It's hard to believe that Transformers turns 40 years old this year. What began as a children's toy line back in 1984 has since become a major media franchise that encompasses toys, animation, comic books, video games, and movies.
In celebration of the franchise's 40th anniversary this year, a new collaboration has been announced with Studio Trigger. We don't quite know exactly what this anime collaboration will consist of. Will it be a full-fledged anime series, a film, or something else entirely?
While details are light at the moment, fans were treated to a PV teaser for the project, which is said to be "coming soon."
Studio Trigger is one of the more well-known animation studios in the anime world, having produced hits like Kill la Kill, Cyberpunk: Edgerunners, and Delicious in Dungeon. Transformers, of course, would be one of the studio's biggest pieces of work.
Given the history of the Transformers brand, an anime collaboration feels only natural. The franchise began in 1984 with the Japanese toy brand Takara Tomy's Diaclone and Micro Change toylines. With the help of American toy company Hasbro, the toylines were rebranded for Western markets and became known as Transformers.
The Transformers mecha were largely designed by Shoji Kawamori, the creator of the Japanese mecha anime franchise Macross. The idea of transforming mechs came to Kawamori while working on the Diaclone and Macross franchise in the early 1980s.
The Transformers franchise primarily follows the war between the heroic Autobots and the villainous Decepticons. The two alien robot factions have the ability to transform into various forms such as vehicles and even animals.
The franchise received its first animated television series, titled The Transformers, in 1984, which ran until 1987. Produced by Marvel Productions and Sunbow Productions in association with Japanese studio Toei Animation, the series depicted the war between the Autobots and the Decepticons.
There had been numerous stories told through other forms of media, but in 2007, Transformers kicked off its live-action film franchise. Michael Bay directed the 2007 live-action film starring Shia LaBeouf, Josh Duhamel, Megan Fox, and Tyrese Gibson, which went on to gross over $700 million globally. It helped jump-start a live-action movie universe that has seen seven films released and over $5.2 billion at the box office.
Studio Trigger's project isn't the only big thing coming to Transformers this year. The franchise is also doing a special collab with Godzilla, and there's also a new movie on the way. Transformers One, the first-ever fully CG-animated Transformers movie, is set to release in theaters on September 20th. It will reveal the untold story of Optimus Prime and Megatron.