Transformers G1

[Arvandor]

So, a few months ago I picked up and started watching good ol' Transformers. One of my childhood favorites.

It's a fun show, but wow, it's way more poorly animated and written than I remember, even with the rose-tinted glasses of nostalgia. However, that's not what bothers me.

What bothers me is how random it all seems, and how shotty the continuity is. Robots will just come and go with no explanation as to how they got there or where they came from. I just finished season 2, and was about to start up season 3 when I realized that season 3 was supposed to be post-Unicron movie thing. But... I haven't seen HALF the robots that appear in the movie. No Hot Rod, no Cup, no Blur, etc. They're all apparently introduced IN the movie, with of course, zero explanation. And Moon Base. How did the moon bases come to be and since when were Jazz and company sent there? You can watch the series straight through and feel like you've missed some episodes somewhere.

I find it very confusion and strange =/

[Mortificator]

Robots will just come and go with no explanation as to how they got there or where they came from.

They're in disguise.

It's not Transformers, but I watched the old G.I. Joe movie not too long ago and didn't hate it.

[Sly Cherry Chunks]

The movie has a star wars style 'opening crawl' that explains the gap between the first two seasons (set in the 80s) and the movie (2005). I read that this was only in the UK version though.

[Arvandor]

Yeah, I just watched the movie, and while there was no crawl, it was apparent that many years had passed, and explains why there were so many new characters and strange events in the movie.

But that still doesn't explain all the character randomness of the second season. It was... really weird.

[t0yrobo]

I tried watching G1 a few months back, I only got halfway through the first season though. It was all about selling toys, which probably explains the characters coming and going randomly. What bothered me the most was that the autobots were always hopelessly out gunned and out maneuvered, but they won in the end just because they're the good guys.

[Lordstar]

Was it not ranslated from JP and thats why most cartoons back in the 80s never made any sense?

[system11]

I actually thought the comic was the real driving force behind the stories, it generally made sense too. The cartoons were terrible.

[BrianC]

I find it interesting how the person who did Jazz (Scatman Crothers) was in his 70s when he voiced the part. He also voiced Hong Kong Phooey and one of the Harlem Globetrotters.

Was it not ranslated from JP and thats why most cartoons back in the 80s never made any sense?

The show itself was American, but it was based on robots from a Japanese toy mold and outsourced to a Japanese animation studio (Toei).

I actually thought the comic was the real driving force behind the stories, it generally made sense too.

From what I read at wikipedia, Hasbro worked with Marvel to help develop the story concepts for the series, so that makes sense.

[FIL]

G1 was made in the USA and since then there have been a mix of US made and JP made series.

[kernow]

You're right, its a hard watch - the first series is relatively short but when I realised the 2nd was 48 episodes or something, I quickly lost interest. I'll get through it one day. The movie is great though.

[Zeether]

What I wouldn't give for a proper dub of Headmasters. (Yes, there IS one but IIRC it only came out in the UK and it was by some shitty Malaysian studio)

I actually want to watch G1 just because it's categorized as an anime (at least that's what MyAnimeList says )

[PC Engine Fan X!]

I recall when Transformers: The Movie debuted in the USA back in 1986, it was cool to see the opening scene of Unicron devouring a planet with all the natives on it. Yeah, the Marvel Comics version of The Transformers is really what set the stage for G1 to see where the origins of the Autobots and the Decepticons came to be.

The only time Jetfire was shown like that of the Macross Battloids was during the Hasbro Jetfire toy commercial but not in the G1 anime series (renamed Skyfire and given a re-designed look altogether as not to infringe on VF mecha shown in the Macross portion of Robotech).

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[Arvandor]

The first time I saw the Transformers movie, it was being shown basically like it were a 4 episode part of the show, and at the time it was on once every Sunday. So it took me a month to get through it all =)

But it was awesome then, and I'm glad to see it holds up now. The series was pretty bad, and I was worried, but I still liked the movie. Wonder if season 3 will be any good.

[throne_of_wolves]

Yeah, Transformers has not aged well at all. It's tolerable for a handful of episodes at a time, after which the nostalgia glasses have well and truly left the building.

