Preview Review> Transformers: Rescue Bots

The Hub aired the preview of Transformers: Rescue Bots while I was too busy to comment. However, I watched it when it aired and just watched it again to write this review. And I have more to say that “cool intro”. (Although it is cool.)

Based on the new toyline marketed to 3-6 year olds, the Rescue Bots are a special breed of Transformer (Autobots, obviously) thought lost. However, four survived and respond to Optimus Prime’s summons to journey to Earth. Now teamed with a family of rescue experts, the Burns,  the robots must learn from the humans and earn their respect while hiding their true nature as aliens from another world.

The question is how well these two episodes sold the series. Well, it kind of depends on what you were expecting. I’ll use a few clips to help explain but you’ll have to go to the Hub’s website to see episode 1 and episode 2.

First let’s address the animation. Like a number of Hub shows (My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic and Pound Puppies come to mind), Rescue Bots appears to be done in flash, or something that looks like it, in this case called Toon Boom Harmony. Don’t let that throw you too much because unless you’re really insistent on top-level animation over story, it’s only obvious occasionally. Sure, I wish it was more like the animation of Rescue Heroes, which also was about rescue workers with advanced tech, but considering the stuff I grew up with and the more forgiving child audience, I’m not going to sweat it too much.

One question I would ask, however, is what continuity the show is set in. For this version, Optimus only tells the Rescue Bots that Cybertron is no longer their home. Did the war with the Decepticons happen here? Is the use of Peter Cullen as Optimus meant to suggest that this is in the same universe as Transformers: Prime? Then again, he was also Optimus in the movies and video game, so maybe it’s just a case of “hey, we have Peter, let’s use him”. I will say that having Cullen use the same variation of Prime as he does in the other Hub series sounds weird coming from a more cartoonish looking Optimus.

Back to the “Cybertron is gone” idea. That’s something that’s happening too often lately. It seems like after Transformers: Cybertron, everyone wants to make Cybertron a dead world, with the exception of Animated. The movies, Transformers: Prime, and IDW also follow this path which kind of bugs me. I know more about Gobotronian culture than I do Cybertronian culture, and Transformers has more versions to play with. This bit has to stop guys. You can keep the Transformers on Earth without slagging Cybertron, you know.

The series is set on an island called Griffin Rock. It’s established early that this is a high-tech testing ground, which allows for more kinds of disasters. For example, the second episode starts with a high-tech lawnmower going out of control and then the team deals with a volcano. While the series (and toyline) are lacking in Decepticons, the Autobots will have plenty to keep them busy on their new home. This will disappoint any Transformers fans who insist the series must remain a war story of Autobots versus Decepticons. One has to remember that both the toys and cartoons are targeted at younger audiences than even the original or Animated shows. Then again, other “kiddified” toylines like the DC and Marvel heroes or Star Wars features both good guys and bad guys, while only the Movieverse based toys aimed at little kids has done that in all the years there have been little kid-targeted Transformers, all the way back to the original “My First Transformers” toys back in the G1 days.

One last disappointment is the lack of Bumblebee. Now this isn’t based on my love for the character but because he’s the only RB Autobot to not appear on the show despite having a toy. Like Optimus, Bumblebee (who doesn’t have a voice actor listed at this time) is not supposed to be a regular character on the show, which is fine, but he supposed to be there. He even has a character model. I’m hoping he shows up in the next episode, but I’ll have to wait until February to find out.

So what did the show do right? Pretty much everything else. The characters are still new so their personalities are rather basic. While giving Blades acrophobia seems silly, at least they explain why. (He didn’t have a flying mode prior to coming to Earth and getting a helicopter form, which was the only one left.) Heatwave isn’t happy with the “robots in disguise” part of his mission and he gets along the least with his human partner because their both hotheads. Optimus put Heatwave in charge because he was worried about his team but I would have gone with Chase. Not only is he the most level-headed, but he gets along the best with his human partner, who is also the leader (and father) of the humans. Rounding out the group is Boulder, your stereotypical clumsy muscle bot with a good-nature personality. However, he’s not an idiot and I can see him and his human partner getting along fine.

The Burns family represents the majority of the humans on the show. Cody is a kid (unlike his toy counterpart, but I’m getting to that) but while he wants to be a hero like his dad and siblings, he doesn’t get himself into trouble by being the usual “I can help and I’m going to prove it by getting my fool head into trouble so I have to be rescued” type kid character that shows up a lot. (Yes, although I like Scott and T-Bob from M.A.S.K., I realize the kid’s nearly suicidal.) Chief Burns, Chase’s partner, is (at the start) the only human that knows the Autobots’ secret. I wonder how he discovered their secret, but that would also depend on the continuity involved. I have no answers if he’s from an original continuity and no answers are given about the Autobots’ early days in the Prime universe on Earth, so the Movieverse’s NEST team (he could be a former member) is the only theory I have. However, the Transformers Wiki appears to believe that this is part of the “aligned” continuity Hasbro is attempting to form, using the High Moon Studios games and the current Hub cartoon as a whole continuity. Which brings up more questions when it comes to character designs, but that’s a whole other article.

Kade is the eldest brother and firefighter and as I said gets along the least with his partner, Heatwave. Both have their own way of doing things and being stubborn. Kade can’t even handle the fact that “his robot” doesn’t listen to him and while they learn to work in episode 2, watching how they learn to get along should be interesting. Graham, the second oldest brother, is fascinated by Cybertronian tech,  but although Boulder wants to learn about Earth Graham doesn’t think he has anything to show an alien from an advanced society. Their sister, Dani, likes to get into the action as much as Kade, and represents I think emergency rescue. She is shown at one point rock climbing (using one of those wall-mounted set-ups) and may be quite the tomboy. She loves to fly and she has a helicopter that doesn’t.

One question I do have is why the humans were changed so radically from the toyline. Only Chief Burns and Cody are from the toys, but Cody is an adult/teen in the toys while a pre-teen in the show. The other Burns kids aren’t from the toys at all. In the toys, Charlie is Optimus’s partner and Cody works with Heatwave. Rounding out the current toy cast are Billy Blastoff (Chase’s partner), Walker Cleavland (Boulder’s partner), and Sawyer Storm (Blade’s partner and NOT a girl, although I give the show credit for including a female rescue worker in the thick of the action). I wonder if this means no Axel Fraiser when his toy partner, Bumblebee, finally makes his show debut. (Then again, if this is in the same universe as Prime, that’s pretty much a given.) And no Sparkplug the rescue dog. However, the show gives us Dr. Greene and his daughter, who offer information the rescue team needs. As of episode two they believe the Rescue Bots are just Earth robots with artificial AI as does the rest of Griffin Rock. I would like to hear why they changed things for the TV show meant to sell the toys.

So will you enjoy the show? It all depends on what you expect versus what you’re willing to accept. There are no plans to include Decepticons in the toys, but as I noted that won’t stop the cartoon. However, this isn’t a war story, but a rescue adventure. On that count, I though it did pretty well and I’ll be curious to see if this is in fact part of the other Hub series and how well the show pulls off the concept it is going for. However, the Hub’s website has episode 1 and episode 2 so you can watch legally and decide for yourselves. The series proper starts in February, 2012.

Related articles

• my review of the Rescue Bots Bumblebee toy (clutterreport.wordpress.com)
• Saturday Night Showcase: The OTHER Go-Bots cartoon (another “Rescue Heroes with robots” story)
• Book Report: Transformers: Exodus (clutterreport.wordpress.com, see also my Chapter by Chapter review)