Transformers: Animated

Transformers Animated is a Cartoon Network Original Series. The series debuted in January of 2008. The series aired after the Transformers 2007 live action film and before the Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen 2009 film. This is not the only Transformers series in Cartoon Network, the Cybertron Trilogy series aired on the channel too. The show was able to keep ratings of Fried Dynamite from being cancelled very early (although currently Fried Dynamite is cancelled due to the fact that the show is cancelled and ratings decreased). A lot of the show references former Transformers TV Shows, such as Beast Wars, the Generation One series, the Generation One 1986 animated film, and the live-action movies. The show ignores all other continuity of former Transformers shows, despite the references and the first episode using footage of the G1 series. Even though this was produced and animated by Cartoon Network Studios, the show aired on some Nicktoons and Disney XD feeds around the world, instead of Cartoon Network. This was primarily due to the fact that Entertainment Rights (now DreamWorks Classics, a subsidiary of DreamWorks Animation, itself a subsidiary of Comcast as of 2016) held worldwide distribution rights to the show instead of Cartoon Network. As of 2012, Hasbro Studios acquired the show from Cartoon Network, and, as a result, all references to Cartoon Network have been removed and the Cartoon Network Studios logo can no longer be found at the end of the show. However the logo can still be found on the DVD releases.

Plot
The series takes place in Detroit. The 5 Autobots, Optimus, Bumblebee, Prowl, Bulkhead, and Ratchet try to keep the All Spark out of Decepticon hands. The 2nd season involved the Autobots trying to gather the fragments of it. Season 3 is the final battle. The first season's episodes have only played a minor role in the show, except in "Lost and Found", "Transform and Roll Out", and "Megatron Rising Parts 1 and 2". The second and third seasons were put into much more action. Jazz, Jetfire, Jetstorm, Omega Supreme, Shockwave, Swindle, Ultra Magnus, Starscream clones, Wasp, Ironhide, Team Chaar (who only made one appearance), Rodimus Prime, Cliffhanger, Cybertron, the Space-Bridge Transwarping, the Constructicons, and Arcee all have not appeared in the first season, only after the ending of the first season, Megatron Rising.

Timeslot
The series was released just to kill time before the new movie (Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen) came out and they couldn't show Transformers Cybertron anymore.

Characters
The Apple Dumpler was in SS#0 and also in Project:Superior. Good luck finding it, much less anofrdifg it once you do find it. I should have sat on every copy I could get my hands on. I've posted 3 pages from PS in the comics section.Fist-A-Cuffs would be fun to be a part of. But I'd get tied up in it and waste a lot of time. Kind of like Joel does. He should be working on comics!! Anyway, hope you make it all the way!

Main Decepticons

 * Megatron: The leader of the Decepticons. He is the primary antagonist of the show. Megatron transforms into a gray warship. In the 1st Season, he resembled his 2007 live-action film counterpart (almost exactly). He has no weapons of his own, since he only carries them around.

Ramjet (lying), Thundercracker (ego of thinking he's better than everyone else), Dirge (greediness), Skywarp (fear), and a female copy named Slipstream, who tells Starscream to not ask what she represents of his character traits.
 * Starscream: A greedy purple Decepticon who transforms into an F-22. He wants to be the leader of the Decepticons, but Megatron usually defeats him and foils Starscream's plans (except in Transwarped). He dies in the final war of the show. Tom Kenny voices him, who has also voiced Skids from the "Revenge of the Fallen" 2009 film and the ever-famous Spongebob Squarepants character. He has made clones of himself with only one character trait, Sunstorm (admiring with suck-up behavior),


 * Lugnut: A purple green loyal Decepticon who is the complete opposite of Starscream because he wants to make Megatron believe that he is the most loyal servant. He transforms into a warship found in "Lost and Found". He was defeated and taken to Cybertron in the final war of the show.


 * Blitzwing: A purple-white crazy Decepticon triple-changer who is a parody of Arnold Schwarzeneggar. He has three heads in one face: an Icehead that makes him look like a ghost face, a Hothead which makes him talk like Terminator, and a random face that has a German accent. He transforms into both a jet and tank.


 * Blackarachnia: An organic-robot hybrid who was formerly the Autobot Elita One. When Optimus Prime left her behind and Sentinel Prime failed to go back to her, Optimus Prime felt responsible regretting what he did for the rest of his life. She has plans to seperate her spider body from an alien planet when spider aliens have infected her. She isn't really a henchwoman to Megatron, but was seen on Megatron's ship in the pilot episode "Transform and Roll Out".

Secondary Decepticons

 * Swindle: A salesman-like Intergalactic Arms Dealer whose highest offer is to his number one customer, Megatron. He debuts in the Season 2 in the episode "S.U.V. Society of Ultimate Villainy" where he uses Slo-Mo's time chain to stop all automatons, including Autobots, but was defeated by Bumblebee and Sari Sumdac. He was captured by Sentinel Prime in "Five Servos of Doom" but then went back online in "Decepticon Air" and escaped in an escape pod from the Elite Guard ship.


