Post by Imperator on Jun 1, 2004 13:54:06 GMT
Found some of the concepts in Beast Machines a little hard to swallow? You're not alone.
From Bob Skir:
On the subject of a complaint:
Interesting reading: www.bobskir.com
From Bob Skir:
(BIG, BIIIIG LAUGHTER). Having finished the show, I'd have to say, Yeah, there ARE things I would change.
Most of my choices for change involve Season One, since I was totally in charge of Season Two and it turned out very much the way I wanted (yes, especially the ending of series, despite/because of how controversial it proved to be!)...
SEASON ONE: In retrospect, whereas starting the story in the middle was a good idea, waiting eight full episodes before revealing ALL of the backstory was maybe not the brightest decision we could have made. Although it did provided us with a really cool surprise, that the brutal, idiotic Tankorr was actually the brilliant, pensive Rhinox. That surprise was worth the wait. But overall, I would have ended the exposition by episode three or four.
Also, the whole Transforming As A Martial Arts thing was my least favorite idea in the world. Always hated it. Not my idea, but it got sold and it got into the show I let other people deal with it... (And the training sequences? Yuck! I did everything I could not to have them!) (And just why the hell would machines need to LEARN how to transform? Either you can, or you can't. It really is that simple!)
(Plus: the big boo-boo, about how the Autobots "settled onto Cybertron", as if they had come from somewhere else... that verbiage was part of the development before we got to it, and by the time we discovered how fundamentally wrong it was to Transformer history it was too late to change it!)
Additionally, Marty and I had no say over character designs. And whereas we were overall thrilled with how the characters looked, for my part, I would have given Rattrap a less wimpy/goofy robot mode (although we DID have fun with how inventive the character had to become in order to overcome his weaknesses.) And DON'T EVEN get me started on Nightscream's robot mode! (The toy's robot mode is a LOT more like what I had in mind for him. Not dopey at all: no Namor wings on his ankles, and no Leonardo curl across his face!)
SEASON TWO: I wish I could have introduced Botanica, Obsidian, and Strika a lot earlier. They were HUUUGE model builds for Mainframe, which is why they turned up so late in the series... and I really wish I could have used them earlier.
I also wish that the scripts didn't have to be so short. CGI eats up time quicker than traditional cel animation, meaning that (since chases are more easily animated than conversations and "complex" scenes) a lot of story had to get thrown over the side. (Episode # 16, in which Silverbolt comes back, especially suffered from all of the necessary cutting.)
Anyhow, despite the changes I would make, I am deeply happy with how the series came out.
I am more proud of Beast Machines than any other series I have ever done.
Most of my choices for change involve Season One, since I was totally in charge of Season Two and it turned out very much the way I wanted (yes, especially the ending of series, despite/because of how controversial it proved to be!)...
SEASON ONE: In retrospect, whereas starting the story in the middle was a good idea, waiting eight full episodes before revealing ALL of the backstory was maybe not the brightest decision we could have made. Although it did provided us with a really cool surprise, that the brutal, idiotic Tankorr was actually the brilliant, pensive Rhinox. That surprise was worth the wait. But overall, I would have ended the exposition by episode three or four.
Also, the whole Transforming As A Martial Arts thing was my least favorite idea in the world. Always hated it. Not my idea, but it got sold and it got into the show I let other people deal with it... (And the training sequences? Yuck! I did everything I could not to have them!) (And just why the hell would machines need to LEARN how to transform? Either you can, or you can't. It really is that simple!)
(Plus: the big boo-boo, about how the Autobots "settled onto Cybertron", as if they had come from somewhere else... that verbiage was part of the development before we got to it, and by the time we discovered how fundamentally wrong it was to Transformer history it was too late to change it!)
Additionally, Marty and I had no say over character designs. And whereas we were overall thrilled with how the characters looked, for my part, I would have given Rattrap a less wimpy/goofy robot mode (although we DID have fun with how inventive the character had to become in order to overcome his weaknesses.) And DON'T EVEN get me started on Nightscream's robot mode! (The toy's robot mode is a LOT more like what I had in mind for him. Not dopey at all: no Namor wings on his ankles, and no Leonardo curl across his face!)
SEASON TWO: I wish I could have introduced Botanica, Obsidian, and Strika a lot earlier. They were HUUUGE model builds for Mainframe, which is why they turned up so late in the series... and I really wish I could have used them earlier.
I also wish that the scripts didn't have to be so short. CGI eats up time quicker than traditional cel animation, meaning that (since chases are more easily animated than conversations and "complex" scenes) a lot of story had to get thrown over the side. (Episode # 16, in which Silverbolt comes back, especially suffered from all of the necessary cutting.)
Anyhow, despite the changes I would make, I am deeply happy with how the series came out.
I am more proud of Beast Machines than any other series I have ever done.
On the subject of a complaint:
First of all, I want to thank you for watching the series. I'm sorry you didn't enjoy this particular incarnation of Transformers; maybe the next one will be more to your liking.
