''Beast Machines: Transformers'' is an

animated television series An animated series is a set of animated works with a common series title, usually related to one another. These episodes should typically share the same main characters, some different secondary characters and a basic theme. Series can have eith ...

produced by

Mainframe Entertainment Mainframe Studios is a Canadian computer animation company owned by Wow Unlimited Media and based in Vancouver, British Columbia. Founded in 1993 as Mainframe Entertainment Inc. by Christopher Brough, Ian Pearson, Phil Mitchell, Gavin Blair and ...

as part of the Transformers franchise.

Hasbro Hasbro, Inc. (; a syllabic abbreviation of its original name, Hassenfeld Brothers) is an American multinational conglomerate holding company incorporated and headquartered in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. Hasbro owns the trademarks and products of K ...

has the full distribution rights to the show as of 2011. It was a direct

sequel A sequel is a work of literature, film, theatre, television, music or video game that continues the story of, or expands upon, some earlier work. In the common context of a narrative work of fiction, a sequel portrays events set in the same ...

to ''

Beast Wars Beast most often refers to: * Non-human animal * Monster Beast or Beasts may also refer to: Bible * Beast (Revelation), two beasts described in the Book of Revelation Computing and gaming * Beast (card game), English name of historical Fren ...

'', taking place within the continuity of the original ''Transformers'' series. The show ran for two seasons, airing on YTV and

Fox Kids Fox Kids (originally known as Fox Children's Network and later as the Fox Kids Network; stylized as FOX KIDS) was an American children's programming block and branding for a slate of international children's television channels. Originally a jo ...

from 1999 to 2000. Of the Transformers animated series produced in

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and th ...

, ''Beast Machines'' was the only one to have been completely conceptualized and outlined in advance, lending it a more serialized and linear storyline than the others. Prior to '' Transformers: Prime'' in 2010, ''Beast Machines'' was also the last, and second only entirely computer-animated ''Transformers'' series produced, along with its predecessor ''Beast Wars''. The ''Beast Machines'' intro theme was " Phat Planet", by

Leftfield Leftfield are a British electronic music duo formed in 1989 as the duo of Neil Barnes and Paul Daley (the latter formerly of the Rivals and A Man Called Adam). The duo was very influential in the evolution of electronic music in the 1990s, w ...

. It is also the final installment in the ''Generation 1'' cartoon era.

Synopsis

Following their victory in the Beast Wars the surviving

Maximals This is a help:sorting, sortable list of characters and toys in the Transformers: Beast Wars, ''Beast Wars'' franchise, part of the larger Transformers franchise, from Hasbro. This includes characters appearing in an animated series, comics or ...

–

Optimus Primal Optimus Prime, , is a fictional character in the ''Transformers'' franchise. The Transformers characters were developed for an American market after Hasbro representatives visited the 1983 Tokyo Toy Show. The characters were modified and the ...

Cheetor This is a help:sorting, sortable list of characters and toys in the Transformers: Beast Wars, ''Beast Wars'' franchise, part of the larger Transformers franchise, from Hasbro. This includes characters appearing in an animated series, comics or ...

, Blackarachnia and Rattrap – finally return to

Cybertron Cybertron may refer to: *A fictional planet, the homeworld of the Transformers and the planet form of their creator Primus *The English dub name for "Tobikage", a small robotic ninja in the TV series '' Ninja Senshi Tobikage'' *The Japanese name fo ...

only to discover that their people have vanished, and the world is now ruled by the mindless

Vehicons This is a sortable list of characters and toys in the ''Beast Wars'' franchise, part of the larger Transformers franchise, from Hasbro. This includes characters appearing in an animated series, comics or video games. This does not include cha ...

. To make matters worse, the quartet are trapped in their beast forms without any of the upgrades they gained during the Beast Wars – and they are swiftly losing their memories of anything but each other. Forced to retreat deep underground, the Maximals discover the Oracle, a powerful supercomputer that reformats their bodies into new, even more powerful techno-organic forms. The Maximals soon learn that their old enemy

Megatron Megatron is a fictional character and the main antagonist of the ''Transformers'' media franchise produced by American toy company Hasbro and Japanese toy company Takara Tomy. Megatron is the cruel and tyrannical leader of the Decepticons, a ...

