Transformers: Animated

Transformers: Animated is an American animated television series based on the Transformers toy line. The series debuted on Cartoon Network on December 26, 2007 and has been shown on NickToons in the UK since February 2008. It is produced by Cartoon Network Studios and animated by The Answer Studio, MOOK DLE., and Studio 4°C. The series has 42 episodes (two sets of three interrelated episodes make up two 90-minute made for TV movies) across three seasons. The European Jetix began to air the series on September 10, 2008. The series began its broadcast in Japan on April 3, 2010, on both TV Aichi and TV Tokyo. The Japanese version of the cartoon was slightly rewritten to tie into Michael Bay's Transformers trilogy.

The show's continuity is separate from any other previous Transformers series, despite using footage from the first series (The Transformers) in its first episode as a historical film. Despite being a Cartoon Network original series, the show was aired on Nicktoons in the UK, Jetix/Disney XD in the rest of Europe and finally, back in the states on The Hub.

Synopsis
Five Autobots (Optimus Prime, Bumblebee, Ratchet, Prowl, and Bulkhead) find the fabled Allspark only to become a part of the long-lasting battle between the Autobots and their enemies, the evil Decepticons. A space battle ends up stranding the Autobots in futuristic Detroit (the year is never specified) where they take on roles akin to that of superheroes, fighting both Decepticons and human supervillains.

The story takes place in Detroit, and the Transfomers' battle is renewed in this future city on Earth. Instead of being known as the Motor City, it has now become the Robot City due to Dr. Isaac Sumdac's non-alien robotic creations. Sari Sumdac, his eight-year-old daughter, is the main human character that the Autobots saved when they landed on Earth.

Season One
In the first season, Megatron's disembodied head was revived, and worked with Isaac Sumdac, under the disguise of an Autobot, to rebuild his body. This usually involved incidents such as the creation of the Dinobots and Soundwave. Not to mention Decepticons Lockdown and Blackarachina have also landed on Earth for specified reasons. Lockdown who has come for upgrades and Blackarachina who has left her cause to find the AllSpark. Finally, the Decepticons Lugnut and Blitzwing manage to revive Megatron with Sari's stolen key. Megatron killed Starscream and fought the Autobots, a battle that ended with Isaac Sumdac captured and the AllSpark seemingly destroyed, its fragments scattered all over the city of Detroit.

Season Two
In the second season, the Autobot Elite Guard (consisting of Ultra Magnus, Sentinel Prime, and Jazz) came to Earth to retrieve the AllSpark, only to learn of its destruction. When they were about to take the Earth-bound Autobots back to Cybertron, Starscream was resurrected by an AllSpark fragment, and proved to the Elite Guard of the Decepticon activity on the planet, as well as the remaining fragments of the AllSpark. Throughout the season, the Autobots continued to retrieve fragments of the AllSpark, and all the while meeting new friends and foes. Mainly autobot Wreck-Gar, and Decepticons Mixmaster, Scrapper, Swindle, Shockwave, and seekers Skywarp, Thundercracker, Sunstorm, Ramjet, and Slipstream. Meanwhile, the Decepticons continued to construct a Space Bridge to reach Cybertron, and by the end of the season, completed it. The ensuing battle resulted in Megatron and Starscream's head immobile in space, and the loss of Autobots Blurr and Omega Supreme (who was revealed to be the Autobot ship). Meanwhile, Sari discovers she does not have any proof that she is Sumdac's daughter or even if she exists, so she was evicted from Sumdac Tower and ended up living with the Autobots. At the end of the season, Sari eventually discovers she isn't just a human, but a Cybertronian.

