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Transformers: Prime - Transformers: Prime is the name of the 2010 CGI Transformers cartoon which aired on the Hasbro-Discovery joint TV channel The Hub in the fall of 2010 within the US.
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Toonzone have sat down with an interview from Jeff Kine, the writer / producer of Transformers Prime. Anyone who went to BotCon would haev heard most of this already.
Saturday at the 2011 BotCon at the Pasadena
Convention Center, Toonzone News was able to catch up with Transformers:
Prime and G.I. Joe: Renegades writer and executive producer, Jeff
Kline, to talk about his work on those shows as well as the future of
G.I. Joe: Renegades . A veteran of animated shows, Kline has previously
worked on such projects as Men In Black: The Animated Series, Godzilla:
The Series, and Big Guy and Rusty The Boy Robot.
TZN: In Transformers: Prime, it was
an interesting decision to put Megatron out of action for about half the
season. But it did open up a lot of character development for
Starscream. Why did you decide to go that direction?
JEFF KLINE: Quite honestly, that's the exact reason we went that
direction. It was to allow for more time to develop characters that
maybe hadn't been as well developed, especially our new characters that
hadn't been introduced before in the universe. When you have Megatron
and Optimus together, it's really hard not to focus on that
relationship. We spent a lot of time with them. It almost required that
we get rid of one of them for a little while to spend some time with the
other characters.
TZN: At the Transformers: Prime
season premiere event you noted that you wanted to keep the Autobot cast
size small to give the advantage to the Decepticons. At the same time,
it did not make much sense to me for Wheeljack to come and go from the
Autobot team while the Autobots are in the middle of a war and need as
many troops as possible. Why have Wheeljack leave when the Autobots need
him more than ever?
JEFF KLINE: Because we thought that was true to Wheeljack's
personality and then we could bring him back. We're like the Native
Americans. We waste nothing of the buffalo. Everything that you've seen
up to this point will eventually be used again. The most time and cost
extensive part of CG is the upfront builds. If we built it, we're going
to find a way to re-use it.
TZN: How does the collaboration and
writing process with Duane Capizzi, Bob Orci, and Alex Kurtzman work,
and how involved are Orci and Kurtzman in the writing process?
JEFF KLINE: Kurtzman and Orci are so much more involved than I ever
thought they would be. The way it really started when we first got
together to do Prime, there wasn't really a Hasbro Studios. There was
some executives that had been hired and there was this need to be on the
air a year later but there wasn't any other infrastructure. So for the
first month or so, literally Duane Capizzi, myself, Therese Trujillo
(our animation producer), [and] Dave Hartman were working out of Orci's
and Kurtzman's lobby on the Universal lot. We would literally just spend
at least a couple of hours a day sitting in a room just throwing around
story stuff with them and some of the other people at their company.
And that continued for quite a while and then we brought on four full
time writers that first season: Joe Kuhr, Nicole Dubuc, Steve Melching,
[and] Marsha Griffin. That was kind of the next step. We spent a lot of
time and continue to spend a lot of time in writers' rooms breaking
story. Most animated series do not have the luxury of a writing staff.
It's mostly maybe one or two story editors and freelancers. But because
the mythology of Transformers was so deep, there's twenty five years of
it – the little book they handed me was six hundred pages of “These Are
The Rules” – we had the movies and we didn't want to contradict
anything. It really required everybody who was going to be involved
sitting around at the beginning really talking through where we want to
go, what we want to do. [Orci and Kurtzman] were involved in every step
of that process. And the main involvement – they approve all the
artwork, they are much more involved than I ever would have believed
when someone first told me that they were going to do the show.
TZN: Hasbro is now producing their
own shows in terms of the Transformers and G.I. Joe franchises. What is
this process like now compared to when you've worked on other big
franchises like Men In Black and Godzilla? Is it different at all?
JEFF KLINE: It's more similar than not. I would say the one place
it's different is—and I'm not a toy expert—it would seem that Hasbro for
a number of their brands has created this mythology behind them that
pre-exists me or pre-exists anybody buying the toy. When you buy the
toy, you already get kind of story whether it's on the back of the
package. There was so much more stuff to pull from on Transformers than
there had been on even on some of those other franchises. Part of that
is those twenty five years, but I would say the biggest difference to me
as opposed to some of the other shows where the toy company is really
only involved in making toys, these guys have lived with the brand for a
lot of years. They are an incredible resource for us. Whenever we have
questions, whenever we run big concepts by them, because they know them
better than us: which characters the fans tend to associate with, what
are they hearing on their e-mail chains. So they're more partner than
probably any other toy company I've ever worked with.
