If some studio or production company wants to do it, I'd probably buy it... used... if I found a cheap enough copy. I'm not supporting any petition that thinks the atonal sound slop in that "trailer" is worth hearing, though.
Petition: Inspire Hasbro to Release an Extended Cut of the Transformers 1986 Film
- Thread starter Rodimus_2316
- Start date
If some studio or production company wants to do it, I'd probably buy it... used... if I found a cheap enough copy. I'm not supporting any petition that thinks the atonal sound slop in that "trailer" is worth hearing, though.
I wanna know where these Transformers fans demanding an extended cut actually are.
Facebook is my guess. That seems to be where the usual suspects for this kind of thing are. The same crowd that unabashedly and unironically loved Machinima's Prime Wars Trilogy cartoon.
And Hasbro has ALREADY done the limited theater screenings, a few times now. And as bad as it sounds (I saw it in theaters when it FIRST came out!) I've seen it so many times I don't think I'd bother doing it again.
I live in a town that doesn't get anything cool like that, but if I did, I'd totally go see the '86 movie in theaters, since I never have and the novelty of seeing it with a crowd is appealing.
I agree that I've seen that movie way too many times now and it's kind of unwatchable to me in some respects. Not a slight against the quality, just that I've seen the movie so many times it's hard to pay attention to it anymore. My mind winds up wandering and I basically just think about other Transformers stuff
I agree that I've seen that movie way too many times now and it's kind of unwatchable to me in some respects. Not a slight against the quality, just that I've seen the movie so many times it's hard to pay attention to it anymore. My mind winds up wandering and I basically just think about other Transformers stuff
I think a G1 Season 4... er, 5... er, 6? Would be a better bug to try and plant into Hasbro's ears, and has a better chance of actually happening. (Basically picking up after Rebirth.) I can't believe doing say 10 half hours episodes in the 2D style of the G1 cartoon would be any more expensive then the Netflix series. There's already recent and continuing product based on those designs, which they're going to keep making anyway. And with Disney+ continuing X-Men TAS, the Power Rangers reunion thing, Fraggle Rock back, etc etc the precedent is there. Hopefully someone at Hasbro saw the response the announcement of X-Men '97 received and it got some gears churning.
Being a new season, it would be allotted SOME differences without having to try and match a scene or shot perfectly so it doesn't stick it. It would have more freedom to be it's own thing, while also being a continuation, while also being allowed to grow into something new.
Being a new season, it would be allotted SOME differences without having to try and match a scene or shot perfectly so it doesn't stick it. It would have more freedom to be it's own thing, while also being a continuation, while also being allowed to grow into something new.
People kept asking that to Hasbro for several years every year at whatever conventions Hasbro made appearances at, and they always kept saying no.
Any sort of continuation is NEVER going to “recapture” what made the original Transformers series so memorable and enjoyable. The differences with a LOT of those other continuations is that, for the most part, those original series were made as films/series FIRST. Star Trek: The Next Generation wasn’t dictated by the current slate of toys. X-Men didn’t adjust its stories to push a particular toy, or set of toys.
Transformers, GI Joe, Masters of the Universe, they were ALL “toy first” properties. Optimus Prime didin’t die in the movie for the narrative value, he got killed because Hasbro was phasing out his toy! Nearly every character and narrative decision made for those old cartoons was driven by “selling toys”.
When you remove that angle, it kind of “kills the vibe” the old cartoons had. A “proper” post-Rebirth continuation SHOULD feature toys of 87-88. Pretenders, Powermasters, Sparkbots, second gen Masters, etc. But in doing that, you eliminate a TON of fan favorites like Shockwave, Grimlock, Blaster, Soundwave, Jazz, even Starscream would be a guest or cameo, at best.
And if you aren’t going to do that, then why compromise the freedom of just doing a new iteration of G1 where you CAN use all the fan-favorite characters?
Transformers, GI Joe, Masters of the Universe, they were ALL “toy first” properties. Optimus Prime didin’t die in the movie for the narrative value, he got killed because Hasbro was phasing out his toy! Nearly every character and narrative decision made for those old cartoons was driven by “selling toys”.
When you remove that angle, it kind of “kills the vibe” the old cartoons had. A “proper” post-Rebirth continuation SHOULD feature toys of 87-88. Pretenders, Powermasters, Sparkbots, second gen Masters, etc. But in doing that, you eliminate a TON of fan favorites like Shockwave, Grimlock, Blaster, Soundwave, Jazz, even Starscream would be a guest or cameo, at best.
And if you aren’t going to do that, then why compromise the freedom of just doing a new iteration of G1 where you CAN use all the fan-favorite characters?
