to the cost of designing, animating, and rendering each individual character. The result, however, was glorious. The smaller cast allowed the writers, and the viewers, to focus on the characters' interactions without being overwhelmed with increasingly complex plotlines. The true testament to the quality of the teams' work was exemplified in the episode "Code of Hero," arguably their best. Beast Wars, as well as Beast Machines, ended up setting a standard of quality for the Transformers franchise that most longtime fans hope to be met.
This is the story-telling sensibility that was brought into 2007's Transformers: Animated, a re-imagining of the Generation One mythology (drawing very loosely certain concepts from the films and the animated series that came previously, referred to as the Unicron Trilogy). It is very stylized, the primary designer coming off from the Teen Titans and the Legion of Superheroes animated series, also well done re-imaginings of long-established titles rich with their own history. Transformers: Animated's cast is small, every mechanical design unique and easily distinguishable, and each character a memorable individual. Like Beast Wars, the first season starts a little rough while the writers figured out exactly how to tell the story they wanted to tell. The series is cohesive and complex, just enough to maintain sustained interest but not so much that the viewer is easily lost. There are tons of fun moments and characters that you actually care for or love to hate. Their responses to each situation is believable. Best of all, it is unnecessary to shut the brain down or shift it into overdrive just to enjoy this series.
So, it should be obvious where my bias lies insofar as the current Transformers' continuities. I most definitely indulged in the guilty pleasure of enjoying Takara's Car Robots (which is more fun to watch than the re-edited U.S. version Robots in Disguise since it's unfiltered gloriously goofy anime) to which Animated is similar by embracing much of the humor that is most accessible to an American audience, whereas Car Robots had no delusions of its identity as a Japanese cartoon show, never taking itself more seriously than it intended (the pitfall of the Unicron Trilogy). The best thing to come out of Michael Bay's movie was that it opened the door for Animated.
What would be incredible is if the next Transformers film followed the same model as Animated. Imagining the realistic robots on the silver screen behaving with the complexity of the characters in Animated provides a source of wishful thinking, a small glimmer of hope. Unfortunately, the series has ended, and prematurely as far as its remaining potential for more stories.
If we, the fans, are lucky, the next animated Transformers series that will be due to premiere on the currently-in-development Hasbro/Discovery channel will not miss a step in quality. I'm not very keen on waiting another eleven years for the next great Transformers series to hit the waves.
The live action film did wonders for the franchise by bringing to the attention of the mainstream. It has allowed Hasbro to really stretch the potential of the mythology and the toy line. As result, there are three main branches of the current mythology: the films, the comics, and the television show. Each branch has a distinctive stylization in mechanic and character design. They each have varied in quality and accessibility.
Transformers and Revenge of the Fallen are based on the idea that these aliens could actually exist in the world today and the characters are design with that in mind, utilizing the mechanical parts of each vehicle to build up the physical robotic forms that are taken on Earth. The result is visually fascinating and spectacular. It also makes it difficult for the uninitiated to distinguish one character from the another beyond the general color: Bumblebee is yellow, Optimus is Red. The films also fit into the genre of action movies, which alleviates them of the need to develop these characters in any profound way, or to possess of plot that explores the nature of non-organic sentient beings and their societies.
Most of the robotic characters are based in concept and design on the cast of Generation One, the original series of toys in the eighties whose adventures were chronicled in the cartoon series and the comics from Marvel. This is where the mythology is rooted, the history, the origins, the politics, and the drama, which is the stuff the movies only reference or imply in passing. The characters are generally one-dimensional and do very little to pay tribute to their respective namesakes.
This leads to the second branch of the toyline, Transformers Classics/Universe. IDW currently has the license to produce and publish the comics based on this iteration of Transformers, and they are running with it. The studio that held the license previously, Dreamwave, brought the Generation One Transformers back into comics in a big way, but with what turns out to be the same storytelling sensibility as the films: utilizing the existing mythology to establish a point of departure, but relying too much on visual spectacle and sycophantic fan dedication for sustained readership. There were very sincere and earnest efforts by some of the writers and artists at Dreamwave, but without someone at the top who shared the same level of passion or intent, it all fell through numerous cracks.
With Simon Furman at IDW's writing helm, Generation One has been re-imagined, drawing from and respecting the mythology that came before. However, there is a weakness. While the characters are treated much better in the recent comics than in the films, the plots have become so complex and intricately connected that it's difficult to follow along without having started from the beginning. I managed to keep up through Devastation, but got lost when the stories started to be told through multiple one-shots and miniseries running simultaneously. This was the main reason I stopped reading the X-men books (which aren't bad, just a bit more than I feel like handling, and since I love Transformers more than X-Men should say a lot).
The third and most recent line: Animated. About ten or so years ago, Hasbro struggled with finding a way to continue the Transformers line due to increasingly floundering interest. They could only take Generation One so far (they had already re-released the original line under the banner "Generation Two"). Someone, I don't know who, came up with the brilliantly obvious notion of having the Transformers change into biological alternate modes. The Beast Wars was born. The best move they did was give the animation license to the CGI animation studio named Mainframe.
The reason this was a smart move was because Mainframe approached the series with the idea of focusing on the characters rather than just their adventures. They did this very well. Admittedly, they were sort of left with little choice. They were limited to a small cast due to the cost of designing, animating, and rendering each individual character. The result, however, was glorious. The smaller cast allowed the writers, and the viewers, to focus on the characters' interactions without being overwhelmed with increasingly complex plotlines. The true testament to the quality of the teams' work was exemplified in the episode "Code of Hero," arguably their best. Beast Wars, as well as Beast Machines, ended up setting a standard of quality for the Transformers franchise that most longtime fans hope to be met.
This is the story-telling sensibility that was brought into 2007's Transformers: Animated, a re-imagining of the Generation One mythology (drawing very loosely certain concepts from the films and the animated series that came previously, referred to as the Unicron Trilogy). It is very stylized, the primary designer coming off from the Teen Titans and the Legion of Superheroes animated series, also well done re-imaginings of long-established titles rich with their own history. Transformers: Animated's cast is small, every mechanical design unique and easily distinguishable, and each character a memorable individual. Like Beast Wars, the first season starts a little rough while the writers figured out exactly how to tell the story they wanted to tell. The series is cohesive and complex, just enough to maintain sustained interest but not so much that the viewer is easily lost. There are tons of fun moments and characters that you actually care for or love to hate. Their responses to each situation is believable. Best of all, it is unnecessary to shut the brain down or shift it into overdrive just to enjoy this series.
So, it should be obvious where my bias lies insofar as the current Transformers' continuities. I most definitely indulged in the guilty pleasure of enjoying Takara's Car Robots (which is more fun to watch than the re-edited U.S. version Robots in Disguise since it's unfiltered gloriously goofy anime) to which Animated is similar by embracing much of the humor that is most accessible to an American audience, whereas Car Robots had no delusions of its identity as a Japanese cartoon show, never taking itself more seriously than it intended (the pitfall of the Unicron Trilogy). The best thing to come out of Michael Bay's movie was that it opened the door for Animated.
What would be incredible is if the next Transformers film followed the same model as Animated. Imagining the realistic robots on the silver screen behaving with the complexity of the characters in Animated provides a source of wishful thinking, a small glimmer of hope. Unfortunately, the series has ended, and prematurely as far as its remaining potential for more stories.
If we, the fans, are lucky, the next animated Transformers series that will be due to premiere on the currently-in-development Hasbro/Discovery channel will not miss a step in quality. I'm not very keen on waiting another eleven years for the next great Transformers series to hit the waves.
Labels: Transformers
posted by Ravings of Ki at 10:15 PM
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