TRANSFORMERS: THE BASICS on the MAYHEM ATTACK SQUAD is now live! Autobots beware - this week I spotlight the worst of the worst, the Decepticon counterparts of the Wreckers, and the stars of this year's "Doom 'n' Destruction" toyline!
(Watch below)
Listen I love her but the very idea of completing a Sonic the Hedgehog trilogy without Robotnik and having to change the villain in the third movie because the actor retired is the very epitome of why cartoons and comics and games are better for some things than live-action films
A substantial percentage of the appeal this movie holds for me is seeing normal people's reactions when the cartoon hedgehog film contains a solemn flashback scene of a 10 year old child being shot through the head by a digitally de-aged Olive Garden Guy.
It's easy for TF fans to say "not again" to this, but, like... general audiences haven't actually seen it before. Even in cartoons, it's been confined to abbreviated flashbacks. You'd have to have read the comics or the novels, and only Hardcore Nerds have done that.
The upcoming animated ‘TRANSFORMERS’ movie will tell the origin stories of Optimus Prime and Megatron.
“We really are telling the origin story of all Transformers, what they were at the beginning of it, to how they grow, to how they grow apart”
(Source: )
So yeah, seems we're looking at a variation on the standard modern origin; Quintessons rule over an unjust, unequal Cybertron governed by Sentinel Prime.
Absolutely terrible news today to hear that Derrick J. Wyatt, art designer for TF Animated, has passed away. A man much loved by the fandom, whose talents defined one of the most beloved TF series, to say nothing of other generation-defining shows he worked on. An utter tragedy.
It's reactions like this that give you that all-important peek into the mind of the general audience and how they percieve this character, vs. jaded grumpy TF fans complaining about cheating death.
I never thought the day would ever come I see people clapping at a Transformers film.
Unfortunately I didn't get the reactions of the audience when I went opening weekend.
But the fact that I recorded this 3 weeks after Release and people STILL clapping. It says something man.
In-keeping with the theme of today's tweets, the number of replies and QRTs saying this wasn't controversial is another way for me to know that I am reading the opinion of a child who was not online at the time this came out, because oh my GOD it so absolutely was.
We're all having fun with this meme moment, but honestly, I'm legitimately enjoying seeing Bayformers '07 receive this kind of genuine *oh, this slaps actually" love from general audiences.
Optimus Prime giving a speech with Linkin Park playing in Transformers (2007) for the ending was one of the greatest creative decisions in cinematic history
if there's one thing I hope this movie does, it's explain why shadow is a hedgehog
"Bloo bloo blurgh professor Gerald bloo bloo sonic battle blurgh blurgh angel Island mural"
that's you, shut up
I knew to expect it, but it's surprising how "Transformers as standard big kids' CG movie with rock song needle drops" feels SO different for the franchise, isn't it?
I literally do not care what anyone says, this scene is, was, and remains one of the all-time greatest moments in the entirety of Transformers history.
Was just talking about this trailer with my bro the other day, and we agreed, there's something it's not saying. And we realised, looking up the cast, it's that the animals are going to flipping talk. And I just think that's a WHOLE different movie than what's being sold here.
Just remembered IDW's reason for all the Seekers looking the same is because Starscream committed tax fraud and needed body-doubles to confuse the police.
Last weekend,
@jimsorenson
and I unveiled the never-before-seen FIRST DRAFT of "The Transformers: The Movie" at
@tfnationltd
! If you weren't there, settle in, because tonight, I'm doing it all again, right here on Twitter! (1/22)
(Lineart by
@EdPirrie
, colours by
@Drivaaar
)
Want to own some
#PowerRangers
history? The Lord Zedd suit from Dino/Cosmic Fury and the Mighty Morphin Rangers & Robo-Snizzard from Once & Always are up for auction!
They're currently on display at the
@HeritageAuction
booth at
@nsccshow
in Cleveland, OH!
Consistently weirded out by the number of people who always say some variation of: "why did they get the Rock only to kill him after one episode?" Bro that's WHY they got the Rock!! As a deliberate one-shot celeb guest! Are you dense!
It's almost CUTE how much they thought this idea was a huge MCU-level media-blitzing spoiler that had to be kept secret at all costs, when to pretty much the entire world outside America, it's just a different name for the army men that are always running around in these films.
Big things are in the works for Transformers and G.I. Joe. 'Rise of the Beasts' director Steven Caple Jr. and producer Lorenzo Di Bonaventura unveil their top-secret plans.
I go on a bit, but honestly TF fandom as a whole has one of the healthier relationships with "canon" because mostly they understand it's not real and never has been, there are just lots of stories and some are related and some aren't.
Awful news today that Peter Spellos, the voice of RID Sky-Byte, has passed away after a battle with pancreatic cancer. Not just a TF celeb but a real part of our family like no other - a kind and brilliant guy who we're all better for having had the chance to know.
I'd like to add another obscure character for obscure characters month:
My dad
No one knows what he looks like, only that he went to the store for milk. If anyone can shine a light on this subject, it's you Chris.
