. /.Based onby andDeveloped byVoices ofOpening theme'Transformers: Prime' byEnding theme'Transformers: Prime' by Brian TylerComposer(s)Brian TylerCountry of originUnited StatesOriginal language(s)EnglishNo. Of seasons3No. Of episodes65 ProductionExecutive producer(s)Stephen DavisRunning time21–22 minutesProduction company(s)DigitalscapeDarby Pop ProductionsDistributorReleaseOriginal networkOriginal releaseNovember 29, 2010 ( 2010-11-29) –July 26, 2013 ( 2013-07-26)ChronologyFollowed by(2015–2017)Related showsTransformers: Prime is an American based on the toy franchise by that aired on from November 29, 2010 to July 26, 2013. Transformers: Prime focuses on the superheroic of 'Team Prime', which consists of,. Throughout their battles, the Autobots are aided by three human children and with their help attempt to protect the Earth from the villainous and their leader.Development of the series began in early 2010 with the announcement that and, screenwriters of the first two live-action films, would be creating the series. Casting began soon after with the announcement that and would reprise their roles as Optimus Prime and Megatron.
According to executive producer the two characters, along with Bumblebee, were considered 'must-haves' for the series. From that point on, they tried to include characters that would contemplate their personalities 'rather than emulate them'. From the early stages of development, a had been created so that writers had a basic idea of where the plot was heading. Early in development, it was announced that the first season would consist of 26 episodes—the first five airing as a from November 29, 2010 to December 3, 2010. The remaining episodes aired from February 11, 2011 to October 11, 2011. While the first season was still running, it was announced the show had been renewed for a second season, also consisting of 26 episodes.The second season premiered on February 18, 2012 and concluded on November 2, 2012.
During that same year it was confirmed that the series would return for a third season. It was given the subtitle Beast Hunters and featured the appearance of Predaking and the Predacons. Kline said that the introduction of the Predacons allowed the writers to emphasize further how Earth and Cybertron are 'twin planets'. On March 1, 2013, Hasbro confirmed the third season of Transformers Prime—which premiered on March 22, 2013 would be the last.
In the same month it was announced that the series would be followed by the TV movie, which would conclude the storyline. Beast Hunters aired its final episode on July 26, 2013, Predacons Rising aired on October 4, 2013. Contents.Premise Setting Transformers Prime is set in the 'Aligned' continuity, taking place after the video games and books –, and.The, led by, operate from a former American military near Jasper,. The team, also known as Team Prime, initially consists of Optimus, and, who is killed in the five-part pilot “Darkness Rises”. Later characters include, and., the Decepticons’ medical officer, later defects in the television movie finale Predacons Rising.
The Autobots also have several human allies: Jack Darby, and later his mother, June Darby, Japanese transfer student Miko Nakadai, computer prodigy Rafael Esquivel and American government agent William Fowler.The Decepticons, led by, operate from their warship, the Nemesis. Other members include, and his minion, Knock Out, the hive led by Hardshell, and his brother,. Shockwave creates the series’ third Transformers faction, the, consisting of Predaking, and Darksteel.Other series' antagonists include, an evil, planet-eating Transformer, whose body serves as the Earth itself; and MECH, a human faction which wishes to create a new world order through cutting-edge technology stolen from the Transformers' deceased.Synopsis In the season one pilot, “Darkness Rising”, Cliffjumper is murdered by Starscream. His corpse is used by Megatron to test the Dark Energon, to create an army from ’s fallen. The plan fails when the Autobots destroy Megatron’s space bridge, leaving him in a state. He eventually recovers and takes back his leadership role from the treacherous Starscream, who later defects to follow his own path.
In the season one finale, the Autobots and Megatron join forces to prevent the rise of Unicron. Optimus uses the to knock Unicron back into hibernation, but in doing so, loses his memories and regains his pre-war personality of Orion Pax.In season two, Megatron manipulates the amnesiac Optimus into decrypting the Iacon archives, which contain the coordinates to Cybertronian relics hidden on Earth. Jack travels to Cybertron, obtaining Optimus’ memories from Vector Sigma, and restores them to Optimus, via the Matrix of Leadership. The season is based mostly around the hunt for the Iacon relics.
Starscream obtains the four Omega Keys, which power the Omega Lock, a device which can reboot the dead Cybertron. He gives them to Megatron in return for clemency.
Optimus destroys the Omega Lock, but not before Megatron uses its powers to create a new base on Earth – Darkmount. The Decepticons then target and destroy the Autobot base, unaware the team escaped beforehand using their ground bridge.The third season, subtitled 'Beast Hunters', begins with the reunification of Team Prime, introducing Ultra Magnus as Optimus' second-in-command. The Autobots successfully destroy Darkmount.
