Line #1 Trivia/TransformersAnimated


1	* ActingForTwo: Due in part to budget, ''Animated'' gets a ''lot'' of mileage out of its actors. There are several episodes where two characters go out on their own and argue the entire way, and often even had the same voice actor.
2	** Pushed to its logical end with the Starscream clones. Despite having color schemes clearly inspired by older characters that had their own names, they're never referred to as anything but Starscream clones on the show. That's because if they're all Starscream clones, then they all count as the same character; if they were different characters, they'd have to pay Creator/TomKenny extra to voice them all and they're only allowed to have one VA voice so many characters in a single episode.
3	** Optimus Prime, Lugnut, Grimlock and many more bots are both voiced by Creator/DavidKaye.
4	** Prowl, Fanzone, Soundwave amongst others are both voiced by Jeff Glen Bennett.
5	** This was lampshaded during the Botcon 2008 script reading, where Bumblebee suggests to a thinly disguised Beast Wars Megatron (as voiced by David Kaye) that they call Grimlock or Lugnut (both voiced by David Kaye) for help. Megatron responds "Oh, please. What do I look like, [[WesternAnimation/BeastWars Scott McNeil]]?"
6	** There's even one where Animated Optimus is talking about golf with BW Megatron, the latter declaring with a chuckle that Autobots suck at golf (again, both characters were voiced by Kaye).
7	** [[AddedAlliterativeAppeal Blitzwing, Bumblebee, and Blackout are voiced by Bumper Robinson.]]
8	** Most of Shockwave's dialogue (at least in Decepticon form) is in conversation with either Ratchet or Megatron, all of whom are also voiced by Creator/CoreyBurton.
9	** With a few exceptions here and there, Tara Strong voices nearly all of the female and child characters.
10	* CowboyBebopAtHisComputer:
11	** While it's true that there was a push for synergy with the movies, the choice of Bumblebee over Hot Shot in the main cast was also something pushed for by Matt Youngberg and Derrick J. Wyatt themselves (the latter of whom had lukewarm to negative feelings on the movies past the first one).
12	** The lack of new ''Animated'' toys or media since the show's cancellation led most fans to assume that due to the show being a collaboration with Cartoon Network, rights to use ''Animated'' designs and characters were held up in legal limbo. In fall 2022, however, Hasbro would deny this, confirming that they had full rights to every ''Transformers'' character, ''Animated'' included, and that new ''Animated'' toys would be included in the ''Legacy'' toyline.
13	* CreatorsFavorite: Creator/CoreyBurton considers this incarnation of Shockwave his favorite, particularly in regards to his design.
14	* CreatorsPest:
15	** Derrick J. Wyatt and Marty Isenberg have a strong dislike of Beachcomber. While he mostly appears as a background extra, a cut scene from the start of season 3 depicted him being horribly killed. Had the fourth season been produced, it would have opened up with Blackout brutally murdering Beachcomber, and had he somehow survived that too, Isenberg said they would have found a way to kill him in a hypothetical fifth season. Wyatt mourned the loss of Beachcomber's planned death scenes, but he also eventually admitted that his dislike for him started to wane after a while.
16	** Wyatt also hated the concept of godly Transformers and there were no plans for Unicron or Primus to appear as a result. However, Wyatt was fine with a non-godly Unicron showing up, and suggested he would’ve been a creation of obscure franchise villain Violen Jiger - and if a sketch at a convention is any indication, would’ve resembled his original G1 voice actor Creator/OrsonWelles. Meanwhile, there would’ve been a Church of Primus as a parody of Scientology to further stick it to what Wyatt really thought of Primus.
17	* DevelopmentGag:
18	** Team Athenia (Rodimus Prime, Red Alert, Hot Shot, Brawn, and Ironhide) is three-fifths scrapped ideas (see the first entry under WhatCouldHaveBeen).
19	** Sari's scooter/jetpack is based on a transforming trike she had in a dropped version of the opening sequence.
20	* DirectedByCastMember: The French dub was directed by Creator/VincentViolette, who also voiced Megatron, Prowl, Isaac Sumdac, Mixmaster, Oil Slick, and Jetstorm (as well as Wasp, but only during Season 2).