Season Three
In the third season, Decepticons are battling the Autobots for control of Space Bridges everywhere, hoping to join in Megatron's planned invasion from last season. Megatron and Starscream are soon freed from the depths of space and manage to take control of Omega Supreme. It is meanwhile revealed that Sari is a techno-organic being created from Isaac Sumdac's human DNA and a protoform ("basic frame" of a Cybertronian), but only after Sari drains the Key of its powers when she upgrades herself into a robotic/cybernetic armored teenage body. Shockwave feels that his cover has yet to be blown even by Autobot Blurr who escaped from the clones only to be crushed and disposed of by Cliffjumper. Ratchet is going through visions of his relationship between him and Omega Supreme. Megatron and Starscream come to Earth and attempt to kill the Autobots, only to end up on an endless random warping cycle.

Isaac Sumdac and Bulkhead continued to work on a Space Bridge, whilst the fugitive Wasp comes to Earth for revenge on Bumblebee. Wasp escapes, and Shockwave is revealed to be a spy to the whole of Cybertron. Shockwave escapes with Ultra Magnus' hammer, and leaves behind a mortally wounded Ultra Magnus. Sentinel Prime, who had come to Earth to catch Wasp, returns to Cybertron with the captured Lugnut, Blitzwing, Swindle, and two Starscream clones, but Lugnut and Swindle escape, and Lugnut finds Megatron, Starscream, and Omega Supreme. Soundwave has made a surprising return in an attempt to destroy the Autobots but fails, falls to pieces again and escapes to parts unknown. Shockwave brings them Arcee (who contains Omega Supreme's activation codes), and soon three clones of Omega Supreme are created, in Lugnut's likeness. Optimus Prime is still working on being a flying Autobot and to use the Magnus Hammer getting shot by Slipstream, Starscream's female clone, in the process. The final battle results in the deaths of Prowl and Starscream, and Megatron is captured and brought to Cybertron by the Autobots and Sari, who are hailed as heroes upon arrival.

Season Four
A fourth season was planned, but cancelled for unspecified reasons. According to Transformers Animated: The AllSpark Almanac II, the season's theme would've been Energon (since the AllSpark left Energon deposits all over Detroit), Sari would stay on Cybertron to learn more about her origins while Bulkhead would accompony her in order to protect his hometown from the Decepticons.

Also planned, Jazz and Ironhide would join the main cast (with Ironhide receiving an Earth mode based on his film and Generation 1 incarnations), Decepticon Bludgeon would have appeared as a pirate, Blackarachnia would have a growing army of Predacons, and Ultra Magnus would have died after being attacked by Shockwave. Megatron would have also become a triple changer, turning into a Cybertronian tank and a Cybertronian jet, Shockwave would have also join the main cast, while Blackout would come to Earth and scanned the form of a helicopter, and Optimus Prime would have also received a Powermaster upgrade.

Return to The Hub
The Hub started airing reruns of the show on July 9, 2012.

Characters
The main Autobots are Optimus Prime, Prowl, Ratchet, Bulkhead, and Bumblebee. The main Decepticon cast is made up of Megatron, Starscream, Blitzwing, and Lugnut. The main humans, or as the Transformers call them, "organics", are Professor Isaac Sumdac, Sari Sumdac, and Captain Fanzone.

Comic/manga adaptation
Transformers Animated was adapted into comics and published by IDW Publishing in 2008. The book used cartoon screen captures arranged in comic book style panels. In Japan, a manga adaptation titled Transformers Animated: The Cool was created by Naoto Tsushima and serialized in Kadokawa Shoten's Kerokero Ace magazine in Japan.

