Now that we are in the New Year, it look as though there is a new Transfromers cartoon series which will be airing on the Cartoon Network. The new series entitled “Transfomers Animated” is a cartoon which well help to reintroduce a new generation of kids to the classic cartoon title. The series is jointly developed between the Cartoon Network and Hasbro Inc. If you watched the above preview, you can distinctly see a “Teen Titans/The Batman” style in the animation, that’s because Matt Youngberg (Teen Titans, The Batman) is the supervising director for the series and Derrick Wyatt (Teen Titans) is the character designer.

Recenty, the Cartoon Network aired a 90-minute special called “Transformers Animated: Transform and Rollout” to help promote the upcoming series. Though the designs for the characters and their transformations are different, there was definitely a feeling of nostalgia with the apparences of familiar characters from the original series. The story’s premise is that the Autobots (led by Optimus Prime), who are in search for a new home, land on earth (in what is Detroit in the near future) and try to co-exist and interact with the human population. However, following the Autobots are the sinister Decepticons led by the warmonger, Megatron. Their quest is to defeat the Autobots and obtaining the powerful “Allspark” to rule the universe.

The concept of the “Allspark” seems to have been borrowed from the recently released (and successful) live-action Transformers film. Though it’s neat to see the series being revamped for the new generation, a part of me still wishes for a retelling of the original series with the original premise and characters (just better writing). I still think that Transfromers Animated shows promise and I’ll definitely watch it when it premieres on January 8th.

-Stephen