Introducing the Transformation Animation Podcast

I got a vibe tells me I should be sitting in

on this scene for a while. episode of transformation

animation podcast features steven c phillips

mike blanchard and michael wilson hello and welcome

to episode zero of transformation animation podcast

i'm your host tfjohnmike and joining me is steve

megatron hello hello and peak on court michael

hey how's it going so yes it is going and we

are back um It's been a while. Yeah. No, it's

actually been, it's been about six months since

the three of us have recorded together. More

so for Michael rather than me and Steve because

Steve and I record at least once or twice a week.

Yeah. So Michael, where the hell have you been?

What the hell have you been doing? Pretty much

the same thing I always do. Lots of drinking.

playing video games. Actually, kidding aside,

just doing the dad thing. My boys are getting

older and older all the time. Gavin's turning

three next month. Aidan will be five in August.

They're really, really cute at this age. And

we have the whole summer to play with them now.

It's going really good. I can't complain. That's

good. That's good. So when I was coming up for

titles for this one We usually use anagrams acronyms

for the podcast titles and I was going back and

forth back and forth and back and forth and then

Tap just hit me. I was like, okay transformation

animation podcast because I didn't want it to

be Transformers animated the podcast, you know,

I didn't want it to actually be the show the

actual show name because that's technically copywritten.

So yeah, and then I came up with the whole TAP

thing and it's always been, I don't care what

Michael says, it's always been the next logical

step in the GCRN's Transformers franchise podcasts.

It's the second logical step. No, it is the only

logical step. We started with G1, then we were

the first podcasters to do a full -on review

podcast of Beast Wars and Beast Machines, and

now we are getting animated. And we didn't get

that other show that kinda came between the two.

The other show was Japanese, it doesn't count.

Well, yeah, okay, fine. What if the Armada from

Energon and Cybertron? Well, he's mostly talking

about RID. Yeah, I was referring to robots in

disguise. I wasn't a big fan of Armada and Cybertron

and Energon. Not necessarily in that order. Yeah,

I wasn't a big fan of the trilogy to be honest.

I skipped most of it, but Robots in Disguise

I watched you know faithfully I recorded it and

watched it. I really enjoyed that show If it

was in English we probably would cover it in

English If you if you ask around if you ask around

the fandom sky by is one of the most beloved

characters Yeah Yeah, it's in English. It was

originally in Japanese, and it was dubbed. But

then again, so are a lot of other shows that

came to the US that are really pretty good. I

think eventually, maybe once we get past this

and let's say review some of that Transformers

Prime stuff, we might want to circle back and

do... robots in disguise because it is a very

good show and I think you're going to find is

going to be one of those situations where before

you actually watch it you go oh I hate that show

that show sucks and then you watch it kind of

like animated and you go oh I like this show

isn't that the one where what's his name is the

one that I hate that voices Optimus Prime Neil

Kaplan Neil Kaplan yeah there's an automatic

mark against it no David Kay was Megatron In

red? No. No? No. He didn't pick back up his Megatron

until Armada. Yeah. Alright, who is Megatron

in Robots in Disguise? I have no clue. I've never

actually seen the series. I'm almost positive

that was K. I am positive 100 % it's not. I can

tell you anything about that dude's... voice

profile again it's true he stopped him i do but

that's not in the dark way uh... uh... uh...

uh... uh... uh... uh... so wrong uh... i'm looking

at the time behind the voice actors dot com yes

shameless plug for kevin there Yeah, he'll be

coming up later. So while Steve's looking it

up, we've got several topics that we're going

to hit in this introductory episode. Basically,

what we are going to do is we are going to cover

every single Transformers animated episode. We're

also going to have some toy discussions here

and there. Those are probably going to be special,

like 0 .5 episodes at some point. Don't know

exactly how we're doing that yet. The only thing

that I had originally gotten straightened out

is that the podcast will be fifteen episodes

which will include every single episode from

the cartoon. I have both volumes of the AllSpark

Almanac so you'll probably hear me looking at

some of that or not hear me looking at it but

you know I'll probably read some of the stuff

out of that or I'll probably go to that for interesting

factoids so I don't actually have to type in

search for stuff. What this podcast won't be...

