Transformers Animated: Transform and Roll Out
Voice cast: Jeff Bennett, Tara Strong
Paramount Home Entertainment
Release date: June 17, 2008

If you’re a fan of the original Transformers TV series from the 80s, then the movie-ized version of the first three episodes from the new Transformers Animated series, Transform & Roll Out , is not a good way to relive the good old days of Transformers.

That being said, from what little I know of today’s children, this DVD and the subsequent series will probably continue to grow the love for the Transformers started by the 2007 movie.

These first three episodes tell the story of how Optimus Prime and co. make it too Earth, and their first dealings with the Decepticons. It’s a retelling of the original cartoon series, with the Autobots having gained control of Cybertron by beating the Decepticons. But Optimus Prime, for whatever reason relegated to commanding a mining crew, soon discovers the All Spark and is thus targeted by Megatron, leading to the inevitably fiery battle which crashes them on Earth and you now know the whole story.

The moment they discovered the All Spark, I groaned aloud, despising the fact that no Transformers story seems to be able to move a step without the All Spark guiding them. The relegation of Optimus Prime to some young-bot — as Ratchet, the only bot old enough to have been in the wars, describes him — in charge of a menial mining crew is similarly confusing and frustrating.

Bumblebee, always a fan favorite given his attachment to whichever human is around, seems to be a robotized version of Beast Boy from the Teen Titans cartoon, only yellow instead of green. He’s the smart cracking, young idiot bot who always seems to save the human in the last minute.

One bright spark (sorry) from all of this was the character of Prowl. One of the most re-used names in the Transformers series, Prowl appears as a quiet spoken but fiercely solo bot, with serious ninja skills. By the end of the trilogy of episodes he is, of course, now a team player of sorts, but his voice — provided by a veteran voice actor Jeff Bennett — really makes the character.

Another bright point is Sari Sumdac, voiced by the prolific Tara Strong, who also voices Raven from Teen Titans and my favorite Powerpuff Girl, Blossom. (Don’t judge me, the show rocks!) Sari, the 8-year-old daughter of another character, Dr. Sumdac, is Bumblebee’s human (or, given your perspective, Bumblebee is her autobot). She’s funny, irreverent, and suitably disrespectful of her father.

If you’re a fan of the Transformers Animated series, then I would suggest to just wait until August when the complete first season makes its debut. However if you can’t wait… for those of you who want to fondly remember the Transformers from your childhood, then I would suggest don’t pick this up at all. It got 3 out of 5 from me, but who knows, maybe you’ll like hyper-animated cartoon robots.