Locations

 * Detroit: The Autobots and Decepticons end up here, and the battle of good against evil is renewed in this future city on Earth.
 * Sumdac Tower: The largest tower in Detroit where Isaac Sumdac designs and tests his robot creations, which was also the resting place of Megatron's severed head before he was revived. Its appearance is that of a giant spark plug.
 * Abandoned Automobile Plant: The current headquarters of the Autobots. According to Sari, Isaac acquired the plant from a merger several years ago, and he was not aware of the plant itself being part of the merger.
 * Fossil Fuels: The city's oil refinery. Its logo is an homage to Sludge.
 * Burger Bot: A fast food restaurant frequented by Sari and, later on, the Autobots. The restaurant's name is a pun on Burger King with the emphasis of it being run by robots.
 * Tigatron Stadium: The city's baseball stadium where Prowl faces Lockdown in the episode "Five Servos of Doom". The stadium is named after the Beast Wars character Tigatron and is also an homage to the now-demolished Tiger Stadium and the character from Beast Wars
 * Dinobot Island: Small isolated island in middle of Lake Erie where the Dinobots are living. It is also the location of Meltdown's laboratory.
 * Carbon Mines: The site far from Detroit where Megatron's body ended up. During Season 2, Megatron uses it as his base of operation because the carbon protects him and his forces from detection. The Mines are later destroyed during the "A Bridge Too Close" 2-parter.
 * The Autobot Ship: The Autobots' ship, crippled by the Decepticon's attack and crash-landed in Lake Erie. Its main computer system has a female-voiced persona known as Teletraan I, which is the same name of the Autobot computer system in Generation 1 (G1). When Blitzwing and Lugnut arrived on Earth to search for Megatron and the Allspark, Ratchet and Sari used its (previously deactivated) weapon systems to battle the Decepticons. In part two of "Megatron Rising", the ship flew again, only to be shot down and crash into the crater mountainside of Dinobot Island (similar to the crash of the Autobot ship in G1). The emergency shuttle stored inside the ship was destroyed by Starscream in the episode "A Fistful of Energon". In "A Bridge Too Close" Pt. 2, it was revealed to be the vehicle form of Omega Supreme.
 * The Nemesis, the Decepticons' Warship: Megatron's flagship, which dwarfs The Autobot Ship in size and carried the stolen Protoforms. On the verge of destruction, it was abandoned by all of the Decepticons except Starscream. He managed to survive and pilot its remains for fifty years until he eventually homed in on the Allspark on Earth. The ship later crash-landed on the moon. It still remained there, acting as Starscream's base of operations and holding his decoy army, until Megatron had parts of it torn down to build his Omega Supreme clones.
 * Death's Head, Lockdown's Ship : A ship that is outfitted with hologram projectors to disguise it, and very powerful scanners. Lockdown travels the galaxy in this ship, and he stores many of his hunting trophies on board. It is named after the Transformers comic character Death's Head.
 * The Steelhaven, The Cybertron Elite Guard's Ship : Similar to the ship of Optimus Prime's crew, only larger and light blue in color, Ultra Magnus and his team landed with this ship in Detroit. As of "Mission Accomplished", the ship and its crew has returned to space again to aid the other Autobots across the galaxy. There is a special prison module for the captive Decepticons in this ship. Ultra Magnus had put Starscream in this module when the latter had been arrested by Optimus Prime on Earth; but during the Cybertron flight Starscream managed to break out of prison.
 * Cybertron: home planet of the Transformers. It is usually seen in flashbacks.
 * The Metroplex: The Autobots' central headquarters on Cybertron, and the chambers to The Autobot High Council.
 * Fortress Maximus: The Elite Guard's base on Cybertron.

Production
The series is animated by Japanese animation studios MOOK DLE, The Answer Studio (the Japanese studio that animated Super Robot Monkey Team Hyperforce Go!), and Studio 4°C.

Formerly known by the working title Transformers: Heroes, its new simplified title was designed to specifically distinguish it from the live-action film released in July 2007, months before the first episode aired. The series is distributed internationally by Entertainment Rights.

The show's supervising director is Matt Youngberg (Teen Titans, The Batman), with Cartoon Network vice-president Sam Register as executive producer and Vincent Aniceto as line producer. Additionally, Beast Machines writer Marty Isenberg returned as the head writer for this series. Art director/lead character designer Derrick Wyatt (Teen Titans, Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends, Legion of Super Heroes) created the controversial "brand new look" that this series introduces.

