Transformers 2015 Cartoon Update: Bumblebee Reveal Not a Good Representation of Final Designs

Rated X wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:

Rated X wrote:Doesnt the facial expression on THAT PIC kind og make bumblebee look like a pedophile ? I cant be the only one seeing it...

Head. Gutter. Out.

Those eyebrows combined with that lifeless stare and creepy grin really give him the look. Its also funny how the same hasbro that felt robots didnt need noses now want to draw them with eyebrows.

Eyebrows help express emotions, the only thing a nose can express is "I don't care for that smell".

Alright, that makes sense. Still more than a year before the series starts (assuming it starts in the fall), so they probably don't even have finalized designs yet.

Ravage XK wrote:

Rated X wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:

Rated X wrote:Doesnt the facial expression on THAT PIC kind og make bumblebee look like a pedophile ? I cant be the only one seeing it...

Head. Gutter. Out.

Those eyebrows combined with that lifeless stare and creepy grin really give him the look. Its also funny how the same hasbro that felt robots didnt need noses now want to draw them with eyebrows.

Eyebrows help express emotions, the only thing a nose can express is "I don't care for that smell".

They could have animated the eyes to show emotion instead of giving them eyebrows.

SlyTF1 wrote:

Ravage XK wrote:

Rated X wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:

Rated X wrote:Doesnt the facial expression on THAT PIC kind og make bumblebee look like a pedophile ? I cant be the only one seeing it...

Head. Gutter. Out.

Those eyebrows combined with that lifeless stare and creepy grin really give him the look. Its also funny how the same hasbro that felt robots didnt need noses now want to draw them with eyebrows.

Eyebrows help express emotions, the only thing a nose can express is "I don't care for that smell".

They could have animated the eyes to show emotion instead of giving them eyebrows.

Honestly, I prefer the eyebrows. If they animated the eyes to show emotion instead then it would look too much like Animated or RID (I think they did it a little bit in G1 too, but I'd have to watch it again to be sure). They did it for Beast Wars, but that was more "cartoony" than Prime was so it fit there.

I think the Movie/Prime design of Bumblebee is alright, but who else thinks it might be neat to have a Bumblebee similar to his WFC/FOC design? I really like the physics and design that the video game series has, and I think it'd be great to see it translate over to cartoon format.


Also, anyone have any story ideas? Could we see Starscream or Shockwave return?
Or how about a new villain, Galvatron? One that was never Megatron, of course.

SlyTF1 wrote:

Ravage XK wrote:

Rated X wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:

Rated X wrote:Doesnt the facial expression on THAT PIC kind og make bumblebee look like a pedophile ? I cant be the only one seeing it...

Head. Gutter. Out.

Those eyebrows combined with that lifeless stare and creepy grin really give him the look. Its also funny how the same hasbro that felt robots didnt need noses now want to draw them with eyebrows.

Eyebrows help express emotions, the only thing a nose can express is "I don't care for that smell".

They could have animated the eyes to show emotion instead of giving them eyebrows.

What are you talking about? The eyes in Prime are animated. One of the biggest and most obvious animation glitches is even related to the eyes, one of Megatron's eyes suddenly wanders of and looks into a completely different direction than it should.

El Duque wrote:Quick update yesterday's big Transformers 2015 cartoon reveal. Matthew Humphreys, who previously worked on Transformers Prime, has updated his blog with a message regarding the character designs. According to his post, yesterday's Bumblebee character reveal is not indicative of how the final designs will look. See his full statement below:

Matthew Humphreys wrote:Transformers 2015

I can’t say much because you know the reasons. But I just feel the need to say that with our new show being announced the artwork shown on various sites is NOT a good representation of what the designs look like fully fleshed out. The new show looks amazing and I’m having a ton of fun working on it and I hope everyone watches when it comes out.

Called it.

PrymeStriker wrote:Because that's the fault of the cartoon and totally not a problem with retailers over-ordering and overstocking the toy.

Hasbro is partially to blame for over-marketing the character and having wonky case assortments that are too heavy on certain figures, like Bumblebee.

kirbenvost wrote:

PrymeStriker wrote:Because that's the fault of the cartoon and totally not a problem with retailers over-ordering and overstocking the toy.

Hasbro is partially to blame for over-marketing the character and having wonky case assortments that are too heavy on certain figures, like Bumblebee.

