Beast Machines preproduction materials found!

[Sabrblade]

The "Check Your Sources" Twitter (@20thDan) has received preproduction materials for Beast Machines that show us an inside look into what some of the earliest ideas were for the series, going all the way back to when it was originally known as "Beast Hunters". 20thDan has uploaded three documents in PDF form for everyone and anyone to download in each Tweet.

First up is the original story treatment for Beast Hunters written by Marv Wolfman. This gives a very primitive overview of the series, with a bunch of ideas that seem familiar but very different from the finalized version. We see Jetstorm's original name of "Skybolt", the Oracle's original name of "Oracom", and several plot points that definitely did not make it into the show.

Though, the text of this document is woefully inconsistent about whether it's Thrust or Skybolt whom Blackarachnia suspects to have Silverbolt's spark, so just know that the text will continuously flip-flop on that plot point without warning.

Also, before reading this 12-page document, know that some of the pages are out of order. I recommend reading each page in this order: 1, 2, 4, 6, 3, 5, 7-12.

The treatment can be found here:

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1695541111421583425

9.53 MB file on MEGA

mega.nz

Next up is the Beast Machines story bible. This 43-page document covers a lot of familiar ground, outlining the first season of the show and its cast of characters as we know them, but also contains a few bits of information that either didn't make it into the show at all, or kinda did but weren't really explained or explored that much onscreen.

Plus, this document also has some very preliminary ideas for Season 2 that vary wildly from how the actual second season turned out. Some might even call these early Season 2 ideas downright insane. You just have to read it for yourself to believe them.

The story bible PDF can be found here:

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1695932731249869276

File on MEGA

mega.nz

Lastly is an outline and development notes for the story arc of Season 2. Like the other two, this 7-page document is full of early ideas that didn't all make it into the show. Each episode is briefly outlined and some requests from the higher ups are noted, some of which seem even head-scratching for any Transformers series, let alone Beast Machines.

This Season 2 outline can be found here:

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1696297823048790079

File on MEGA

mega.nz

 

[lastmaximal]

Hooray!

 

[CoffeeHorse]

I look forward to reading all this when it gets hosted somewhere other than twitter.

 

[CEEFAX]

I look forward to reading all this when it gets hosted somewhere other than twitter.

You can just click straight through to the filehost in the links above - no need to even step foot in Elon’s backyard

 

[Sabrblade]

Yeah, the file downloads are hosted on MEGA. I just included the tweets because they are the original sources of these downloads and I wanted to properly cite the sources.

 

[Sabrblade]

I went and edited the post to add in direct links to the MEGA host pages for the three documents.

 

[ZakuConvoy]

Some thoughts/highlights about this stuff:

Beast Hunters.

Spoiler

Okay, so right from the start, they seem to have a idea that Transformers were NOT native from Cybertron and came from somewhere else. They really don't go into detail about where they originally came from. I'm going to assume they just weren't that familiar with the LORE.

The Axalon crew had a mission to find other Transforming races on other planets. That's a interesting idea. Especially given Botanica, eventually. And it sounds like it would have been a bigger plot point in the show. Eventually bringing in multiple worlds and maybe even a "original" Transformer. And this was YEARS before the Thirteen were a thing. That would have been interesting. Especially with Cheetor exiling himself into space for doubting Blackarachnia, he could have EASILY brought back a few new/old faces from his travels.

And in general, this makes it sound like it'd actually be pretty easy for the Maximals to just...leave Cybertron whenever they wanted.

The idea that Transformation is basically like "breathing" to Transformers, and they'll start to die without doing it eventually, is actually a interesting idea. And it even helps "progress" their society, mentally? I wouldn't mind it popping up again, somewhere.

It's the Oracom (or...Oricom, once) instead of the Oracle in this version.

Primal DOES have a Matrix in this version. They really aren't clear if he ALWAYS had one, or if it's something he got after he connected with the Oracom, though. But, I guess the Matrix was on their minds, even back then.

They aren't QUITE consistent on if it's Thrust or Skybolt who was Silverbolt in this version, yet. I guess they hadn't quite made up their minds, yet. Notably, there's no mention of Waspinator, anywhere. So, either they hadn't thought about that yet, or they just weren't sure who they wanted Skybolt to BE.

The Maximals actually would have SEEN Rhinox get converted into Tankorr. That could've been a brutal scene.

There's a lot more focus on martial arts in this version. Rattrap has nunchunks. There's a lot of talk about training. Transformers by way of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles...there's something to that.

The Maximals would have found and recruited a young Transformer into their group...who would turn out to be a spy for Megatron. So, it kind of sounds like "Nightscream" was originally the same character as "Savage/Noble" at one point, and then they split them into two different characters later.