– who managed to break free and return to Cyberton before them – is the malevolent intelligence behind the Vehicons. Megatron has declared war on both beast modes and free will itself, imprisoning the sparks of Cyberton's entire population. With the odds stacked against them, the Maximals set out to free the sparks of their people, discover what really happened to their allies

Silverbolt The Autobots are the main protagonists in the fictional continuities of the Transformers multimedia franchise, and are depicted in a collection of various toys, cartoons, films, graphic novels, and paperback books first introduced in 1984. The ...

and

Rhinox This is a sortable list of characters and toys in the ''Beast Wars'' franchise, part of the larger Transformers franchise, from Hasbro. This includes characters appearing in an animated series, comics or video games. This does not include cha ...

, and bring organic life to Cyberton once more.

Cast

Garry Chalk Garry Chalk is a British-born Canadian actor. He has provided the voices for Optimus Primal of '' Beast Wars: Transformers'' and ''Beast Machines'', as well as Optimus Prime in the anime English dubs of '' Transformers: Armada'', ''Transformer ...

Scott McNeil Scott McNeil is an Australian-born Canadian actor. He currently resides in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. One of the best-known Canadian voice actors of all time, McNeil has provided voices to many characters in animated shows, most nota ...

as Rattrap,

Waspinator ''Beast Wars: Transformers'' (titled ''Beasties: Transformers'' in Canada) is a computer animated television series that debuted in 1996 and ended on March 7, 1999, serving as the flagship of the ''Transformers: Beast Wars'' franchise. It was on ...

Ian James Corlett Ian James Corlett (born August 29, 1962) is a Canadian voice actor, animator, and author. He is the creator of Studio B Productions' animated series ''Being Ian'' and ''Yvon of the Yukon''. One of his best-known animation roles was the first En ...

Venus Terzo Venus Terzo is a Canadian actress who played Detective Angela Kosmo in ''Da Vinci's Inquest'' and its spinoff, '' Da Vinci's City Hall''. She was nominated in 2002 for the Gemini Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Continuing Leading Dr ...

as Blackarachnia * David Kaye as

Savage/Noble This is a help:sorting, sortable list of characters and toys in the Transformers: Beast Wars, ''Beast Wars'' franchise, part of the larger Transformers franchise, from Hasbro. This includes characters appearing in an animated series, comics or ...

Christopher Gaze Christopher Bower Gaze, (born 12 May 1952) is an English actor, host, artist, theatre and opera director residing in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. History Born in Guildford, Surrey, England, he trained at the Bristol Old Vic The ...

as Diagnostic Drone *

Brian Drummond Brian Drummond (born August 10, 1969) is a Canadian voice actor. He formerly served on the board of directors for the New Westminster-based Urban Academy along with his wife, Laura Drummond, also a voice artist. Usually working in Vancouver, h ...

Jetstorm This is a sortable list of characters and toys in the ''Beast Wars'' franchise, part of the larger Transformers franchise, from Hasbro. This includes characters appearing in an animated series, comics or video games. This does not include cha ...

* Paul Dobson as

Tankor This is a help:sorting, sortable list of characters and toys in the Transformers: Beast Wars, ''Beast Wars'' franchise, part of the larger Transformers franchise, from Hasbro. This includes characters appearing in an animated series, comics or ...

Obsidian Obsidian () is a naturally occurring volcanic glass formed when lava extruded from a volcano cools rapidly with minimal crystal growth. It is an igneous rock. Obsidian is produced from felsic lava, rich in the lighter elements such as silicon ...

, Diagnostic Drone * Jim Byrnes as

Thrust Thrust is a reaction force described quantitatively by Newton's third law. When a system expels or accelerates mass in one direction, the accelerated mass will cause a force of equal magnitude but opposite direction to be applied to that ...

