World Help Cartoon Experts: Why did the G1 TRANSFORMERS show end after 4 seasons?

[toddly6666]

I've got some complicated questions about the little details:

It's great that different Transformers series have come about from 1984 til now, but why did the G1 TRANSFORMERS show end after 4 seasons? It was more like 3 seasons with a short 4th season. What happened in ratings? Did some other cartoon get more popular? I can understand the generation of youth getting sick of a cartoon if they started to watch it from the very first episode. But wasn't there a generation of youth that got exposed to the show at the start of the 4th season? (For example, a kid turns a certain age and watches cartoons instead of Sesame Street). I'm not being very objective, but who could not love the Transformers show/toys even jumping into it at the 3rd and 4th seasons (which I think are equally awesome as the first two seasons)? Furthermore, I'm assuming that, after the Transformers cartoon movie, the show wasn't that popular anymore in the USA. But what about in Europe and Japan? Did they have the same youth trends as USA? For example, is it possible that ratings were high in Europe, and then all of a sudden, no more Transformers, and European kids are heartbroken because the show got canceled in the USA?

Also, was the original G1 TRANSFORMERS cartoon playing during the same time period it played in Japan and Europe? In Japan, Transformers continued to be popular with the TAKARA series. It's been known that the TAKARA series is not as good as G1, but does anybody know if the Japanese kids loved this TAKARA series as much as G1?

Just trying to understand why! Thanks for any help!

 

[spidergrant]

well did g1 just end or did it have a series finalle. Im guessing if takara was really good they would have put it in america. but maybe america was tired of robot shows with gobots, transformers, and voltron. i know there were other robot shows but i dont know when they came to america. like the first gundam show. and neon genesis evangelon

 

[lars573]

I've got some complicated questions about the little details:

It's great that different Transformers series have come about from 1984 til now, but why did the G1 TRANSFORMERS show end after 4 seasons? It was more like 3 seasons with a short 4th season. What happened in ratings? Did some other cartoon get more popular? I can understand the generation of youth getting sick of a cartoon if they started to watch it from the very first episode. But wasn't there a generation of youth that got exposed to the show at the start of the 4th season? (For example, a kid turns a certain age and watches cartoons instead of Sesame Street). I'm not being very objective, but who could not love the Transformers show/toys even jumping into it at the 3rd and 4th seasons (which I think are equally awesome as the first two seasons)? Furthermore, I'm assuming that, after the Transformers cartoon movie, the show wasn't that popular anymore in the USA. But what about in Europe and Japan? Did they have the same youth trends as USA? For example, is it possible that ratings were high in Europe, and then all of a sudden, no more Transformers, and European kids are heartbroken because the show got canceled in the USA?

What happened to G1 TV show? The movie. The movie tanked, and killed Optimus (and others). After that the shows ratings slid until it was cancelled after "The rebirth". Shows like G1 were produced as a 20 minute toy commercial. But even they have to have someone watching to justify the expense right. The toy line continued for 3 more years worth of new product in Japan, Europe, and North America (and reissues of the 84/85 line in Europe between the G1 and G2 toylines). The toy line lost it's steam in Europe/America without a show (kids have short attention spans and are fickle). And US ratings were all that mattered to Hasbro, what it being their primary market (come on Euro's tell me I'm wrong ).

Also, was the original G1 TRANSFORMERS cartoon playing during the same time period it played in Japan and Europe? In Japan, Transformers continued to be popular with the TAKARA series. It's been known that the TAKARA series is not as good as G1, but does anybody know if the Japanese kids loved this TAKARA series as much as G1?

Just trying to understand why! Thanks for any help!

Before I start on this, it needs some set up. In case you don't know. Japanese TV works differently than US or European TV. Japanese shows for the most part don't have seasons (British=series). They just run until they stop making it. That's why you hear Anime fans talk about ongoing shows in episodes and story lines rather than seasons. From what I've seen most run 30-50 or so episodes. That being 1 or 2 years worth of programming. Shows that run longer, into the 100's like Dragon ball or Naruto, get 1 story line per year. When they end they may get a sequel. Which may or may not introduce hordes of new characters and just drop olds ones. Or completely change existing characters. Or compleely change the tone of the show too.

In Japan G1 was dubbed by Takara in 1985. One reason for this delay is that you need at least 26 episodes for a dubbing run (that's the profitability point), and see how it worked in English. All 55 episodes of season 1 and 2 were run in Japan as "Transformers." The "More than meets the eye" and "Robots in disguise" were replaced with the "Super god life." It's been the Japanese tag line ever since. Anyway season 3 was run as a sequel to Transformers, called "Transformers 2010." The movie flop in Hasbro's markets delayed it's dubbing and Japanese release until 1988. Hence why you have season 1/2 characters killed in the movie running around in "The headmasters" and "Victory."

