Reflecting on Transformers Animated Review

Jazz here, and I'm jiving to this episode of

Transformation Animation featuring Mike Blanchard,

Steven C. Phillips, and Michael Wilson. TFG1Mike

here from the GeekCast Radio Network and this

June we are launching our next Transformers review

podcast. This time it's gonna be all about animated.

That's right, we started with G1, we moved on

to Beast Wars and Beast Machines and now comes

the Transformation Animation Podcast. What I

have for you guys today is something that I wrote

back in 2009. I wrote it the weekend that Season

3 of Animated premiered, when the Transwarped

episode first aired on Cartoon Network. I wrote

it, like, the next day after I saw that episode.

I'm not proud of this moment because, as you'll

find out, I wasn't always a fan of Transformers

Animated like I am now. Yes, I know. I was ignorant.

I was dumb. Stop throwing rocks, people. Or I

should say, stop throwing rock lords at me. But

yeah, I absolutely love animated now. And once

Transformation Animation Podcast starts, we will

be talking about every single episode. We'll

be talking about the toys, we'll be talking about

the Almanacs, the comics, all that good stuff.

But unfortunately, two years ago, I wasn't always

a fan of Transformers Animated. Thank you for

that nitro streak. And now, Transformers Animated.

The rantings of a G1 fan. When I first saw preview

commercials of this series, my first reaction

was, what the fuck? While the voice acting is

superb, there are tons of things wrong with Transformers

Animated. I am not a fan of the animation style

that was chosen. While I have enjoyed all the

Generation 1 callbacks that the producers have

used, this show has been poorly marketed. First

off, when they released DVDs for it, they released

Transformers Animated, Transform and Roll Out,

the three -part movie that introduced us to the

series. released the rest of season one in a

separate DVD case. Uh, what? After came season

two on DVD. And this Saturday, March 14th, 2009

will be the premiere of season three, which we

have yet to get on DVD. The voice acting, as

I said, is great for the series. Each actor and

actress really grasps the character that they

are playing, although it is very weird hearing

David Kay as Optimus Prime. I like it. as supposedly

this series prime is supposed to be younger and

basically greener than say Peter Cullen's heroic

Optimus from G1, which is fine with me. I understand

that they were going for a different feel to

the character. I'd have been vehemently against

K playing Optimus if it was a direct G1... Transfer.

However, I get where they were going with it.

Having the Autobots in this as clean -up bots

kind of reminds me of the G1 episode War Dawn

where Orion Pax and his friends were energy collectors.

However, now they must be called to action to

save the AllSpark from the Decepticons. They

come across a Decepticon flagship and battle

ensues. Hmm, much like G1 premiere three -part

or more than meets the eye. There are a shitload

of G1 references through TF animated however,

human villains they use are just fucking outrageously

stupid. and Henry Masterson slash Headmaster.

These villains, as they called them, really pissed

me off. Yes, I know G1 wasn't without its human

villains, but these are just well damn ignorant.

I've actually had to re -watch the season 1 and

2 episodes on YouTube to remind myself how bad

this show is. Ugh. The other major flaw with

the entire Transformers Animated line is the

fact that Hasbro didn't, or Cartoon Network didn't

run the toy commercials during the airing of

the show. I've seen at least 20 TFA commercials

in the last 10 months since the Season 2 finale.

Now, yes, I understand fully that if Transformers

Animated is airing an episode, they can't show

an animated toy commercial during that show.

I get that. So no one... You know, comment on

this video or this audio saying, you know, you're

wrong, blah, blah, blah, blah. I understand.

If Transformers Animated is airing, you have

to air, like, G .I. Joe toy commercials or mask

toy commercials. Not that there's a mask line

nowadays, unfortunately. But I get that, so no

one, you know, don't throw any Rock Lords at

me for, you know, doing that, for saying that.

And I never saw more than two commercials during

the show's run on air. Talk about bad, Mark.

I'm gonna review several episodes of Transformers

Animated briefly before getting into the season

3 premiere episode, Transwarped. Season 1, episodes

1 to 3, Transform and Rollout. This was the premiere

movie introducing us to Transformers Animated.

There are tons of G1 references, like Sparkplug,

Sari's robot dog. In the beginning of the picture

they reference the G1 cartoon with talking about

the Great War and the fact that it has been centuries

since it has ended, with the Decepticons defeated,

not destroyed. They even call back to Transformers

the movie when Prime crashes to the earth after

releasing the all spark energy on Starscream.

He dies and turns grey. That was before Sarah

used her quote -unquote key on him. I really

was against this cartoon, but I tried to give

it a chance. At least I gave it more of a chance

than Armada Energon or Cybertron. As I said before,

I can't stand the animation style of this cartoon,

as well as I think that after the release of

the live -action film, Hasbro team just wanted

to rush a cartoon out. There is absolutely no

planning or thought into this series whatsoever.

This three -part movie was a good start, but

it goes downhill after this. Thus there are several

good episodes throughout the first two seasons

but generally I thought and felt that it was

just horrid. Now let me also say one of the reasons

why I didn't really like this series back when

it first started airing is because number one

it was on at 10 30 on a Saturday morning and

I never remembered to watch it. And that's why

I said earlier that I had to go back, when I

wrote this article, I had to go back and rewatch

the series on YouTube. Episodes 15 and 16, Megatron

Rising. This two -parter was the big reveal of

Megatron still being online. First off, I must

commend and marvel at the superior voice acting

of Cory Burton. His Megatron in this series is

almost equal to Frank Welker's in G1 or David

Kay's Beast Wars Megatron. The animation in this

two -parter is very crisp and solid, and Megatron

finally becoming the true Decepticon leader and

rising to power is fucking awesome. Even though

I rag on this series as much as I do, the season

one ending story is fucking great. I can't say

anything bad against these two episodes. It left

a yearning for more great stories from these

writers. I hate the fact that they haven't introduced

Astrotrain yet. However, Blitzwing is crazy as

all hell in the series, and that is just hilarious.

