However, the Transformers Fan Club published a few stories set in the Cybertron era.[75]. [24][25] The Movie also featured guest voices from Leonard Nimoy as Galvatron, Scatman Crothers as Jazz, Casey Kasem as Cliffjumper, Orson Welles as Unicron and Eric Idle as the leader of the Junkions (Wreck-Gar, though unnamed in the movie). They presented robots able to transform into everyday vehicles, electronic items or weapons. They probably should have re-branded him as Optimus Prime Classic and if you dont remember that check out the history of New Coke as its one of the craziest marketing stories of the 80s. In the United Kingdom, the mythology continued to grow. First introduced with zero background in 1986's . The first larger Transformers convention in the Nordic countries is called "The NTFA Mini-Con", with official support from Hasbro Nordic, and was held by members of the NTFA - The Nordic TransFans Association, for the first time on November 34, 2007. He forms what would become the planet Cybertron around him and creates robotic beings in his likeness to do battle against the chaos bringer. Primus was introduced as the creator of the Transformers, to serve his material body that is planet Cybertron and fight his nemesis Unicron. Some stories, like "The Covenant of Primus," which serves as a history for the "Transformers: Prime" cartoon, refer to The Thirteen - the original, legendary Primes who set all of Transformer history in motion. Young Megatron often counts Optimus as a friend, and the two initially share ideals of Cybertronian freedom and self-determination. The 49 new shows, plus the other 16, added up to (checks calculator) 65 total episodes and this is the magic number of shows you need to move a series into weekday broadcast syndication. There would be a gap between the second and third season in order to put out Transformers: The Movie that came out on August 8, 1986. The main series was broken up into several story arcs. In addition, IDW Publishing has published several comic books, including graphic novels, while Titan Magazines published Transformers Comic UK, a 20 issues series from 2007 to 2014. It's been five years since the last movie directed by Nicole Holofcener ( Walking and . In 1987 they would also release the Micromasters which were tiny versions of Transformers meant to compete against the hugely popular Micro Machines. The two factions are born from the scant remains of the surviving Cybertronians and live under constant threat from Galvatron and Nemesis, Unicron's lackeys reborn from Megatron and Optimus' dead bodies. Evil is a relative term, and Megatron is an especially complex villain: From his perspective, the Great War is nearly always begun as a rebellion against an unfair system. A live-action film series started in 2007, again distinct from previous incarnations, while the Transformers: Animated series merged concepts from the G1 continuity, the 2007 live-action film and the "Unicron Trilogy". Many spin-offs are based on the toys including a comic book series, an animated television series, and the feature-length animated The Transformers: The Movie. IDW Publishing has expressed interest in their own crossover. Companies now had free reign to promote to their hearts desire. Instead of the entire Transformer civil war, this series focused on the two leaders once again and the crews of their starships as Optimus sought to flee Cybertron and find the missing Allspark. So the story of this first three-part series is the basic back story I shared earlier. These car-robot hybrids arrived on store shelves back in 1984, courtesy of Japanese company Takara Tomy and Hasbro of the United States, instantly popping up everywhere from playgrounds to. Development[edit] In the world of the "Transformers: Prime" television series, the Quintessons had infiltrated ancient Cybertron, bringing technology and prosperity as they secretly prepared the Cybertronians for slavery. The two series and all the characters would make up the first generation of the Transformers for the cartoon series. We have our first look at the bot mode for the upcoming Rise of the Beasts Bumblebee transforming mask from a Baidu. Why It's So . This article is about the franchise. Cast: Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Tobias Menzies, Michaela Watkins. "Command Performances", Michael Higgins(w),Herb Trimpe(p). The story introduces a number of fascinating concepts, like making Transformers more like cyborgs as they embrace their organic sides and become "technorganic" creatures who do more morphing than transforming. The first was the Robots in Disguise series, followed by three shows (Armada, Energon, and Cybertron) that constitute a single universe called the "Unicron Trilogy". Polygon Pictures was chosen as the animation studio. In 2009, Shout! So now everything is heating up, kids like me are freaking the hell out after seeing this show and the subsequent toy line and we want, actually DEMAND, more. I remember looking under the Christmas tree one year and thinking I saw the distinctive box shape of what I hoped was Soundwave. [6], The official international Transformers convention is BotCon, but other fan events include Auto Assembly and TransForce in the UK and past Transformers only events have included BotCon Japan, BotCon Europe and "OTFCC". [36] Soundwave, Megatron's second-in-command, also broke the fourth wall in the letters page, criticising the cartoon continuity as an inaccurate representation of history. [38] The comic book featured a resurrected Megatron,[39] whom Furman retconned to be a clone[40] when he took over the U.S. comic book, which depicted Megatron as still dead. Lauren Vlez as Noah's mother. While they waited for the third Canadian season to be completed (thereby making 26 episodes in total when added to season 2), they produced two exclusive cel-animated series of their own, Beast Wars II (also called Beast Wars Second) and Beast Wars Neo, to fill in the gap. Out of these 28 toys, eleven of the Autobots would transform into cars, six into mini cars and one into a semi-tractor trailer. [] Transformers don't really die, they just become new products. Megatron attempts to kill the original Optimus Prime,[51] but at the beginning of the third season, Primal manages to preserve his spark. The extended Japanese run consisted of The Headmasters, Super-God Masterforce, Victory and Zone, then in illustrated magazine form as Battlestars: Return of Convoy and Operation: Combination. Joe comic in 1993 that would springboard