Let me add that I totally understand your frustration and disappointment. Years ago I was working on Fox's X-Men series, which was a dream project for me (having been a total X-Men fanatic, and having written an X-Men feature completely on spec out of sheer love for the characters). Although the head writer tried to get things right, he didn't know the characters very well at first. He was very open to listening to history lessons and suggestions from this very young, eager writer, and yet many things in the series still weren't right. Characters weren't exactly the same as the comics -- they didn't talk the same and some of their origins were completely messed up. It drove me nuts! The bottom line was: despite the fact that the series was terrific (and remains the single best adaptation of any Marvel property ever), it was never good enough for me, never right enough for me, never the way I personally would have handled it. And the head writer was a genius and a good friend (and we remain good friends, despite the strains caused by that series...) -- but I was an X-Men fanatic and I love those characters and I wanted/needed to see them done exactly right.
So when you say you were left angry by the Beast Machines series, I know exactly how you feel. Really.
But the bottom line is very simple: Hasbro, Mainframe, and Fox could have hired any writers they wanted. Lots of writers out there are G1 literate, and virtually all of the G1 writers are still alive and active in the industry. The simple fact is that they hired Marty and I precisely because we were Transformer illiterates -- they wanted us to approach this series with fresh eyes, and actively discouraged us from watching the old shows. They wanted us to make this show ours, and we did exactly that.
And Hasbro hired Marty and I to do a Transformer series with a strong spiritual edge. We gave them EXACTLY what they wanted, and made ourselves and Fox happy, too.
We delivered a show of which we are very proud.
We delivered a show that made Fox, Mainframe, and Hasbro very happy (so happy they hired us to do Action Man while we were still working 20 hour days keeping Beast Machines on schedule!).
We delivered a show that, in turn, delivered exactly the kind of audience Fox wanted. An audience that keeps returning, even in fourth and fifth repeats. Big numbers.
And we delivered a show that many Transfans love...
... and just as many hate.
They hired Marty and I to deliver a show, and we gave them exactly what they wanted.
We didn't set out to make anybody angry, or to diminish the love anybody had for Transformers, and we're sorry if it's had that effect on anybody.
However we wrote the show we set out to write, and we're very, very proud of it.
(Just to clear up a misconception, Marty and I had nothing to do with the formation of any websites... Renaud created it to give Transfans a forum to discuss Transmatters with one another. And I agreed to the formation of bobskir.com so that I could answer questions from fans. However, I do not appear there for suggestions, ideas, or history lessons. It's merely a place to talk.)
Maybe you'll like the next incarnation of Transformers better.
In the meantime... thanks for watching, and thanks for caring.
Let me add that I totally understand your frustration and disappointment. Years ago I was working on Fox's X-Men series, which was a dream project for me (having been a total X-Men fanatic, and having written an X-Men feature completely on spec out of sheer love for the characters). Although the head writer tried to get things right, he didn't know the characters very well at first. He was very open to listening to history lessons and suggestions from this very young, eager writer, and yet many things in the series still weren't right. Characters weren't exactly the same as the comics -- they didn't talk the same and some of their origins were completely messed up. It drove me nuts! The bottom line was: despite the fact that the series was terrific (and remains the single best adaptation of any Marvel property ever), it was never good enough for me, never right enough for me, never the way I personally would have handled it. And the head writer was a genius and a good friend (and we remain good friends, despite the strains caused by that series...) -- but I was an X-Men fanatic and I love those characters and I wanted/needed to see them done exactly right.
So when you say you were left angry by the Beast Machines series, I know exactly how you feel. Really.
But the bottom line is very simple: Hasbro, Mainframe, and Fox could have hired any writers they wanted. Lots of writers out there are G1 literate, and virtually all of the G1 writers are still alive and active in the industry. The simple fact is that they hired Marty and I precisely because we were Transformer illiterates -- they wanted us to approach this series with fresh eyes, and actively discouraged us from watching the old shows. They wanted us to make this show ours, and we did exactly that.
And Hasbro hired Marty and I to do a Transformer series with a strong spiritual edge. We gave them EXACTLY what they wanted, and made ourselves and Fox happy, too.
We delivered a show of which we are very proud.
We delivered a show that made Fox, Mainframe, and Hasbro very happy (so happy they hired us to do Action Man while we were still working 20 hour days keeping Beast Machines on schedule!).
We delivered a show that, in turn, delivered exactly the kind of audience Fox wanted. An audience that keeps returning, even in fourth and fifth repeats. Big numbers.
And we delivered a show that many Transfans love...
... and just as many hate.
They hired Marty and I to deliver a show, and we gave them exactly what they wanted.
We didn't set out to make anybody angry, or to diminish the love anybody had for Transformers, and we're sorry if it's had that effect on anybody.
However we wrote the show we set out to write, and we're very, very proud of it.
(Just to clear up a misconception, Marty and I had nothing to do with the formation of any websites... Renaud created it to give Transfans a forum to discuss Transmatters with one another. And I agreed to the formation of bobskir.com so that I could answer questions from fans. However, I do not appear there for suggestions, ideas, or history lessons. It's merely a place to talk.)
Maybe you'll like the next incarnation of Transformers better.
In the meantime... thanks for watching, and thanks for caring.
Interesting reading: www.bobskir.com