They were PLANNING on four seasons. That clearly didn't happen. And...Megatron WINS at the end of Season 4, breaking into the realm of creation. So, not only were they planning on four seasons, they had their eyes on ANOTHER spin off. And with Beast Wars being a pretty big success at the time...I guess that makes sense, since they were still riding high on that victory.

Beast Machines Story Bible

Spoiler

I'm guessing the executives didn't like how lovesick they made Cheetor sound in the Beast Hunters pitch, because they specifically mention he's "completely over" his crush on Blackarachnia, here. It was a pretty big part of his character arc in the Beast Hunters pitch.

Here, Megatron's plan runs into a problem he doesn't even know about. The origins of Cybertron are from organic life, not machine-based. So his plan to return Cybertron to a "pure" state...is stymied by something he doesn't even know about. They really don't go into more details, here...but the other Season 2 document has...something on that, I guess.

Again, Primal is stated to have a Matrix. They REALLY wanted to reveal that Primal had a Matrix, early on. I'm not sure why Hasbro seemed to veto that. Just because that would make G1 Optimus less "special"?

Oh, wait, they explain that THEIR Matrix is basically God. So...basically Primus. Kind of makes sense that they didn't go with that name, then. It WAS kind of confusing.

So for the Season 2 stuff:

They keep talking about Megatron getting a "pure" vehicle mode, but I don't think they had the idea for Grand Mal yet. They're really vague about what it is, other than "cool".

Energon would have started turning the Maximals into mindless robots. Interesting, but odd.

Again, they make it sound like it's more than just Botanica that would have come from space back to Cybertron. A entire "tribe", in fact.

Tankorr/Rhinox would want to bring balance...by destroying everyone.

Here, the Sparks have found "peace" serving Megatron. They don't even WANT to go back to having bodies.

Stuff goes wrong, and Megatron ends up completely organic and Primal ends up completely robotic. This gives Megatron a hive mind with all the Sparks and cuts Primal off from the Matrix. And later, there’s mention of Megatron transforming into various “creatures” in his organic form. So, now I’m imagining some sort of Akira-like blob monster morphing between different fleshy forms *shudder*.

Rattrap is actually the one to save the day by telling the Sparks that Megatron created the virus that destroyed their bodies in the first place, and the Sparks turn on him. I'm...not sure how that lines up with the Sparks finding "inner peace" and being happier WITHOUT their bodies, but fine.

And we end with four potential endings:

Option A: Primal ends up "fine" and Megatron refuses the formatting and is gone.

Option B: Both Primal and Megatron sacrifice themselves to save Cybertron.

Option C: ...Primal and Megatron merge into a single techno-organic entity. Weird, but I want to see what it looks like.

Option D: They're open to ideas.

Apparently, they ended up going with Option B. I AM curious about Option C.


And "Botanica" was conceptualized as being more "Swamp Thing"-like.

Beast Machines Season 2

Spoiler

They really can't make up their mind on what to call the new "alien" tree Tranformer. Arborita or Flora.

The sparks actually WANTED Megatron to take over. That would've been a twist. Wait, was that in the show? It's been too long since I've seen Beast Machines.

It's kind of hilarious that a running theme of all the complaints the executives seem to have is basically: Can we PLEASE lighten it up?

And...I can't believe that the Transformers were future humans all along. Humans who uploaded their minds into robot bodies. That makes total... Wait...WHUT? Yeah, it's a weird idea. And...it REALLY doesn't work for a number of reasons. No wonder that part never happened. That...basically just makes them Go-Bots. Nobody wants that.

The idea of "Flora" actually GROWING new bodies for all the Sparks they end up freeing would have actually made some sense.

Silverbolt and Blackarachnia reign over the planet as it's king and queen. Ooookay.

And Cheetor leaves for SPACE! Clearly a nod to the idea of Cheetor exiling himself back in the Beast Hunters pitch.

And apparently Hasbro REALLY liked the Diagnostic Drone, of all characters, and wanted to see more of him.

 

[Sabrblade]

Spoiler

They were PLANNING on four seasons. That clearly didn't happen. And...Megatron WINS at the end of Season 4

"Season 4" in this is referring to the first season of the show, as Beast Wars was the first three seasons, as they knew this show would be a direct (if unfaithful) continuation of that show.

Spoiler

Again, Primal is stated to have a Matrix. They REALLY wanted to reveal that Primal had a Matrix, early on. I'm not sure why Hasbro seemed to veto that. Just because that would make G1 Optimus less "special"?

Oh, wait, they explain that THEIR Matrix is basically God. So...basically Primus. Kind of makes sense that they didn't go with that name, then. It WAS kind of confusing.

"The Matrix" is what the Allspark was called all throughout Beast Wars and Beast Machines.

Spoiler

The sparks actually WANTED Megatron to take over. That would've been a twist. Wait, was that in the show? It's been too long since I've seen Beast Machines.

Nope.