Following the release of
@KeyanCarlile
's detailed video, and the emergence of the original planning document courtesy of
@Tubesmith
, I thought I'd better redo the
@tfwiki
Animated season 4 article!
GO▶️
The thing about this panel for me was the way it proved DWJ isn't here to mindlessly regurgitate. You might think the use of the G1 character models is thoughtless nostalgia - but he's drawing VEHICLES here, not just recreating the toys or the cartoon approximations of them.
NEW SOURCE COUNTDOWN! Today, we're appreciating the *gorgeous* artwork of the new Skybound
#Transformers
#1
by highlighting some favourite panels! Go have another look at these stunning robot renderings - link below ⬇️
Spider-Verse has done a lot for animated cinema. Also holy shit, Turtles with voices that make them sound like the actual kids they're meant to be but have never once been performed as!
FOUND MEDIA: Even more footage from the lost "King Koopa's Kool Kartoons" was found by BetaGems! For a long time, there was a rumor that Koopa threatened a kid by claiming to know where he lived; turns out Koopa DID say something highly similar in this new clip.
you know you try to take complaints in stride but some do just make you stare off into the infinite darkness for a minute and consider packing it all in
Look, we all love the Cybertron scene, but I stand by the fact that this version of the film would've had much better emotional throughline of an amnesiac Bumblebee regaining a lost faith in humanity.
I've struggled recently to imagine what's next for the Titan class - like, who's really left? - but I had a sudden realisation today: TITAN HIGH TIDE. Keep that nautical theme going after Tidal Wave!
D'you ever think about how, somewhere around 2018, they just... GAVE UP on a design rationale for Soundwave & his minions? Now he just has a chest door rectangles come out of for no thematic reason. Mindless preservation of brand iconography over critical thinking and innovation.
@fearghal_youell
Oh, I consider it a win-win scenario, because if they DO adapt it it'll be very, very funny, and if they DON'T adapt it, Sonic fans will be mad, and that will be very, very funny.
TRANSFORMERS: THE BASICS on SOUNDWAVE has been updated for 2023 and is now live! Revised, rewritten and expanded, it's a whole new look at the history of Megatron's loyal, sound-manipulating spymaster!
OPERATION: INFORMATION ▶️
I'll be back from break with new Basics episodes soon! As revealed on today's livestream, here's what I'll be covering in the new batch of vids taking us up to
#200
!
Late Jan: 198 - THE SEEKERS
Early Feb: 199 - DEATH'S HEAD, yes?
Late Feb: 200 - The long-overdue HOT SHOT!
We're not taking enough about the recent descendent of this phenomenon, where marketing doesn't the characters be called "Transformers," they have to be "Transformers robots." That is to say, instead of "robots who transform," they are "robots from the franchise Transformers."
in order to protect the strength of the "Transformers" trademark, the word "transform" cannot be used anywhere in Transformers, including marketing, packaging and even in fiction.
This has lead to some awkward phrasing. (2010- )
@SixoTF
You joke an' all, but I remember how genuinely surprised I was to watch the DVD special features and learn they really did blow an actual bus in half for that scene!
Speaking of Fandom, I heard this trick recently and have been using it non-stop; maybe y'all know it already, but - if you need to use a Fandom wiki, go to the address bar & change the URL to "antifandom." Strips out all the ads and videos, makes it actually readable on mobile!
It was less because of the content/competency of the show, and more because it was simply the first new Batman cartoon after 10+ years of the DCAU. I always say, it had to die on the cross so we as a society could move past BTAS and get things like Brave and the Bold.
Note, this doesn't refer to the original show, but to a live script-reading from a Japanese convention a day or two ago, linked in the quote tweet. I've not watched it yet to see what's up.
TRANSFORMERS: THE BASICS on MIRAGE is now available early to Patreon supporters!
#RiseOfTheBeasts
is hitting cinemas now, so at long last, it's finally time to look at the history of the classic Autobot illusion-caster who stars as its leading bot!
LINK▶️
Non-screen toys based on concept art is a fun and interesting way to being ideas to life that might otherwise have gone forgotten - but dang if it doesn't speak to how Studio Series has kiiiiiinda run its course as a line.
Difficult to believe we said goodbye to IDW's Transformers today. I've spent a LOT of words on these comics over the last 17yrs, in articles, podcasts, videos, so I'll just say - thanks guys, it really was a hell of a run. Hard to imagine we'll see its like again for a long time.
TRANSFORMERS: THE BASICS on COSMOS is now available early to Patreon supporters! Reach for the stars with this look at the Autobots' outer space eyes-in-the-sky, and his troubled history of cancelled toys, cartoon, and comic appearances!
LINK▶️
I see Sonic X has been added to Netflix today, and the thumbnails are the absolute laboratory-engineered perfect illustration of why I didn't enjoy it when I tried watching it back on the day.
Huge thanks to
@ParamountUK
for inviting me to the Irish premiere of
#RiseOfTheBeasts
in Dublin! See for yourselves what all the fuss is about when it opens on Thursday the 8th!