Review of The Transformers 40th Anniversary Event
Image Source: Hasbro
To celebrate the 40th anniversary of the long-running Transformers franchise, which began in 1984 as a toy line and animated series for kids, Hasbro reunited as much of the original voiceover cast of the animated series (G1) as possible for a filmed table reading/re-recording of the first episode of the series, More Than Meets The Eye Part 1. The event continued with a regular screening of More Than Meets The Eye Parts 2 and 3 and the following episode, Transport To Oblivion. While it was exciting to see several episodes of my favorite animated series on the big screen, the event's highlight was the table read/re-recording of the initial episode.
The table read reunited much of the original voiceover cast of the original Transformers, including the leaders of the opposing Autobot and Decepticon factions, Peter Cullen (Optimus Prime/Ironhide) and Frank Welker (Megatron/Soundwave/Skywarp/Rumble/Ravage/Trailbreaker/Mirage), respectively. Michael Bell (Prowl)/Sideswipe) and Dan Gilvezan (Bumblebee) also reprised their roles from the original series. Other voiceover actors such as Paul Eiding (Perceptor) and Gregg Berger (Grimlock), as well as other younger voiceover actors, supplemented the surviving cast to handle the roles left vacant by the deaths of some of the original main cast, including Chris Latta (Starscream, Sparkplug, Wheeljack), Casey Kasem (Cliffjumper, Teletraan I), Ken Samson (Hound), Scatman Crothers (Jazz), John Stephenson (Thundercracker), and others who have passed away in the intervening years.
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The banter between the voiceover actors was entertaining, and the enthusiasm and excitement of being reunited for the table read seemed genuine and infectious. Hearing the voices without the special vocal effects used in the series was a little hard to get used to, as were some of the replacement voiceover actors. Frank Welker’s voiceover of Soundwave during the table read sounded like his voiceover work for Soundwave in the Michael Bay live-action Transformer films, as well as Dr. Claw from Inspector Gadget, another voiceover role he performed during the 1980s.
However, the experience was still fun and interesting. In terms of the quality of the replacement voiceover actors chosen for the table read, the voiceover actor chosen for Starscream, Frank Todaro, was the best one, capturing the late Chris Latta/Christopher Collins’ Starscream and his character’s slimy and treacherous Decepticon nature. Todaro has previously performed the voiceover role for Starscream in more recent Transformers series such as Transformers: War for Cybertron Trilogy, Transformers: Power of the Primes, Transformers: Titans Return, and Transformers: Combiner Wars.
I was not quite sure why only the first episode was included as part of the table read and not all of the three-part More Than Meets the Eye series opener; however, it was still quite novel to see a few episodes of my favorite animated series as a kid (which I still binge watch regularly on PlutoTV on the weekends) on the big screen. It might have been a bit more interesting if they chose a random selection of episodes from throughout its 3+ series run to put up on the screen, but I suppose they figured it would be best to focus on the episodes that started it all, as well as an additional bonus episode.
The event also featured a sneak peek of the upcoming season of the Transformers series, Transformers: Earthspark, and, doubtless, to promote the upcoming animated Transformers film (the second such film since 1986) set to release in September, Transformers One. There was also no shortage of Transformers-related toy advertisements before the event started. The event was limited to only a few days earlier this month and whether it will be released on home video/digital is unknown at this time. However, if there are any future releases of the event, it is recommended for fans of the original G1 Transformers series, as well as anybody interested in introducing the series to others.
Rating: 8/10 (Recommended)
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