Transformers: Beast Machines
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
1) Can you tell us more about your upcoming projects: Action Man? X-Men: Children of the Atom? Thank you.
We, first of all, Marty and I are doing a series called Action Man for Fox. It'll be a CGI show from Mainframe, and is absolutely incredible. Breathtaking stuff. Marty is spearheading the writing on Action Man, and he's literally pulling out all the stops.2) Hey yas! Just have to say that BM is way past cool! I am loving it so far. But I do have some questions. You said there would be two new females I think that's great but can you give use anymore info 'bout them? Names? Flyers?As far as the new X-Men series goes, since the WB hasn't formally announced the series yet, I don't feel completely at liberty to talk about it. But I CAN tell you what it isn't! It isn't a followup to the Fox series, it won't follow the feature film, and it won't be done in CGI. It will be All New, All Different (to coin a phrase), featuring some of your favorite characters in a way you've never seen them before. (Let's just say I can't wait to get started on it!)
They will both be ground based, and they will both be worth waiting for! (Our Canadian fans will be meeting them both VERY soon!)3) I must say season 2 so far has been real enjoyable, and it is shame that many people are being forced to wait for it. I am finding it a lot more fun then season 1, and eagerly look forward to meeting the new Vehicons.Anyway, my question. When it came time to design new characters for the show, how much input did you have when it came time to design which toys would appear? I know Hasbro likes certain types of toys to show up, but am curious about how much free reign they gave in the final process of this decision making. I know Nightscream was your personal creation, is this the case for any of the new comers in Season 2?
I'm glad you're enjoying the new season. The new character designs were suggested mostly by Hasbro (the giant Megatron head, Noble/Savage, the two new villains), and the new Maximal was largely my idea. Of course, the manner in which the characters were presented is the result of many long discussions, with Marty and I taking the point on exactly WHY certain characters act the way they do, and who they are exactly. Case in point -- Hasbro said they wanted a new Transformer who went from beast to beast; Marty, Ace, Dan Didio, and I all discussed who/what this character would be, as well as what that character would APPEAR to be when first introduced.4) Mr. Skir, in your answers, you have said that Optimus and the rest are meant to seek a balance between technology and organics. However, with the introduction of Savage/Noble, a new question arises: where is the balance? This new character is purely organic, at least that is what we've been told. It seems to me that the Oracle, in reformatting him into this organic body, has gone against it's own wishes.In short, it's all a collaboration.
Noble/Savage was not the product of the Oracle or the Matrix; it was a cruel twist of fate which placed Megatron right in to the heart of his own worst nightmare (and you people thought we were ripping off the Hulk! Fooled ya!).5) Did BM editors/writers change Jetstorms name from Skybolt because it resembled Silverbolt?Nope. It was a copyright/trademark issue. We recorded "Skybolt" then had to change it. I was glad, because the name Skybolt sorta gave away the secret (although we were originally thinking of revealing that Trust was actually Silverbolt, to fool you all!)6) So far the beast machines show has been awesome, sadly I have to wait until September to see season 2, but I've been reading the episode reviews. This brings me to my question, Will Jetstorm return as a character with his spark now that silverbolt has returned?Trust me, the second season is worth the wait! And as far as Jetstorm goes, he's gone, gone, gone.7) Hey Bob, I love what you're doing with the show. However, what's your big problem with not integrating a lot of G1 elements? I don't understand why you're so against it? That's what the majority of fans want to see, don't you get it? More people will watch the show. I understand that you all are artists and doing what you want, but hey guys, people want to see the Transformers they grew up with every week as children!!!True, but Hasbro wanted this series to be independent of the other series so that new audiences would be keyed-in, rather than being left behind by references to shows that were written 20 years before these kids were even born!8) Now that 2 of the 3 Vehicon generals are gone, will there be any new Vehicon generals taking their place?Put it this way, Marty and I told the Hasbro people that we were not Transfans, and they hired us anyway. We offered to read about the old shows and watch them and all, and Hasbro discouraged us from doing so, urging us to instead follow their edict to make the show more spiritual in nature. They encouraged us to follow our own path, and so we did.
All of the original G-1 writers are still around; Hasbro and Mainframe instead called on us, and let us do the show we wanted to do.
But take heart, there will be a few (only a few, but they're there) references to G-1 in some upcoming episodes.
Anyway, thanks for watching, and for giving us a chance to tell our story. Marty and I are deeply indebted to Hasbro, Mainframe, and Fox, who all encouraged us.
