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Remember Bumblebee? 
He was that little yellow Transformer designed to give the kids watching the show someone to relate to. He was small but brave and befriended the human characters. Tell me: does THIS look like a character any person would discover and befriend? 
If my car turned into the Bumblebee above - the one from the upcoming Transformers movie - I would probably scream and run away. Ok, now remember Starscream? 
He was the scheming second-in-command to Megatron, always looking for his chance to take over the Decepticons. Want to see what Starscream in the upcoming movie looks like? (Trust me, you don't). 
Yup, it's like a giant bug. And then there's Megatron. Remember Megatron, leader of the Decepticons? 
He turned into a handgun, somehow shrinking in size, but it was a cartoon and we forgave them. In later incarnations, he often turned into a tank, as a tank is, I suppose, like a vehicular gun. Of course, next is a photo of Megatron from the upcoming movie: 
Yikes! And what's with turning into an "Alien Jet"? Doesn't that defeat the purpose of Transforming to disguise their identities? Look, I understand that things need updated when turning a cartoon from the 80s into a modern movie - but come on! Who will this appeal to? Anyone over 20 who sees this movie will only do so because they remember the cartoon from their childhood - and anyone over 20 who doesn't remember the cartoon will likely not see it anyway! I imagine a memo went around like below early in the design process: From: Michael Bay
To: Transformers Design Team
Re: Transformers Movie Designs Guys - I know we said that the movie would be G1-era Transformers, but I need something totally new for this movie. I need designs that scream hip, that scream cool, that look like giant skeletal anime bug monsters! I mean, the Megatron design you showed me looks terrible! A tank? Forget it! Make him into a twisted-metal-looking alien jet! If you need inspiration, take the original Megatron and throw him through a wood chipper! I also just looked at your initial Bumblebee designs. What were you thinking?! Who's this little friendly-looking robot? I want our Bumblebee to be an unstoppable killing machine! Guys, come on. I know what I'm talking about. After all, I directed Pearl Harbor - I think I know how to make a quality movie. - Michael Bay PS: I have an idea for the Starscream design. Two words - "triangular bug". You'll see what I mean. |
