Transformer animated (yo)
- Thread starter Rattrap
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Kaon
Guest
Animated was okay. Definitely unique in the sense that Hasbro wasn't just spewing the same plot for once.
Animated is probably still my favorite animated series. It was a neat concept with a striking design and good and often funny writing.
Kaon
Guest
Bulkhead has always been a favorite of mine.
I wasn't a fan of the aesthetic, and it hasn't grown on me at all. It's just too far for me.
But I do love everything the Animated designs do. The transformations and kibble placement are top notch stuff. I would love to see them again in some form that works better for me. Bulkhead, Lugnut, Lockdown, and Safeguard are fantastic additions that deserve to be franchise regulars.
AOE Lockdown doesn't count. It's not a proper Lockdown unless the car is a Deluxe and the robot is a Voyager.
But I do love everything the Animated designs do. The transformations and kibble placement are top notch stuff. I would love to see them again in some form that works better for me. Bulkhead, Lugnut, Lockdown, and Safeguard are fantastic additions that deserve to be franchise regulars.
AOE Lockdown doesn't count. It's not a proper Lockdown unless the car is a Deluxe and the robot is a Voyager.
OP is why the Netflix shows happened to us all.
When we first started seeing previews of Animated, I wasn't a fan of the overall aesthetic, but I decided to give the series a try. I'm glad I did, because it immediately won me over. I loved the way it cherry-picked the best parts of what had come before it, added its own original ideas, and spun them all together into a series that bounced around between funny and serious, and could be enjoyed by both kids and adults without talking down to either. I only bought a few of the toys as I was pretty broke at the time, though I was always impressed at the engineering. The transformations were incredibly clever without being overly complex, always looked great in both modes, and had a nice solid and clunky "handfeel" to them. I was an 80's kid, so I'm a steadfast G1-er at heart, but Animated is a very strong second favorite.
I didn't care for animated. I hated the designs and the stories, while interesting, didn't embody Transformers for me.
But I've always appreciated the level of engineering on the toys to transform so they look exactly like the show.
But I've always appreciated the level of engineering on the toys to transform so they look exactly like the show.
Animated was too damn good for this franchise. It's a show mature enough to deal with McCarthyism and unpretentious enough to have peeking robot asscrack, which is a balance of extremes that's only otherwise been pulled off in the best bits of IDW1 and nowhere else in TF, which on the whole prefers a middling monotone grey. Even Beast Wars never let its characters be so dorky and unhip while being fully sympathetic to them. The most striking and varied visual design for a TF cast, incredibly clever toys that evoked those characters perfectly, and the animation's almost watchatble.
I was turned off by the first looks at the characters, but instantly made a fan whem I sat down to watch it. It remains one of my favorite iterations of Transformers and Ive love to see something along these lines again.
I do find it a little hard to recommend to newcomers tho with the prevalent human villains early on. Thankfully the strength of the core cast helped with that element, but I can see it being a huge turn off to someone who is already taking a leap on the visual style.
I do find it a little hard to recommend to newcomers tho with the prevalent human villains early on. Thankfully the strength of the core cast helped with that element, but I can see it being a huge turn off to someone who is already taking a leap on the visual style.
See, I liked the buildup to the Decepticons as enemies, and the focus on the core Autobot characters as the main recurring cast as a superhero team. That was a sensible choice IMO, and one suited very well to specifically a Transformers series intended to onboard people.
My big cringing apology and caveat to anyone I recommend it to is that there are two adult female characters that appear in more than three episodes, and one of them is a fridging while the other uses sex as a weapon.
My big cringing apology and caveat to anyone I recommend it to is that there are two adult female characters that appear in more than three episodes, and one of them is a fridging while the other uses sex as a weapon.
To be fair, take ONE look at the hot-bag-of-donuts that is Animated Sentinel Prime and tell me that he isn't using nuclear-grade, weaponized sex appeal.
I enjoyed Animated when it aired and wish it would have gotten to be completed, but really don't have a desire to see it return now. It was great in it's time but the aesthetic just isn't what I'm looking for in 2021. But I'll be happy when Animated diehards get an eventual anniversary release.
People still waiting for an Animated continuation ought to be rewarded at some point for having the patience and loyalty of dogs.
I won't say that I'm still waiting for a continuation, but I will wag my tail a couple times, sigh heavily, and then go back to sleep under my desk.
Animated is ultimately why I got out of Transformers as a kid.
And it wasn't because I thought the show was bad, I remember enjoying the first few episodes when they aired, it was just my 11 year old brain basically thought there'd be no way they could make the toys look like they did on the show, so I just stopped watching.
And it wasn't because I thought the show was bad, I remember enjoying the first few episodes when they aired, it was just my 11 year old brain basically thought there'd be no way they could make the toys look like they did on the show, so I just stopped watching.
And also I'd kind of grown out of action figures and toys at that point. I was 11 then, I didn't play with toys anymore, I played video games lol.
Oh, that ship's long sailed. There would be little point in returning to Animated specifically, and frankly I don't think it would help. They've "returned" to Beast Wars this year and I don't particularly care.
Animated was interesting because it did new and fun things, mostly competently. If you liked Animated, you probably want new and fun things. That's different from G1 fans, who are easy to please repeating the same content over again because the value is purely in the nostalgia.