 

[toddly6666]

Thanks for all the info. Do you think that if that Transformers cartoon movie was never made, the G1 show could have continued, thus not losing so much money on a flop, and therefore using that money for more seasons?

LARS, and also do you know the general consensus of Japanese fans? - if they value/prefer the Takara episodes over the G1 episodes or vice verca, or if they just equally like all of them?

 

[spidergrant]

well it might have lasted longer if they didnt make the movie but that would be a bad idea BECAUSE THE MOVIE WAS AWESOME seriously it was bettar than any episode ive ever seen.

 

[ShadowBoxing]

Thanks for all the info. Do you think that if that Transformers cartoon movie was never made, the G1 show could have continued, thus not losing so much money on a flop, and therefore using that money for more seasons?

Doubtful. As Lars points out Transformers was a 22 minute toy commercial which rarely cared about things like continuity or common sense, but rather simply used the show as a showcase for new toys. The 1st and 2nd series Autobots and Decepticons were axed because they were no longer being offered in stores...that's what the show was made to do. If Optimus hadn't been killed in the movie they'd still have to find a way to write his character out in favor of new toys.

Plus, most children's shows don't go past 3 or 4 seasons

LARS, and also do you know the general consensus of Japanese fans? - if they value/prefer the Takara episodes over the G1 episodes or vice verca, or if they just equally like all of them?

I have no clue. However the Japanese would go on to produce Headmasters, Masterforce, Victory, and Zone (and the unproduced Battlestars).

 

[spidergrant]

i think its dumb how the episode where optimus prime comes back is one of the last episodes. i kind of like rohdimus better

 

[Chris B]

Wasn't it also getting too expensive to produce? I believe that was the reason why the Sunbow GI Joe series was also cancelled.

 

[bell110]

I know with me, it wasn't only that they killed off character, but the whole feel of the show changed. They when from being earth vehicles on earth to space vehicles in space. Kind of lost it's specialness, if you know what I mean. Like the X-Men cartoon. Loved the show except when theyre fighting in space. The X-Men just don't seem so special when they're fighting aliens with special powers.

If they were smart, they would have just done what other cartoons do, keep the main character that the kids love, and the other character just come and go with no real explanation. They could still sell the new toys, and keep the older characters to come back just in case.

 

[toddly6666]

Where did producers come up with the idea that the "future/outerspace/far-from-reality wacky" theme was supposedly popular? That theme certainly seems like a consistently good way of killing off a show: Transformers G1 got spacey. G.I. Joe got wacky. Spiderman 90s show got futuristic (Spiderman 2009). M.A.S.K. got wacky. X-Men got futuristic/spacey.

Can anyone else think of any other cartoon shows that started to suck once producers tried to transform the show with some silly futuristic make-over?

 

[sto_vo_kor_2000]

The reason for the time change is simple.In 1986, the line Transformers evolved into something other than simply a repackaging of a Japanese toy,the vehicles that the Transformers toys turned into became more futuristic in design, instead of the present-day designs of their
early incarnations.They had already used almost every mold from the Diaclone and Micro-man/mirco change line more then twice[ in some cases 6 times] and to create new toy molds on present day vehicles of the time would have ment paying to use their likeness they decided to creat futuristic cars.And since they were useing futuristic cars from that point on they figured to set the season 3 and the movie in the future.

 

[sto_vo_kor_2000]

Spiderman 90s show got futuristic (Spiderman 2009).

It was called Spiderman unlimited and the regular Spiderman cartonn had already been canceled about a year before the other came out.

 

[Chris B]

Bumping this back to first page.

I have to admit, it a shame that the fourth season never came to fruitation. Some of the things that have been said that were going to happen would've been cool to see. I believe that Starscream, Shockwave, Blitzwing, and Octane were going to form a band of rogue Decepticons and Unicron was suppose to return. Plus, I think Galvatron was going to revert back to being Megatron.

 

[deathshead2]

It was called Spiderman unlimited and the regular Spiderman cartonn had already been canceled about a year before the other came out.

Spider-man wasn't really cancelled. Marvel went bankrupt and their animation department folded. Then Saban got the rights to spider-man and did unlimited.

 

[sto_vo_kor_2000]

Spider-man wasn't really cancelled. Marvel went bankrupt and their animation department folded. Then Saban got the rights to spider-man and did unlimited.