Oh, yeah. And they won't be all warm and fuzzy like the last bunch, either!9) Will there ever be a Beast machines Movie? And if there is when is it coming to theaters?Yes, Hasbro is trying to put together a Transformer movie now, although which incarnation it will be has not yet been determined. Marty and I are not involved with it (we'd love to, but so far nobody's asked). As far as when it's going to be in theaters.... let's just say I wouldn't hold my breath. The soonest it would be out would be Christmas 2001. but Christmas 2003 would be a safer guess, in my humble opinion. (But what do *I* know -- I'm not even involved!)10) This may sound a little funny, but I am 38 yrs old and love beast machines. I couldn't wait to see every new episode on Saturdays and have recorded them to watch over and over. I thought it was really lousy that season 2 did not air in the US and am very bummed out. My reason for sending this is to ask if both seasons will be available on DVD. I don't think VHS would do it fair justice. But I will take what comes up. I can't hardly wait for season 2. Thanks!Well, I'm 39, so I'm thrilled that people in my age group are enjoying my work. As I've said before, I'm sorry you have to wait to see Season Two, but trust me, it's really, really worth it! And as far as DVD goes, I'd love to see it on that format!11) Hey, Bob, you guys are doing a great job on BM. What happened to Tankor's Diagnostic drone? Tell me he's OK. Keep up the good work!The Diagnostic Drone went offline during the big skirmish in #13. We won't be seeing him anymore. But some mindless Drones of the same configuration may appear in upcoming episodes. Just don't expect them to have the same wonderfully snooty personality.12) I keep reading that Megatron is considered a Vehicon. Why would he betray his own Predacon heritage!Maybe he sees this as an upgrade. (When it comes to achieving his goals, Megatron has always shown the ability to betray simply EVERYBODY/ANYBODY!)13) HI! First I'd like to say that you are doing a wonderful job with the show, and I'm really looking forward to seeing more. Secondly, I have a question. I've always enjoyed observing the relationship between Rattrap and Dinobot. After DB's death however, we didn't get much of RT's after thoughts or feelings. I realize that this could have been missed because of the unmade "dark glass" episode(outline from Larry DiTillio (Story Editor - Beast Wars): Rattrap salvages a computer bank from the Axalon and in it's circuits he and Rhinox find the Core consciousness of the old DinoBot (which as you will recall DinoBot uploaded in a previous episode(Bad Spark)). Rattrap gets obsessed with the idea that he can restore the old DinoBot by getting it into the new Dinobot's systems. Rhinox tells him this will probably not work, as core consciousness without a spark is only an illusion of the person to whom it belonged. And if it didn't work, it just might give the new Dinobot all the old Dinobot's datatrax on the Maximals which could give the Preds and advantage. Optimus thus forbids the attempt. But Rattrap defies this order, sneaks out and at much risk to himself, does manage to get the core consciousness in place. For a moment the old DinoBot does seem to emerge but as Rhinox warned he is only a shadow of his former self and must do everything he can to keep the new DinoBot from regaining control of his body, a weird mental struggle which would have been fun to animate. The old Dinobot knows he is doomed to lose this struggle and tries to "sacrifice" himself again by infiltrating the Preds and taking out Megatron before he can complete his master plan to destroy the AutoBots. It doesn't work and the New Dinobot regains control of his body only to be blasted by Megatron. Rattrap comes to accept that his old pal is truly dead and realizes he cannot bring him back. However he honors his friends memory.), but will we get to see any thoughts of the lost warrior from RT's point of view? I noticed that he seemed angry at Nightscream for his comments about the beast wars, to which he replied "I lost friends in that war," but will we see any more specific references to Dinobot? Keep up the good work!!That all sounds really good, but the simple fact is that Dinobot was never meant to be part of this story. (If he was, he'd require a lot of attention. He's like that.)14) Mr. Skir, I have a few theories as to where season two is going but I won't pester you about that. I just wanted to ask you that if it was your idea in Savage Noble to have Thrust cower behind the Maximals when they confronted the dragon (Savage)? *chuckle* At that moment he was so much like his former self Waspinator, it wasn't funny! Is this a product of not being under Megatrons control? If you don't want to answer that's okay. I just wanted to let you know that I am really enjoying the series and eagerly waiting to see what loops you through at us next! *grin*However, I'd love to bring him back in a future incarnation of Transformers.