It's going to be the dark mess that the Beast

Unleashed podcast is. No, I think we're going

to go for a lighter tone in the series. For all

intents and purposes, this is a kid's show. Arguably,

Beast Wars was a kid's show. It was very slapstick,

very comedic, but the writing was just top notch

and it gave a lot of fodder for discussion. Beast

Machines? arguably not a kids show, because it

was just so dark and really drove us down into

a hole that maybe we shouldn't have gone into.

But Transformers Animated, just 100 % kids stuff.

It's very cute. The thing that I think really

endeared it to fans was the fact that Marty Eisenberg

and Derek Wyatt had such a grasp of what made

the fandom great and they infused their show

with it. Yeah. Still very much a kids show, but

every turn there's a nod toward G1, Beast Wars,

the stuff that us older fans enjoy. Before you

go any further, Megatron slash Galvatron Red

was played by Daniel Reardon. Daniel Reardon?

That's what it says on the wiki and I know that's

what it says on Behind the Voice Actors because

I remember seeing his name on the RID entry.

I'll buy that, sure. Well, I can send you the

link to the wiki. I was scouring the wiki as

we were looking at this and I was like, who took

the voice for that? It was kill me. You know,

for some reason I thought it was K. No, it wasn't

K. Oh, well. Anyway. Regardless, it's a good

series. I'm sure once you've actually seen it...

you'll, you'll change your mind on it. The size

is actually pretty good. So yes, back to animated.

So we won't have too much of the dark humor that

the Beast Unleashed had. I'm sure we'll have

some sort of humor in here at some points. I

think it's all going to be humor. We're gonna

have to find some new internet memes to ape on,

I think. Michael always tells me. Every time

that he and I, or the three of us, ever get on

a Skype call, he's like, you should be recording

this. We say funny shit. Even when we're not

talking about a particular show, just things

that we say. I know. Just general conversation.

We just say, it's like, we are the podcasting

comedians. I can't really say that. I mean, I

don't consider myself a comedian. I just... Occasionally

I say something that makes me giggle and even

after the fact when I'm listening to it I'll

be like, haha, it's funny. I can't believe I

said that Yeah So what this podcast will be as

I said earlier, you know, we're gonna cover all

the cartoon episodes we're going to potentially

have interviews with the creators writers An

interview I'm most gunning for on this one Course

I have to Find the information again, but one

of the ones I'm most gunning for it will probably

be a tap ATTF crossover interview Susan blue

we need to get her because You know 25 years.

She's been with transformers since g1. Yeah,

that would be the holy grail just because you

know she was rc and and and several serious notes

because specifically because of her overall involvement

in the franchise right she has been the voice

director for all the modern shows as well as

voice actors and the older shows as well now

that would that would be a huge coup and she's

voice acted in animated as well yes i said rc

across several different uh... I know I can get

Derek J. Wyatt. I do have a connection for Marty

Eisenberg. I would love to talk to Matt Youngberg

and maybe Sam Register as well. We will also

be talking with hopefully several of the voice

cast at some point or another throughout the

podcast lifespan. Steve, what are you, all right,

let's, before we go any further as far as what

the show's gonna be. Steve, what are you most

looking forward to from this podcast venture

here? Well, one, I'm looking forward to talking

with the both of you again. We always had good

times despite getting irritated with each other

towards the end of the beast unleashed. I was

going to say, yeah, because it's such a fun time.

It is most of the time, unless we start getting

on each other's nerves. But other than that,

I mean, Not that bad of a show. I look forward

to actually discussing it and seeing what everyone's

opinions are Yeah, I actually wish that there

was more transformers cartoons that are you know

us based That we could actually you know Go back

into again because it just it seems like we're

running out of material Michael what about you?