The first episode was due to be screened in full on November 3–4, 2007 at the NTFA Mini-Con, a Transformers convention in Arlöv, Sweden, but US toymaker Hasbro pulled their approval of the screening of the full episode, despite it being green-lighted by Hasbro Nordic at first. The episode had to be cut down to the first 11 minutes.

After the series' normal run began in January 2008, the first two seasons were aired nearly back-to-back, creating nearly a year-long delay in between the second and third seasons. The long-awaited final season finally premiered in North America on March 14, 2009 with a 90-minute (three episode) special. After a lack of communication and much speculation, it was officially announced at BotCon 2009 that the series was over, at least in a televised format.

During the production of the show, voice actor David Kaye (Optimus Prime) was living in Vancouver Canada and flying to California once a week for nine months straight. This led him to a decision to move to California permanently.

A guidebook for the show, The Allspark Almanac, was released in 2009 and covers the first two seasons of the show.

Japanese version
While Transformers Animated had aired and completed its run in many other territories, the release of the series in Japan had been delayed. However, on December 18, 2009, it was announced through the launch of the official website that Takara Tomy would be bringing the series to Japan come Spring 2010. Later, TV Aichi confirmed the exact date of broadcast, which was April 3, 2010 at 8:00AM on the TV Tokyo Network. The website had launched with very little content available, with a trailer and wallpaper of Optimus Prime, later with adding Bumblebee media.

As with the movie when released in Japan, Takara Tomy is not renaming Optimus to Convoy as they have done in past properties. However, in a solicitation preview of the key chains, Bulkhead was renamed as Ironhide in toy version. The name change was done because this version the series has been rewritten to flow with the live-action Transformers film series, with Bulkhead being portrayed into a younger version of Ironhide while the show's Ironhide is renamed Armorhide. Human characters are also renamed like Nanosec into Speed King in the Japanese version. In addition, some of the episodes have been reordered, or removed, to fit with the change in story. Notably, the episodes focusing on the Constructicons have been omitted, likely due to the lack of toys based on the characters (though the last Constructicon-focused episode was aired anyway). Despite all these edits, little actually suggests a tie-in to the films, as the dub is mostly faithful to the original American broadcast; the only mention of Bulkhead's new identity as Ironhide is a toy biography stating that he is a weapons specialist.

In addition, the series features newly-animated opening and ending sequences. The opening theme is "TRANSFORMERS EVO." performed by JAM Project, while the ending theme is "AXEL TRANSFORMERS" by Rey.

English Cast
Susan Blu, John Moschitta Jr., and Judd Nelson reprise their characters from the G1 Series as well as Corey Burton.


 * Jeff Glen Bennett – Prowl, Ultra Magnus, Soundwave, Mixmaster, Grandus, Captain Fanzone, Angry Archer
 * Susan Blu – Arcee, Flareup
 * Corey Burton – Ratchet, Megatron, Shockwave, Ironhide, Spike Witwicky, Cyrus "The Colossus" Rhodes, Cyclonus
 * Townsend Coleman – Sentinel Prime, Tracks
 * Bill Fagerbakke – Bulkhead, Hotshot, Master Disaster
 * Lance Henriksen – Lockdown
 * David Kaye – Optimus Prime, Grimlock, Lugnut, Highbrow, Cliffjumper, Warpath, Sparkplug Witwicky
 * Tom Kenny – Starscream, Scrapper, Wasp/Waspinator, Jetfire, Skywarp, Sunstorm, Thundercracker, Ramjet, Rattletrap, Professor Isaac Sumdac, Tutor Bot
 * Phil LaMarr – Jazz, Oil Slick, Omega Supreme (Season 3), Jetstorm
 * John Mariano – Dirt Boss
 * John Moschitta, Jr. – Blurr
 * Judd Nelson – Rodimus Prime
 * Alexander Polinsky – Henry Masterson/Headmaster
 * Brian Posehn – Nino Sexton/Nanosec
 * Kevin Michael Richardson – Omega Supreme (Season 2)
 * Bumper Robinson – Bumblebee, Blitzwing, Blackout, Porter C. Powell
 * Kath Soucie – Professor Princess, Trisha
 * Peter Stormare – Prometheus Black/Meltdown
 * Tara Strong – Sari Sumdac, Red Alert, Strika, Slipstream, Teletraan I, Mayor Edsel's Aide, Daniel, Carly, Slo-Mo, Receptionist Bot
 * Cree Summer – Blackarachnia/Elita One
 * George Takei – Yoketron
 * Fred Willard – Swindle
 * "Weird Al" Yankovic – Wreck-Gar

