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Interview with Jason Jensen - Transformers Generation 1 Season 5's Tommy Kennedy

Posted on 01-05-2013 at 06:51 AM by Sol Fury under Generation 1

One of the great mysteries of the Transformers fandom, up until now, was what happened to Jason Jansen, the child actor who played Tommy Kennedy in the little-known fifth season of Transformers Generation 1 - the rerun season which introduced each episode with bridge segments featuring Jason Jansen as Tommy Kennedy interacting with an animatronic Powermaster Optimus Prime.

That mystery has finally been opened up, as Jason Jansen - or rather, Jason Jankowski, as Jason Jansen was his stage name - has got in touch with davidaschulz of the Digest my Brain blog and given a rare interview, shedding some light on the fifth season of Transformers Generation 1 - how he got into working on Transformers, what the experience was like, and even some on-set stories.

Check out the full interview on Digest my Brain here.

Discuss on the Boards!

Views: 4,059 / Credit: Nevermore of the 2005 Boards!

DISCUSSION: (Jump To This Thread On The Boards)

Rogzilla

Geez. I saw the Title and thought it was a Amber Alert thing or something.

Nevermore

I wouldn't post such a thing in the Transformers section.

Autobot Burnout

That's incredible.

Shockwave9227

Wow, just wow.

Rodimus Major

Now we need to find out where the animatronic Powermaster Prime is.

Billzilla

Holy smokes. It's a proud day for Transfandom.

AllBurnedOut

Yay

Galaxy Convoy

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rodimus Major

Now we need to find out where the animatronic Powermaster Prime is.

Probably resting in peace in a landfill somewhere out there.

PrimusVsUnicron

Quote:

Originally Posted by Galaxy Convoy

Probably resting in peace in a landfill somewhere out there.

then someone must find it

ssjkazer

That was cool

Icespark

That is an astoundingly impressive article! Congratulations and a huge thank you to all involved! I love seeing mysteries solved!

I hope Mr. Jansen is able to forward more stories about the filming; I love behind-the-scenes stuff!

Omegatron

I thought it'd be a female child actress who was now a man.

Maximo Prime

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nevermore

I wouldn't post such a thing in the Transformers section.

Granted, but someone who doesn't know you would still throw up red flags upon seeing the title. God knows people post in wrong spots all the time anyway - to someone who doesn't know Nevermore, you could be just another one of those people. Just saying, that title *could* have been worded a smidge better. Thanks for the link, though!

soundwaverulls

Oh cool, someone found him.

StayingInTheBox

No fucking way

so cool!

llamatron

Awesome.

Botcon 2013 guest? Hall of Fame inductee?

LemonPrime

Very cool! That was a good read. Thanks for sharing.

25 years from now, somebody should track down that kid from the "Daaaaaaad, can I borrow the Transformer?" video Hasbro...graced...us with from a couple of years ago.

T4mercustomz

Quick someone update the tfwiki page about him!

NGW

I honestly have no clue what the fuck any of this is about...

Aernaroth

Neat! Good for him!

SPLIT LIP

Mission accomplished.

I'm just glad he's made it and not, like, down on his luck. Grats to being a self-made man, Tommy-T.

Billzilla

Quote:

Originally Posted by NGW

I honestly have no clue what the fuck any of this is about...

Back in the day Hasbro produced a fifth season to the G1 cartoon that was just repackaged episodes from earlier seasons. The only new content was the bumper segments before and after every commercial which featured Powermaster Prime talking to a kid named Tommy Kennedy. Legend has long held that this material has never been rereleased (as DVD bonus material or what have you) because nobody could find the guy who played Tommy until today- Jason Janson/Janowski.

So it's been kind of a mystery for several years. As a group, we tend to keep tabs on everyone who had even a peripheral involvement in the series, so Jason's absence was notable even for people who had no particular interest in the segments themselves.

Cyclonus79

Quote:

Originally Posted by NGW

I honestly have no clue what the fuck any of this is about...