It's been stated many times that retailers determine the case assortments, not Hasbro.

Not the least bit surprising. I figured it was probably concept art, given the show is nowhere near any completion stage if it's not even on until next year.

Sadly, marketing strikes again. Placeholder images thrown at media without any clue what it represents. (that's my guess, anyways, considering it happened to me a gazillion times and I was the muppet having to 'explain' my artwork to confused convention goers.)-actually scratch that for a minute-where did this image come from? It didn't seem to be on the actual press release, right?

Still, no matter. I commented simply on the image we saw. Animated taught me a valuable lesson in reacting to these things too quickly. I'll never love animated's look (or Primes CG models, to be fair.) But it worked for what it was, and a lot of animated designs shone as toys. As do the movie toys (rotf ones at least ) This artwork is bad, rescue bots looks better. Sorry folks, it's how I feel.

The design as it is here has potential. Interested to say the least. And as for the plot of the show, yes a new leader is good. The stigma attached to Bee in recent years throws a lot of us off the idea, but I'm open to it

I wonder if we will see some Dinobots in this series :O

I just feel the need to say that with our new show being announced the artwork shown on various sites is NOT a good representation of what the designs look like fully fleshed out.

Which immediately raises the question - WHY did they release the image in the first place?

'Daaah, we wanted to show you what the character will NOT look like when we NOT premiere the show! Daaaaah!'

Shockwave7 wrote:

I just feel the need to say that with our new show being announced the artwork shown on various sites is NOT a good representation of what the designs look like fully fleshed out.

Which immediately raises the question - WHY did they release the image in the first place?

'Daaah, we wanted to show you what the character will NOT look like when we NOT premiere the show! Daaaaah!'

Maybe someone demanded that they be giving some sort of preliminary art to go with this announcement. Though Bee won't be animated like this, his final design could be like this design animated instead in 3D.

Dead Metal wrote:

SlyTF1 wrote:

Ravage XK wrote:

Rated X wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:

Rated X wrote:Doesnt the facial expression on THAT PIC kind og make bumblebee look like a pedophile ? I cant be the only one seeing it...

Head. Gutter. Out.

Those eyebrows combined with that lifeless stare and creepy grin really give him the look. Its also funny how the same hasbro that felt robots didnt need noses now want to draw them with eyebrows.

Eyebrows help express emotions, the only thing a nose can express is "I don't care for that smell".

They could have animated the eyes to show emotion instead of giving them eyebrows.

What are you talking about? The eyes in Prime are animated. One of the biggest and most obvious animation glitches is even related to the eyes, one of Megatron's eyes suddenly wanders of and looks into a completely different direction than it should.

I'm talking about how they animated the eyes in just about every other series. Without everyone having big ass eyebrows. I don't exactly mind it too much, since almost everyone in animated had big ass chins, but still.

Hopefully it won't look like another Animated. I was definitely not a fan of those designs, though being slightly hypocritical because of mine liking of Prime characters and their designs (though their waists aren't like toothpicks).

And to answer Sabrblade's question, I consider the "fun and adventure" of Prime to be a much different breed of "fun and adventure" than a five year old would have in mind. For instance, they would consider Dora or Barney fun, while an adult would not. That is what I meant.

Thankfully, with some shading, I can see this design being something better to my liking. I mean, this is like Mewtwo's Y Mega when I first saw it. I don't want to like it, but I think it may warm to me, should they do some tweaking.

Actually not surprised that Bumblebee is not final. After all, the original press release in the previous news item regarding this topic already made it quite clear:

"Blending 3D characters with hand-painted environments, the series mixes action-packed adventure with lots of comedy, making it a rip-roaring experience for kids and families to enjoy together."

So I immediately considered Bumblebee's character art to be a concept piece. I still like it, and I want to see what the final render is going to look like. I'm also interested in seeing what kind of environments will be used in the new story. Hopefully less deserts and frozen wastelands, and maybe more Cybertron?

Knowing Matthew Humphreys is one of the designers actually makes me feel better. I've been a fan of his on deviantart for years.

I can't help but think they should've went with Hot Rod for the main character instead of BumbleBee. They could've even kept the same design and Friedle, and just changed his colors to red and orange.

