Bumblebee: The Movie Will Be A Significant Milestone For Volkswagen

Discussion in 'Transformers News and Rumors' started by SilverOptimus, Mar 10, 2018.

  1. SilverOptimus

    SilverOptimus Movie News Monster Moderator News Staff

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  2. Seth Sunthay

    Seth Sunthay ElusoryMonk

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    Porsche licence for a MP Jazz confirmed.
    [​IMG]
     
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  3. User_96283

    User_96283 Banned

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    Couldn't give 2 shits about VW. Is everyone who watches the movie getting a personal VW? No? Then fuck off.
    Just make a god damn good movie, bother about the self-adulation and product placement milestones afterwards. It's still a bug. This isn't a gold-engine McLaren.
     
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  4. Applejacktimus

    Applejacktimus Still see the Sunshine

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    Didn't know VW was gonna end production of Beetles. Always did love the Bug, so I'm sad to hear this news. I'm hoping to make an off road buggy out of a Beetle someday, and I've thought about making it resemble G1 Bumble or one of his many repaints, so there is definitely gonna be a feeling of wistfulness when I see Bumbleboy turn into one on the big screen after hearing this news.

    Thanks for being one of the most iconic cars in history, Beetle! You had a kickass run I'll never forget!! :music 
     
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  5. Probe

    Probe Well-Known Member

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    ...WHAT?
     
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  6. LanaDelRey

    LanaDelRey Mafiosi Princess

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    Thank you for making that announcement that no one cared about, Paramount and Volkswagen
     
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  7. Ikkstakk

    Ikkstakk Well-Known Member

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    I confess I'm unsure in what way the Bumblebee Movie will be a "significant milestone for Volkswagen."
     
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  8. BattleUpSaber

    BattleUpSaber Result.

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    I suppose than it is significant that VW went from barring all Bee toys that turned into VWs, to alllowing Hasbro and Paramount to make a feature-length blockbuster where Bumblebee is a VW. Talk about doing a complete 180.
     
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  9. Ikkstakk

    Ikkstakk Well-Known Member

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    Alternatively, they could be saying "We hate having to be associated with this franchise so much, we're killing our signature car over it! Nyah!"
     
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  10. Deadend

    Deadend Spark of Creation

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    That has much to do with how it was finally explained to them.
    The initial thoughts for their declining the usage was that they didn't want their brand associated to tools of war. Something that may be understandable if you think of their roots, and history, and things they were ashamed of and wanted to grow beyond.

    It was since explained to them what the autobots are, and what Bumblebee himself represents. That they aren't "war machines" or "tools for war", but are inhabitants of a world trying to stop military-like "Might makes right" facist regime from taking over that seek total domination because of their superiority. That Bumblebee is an autobot, the working class of cybertron that had to stand up to the Decepticons and their harmful ways.

    That Bumblebee represents the every bot/every person. The values we hold in honor and doing what's right. In helping, in striving to be better and standing up to this. The working class person that decides to stand up and fight against these bids for domination so that all may live free.

    From where VW's history has started and grown, what they've experienced and been through, to today, and what they stand for now, it's a very significant move on their part, and timing the retiring of the beetle to this moment with what Bumblebee represents is a good way to let the little car that could, that's endeared hearts for years with personality and spirit as the little car that could, the car that wouldn't give up, the icon and beacon of hope it became from these iconic characters, is perfect timing. To hopefully go out on a high note, with everything we've heard discussed about the film in how Bumblebee's spirit is restored after decades on earth and his weariness, may full encapsulate the spirit of what VW has felt on these matters and how they've strived for moving forward to the future in their own growth. Much of which may mirror their worries about why they didn't want their likenesses used, but this giving voice to that in a way they hope will help others understand.


    *Lifting my glass.*
    So here's to the little car that could. Whether it's Herbie or Bumblebee, the beetle has been an icon of being free spirited, of family, dedication, love, & hope itself. Long may it be remembered.
     
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  11. harrismonkey

    harrismonkey Well-Known Member

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    I actually care.

    I wonder if this is the end of the modern throw back bug, or the old classic bug (which hasn't been available new in the US for many years). Apparently production continued for years after in other parts of the world. Not sure if it eventually stopped or if THIS is the stop now.
     
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  12. Feralstorm

    Feralstorm Good Morning, Weather Hackers! TFW2005 Supporter

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    (Article about Bumblebee and fond period and automotive nostalgia:) 

    "That's cool, how many other robots does he dismember and eviscerate?"
     