Shockwave arrives on Earth, planning to create an army of Predacons, starting with Predaking. But when Predaking shows intelligence, Megatron has Shockwave terminate his project, pinning its destruction on the Autobots.
Soundwave later kidnaps Ratchet. Megatron forces him to rebuild the Omega Lock using synthetic Energon. Ratchet informs Predaking of the truth, and he defects. During the battle for the Omega Lock, Bumblebee is shot by Megatron, falling into the synthetic Energon. However, he survives, gaining a healed voice, and runs Megatron through with the Star Saber, killing the Decepticon leader. The Autobots use the Omega Lock to restore Cybertron and head home victorious.The series ends with the television movie, Predacons Rising, where the Autobots and remaining Decepticons rebuild Cybertron. Unicron reanimates Megatron, possessing his body, planning to kill Cybertron, actually his brother, using Dark Energon-infected Predacon corpses.
Optimus and Wheeljack retrieve the from deep space and return to aid their comrades. Optimus uses the AllSpark's container to extract and imprison Unicron's spark. Megatron, disillusioned with the prospect of tyranny, disbands the Decepticons and leaves Cybertron to start a new life.
Optimus reveals he fused the Matrix of Leadership and the AllSpark into one and must fuse with Primus’ core to restore life to Cybertron. Bidding farewell to his comrades, Optimus Prime flies into Cybertron's core to begin a new era for the Transformers.Cast and characters.
Main article: AutobotsThe series stars Optimus Prime , who acts as the leader of the. In his fight to protect the Earth, Optimus is aided by Ratchet , who acts as the team's medic.
He is responsible for sending the team out to various locations using the Groundbridge. Bulkhead acts as the team's muscle and does the heavy lifting. Arcee can transform into a motorcycle and is considered the team's most agile fighter.
Rounding out the cast is Bumblebee , who is the team's scout. He remains voiceless throughout most of the series due to a damaged voice box and must communicate through beeps.During the first season, the Autobots encounter Wheeljack , one of Bulkhead's fellow Wreckers. While initially appearing for one episode in season one, the character played a more important role and joined the team in the latter half of season two. During the same season, Smokescreen also joins the team. In the final season Ultra Magnus , who is Optimus' second-in-command, comes to Earth to help him and the Autobots defeat the Decepticons.Decepticons,BreakdownAirachnidDreadwingPredakingThe Decepticons are led by Megatron , who is the main antagonist throughout the series.
Initially, he is assisted by his loyal follower the silent Soundwave, and the treacherous Starscream who wishes to usurp him. Later, they are joined by Knock Out —the Decepticons' medic—and his partner Breakdown , who has an ugly past and a rivalry with Bulkhead. Soon afterward, Airachnid comes into play as well; before her introduction, she had killed Arcee's first partner Tailgate.Production Development and, co-writers of and its sequel, were announced in early February to be helming a new Transformers series which would be CGI-animated. The title of the series was first announced in February 2010 as Transformers: Prime on ' website.
Combs revealed he would be voicing and that the first season would consist of 26 episodes. The series' logo was revealed on May 3, 2010. Orci said that one of the reasons he and Kurtzman decided to come back to the franchise is because when they worked on the live-action film, there were limitations on how much time the could appear on-screen and what type of actions they could perform, stating:There were things we wanted to do in the movies that we just couldn't do and there were character arcs that we wanted to explore with the Transformers that we just couldn't do.
We wanted to show more of their mythology and their past and their planet and just hang out with them. And in the movie, every time you did that, it was very special but it was extremely limited.
So there was always another way. Transformers stories and this was.
A lucky accident that. We got an opportunity to pursue that inspiration.On February 4, 2011, when the show's first season resumed airing, it was announced that it had been renewed for a second season consisting of 26 episodes like the first. The season began airing on February 18, 2012.
On March 1, 2013, it was revealed that the third season of Transformers: Prime, which premiered a few weeks later on March 22, would be the show's last. During the same month, it was also announced that following the series finale, a TV movie called would air and would end the story. According to vice president Mike Vogel, 'they knew, from day one, where they were going to try to wrap everything up'. Writing Discussing ideas about the show's themes and inspirations, Orci said that while was 'about a boy and his cars', the dynamic between the kids and robots in Prime was to be more like that of. In a similar statement, (Jack Darby) revealed in a November 29, 2010, interview with The Trades that while the show does include human main characters, and their relationships with the Autobots are important, they are in the foreground.