 * Soundwave


 * Lockdown

Secondary Autobots

 * Sentinel Prime: A hot-headed blue-Elite Guard member who transforms into a blue truck. He is supposed to be named Rodimus Prime, but fans did not like the name of Rodimus Prime reflecting the Generation One Transformers series to a character who is arrogant, rude, selfish, and egotistical.

Humans
• Captain Fanzone, a police officer who seems to work with the Autobots often. He appears in most episodes. His first appearance was the 2nd part of Transform and Roll Out! He doesn’t like machines, and often says, “This is why I hate machines!”, but they’re all different reasons. He seems to be the Transformers’ version of Mr. Mushnik from Little Shop of Horrors. He has a yellow mustache and hair, is a little overweight, and has average police uniform. At one time, he had to team up with Bulkhead and Prowl to save Sari Sumdac from Meltdown. Fanzone’s first mission was to stop a giant mutated flea that was accidentally created in Sumdac Systems by Issac Sumdac, & the Autobots stopped the flea.

• Issac Sumdac, daughter of Sari and the Owner of Sumdac Systems. He has a miserable life due to the greedy & too-powerful Porter C. Powell. He is an inventor of robots & specializes in science. Since he was the smartest mechanic in Detroit, the Decepticons captured him starting in The Elite Patrol, & Megatron only is keeping him alive for usage in helping the evil Transformers side. He possibly invented Sparkplug, Sari’s robot dog. In Human Error Part 1,, Issac had given Sari upgrades of her robot body as a Christmas present, and seems to enjoy dancing, since he dances with a Soundwave toy robot. Porter C. Powell is his life arch-nemesis throughout his entire career and the entire show. Despite being quiet & being shy, he argues with Bulkhead and blames him for a machine, causing an argument of chaos in Decepticon Air. Not much is known about him, since he was kidnapped for a long time.

• Porter C. Powell, the biggest human villain in the show. He is a parody of Richard Nixon, who are both power-sharing politicians who did illegal acts. He shares many similarities to Homer Simpson’s brother, Herb Powell from the show “The Simpsons”. Porter C. Powell is hated by Sari, Issac, Fanzone, Optimus Prime, & the Mayor of Detroit. Nobody likes Porter C. Powell. He is the C.E.O. of Sumdac Systems. However, he used his power to kick Sari out of her own house (what a mean man!) but when Issac Sumdac was rescued from Megatron by the Autobots, Issac fired Porter C. Powell. Powell’s acts of unnoticeable illegal acting was revealed in Human Error Part 2, where he stole copyright of the Soundwave toys from Issac to make money for himself, & had to refund every last penny. In Garbage In, Garbage Out, Ratchet forced him to clean up garbage or he will dump him in the river.

• Mayor Edsel, the African-American mayor of Detroit. He first appears in Transform and Roll Out! He doesn’t speak in front of the TV screen audience, probably because he has a habit of being silent or his vocal chords were damaged (most likely not). His female secretary tells about the Mayor’s thoughts and actions. Somehow, the female secretary probably can “read” his mind as the Mayor doesn’t need to tell her anything. In Garbage In, Garbage Out, it is revealed he has a rivalry with Porter C. Powell, he also wants to be the Mayor of Detroit as well. Then, he and his secretary were forced to clean up garbage in Detroit after Ratchet threatened them or he will dump them in the river. In Human Error Part 2, he became mind-controlled by Soundwave while giving an important speech. This seems odd since he doesn’t talk, so that means he must probably have speaking ability but the TV audience doesn’t hear him.


 * Isaac Sumdac


 * Sari Sumdac

Secondary Characters
• Sparkplug, Sari’s robot pet dog. He seems to be the most unimportant invention of Sumdac Systems, since he’s just built as Sari’s birthday present. He is really annoying and has bad manners to Sari since he chews on her security key. He is named after G1 counterpart human Sparkplug. Due to his minor role in the series, Sparkplug doesn’t appear often. In Sound and Fury, Sparkplug’s novelty has worn off for Sari, but Issac still cares for Sparkplug. He acts just like a regular puppy.

Settings
• The Autobot Home Base, the main setting of the show, but not always in every episode. It first appeared in Home Is Where the Spark Is, but it is unknown how the Autobots got a building that is tall enough for them, in fact, taller than them to fit in. It has a large TV, but only used to communicate on missions & the Elite Guard, but Sari uses it to…you know. The Home Base is not clearly seen throughout the rooms of Bumblebee, Bulkhead, and Ratchet. Only Prime and Prowl had their rooms shown. Prowl’s room is Japanese style. Also, Sari was forced to move to the Home Base because the villainous human Porter C. Powell kicked her out of Sumdac Systems Tower.

• Sumdac Tower, the secondary setting of the show, which appears very often. Its’ first appearance was Transform and Roll Out! The tower resembles or actually is a sparkplug. Sari Sumdac and her father live in the tower, along with their robot dog pet Sparkplug. However, Porter kicked out Sari to make room for Henry Masterson. Issac was kidnapped by Megatron the same time, which allowed Porter to control the tower without any citizen going against him for illegal use. The tower was massively destroyed by a giant lice monster in the first episode. It has robotic engineering.