TZN: In Prime, a new interesting
character is the human antagonist Silas voiced by Clancy Brown. Going
forward what can we expect Silas involving himself in the Autobot and
Decepticon conflict?
JEFF KLINE: You are definitely going to see more Silas. I'm not
going to tell you where it's going, because it's definitely pretty cool.
But again, if we built it, we're using it. And if they turn into a
zombie, we're going to use it again.
TZN: What writer gets credit for the Ghostbusters references in Prime?
JEFF KLINE: I believe Marsha Griffin actually wrote most of that
riff, and I believe Duane [Capizzi] re-wrote a little bit of it. But I
believe he would throw that to Marsha.
TZN: Regarding the Unicron
references and the “blood of Unicron,” does that mean there is a CGI
model being built for Unicron that we could ever glimpse at some point;
in a flashback maybe?
JEFF KLINE: Hmm, let's see; we talk about it. I would say that we
try to pay off almost everything that we talk about in some way, shape,
or form.
TZN: I thought it was a great choice
to begin with a five part miniseries which was evocative of a lot of
cartoons in the 1980's, especially Transformers in the 80's. What was it
like, basically starting with a feature length movie for the show at
the beginning, and is it something you would like to do again with the
show moving forward?
JEFF KLINE: I think Kurtzman and Orci came on maybe around Labor Day
2009, and the idea was to get on the air before the end of 2010. Most
CG shows, even a lot of simple one, have a two year production cycle –
Kung Fu Panda's of the world and such. So we had half the time to do a
CG show – the most complicated one ever attempted for television, quite
honestly. So knowing we had to get on the air in 2010, the idea of
getting on with 13 episodes was impossible. We decided if we could get
on with a miniseries—maybe it will be three episodes, maybe it will be
five—and then pick up the series a month or two later and give the other
studio time to catch up. Again, a lot of your initial expensive time is
spent on that upfront buildup. I think literally the day before the
first part of that miniseries aired was the day the network got it,
maybe three or four days before. Polygon is our Japanese [animation]
studio, and they're incredible. They're the only guys that could have
pulled this off. But the miniseries grew out of both necessity, but then
once we had it we were like, “Oh, let's really blow it out. Let's make
it five. Can we do five by the end of the year?” “No, but let's try
anyway.”
TZN: And you did it.
JEFF KLINE: And we did it, which means now they expect it from us every year. That was stupid.
TZN: So would we see another miniseries again at some point?
JEFF KLINE: I don't think we'd do five episodes, but you are
definitely going to have multi-parters coming up. Already, if you look
at the storytelling there are groups of episodes you could put together
and that are thematically related. It's important that each episode live
on its own. You want people to be able to come to the show as new
viewers at any point during your airing and be able to catch up and be
interested. But we like telling complicated stories. We like showing
growth of character over time. We like turning a really important piece
of Transformers mythology into something more than a one-off. So I think
within the body of the season we build toward in our minds, something
of a miniseries at the end of every season.
TZN: As a writer and producer, what
do you prefer: a longer season of twenty six episodes where you get to
tell a fuller, longer story arc but is more work or a more lean and
abbreviated thirteen episode season?
JEFF KLINE: I always prefer more. It's the thing where once you're
in the middle of it, you're damning yourself for wanting more, because
those last couple [episodes] are always the hardest. But knowing you
have twenty six, you can actually roll character stuff out slowly and
actually grow relationships; that's always better. Also, it's easier to
get the best crew because you are offering more episodes. It's easier to
work a slightly better deal with your post house because you're
guaranteeing them more episodes. Every penny is onscreen. The more
episodes you know you are going to do up front, the better you are going
to be all around.
Category: Transformers: Prime
| Submitted by: Moonbug -
on: Tuesday, 14th June 2011 at 17:12:12 BST
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Kapow Toys have received word that the Toys R Us exclusives within the US will
no longer be available via wholesale in China to independent retailers. In the past the US TRU exclusives werre often bought direct from the wholesales and then sold to outside of the US.