You got your facts wrong.Marvel Comics filed for Bankruptsy in early [around March] 1996 but the Spiderman cartoon ran till January 1998.Thats almost a full two years after Marvel filed for bankruptsy.The show was cancelled.

And Avi Arad was the exc. producer of both shows so saban doing the animation didnt reall limit Marvels involovment in the Unlimited series.

 

[spidergrant]

man i cant believe marvel was bank rupt for a while. i heard blad was a big part of it coming back

 

[sto_vo_kor_2000]

man i cant believe marvel was bank rupt for a while. i heard blad was a big part of it coming back

It was the start but they got sued over that movie too.

 

[ShadowBoxing]

i think its dumb how the episode where optimus prime comes back is one of the last episodes. i kind of like rohdimus better

There were four more episodes after Optimus Prime came back to life.

 

[spidergrant]

It was the start but they got sued over that movie too.

ok can someone explain what the whole marvel gone bank rupt thing is about. and how did they get sued for blade. how did they even go bank rupt

 

[sto_vo_kor_2000]

ok can someone explain what the whole marvel gone bank rupt thing is about. and how did they get sued for blade. how did they even go bank rupt

Its a very long story......Bankrubt:to try to put it shortly.....Marvel over extended its self buying controling intrest [stocks] in Toy biz toy compny so it could control all profits in the toys of the Marvel characters.Marvel also bought up controling intrest in a animation studio [cat remember the name] in an atempt to control all of its proffits trew the cartoons of its characters.Marvel also stoped distrabution of its comics trew Dimond disrabuter's and created its owen distrabution company again to try to maximize its proffits.

All of this combined with un-wise character stories and cheep gigmics like holografic and multible varient covers was to much spending in to short a time for Marvel comics and stock holders starting selling their shares at lower prices...forcing Marvel into Bankruptsy.

Marvel was sued by Marv Wolfman the creater of the character of Blade because
[1] he felt that they didnt give him enough credit for his creation only giving him a "based on characters created by" mention in the movies credits
[2]Marvel did not consult him durring the creation of the film.
[3]Marvel was not up to date on the characters copy rights trademark legal status.So he felt that the character should have fallen back into his owener ship since Marvel hadnt renewed its trademark of the character.

Its importent to know that his lawsuit failed.But Marvel did lose quite a bit of momey defending it.

 

[deathshead2]

You got your facts wrong.Marvel Comics filed for Bankruptsy in early [around March] 1996 but the Spiderman cartoon ran till January 1998.Thats almost a full two years after Marvel filed for bankruptsy.The show was cancelled.

And Avi Arad was the exc. producer of both shows so saban doing the animation didnt reall limit Marvels involovment in the Unlimited series.

Really. Well Im never going o trust interviews with people who worked on the shows ever again then. Cus it seems their wrong.

 

[sto_vo_kor_2000]

Really. Well Im never going o trust interviews with people who worked on the shows ever again then. Cus it seems their wrong.

Not sure if that was to be sracastic or not but look up the dates for your self if you like.Its all open to the public.And its still posible that Marvels money issues could have had a small impact on the Spiderman toon but its unlikly the reason for its cancelation.
The protection of chapter 11 of the bankrupsty laws were already in effect for over a year by then.....Marvel had already sold its controling intrest in toybiz and its distrabution company and was already starting to make a profit.Blade was due out that Augest and all the expatation's were that it was going to be a succsess.

And just to let you know...I was one of many let go by Marvel when they filed for charter 11.I was just an intern but I worked at the New York office.

 

[Bumblebee1983]

Not sure if that was to be sracastic or not but look up the dates for your self if you like.Its all open to the public.And its still posible that Marvels money issues could have had a small impact on the Spiderman toon but its unlikly the reason for its cancelation.
The protection of chapter 11 of the bankrupsty laws were already in effect for over a year by then.....Marvel had already sold its controling intrest in toybiz and its distrabution company and was already starting to make a profit.Blade was due out that Augest and all the expatation's were that it was going to be a succsess.

And just to let you know...I was one of many let go by Marvel when they filed for charter 11.I was just an intern but I worked at the New York office.

Lucky, but an awesome experience nonetheless!

 

[sto_vo_kor_2000]

Lucky, but an awesome experience nonetheless!

Ohh yeah....I had lots of fun even thou it was my 2nd job at the time.

 

[Bumblebee1983]

Ohh yeah....I had lots of fun even thou it was my 2nd job at the time.

Did you meet any of the bigwigs? (Stan Lee, Avi Arad....any of those?)

I used to absolutely love Stan Lee, but then he sold out a few months back.....I'm still angry about that.