Don't feel bad. This is all a first for me too. Kinda embarrassing cause I'm pretty old lol.

guard convoy

The dude just seems like a really awesome guy

and if anyone wants to see a clip from season 5, I know this copy of "The Touch" music video has a clip of it:

http://youtu.be/GZPjrOgFpWI

Takeshi357

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nevermore

Turns out his real name is Jason Jankowski, "Jansen" was just a stage name, and he quit acting and grew up to become an ABC Television exec.

And judging from the picture, he's hanging out with John Locke!

bellpeppers

Quote:

Originally Posted by NGW

I honestly have no clue what the fuck any of this is about...

Here:
Transformers: Generation One Season 5 Footage - YouTube
In the 1st minute you'll see the kid in question.

encline

Soo this is cool..and I could see why I never watched season 5...well, it never aired right?

moreprimeland

Nice find....both the story and the man.

Nevermore

Quote:

Originally Posted by encline

Soo this is cool..and I could see why I never watched season 5...well, it never aired right?

If it didn't air, even less people would know about it.

It aired some time in 1988.

Again, it featured no new cartoon content, just these live action segments with a Powermaster Optimus Prime animatronic and Jason Jansen as Tommy Kennedy.

Hicks_Royel

I remember this kid being at all the commercial breaks during the TF Movie when it aired on TV some time in the past. My friend had taped it and we'd watch it from time to time as kids. To say that I care what happened to him though would be to greatly exaggerate my concern.

But yes, I would like to know what happened to the only known version of a flying G1 Prime.

Josh

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rogzilla

Geez. I saw the Title and thought it was a Amber Alert thing or something.

lol, same here

pretty nifty interview though!

thats one fandom collective grail down!

Takeshi357

Now let's see if we can track any of those big winners from the numerous Transformers contests from the 80's who won prizes bigger than toys. Like that Transformers birthday party one!

RKillian

The interviewer could've used an editor. This seems like a bigger deal than a weekly update on Beast Hunters still being out soon.

DJW107PRIME

Ah the memories.

bookwormdalek

Now if we could only find that Hot Rod Go-Cart contest prize....

destrongerlupus

Wow! I didn't think we'd ever track him down. Looking forward to reading the article, hope he's doing better than the "Fearless Fotog" kid is rumored to have turned out....

REMINATOR

I was kind of reluctant to click this thread because of the title, but glad I did. After all these years, I didn't know he live right at my backyard in the Bronx. Fordham University is only a couple of block where I live when he attended there. Well, glad one mystery is shot down

ken8kuhletz08

I never knew the Transformers Universe was so... interesting.

Dolf

That was awesome, good find.

Loved the link to the official "The Touch" video from the Animated Movie, honestly was first time seeing that!

Backscatter

This is awesome news and a great beginning to 2013. I'd welcome Mr. Jason Jansen at any convention.

Spyne98

He lived in Middletown!? I work there! lol

Shark Jumper

I think we all want a powermaster prime animatronic whose hand we can sit on.

DisThunder

Dr Wu needs to get crackin' on a Tommy Kennedy.

Starfire22

It's always nice to see some TF mystery/myth uncovered.

NIBMRatchet

Quote:

Originally Posted by LemonPrime

Actually, he's a friend of mine online. I'll let him know if you guys are searching for him one-day.

Insane Galvatron

Now we just need Shout Factory to get in touch with this guy and get permission to release the footage of him in a Season 5 DVD set.

Billzilla

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nevermore

It was also rerun in various markets until at least 1991- which is when I saw it- usually in marathons surrounding airings of TF:TM on rainy weekend afternoons before we had cable.

jackgaughan

He comes off as a really nice guy in this interview, I think we will see the segments release on DVD, and get a visit from him at Botcon.

grimlock1972

Awesome find. It definitely would be awesome for him to make it to Botcon.

and now i want a Human alliance Powermaster Optimus prime with Tommy Kennedy figure