Warning: This reply is chock' full o' speculations. I will not applying my usual standards to this reply. It is just a discussion of an old kids cartoon, for goodness sake.
I was a big fan of the show when I was a kid, and still have found memories of the mid 80's show, movie and action figures. However, I have doubts this movie will remain true to the established mythology of the tv show/movie that was so popular in the 80's. Hasbro(I see is a consultant) has continually destroyed it's own storylines, mangling them to the point of non-reognition. It's kind of funny that they should be a consultant after this established failure or regulation of their own property. But I suppose t his may be part of the agreed license rights terms to use the Tranformers in the movie.
Examples:
Beast Wars Transformes TV show is released in mid to late 90's. This show actually did not go against any established history as put forth in the U.S. TV show/movie. It supported certain history in some of the later episodes, even though the show was a bit cheezy.
Beast Machines Transformers TV show is releases where Beast Wars left off. The writer of this show(Bob Skir, I believe) was specfically told to do something different with TF by Hasbro. So, with none of the old writers/producers left(that BTW respected the original history), Skir proceeded to make a show that at first seemed very interesting, and with great potential(very little 'cheez'). However, about 1/3 into his season he manages to mangle pre-established TF history into unrecognizable form.
The 'other' shows: Since BM, two cartoons have been released about Transformers. Neither one being true to the original stories, furthe distorting TF history(though perhaps not nearly to the degree of Meast Machines).
Now, comes the question of this new movie. Will this be targeted primarily to the original audience, now in their late 20's to early 30's, or to the 'current' kid audience? I really don't see how it can be optimized for both. In order to be P.C. and marketed to current kid audience, it would be a dumbed-down, with cheezy standard kid content, no realistic violence, etc. Also, the current generation would not recognize the original mythology, if it was used in detail. If actually targeted at former fans, then it certainly should be created/written for that target age group. I don't see any clear way to make it ideal for both.
A further concern: the producer of the movie stated elswhere in interview that he was more or less going to follow the comic book mythology(from the 80s). This is perplexing: The comic book history is not compatible with the 80's TV show/movie(which were the main driving forces of the product) history. Why would a history be chosen in which is not popular with the original viwers or new viewers???? I can only assume this is due to movie producers being used to trying to remain somewhat consistant with the comic book versions of this type of movie. The movies of Spider Man and X-Men for example(while I'm sure were not as close to the comics as they should have been) were based on comics. The comics were the main driving forces of those entities. But this is not true with Transformers. It is a different situation. The comic book was essentially a spin on the show, that was a secondary money-maker. It's hard for me to believe the producer does not recognize this issue.
Any thoughts? Corrections?
-Chris
hawke said:
The Transformers, the shape-changing robot toys that were a craze in the 1980s, are to be
made into a live-action film by studio Dreamworks. The Steven Spielberg-founded studio plans a summer of 2006 release. "Steven and everyone at DreamWorks are very excited about the prospect of expanding the world of Transformers into the live-action feature film arena. The possibilities for a thrilling action adventure are virtually endless, and a film holds the definite promise of expanding an already worldwide fan base to new audiences," Adam Goodman, DreamWorks head of production, said in a statement Friday.
[
Read More About It] [
Get a 'Sneak Peek'' - not really]