IGN Interviews Sam Register, Producer of Transformers: Animated

The way he talks, there's a lot of deconstructionist thinking going into TF:A, which could be a great thing. On the other hand, my posting here disqualifies me from the target audience, so....

At first I thought what the hell is this all about? A CN-type Transformers series... I liked the way Cybertron looked, so why change it to such crappy ass graphics?

But after reading Seibertron's notes on the Hasbro Panel during BotCon last Sunday and this interview, I must say I'm quite intruiged.

(but I still think the graphics aren't really great, but that could still change of course)

Honestly, i hated that interview. C'mon, i know Transformer exist only to make cash for Hasbro, but tell: Is there ANYTHING made for another reason then cash???

Seriously, that show is dead to me. I miss Beast War It was amde to make toy, but the writer made it so awesome that it became more then a 30-minute toy commercial.

You know...one thing I would like to see from transformers is a new series that is made for nobody but current fans...people that grew up with this stuff, love it, & want to see more instead of the same thing rehashed the fifteeth time for people that honestly could care less except for that they saw it for the first time the other day & thought it might be cool to check out again some time.

I mean, homages are great & all, but how 'bout we get something that's not an homage, because it's the real deal.

.....& I'm not saying long....maybe a direct to DVD movie...similar to the avengers or something.....but something so that we can have something awsome like that.


That being said, I hope this series does well...it sounds pretty spiffy already...maybe it'll be pretty cool.

I agree with Nemesis. I just wanted to say one thing though. If you look at the characters in the poster, they look G1-ish. Prime looks like his G1 self and two other robots are easily identified as Bumble bee and Ratchet. One even looks like springer. So it seems like a touched up anime style G1. I dont care for alt modes.

They really need to do an adult swim version of the TF so that the original fans can like it....

Direct to DVD isn't something I see Hasbro do with TF. It's just for the money... Why only release that stuff on DVD when you can play it on TV, with games, toys and other stuff.

This show is for seven-year-old boys. There are a lot of rabid Transformer fans, and those same fans are on the crew and writing the show. But these Transformers are for seven year olds, for kids. My feeling is that if you're old enough to write a post on a Transformers message board, you're too old for this show.

Way to get the fans reading your ONLINE INTERVIEW excited about the show moron.

Well, I actually have an interesting history in that one of my first jobs was working for the ad agency that did toy commercials for the Transformers. I used to write toy commercials on the transformers back in the early '90s. So for me it's all coming back around again. I have a lot of affection for the Transformers, and I think I even named a few back in the early '90s.

I think we have found the guy responsable for the name "Windbreaker".

I just hope they don't bring in Circuit Breaker. That hypocritical bitch always pissed me off...

Some parts are disturbingly honest I suppose...

Well we were right. He said it was for "seven-year-old boys". I cant see a robot (In teen titans style) transforming into a car or whatever it is.

I have been a fan of both Teen Titans and Transformers (although more of a Transfan), and this is actually shaping up to be very interesting. What I hope they touch on is that the Autobots don't want to harm any humans, but will have to when the human villains come in.

I also hope Bumblebee can talk.

quote:

I cant see a robot (In teen titans style) transforming into a car or whatever it is. unquote.

a guy I know who saw 'the panel' said thats exactly what they DO do!

why do so many fans keep saying that these toys are not going to work, you WANT them to work right?

"WANTING" them to and "BELIEVING THEY CAN, WELL" are two very different things.

Any of you above who think Transformers exists for any other reason than to make money has fooled themselves. The moment Transformers stops making Hasbro money will be the same moment that the brand shuts down. The Transformers brand is a business. Plain and simple.

The toys and cartoons are aimed at the 7 to 12 year old crowd. We got lucky with Beast Wars. The franchise was probably a little desperate at that time. I don't think they had quite figured out the tried-and-true recipe for success with Transformers, which they most definitely have without a doubt figure out in the past 12 or 13 years since Beast Wars started internally within Hasbro.

If you want more mature storylines that are probably not as appealing to 7 to 12 year olds, you should pick up the comic books from IDW. If Hasbro doesn't bust their butts to draw in the younger crowd via opportunities with Cartoon Network, the fandom could potentially die with us. I don't want that. I want future generations to be able to enjoy Transformers in all of its various incarnations.

