o.supreme wrote:All I know is this...There are many fan made short films on sites like YouTube using all forms (cosplay, toys, animation etc..) based on the original series. I have not seen one for BW that uses anything original other than reused clips from the series itself, and basically nothing from any other TF continuity.
With all due respect to you as well, I think the reason there hasn't been as much of that for Beast Wars is that it told a much tighter story that didn't need as much improvement, introduce as many underused characters, or leave as many loose ends to enable or warrant that much fanwankery. What room there was has already been explored by official stories from 3H, FunPub, and IDW, after being run into the ground by the glut of late '90s prose fanfic. Ben Yee said his original idea for 'Descent Into Evil' was a G1/BW bridge story, until he remembered that just about every long-term TF fan with internet access in 1996 had already written that story, therefore no one would allow an official version to displace their personal canon for that particular time gap.
(DISCLAIMER: o.supreme, the rest of this isn't directed at you as much as an argument that needs to be put forth forth for counter-argument's sake; this general argument's been bugging me for a while)
And therein lies the reason that an "official G1 continuation" will never, ever work: It means something too different to every one of us. I'd most like to see more late season 3 stories, so Rodimus could get more respect as was his due, before being unfairly brushed aside by that arrogant zombie whose heroic death was also unfairly undone.
Which brings me to the reason I would actually LOVE to see Hasbro try this proposition: watching an official G1 continuation crash and burn is the only thing that might ever put this silly pipe-dream to rest. Cuz no matter how it turns out, where it tries to fit in, or what right notes it hits, I guarantee you, every geewunner who's been whining for this for three decades despite never actually rewatching the cartoon so dear to their memories in all that time would just scream their head off about how "
Hasblow didn't do it right! And why not? It woulda' been so easy! This crap isn't even Transformers!" In fact, I need to hear some of that ASAP to get that glowing youtube review of the
fangasmically awesome TF:TM Deviations comic out of my head. Please Hasbro, get your newly-acquired animation studio working on the G1 continuation!
Mods, if I've just reopened old wounds, I'll accept any stern warnings I'm due. But that had to be said. And had to be negative.
But if you think I'm actually wrong, then please explain just how this hypothetical continuation of the G1 cartoon would be quantifiably better than the one we already got. You see, any 'new season 4' argument simply presumes that the G1 anime don't count. Well, why not?
Because most western fans didn't see it when they were kids? Well, even though Hasbro hobbled the official Shout! release with dumb subtitle decisions, surely anyone who "needs" more G1 cartoons can have a look somewhere online, or could have at some point in the last decade.
Because accepting Headmasters bumps The Rebirth out of the timeline? While I do get the strength of nostalgia-blinders for those 3 eps as a symbol of what might have been, any actual demand for
more G1 eps makes clinging to them instead of accepting three whole seasons pretty illogical.
Because of inconsistencies with the Sunbow cartoon? Well, are any of those greater than the U.S. material's internal inconsistencies? Like the Autobots losing their collective flying ability near the end of the third episode, the means by which new TFs are brought to life changing every season, and Optimus somehow becoming retrievable between Dark Awakening and Return of Optimus Prime? (That's just off the top of my head)
Because you think the accompanying manga was too silly/fanwanky? Well, the earliest manga technically do fit within the S2/TF:TM gap that so many cry out to be filled. Though I'll admit, Rumble and Frenzy's little dress-up stunt could be considered a legitimate deal-breaker for that particular stretch.
I've surely made some factual misstatements here that Sabreblade will post TFWiki links for in reply...and I welcome it, because of the point I'm trying to make with this rant. "Do an official G1 cartoon continuation" has been repeated a bazillion times throughout our fansites, and has yet to produce anything that fandom overall has accepted as such (AFAIK; again, any relevant links correcting me would be genuinely appreciated) To anyone reading this who disagrees with my argument, instead of repeating the call for the billion-and-first time, please use TFWiki to brush up on the G1 "continuations" we've already got, and explain what a "true continuation" would have to do better. Otherwise, clamoring for that elusive perfect G1 continuation will remain the stalest dead-end demand in transfandom.
Now if you'll excuse me, I've got to get back to writing the definitive Season 4 of Beast Wars that EVERYONE will accept once Hasbro makes it official, because Beast Machines doesn't even count, right? (See, I brought my post full circle, so it wasn't just a tangent)