In the movie-length pilot "Transform and Roll Out" (later divided into three episodes when rerun as part of the show's first season), the producers take a playful jab at nostalgic viewers by opening with fuzzy footage from the classic series, only to reveal it to be a video of "ancient history." Robot faces are given an animated simplicity that give them a "Pokémon" vibe.įor those of us who grew up with the Transformers of the 1980s, this can be a bit off-putting. But in this show, the robots bend and twist and move in ways metal probably shouldn't, and there's a roundness to the designs that highlight the point that these are cartoon characters, completely separated from the slightest reality. We're used to seeing our cartoon robots looking like, well, robots. Supervising director Matt Youngberg previously worked on "The Batman" and the equally sleek-looking, anime-inspired "Teen Titans," brings a similar look here, which is totally unexpected. The biggest question mark is in the look of the thing. It's still too flawed to work, but it's not the affront to fans some may have suggested.
#Transformers animated transform and roll out series#
As with the drastic revision of the Caped Crusader in the recent cartoon series "The Batman," I found myself initially balking at the revisions this new "Transformers" had to offer, only to calm down upon further inspection. Produced for Cartoon Network, the new series "Transformers Animated" makes a heap of bold changes to the fanboy-favorite franchise, most notably in a reboot of the entire story and in a new, anime-influenced visual style.