I'll have to check to see if Thrust's cowering was in the script, or was a comedic bit thrown in by the director.15) Why was a shogun warrior chosen for Silverbolt's robot mode?Hasbro and Ace suggested it. We all liked it. And that was that! (I just wish we could have kept some of that bird-dog design in his Beast Mode from before. Silverbolt isn't Silverbolt without the dog-face, IMHO.)16) I am Student from Germany. I just wanted to tell you my opinion about Beastmachines. I may not be the greatest authority since I was only able to see some episodes over the Internet, but I think you might be interested in what people from other countries think about the show. I have to say that I like the show. The characters are good, the animations are superb and I like the idea of a continuing storyline. This series looks as if it was made for grown-ups and not for kids. It is like Babylon 5 for the "kids hour". :) My only problem is that the episodes seem to be very hectic. The Maximals are constantly on the run from the Vehicons or are discovering new truths about Cybertron. There is not much time for personal interaction between the heroes. This was handled better on Beastwars. BUT I really do not see Beastmachines as a Transformers Series. You have just changed too much in opinion. Not only did you change the very good ending of Beastwars by bringing back Waspinator without any reason, but by removing Cybertrons population you also destroyed the history of the original Transformers Series. All old school Transformers fans must now believe that the childhood heroes are sparks captured by Megatron or dead. The technoorganic stuff will also change Transformers like never before. I think that this is the real problem for most of the fans. They just cannot understand how someone could remove so much of essence of Transformers just for two seasons of a new show. Beastwars was different. Also there were things never done with Transformer before (combining Robots with organic material) it did not harm any of the original series history. If you would have done something similar most of the fans would not have been that upset. I hope I did not sound too harsh. As I said before I really enjoyed the show so far. When I see it I just do not think of it as a Transformers show but of a nice sci-fi show with transforming technoorganics. ;-) The last thing I would like to tell you is that I really like the way you interact with your audience. You really show that you are interested in the opinions of your fans/foes.Thanks for your time
And thank you for YOUR time, and the full weight of your consideration.17) You have made a mistake I believe. The Key to Vector Sigma power was only due to its contact with Earth's ecosystem so the power of the key wouldn't be the same on Cybertron. Anyway you can explain or clarify this mistake. Thanks your still doing a great job with the show.As far as the character interaction goes, keep watching. It happens more and more as Season Two continues.
As far as all of the radical changes in Transformer-lore goes, we tried to remain faithful to the history of Cybertron, while changing it as radically as possible for the new storyline. All of this was suggested by Hasbro, who (as I said before) could easily have made this all a straight sequel to G-1 and Beast Wars by bringing back the writers from this various series. Instead, they wanted Marty and I to follow this new path, and encouraged to follow our own instincts.
I'll be interested in what everybody thinks once the story is all finished.
Again, thanks for watching, and thanks for caring.
Apparently it taps into Cybertron's ecosystem as well.18) Question: I live in Japan, so I don't have seen Beast Machines aired but some summaries and videoclips. and I hope It coming to Japan very much. Here's a question. Megatron spread the virus. Why Wasn't Megatron infected by the virus? and aren't Vehicons? Was he vaccinated?Megatron protected himself and his Vehicons from the virus's effects.19) Hey there and howdy... I don't care what anyone says, you guys do good work. You're not perfect, but hey, who is. And as a change of pace, I thought I would answer one of your questions. 1) (Regarding Waspinator/Thrust) Also, bringing Waspinator back? Marty. I thought it was great (although someone someday has to explain to me how he hitchhiked his way home...).Possible Answers: 1) He could have hung around on earth until about 1985 (spending long periods of time in Stasis), and sneak a ride on the Decepticon space bridge, then lay low through the great war. 2) Stasis pods were made to reach orbit by themselves, he could have scrounged together a working stasis pod, climbed into it, and set himself on a slow cruise to cybertron, by the time the pod drifted there, he'd be getting back after his own departure with Megatron. 3) He could have found and scavenged a shuttle or escape pod from the wrecked Nemesis. 4) Thrust isn't really Waspy, he just said that because being a BW Maximal is the hip thing to do in the Vehicon army.
As for my question:
Kudos to your handling of Rattrap as the new maximal tech-head. Well, Tinkerer. Its cool to see the hero in charge of technology more or less just cobbling things together and jury-rigging them rather than producing works of genius all the time. Will Rattrap be keeping this role?
Oh, yeah. His role will become VERY important in upcoming episodes!20) Hey there. I've been meaning to write this for a while. Heck, since BM S1 began. I wanted to let you know how much I'm enjoying the show. I've been a TF fan since 1984 and in my opinion, all and all, you've done a very good job on the thirteen eps we've seen. :)There were a few glitches, don't get me wrong. Rattrap, as portrayed in BW, was FAR too practical to not take on Megs with his armor in "Weak Component" and Megs was shown time and again in the earlier show to despise the very concept of "honor," so his actions at the end of that ep. don't quite jive either, but other than that I'm very happy with Beast Machines and its characterizations. :) Heck, you made Cheetor cool! BTW, The last ep of the season was spectacular. Good job all around!
That said, my question:
Could you clear something up for me? I know you've said Rhinox chose the Vehicon cause after watching both sides. However, that just does NOT seem like something the Rhinox from BW would EVER do, no matter what he saw. It's just completely against everything we were ever shown of him. EXCEPT when he was infused with a Predacon program for 1 ep. In THAT ep he acted almost EXACTLY like Tankor does. So, if his mind has been influenced, joined, or merged with the Tankor mind/program created by Megatron, then this change of attitude seems much more understandable. Was this the case?
We were going for a moral grey area where Rhinox saw the logic of what Megatron was trying to accomplish, and also turned his back on the chaos that Optimus was trying to inflict on the planet. (Hell, most of the fans were on Megatron's side, so why not Rhinox, too?). That being said, Rhinox/Tankorr's behavior, and the brutality he visited upon his former friends, DID strike me as out of character. At least we got to put him right eventually, though! Anyway, we were NOT trying to say he had been corrupted by Megatron or an evil-virus -- he simply made a hard/bad choice.