how closely did Mainframe who made the tv show work with Hasbro regarding the toys? Did Hasbro design the toys first without consideration of what was happening in the tv show, or did Mainframe tell Hasbro of what direction the show was going in and Hasbro made toys to support the show? I get the feeling it’s a case of “here’s a Predacons Transmetal II Dinobot toy we made, work it into the show somehow”. But I don’t know. Every other tv show, the toys clearly came first and the writers wrote the shows around whatever new toys were made. But Beast Wars and Beast Machines don’t feel that clear cut. Or perhaps it’s a testament to how natural the writers added new characters in beast wars, that it doesn’t have the “to sell toys” feeling that every other show has.
Season 1 the toys came first and Hasbro had a totally different story in mind. Optimus Primal was originally intended to be the same Optimus from G1 not a totally new character. Same with Megatron. They were actually suppose to use the mutant face gimmick from the toy line as well. Mainfraim pretty much disregarded everything Hasbro intended and did their own thing. Season 2 and 3 however the Animation models were made first and Hasbro made toys based on what Mainfraim was doing which is why the Transmetal toys were far more accurate to the cartoon than their season 1 toys. Though Inferno was suppose to die at the end of season 1 and Hasbro pretty much said they had to keep him because he was one of their larger better selling toys. Inferno survived death because Hasbro saved him. Other than that I think Hasbro just let Mainfraim do whatever they wanted. Beast Machines... I'm not entirely sure what came first but it did seem to go back to animation models look nothing like the toys... however in this case I think it's because Hasbro was forced to make toys based on designs that don't actually transform. They had those glowing lights and rather than moving parts they just kinda morphed from one thing to another thing. I'm pretty sure the animation models came first for that series but don't quote me on that... There is one exception though as I know for a fact Obsidian was released long before he appeared in the cartoon. Everyone else I think it was animation first then toy.
Yup... not sure how them changing from one beast to another would of worked into the story. I think Mainframe did the right thing by keeping the same beast modes for the entire series and changing the aesthetic rather than having them be fully organic beast modes the entire series and just randomly changing alternate modes. Also like how they handled the mutant heads rather than just having it as a dumb gimmick... at least for Blackarachnia and Tarantulus as it helped differentiate the characters more. I just wish they had done the same with Cheetor and Tigatron, one of them should of had the mutant head instead of both of them being the main robot face. There was a comic book that came with that Bat Primal/Megalligator two pack which explains the direction Hasbro was intending and it's one of the worst things I've ever read. It was just boring and felt more like a toy advertisement than any cartoon series I've ever watched. So yeah I'm really happy Mainfraim ditched that story and did their own thing.
Actually things could had been different regarding Tigatron. Originally the character would had been Wolfang, though budget killed that. Part of me does wonder if Beast Wars Silverbolt was an nod to that moment. There was an earlier eagle Silverbolt in the toy line and what appeared on the show was a combination of the two alt modes.
The Eagle is actually G1 Silverbolt, totally different character. And an early protype for Tigatron shows he was originally going to be an orange tiger before being changed to a Siberian white tiger. I like to think the orange version is SG Tigatron. Also I'm not sure how changing from Wolfgang to Tigatron fixes the budget problem. They still had to basically make a different animation model since Tigatron had bulkier proportions due to be a tiger rather than a cheetah. He's not just a direct recolor... not in the show anyway... plus they had to create a bunch of other new character models after him so I kinda doubt that story. I just think they liked Tigatron more. Considering he was kind of a loner maybe having a lone wolf be an actual wolf was just a bit too on the nose for them. I don't know.
The character Hasbro saved from death was Waspinator, which was supposedly due to his being a character popular with viewers. Also, the Inferno toy was a massive shelfwarmer.
Correct. And the original idea for Inferno was that Megatron would die (like season 1 Primal did), and then get a new body, which would have been Inferno. The toy would probably have sold much better had they done this.
Waspinator was never going to die. He was actually intentionally turned into their version of Kenny from South Park which is why he blows up in damn near every episode. Though Scott McNeil said that Waspinator was originally going to be a more serious character. They just liked Scott's version so much they changed his entire role in the show around that voice. So technicially he's dies in every episode but because he's a Kenny reference he doesn't ever stay dead. It's a constant running joke in the series. Inferno however you can actually see him disintegrate at the end of season 1 when the Transmetal wave hits. The writer literally said he was intended to die in that scene but Hasbro told them no.
Except Tigatron's model is just Cheetor's but skewed. If you look at the feet and the legs you can see they're the same models just stretched and pulled and reshaped, which is infinitely easier than making an all new model. You're also forgetting the fact that the robot modes are almost identical, again just stretched a bit in Tigatron's case. The robot modes are far more complicated than the beast modes, and it was probably for that reason alone Tigatron's was chosen. Also, the fact that they made more characters later still doesn't change the fact that they were saving a lot of time and money by replacing Wolffang. Actually you don't. You're confusing it with the end of season 2 when he disintegrates from the Energon crystals exploding. Inferno was already shot by Blackarachnia long before the Quantum surge hit. No, it wasn't intentional, nor was it a Kenny reference. (Namely because Waspinator doesn't "die" every episode, just the ones he actually appears in, and he's not always completely obliterated) When writing the dialogue the writers realized Waspinator's slow, buzzing speech (which Scott McNeil came up with himself) was eating up way more time than necessary. So they would often take him out quickly so he wouldn't have to talk, but this wound up inadvertently endearing him to both the audience and the writers. The fact that he's disposed of on a regular basis like Kenny is coincidence.
Pretty much every other part of your post was completely wrong as well, I'm surprised no one touched this bit. The characters put in the show (those that had toys, anyways) were entirely at Hasbro's discretion. They made their choices based on what they thought would sell well/wanted to promote. Since you claim to know so much of the behind the scenes into, I'm guessing you know the Tigerhawk situation? Hasbro ordered he be put in the show, but were indecisive about whether they would actually release the toy after all, which is why he was killed so quickly. Mainframe wasn't just pulling all these designs and characters out of thin air, like you are with your claims. Everyone on the show was Hasbro's picks, with Hasbro's existing toy designs. Not sure what your point is about increased accuracy anyways, aside from Blackarachnia all of the season 1 show designs were pretty damn faithful to the toys.
I'd argue Dinobot wasn't. The colours are quite different, and physically they hardly resemble one another. At least BA has the spider legs. (though she too got pretty radically new colours)
I'd still say the designs themselves are close enough, but the show is so prioritized in my head that my brain just automatically overwrites and makes me forget the orange and tan on the OG toy. Fair enough.
