We’re firmly in the period of reimagination as old shows find modern revivals and get reinvented in many different ways – movies have been the go to and have been widely successful with bigger reboots over the past few years. Video games have been a great target too particularly with themed titles in more casual options like this found at https://sinlicencia.org/casinos-online-europeos/ offering older themed slots and reimagined games too. One area for cartoons specifically, however, has been the reimagination of TV shows as bigger platforms have picked up the rights to recreate them.
We’ve seen countless Transformers shows over the last 30+ years with the franchise re-branding itself each time Hasbro and Takara want to refresh the toy line. But could a true reboot of one of the earlier shows be something that Transformers could see in the future, or something that fans may even want to see?
Not all reboots have been received well – When looking at cartoons specifically, there’s something in the charm of the older 80’s shows that might not be as easy to capture as some studios may have hoped, and a show released earlier this year may show that. The reboot of Masters of the Universe on Netflix certainly got some He-Man fans excited with a star-studded cast that could look to be an almost certain success, but user scores on popular platform Rotten Tomatoes show the opposite sitting at just 42% as something that seemingly missed the mark – and whilst the average score is much higher at 91%, it wasn’t able to reach the popularity that had been initially hoped.
If an attempt were made to remake one of the Transformers shows in some capacity, the hope would be not to slip into this same trap but can be difficult to avoid when nostalgia kicks in and the rose-tinted glasses show something very different.
A saturation of the series – Another thing to avoid for any potential show makers will be an over saturation of the series in the market, as much as fans love the Transformers series, having too much can take a hit on the quality too. The Michael Bay movies certainly brought a lot of fun to the big screen and later release like Bumblebee and upcoming releases in Rise of the Beasts have continued this too, to have a full length remaster or recreation of the original TV series become available too could bring too much content, and if quality isn’t as high as it needs to be then could only lead to further disappointment for those hoping, much like He-Man, to capture some of that old nostalgia that made the former options so great.
While we have a few ongoing shows running at the moment including the shorter streaming exclusive shows courtesy of Netflix, could the franchise really sustain several shows simultaneously? Whether we want to admit it or not, Transformers as a brand is still targeted at children and would multiple shows at the same time be viable, especially as a nostalgia driven show wouldn’t appeal to a younger audience. While a franchise like Star Trek may be supporting five shows currently, each has its own different audience and none are built around the need to sell toys.
For Transformers, this has always been the primary goal behind all of the television shows. Without that being the driving force behind it, Hasbro will want to seek outside investment or production to make sure a show would be produced for the fans. Unfortunately, that too comes with its own problems. Streaming services don’t have the same production budgets and sacrifices would be made, and one of the biggest criticisms Netflix faced before with their handling of Transformers was not utilising the established voice cast.
And that’s the big concern fans would have with bringing the G1 series back. G1 Optimus Prime without Peter Cullen would be a tough sell to the core fanbase, just as much as it would be to persuade fans to accept Grimlock without Gregg Berger, Megatron without Frank Welker and so on. As long as the voice actors are still with us, fans won’t be happy if they are recast.
Currently there’s no further news on the Netflix BotsBots Transformers show yet to come, but given it is aimed as a kids show and nothing too big or gritty, it may not be the current reimagination hoped for, there’s still time for a revival in the future however.
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