Good news, Transfans! Transformers: Robots in Disguise is back for a second season! Hasbro announced today that Bumblebee, Drift, Strongarm, Windblade, and the rest of the crew will be returning to Cartoon Network in the next few months.
For those of you who grew up on the original series or even its predecessor, Transformers: Prime, Robots in Disguise is a bit of an acquired taste. There’s a lot more humor and the animation is more…cartoony than those other shows (though less CGI-ey, which is a very good thing). At the same time, it’s extremely accessible for multiple ages of kids. My 13-year-old son and 8-year-old daughter will both find things to enjoy in any given episode (she tends to enjoy the comic relief characters like Grimlock more while he keeps an eye out for the frequent callouts to Transformers mythology).
Me? I enjoy the fact that the character designers were given free reign to make some truly oddball bots. You want a mob-boss ‘Con that looks like a snowplow crossed with an elk? They’ve got that. Want an anarchist porcupine truck who likes trampolines? Sure, why not? How about a pickup truck/frog combo? Yeah, they’ve got that too. Not to mention an appreciable cast of female characters who do a lot more than make sure the guy bots look good blowing stuff up.
I’m looking forward to seeing what they come up with in Season 2 – now that the characters are well established and we’ve got the universe-building out of the way, we should start getting some juicy plot threads (if RiD follows in other Transformers shows’ footsteps). Hasbro’s press release follows.
Hasbro Studios Powers Up for Second Season of Transformers: Robots in Disguise
Autobots and Decepticons ‘Roll Out’ on Cartoon Network in First Quarter of 2016
BURBANK, C.A. – January 13, 2015 – Hasbro Studios, the Los Angeles-based entertainment division of Hasbro, Inc. (NASDAQ: HAS), announced today that the popular kids television series Transformers: Robots in Disguise will return for a second season on Cartoon Network in the U.S., which consistently ranks as a top-rated network in Total Day for kids ages 6-11. The latest installment in the global TRANSFORMERS franchise will debut its second season in the first quarter of 2016.
“Transformers: Robots in Disguise continues to be a massive hit with kids across the country, launching with an outstanding debut season on Cartoon Network,” said Hasbro’s Executive Vice President and Chief Content Officer Stephen Davis. “Season two will bring back Bumblebee and his Autobots team for all new action-packed battles, fun-filled adventures and other humorous new characters with vibrant personalities that made season one a hit with kids. We continue to listen to our viewers’ feedback and are bringing back many fan-favorite characters, as well as some great surprises we know kids of all ages are going to love.”
Set years after “Transformers: Prime,” Robots in Disguise stars the lovable Bumblebee character, summoned by Optimus Prime to lead in a fight to save Earth from a new faction of escaped Decepticon prisoners by assembling a rogue team of unlikely Autobot heroes to capture their new enemies. Season two will see the return of a more confident, battle-tested Bumblebee as the leader of the Autobots, including his teammates Grimlock, Sideswipe, Strongarm, Fixit, Windblade and Drift. Protecting Earth becomes a mighty task as the team prepares to battle against menacing pairs of Cyclone Mini-Cons, who partner with Deployers to unleash the most powerful attacks and wreak even more destruction than ever. Our hero Bumblebee and his team prepare for battle with new power-ups and mini-con allies of their own, as they maintain their mission to protect the planet as robots in disguise. The series will continue to celebrate the continuous underlying themes of teamwork, companionship and the importance of standing up to wrongdoers.
The highly innovative TRANSFORMERS franchise is one of the largest global brands, spanning across television, film, consumer products and digital entertainment properties including gaming, apps, publishing, transmedia events, toys and licensing.
Been following this show and I actualy find it the closest thing to do the spirit of good fun that the G1 show had to me back in the day! Love drama, love epic fights, but sometimes a good spoonful of adventure and humor is just what I need to relax,can’t wait for S2.