Transformers movie and season 3: how could they have been done better and got a full season 4 and maybe more seasons?

Steevy Maximus

Well known pompous pontificator
Citizen
I’m not sure what is actually being asked either. I mean, as a summer release, kids had ample time to see the 86 film prior to the release of new episodes of the series in the fall. Even if they hadn’t, the first episode of season 3 recapped the entire film. Not to mention the comic book adaption.

If the original poster was asking “Would season 3 have been better received if everyone had seen the animated film?”, then…not really. Season 3 would still have its drastic status quo change, it still would have focused on new toys, it still would have been saddled with Akom’s piss poor animation. And the film would still have the, quite brutal, deaths of a number of fan favorite characters.

Again, not entirely sure where the point of discussion is here.
 

Soundwave2.0

Member
Citizen
I’m not sure what is actually being asked either. I mean, as a summer release, kids had ample time to see the 86 film prior to the release of new episodes of the series in the fall. Even if they hadn’t, the first episode of season 3 recapped the entire film. Not to mention the comic book adaption.

If the original poster was asking “Would season 3 have been better received if everyone had seen the animated film?”, then…not really. Season 3 would still have its drastic status quo change, it still would have focused on new toys, it still would have been saddled with Akom’s piss poor animation. And the film would still have the, quite brutal, deaths of a number of fan favorite characters.

Again, not entirely sure where the point of discussion is here.
If they had killed any of the cast could there have been a full season 4?
 

Nevermore

Well-known member
Citizen
If they had killed any of the cast could there have been a full season 4?
Which cast? What are you talking about right now?

Don't just ask random questions with minimal context. That's not helping.

This question doesn't even seem to be directly related to the first one.

What is this thread about?
 

Sabrblade

Continuity Nutcase
Citizen
And with the recent presentation of the original first draft script of the movie, we know that Optimus Prime was always going be killed off no matter what. So one way or another, the sadness that people felt from his loss would have still been a thing.
 
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Stepwise

Not Crew.
Citizen
Actually . . . I didn't see TF:TM in theaters. I saw Five Faces of Darkness when it was broadcast, and thought it was the theatrical release broken into episode-length chunks until we rented the actual movie almost a year later. I remember being a continuity nut when I was a kid, so it probably filled in some gaps for me, but I don't remember big impressions other than that. It was 35+ years ago now . . .
 

Soundwave2.0

Member
Citizen
Which cast? What are you talking about right now?

Don't just ask random questions with minimal context. That's not helping.

This question doesn't even seem to be directly related to the first one.

What is this thread about?
I meant the characters from the first two seasons.
The thread is a place to talk how the movie and season 3 could have been done better to the point it could have gotten a full season 4 and maybe more seasons.
 
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Steevy Maximus

Well known pompous pontificator
Citizen
If they had killed any of the cast could there have been a full season 4?
Well…yeah. If a character was no longer actively shipping to stores, Hasbro considered that character useless to have on a cartoon made to promote toys.
I meant the characters from the first two seasons.
The thread is a place to talk how the movie and season 3 could have been done better to the point it could have gotten a full season 4 and maybe more seasons.
If you are asking what those two might have done different to avoid ending with the initial episodes of season 4…I mean, there isn’t much To discuss in that regard.
I don’t believe it would have mattered what Hasbro did or did not do with the movie and season 3. The mere act of “house cleaning” would have turned some off. Without favorite characters, others would have transitioned to the myriad of other toy brands launching in the mid-80s.

Transformers ended because, after 95 episodes (a full 100 counting the movie chopped into a miniseries), and a crashing Japanese economy, Hasbro felt its limited resources for media production were better spent on new brands like Visionaries and Inhumanoids than an established property like Transformers or even GI Joe.
 

Soundwave2.0

Member
Citizen
Well…yeah. If a character was no longer actively shipping to stores, Hasbro considered that character useless to have on a cartoon made to promote toys.

If you are asking what those two might have done different to avoid ending with the initial episodes of season 4…I mean, there isn’t much To discuss in that regard.
I don’t believe it would have mattered what Hasbro did or did not do with the movie and season 3. The mere act of “house cleaning” would have turned some off. Without favorite characters, others would have transitioned to the myriad of other toy brands launching in the mid-80s.