Alessandro Juliani Alessandro Juliani (born July 6) is a Canadian actor and singer. He is notable for playing the roles of Tactical Officer Lieutenant Felix Gaeta on the Sci-Fi Channel television program ''Battlestar Galactica'', Emil Hamilton in ''Smallville'', Jac ...

as Nightscream * Richard Newman as Tankor/

Kathleen Barr Kathleen Barr is a Canadian voice actress. She is best known for voicing Marie Kanker and Kevin in ''Ed, Edd n Eddy'' and Trixie Lulamoon and Queen Chrysalis in '' My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic''. She also voiced Henri Richard Maurice D ...

as Botanica * Patricia Drake as Strika

Production

According to commentary of the Beast Machines DVD, the series was initially to be called ''Beast Hunters''. The character Jetstorm was initially called Skybolt, but the writers changed the name to make it harder to theorize Silverbolt's connection to the Vehicon. The first five episodes of the series were filed with the name Skybolt, and later edited to reflect the change. At one point, Thrust was going to be carrying Silverbolt's spark, but the writers, on a whim, decided to have him carry Waspinator's spark instead. In the episode Home Soil, the character Thrust made a gesture similar to the middle-finger to Optimus while racing to the crashed ship and in the episode "Savage Noble", Thrust also made a gesture similar to the middle-finger to Cheetor when they briefly banded together to search for Savage. In the flashback featuring Waspinator, the heads of Inferno and Quickstrike make cameo appearances, as do the pre-humans Hammer, Jack, Una, and others.

Episodes

Series overview

Season 1 (1999)

This season picked up a short time after the events of the third season of ''Beast Wars''. Four of the six main characters from the previous series/season, Optimus Primal, Rattrap, Cheetor and Blackarachnia, are on Cybertron with no memory of how they arrived there and why they are being pursued by hostile Transformers. These characters try to discover what happened to themselves and to Cybertron and what the ancient computer the Oracle has in store for the characters. There are noticeable information gaps and characters missing from the previous series that are addressed throughout the season. New characters are brought into the cast.

Season 2 (2000): ''Battle for the Spark''

This season was subtitled ''Battle for the Spark''. Season two picked up right where season one ended in a cliff hanger. The season saw the exit of Rhinox, the return of an ally, a bug bot, the appearance of new Transformers from Cybertron's history, and the ultimate demise of not only Megatron, but Optimus Primal as well.

Home releases

''Beast Machines: Transformers (Episodes # 1–5)'' * Format: Color, DVD-Video, NTSC * Language: English * Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only) * Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1 * Audio: 2.0 Dolby Surround * Number of discs: 1 * Rating: PG in Canada * Studio:

Anchor Bay Entertainment Anchor Bay Entertainment (formerly Video Treasures and Starmaker Entertainment) was an American home entertainment and production company. It was a subsidiary of Starz Inc. Anchor Bay Entertainment marketed and sold feature films, television se ...

Canada * DVD Release Date: August 10, 2004 * Run Time: 107 minutes Canada / United States ''Beast Machines: Transformers – The Complete Series'' * Format: Box set, Color, DVD-Video, NTSC * Language: English * Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only) * Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1 * Audio: 5.1 Dolby Surround & 2.0 Stereo * Number of discs: 4 * Rating: Not Rated * Studio: Kid Rhino Entertainment * DVD Release Date: February 28, 2006 * Run Time: 700 minutes Canada / United States ''Beast Machines – Transformers: Series 1'' * Format: Dubbed, Full Screen, PAL * Language English * Region: Region 2 * Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1 * Audio: 5.1 Dolby Surround & 2.0 Stereo * Number of discs: 2 * Classification: PG (Parental Guidance) * Studio: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment * DVD Release Date: 16 July 2007 * Run Time: 264 minutes ''Beast Machines – Transformers: Series 2'' * Format: Dubbed, Full Screen, PAL * Language English * Region: Region 2 * Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1 * Audio: 5.1 Dolby Surround & 2.0 Stereo * Number of discs: 2 * Classification: PG (Parental Guidance) * Studio: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment * DVD Release Date: 19 November 2007 * Run Time: N/A UK ''Beast Machines – Transformers: Season 1 – Volumes 1 & 2'' * DVD Release Date: 20 June 2007 * Audio: Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo * Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1 * Region: Region 4 Classification: PG (Parental Guidance) ''Beast Machines – Transformers: Season 2 – Volumes 1 & 2'' * DVD Release Date: 23 October 2007 * Audio: Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo * Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1 * Region: Region 4 * Classification: PG (Parental Guidance) US / Canada ''Beast Machines: Transformers – The Complete Series'' * Format: Box set, Color, DVD-Video, NTSC * Language: English * Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only) * Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1 * Audio: 5.1 Dolby Surround & 2.0 Stereo * Number of discs: 4 * Rating: Not Rated * Studio: Shout! Factory * DVD Release Date: September 2, 2014 * Run Time: 690 minutes