Japanese voice cast

 * Hiroki Takahashi – Optimus Prime
 * Daisuke Kishio – Bumblebee
 * Kenta Miyake – Bulkhead, Alpha Trion, Blackout
 * Toru Okawa – Ratchet, Porter C. Powell
 * Kouji Yusa – Prowl
 * Tesshō Genda – Omega Supreme
 * Satomi Akesaka – Sari Sumdac
 * Takashi Nagasako – Professor Isaac Sumdac, Snarl, Brawn
 * Nobuo Tobita – Captain Fanzone, Soundwave, Swoop, Cyrus "The Colossus" Rhodes
 * Junichi Suwabe – Sentinel Prime
 * Banjō Ginga – Ultra Magnus
 * Hideo Ishikawa – Jazz, Spittor
 * Takahiro Sakurai – Blurr
 * Kappei Yamaguchi – Jetfire, Rattletrap
 * Wataru Takagi – Jetstorm
 * Ayahi Takagaki – Arcee, Teletran I
 * Keiji Fujiwara – Grimlock
 * Atsushi Imaruoka – Ironhide, Cliffjumper, Highbrow, Warpath, Oilslick
 * Mitsuo Iwata – Wreck-Gar
 * Hiroya Ishimaru – Rodimus Minor
 * Rikako Aikawa – Red Alert, Strika
 * Kōsuke Okano – Hotshot
 * Kinryū Arimoto – Yoketron
 * Norio Wakamoto – Megatron
 * Kentarō Itō – Lugnut
 * Chō – Blitzwing
 * Jin Yamanoi – Starscream, Skywarp, Sunstorm, Thundercracker, Ramjet
 * Ryoka Yuzuki – Blackarachina/Elita One
 * Nobuyuki Hiyama – Longarm Prime/Shockwave
 * Akio Ōtsuka – Lockdown
 * Nobutoshi Canna – Swindle
 * Atsuko Tanaka – Slipstream
 * Masashi Endō – Scrapper
 * Daiki Nakamura – Mixmaster
 * Tetsuo Gotō – Dirt Boss
 * Kenji Nojima – Wasp
 * Kenzo Kato – Waspinator
 * Katsuyuki Konishi – Angry Archer
 * Fumihiko Tachiki – Prometheus Black/Meltdown
 * Takehito Koyasu – Nino Sexton/Nanosec
 * Megumi Toyoguchi – Professor Princess
 * Kōsuke Okano – Henry Masterson/Headmaster
 * Jūrōta Kosugi – Master Disaster
 * Takako Honda – Slow-Mo
 * Shizuka Ito – Trisha

Crew

 * Susan Blu – Voice Director

North America
The North American releases feature full-screen video and stereo sound in both English and Spanish.
 * Transform and Roll Out (DVD, June 22, 2008)
 * A single DVD containing the feature-length premiere "Transform and Roll Out".
 * Also includes the first two unaired shorts, "Career Day" and "Evel Knievel Jump".
 * A Target exclusive version came with a second disc containing the follow-up episode "Home Is Where the Spark Is".


 * Season One (DVD, August 19, 2008)
 * A Two-disc set containing the complete first season, from "Home Is Where the Spark Is" to "Megatron Rising Part II".
 * Also includes a season 2 "sneak peek" photo gallery.


