I know that the RC car is controversial, but when I mentioned it to my ten year old brother his eyes lit up, and he said you know who that is? He thinks its Roller. Although its a long shot how fricken cool would it be if that rc truck was Roller, I always have had a place in my heart for that little guy!
Why in the world would they change Bumblebee's alternate mode? Talk about making things more complicated for the CG team than it needs to be...
I would think that the majority of younger fans who saw TF1, would recognize Bumblebee again in TF2 in his concept Camaro mode, just as they will Ironhide, Ratchet, Prime, Starscream and Barricade. Kids still own the toys of these characters, as well as the dvd, no reason kids wouldn't recognise Bumblebee.
I think having Bumblebee scan a Chevy Beat is an AWESOME idea by Hasbro, if its true. I have nothing against the Beat at all. Well, I guess since its not out, there is nothing to judge, but I hope GM makes the Beat a quality vehicle. Think about it, you are going to have the Camaro debuting soon this year, I think. Its upwards of $4 gas, and people are flooding to small cars in droves. This would be the perfect product placement for GM to signify that they too have a small car. Bumblebee's scanning of the Beat is almost a metaphor of American's switch from gas guzzlers to gas sippers. Eventhough, I don't like the whole trans-scanning idea, this is the perfect time to use it. Supposedly the Beat goes into production (tho unfortunately not in the US but everywhere else) in mid 2009. The new Camaro goes into production in early 2009. So it would be: 1) Paint GM in the light that they care about the environment 2) Promote the Beat 3) Show that they also have fuel saving cars Not only that, as everyone mentioned, the Beat is uncannily similar to Animated Bumblebee's ALT mode. And it also fits in with Bumblebee's traditional G1 personality of being the smallest Autobot. The Camaro is more fitting of Hot Shot than Bumblebee. I think its a great idea and hope the highers ups in GM are listening. They'd win over a lot of "greenies", as people around here like to say.
Well, uh, I'll just say that one of our family cars is a hybrid and the other runs on vegetable oil, so...as a greenie, I have to admit I don't like this idea much at all. They've established who & what bumblebee looks like in both modes. He's easily identifiable to a kid's eye.
I don't see Bumblebee scanning a new alt-mode in the sequel, if nothing else just because it'd be way cheaper to just use the existing model for him, instead of coming up with a new one (same goes with all the other returning cast). That and the Beat appears to be significantly smaller than the Camaro, so if it is a TF, it's not Bumblebee, but a smaller bot (or two even smaller bots if it is a new alt-mode for the ice-cream truck twins).
I wouldn't want Bumblebee's robot mode to change. I think thats obvious. He'd still be the same in robot mode. And he really wouldn't have to be shorter if engineered properly. I did not say its impossible for people to tell who Bumblebee is, it'd just be EASIER. Obviously, categorizing Bumblebee as a small yellow 2 door compact in both franchises would make it simpler. It just going to be different now that Bumblebee isn't the smallest Autobot. He was always known for that. Now, there is going to be a smaller Autobot who I almost guarantee will take Bumblebee's old personality traits. Its too easy for the writers not to take the David/Goliath angle for a small bot. It almost pushes Bumblebee into the rank of people like Sunstreaker, Sideswipe, Mirage, etc since he is now a high powered sports muscle car. Interesting. Glad to meet another "greenie". Tho its more than just what you drive but the mindset. The choice of vechicle is only because of the mindset. From this thread: http://www.tfw2005.com/boards/showthread.php?t=126283&page=3 It seems you drove a Ford truck extended cab with 4WD and later on in the thread you seemed interested in getting a Jeep. I guess you decided to go with something smaller huh? Incidentally, whats the thing that runs on vegetable oil?