Seibertron.com have received word that a 3rd party trailer may well be released to go with Botcon 2011 Motormaster. They have also been told that an upgrade kit is in the works to combine the figures though no further details were given on that.
Category: Transformers Rumours
| Submitted by: quartz -
on: Tuesday, 14th June 2011 at 13:21:18 BST
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Artist Direct have posted a review of the Transformers: Dark of the MoonSoundtrack which goes on sale today which they give 4.5 / 5.
"Traditionally, the soundtrack to a Transformers film proves just as explosive and entrancing as the movie itself.
The soundtrack for Transformers: Dark of the Moon proudly upholds that
tradition—like any robust Autobot—but it's also the best in the series
so far. Each and every song displays an evolutionary heaviness that
would be right at home on Optimus Prime's personal playlist....
Bringing together the biggest and best names in rock and metal, the
soundtrack is just as much of an event as the film itself. Take a trip
to Dark of the Moon with it blaring now…"
Category: Transformers Movie News
| Submitted by: quartz -
on: Tuesday, 14th June 2011 at 08:59:16 BST
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We have created three eBay auctions for some of our spare Botcon 2011 exclusive figures. All of the figures are sealed within their bags and start at cost price. The auctions are for Shattered Glass Galvatron,the Autotrooper 3-pack and Fisitron..
If you are after the figures, why not check out the auctions. If you would like to see more images of the figures, then you can check out our image galleries of our personal copies below.
Maz, owner of TF-1, recently re-instated the website and to celebrate he has posted a new article on the unreleased Generation 2 Neo Mirage figure who's box art was recently published in the Transformers Vault book. You can view the article which contains the mock-up of the toy here. I encourage you to have a look through the other galleries on Maz's site that contain several over un-produced G2 mockups as well as G1 variants.
Category: Transformers Toy News
| Submitted by: quartz -
on: Monday, 13th June 2011 at 09:08:35 BST
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I have added some more toy galleries this evening to complete our Botcon 2011 exclusive image galleries as well as bringing you a gallery of a figure that we purchased at the event, Beast Wars Neo Rockbuster. The image galleries this evening are of Transformers Animated Sideswipe, Transformers Animated Fisitron (Ironfist), Transformers Animated Autotroopers, Shattered Glass Galvatron, Shattered Glass Thundercracker as well as the aforementioned Beast Wars Neo Rockbuster.
Auto Assembly have sent out the following press release
Auto Assembly 2011 - A Special Announcement
Following Auto Assembly's announcement of Andrew Wildman as our tenth guest for this year's convention a few days ago, we're back with a new video that we wanted to share with all of you with a rather special message that we think you'll all love...
http://youtu.be/bKMmOVGIvzQ
Auto Assembly 2011 is taking place over the weekend of 12th - 14th August 2011 at the Holiday Inn Birmingham City Centre, Birmingham, England.
For more details on the convention, to see a full list of all the guests and activities taking place over the weekend, or to book your tickets, visit the website at www.autoassembly.org.uk
Shin Densetsu of Transformers World 2005 has spotted Transformers Kre-O Basic Optimus Prime (G1), Jazz, Sideswipe and Ratchet at Toys R Us, priced at $19.99.
Category: Transformers Toy News
| Submitted by: Moonbug -
on: Sunday, 12th June 2011 at 17:29:48 BST
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Allspark.com are reporting that the Transformers Collectors Club exclusive Generation 2 Ramjet figure is starting to be delivered to US residents which means that if you ordered one, and are living within the US, you should expect the toy in the coming weeks. If you are overseas, the toys should also start to ship but depending on your choice of shipping, and the choice selected in the end by Fun Publications (as it doesn't always match) the toy could arrive any time from now to about 4 months time.
Auto Assembly have issued the following press release regarding the Andrew Wildman guest announcement
Auto Assembly 2011 Goes WILD!
The Transformers community is now fully entrenched into its annual convention season and now that everyone has had time to recover from Botcon, it's time for us here at Auto Assembly to shift gears as we head into the final stretch for this year's convention...