 * Season Two (DVD, January 6, 2009)
 * A Two-disc set containing the complete second season, from "The Elite Guard" to "A Bridge to Close Part II", with audio commentary on selected episodes.
 * Also includes the shorts "Starscream Heckles Megatron" and "Explosive Punch" and a photo gallery.


 * Season Three (Not Released)
 * There is no sign yet about a Season Three DVD Set.

United Kingdom
Whereas in North America the series was released in complete seasons, the UK instead got several single-disc "volumes" containing four episodes each, also featuring full-screen video, but with audio and subtitles in English and German.
 * Transform and Roll Out (DVD, August 4, 2008)
 * Contains the feature-length premiere "Transform and Roll Out" and the shorts "Career Day" and "Evel Knievel Jump".


 * Volume One: Blast from the Past (DVD, October 20, 2008)
 * Contains episodes 4 Home Is Where the Spark Is, 5 Total Meltdown, 6 Blast From the Past and 7 Thrill of the Hunt


 * Volume Two: Lost and Found (DVD, June 15, 2009)
 * Contains episodes 8 Nanosac, 9 Along Came a Spider, 10 Sound and Fury, 11 Lost and Found


 * Volume Three: Megatron Rising (DVD, June 15, 2009)
 * Contains episodes 12 Survival of the Fittest, 13 Headmaster, 14 Nature Calls 15 Megatron Rising Part 1 and 16 Megatron Rising Part 2


 * Volume Four: Mission Accomplished (DVD, June 15, 2009)
 * Contains pisodes 17 The Elite Guard, 18 Return of the Headmaster, 19 Mission Accomplished and 20 Garbage In, Garbage Out


 * Volume Five: Fistful of Energon (DVD, September 3, 2009)
 * Contains episodes 21 Velocity, 22 Rise of the Constructicons, 23 A Fistful of Energon and 24 S.U.V - Society of Ultimate Villany


 * Volume Six: Black Friday (DVD, November 5, 2009)
 * Contains episodes 25 Autoboot Camp, 26 Black Friday, 27 Sari, No One's Home, 28 A Bridge Too Close, Part 1 and 29 A Bridge Too Close, Part 2

Germany
Germany saw the same releases as the UK.
 * Transformieren und Abfahrt (English: Transform and Roll Out) (DVD, September 10, 2008)
 * Contains the feature-length premiere "Transform and Roll Out" and the shorts "Career Day" and "Evel Knievel Jump".


 * Volume Eins: Drachenkämpfer (English: Dragon fighter(s)) (DVD, October 13, 2008)
 * Contains the episodes "Home Is Where the Spark Is" through to "The Thrill of the Hunt".


 * Volume Zwei: Die alten Waffen (English: The old weapons) (DVD, March 12, 2009)
 * Contains the episodes "Nanosec" through to "Lost and Found".


 * Volume Drei: Megatrons Auferstehung (English: Megatron's Resurrection) (DVD, June 4, 2009)
 * Contains the episodes "Survival of the Fittest" through to "Megatron Rising - Part 2"


 * Volume Vier: Mission erfüllt (English: Mission Accomplished) (DVD, August 20, 2009)
 * Contains the episodes "The Elite Guard" through to "Garbage In, Garbage Out"


 * Volume Fünf: Der doppelte Starscream (English: The double Starscream) (DVD, October 15, 2009)
 * Contains the episodes "Velocity" through to "SUV: Society of Ultimate Villainy"


 * Volume Sechs: Schwarzer Freitag (English: Black Friday) (DVD, TBA 2009)
 * Contains the episodes "Autoboot Camp" through to "A Bridge Too Close, Part II"

Japan
In a press release by Takara Tomy, it was announced that starting in Fall 2010, they would be releasing the series on DVD.

Video game
This is the first Transformers Animated game. Released for the Nintendo DS platform in October 2008.