In fact I stumbled accross this image today that is exactly what I would've wanted:
http://dyemooch.tumblr.com/post/8005446 ... do-this-xd

SlyTF1 wrote:

Dead Metal wrote:

SlyTF1 wrote:

Ravage XK wrote:

Rated X wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:

Rated X wrote:Doesnt the facial expression on THAT PIC kind og make bumblebee look like a pedophile ? I cant be the only one seeing it...

Head. Gutter. Out.

Those eyebrows combined with that lifeless stare and creepy grin really give him the look. Its also funny how the same hasbro that felt robots didnt need noses now want to draw them with eyebrows.

Eyebrows help express emotions, the only thing a nose can express is "I don't care for that smell".

They could have animated the eyes to show emotion instead of giving them eyebrows.

What are you talking about? The eyes in Prime are animated. One of the biggest and most obvious animation glitches is even related to the eyes, one of Megatron's eyes suddenly wanders of and looks into a completely different direction than it should.

I'm talking about how they animated the eyes in just about every other series. Without everyone having big ass eyebrows. I don't exactly mind it too much, since almost everyone in animated had big ass chins, but still.

Ah gotcha.

Earlier this month we got our first look at Bumblebee from the new Transformers cartoon scheduled to hit the air in 2015. Now thanks to Kids TV magazine we get another look at Bumblebee and Optimus Prime's new design! Check out the new image below. The new series is set to air in the Spring of 2015.

I like that Optimus

viruscarnage wrote:I like that Optimus

So do I, but since he's faded I suspect he might be a memory, or maybe even optimus's ghost. I can see how they might try to revive optimus.

What if Optimus plays Obi-Wan here and shows up as a ghost to guide Bumblebee now and then? I'd be okay with that.

The Thuggernaut wrote:

viruscarnage wrote:I like that Optimus

So do I, but since he's faded I suspect he might be a memory, or maybe even optimus's ghost. I can see how they might try to revive optimus.

I barely noticed that he was faded, I assumed that the magazine was designed that way.

Grimlock64 wrote:What if Optimus plays Obi-Wan here and shows up as a ghost to guide Bumblebee now and then? I'd be okay with that.

Yea that would be cool! It would also be good news for those wanting Peter Cullen as Optimus in the cartoon

The...dat background it looks...CYBERTRONIAN?! A CARTOON THAT TAKES PLACE ENTIRELY ON CYBERTRON? I THINK I'M HYPERVENTILATING. ALL OF MY YES.

The Thuggernaut wrote:

Grimlock64 wrote:What if Optimus plays Obi-Wan here and shows up as a ghost to guide Bumblebee now and then? I'd be okay with that.

Yea that would be cool! It would also be good news for those wanting Peter Cullen as Optimus in the cartoon

I would have to think that Peter Cullen is a must have for Optimus now.

I think if that's so, I wonder if this just might be an IDW situation, Optimus is gone, now Bee and the gang must try and bring order back to a war ravaged Cybertron after the Autobot victory...then again they might try something new.

Ghostimus Prime?

But... Prime is dead...

optimus does not look amused

You guys are crazy if you think they're not going to bring Prime back to life. Besides if he were a ghost why would he have a new design?

CR71Autobot wrote:But... Prime is dead...

He'll be back, you can put money on that.

A TF version of "The Search For Spock", I'm calling it now.

I just read the posts on another site about this. It diverted into some unintentional hilarity.

I like the looks of this, but I'm also burned out on the Prime look. I liked it ok, but i'd like to see something that takes advantage of the aligned art used for the pop-up book.

Please don't lynch me about the comparisons, but:

If they are going with the simplified, stylized cartoon look, why not just get Derrick J. Wyatt back? At least his art has charm.

It all still looks as flat as hell....reeeaaaalllly hoping it's not bad flash animation.

On the flip side...I see potential for cool optimus toy

Now, Optimus looks badass. As do the buildings in the background.

What I really want is an all-ecompasing perfect Prime toy to represent my ultimate version of Prime. The not-optimus Orion almost did that, but it just fell flat to me. WFC Prime is next but not quite. I was hoping the new show would be based on the aligned revelations book and I would dig that one. I don't like the tiny waist. As it is, I'm not interested in another Prime ...er...Prime.