We've got Classics, Alternators, Masterpiece, Titaniums, IDW and products and stories from the past to keep the adults happy. I'd even throw the movie into that mix since it's obviously not geared toward young kids. If you don't like TFA, so be it ... it's obviously there for the kids and there's absolutely nothing wrong with that. If you can find something in that series that you think you will enjoy (like I have with Blitzwing and Blackarachnia), then more power to you.

microclone wrote:quote:

I cant see a robot (In teen titans style) transforming into a car or whatever it is. unquote.

a guy I know who saw 'the panel' said thats exactly what they DO do!

why do so many fans keep saying that these toys are not going to work, you WANT them to work right?

They will work. They showed us some prototypes during their presentation. This was another point that really won me over.

Calenatarion wrote:Direct to DVD isn't something I see Hasbro do with TF. It's just for the money... Why only release that stuff on DVD when you can play it on TV, with games, toys and other stuff.

If they were to do it there would be toys and games and CN would also have it played on saturday night. How many direct to DVD movies CS has played. So it would still work for hasbro. And we do need something for the fans. Throw us a bone here. Make us happy. We've stuck by you (hasbro) for how long? for me its been almost 20 years. I think its time to show us you aprechiate(i know i spelled it wrong my grammer sucks) what we've been doing for you. Giveing you all our money. Give us a DVD movie written by the G1 or Beast Wars wrighters, done in anime style or CGI animation, voiced by G1 and Beast Wars VAs, and no humans. Maybe base it during the Cybertron war befor they get to earth. And make some kick ass toys. Im sure it would do well its Transformers!

It's funny how the article starts off saying that G1 fans will most likely hate this till they see it.

What I don't like is everything else.

They made a reference to Sienfeld focusing on him and his 3 friends. That is true, but I've seen that show to many times and I can say that they had tons of backround characters who through good writing became just as well known as the origional 3(Loyd Braun).

And the idea of showing fewer villans to me is stupid. I understand the GI Joe reference, and they are right. But take a show like Beast Wars where the Predicons occasionaly won or found a victory in their defeats and you have CHALlANGING villans, and not just bad guys.

I would like for this show to be good, and when it comes out, we'll see if it is. But so far from what I've been reading, this seems doubtful.

I'm with Seibertron on this; I think the show will be aimed at 7 year olds without being dumbed down, and while every episode might not be pure gold, I think that overall the show and the toys will be good and fun. I actually think that, with them "mixing things up," the show will be pretty good, and there WILL be things that appeal to everyone. Some people will like Black Arachnia, some people will like the Dinobots, some people will like the character development that comes with having a small core and a rotating cast of extras, some people will like the emergency-type missions, and some people will like seeing how the Autobots handle super-powered human villians.

I think this might be the first TF cartoon that I'll actually watch since Beast Wars, and while I remain cautiously optimistic, I'm actually very excited to see what we're going to get. A movie is all well and good, but its just a couple of hours, while a cartoon will give us a half-hour dose of TFs once a week for about 14 weeks per season. I can't wait!

Nemesis Cyberplex wrote:You know...one thing I would like to see from transformers is a new series that is made for nobody but current fans...people that grew up with this stuff, love it, & want to see more instead of the same thing rehashed the fifteeth time for people that honestly could care less except for that they saw it for the first time the other day & thought it might be cool to check out again some time.

I mean, homages are great & all, but how 'bout we get something that's not an homage, because it's the real deal.

.....& I'm not saying long....maybe a direct to DVD movie...similar to the avengers or something.....but something so that we can have something awsome like that.


That being said, I hope this series does well...it sounds pretty spiffy already...maybe it'll be pretty cool.

Man I am so with you! For years I have been dreaming to see an official story with good animation that picks up from the Events of the Rebirth 3- part episode staring Optimus Prime, Hot Rod (as Targetmaster leader), Highbrow, Crossharis, Sureshot, Sixshot, Galvatron, Abominus, Computron, Fortress Maximus (With Spike and Cerebros as his sidekick), Scorponok, etc...