What are you most looking forward to from this

one? Well, I tend to drink a bottle of wine before

each show so that's really I'll be sure to tell

you guys all about it. Yeah. Yeah, once we get

into the conversation and I start slurring No,

actually We've had a lot of fun together I actually

was really looking forward to doing this podcast

with you guys just because It's a streak. We've

got to keep it alive. We did the G1 podcast together.

We did the Beast Wars podcast together. As Steve

said, toward the end of Beast Machines, we were

grating on each other a little bit. I think that

was just due to the fact that the nature of the

show was just so dark. It's like having the one

ring around your neck and just making you evil.

Yeah, Blanchard's not gonna know what this is

because he doesn't like Lord of the Rings, but

you know Steve's over there nodding his head

Like the hate plague, yeah We're gonna chase

each other and tag yeah, you're it You like to

be a Peppa too That's right, that's almost as

good as the actual sound clip Ah, Eric Idle.

I don't think Eric Idle was the, anyway, what

it comes down to is, yeah, that was a dark show.

I don't really want to see that duplicated and

I really think that due to the nature of the

animated show, this is gonna be much more lighthearted.

I think we're gonna be laughing and having more

fun with this one. Yeah. Now... When did you

get Steve did you have did you pick up on this

show at all like in the beginning? When it first

started airing did you ever try to watch it at

all? Yeah, I remember thinking when I was watching

it that unlike you I was going to give it a shot

I'll get into my stuff wait captain crap basher,

but anyways I No, I thought I'd give it a shot.

And from what I saw of it from the initial introduction,

I was pretty impressed. So I was able to go back

for more, even though some of it was kind of

unneeded and extremely childish. But it still

was a fun ride overall, but it really hit its

stride in season three. Yeah, I was thinking

season two. Season 3 was just gravy. That's what

I mean. It was complete fan -wank the entire

season. Yeah, it was awesome. I was really looking

forward to it when I found out that it was going

to be in the same style as Teen Titans. Because

I really liked the Teen Titans show. And the

thing I liked about it, which I know it's not

for everybody, but because it was an American

show, but it had a lot of nods to Japanese anime.

They had the close -up chibi face with a big

tear across their head, things like that. I like.

I think that's kind of cool. It's a staple in

anime. I really enjoy anime. It's not for everybody,

but I think that the Transformers animated kind

of... It went along those same lines. It had

a lot of the same animation styles, but it didn't...

jumped quite into that deep into the anime look.

You didn't have the chibi heads with the big

teardrop next to them. Right. Their face wasn't

reduced to little scrunchy lines with a red hash

on top of it. If that makes any sense. I don't

know if it will. I don't know if it will to Blanchard.

I don't think he follows the anime. It does.

I have seen some anime. I just don't watch it

at all. I've seen some in the past like I saw

something like oh god I don't know over maybe

five or six years ago longer than that I have

seen some anime so I know what you're talking

about it's just I choose not to watch that style

of cartoon well even if it's just like Pokemon

you know oh yeah like that then yeah you see

that you know you follow you understand yeah

you know I really liked Teen Titans and I thought

you know they I could see a show going in this

direction. I think it would be really neat. Once

it came out, I was already looking forward to

it, but then they didn't do things that people

were complaining about. The fandom was all open

arms because they were saying the transformation

was going to be like a Tasmanian devil tornado

and then they were going to transform. It's like,

oh, we can't have that. We had just suffered

through Beast Machines. So, we knew what horrible

transformations looked like. But overall, I really

enjoyed it. I walked into it wanting to like

it, and I was so pleasantly surprised that I

literally watched the episodes as they came on

TV. So, grown adult here watching the show on

Saturday mornings. That was my first issue with

this show. Was when it came on? That's what the

originally Originally when it premiered it came

on Saturday morning at 1030 Well at the time

I Was doing it well when it started in 2008.

I was still doing TFG one You know we were just

getting ready to launch the network Half the

time I was up till three four five o 'clock in

the morning Saturday morning from the previous

night And I would sleep until one o 'clock Saturday

afternoon. You know, it's one of those things.