Other information

Written into a special edition comic book was a character by the name of Primal Prime. Appearing only in this book, he is a side character to the ''Beast Machines'' story and was later written into the toy lines of both ''Beast Machines'' and ''Transformers: Universe''. In the ''Universe'' story line, he eventually gains a new body, which combined with Apelinq to create Sentinel Maximus. The head writers used to post and answer questions on a message board known as Bottalk.

Toys

The Hasbro toys for ''Beast Machines'' are infamous for the fact that many bear little resemblance to the characters on the show, in both shape and color. They were also scaled out of proportion to each other. The reason for this was that although basic concept sketches were made of the major characters, the show creators and toy creators developed the characters independently from that point in the first year. After the first year of toys was released, a number of slightly more show-accurate toys were released. Many of the characters created as toys never made it on the television series, although some did appear in the comic books. Oddly, the transforming plant Botanica from the television series was not made into a toy for any of the related toy lines. Another characteristic of this toy line was its packaging. Unlike other Transformers lines, wherein each toy had a photo or illustration of themselves on the front of the packaging, almost all ''Beast Machines'' packages had an illustration of Cheetor on the front – regardless of character or faction. The one exception was Nightscream.TFW2005.com – Ultra Jetstorm
– See gallery for box packaging The toys released in the ''Beast Wars Returns'' (a release of ''Beast Machines'' in Japan) toy line by Takara were recolored to more closely resemble the show colors. Molds from the drones in the Vehicon Army, which bore more resemblance to the Vehicon Generals, were recolored and used as the Vehicon Generals instead in the ''Beast Wars Returns'' toy line. A line of simple McDonald's ''Beast Machines'' toys was sold which did look more like the show characters, and this line was recolored for release in other countries by other fast-food restaurants.

Non-show groups

A number toy sub-groups didn't make it into the animated series, but had small stories on their toy boxes. * Beast Riders :Two deluxe sized vehicles that resembled heads of animals and could be ridden by larger figures. Both were redecoed once each, but their boxes remained unchanged. * Deployers :Three sparkless Maximal drones that turn into weapons usable by larger toys. All three were redecoed in new colors, but their boxes remained unchanged. The dark blue recolor of Rav was used to represent the character of Chro in the 3H Comic series, which the three Deployers in their original colors also appeared in. * Dinobots :A set of Maximals, all recolors of older toys from the ''Beast Wars'', ''Beast Wars Neo'' lines. Commanded by

Magmatron is a 1999 Japanese Transformers television animated series, a toy line, and a sequel to '' Beast Wars II''. It was produced by NAS, TV Tokyo, and Ashi Productions. Hozumi Gōda reprised his role as Lio Convoy from Beast Wars II whenever he a ...

and T-Wrecks, members included Airraptor and others. Like the Deployers, they appeared in the 3H Beast Machines comics.

Non-show characters

A number of characters appeared in the ''Beast Machines'' toy line who didn't make appearances in the television series. These included: * Blastcharge – A Vehicon who turns into a six-wheeled missile truck. The character does appear in the Wreckers comics. * Buzzsaw – A Maximal who transforms into a wasp. The character does appear in the ''Transformers: Universe'' comics. * Battle Unicorn – A Maximal who turns into a unicorn. * Che – A Beast Rider whose form is a cheetah head. The character was to appear in the un-produced Wreckers #4. * Chro (Name given to purple Rav repaint) – Appears in Wreckers comics. * Dillo – A Maximal Deployer who turns from an armadillo into a weapon. The character does appear in Wreckers comics. *

Geckobot This is a sortable list of characters and toys in the ''Beast Wars'' franchise, part of the larger Transformers franchise, from Hasbro. This includes characters appearing in an animated series, comics or video games. This does not include cha ...

