Amph The Transformers. More than meets the eye!

Why did the TF movie killed so many characters but the GIJOE one only intended to kill Duke alone? Cobra Commander didn't die just got turned into snake.

 

What.

 

He's talking about the old G.I. Joe animated movie that went straight to video in 1986. The intention in one scene was for Serpentor to actually kill Duke. But I believe the fan backlash over Prime 's death in the TF movie made them revert that decision. The scene remained but it was stated that Duke was only in a coma. Later on near the end Doc said over the radio that Duke had woken up. Pansies.

 

Close. What happened was that the "G.I. Joe: The Movie" and "Transformers: The Movie" went into early pre-production at the same time, but the latter wound up getting made first. Duke's death was planned from the beginning, while Optimus wasn't supposed to die. In the first draft, Optimus uses the Matrix to merge with Cybertron and transforms into a larger robot like Unicron, they have a showdown at the end. However, after Hasbro execs read the "G.I. Joe: The Movie" screenplay, they decided to apply that to TF with Optimus. The backlash then resulted in Optimus being revived at the end of season three and Duke's death was changed to being in a coma.

As to the deaths in general, that's more simple. The toys were being discontinued in 1986, though leftover product wound still be on shelves into 1987 and the rest was sold via pack-in catalogs. Toys are only meant to be on shelves for so long, before they have to be either pulled or altered in some way, so that it doesn't look like the product isn't selling. In TF history, toys such as the live action version of Mudflap is notorious for being called a shelfwarmer. Meaning that no one is going around buying that toy because it doesn't appeal to them. Top Spin and Twin Twist were two such examples in the Generation 1 line. The 1984 and 85 characters were being phased out and the showrunners decided after receiving their marching orders regarding Optimus, to extend it to other characters. This way they could eliminate those who were going off the shelves and make the war much more realistic. As well as introducing newer characters. However many of these scenes wound up not being animated such as the deaths of Mirage, Red Alert, Smokescreen and Shockwave. By the end of season three, all the Autobots and Decepticons that had appeared that season, save for the animation errors, were the only ones still alive. The errors being Windcharger, Gears, Ironhide, Brawn and the Insecticons. Cliffjumper didn't show up, but that was only due to Casey Kasen quitting after recording dialogue for "Five Faces Of Darkness" and "Chaos", which was due to what he considered racial insensitivity with Abdul Fakkadi and the nation of Carbomya who was in FFOD and "Thief In The Night". His absence affected other characters that he voiced like Bluestreak and Teletraan I. The Action Masters line, "Generation 2", "Machine Wars" and the "Wings Of Honor" universe give a better idea of who all survived save for a couple of errors on Hasbro's part. Wheeljack and Prowl in the Action Masters line.

For the live action films, particularly the last one, it was intended as Bay's last film and he didn't know what Hasbro and Paramount wanted to do. When he signed on for the fourth film, it was decided to introduce a whole new assortment of characters and new designs for returning characters. A significant issue the last time was that many of the molds from "Revenge Of The Fallen" were simply reused with almost no changers, for "Dark Of The Moon". This resulted in that line ending much sooner than it was supposed to, with several molds being released in Japan and apparently, it will throughout this year, but under a different banner.

 

I feel you there. I borrowed ROTF and DOTM from a friend a few months back fully intending to re-watch them (for the first time since I saw them at the theater), and they just sat here for weeks before I finally gave them back un-watched.

I don't necessarily think the first one is a good Transformers movie, but I think it's a fairly entertaining and likeable popcorn flick. But that (all)spark is just not there in the sequels. At least not for me.

I caught the trailer for AOE before Noah the other day, and I have to say the only thing I really liked was seeing Optimus Prime as a flat-nose semi (though I've seen stills that indicate it doesn't last for the whole movie)

 

Which is par for course in "Transformers". I think with the comets, we know in the second film that it's Decepticons from the Nemesis making the trip without using the ship, nor the Space Bridge, which we find out is limited in this universe. Megatron flying through space under his own power is consistent with other versions who could do so. With regards to the Autobots, I'd say that in the first film, a ship was used to drop off Optimus and his team. The second film, I'd wager it was the rest of the crew coming to Earth which makes up Sideswipe, Mudflap, Skids, Arcee, Chromia and Elita-1. The Xantium then arrived which gave us Mirage, Q, Brains and the Wreckers. The problem is that these things are planned out.

 

Another look at the new animated series, coming next year.

 

Blame Bay for that.

 

My question is why Bumblebee got his voice back at the end of the first film, but in the sequels it disappears completely?

 

Again, blame Bay. He liked the idea that Bumblebee couldn't speak and had to rely on old radio, television and film broadcasts and pantomime. Which in turn was initially due to the studio not wanting the Transformers to talk at all. Hasbro won that argument, but I think that Bumblebee was a compromise.

 

The studio...didn't want the Transformers to talk?

What.

How did they think that was gonna work out?

Not that it matters really, considering how irrelevant the robots often seemed to be in their own goddam movies.

******** Hollywood, I swear...

 

Transformer toy art book. Comes out in May I think.

I shall have it.

 

I think the intent was that Paramount or Dreamworks wanted them to be just automated machines fighting to be fighting. The idea of Bumblebee not talking was supposed to be based on "E. T.", saying that their friendship transcends words. Yeah.

I had that carrying case. Got it in 85, but used to carry other stuff. I didn't really have a big TF collection until December of 87. The ones that I got couldn't fit in there like Powermaster Optimus Prime and Galvatron. You can see the list of who I had on page one of this thread.

 

I always liked the packaging artwork on '80s toys (they always fueled my overactive imagination), especially Transformers, but I'm not sure if I'm going to pick up this book or not. If it's limited in quantities and all, I'd rather the more die-hard TF fans have a pick at it than someone more casual like me.

(BTW, I think I remember having had a jigsaw puzzle with the above-shown artwork on it.)

 

It's not a special edition thing. IT's kinda like the Transformers Vault book that;s been out a few years. It's 50 bucks though. Which is more than the Vault book I think, and since they went all out for that book(for the most part) I can only assume they did the same here. It's supposed to have all the packaging stuff and other extras like art for Transformers toys never produced.

But yeah you can't beat 80's toy packaging art. He-Man toy art is still my favorite.

EDIT: Here's the blurb from Amazon

Remember the thrill of tearing open a gift on Christmas morning, discovering a brand-new Transformer in a shiny new box? While the toys were amazing in their own right, what made the packages stand head-and-shoulders above the myriad competing action figures on shelves was the stunning box art. Transformers: Legacy collects hundreds of beautifully airbrushed paintings from the iconic first decade of The Transformers. Hasbro, Takara, and private collectors opened their archives, yielding an unparalled level of quality. Essays and interviews from the original illustrators give unprecedented insight into the process behind the art. This book is chock-full of extras, including never-before-seen artwork from toys that never were, original design sketches, catalog artwork, and more.

It's 300 pages. So I'd say if your a big enough TF fan it should be money well spent. Just hope it has some Japanese stuff.

 

Never-made G1 Unicron and Arcee box artwork, perhaps?

(Did Hasbro even plan on making an Arcee back in the G1 days? I know they did for Unicron, but I thought I heard they planned an Arcee at one time or another....)

 

There were sketches and a prototype made, but hasbro never actually produced a toy. Mentality has always been that boys wouldn't buy the female toy.

 

Why there is no female decepticon in G1 and most of the TF TV series(Cyberton has one)?