Transformers ended because, after 95 episodes (a full 100 counting the movie chopped into a miniseries), and a crashing Japanese economy, Hasbro felt its limited resources for media production were better spent on new brands like Visionaries and Inhumanoids than an established property like Transformers or even GI Joe.
Were they right about using the media production on new brands like Visionaries and Inhumanoidos and if not why not go back to make a new Transformers season 5?
 

Haywire

Collecter of Gobots and Godzilla
Citizen
If Hasbro had seen value in continuing Transformers Season 4, they would have. I'm fairly certain they ended the cartoon because they saw diminished returns from it as a promotion for the toys. The comic continued with the toyline, presumably because they felt there was still a value to the advertising it provided, but the toyline itself was on the decline, past the peak of its fad status. The quality or reception of the cartoon would have had nothing to do with whether Hasbro continued it; it would be years before they treated Transformers like a media property that could exist separately from any toys that needed to be sold.
 

Sabrblade

Continuity Nutcase
Citizen
Season 4 didn't continue beyond "The Rebirth" also because the TV networks were done with Transformers. It was considered old news by that point. In 1987, the new hot stuff for kids were Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and DuckTales. Those were what the networks were interested in.
 

Darth_Prime

Well-known member
Citizen
Well number 1, don’t kill Optimus. That lost a lot of viewers. Rodimus just never had it for kids. I think most of us wanted more Hor Rod.

A tie in to the movie like with GI Joe and their movie I think could have worked better. Start season 3 by introducing the new bots for 4 or 5 epiosodes, then the movie. Then wonderful things like Carnage in C Minor and The Killing Jar. Better standardization in animation. Why is Call of the Primitives done so well and others just meh?

as for season 4, I love rebirth. I would love have seen it continue. But Japan was already doing Headmasters. Glad we don’t have a split continuity.
 

Sabrblade

Continuity Nutcase
Citizen
Well number 1, don’t kill Optimus.
Unfortunately, that was always going to happen. Like I said above, the very first draft of the script saw Optimus killed off.

And (thanks to the TF Nation presentation being uploaded to YouTube) seemingly Bumblebee, too. Just those two 1984 Autobots.
 

Darth_Prime

Well-known member
Citizen
I can see why they did it. Changing of the guard kinda thing. Refresh a lot of the line. I think Hasbro even admitted it was a mistake which is why they brought him back.
 

Soundwave2.0

Member
Citizen
If Hasbro had seen value in continuing Transformers Season 4, they would have. I'm fairly certain they ended the cartoon because they saw diminished returns from it as a promotion for the toys. The comic continued with the toyline, presumably because they felt there was still a value to the advertising it provided, but the toyline itself was on the decline, past the peak of its fad status. The quality or reception of the cartoon would have had nothing to do with whether Hasbro continued it; it would be years before they treated Transformers like a media property that could exist separately from any toys that needed to be sold.
Why did Hasbro not treat it like a media property could exist separately from any toys that needed to be sold back then?
 

Soundwave2.0

Member
Citizen
Well…yeah. If a character was no longer actively shipping to stores, Hasbro considered that character useless to have on a cartoon made to promote toys.

If you are asking what those two might have done different to avoid ending with the initial episodes of season 4…I mean, there isn’t much To discuss in that regard.
I don’t believe it would have mattered what Hasbro did or did not do with the movie and season 3. The mere act of “house cleaning” would have turned some off. Without favorite characters, others would have transitioned to the myriad of other toy brands launching in the mid-80s.

Transformers ended because, after 95 episodes (a full 100 counting the movie chopped into a miniseries), and a crashing Japanese economy, Hasbro felt its limited resources for media production were better spent on new brands like Visionaries and Inhumanoids than an established property like Transformers or even GI Joe.
Why bring back Optimus Prime if season 4 became a three ep mini series?
 

Princess Viola

Dumbass Asexual
Citizen
Why did Hasbro not treat it like a media property could exist separately from any toys that needed to be sold back then?
Because that's not how the industry worked at the time.

No one viewed these characters as anything more ultimately disposable products.
 


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