Q&A with Jeff Kline

MaxxieOD · 11-15-2011, 11:15 AM

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He says season 2 will start next year...huh.

Quote:

Janice Anderson asks: My four-year-old Transformers Prime superfan, Jackson, would love to know when Season 2 will begin!

Jeff Kline: No specific date yet, but keep an eye out for more news soon. We do know it will be "early 2012." I’m hoping that means late January or early February, but the truth is that the folks making the series are often so narrow-focused—with nearly an entire season in various stages of production simultaneously—that we tend to not be as up-to-speed on scheduling or promotional agendas as you might think!

Kapricia Arabella asks: Out of the all the characters in the show, which one do you feel is the most like you?

Jeff Kline: I’d like to say that Optimus Prime and I are practically twins…but that would be overreaching. The truth is, when a writer is crafting an ensemble, he/she often puts a piece of himself or herself in each and every character. Might be a detail of backstory... a goal...a fear... or a quirk. Because, in general, it’s easier to write dialogue for a character you already have something in common with.

Jocelyn Simmons asks: I read in a commentary on the upcoming Season Two that Raf voice actor Andy Pessoa's voice is "changing"... If it's true, is he going to be replaced, or are you guys going to roll with the punches and make Raf grow up with him?

Jeff Kline: We’re definitely not going to replace Andy. We love Andy. And we’re very happy that, despite our best efforts to medically stunt his growth (kidding!), Andy continues to mature—and tower over many of us in the production office. Bottom line: Andy is a strong enough actor that he can hit that slightly higher, younger-sounding voice register even when it’s no longer his normal speaking voice.

Ben Maddison asks: How important did you feel it was to get back Peter Cullen and Frank Welker for the two iconic rolls they play?

JK: Everyone here at Prime, and at Hasbro Studios, felt it was vitally important to try to put the “band” back together. We weren’t certain either actor would be interested, but—thankfully—both responded to the material and, I suspect, the opportunity to work side-by-side once again.

“Scribble TheAppaloosa Pony” asks: With such a huge selection of Transformers to choose from, many of them being fan-favorites, how do you go about selecting which characters get the honor of starring in Transformers Prime?

Jeff Kline: We knew we wanted to keep our ensemble relatively small, bothfor production reasons and so that we would have the ability to really dig into these characters in a way that only television allows. If I remember correctly, we started with three of the "must-haves" (Optimus, Bumblebee, Megatron), and then tried to surround them with ‘Bots and ‘Cons that complemented rather than duplicated their personalities, attributes and histories. We knew we could never please everyone; each fan has his/her favorites, and the Transformers universe is huge. So we all came at it from the perspective of, "Who will allow us to spin the most story?" vs. "Who has the highest ‘Q’ Score?"

Mechafire · 11-15-2011, 11:17 AM

Sigh. Can't really say I'm surprised.

StarYoshi14 · 11-15-2011, 11:17 AM

......................................Fuck.

Thundercrackers · 11-15-2011, 11:18 AM

Oh maaaan. thought it was confirmed to start at thanksgiving. Oh well.

Could we get another word on this?

TrueNomadSkies · 11-15-2011, 11:31 AM

Speaking of which, I thought I saw Peter Cullen in the mall last weekend...

shroobmaster · 11-15-2011, 11:34 AM

As long as that means we'll have less crazy-ass breaks! Remember: the more we wait NOW the less we wait AFTER.

or something deep like that idk

Ryoku · 11-15-2011, 11:42 AM

Disappointed but not surprised. The lack of info on the season was not good news. Plus it seemed odd to end a season less than 2 months before the next season.

But yes, I desperately hope that when the next season hits there won't be any of those annoying starts/stops. Either go or don't. Don't tease me.

Also I just had a thought. Isn't early 2012 when the main line toys will be hitting? If so I could see Hasbro deciding to delay and launch both.

janeDoe001 · 11-15-2011, 11:50 AM

Scrap! All well, more time for me to memorize all of season 1.

Kinda bummed season 2's not starting this month though...

jD001

Arsenic · 11-15-2011, 11:55 AM

(sigh) OK. I will wait, so please promise us that there won't be damn breaks.

Oberoniss · 11-15-2011, 11:59 AM

/insert vehement Klingon swearing here/

11-15-2011, 11:17 AM	#3
StarYoshi14 Insecticon Join Date: May 2011 Posts: 926 News Credits: 1	......................................Fuck. StarYoshi14, super chill Jewbro and veteran Voice Actor. My Youtube Channel-Check out my favorites for some stuff I'm in! My VoiceActingAlliance Page

11-15-2011, 11:42 AM	#7
Ryoku Autobot Join Date: Jun 2010 Posts: 7,619 News Credits: 1	Disappointed but not surprised. The lack of info on the season was not good news. Plus it seemed odd to end a season less than 2 months before the next season. But yes, I desperately hope that when the next season hits there won't be any of those annoying starts/stops. Either go or don't. Don't tease me. Also I just had a thought. Isn't early 2012 when the main line toys will be hitting? If so I could see Hasbro deciding to delay and launch both. Burnout V4 - Free papercraft energon cubes made by me My Thugger gallery

11-15-2011, 11:50 AM	#8
janeDoe001 Herald of Unicron Join Date: Jul 2008 Posts: 2,832 News Credits: 9	Scrap! All well, more time for me to memorize all of season 1. Kinda bummed season 2's not starting this month though... jD001 Rule Number 1 in Transformers Lore: Never Piss of anyone named Optimus; You Will Die For It! Rule Number 2: The Pit Hath no fury like a Decepticon Leader Scorned! Rule Number 3: People are gonna hate Airachnid no matter what she does. Rule Number 4: Never order a metallic gorilla to give you a massage.

11-15-2011, 11:55 AM	#9
Arsenic Dinobot Join Date: Jul 2011 Posts: 823 Location: South Korea News Credits: 3	(sigh) OK. I will wait, so please promise us that there won't be damn breaks. For the fans of IDW's Transformers comic series, I made a List of IDW's Transformers issues on TFWiki. I hope it helps you!

11-15-2011, 11:18 AM	#4
Thundercrackers Cybertonian Scholar Join Date: Oct 2011 Posts: 147 Location: Gigantron Collection Count: 7	Oh maaaan. thought it was confirmed to start at thanksgiving. Oh well. Could we get another word on this?

11-15-2011, 11:34 AM	#6
shroobmaster Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2007 Posts: 13,550 News Credits: 30	As long as that means we'll have less crazy-ass breaks! Remember: the more we wait NOW the less we wait AFTER. or something deep like that idk

11-15-2011, 11:59 AM	#10
Oberoniss DOESN'T-EXIST BABBU Join Date: May 2011 Posts: 2,295 Location: Polar Bears R Us News Credits: 6	/insert vehement Klingon swearing here/