And it's like, I actually, you know, I've done

this several times on not just this show, but

on other shows. It's like, I'll wake up on Saturday

morning, I'm like, okay, cool, cartoons, I'll

see what cartoons are on. But I've woken up at

11 o 'clock, right when the damn thing is ending

in the next cartoon, which isn't what I wanted

to watch is coming on. So that was my first gripe

about the show. When I first saw a full episode,

a couple of full episodes, I saw one with Henry

Archer, I saw one with Professor Princess, and

I'm thinking, I know they're trying to placate

the kids, but these are the worst human villains

ever. Oh, Aaron Archer gets his own villain,

and you bash it? Come on. Now hold on I didn't

know that at the time I didn't know it was based

on Aaron Archer I was just 2008 is when I had

just started getting back into collecting I had

just started getting back into the fandom and

I just started you know Getting to know everything

again. All right, you know, so I mean, you know,

I've got to be cut a little bit Yeah, it does

actually That's one of the reasons why I recorded

my old blog post that I wrote back in 2008 or

I actually wrote a review of Animated for for

product empire calm shameless plug And I actually

before we had started this to get the so Steve

could have something for the feed for transformation

animation podcast I Rick I read that that blog

post aloud over the air and I recorded it and

I put music under it and all that stuff and that's

on the feed for TAP. Back when you were bad mouthing

it before you'd actually seen it? Yes. Yeah,

I remember that. I was like, you know, give it

a shot. Give it a chance. So so I I recorded

this it's on the feed It's transformers. I think

it's I think it's TFA from hate to love or something

something similar to that And I just couldn't

stand it. I just couldn't and I said okay Well

because I can never remember to actually watch

the cartoon when the DVDs got announced I'm like

all right cool. I'll get the DVDs and you know

I'll give it a shot and i really didn't give

it a shot until i first saw season three premiere

episode trans warped because it was super hyped

up they were gonna you know fan wake everybody

like steve said uh... and all this and all that

and as soon as i saw that episode i went back

about the season one season two dvds And we'll

talk about those a little bit later, or as the

show goes on, we'll talk about those a little

bit later. I really wish I had picked those up

when they came out of the stores. Yeah. And I

thought, nah, those are going to go on sale.

I'll pick them up then. And now you can't find

them. Yeah, you can't find them. And if you do,

they're 80 bucks on eBay. Yep. Which is kind

of weird. So I picked up the DVDs. I went back

and I watched it. and i really really enjoy it

i you know i i've never seen i've seen bits and

pieces of the times half the stuff of teen times

that i've seen that i've been able to find youtube

is mostly people using the animation for friggin

and these and music videos and all this all that

bullshit well i'm just saying like for me teen

titans was in the show that i really cared about

it's not in the dcau continuity so it wasn't

anything that i really cared about i don't you

know fully hate the show on its own but so i

didn't see the comparison of animation styles

and i didn't see i didn't find the animation

style of of a of transformers animated to be

as garish as everybody had said it was like oh

this sucks why isn't this g one style bull up

there's plenty of hints there there's a lot there

there's a lot to enjoy i appreciate that it's

it's a at different take It's as different a

take on G1 as Michael Bay's movie was a different

take on G1. Or at least the style, I should say.

Even to a certain extent, the story line. Because

here we've got an animated, you know, we've got

a story that takes a nod from G1, but kind of

turns it on its head a little bit. And says,

well, you know, things like the Prime isn't actually

the leader, the end all be all, he's just a captain.

He's the captain of a ship. That's what you call

the captain. He's the Prime. And that's unheard

of in G1. What are you crazy? Optimus Prime is

the leader of all the Autobots. Like I said,

just different enough to make you go, huh, this

is kind of neat. Yeah. It's very, very, very

cool, actually. I'm actually just looking at

the opening. book of Transformers animated, they

also had Almanac, Volume 1, and all the different

logos. This originally was going to be called

Transformers Heroes. I'm so glad that didn't

happen because it's kind of like, oh, Transformers

Ninja Hero Turtles or whatever, something stupid

like that. I think that's originally what they

were going to call the series. Yeah, Transformers

Heroes. Right, right. I was thinking you were

saying the AllSpark Almanac was supposed to be

called Heroes. No, no, no, no. But I'm looking

at the early logo ideas and that are just like

on the table of contents and they all look really,

really cool but I'm so glad with the logo that

they decided to choose on. I really like that.