Jazz, Grimlock, Bumblebee, and Starscream all got new toys in 1989 as the Classic Pretenders, so any potential continuation would have an excuse to use those four prominently again. Same with Powermaster Optimus Prime, having been released in 1988. And then Action Masters in 1990 went all in on bringing back the 1984-1985 cast. Those last few years saw Hasbro finally realizing the value of keeping around the most iconic characters.
That’s because Filmation was cheap AF and focused on the figures. They DID manage to hit 1985 and a few 86 figures before production shifted to She-Ra for 1986
And technically, Optimus Prime was still available in 1986 and 87 as a mail away
But that’s part of the issue I raised: When you say “Post-Rebirth”, how far post are people talking? Because, again, an “authentic” season 4 or 5 SHOULD feature toys of that time frame, which doesn’t include a LOT of those fan favorites (at least not until a theoretical season 5 or 6).
And if you aren’t going to go that hard into authenticity, why even limit yourself to following the Sunbow continuity (such as it is)? When DiC started producing GI Joe cartoons for 1989, the ONLY bit of continuity they held was the Cobra Commander transformation and Serpentor’s leadership. And by the time of the regular season in 1990, they gave no flips and ignored any prior continuity.
I think you yourself put it best when you wrote this:And technically, Optimus Prime was still available in 1986 and 87 as a mail away
But that’s part of the issue I raised: When you say “Post-Rebirth”, how far post are people talking? Because, again, an “authentic” season 4 or 5 SHOULD feature toys of that time frame, which doesn’t include a LOT of those fan favorites (at least not until a theoretical season 5 or 6).
And if you aren’t going to go that hard into authenticity, why even limit yourself to following the Sunbow continuity (such as it is)? When DiC started producing GI Joe cartoons for 1989, the ONLY bit of continuity they held was the Cobra Commander transformation and Serpentor’s leadership. And by the time of the regular season in 1990, they gave no flips and ignored any prior continuity.
I dunno about that. There was a fairly large amount of characters that never got a figure until much later in the line and many who never got a figure at all.
Several episodes had villains that had nothing to do with Skeletor and had no figures. Same with allies.
I think to say all the cared about was pushing toys is a misrepresentation
I feel that is a two fold thing: I’ll easily grant that the writers for He-Man often aspired to be MORE than just a toy tie in, BUT, it also feels like Mattel wasn’t as interested in building that “core continuity” until the show became hugely popular.
I’m inclined to believe that Mattel was a bit more hands off than Hasbro was. They really didn’t seem to care about “mythos” so long as the toys sold. And with the toy minicomics, DC comics and cartoon, there was certainly more that a little discrepancy until the cartoon won out and become THE mythology.
That said, He-Man WAS a toy driven series. Its entire existence was predicated on selling more toys and to feature new toys to sell. Just because the Filmation crew were maybe given more episodes or more creative freedom doesn’t change that.
Eff it, I signed.
I don't rate the chances of its success (I remain skeptical), but it didn't cost me anything more than a couple of clicks, and best case? New version of the movie! Worst case? Oh, look where we are right now.
Who knows? Maybe it'll show enough interest to someone for something. Someone mentioned IDW blowing their chance, maybe the next publisher sees this and thinks, "Now wait just a minute..."
I don't rate the chances of its success (I remain skeptical), but it didn't cost me anything more than a couple of clicks, and best case? New version of the movie! Worst case? Oh, look where we are right now.
Who knows? Maybe it'll show enough interest to someone for something. Someone mentioned IDW blowing their chance, maybe the next publisher sees this and thinks, "Now wait just a minute..."
The movie is overrated and overused but I wouldn't mind a loose prequel, a short showing a Quintesson judge and scientist going to Unicron who is meant to be inert between Lithone's suns, one filling in the backstory of the Cybertronians, Lithonians and Unicron, both of them reactivating him only to be his first victim.
I mean, the Japanese series exist. Dubbing and/or having *fun* with continuity could give the American G1 series, (even if you say, here is the g1 cartoon ignoring rebirth, etc...) a couple more seasons, plus it would be a show "made" during the era everyone is clamoring to get back to.
Considering how current offerings are about recapturing nearly 40 year old designs, an old cartoon could be used to sell modern toys with minimal hassle.
I'm not saying its easy, cheap or has any chance of happening, but neither does the success of this petition, so...
Considering how current offerings are about recapturing nearly 40 year old designs, an old cartoon could be used to sell modern toys with minimal hassle.
I'm not saying its easy, cheap or has any chance of happening, but neither does the success of this petition, so...
Well, there already is a G1 cartoon virtual continuation, a project I'm involved with:
The next few episodes are done, I just have to find the time to code and post them. Need more writers, artists, and website-designers.
The next few episodes are done, I just have to find the time to code and post them. Need more writers, artists, and website-designers.