21	* DubNameChange: In the Japanese dub, Bulkhead was renamed to Ironhide; the character originally named Ironhide was accordingly given the new monker Armorhide.
22	* ExecutiveMeddling:
23	** Twice, but [[Administrivia/TropesAreTools it wasn't so bad]]. The network wanted a human sidekick, so we got Sari Sumdac, who proved to be more popular than any previous human ally in the franchise, [[spoiler:though she later turned out to be part Cybertronian.]] The second time, Sari and the humans got put OutOfFocus in season three, particularly the human villains; most fans appreciated the increased focus on Cybertron.
24	** Season 3 was made darker by request from the network, to [[FollowTheLeader bring it in-line]] with the other shows running at the time such as ''WesternAnimation/Ben10AlienForce'' and ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsTheCloneWars''.
25	** Marty Isenberg explained at [=TFNation=] 2019 that even with the steadily-growing popularity of turning to streaming services to [[{{Uncancelled}} continue past canceled shows that were popular enough to be revived]], the chance of this happening to ''Transformers: Animated'' is, unfortunately, next to nil, due to the show's nature as a [[MerchandiseDriven toy commercial]] that has already been shown to have failed in the past. To get a follow-up greenlit, it would have to be a "smaller investment" such as a [[ConclusionInAnotherMedium comic book]].
26	** Season 4 originally would've had Blackarachnia take over as the BigBad, with Megatron relegated to a supporting villain and the conflict moving to Cybertron, due to the showrunners feeling both Megatron and Earth had been played out. However, Hasbro nixed this, requesting the cast to look closer to their [[Film/TransformersFilmSeries live-action]] counterparts, such as changing Ratchet's colors, Bumblebee getting camaro lines, and adding flames to Optimus, due to Hasbro wanting the series and films to have synergy. The crew weren't particularly fond of the "Eternal Flames", and Marty Isenberg's outline for the possible Season 4 opener features Optimus himself [[WriterRevolt thinking the flames look dumb]].
27	* FakeBrit: Angry Archer's voice, provided by Creator/JeffBennett, has been admitted to be a parody of Creator/JohnCleese.
28	* FakeNationality: Indian-Americans Sari and Issac Sumdac are voiced by white-Americans Creator/TaraStrong and Creator/TomKenny, respectively.
29	* FoilerFootage: One of Cartoon Network's online games (likely mistakenly) labeled Ironhide as a Decepticon. Due to the game having come out before "Autoboot Camp", it resulted in some fans thinking they had a good idea on who TheMole described in the synopsis was, before the episode itself revealed it was Longarm Prime, aka Shockwave.
30	* HypotheticalCasting: Art director Derrick J. Wyatt often shared his ideal picks for voices for characters who either didn't speak in the show or only appeared in printed media such as the comics. Among his picks were:
31	** Creator/GilbertGottfried as Swoop.
32	** Creator/LouieAnderson as Snarl.
33	** Creator/ClancyBrown as Overlord.
34	** Creator/JeffreyCombs as Pharma, as a MythologyGag to the Ratchet that Combs previously [[WesternAnimation/TransformersPrime played]].
35	* KeepCirculatingTheTapes: Season 3 was never released in the US. The other DVD's are out of print as well.
36	** The third season was released by Creator/ShoutFactory in June 2014 along with a DVD set of the full series. Unfortunately, the Shout! Factory releases do not include any of the shorts by Creator/Studio4C and there are no scheduled individual rereleases of the first two seasons. On the flip side, they were in its original widescreen, which no previous release had ever had.
37	*** Speaking of the shorts, there were officially two shorts withheld from the public for ''years''. These shorts, "Logo" and "Starscream's Fantasy," had only been seen twice at Botcon 2009 and Botcon 2012. Even when individuals such as popular Transformers [=YouTuber=] Keyan Carlile were given private HD copies by Marty Isenberg, [[https://twitter.com/KeyanCarlile/status/1503181091837931523?s=20&t=ghb3B2xKRA4aYM8uSGQ8ng Isenberg requested that they must not be uploaded online]] for a while (likely due to legal reasons). Thankfully, the shorts had since been released through Carlile’s channel with approval from Isenberg.