I dunno if anyone's mentioned this, but Bumblebee's face kinda resemble's Prime's. Will we finally see all this love for our yellow friend culminate into him becoming a Prime? :O

While it's clearly just a coloured design sketch (note the sketch lines especially around the shoulders that have yet to be cleaned up) the design is definitely interesting, and I think it looks pretty damn cool. I'm guessing that, as with the Bumblebee design, it's "not the final product" or whatever they said, but hey. I'm liking what I see so far. As for the fading, I'm guessing less "Ghost Prime" and more "attempting to hide areas of the sketch that are incomplete"

I'm having a strange feeling for some reason. Something tells me that this series would be like Beast Machines (disgusting robot modes and not a lot of episodes). I could be wrong, but we have seen these character designs before and it's starting to get old.

There is blurb further on in the magazine...
"A lighter, more comedic feel"? As long as it goes in the direction of Animated and not in the direction of Beast Wars 2, I can get behind that! The movie is not going to satiate me until next spring though, that is stupid! I wonder what Japan will do? They could run with Go! a little longer...

This would explain why TF Prime bailed on the CGI format. CGI cartoons are notoriously expensive, and even introducing ONE new character is enormously compliated and costly, as was seen with Predaking. Creating, rigging and animating every new character takes up time and effort from the entire production crew. They had the entire season revolve around Predaking, and he wasn't even that good a character.

Not only that, but CGI tv shows haven't evolved to the point where they can do crowds, or large complicated scenes very well. It's just not cost effective. This is why CGI shows on tv are usually set on alien worlds, or sparsely populated towns, or deserts - where there isn't much scenery to render or crowds to deal with. Even Cybertron, while more complicated to the eye, was devoid of any visible life except for the already-created crew of robots that had already been on the show for two seasons. Any crowds that are rendered are 'clones', be it he MECH troopers (all masked), the Insecticons (all carbon copies), or the Terrorcons. There was no 'individuality' in any of the crowds because they were too lazy and/or cheap to spring for individualized characters. Note how on the "New York" episode in Season 2, they had them go immediately underground into the subways where the only other life form was the subway worker. This meant that they wouldn't have to render any crowds, cars, trucks or other things you would normally see above the surface in New York. I think this is primarily one of the reasons why the newer CGI "Batman" series failed so quickly. It was supposed to be set in Gotham City - but you could tell that (limited by expense and rendering technology) they were artificially rigging each episode to simplify the settings so there wouldn't be any crowds or complicated scenery. And for what was supposed to be a sprawling city, full of people and life, that just sucked.

This new show must be their attempt to fix that. By combining some CGI with hand drawn stuff, they must figure it will be much cheaper and easier to barf out new episodes and introduce more characters - as well as being able to put in crowds and varieties of people without needing CRAY computers and billions of dollars. Hopefully that means we'll see more than just a small core of characters. I like individual characterization, and more focus being put on fewer characters (The G1 cartoon jammed so many characters in that it felt impersonal). But I'd like more than just one or two new characters a season.

What think ye?

Bee's Autobot symbol is not red, I wonder is this means anything?

Optimus has a reeeeally similar chest design and proportions to Bumblebee's. Like you could paint them in each other's colors and they wouldn't look all that different.

I'm actually thrilled about this.

Great, they have eyebrows now... What's next, zits?

I wish they'd stop giving Optimus a mouth... He just never looks quite right without his lucky faceplate.

There appears to be quite a few comments on Optimus and Megatron not returning. I thought It was stated last year that the two would return for the new series. Perhaps that changed. And it would be kind of cool if it did. But I doubt that.

Please be good. That's all I ask from this series: be good, be great. Please.

El Duque wrote:Besides if he were a ghost why would he have a new design?

Because Hasbro (unfortunately) doesn't seem to give two cents about aesthetics in the Aligned continuity. For instance, Optimus appears in WFC with one body, and then in FOC in a different body with no in-story explanation. And, Optimus has one body in Prime that turns into a long-nosed truck, while in Rescue Bots his body looks a bit different and turns into a flat-nosed truck, despite these two bodies supposing to be the same body. And then the Covenant of Primus book drew him in his Binder of Revelation body in all of its illustrations that took place, even the ones that took place on Cybertron in the past and the ones set on Earth in the present, despite other characters getting their own respective, distinct Cybertron-based and Earth-based bodies in the same illustrations.

In other words, Optimus could be drawn here with bunny ears and neon green polka dots and could still be a ghost if the makers wanted to go that route.

Oh I do always like a Cybertronian Optimus design.