– A Maximal who transforms into a flying lizard. * Hammerstrike – A Maximal who transforms into a hammerhead shark. * Longhorn – A Maximal who turns into a bull. The character was to appear in the un-produced Wreckers #4. * Mechatron – A Beast Rider whose form is a dragon head. *

Mirage A mirage is a naturally-occurring optical phenomenon in which light rays bend via refraction to produce a displaced image of distant objects or the sky. The word comes to English via the French ''(se) mirer'', from the Latin ''mirari'', meanin ...

– A high speed Vehicon race car. The character appears in Apelinq's War Journals, his drones appear in Wreckers comics. * Mol – A Maximal Deployer who turns from a mole into a weapon. The character did appear in Wreckers comics. * Nightviper – A Maximal who transforms into a cobra. * Primal Prime – A repaint of ''Beast Wars'' Optimal Optimus. The character does appear in the Wreckers comics. * Quickstrike – A Maximal who transforms into a wolf. The character does appear in the ''Transformers: Universe'' comics. * Rav – A Maximal Deployer who turns from a bird into a weapon. The character does appear in the Wreckers comics. *

Scavenger Scavengers are animals that consume dead organisms that have died from causes other than predation or have been killed by other predators. While scavenging generally refers to carnivores feeding on carrion, it is also a herbivorous feedin ...

– A Vehicon Demolitions expert. The character does appear in the Wreckers comics. *

Skydive Parachuting, including also skydiving, is a method of transiting from a high point in the atmosphere to the surface of Earth with the aid of gravity, involving the control of speed during the descent using a parachute or parachutes. For ...

– A Maximal who turns a pterodactyl. The character was to appear in the un-produced Wreckers #4. *

Snarl A snarl is a sound, often a growl or vicious utterance, often accompanied by a facial expression, where the upper lip is raised, and the nostrils widen, generally indicating hate, anger or pain. In addition to humans, other mammals including m ...

– A Maximal who turns into a lion. The character does appear in the un-produced Wreckers #3, and the ''Transformers: Universe'' comics * Spy Streak – A Vehicon stealth jet. The character does appear in the Wreckers comics.

Transtech

After ''Beast Machines'' ended, Hasbro planned a follow-up series called ''Transtech''. The series was supposed to bring back some of the characters who died in ''Beast Wars'' along with some characters from the original 1980s cartoon, all in new, organic-looking bodies, with vehicle alternate modes instead of the animals used in ''Beast Machines''. Many concept sketches and even a few toy prototypes were made, but Hasbro scrapped the idea, bringing '' Car Robots'' to American markets as a placeholder until '' Transformers Armada''. Concept sketches or prototype toys have been seen for Blackarachnia, Cheetor,

Depth Charge A depth charge is an anti-submarine warfare (ASW) weapon. It is intended to destroy a submarine by being dropped into the water nearby and detonating, subjecting the target to a powerful and destructive hydraulic shock. Most depth charges use h ...

, Nightscream,

Optimus Prime Optimus Prime, , is a fictional character in the ''Transformers'' franchise. The Transformers characters were developed for an American market after Hasbro representatives visited the 1983 Tokyo Toy Show. The characters were modified and the ...

Shockwave In physics, a shock wave (also spelled shockwave), or shock, is a type of propagating disturbance that moves faster than the local speed of sound in the medium. Like an ordinary wave, a shock wave carries energy and can propagate through a med ...

, Soundwave, Starscream, and a new character called Immorticon. There were also rumors of a ''Transtech'' Dinobot. It is generally believed that the concept for ''Transtech''

inspired the design of '' Transformers: Cybertron'' Brakedown and the concept for ''Transtech'' Megatron inspired '' Armada'' Megatron.

Transformers: Universe

The storyline of ''Beast Machines'' is continued in the short-lived comic book ''Transformers: Universe'' by 3H Publishing, which has stories taking place during the second season of ''Beast Machines'' (In the ''Transformers: Wreckers'' comic) and after the ''Beast Machines'' story (in the ''Transformers: Universe'' comic).

References

External links

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