That's a really cool logo. What else? We need

to talk to Jim Sorensen. Again. No, I mean, now

that we're into it, I mean, this guy wrote the

book, right? Oh, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Well, we will

so have Jim on, but I'm saying I've talked to

him before. Oh, yeah. Well, I've seen him at

BotCon. You know, we didn't record anything there,

but he's a nice guy. Really nice guy. Yeah. So

let's see, the next... point of business is listener

feedback again the voicemail line if people just

want to record mp3s for their voice they can

email them to tfguandmike at gmail dot com uh...

i know there are tons of transformers animated

fans out there so i know that there's probably

going to be a lot hopefully a lot of people listening

to this one because i know there's a huge fandom

for this this this franchise Any other thoughts

before we go to some ads guys Steve no I Have

a thought I'm actually thinking that this series

takes a couple you know serious looks back into

Beast Wars and not so much tying Beast Wars into

the continuity but including characters that

were from the Beast Wars series and you know,

not the exact character, but you know, nods.

You get a rat trap in there, you get a black

rachnia in there, things like that. Well, you

got all the Maximals at one point, but... At

one point, yeah, they pop their little heads

up in the jungle. Yeah, so there is that. And

I'm thinking that, you know, with any luck, you

know, people will say, hey, we have to take a

second look at all that Beast Wars stuff. In

case, you know, people have actually seen this

show and haven't seen Beast Wars. Well worth

going back and looking. Well worth going back

and listening to the Beast Wars Unleashed Podcast.

Yes. Yeah, there you go. If I can manage to get

it out. Beast Unleashed Podcast. Yes. Yeah, it's

going to be really interesting to see after we

get this one done. the evolution of the GCRN's

Transformers vodcasts from G1 to the Beast Unleashed

2 to this. And then after the task, maybe the

robots in disguise? Uh, potentially. Heck yeah!

If it's on DVD here in the US, maybe. Oh, that's

a good question. Is it on DVD? I don't know.

Let me get our good friends from Shout Factory

on the phone. Oh my god. See what they have to

say about that. Alright, so we're gonna head

to some ads and then we've got a Transformers

animated virgin in Optimus Solo. He's going to

be giving us some thoughts and then we are going

to respond to that and then we'll close the show.

No, there will be no operation interference I

am TFG1 Mike and you should be listening to my

very first podcast the TFG1 podcast 24 episodes

covering the entire US run of the 1984 Transformers

cartoon. I also have a few supplemental episodes

and an interview with Stan Bush. I bring in guest

hosts who will be full -time co -hosts in Steve

Megatron and fan of the show now co -host Pecan

Court Michael. So check out the TFG1 podcast.

You can find it on iTunes and the web at www

.geekcastradio .com. Transform and roll out!

Welcome to my throne of future tales. The Beast

Unleashed podcast is over, not gone. You can

hear more of this great podcast discussing all

the episodes of Beast Wars and Beast Machines

on GeekCastRadio .com. We include voice actor

and writer interviews with stellar hosting by

Steve, Mike, and Michael. Head on over to iTunes

or the Net or else I will send you my vehicles

to extract your spark and destroy you. gets tapped.

That's right, I have never seen a single episode

of Transformers animated, so you're going to

get to hear my reactions as I watch every episode

for the very first time. Now, since the guys

aren't discussing any actual episode just yet,

I thought I would take this opportunity to let

you in on my first reactions and opinions about

this show. First of all, I've been a Transformers

fan since 1984 when I was three years old. In

fact, I've collected Transformers toys since

that same age. I even saw the 1986 movie in the

theater. But for some reason, I have never sat

down to watch this particular series. I think

the main reason for that is because, like many

people out there, I can't stand the animation

style. And for those Tooncast fans out there,

you should know that if I don't like the animation

style of a show, I'm probably not gonna watch

it. Now granted, animated style is not as bad

as Dexter's Fairly Odd Parents, Powerpuff Girls,

and all that other crap. But there's just something

about animated that went against everything I

had grown to love about the Transformers franchise.

