I think alot of people recognize more of the michael bay aesthetic more then his G1 look opposed to other characters.

 

Obviously.

 

Well many countries didn't air g1 cartoon like US did,so many of them didn't grow up with it and thus only knowing about transformers through bayformers and make them more recognizable to those who only know transformers through the live action,like me.Well in my country they did air transformers g1 (when I was 10,I'm 20 now by the way) but I don't remember much about it and thought "well it's fun but the designs are boring",because the first transformers stuff I knew was 07 movie and my standards were already set high for transformers designs.Although tbh I don't watch any transformers media beside the movies,I still can appreciate good designs tf,like the designs from WFC and FOC (I played those,great game) and I was hoping if they were to use g1 designs in live action,I wish they modernized the g1 designs like WFC and FOC did and add a touch of bay's complex design.But what I do like from these new con designs is the addition of colors to the decepticons,now that's great.

 

Yes.

 

I think it varies by who you ask. Ask someone that was an 80's and they are likely to say G1 because that is where they were introduced to the character. Ask someone that had movie Bumblebee or Transformers Prime as their first introduction and that design is the one that tends to stick in their mind.

 

He has most definitely. Obviously not with 30 something’s on the internet, but worldwide to a legion of casual fans movie Bumblebee is the one.

 

But here's the thing, iconography is not a "person by person" basis. Movie Bee is recognized by older fans and younger fans alike. He's had a decade of consistent presence, has reached a far larger audience. He is undeniably more recognized and known as a character, and I feel like the BB movie may elevate that once he finally has a strong character portrayal to back that up.

 

Reconizable yes! more iconic? well that depends on ones perception of Transformers. Me I perfer Bumblebee to actually have a mouth and TALK. There are LOTS of G1 fans just like their are LOTS of movieverse fans. One thing about cyberverse is that he has more of his iconic G1 look, and most people just associate that as bumblebee because of the obvious ''He is Yellow" and of course that he doesn't speak. Hopefully on cybertron bee will have his G1 look.

 

I believe so, yes. The films gave him insect details (wings, mouthplate, eyes) that make him visually resemble a bumblebee.

G1 was just a Beetle.

 

I think people recognize Bumblebee but it seems like we don't know a great deal about his character other than mute, seems to like some humans, and insane plot armor.

Perhaps the Bumblebee move will add that character Bumblebee needs. At least in his last film the director seemed to have the idea that you need character to tell a story so maybe our odds have gone up that Bumblebee will be more than a Transformers knock off of GI Joe's Snake Eyes. Yea we know the little yellow bastard lives because it's a prequel but maybe they can keep it from feeling like a forgone conclusion.

 

What I would really wonder is how just things would come out if they wanted to go with a talking G1 Bee, would the dynamic between Charlie and him be different? An underdog coming of age tale between a screw up tiny but brave witty talker yet noble bot and an oucast and socially akward yet will filled and corageous teen girl would set it apart from the mute creature who a boy/girl hides from the government which was a thing on the 80's-90's for some reason and came back with the shape of water.

Think of it more like an Alf than an E.T.

 

You literally can't see a Camaro without someone calling it Bumblebee. But not every VW Beetle you see gets called a Bumblebee in streets by kids.

 

Maybe because you don't see VW Beetle's anymore. Last one I saw was in the early 90s.

 

I saw one last week. They are still around.

 

good news is that now they probably will  

 

I think it’s because G1 Bee wasn’t a very prominent character, unlike how movie Bee gets the spotlight with Optimus nearly everywhere

 

That is also true

 

I think it's sort of a mix. Most people know him as a VW, which is G1, but everyone knows his face and general build like the Bayverse. I guess that's why they went with a sort of "happy medium" with Bumblebee (which works very well, IMO).

 

Me it's the opposite I grew up watching G1 in the mid 2000's and it was my first Introduction to bee and yet i can recognize Bays-version much more than the G1 Version.