We have already announced our first nine guests but we are now proud to announce that legendary Marvel UK, Dreamwave and IDW artist Andrew Wildman will be joining us for his seventh Auto Assembly appearance. Andrew will be around all weekend meeting fans and signing autographs and will take to the stage on Saturday alongside all of our other comic guests as part of a stunning comic panel.
Andrew has a superb pedigree in the Transformers world, having worked on the original Transformers series for Marvel UK, the Generation 2 series for Marvel US, Dreamwave, Panini, Titan, and IDW. As well as this, he has worked on countless other titles and in the video game industry as well as his own forthcoming project, Horizon which can be found at http://www.indiegogo.com/horizon
Andrew is joining our extensive guest line-up which already includes David Kaye, Gregg Berger, Simon Furman, Nick Roche, Simon Williams, Liam Shalloo, Kris Carter, Jason Cardy and Kat Nicholson. But that's not all... in the next few days we will be announcing our THIRD guest of honour and we have two more guests to announce after that, but who are they?
We're now about to enter our "rush" period for ticket sales for the convention, where most of our ticket sales take place so if you haven't already registered for Auto Assembly 2011 then NOW is the time to do it!! Tickets are available from our website and are £50 for adults and £38 for children, students and senior citizens, with under 5s admitted free. One day tickets are available for the Saturday or Sunday (although these will NOT get you into the Friday or Saturday evening programmes) and these cost £30 for adults, £21 for children, students or senior citizens and under 5's as always are free. Family tickets are also available.
The convention is taking place over the weekend of 12th - 14th August 2011 at the Holiday Inn Birmingham City Centre, Birmingham, England.
Tickets for Auto Assembly 2012 will go on sale later this year.
For more details on the convention, to see a full list of all the guests and activities taking place over the weekend, or to book your tickets, visit the website at www.autoassembly.org.uk
The Auto Assembly website, twitter and Facebook pages have all been updated with the announcement of the 10th guest for this years Auto Assembly. Below you will find a copy of the text from the Auto Assembly website.
We are pleased to announce that leading Transformers
comic artist, Andrew Wildman is making a very welcome return to Auto Assembly!
Andrew is our tenth confirmed guest for the convention and will be joining our
other comic guests on stage on Saturday for our massive comic panel. He will
also be around for the rest of the weekend signing autographs and meeting fans
in our guest area.
Simply click on the number of the page you wish to jump to.
Fire Chief
Click the link or image above to view the Fire Chief toy gallery. The gallery contains 45 images of this figure for your viewing pleasure.
Hasbro Inc submitted a trademark application for
GLOW-BOTS
with the USPTO on the Tuesday, 4th November 2003. The mark was submitted within the category
toy action figures, toy vehicles and toy robots convertible into other visual toy forms and currently has as status of Registration cancelled because registrant did not file an acceptable declaration under Section 8. To view all documents in this file, click on the Trademark Document Retrieval link at the top of this page..
Choose Your Fate
We loved the Transformers Choose Your Fate books as kids, and even wrote a text adventure in their style for an old version of Transformers At The Moon. Here you can find images from these puzzle-books, both UK and US ....
Ep 15: Prime's Leadship Style
This video clip is from Episode 15 of Transformers Animated called Megatron Rising. It shows Optimus Prime's unique leadship style in this series, when he demands the Allspark key from Sari. ....
OTFCC 2003 (USA)
We loved the Transformers Choose Your Fate books as kids, and even wrote a text adventure in their style for an old version of Transformers At The Moon. Here you can find images from these puzzle-books, both UK and US ....
US Sheet 1
The scans contained within this gallery are taken from our own Transformers toysheet collection. This is the first US Transformers toysheet. ....
Transformers Animated
The instruction scans contained within this gallery with the TF08.net watermark were originally from the Chinese TF08 website. They have been added here as a mirror. ....
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Transformers At The Moon is a fan created website regarding those Robots In Disguise from Hasbro Inc and TakaraTomy
better known as The Transformers. This website was established in October 1999 and has been running ever since.
You can use Transformers At The Moon for such things as transformers toys,transformers figures,transformers movie,optimus prime,megatron,bumblebee,unicron,transformers cartoon,transformers comics
Transformers Toys - Transformers At The Moon - www.transformertoys.co.uk