38	* {{Lzherusskie}}: Jetstorm, Jetfire, and Strika all have Russian accents. None of their voice actors are Russian.
39	* NoExportForYou: Season 3 has never aired in Germany, Italy and Russia despite Season 2 ending on a cliffhanger.
40	* TheOtherDarrin:
41	** In Season 3, Omega Supreme is voiced by Creator/PhilLaMarr instead of Creator/KevinMichaelRichardson.
42	** Sparkplug Witwicky from [[WesternAnimation/TheTransformers the Generation 1 cartoon]] makes some [[ContinuityCameo Continuity Cameos]] in the episodes "Nature Calls", "Sari, No One's Home", and "Three's a Crowd", but his voice actor is never consistent. He is played by Creator/JeffBennett in his first appearance, Creator/DavidKaye in his second, and by John Mariano in his third appearance.
43	** The Newsbot only appears in two episodes ("Headmaster" and "The Return of the Headmaster"), both of which give him a different voice actor. He is voiced by David Kaye in the former and by Townsend Coleman in the latter.
44	* OutOfHolidayEpisode: The two-parter episode "Human Error" is set on Christmas Eve and Day. However, it aired in April.
45	* PlayingAgainstType:
46	** Creator/DavidKaye as [[TheHero Optimus Prime]], considering that previously, his biggest ''Transformers'' roles had been voicing the ''Beast Wars'' and ''Unicron Trilogy'' incarnations of ''Megatron!''
47	** Creator/TomKenny as Starscream and Wasp.
48	* RefittedForSequel: Maybe. The team medic originally being female ''might'' have something to do with [[WesternAnimation/TheTransformers the original toyline and series]] planning for Ratchet to be female.
49	* RoleReprise: Some actors reprise their roles from [[WesternAnimation/TheTransformers the original Generation 1 cartoon]].
50	** Creator/CoreyBurton reprises his roles as Shockwave and Spike Witwicky, though the latter mainly appears as a background character and only has a speaking role in the episode "Garbage In, Garbage Out". He's also credited with providing the grunts for Brawn in "[=TransWarped=]", having also played the character in the original series.
51	** Susan Blu returns as Arcee.
52	** John Moschitta reprises his role as Blurr.
53	** "[=TransWarped=]" has Creator/JuddNelson reprise his role as Rodimus Prime from ''WesternAnimation/TheTransformersTheMovie''.
54	** For the script reading of “Trial of Megatron” in 2019, Marty Isenberg was able to have the entire voice cast of the show - Creator/DavidKaye, Creator/CoreyBurton, Creator/BumperRobinson, Creator/BillFagerbakke, Creator/TomKenny, Creator/SusanBlu, Creator/TownsendColeman, Creator/JeffBennett, and Creator/PhilLaMarr - reprise their roles for the first time in ten years for free, with the exception of Creator/TaraStrong as Sari.
55	** The Japanese version has Tessho Genda reprising Omega Supreme and G1 Optimus for Transwarped Part 1, Rikako Akikwa as Strika, Kenso Kato as Waspinator and Ryoka Yuzuki as Blackarachnia.
56	* RunningTheAsylum: If you played a drinking game with Franchise/TransformersGeneration1 [[MythologyGag mythology gags]], you'd be dead by the third episode.
57	* ScienceMarchesOn: There's the updated forms of the Dinobots. The G1 Dinobots were already somewhat inaccurate even during the 80s, with different body proportions to the animals they were based on. By today's standards they are hideously inaccurate, with their stances and movements being made to reflect the idea that Dinosaurs used to be thought as slow and dumb. The Animated Dinobots are much, '''much''' closer in general accuracy to their respective animals in virtually every way. Body proportions, stances, range of movement, everything.
