At the less than one day (bare hours, even) and counting mark, it was probably inevitable that I trip over the Internet Movie Database‘s main page and fall upon a link to an article on the Wired magazine website. With a title like, “The Rebirth of Optimus Prime: Behind the Scenes with Director Michael Bay” it naturally grabbed my attention. It’s a neat little three-page examination of fandom in general (I keep having flashbacks to the forum outrage when Battlestar Galactica was being re-imagined by the SciFi Channel) and the interest in Transformers – well, in one red-and-blue Transformer – in particular. I think it puts across a lot of what I was trying to do in this article, but a lot better.
If you’re interested in a more frank look at the history of Transformers, here’s another Wired article – a little shorter and perhaps more cynical, but worth reading nonetheless, if only to remind us geeks of what was built on our childhood mania (and what our adult fannishness continues to support). No matter how heated the arguments get over the quality of the stories in those mid-eighties toons, no one can deny that the story was shaped around the toys – that the Transformers were first and foremost a product to be sold.
More awesome content like this:
What Are The Transformers? Who Is Optimus Prime?
Some Better Geek News
Bring on Independence Day, 2007…
Toy Crazy!
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Speaking of getting geeky with the Transformers, I don’t know if you have ever seen this, but I thought you might like this link.
http://www.jokeroo.com/funnyvideos/real_life_transformers.html
Damn! Those must’ve taken some crazy-arse thinking! Thank you for that, Dan!
May I return the favour and point you (and the rest of you too) to this commercial?
I like.