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Few fictional properties have had as many television incarnations as Hasbro’s line of Transformers toys. Along the way, there have been sequels, prequels, and reboots, including several series in which the titular robots turned into animals rather than the more familiar cars, planes, and other vehicles. Shout! Factory’s recent collected release, Transformers Animated, brings together all 42 episodes of the series that aired from late 2007 to the middle of 2009. Employing a looser, more “cartoony” art style and a focus on individual episodes rather than season-long story arcs, this one skews a bit younger than the preceding efforts and will work best for fans whose best moments still occur on the playground.
In this series, Optimus Prime is the new captain of an Autobot maintenance crew that stumbles on the legendary energy source, the Allspark, on an asteroid. Ambushed by Megatron and the Decepticons on their way back to Cybertron, the two factions crash on Earth. The Autobots go into stasis while Megatron’s remains are eventually discovered by a scientist named Professor Sumdac and used to advance Earth’s technology.
The action picks up when the Autobots emerge from stasis to defend the city of Detroit from a monster attack (maybe because New York just needed a break?). Over the course of three seasons, they must contend with a resurrected Megatron, a series of battles over the Allspark, a slew of human supervillains, and Professor Sumdac’s hyperactive daughter, Sari.
I would never classify the various Transformers series as being particularly mature (although, for those of us of a certain age, the original animated feature film, with its multiple main character deaths will always be a somewhat traumatic experience), but Transformers Animated makes a clear effort to appeal to a younger set of fans. The art style foregoes any sense of realistic proportion or mechanical design for the more angular, fluid figures seen in many cartoons of the ‘00s.
The storylines reflect this shifting focus as well. The first season especially frequently veers away from the Autobot/Decepticon war to focus on the Autobots acting as superheroes and taking on various gimmick-related human antagonists who eventually form the Society of Ultimate Villainy. By the third season, these goofier tangents start to fade away, but even then the tone stays fairly light.
The characters also get a younger shading to them. After sitting out the early ‘00s during the Unicron Trilogy, Bumblebee returns as one of the main cast members, likely thanks to his inclusion in Michael Bay’s film trilogy. Far from the silent soldier of those films, though, this Bumblebee is all cocky teenager. Even Optimus Prime, usually the voice of experience and wisdom in these series, is shown as relatively young and unsure of his abilities.
As an iteration of a long-running, constantly reinvented franchise, Transformers Animated acquits itself fairly well. It should please younger fans (the ones whose appetite for new Transformers product tends to be the most voracious), but anyone who came up with an older version likely won’t see it as much more than an odd diversion. A couple of new, unconnected series have already come and gone since it aired, and given the seemingly inexhaustible appeal of the property, more are likely already on the way.
