You cannot pass that over and have any hope of duplicating the success you had. They didn’t recognize that Optimus Prime was the heartbeat of the Autobots. “To remove Optimus Prime, to physically remove ‘Daddy’ from the family, that wasn’t going to work,” Friedman reveals in a 2013 interview. Friedman saw Prime as more than just a leader, he was a father figure to the Autobots - one that Hasbro should not be so quick to retire to the rust pile. Screenwriter Ron Friedman, who had several animated episodes of GI Joe and Transformers under his belt when he was tapped to write Transformers: The Movie, strongly urged Hasbro not to kill off their flagship character. But one of Transformers: The Movie‘s filmmakers was aware of the character’s appeal, and tried to prevent his death. The more adult themes and violent robots-killing-robots action helped the movie endure as a load-bearing column of ’80s pop-culture in the minds of its passionate fanbase. The miscalculation on Hasbro’s part gave the movie a darker edge that allowed it to stand out from the era’s usual animated fare. We just thought we were killing off the old product line to replace it with new products.” “We didn’t know that he was an icon,” admits story consultant Flint Dillie on the movie’s Blu-ray commentary. Why would Hasbro scar its young audience with such disturbing, “we’re-not-messing-around” imagery? So they could hopefully inspire their audience to buy more Transformers toys. This massacre set the tone for Prime’s death, which occurs after an epic brawl with Megatron (Frank Welker) sees Prime succumb to his fatal injuries, blacken and die. (The Autobot Prowl, after being shot in the chest, leaks small plumes of fiery smoke from his eyes and mouth). The death march kicked off in an early scene aboard an Autobot shuttle, where Megatron and his fellow Decepticons murder fan-favorites like Ironhide in shockingly graphic fashion. So when parents took their kids to see Transformers: The Movie on opening weekend 35 years ago, they were not expecting to be greeted with a high body count. Events of the Week: 'Transformers: Rise of the Beasts,' 'Elemental' and MoreĪt the time, the Autobots and Decepticons had spent two years on the animated series, where they traded blows and laser blasts with neither side registering any battle damage or fatalities.
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