I mean, come on. The franchise is supposed to

be about big giant robots fighting each other,

you know, manly stuff. And regardless of the

storytelling, the voice acting, the characterizations,

etc. This animation style is anything but manly.

Given that though, I still want to give the series

a chance and find out once and for all for myself

if the writing can truly outweigh this craptastic

animation style like everybody says it does.

So on one hand you're going to get to hear some

in -depth breakdowns from the guys, true animated

fans, and on the other hand you're going to get

to hear some quick reactions from yours truly.

So let's have some fun while we take this journey

together. I just hope I'm still standing at the

end. Now back to Transformation Animation Podcast.

So yes, that was Kevin and we stuck him actually

on Cybertron. He's actually stranded there. What

do we think of Kevin's little introduction, Michael?

I think it'll be interesting to see his take

on things. I mean Kevin likes Transformers. Yeah,

and it was just odd that he's never seen this

series before but you know Hey, maybe he sleeps

until 1 o 'clock in afternoon on Saturdays. He

didn't see any of those episodes unlike some

people, right? But yeah, hey, let's see what

he thinks. I'm sure he'll enjoy it Steve. It's

pretty much the same thing Yeah, I just want

to let the listeners know Kevin's take is going

to like when we cover next time When we cover

transform and roll out the actual quote -unquote

movie that started the series Obviously we're

gonna be going in depth and Kevin is basically

just gonna have Under five minutes just give

his quick thoughts on stuff So that's how the

show is gonna play out as far as transformation

animation uh... because we are now to the format

of three at max four episodes per podcast we

are actually and uh... i don't like will probably

argue with this but my goal for this show is

to get it done by the end of november so we're

actually making this podcast weekly it will release

every monday just like the beast on leash podcast

did uh... this episode will premiered june twenty

six twenty eleven uh... so the next time that

you will hear from us is calendar lovely uh...

uh... here for most of the life and hopefully

in july we'll have a couple of interviews lined

up so there there's that bonus Any other thoughts

before I go through the outro? Nope. It's a pleasure

to be working with you gentlemen, once again.

Agreed. I know I'm not supposed to cross genres,

but why is Kevin Conroy's voice flashing in my

head? Gentlemen, it's been an honor. We're not

dead yet. Yeah, I know. Thank you for joining

us here on Transformation Animation Podcast.

As always, get in contact with us or leave feedback

for the show. Visit the website, geekcasterradio

.com. You can comment on each episode post. Leave

the show's feedback in iTunes. I'm sure by the

time this episode is up, the feed will be in

iTunes. Follow us on Twitter. The shorting there

is TFA Podcast minus TFG1 Mike. Michael, what

is your Twitter? PconCTMichael. And Steve? Burntoast.

I'm joking SCP 21 There's a guy named burnt toast

on Twitter. He's gonna be so pissed at you Nice

Why am I flashing to the night Michael showed

me the burnt toaster transformer on on Skype

chat video? Oh my god Yeah, yeah, yeah ejector

or whatever it is Anything's better than a rector.

Anyway, become a fan on Facebook. Go to Facebook

.com slash GeekCaster or Radio Network. I could

tell Michael's laughing his ass off. There is

a burnt toast on Twitter. He's from Toronto.

Ah, frigging Canadians. Follow the voicemail

line, tell us to show you leaving the message

for and your name, 502 -526 -5821. We hope you

enjoyed this episode of Transformation Animation

Podcast. A wish you'll join us next time, we'll

be reviewing the movie that kicked off Transformers

Animated, that being Transform and Rollout. For

now, I am TFG1 Mike with... Michael Wilson. And

Rotten Asparagus. Bernt Toast, his name is Pierre

Schneider, he lives in Germany. B -U -R -N -T

Toast. Steve Megatron Phillips. We'll tap you

again next week. That's what he said.