I mean how cool would it be to see a big Galvatron vs Optimus Prime fight?!

It could be a good OVA, but SOMETHING would be nice. I always felt empty the way the series ended becaues the events that happened in rebirth were exciting and seemed to set up something bigger. But it never had any real closure.

I would like to see an OVA that attempts to give us a bit of closure using some of the characters seen in the "Rebirth" episodes.


One thing I can say for the new cartoon they're comming out with is at least it will have great voice acting. I can tell already with Susan Blu directing. I would just like to see an Arcee cameo voiced by Susan!

But the style is just hideous. What makes them think that 7 year olds are so stupid that they like everything dumbed down that much? I mean the original Transformers:The Movie had great animatoin and even had cussing in it and we all loved it as kids! Not to mention the show didn't talk down to us and dealt with deep mature themes and it became a pop culture icon. I learned alot growing up from watching the original Transformers.

I'm not sure if they're not miscalculating this whole thing. We're living in an age were several animated shows have found a brilliant balance between appealing to all age groups. Going for a show that goes mainly for the youngsters might turn out to be short-sighted, if not entirely dysfunctional. In a worst-case scenario, kids will find it too kiddy - And that's a death sentence in the schoolyard conversations.

Now, I'm not knocking the show before really knowing how it will go down... But the marketing strategy could very well turn out to be flawed.

I'm not going to make comments (good or bad) about this show until I see it, the same as I did the movie (except for the movie designs... BUT COME ON!)

Nemesis Cyberplex wrote:You know...one thing I would like to see from transformers is a new series that is made for nobody but current fans...people that grew up with this stuff, love it, & want to see more instead of the same thing rehashed the fifteeth time for people that honestly could care less except for that they saw it for the first time the other day & thought it might be cool to check out again some time.

I mean, homages are great & all, but how 'bout we get something that's not an homage, because it's the real deal.

We have that, it's the comics. If you haven't noticed the comics aren't exactly marketed to seven-year-olds. The Dreamwave run was even more adult-oriented than the IDW run. I mean, Megatron crushed a human into a ball in the opening scene of the first Dreamwave series, and later on Megatron ripped Shockwave's arm clean off. Optimus Prime also shot Devastator's face in half at point-blank range at one point. That's f'in' hardcore.

I hate to say it, kids watch cartoons, and buy the toys they see in the cartoons. Let the kids have their cartoons. We have our comics; we should be happy with that.

However, all that being said, a direct-to-DVD updated animated movie that focuses on the characterization of the Transformers themselves would be a welcomed gesture of goodwill to the fans after the Michael Bay film...

Well...

There's actually a lot of positive things in this interview -

first of all - I like his approach to the villain getting their butts kicked all the time, and how he thinks this downplays the heroism of the heros and makes the villain look like a whimp - so he's going to have the villains show up sparcly and have the heroes focus on other stuff ... that's good - it's good that they're doing that.

Next - I don't think it's necessarily bad that they admited the show is for seven year olds. They DIDN'T say that with Armada/Energon/Cybertron... and lots of people got worked up, especially with Armada - what with it being just off the heals of adult-oriented BW....and then whamoo... it's pikachubots.... So at least here they're telling us what we can expect...

For me - as with all the other kiddie lines - only one thing really matters: the toys themselves.

Give me some really cool toys and I won't be bothered that the show they're in is retarded or kiddish - I'll still buy the toys because they're cool and then weave them into my own TF mythos...

I also like that they're thinking strategically.

For everybody knocking strategic marketing and profit-oriented thinking... think about this:

would we even HAVE a G1 Mythos, BW, and everything GOOD in TF if NOT for marketing?

I agree that there is such a thing as bad marketing - Dreamwave's failure is a case in point - but I think we as fans should be interested in seeing to it that Hasbro has a good marketing strategy in place, and not cursing them for having a marketing strategy at all.

You need the low and solid to achieve the high and thoughtful.

Case in point:
Low/Solid: Teen Titans 7 year old kiddie fodder show

High/Thoughtful: Return of Dinobots, Blitzwing, Octane!

Skids