The Dinobots in this series are dumber than fucking

rocks, though. They are even worse than the ones

in G1. And I love me some G1 Dinobots, I always

have. That isn't saying something bad about this

story, though. Just the Dunobots themselves.

The design on Megatron and his Earth mode is

superbly done and looks fucking awesome. Yes,

I know, I keep saying fucking awesome in the

written part here. They even got the sound effect

right for the Fusion Cannon G1 reference, yay!

There is one point in the second part where Sumdak

says he must tell Sari something, but I'll come

back to that. The episode ends with Megatron

and Prime dispersing the AllSpark and supposedly

destroying Megatron. But not really. Season 2.

Episodes 12 and 13 a bridge too close. This was

the season 2 finale two -parter back in the auto

boot camp episode We learn of an Autobot trader

within the ranks in this episode He comes to

a front as long arm prime slash shockwave and

to my shocking delight as I just looked it up

Cory Burton voiced both g1 shockwave and Transformers

animated shockwave hell Yeah, I never knew the

g1 shockwave was Cory Burton anyways in this

episode in this season series the Autobots are

the ones to have the space bridge technology,

which is a complete turnaround from G1 because,

as we all know, the Decepticons had the space

bridges back then. Megatron still has Dr. Sumdack.

under his control, and demands that he get the

space bridge operational. However, they must

find the most qualified Cybertronian to work

on the space bridge, which just so happens to

be bulkhead. Ugh, bulkhead. Don't get me started.

John Machida Jr. reprises his role as Blur, which

surprised me at first when I found this out.

However, I wasn't unhappy with the choice, as

he is the only one who can talk that fast that

well. The Autobots find the hidden base of the

Decepticons, and a battle for the Space Bridge

ensues. Megatron overloads the Space Bridge,

and Omega Supreme must absorb the Transwarp energy.

The episode ends with Sari being damaged, and

we find out that she is a robot! And yes, I know

Transwarp is a three -parter and technically

it was... Episodes 1 2 & 3 of season 3 however

when Cartoon Network first aired it they aired

it like uh, Transform and Roll Out, which it

was basically one long episode. Even though Transformers

Animated has only had select few fucking awesome

episodes throughout the two seasons, this by

far blows them out of the water. This was the

best animation, the best voice acting, and the

most shocking episode I've seen in the series

so far. Well yes, I'll be the first one to admit

I trashed this cartoon endlessly. This episode

might just turn me around. I know it made my

head spin when I saw all the awesomeness. and

his team get demolished by Strika and her team,

as well as Rodimus getting consumed by a vial

of Cosmic Rust. Um, wait, doesn't Cosmic Rust

transfer to everyone? Fucking oil slick. Blur

finding out that Longarm Prime is the traitor

and even though he can't catch Blur, he can trap

him. So Blur gets trapped and he dies! No! Then

we see that the space bridge network has been

shut down due to the Autobots learning the Decepticons

are trying to get to Cybertron. We find out that

Sari is a Cybertronian protoform and during a

battle she wants to help out and she uses her

all spark key on herself. which ages her from

a little girl to a teenager. The situation sounds

so wrong. She can't handle the upgrades and goes

berserk. Ratchet must use his EMP generator on

her. They get the key out of her and this slows

her down a bit, however she still has absorbed

all of the key's energy. It's dead. Megatron,

Starscream, and Prowl fight for mental control

over Omega Supreme. The elite guard on Cybertron

must try and contact Optimus Prime on Earth.

At the end, Bumblebee and Bulkhead figure out

a way to keep Starscream from getting to Cybertron.

In conclusion, Transformers animated, while not

the best Transformers cartoon, it certainly isn't

the worst. I have to say, after seeing the season

3 premiere, I almost wish that season 3 wasn't

going to be the end of the show. I think the

main thing that brought me down... On it before

was the fact that they have the lamest human

villains ever. On the big upside, the TF animated

is all the G1 slash Beast Wars callbacks like

bulkhead calling Optimus Bossbot, so in closing,

should a true Transformers fan watch this show,

yes, even though it has its most horrible points

at times, there's a light at the end of the tunnel.

No, it's not a fusion blast from Megatron's cannon.

Transformers Animated rating on a whole, 4 out

of 10. Transformers Animated Season 3 Transwarp

rating, 10 out of 10. derp derp derp derp derp

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I wrote that blog post that I just read there,

I continued watching Transformers Animated Season

3 and continued to fucking love it! I have since,

for fun, gone back and watched all of my TFA

DVDs and just amazing, amazing cartoon. I've

had a complete 180 turnaround from completely

hating it to completely loving it. Just amazing

with what they did, even the human villains.

Compared you know inclusion with the story I

don't really mind them anymore as much as I used

to Because at first I was an outsider look trying

to look in trying to get into the series And

I just couldn't and again partially because of

the time slot in season 3 they switch the time

slot from 1030 a .m. To 8 a .m. So that mean

I could wake up early on Saturday morning and

watch cartoons again hooray, but yeah transformers

animated I absolutely love it. I hope everybody

tunes into transformation animation podcast coming

this June from the GeekCast radio network. I

am TFJU and Mike and who better to close this

than Optimus Prime himself.