Transformers: Animated…The Movie that Wasn’t

Transformers: Animated

Many moons ago, we commented on Cartoon Network’s Transformers: Animated show. It debuted on December 26, 2007, although I’ve yet to see it because I’m still asleep at 10:30 Saturday morning. However, aside from it using the current animation style of Batman, Star Wars Clone Wars, and Justice League, it seems like a really good representation of the G1 show. There are many characters from the classic show, almost all with their same personality, color scheme, and vehicle mode. They include Optimus Prime, Bumblebee, Ratchet, Prowl, Ultra Magnus, Jazz, Ironhide, Blurr, Arcee, Elita One, Grimlock, Snarl, Swoop, Megatron, Starscream, Soundwave, Shockwave, and more. They have the Ark (Autobot ship), the Nemesis (Decepticon ship), Cybertron, Teletraan I, the original transforming sound effect, the purplish neon energon cubes, and even the original Transformers theme song! Voice actors include Corey Burton, John Moschitta Jr., Weird Al Yankovic, Lance Henriksen, and Bill Fagerbakke (Dauber on Coach). I have yet to see an actual episode, but the videos on the websites below are interesting. It seems as if the flow and dialogue is very close to the original show.

Cartoon Network Official Site
Another Official Website

Corey Burton, the voice of G1 Shockwave, now plays Megatron. David Kaye, the voice of Beast Wars Megatron, is now Optimus Prime, who he also played in several of the recent TF cartoons. Welker said he nor Cullen were offered a role. I have to think that the reason is Cartoon Network preferred to use people it’s worked with extensively before.

4 Replies to “Transformers: Animated…The Movie that Wasn’t”

  1. Greg, I saw the premier of Transformers: Animated on December 26, 2007. It was so bad that I changed the channel after ten minutes and erased it from my mind. Thanks a lot for reminding me about it.

    The art direction was tolerable, but I couldn’t stand the voices. Nothing will ever live up to the original series. Nothing!

  2. I saw it this morning, an episode featuring the dinobots (only Grimlock spoke). I actually can’t stand CN’s artwork, but I haven’t liked any cartoon artwork since the TMNT show. I agree the voices are not all great. It’s just strange because CN uses Peter Cullen to do promos for other shows, and Welker has been doing voices on Scooby Doo for them forever. Anyway, compared to previous Transformers cartoons, most of them on FOX or Family Channel, this one was at least the most serious and consistent with the Sunbow version. As I said, I am not a fan of CN artwork, but the shows have been good. Clone Wars was 100 times better than Lucas’ movie.

  3. hey guys,

    I’m ready to do the show. Rob, my sym card was trashed on my old phone so I don’t have your number. Call me and we can schedule a time for the show. I have some funny stories from the midnite launch as well as a review of the game.

  4. Dennis, I’ll call you tonight or Saturday. Maybe all three of us can record this weekend? I’m interested to hear about Super Smash Bros. Brawl.

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