Spoiler

And...I can't believe that the Transformers were future humans all along. Humans who uploaded their minds into robot bodies. That makes total... Wait...WHUT? Yeah, it's a weird idea. And...it REALLY doesn't work for a number of reasons. No wonder that part never happened. That...basically just makes them Go-Bots. Nobody wants that.

Yeah, that twist ending is... something else. Truth be told, it actually sounds to me like vindication for a lengthy old fan theory somebody once wrote on ATT back in the day, in which they tried to explain how Beast Machines was going to reveal Cybertron to actually be Earth. Specifically, a terraformed and time-displaced Earth from the far future, explaining how both Cybertron and Earth coexist at the same time as each other.

 

[ZakuConvoy]

"Season 4" in this is referring to the first season of the show, as Beast Wars was the first three seasons, as they knew this show would be a direct (if unfaithful) continuation of that show.

OH...yeah, okay, that makes more sense. Honestly, it didn't really sound like they had enough material for four whole new seasons. Would've been a little too stretched out. Did they mention that in this and I just skimmed over it? I don't think they did, but it's possible.

"The Matrix" is what the Allspark was called all throughout Beast Wars and Beast Machines.

Yeah, but...they never used that Matrix like this before. And that was really just another name for the afterlife, not the "god" itself. It didn't seem to have any powers, and given how the G1 Matrix DID have memories of past Primes in it, it kind of made sense for it to be roughly the same thing as the afterlife. And in the Beast Hunters pitch, it sounds like Megatron wants to TAKE the Matrix FROM Primal for part of his plan, implying that it's some sort of physical thing (and they even mention Megatron taking the Matrix from Primal and putting it in a machine by the end...so yeah, in that first pitch it's a physical object). And honestly...yeah, I just kind of blanked on the Beast Wars mentions. Mea culpa.

Nope.

Oh, well good. I didn't forget that plot point. Although...it's not a totally bad one. Kind of needs some ironing out. But, I understand why it was cut, it makes things...messy. And weird. And sadder than the version we got.

Yeah, that twist ending is... something else. Truth be told, it actually sounds to me like vindication for a lengthy old fan theory somebody once wrote on ATT back in the day, in which they tried to explain how Beast Machines was going to reveal Cybertron to actually be Earth. Specifically, a terraformed and time-displaced Earth from the far future, explaining how both Cybertron and Earth coexist at the same time as each other.

Yeah, they don't actually SAY in this that it's a future or time-displaced Earth...but that's the only way this makes sense with ANYTHING that happened previously. Thing is, G1 HAPPENED in this timeline. So, at some point, future Earth actually got time-displaced somewhenwhere MILLIONS of years into the past. This just...gets really complicated the more I think about it. But...I guess that does make "thematic" sense with how Beast Machines was going.


Oh, and one other thing I forgot to mention. I assume the ending of the original Beast Hunters pitch would have eventually lead to...

Spoiler

The original version of Transtech.

Transtech - Transformers Wiki

tfwiki.net

So, I guess the reason why all the Transtech guys were vehicles WAS because Megatron won, entered the realm of creation, and re-made creation...or became a God, whatever would've happened.

Even though, from the Wiki, it doesn't sound like Bob Skir had HEARD about Transtech until 2013. So, now I 'm not sure if that's what the original plan was or not. It would have really fit those two pieces of a decades old puzzle together, but it doesn't sound like they QUITE fit. Kind of a shame.

 

[Shadewing]

The Sparks finding inner peace and being okay with Megatron; until Rattrap reveals Megatron created the virus... well that kinda makes some sense to me. Like if you think that its just some kinda random natural distaster that ends up with them being rendered into Sparks and Megatron coming off as a savior; yeah you might eventually come to terms with that and be fine. But learning that said savior, is in fact the whole reason this happened? I think even the most 'at peace with the universe' person would still be a bit miffed at being decived.

 

[Sabrblade]

Did they mention that in this and I just skimmed over it? I don't think they did, but it's possible.

Not explicitly, but there's only one season's worth of content described, and Bob Skir would later confirm that the show was always meant to be two seasons of 26 episodes in total. So it only make sense that the "Season 4" mentioned here is referring to just Season 1, with Beast Wars being the other three seasons before it.

eah, but...they never used that Matrix like this before. And that was really just another name for the afterlife, not the "god" itself. It didn't seem to have any powers,

Until it suddenly did in the second-to-last episode of Beast Machines Season 2. When Optimus communed with the Oracle one last time to ask for any more advice it might have in helping him to save Cybertron from Megatron, the Oracle answered that Optimus already had all the answers he needs. Then the Matrix itself spoke to Optimus with all the collective voices within it, saying that it is with him and wants to help him in his coming fight. It then gave him the Super Saiyan-esque glowing power-up that Optimus then passed onto and shared with the other Maximals, giving them all glowing auras with enhanced speed and strength.