According to, from the beginning they had created a of at least 'three years' worth of storylines' and that 'the universal need to find or forge a family and a home' was one of the major themes when developing the series.Kline said that from the early stages of development they wanted to keep the ensemble of characters small; this was done both for production reasons and to allow deeper characterization and development. Optimus Prime, Megatron and Bumblebee were the characters that were considered 'must-haves' for the series.
From that point on, they tried to include Autobots and Decepticons that complemented those characters' personalities, 'rather than duplicate them'.Regarding 's inclusion in the main cast, Orci said that he regretted killing her off in Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen and that Prime gave them 'a chance to do what they’ve always wanted to do with her'. Kline said the staff wanted to include more Decepticons than Autobots in the series, so that the Autobots would always be at a disadvantage and their jobs would be that much harder. Additionally, when asked about the death of Cliffjumper and other characters in the series, he said that 'when we kill a character, we kill a character'.In an interview with, Frank Welker (Megatron), when comparing Prime in the TV series to, said that the writers 'go deeper into the evil side of Megatron and what’s driving him.' In a different interview, Peter Cullen (Optimus Prime) said that 'the writing is consistent with that of the original series, though in this new version. My character has a lot more communication with earthlings, and so he tries to be a little more Earthlike'.During (NYCC) 2011, many details about season two were revealed. Regarding Optimus' memory loss and joining the Decepticons, said that they wanted to satisfy fans' expectations 'but take it in unexpected directions.
What happens will be pretty unexpected, but pretty organic.' On the revelation that Unicron was sealed inside the Earth's core, Kline said that 'they knew' they had to include him in the series but were initially unsure how. After a writer made the suggestion, they realized Unicron could be included in a way that tied Earth to Cybertron. He also reaffirmed his comment regarding death in the series, stating that 'anyone can die' and revealed that 'the body count has been upgraded' in season two.During NYCC 2012, it was revealed that the show would be retitled to Transformers: Prime – Beast Hunters for its third season. In Beast Hunters, the Predacons and Predaking are introduced.
By bringing Beasts into the show during the third season Kline said that this allowed them to emphasize further how Earth and Cybertron are 'brother, or twin, planets'; something they had earlier indicated with Unicron's arc in season one. He called the addition of beasts 'fantastic' as it allowed them to keep shifting allegiances and 'keep the Autobots and Decepticons out of balance'. Casting The first voice actor to be cast in the series was Jeffrey Combs as Ratchet. Combs revealed this on his personal website on February 4, 2010.
On May 17, 2010, it was announced that Peter Cullen, who had originated the role of Optimus Prime in and voiced him in the live-action film series, would return as Optimus' voice in Prime. During on July 8, 2010, it was revealed that Frank Welker would also reprise the role of Megatron from the original series. Besides Optimus and Ratchet, Autobots Bumblebee, Arcee and Bulkhead were also announced. It was also revealed that Starscream and Soundwave would be part of the Decepticons.On September 8, 2010, the show's voice actors were announced. Kline would later reveal that had placed high importance in getting Cullen and Frank Welker to reprise their roles as Optimus Prime and Megatron respectively.Steven Blum (Starscream) revealed in an interview that during recording of Transformers: Prime, he and the cast are given the scripts and 'a couple of days. to figure out where the story is going'.During New York Comic Con, 2011 it was announced that would join the series in season two as Dreadwing.
Music Music in the series was composed. Tyler stated that when he approached to perform the music for the series, they wanted it to be 'cinematic, thematic and feature classic scores, similar to.' Live orchestras were used to create the music.A soundtrack was released on March 6, 2012.Transformers Prime (Music from the Animated Series)by. ReleasedMarch 6, 2012 ( 2012-03-06)Length1: 12: 24chronologyTerra Nova(2012)' Transformers Prime (Music from the Animated Series)'(2012)(2013)Transformers Prime (Music from the Animated Series)No.TitleLength1.' Transformers Prime'3:212.'
Optimus Prime Returns'2:073.' One Shall Rise'2:434.' In Defense of Humanity'2:266.' We Have Returned'4:427.'
Relentless Pursuit'4:368.' This Is Your Home Now'5:029.'
Autobot Stratagum'2:3810.' Battle in the Energon Mine'3:1111.' Proximity Sensors'2:1712.' Cutting It a Bit Close'1:2813.'
The Cons Are Back'4:4614.' RC on the Move'2:0215.' Always Welcome'2:1116.' The Space Bridge'1:2918.' Next Day after School'1:1221.'
Megatron on the Move'2:4423.' The Construct'2:1624.'