• Burger Bot, a parody of Burger King. It seems to be a popular fast-food restaurant because it appears a few times, and the only fast-food restaurant ever seen. Sari and Captain Fanzone are seen eating a hamburger from the restaurant. The “Burger Bot” is named by the selling of burgers and Detroit City’s usage of mechanics when thanks to Sumdac Systems, technology has sped up. In Human Error Part 1, the Autobots turned into humans eat at Burger Bot. Bulkhead, Prime & Ratchet order a hamburger while Prowl orders a salad since it’s healthy for a human body.

• Dino Bot Island, the home of the Dinobots. Also the setting where Meltdown has his lab. Grimlock, Swoop, and Snarl live in the island just like the dinosaurs living on an island in Isla Nublar from Jurassic Park. The island often had destruction, especially because the Dino-Bots had no intention of peace at all against the mutation monsters of Meltdown. Blackarachnia was washed on the shores to Dino-Bots Island, but later abandoned the island after several months of marooned status.

Tools/Items
• Sari Sumdac’s Key, the most common appearing item in the series that has high importance. The key was usually just a normal key at first, but when the All Spark transported its’ data and power into the key, Sari could use the key on anything except on dead Transformers. However, if the key is used too often, then the power will wear off more and more. Sari really doesn’t like annoying Sparkplug from biting on her key. The functions of the key are draining out the life form of organisms by Blackarachnia, turning dinosaur animatronics into the Dino Bots, getting Bumblebee’s turbo upgrades, opening an entire candy supply from the Home Base vending machine, re-awakening Prowl, and activating the growth of Soundwave. • Oil Cans, which to Autobots and Decepticons are probably the human equivalent of soda, beer, booze, water, or maybe both of which.

Differences/Similarities with the Live-Action Films

 * Optimus Prime and Bumblebee are still the same characters, and the only Autobots to have the exact same design into the series from the films. However, Prime is older in the live-action film, & Bumblebee is smaller in the animated series, and has speaking ability. In fact, in the live-action film, Bumblebee can’t talk, but in Animated, he talks WAY too much to Prowl.
 * Ratchet is still the name for an Autobot, but in the 2007 film, he was a yellow green Search and Rescue Hummer H2 with neutral behavior, but in the Animated Series, Ratchet is a grumpy Ambulance. However, they are still the medical officers. (Or to Bumblebee, the Doctors).
 * Starscream still transforms into an F-22 and can knock out U.S. Military raptors the same way in the live-action film just as he does in the first episode, Transform and Roll Out!
 * Megatron looks exactly the same in the first episodes featuring him with a full design from the 2007 and 2009 live-action film. However, his design is later changed into the G1 exact type.
 * Bulkhead & Prowl did not appear in the live-action films, but are one of the Animated series’ main characters. Prowl was considered for the live-action film, but the writers replaced him with Barricade for police car morph. In the animated series, Prowl is a golden black motorcycle.
 * Soundwave has changed design and age in the Animated Series. There are slight differences too. He is semi-metal silver silicon, but in the Animated Series, he is blue green, but more green when bigger. He has dialogue in the Animated Series, unlike the live-action films. He is built in the future, while in Revenge of the Fallen, he was built at least before the year 2009.
 * Most of the action in Animated is in Detroit, but in the live-action films, it is Burbank, CA.
 * Sari Sumdac’s robotic fingers resemble Frenzy’s fingers from the 2007 live-action film.
 * Ironhide was silver in the films but in Animated, he is an orange round robot who enjoys practical pranks. In the 2007 live-action film, Ironhide also pulled a prank as well.
 * Mixmaster and Scrapper appear with only additional speaking ability & redesigned.
 * Elita One appears as well, but she is instead yellow like Bumblebee in the TV Series instead of purple from the 2009 film. Also, Elita One is the true Blackarachnia in Animated.
 * Ultra Magnus appears in the Animated series but not in the live-action movies. The movie creators and the fans never even questioned his absence in the live-action movies.
 * Blackout's line, “All Hail Megatron!” from the 2007 film is the exact motto of Lugnut.
 * Jazz also appears, but is not under Prime’s command & is a white serious loyalty worker. He instead works for Sentinel Prime & the Elite Guard. He is also white & blocks his eyes.
 * Sam Witwicky doesn’t appear in the series, but his G1 series’ counterpart name, Spike, is the name of a character in Animated, who resembles Disco Stu from The Simpsons.
 * Detroit, Michigan is the setting of the series, while in the live-action movies, it was Los Angeles or probably somewhere around Southwest California. The Animated series is in the future, but the live-action films are more earlier and had a more complex origin of Transformers.
 * Similar to Sam Witwicky, Sari Sumdac has Bumblebee as her primary transportation.
 * The NASA inspection camera video from "Lost and Found" is similar to the Transformers 2007 live-action film which featured the live-action character Grimlock instead of Blitzwing and Lugnut.

Broadcast History
Cartoon Network (2007-2009, original-run; 2009-2010, reruns)