Yeah, they don't actually SAY in this that it's a future or time-displaced Earth...but that's the only way this makes sense with ANYTHING that happened previously. Thing is, G1 HAPPENED in this timeline. So, at some point, future Earth actually got time-displaced somewhenwhere MILLIONS of years into the past. This just...gets really complicated the more I think about it. But...I guess that does make "thematic" sense with how Beast Machines was going.

If you're curious, here's the old fan theory on ATT... and now I realize it was brought up on there twice, once during Beast Machines, and again a few years later.

Oh, and one other thing I forgot to mention. I assume the ending of the original Beast Hunters pitch would have eventually lead to...

Spoiler

The original version of Transtech.

Transtech - Transformers Wiki

tfwiki.net

So, I guess the reason why all the Transtech guys were vehicles WAS because Megatron won, entered the realm of creation, and re-made creation...or became a God, whatever would've happened.

Even though, from the Wiki, it doesn't sound like Bob Skir had HEARD about Transtech until 2013. So, now I 'm not sure if that's what the original plan was or not. It would have really fit those two pieces of a decades old puzzle together, but it doesn't sound like they QUITE fit. Kind of a shame.

Transtech wouldn't have been conceived that early in the planning stages for Beast Machines.


Also, these short TFCon videos of Bob Skir shed a little more light on some of the development of Beast Machines. Namely that a lot of what made the show so different from Beast Wars was mandated by the executives and Skir was originally against some of it (like the spirituality, for instance. Skir was initially against that), or how Hasbro at one point wanted Beast Machines to be stretched out and extended into a third season:

 

[CoffeeHorse]

This is fascinating. Is it me or do Hasbro's requests seem completely reasonable here?

 

[lastmaximal]

Absolutely. Cheetor not still being hung up on Blackarachnia is a big one, given the role he'd eventually play in the show and her having her own storyline. And lightening things up was absolutely the right call for a series that inherently deala with heavy stuff.

 

[CoffeeHorse]

And their desire for more Diagnostic Drone. He's not a toy they were trying to sell. They just liked him.

 

[Sciflyer]

To be fair, the Diagnostic Drone was entertaining, if nothing else.; I always liked him. Hasbro should try to prioritize including him with an updated Tankor. Just saying.

 

[Gizmoboy]

I use Shockwave's add-on parts as a stand in for Diagnostic Drone.

 

[Sabrblade]

These videos from TJOmega do a fair job of summarizing the three documents (but still cover the series pitch as is rather than recognizing the out-of-order pages):

 

[CoffeeHorse]

As someone who hated this show, I actually like that Beast Hunters pitch. I always complained that Beast Machines burns through its story beats before they have any time to breathe, and then mostly spins its wheels in season 2. Beast Hunters seems like it was supposed to have a slower pace.

That is assuming "Season 4" was envisioned as 26 episodes and ended up getting split in half. Because if this document is describing a 13 episode season, oof.

 

[Sabrblade]

As someone who hated this show, I actually like that Beast Hunters pitch. I always complained that Beast Machines burns through its story beats before they have any time to breathe, and then mostly spins its wheels in season 2. Beast Hunters seems like it was supposed to have a slower pace.

That is assuming "Season 4" was envisioned as 26 episodes and ended up getting split in half. Because if this document is describing a 13 episode season, oof.

I would think that it is describing just the first 13 episodes since the ending is a massive cliffhanger needing very much to be resolved in the second season, and it seems that 13 episodes had become the standard for season lengths of Mainframe's TV cartoons at that point, based on Beast Wars seasons 2 and 3, both seasons of War Planets/Shadow Raiders, and both seasons of Action Man all being 13 episodes in that time contemporaneous to that of Beast Machines.

And statements from Bob Skir given above in some of those TFCon videos indicate that the show was always planned from the onset to be a two-year series of 26 episodes split across two 13-episode seasons.

 

[LordGigaIce]

I liked Beasties and watched it regularly as a kid but Beast Machines lost me early. tbf I was 12 at the time and I was old enough to be growing out of TFers (that didn't last ) but still too young to appreciate some of the heavier themes they were going for.

I rewatched the whole thing when I was in uni and found I liked it a lot, but I think the Beast Hunters stuff might be even more my speed? One thing I liked about BM during my rewatch was that I felt like Megs wasn't totally out in left field. He had an actual ideology and point to what he was doing behind just being a villain and doing cartoon villainous things,

So the idea that the Sparks are totally cool with Megatron really works for me, and ties into how Rhinox came to think he was right even after shaking free of the Tankor persona. The Sparks turning on Megatron only after they find out he caused the apocalypse works rather well too.

But any idea that Earth is Cybteron and Cybertron is Earth is no buys from me. We all know Cybertron is Gobotron anyway