So I’m hearing that the transformers movie is product placement laden cgi-fest filled with shallow 2-d characters. Um, duh? I loved the show back when I was a kid, but a lot of my generation seem to be forgetting that this and almost every other after school cartoon of it’s time was just one huge ad. Yes, they would slap a heartwarming good vs. evil or socially redeeming moral at the end of the show, but these shows (Transformers, GI Joe, Thundercats, Jem, etc…) existed purely to make. us. buy. toys.

Transformers is unique in that is has occasionally risen above it’s source material (Beast Wars comes to mind) but (and I may be in the minority here) going back and watching original episodes makes me do nothing so much as cringe. The plots are simplistic, the technical production values were low, the artistic style looked exactly the same as every other cartoon on TV, and with a few exceptions the voice talent was not that good. This show and most others of it’s time talked *down* to us. Until I was older and discovered Ralph Bakshi, the only cartoons that didn’t treat me as though I was brain damaged were Looney Tunes. (Hardly contemporary fare for the time - they stopped production in 1969.)

In spite of this, I really do have fond memories of the show and it’s brethren, and I’ll probably go see it. (or I’ll wind up renting it) Sometimes, a big mindless summer movie is *exactly* the thing one needs. Kinda like an ice cream cone.