a return for Marvel's Transformers, with the new twelve-issue series Transformers: Generation 2, to market a new toy line. The idea of the AllSpark grew out of 1996's time-bending "Beast Wars" cartoon, where the concept of a Transformer's "spark" was first established. The film hits theaters on June 9. After the war, the Transformers upgrade to be smaller and more energy-efficient, creating new factions in the Maximals (the Autobot descendants) and Predacons (the Decepticon descendants). Megatron escapes and does what his predecessor never quite managed to, enslaving all of Cybertron and reformatting Maximals and Predacons alike into mindless drones. Outside of "Beast Machines," though, this future, was only ever briefly explored in a couple of short-lived comic books for The Official Transformers Collectors Club: 2001's "The Wreckers" and 2003's "Transformers: Universe." A third film, Transformers: Dark of the Moon, was released on June 29, 2011, in 3-D and went on to gross over $1 billion, with mixed reviews. In the beginning, there was light and dark, order and chaos, good and evil. The Transformers began with the 1980s Japanese toy lines Micro Change and Diaclone. [111] Each series is made up of six episodes, each a half hour long. [68], However, IDW and the original publisher Marvel Comics announced a crossover storyline with the Avengers to coincide with the film New Avengers/Transformers. (Note: This appears to contradict background presented in the first two seasons of the series.) While Optimus and Megatron lie dormant on Earth, life continues on. According to the "Transformers: Prime" prequel novel, "Transformers: Exodus," he begins the fight out of a seething jealously that his friend Orion Pax was chosen to be Prime rather than him after they both fought to overthrow the planet's caste system. Instead, 2001's "Transformers: Robots in Disguise" cartoon tells the story of Optimus Prime leading his Autobots to protect Earth when Megatron and his Predacons (not Decepticons)target it. These three shady bots technically answer to the Maximals but still plot to regain power, even as they brand this era's Megatron a criminal for taking similar actions in the past. Some more modern tellings, like IDW's 2005 "Transformers" comic book series, have Optimus, Megatron, and their troops intentionally infiltrating modern Earth, having never lain dormant at all. The once-simple tales of Autobots and Decepticons battling on Earth have expanded into a multiverse that stretches back to the beginning of time and forward beyond the end of Optimus Prime and Megatron. -, Pound Puppies: Cabbage Patch Kids In Dog Form? [97] Guest voices included Mark Hamill and Ron Perlman. In 1986, the cartoon became the film The Transformers: The Movie, which is set in the year 2005. Ron Perlman as Optimus Primal, the leader of the Maximals that can transform into a gorilla. [70] IDW editor-in-chief, Chris Ryall hinted at elements of it being carried over into the main continuities,[71] and that a sequel is possible. In IDW's 2012 mini-series, "The Transformers: Autocracy," Megatron joins with Orion to overthrow the tyrannical Zeta Prime. It takes place in the year 2005, twenty years after the events of season 2. I bought it on Blu-ray and the animation is pretty elite. Not only that they kill him off like 23 minutes into the damn movie. [2] The term "Generation 1" covers both the animated television series The Transformers and the comic book series of the same name, which are further divided into Japanese, British and Canadian spin-offs, respectively. Budiansky was a comic book writer, editor, and penciller, and worked for Marvel for 20 years. But once the formerly peace-loving bot gets a taste of power, he is loath to give it up. They presented robots able to transform into everyday vehicles, electronic items or weapons. They then continue their war on our planet, dragging humans into their endless conflagration. Autobots, Assemble! Type of toy: Action figure. They've been instrumental in most kids childhoods but did one stand above the rest? Joe crossover[32] and the limited series The Transformers: Headmasters, which further expanded the scope to the planet Nebulon. The soundtrack dates the hell out of it but its some vintage 80s rock. He made his first appearance in "Transformers" #66, "All Fall Down." anime adaptation, and the 2015 series Transformers: Robots in Disguise.[84]. The Autobots and Decepticons leave Cybertron looking for new resources, they fight aboard a ship and crashland on earth. The Transformers TV series began around the same time. Dreamwave retroactively revealed Beast Wars to be the future of their G1 universe,[52] and the 2006 IDW comic book Beast Wars: The Gathering eventually confirmed the Japanese series to be canon[53] within a story set during Season 3.[54]. Director Michael Bay Writers Roberto Orci Alex Kurtzman John Rogers Stars Shia LaBeouf Megan Fox Josh Duhamel See production, box office & company info In "The Five Faces of Darkness" episodes, the cartoon established that the mechanical, squid-like race had created and enslaved the Transformers before being overthrown. G1 Mindwipe. This caused continuity problems when Hasbro sold Cybertron as a follow-up to Armada/Energon. Transformers is a series of science fiction action films based on the Transformers franchise of the 1980s. Arrives on DVD This Summer", "Mark Hamill & Ron Perlman Join Transformers: Prime Wars Trilogy", "Machinima Is Shutting Down, With 81 Staffers Laid Off", "Entire Machinima YouTube Channel Set To Private [UPDATE]", "After Machinima Shutdown, Rooster Teeth Revives 'Inside Gaming' and Rescues Other Machinima Shows", "Transformers: War For Cybertron Coming To Netflix Press Release", "Transformers: War for Cybertron: Siege Out Now on Netflix", "Transformers: War for Cybertron Trilogy Kingdom release date: Trailer, cast and story so far", "Unboxing War for Cybertron: Earthrise's deeper cut Transformers references", "Transformers: War for Cybertron Trilogy - Chapter 1 "Siege" Review", "Netflix's Transformers: War for Cybertron: Earthrise Trailer Revealed", "Netflix Announces Release Date for 'Transformers: War for Cybertron - Earthrise', "In 'Earthrise,' Netflix takes Transformers even deeper into the darkness", "Exclusive: 'Transformers: War for Cybertron: Kingdom' Trailer Reveals the Final Battle Between Autobots and Decepticons", "The final Transformers miniseries on Netflix is a bloated mess, sorry", "Transformers: War For Cybertron There Won't be a Season 4, So What's Next?