Prime Finale'4:1625.' Transformers Prime End Title'3:05. Release SeasonEpisodesOriginally airedand release datesFirst airedLast airedRegion 1Region 2Region 4126November 29, 2010 ( 2010-11-29)October 15, 2011 ( 2011-10-15)March 6, 2012November 9, 2012December 12, 2012226February 18, 2012 ( 2012-02-18)November 2, 2012 ( 2012-11-02)November 20, 2012March 23, 2015October 14, 2015313March 22, 2013 ( 2013-03-22)July 26, 2013 ( 2013-07-26)December 3, 2013November 9, 2015February 3, 2016Broadcast United States In the United States, Transformers: Prime aired on Hasbro and -owned television network, The Hub. The show began broadcasting on November 29, 2010, continuing to December 3, 2010. The rest of season one began to air on February 11, 2011. Beginning December 8, 2012, the series premiered on as part of its Saturday morning block, making it the first Hasbro Studios animated production to appear on United States terrestrial television. The series started rerunning on on July 2019.
International On November 9, 2010, Hasbro Studios announced a broadcasting rights deal with in Canada, which included Transformers: Prime. The series premiered there on January 9, 2011, on, half-owned by Corus.
As a part of the deal between Hasbro Studios and announced on December 13, 2010, Transformers: Prime began broadcasting in the United Kingdom and the on September 5, 2011, on, and later onand in, and the Middle East on September 10, 2011, on.In, has broadcasting rights for Hasbro Studios programs including Prime, with the English version airing on. In, has broadcasting rights for Hasbro Studios programs including Prime; the series was broadcast on.In India, the series premiered on on May 6, 2013. The third season launched on October 19, 2014. Home media In the United States and Canada, has the home distribution rights to the series. The complete first season was first released on and on March 6, 2012. The complete second season was first released on DVD on November 20, 2012, with the Blu-ray version being released seven days later. The third and final season, Beast Hunters, was released on December 3, 2013.
Reception Ratings The series attracted approximately 102,000 viewers per episode.The Transformers: Prime/ G.I. Joe Renegades special programming block on Friday from 3:30 p.m.–7;00 p.m. Generated significant household and key audiences over the previous week. 'Households (+111%, 97,000); Persons age 2+ (+133%, 142,000); Kids ages 2-11 (+130%, 62,000); Kids 6-11 (+78%, 32,000); Adults 18-49 (+117%, 50,000) and Women 18-49 (+120%, 11,000).' Critical response Dusty Stower of, placed Transformers: Prime as the sixth best Transformers cartoon. Stower described the first season as 'a very slow burn, with its eventual payoff being incredibly anticlimactic' and that in their attempt to focus on the Transformers' mythology, the writers 'forgot to craft three-dimensional, likable characters'. However, he concluded that the show did live up to its promise of an epic tale late in its run and reacted positively to Prime 's portrayal of Ratchet and Starscream.Eric Goldman of gave season one a 'great' 8.0 out of 10.
He praised the show for creating fully formed, relatable characters, well-done action sequences, serious-minded storylines and voice acting, singling out Peter Cullen (Optimus Prime), Jeffrey Combs (Ratchet) and Frank Welker's (Megatron) performances. He criticized Bumblebee's portrayal as. Main article:The official launch date of the toy line was December 1, 2011. The release date of July 2011 was incorrectly stated during BotCon 2011, but the December 1, 2011, date was later confirmed by the Hasbro Brand Team. Although earlier sources stated that the line would launch on October 1, 2011, or October 11, 2011. Mobile media Ruckus Mobile Media partnered with Hasbro to deliver Transformers: Prime innovative storybook for, and (, ) systems.
The app was meant to deliver immersive reading experiences with interactive storytelling including title specific activities, coloring and read-and-record functions. The app was slated to release in May 2011, but never came out. This section needs to be updated. Please update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information. ( April 2018)has released a group of comic books based on Transformers: Prime.
A comic book prequel was released on October 13, 2010, in the United States, followed by an October 26, 2010, Canadian release date. Adaptations of episodes (usually two episodes per comic book) from the series are currently being released, similar to the comic books. Some Transformers: Prime storybooks were released in April, August and September 2012, in the UK including Transformers Prime: Official Handbook and Transformers Prime: Meet the Team.Video game. Main article:A sequel called debuted in March 2015. The series features Bumblebee as a police officer and follows his adventures on Earth, trying to catch escaped Decepticon prisoners. Throughout his mission, he's aided by Strongarm, Sideswipe, Grimlock, Fixit, and the humans Denny Clay and his son Russell.
Optimus Prime appears in a recurring capacity during the first season as a spirit, before being resurrected in the finale and joining the main cast from season two onwards. The only other characters to return from Transformers: Prime are Ratchet, Bulkhead, Soundwave, and Starscream.
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