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.