I find that most of my favourite childhood cartoons haven't aged well, due in no small part to the fact that most of them were made to sell toys and had no real substance. In fact, Looney Tunes is the only show that I still watch and love (to pieces) from my childhood.

[PC Engine Fan X!]

Yep, Looney Tunes hails from the Golden Age of hand-drawn animation. Huge staff to create them back in the 1940s-1950s...even would re-use each cel by simply washing off the paint to save $$$ back in the day. The big animation studios (Warner Brothers, etc.) would hire folks whom were known as "cel-washers". So some of those rare vintage animation cels that did survive from "being at the wrath of the cel washers" are worth serious $$$ nowdays.

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[sven666]

man the cartoon sucked even back in its heyday.

i remember i was crazy about the comic and the toys when i was a kid but not even then could i watch the cartoon without cringing.

[Arvandor]

I find that most of my favourite childhood cartoons haven't aged well, due in no small part to the fact that most of them were made to sell toys and had no real substance. In fact, Looney Tunes is the only show that I still watch and love (to pieces) from my childhood.

I still like Garfield and Friends =) If anything, I like it more now than when I was a kid.

I think it's time to start revisiting the cartoons from my later childhood that I'm fairly confident are good. Tiny Toons, Animaniacs, and the like. Maybe even X-Men.

[kernow]

Struggling through G1 series 2 at the moment, ughhh

its so hard, theres some glaring voice and animation mistakes, its quite funny.

I know its a kids show but I'm pretty sure I could draw megatron better sometimes.

[Sonic R]

I haven't watched the cartoon, well since it was on TV as a child, so now I may be afraid to watch it now…

Though I have watched the movie, as I bought it about 10 years ago on VHS (unsensored version) and I think the movie holds up well. I even have watched it with my children and my oldest daughter loves the movie, and it got her interested in the Transformers as she dragged me to the first movie that came out a few years ago… we still have not seen the sequal, but she still wants to see it.

Loony Tunes are timeless cartoons and I enjoy watching them today and got my children to watch them and enjoy them too.

And one other cartoon which I still enjoy from my childhood, Danger Mouse

[Ed Oscuro]

I find it interesting how the person who did Jazz (Scatman Crothers) was in his 70s when he voiced the part. He also voiced Hong Kong Phooey and one of the Harlem Globetrotters.

Whoa, I didn't know Scatman John did one of the Transformers.

To be honest, I've hated what I've seen of the 80s Transformers cartoons, just because it looked garbage. Always thought the continuity problems were the result of a Power Rangers-style remix (heh, isn't the series Power Rangers is based off of just as old in Japan?).

I know its a kids show but I'm pretty sure I could draw megatron better sometimes.

How many kernows would we have to have drawing inbetweener frames to make a single episode, though?

[kernow]

[EinhanderZwei]

Despite the continuity issues that I actually don't care about, I fuckin' love Transformers. Back in 90s it was the first really violent cartoon I've seen. The villains were not 'defeated', did not commit suicide, did not realize that they're wrong, did not flee promising to come back. They were blasted, beaten, zapped and disassembled. Actually that's what for the show is notable - it doesn't offer something clever, no morals or 'Sonic Says' bullshit. Just a bunch of robots beating the hell of each other, and '86 movie took it all to a whole new level. I've once read an interview with one of the Russian dubbers, and he admitted that he was charmed by the brutality and no-compromise attitude of the series

Bottom line: when I was a child, and when now I am in early 20s, it was and it is totally kickass. Animated Transformers have one thing that many cartoon shows sadly lack: serious BALLS

[BrianC]

its so hard, theres some glaring voice and animation mistakes, its quite funny.

I noticed this quite a bit with animation from the 60s, 70s, and 80s, including some anime like the original Macross. Many Hanna Barbara cartoons and some Jay Ward cartoons (the ones outsourced to a different studio) like Rocky and Bullwinkle were notorious for this. Stuff like Boris's mustache disappearing and reappearing in Rocky and Bullwinkle, Penry's hat changing from red to white (twice in the same episode!) in Hong Kong Phooey, the wrong voice coming out of a character's mouth on Scooby Doo and Josie and the Pussycats, and Millia looking poorly drawn in some scenes in later episodes of the original Macross.