58	* ScrewedByTheNetwork: Sure, three seasons and 42 episodes doesn't sound too bad... until you realize that the show was on the air for ''less than a year and a half''. In this case, it was more Hasbro deciding to form [[Creator/TheHub their own kids/family network]] with Discovery... a rival to the one ''producing this show''. Whoops.
59	* SelfAdaptation: All six issues of IDW's comic book ''Transformers Animated: The Arrival'' were written by Marty Isenberg, the story editor for the show. Unlike similar tie-ins, the comic is entirely canon to the show, and even fills in some continuity gaps [[note]] most notable, Issues #1 and #4 tell the story of how Blackarachnia got to Earth [[/note]].
60	* ShortRunInPeru: Somewhat annoyingly to American viewers, Canada's YTV aired this show a week ahead of Cartoon Network after it was dropped for one week in favor of the ''WesternAnimation/Ben10AlienForce'' premiere. Not to mention that, annoying everyone ''else'' in the world, a Dubai children's network aired almost all of season 2 over a month early, leading to WildMassGuessing and outright misinformation based on screenshots with no English translations.
61	* ShortLivedBigImpact: Despite its relatively short run, ''Animated'' has been fairly influential in the franchise since. Not only have [[TheBigGuy Bulkhead]], [[UndyingLoyalty Lugnut]], [[PsychoForHire Lockdown]], and [[OppositeSexClone Slipstream]] all become a CanonImmigrant in some form of later media, but the show's portrayal of classic G1 characters have influenced their later incarnations as well, such as Ultra Magnus and Arcee having a hammer and twin blades respectively in their ''[[WesternAnimation/TransformersPrime Prime]]'' and IDW incarnations, Ratchet being characterized as a crusty old grouch, and Sentinel being characterized as a more antagonistic figure.
62	* ShowAccuracyToyAccuracy: ''Animated'' has some of the best accuracy between the show and the toys of any continuity. The toys are highly accurate in Alt Mode, Robot Mode, and have extremely accurate transformations, all while maintaining the series' unique art style.
63	* ShrugOfGod:
64	** The whole point of the mystery about what side of Starscream Slipstream represents is that '''''we are not supposed to know because it's just a joke'''''. Derrick J. Wyatt initially responded with this trope, and for a while would respond that ''anything'' was the side of Starscream that Slipstream represented (one notable example was the pain the Native Americans felt when they lost their buffalo herds). ''Website/TFWikiDotNet'' says that she's supposed to be a joke on Starscream having a feminine side.
65	** He also kept mum about how [[spoiler:Sari's protoform]] ended up in Professor Sumdac's lab -- he felt that something like that should only be told in future ''Animated'' fiction.
66	* ThrowItIn:
67	** Blitzwing's German accent was a last-minute improvisation by Creator/BumperRobinson while auditioning for the role, no doubt based on the character's name. When he got the part, Blitzwing was hastily redesigned to compliment the accent.
68	** The post-credits scene of Megatron and Starscream arguing at the end of "A Bridge Too Close" was reportedly improvised by Creator/CoreyBurton and Creator/TomKenny.
69	* UncreditedRole: Despite being heavily advertised in the leadup of the show, Creator/Studio4C is never credited for their work, which consists of the transformation StockFootage and the intro. Similarly, none of the individual episode staff have credits. The Japanese dub rectifies this somewhat, but even that isn't complete.
70	* UniverseBible: It had one. A large chuck of its content contained [[WhatCouldHaveBeen scratched concepts]].
71	* WhatCouldHaveBeen: [[WhatCouldHaveBeen/TransformersAnimated It now has its own page.]]
72	* WordOfGod: Several things, most notably the possibility of [[spoiler:Blurr not being dead]], and Slipstream's name.
73	** Neither Unicron or Primus would've shown up in ''Animated'', though that didn't stop DJW from drawing his interpretation of Unicron. Wyatt has said Primus himself doesn’t exist in the universe due to a dislike of godly Transformers beings. A “Church of Primus” exists, however, in a parody of Scientology. Unicron, Wyatt has said, would hearken back to his G1 cartoon roots in being a non-magical creation of obscure villain Violen Jiger.

Context Trivia / TransformersAnimated