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  13. Afterburner

    Afterburner For your health

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    What in the world? There is no hype for this movie and this isn't news. Why is this on the frontpage? It's just random daydreaming.

    You can stop with the propaganda - it's over. It didn't work last time, it won't work this time. TF fans have had enough with the fake pandering.
     
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  14. QLRformer

    QLRformer Seeker

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    Guess they want that Chev Camaro money.

    But for the VW Beetle, I am truly sad that it is being discontinued. The car was compact and cute, and had a universal appeal . The Camaro fits a soldier, which is okay, but the Beetle fits a friend to the humans and an underdog much better.
     
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  15. Nevermore

    Nevermore It's self-perpetuating a parahumanoidarianised!

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    Er?

    I think there's a slight miscommunication at work here, caused in part by a combination of the language barrier and weird naming choices on behalf of Volkswagen.

    See, this is the original VW Beetle.
    vw-kaefer-unterwegs-stadt-luzern-35910.jpg
    It was originally intended to be called simply "Volkswagen" ("The People's Car") in German. The Nazis, however, renamed it into "KDF-Wagen" ("Kraft durch Freude", "Power Through Joy"). Following the war, production continued under the British military government under the official name "Volkswagen", which became not only the name of the entire company, but also the official name of the company's only product for many years.

    In 1950, Volkswagen added a second vehicle, a van, to their portfolio. This required a distinction, so the original "Volkswagen" became known as "Type 1" and the van as "Type 2". The nicknames "Beetle" and "Bug" first came up in the United States, and were later translated into German as "Käfer", which became the car's nickname over here as well. ("Type 2", meanwhile, was also known as the "VW Transporter", "VW-Bus" and "Bulli" in Germany.)

    The Type 1/Beetle was what inspired Takara's Micro Change super-deformed vehicle that eventually became the original Generation 1 Bumblebee toy.

    The Beetle was known for its extreme production longevity. Production ceased in the original German Wolfsburg plant in 1974, but continued in Volkswagen's Mexican factories until 2003. That was officially the end of the original Beetle model. By that time, the car was already considered a vintage classic, and the imported Mexican models were something of an oddity here in Germany because there was already a successor by this point.


    In 1994, Volkswagen introduced a successor, the "New Beetle" (which was now an official name, not just a nickname; it was also its official German name, no translation there), which began mass production in 1997.
    vw-beetle-2-0-gelber-flitzer.jpg
    This was intended as the alternate mode for an Alternators/Binaltech toy of Bumblebee (with Cliffjumper as the intended new head redeco/retool) by Hasbro and Takara, but Volkswagen didn't want to get involved with what they viewed as "war toys" at the time so they denied the license.

    Production of the New Beetle ceased in 2010. The following year, it was succeeded by an updated model, simply called... the "Beetle" (again also the official non-translated German name). This is where it gets confusing.
    2012_volkswagen_beetle_98_1920x1080.jpg

    This, not the classic model that hasn't been produced since 2003, is the car that is going to cease production in 2019.
     
    Last edited: Mar 10, 2018
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  16. Deadend

    Deadend Spark of Creation

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    With what I'm guessing is likely an announcement for a more nostalgic based version to happen later if the Bee movie does well and brings it back to high demand. I'm not so sure that "miscommunication" is unintended. Marketing and all that.

    "The car that could is back from the dead." "Herbie Lives/Ride again!" "Bumblebee causes massive VW revival." Etc.
    So erm. Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.
     
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  17. harrismonkey

    harrismonkey Well-Known Member

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    Thank you for laying everything out. So apprently the new Beetle is just about gone as well.
     
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  18. Spekkio

    Spekkio Master of War

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    Eh, it'll probably be back eventually. Auto makers rarely retire classic names/designs forever.
     
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  19. Michael Payton

    Michael Payton Well-Known Member

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    Did Herbie run over your puppy as a child. FFS. Chill out. It's a site about toy robots.

    If people are going to troll the forum with random bits of hate, could y'all at least attempt to be clever? Otherwise you just appear a tit.
     
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  20. dragon

    dragon Well-Known Member

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    That's how I feel but who are made of money optibotimus cough bought chevy cameo from first movie there will be who are new to transformers thanks to movies that will think about buying one hate find out how chevy camero drives in ten inches of snow