Botcon 2009 Animating Animated Panel Coverage

Animated – will not continue beyond season 3 in animation

Video – the various shorts were shown.
1 - School short up first.
2 - the mime short we saw on youtube.
3 – Grimlock fetch video
4 – Prowl bike jump
5 – Ratchet fixing Bulkhead
6 – Starscream heckling Megatron
7 – Starscream conquers the galaxy, other Decepticons sucking up, Blackarachnia slave girl, Megatron waiter, Starscream was dreaming
8 – Lugnut POKE the Amazon, Blitzwing wanted a swimming pool
9 – Blitzwing doing the classic scene change for hypnosis on Lugnut
10 – Optimus bio video
11 – Megatron bio video
12 – Bulkhead bio
13 – Bumblebee bio
14 – Ratchet Bio
15 – Prowl Bio
16 – Starscream Bio

Process starts with the creation of the series bible, characters, relationships

Nanosec was the pilot episode that was created, the basic normal everyday episode.

In production – starts with stories, 2-3 line story springboards, 15-16 stories to choose from for 13 episodes. Starts with something like “we’ll use Swindle”. Overall season arc is decided, changes as they go like how season 1 was originally written as 13 then expanded to 16 when pilot moved into a movie.

Stories drafted over and over, drafted and redrafted.

Actors all read together.

Group session, group dynamic.

Cast for versatility, aim was for a wide range of characters, about 1000 voices from the main cast alone.

Scripts written, fleshed out into a show.

Fleshed out with designs, day night colors. Designers for each different aspect of the show. Lots of little designs, stuff like back views, top of Fanzone’s head.
Some of the backgrounds have a lot of depth, like Optimus’ room has a row of trailers including the G1 trailer.

Storyboards – lots of post its. Notes on the script made, sent over to studio for the storyboard to be produced, reviewed and sometimes sent back.
Long hours of phone conversations.

Lots of people on the show on every level fans of Transformers.

Edited and once timing was good, handed to Audio Circus who did the audio.

Lots of SFX, lot of fun with new SFX for each episode. Huge sound for big robots biggest fun.

Season 3’s opening was storyboarded in the US rather than overseas.

Final episode used 260 channels of audio.


Robot Sari was planned from the beginning

Chins – Derrick has no idea real answer, to look more cartoony.

Wanted to do Deathsaurus, more Dai Atlas.

Team Charr and Rodimus – Spittor all SFX, Brawn would have been Corey Burton if he’d spoken.

Transwarped planned as a two party not three.

Warned early the series might end so wrapped it up as much as they could. Left some bits open to continue the story – they have the answers to the hanging questions.

Originally, Constructicons and Wreck Gar were in Endgame Part 2, they were meant to survive. Dinobots were in the script, flying off into the ocean when the Lugnut Supremes crash landed.

TFW Transformers Resources - Everything you ever wanted to know about US and Japanese Transformers toys but were afraid to ask!

Originally Posted by Lance Halberd Sol Fury can be likened to a German clock. A very exact, complex, and tightly-wound precision instrument that occasionally goes cuckoo.

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Thanks for the info. Those two new shorts (the dream and hypnosis ones) sound cool, I bet they will be on the Season 3 DVD. Glad to know they planned for Wreck-Gar and the Dinobots and the Constructicons in "Endgame." Did they say why they didn't make it in?

Wow, a lot of interesting stuff. Transwarped a two-parter??? I can't even imagine...

so you said it won be 'continuing in animation'. did they specifically state wether or not a comic series or anything else may follow it up? or wether the toy line is cancelled or just postponed?

Thought so. Now I just can't wait to hear them! I'm sure it's all very interesting, especially concerning Sari, Sentinel and Magnus.

That's about what I figured, since they were all likely too far out of range.

So much for the Dinos having some last-minute super heroics in them, though - sounds like they just decided "F-this" and left when the Supremes landed, so probably better they didn't show them at all. Or am I missing the joke? By "flying off," does that mean the impact just sent them all Loony Toons style up into the air and then into the ocean? LOL

I wonder of we will ever get closure to the Blackaracnia/Elita-1 story. Any info on that?

Thanks for the info.

I hope all the unreleased shorts go to DVD.

Still wish there was more Animated.

Good stuff, I wish I was at Botcon.

No statement on toys, or a comic. If they'd said that I'd have let you know. Might come out tomorrow.

Yeah, sounds that way. Don't think it even made it to storyboarding.

TFW Transformers Resources - Everything you ever wanted to know about US and Japanese Transformers toys but were afraid to ask!

Originally Posted by Lance Halberd Sol Fury can be likened to a German clock. A very exact, complex, and tightly-wound precision instrument that occasionally goes cuckoo.