who would have thought that some robot
action figures from the 1980s would even
be relevant 25 years after their release
hey welcome to watchmojo.com
I’m your host Derek Allen and today
we’re going to explore the history of
the transformer franchise it was 1984
when US based toy maker Hasbro fresh off
the success of their GI Joe action
figures released the first transformers
line
previous to this similar transforming
figures had been released by the
Japanese toy manufacturer to Kara but
proved difficult to cross over to the US
market selling the rights and partnering
with Hasbro to Cera’s converting robot
lines were brought together under the
transformers name in the short time that
followed Hasbro created a backstory for
the Transformers and also gave names and
personalities to many of the characters
from the older Japanese lines along with
the 21 characters released in the
original set hasbro created its
commercial campaign for the transformers
with the popular and frequently recited
tag line robots in disguise among the
original characters released were
Optimus Prime Megatron Starscream and
bumblebee all characters who still hold
an important role in the franchise in
that same first year an animated
television series based on the toy line
took to the airwaves
[Music]
further proving that transformers had
quickly moved from being simply a toy
line to a media franchise after finding
success in every area it had entered the
first transformers feature film hit the
bid stream based on the animated series
the film was also animated and served as
a bridge between the TV series second
and third seasons however even with the
voice talent of people like Leonard
Nimoy and Orson Welles the film
underachieved at the box office bringing
in only 5 million dollars during the
opening weekend despite this poor
reception the Transformers franchise
would live on and the film would
eventually grow into a cult classic
among fans of the franchise in 1993 the
transformers generation 2 line was
released leaving many fans to
retroactively Lee label anything
released before 1993 as generation 1 in
the mid-90s the Beast Wars era would
begin and feature new characters that
instead of transforming into trucks and
cars would transform into a variety of
animals however by 2001 hasbro would
return to the placid transformer concept
and a new generation would discover the
joys of these transforming robots with
anticipation building among new and old
fans of the franchise a brand-new
live-action Transformers film was
released in 2007 truly bringing the
entire franchise into the 21st century
Britain in over 700 million dollars at
the box office
the new film success ensured that a
sequel would be released only two years
later in 2009
you
action figures from the 1980s would even
be relevant 25 years after their release
hey welcome to watchmojo.com
I’m your host Derek Allen and today
we’re going to explore the history of
the transformer franchise it was 1984
when US based toy maker Hasbro fresh off
the success of their GI Joe action
figures released the first transformers
line
previous to this similar transforming
figures had been released by the
Japanese toy manufacturer to Kara but
proved difficult to cross over to the US
market selling the rights and partnering
with Hasbro to Cera’s converting robot
lines were brought together under the
transformers name in the short time that
followed Hasbro created a backstory for
the Transformers and also gave names and
personalities to many of the characters
from the older Japanese lines along with
the 21 characters released in the
original set hasbro created its
commercial campaign for the transformers
with the popular and frequently recited
tag line robots in disguise among the
original characters released were
Optimus Prime Megatron Starscream and
bumblebee all characters who still hold
an important role in the franchise in
that same first year an animated
television series based on the toy line
took to the airwaves
[Music]
further proving that transformers had
quickly moved from being simply a toy
line to a media franchise after finding
success in every area it had entered the
first transformers feature film hit the
bid stream based on the animated series
the film was also animated and served as
a bridge between the TV series second
and third seasons however even with the
voice talent of people like Leonard
Nimoy and Orson Welles the film
underachieved at the box office bringing
in only 5 million dollars during the
opening weekend despite this poor
reception the Transformers franchise
would live on and the film would
eventually grow into a cult classic
among fans of the franchise in 1993 the
transformers generation 2 line was
released leaving many fans to
retroactively Lee label anything
released before 1993 as generation 1 in
the mid-90s the Beast Wars era would
begin and feature new characters that
instead of transforming into trucks and
cars would transform into a variety of
animals however by 2001 hasbro would
return to the placid transformer concept
and a new generation would discover the
joys of these transforming robots with
anticipation building among new and old
fans of the franchise a brand-new
live-action Transformers film was
released in 2007 truly bringing the
entire franchise into the 21st century
Britain in over 700 million dollars at
the box office
the new film success ensured that a
sequel would be released only two years
later in 2009
you
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