"No amount of the best animation in the world will ever save a bad story, or a bad story reel. But once you have a really good story reel and it’s working, it will get 10 to 100 times better once it’s animated and in color." - John Lasseter

With this summer’s news of there now being a whole slew of “Transformers” films in the works, as part of Paramount’s worrying “Transformers Cinematic Universe”, we take a look back at some of the stories that have drawn people to the popular ‘80s franchise over the years. Because while the films have done really well financially, they’ve flopped, or just bombed critically, and a large portion of the fanbase is rightly saddened by these films, films whose most recent installment currently holds an 18 percent on Rotten Tomatoes. These movies are what most are seeing as representative of the brand they know and love so much, and that’s rather disappointing and sad. Because let’s face it, the stories are not their biggest draw...hell, most would argue that the stories are a detriment to the films, altogether. As A.O. Scott says in his opening to his review of "Age of Extinction," "The 'Transformers' franchise seems like the most baldly and cynically commercial calculation imaginable—it is merchandising-based entertainment at its purest—and yet somehow, it does not pander." Big, egregious fights, corny dialogue, bad attempts at humor. That's the stereotype for the Transformers franchise, and the Michael Bay movies deliver on that wholeheartedly. And that's why they're so damning, because they're only focussing on the most surface-level elements of the Transformers lore. So, why do people love Transformers? If ‘80s nostalgia isn’t enough to keep a member of the fandom interested in it, why stick around? Do the Transformers series stand up to their oft-used tagline that they are "more than meets the eye"?

1. “Beast Wars” (1996-99)

The first one up is the oldest of the lot, coming out in the mid-‘90s and looking quite dated by today’s CGI standards. But don’t let that drive you away. This was the first Transformers show to give actual focus to long-running story arcs and character development, wide themes and dense plots. The tie into the original 1980s cartoon comes about in this show’s second season, offering fans of the original cartoon more of a reason to stick around, and threading previous lore into the fabric of this show’s own identity. This show also offered the first all-new cast to Transformers, ditching the regular Optimus Prime and Megatron and their cohorts for new characters that would capture the imaginations of a new generation of kids, and impact adults as well, sometimes even more so than the traditional Transformers characters did.

2. “Transformers Animated” (2008-10)

The first Transformers series to air after the release of the first" Bay Transformers" film had fans divided when it first came on the air, mostly due to the unique animation and character designs, leading many to believe this was going to be a kid-cute feature with little draw for older viewers. Nothing could be further from the truth. Character development here was given large focus and while kid-appeal was certainly a factor in development, the writing struck a great balance of appealing to both age demographics at the same time, helped in part by NOT having the human characters be annoying or insufferable throughout the show's run, something previous series often struggled with. "Animated" is also packed with many a clear love-letter to the fans and to the franchise, referencing previous lore off the cuff and grinning all the while. Given that Transformers media is itself a marketing ploy to get people to buy the toys and merchandise, the shows were often tailored to that purpose. But "Animated" gives the modern age small screen the first real glimpse at what Transformers can be about when not solely focussing on product placement, and at the time of its release provided a breath of fresh air for a franchise that had been kind of dragging its feet in the small-screen department up to that point.

3. “Transformers Prime” (2011-13)

Personally, this was the show that made me fall in love with Transformers all over again after the thrill ride and novelty of the first two Bay films wore off. Essentially, this is the Bay films but with an actual script, and quite a solid one at that. I think John Lassater's quote applies here the best, because there is such a focus on plot, story, and characters with an animation that compliments and boosts those elements. "Prime" takes cues from “Animated” in terms of story and scale and the Bay movies in terms of look, blending the film robot designs with more traditional looking shapes to create a unique visual style that is breathtaking to behold. The show boasts a consistently solid plot- and character-driven first and third season with a slight dip in writing during season two. The animation is breathtaking, considering this is a television show, and the action compliments the story and characters instead of existing for its own sake, as in the Bay movies. Some might be put off by this show appealing to an older, teenage/young adult audience, but I think it helps this show out a lot, considering how immature the Bay movies are with their humor, lack of common sense, and just basic stupidity. It's nice to have a smart Transformers small-screen venture running alongside the movies' releases. "Prime" is also the second-longest Transformers show ever, with 65 episodes.

4. The IDW Transformers comic books (2005-present)

This is where Transformers is at its strongest. The draw of this comic book is its story; there are many arcs running through it, and while obvious comic book bloated continuity is present, for the most part things here are kept tight and engaging. War now spans the entire galaxy instead of just being on Earth, and character development and thick plot provide readers with a Transformers tale that is ripe with mystery and suspense, often reading more like a good crime thriller/war book that just happens to star the Transformers. If you’re into more space opera/adventure, the current run of the comic, “More than Meets the Eye” is widely considered to be the best comic book of this series yet, with moral and ethical dilemmas showing themselves and vast amounts of character development for lesser-known Transformers characters. The series has also been praised for its social progressiveness, introducing a bevy of female Transformers characters, same-sex couples, and is a far cry indeed from the Michael Bay Transformers movies, who's level of sophistication can be summed up with the image of one dog humping another.

In short, we don't need a Transformers Cinematic Universe. The films have not done a good job of representing this franchise well, and we already have a good number of pieces of Transformers fiction that we already love, fiction that engages its audiences instead of pandering to it, fiction that stimulates the brain instead of numbing it, fiction that brings out the best of what the Transformers brand has to offer instead of mocking that for the sake of money. Watch and read the stuff listed above; it's at least better than what passes for Transformers on the silver screen.

What are some of your favorite Transformers continuities? Are you completely new to the franchise? Do you profess your love for the Michael Bay movies loudly and proudly? Comment below and let us know!

Further Reading

"Paramount's 'Transformers' Story Room Will Pitch at Least a Dozen New Movies"- Forbes

"Bumblebee Spinoff Movie To Be A Part Of Transformers Cinematic Universe"- Comicbook.com

"The Best Sci-Fi Adventure You Didn't Read in 2014"

"Reinventing the Cog: A Conversation with The Transformers: More than Meets the Eye’s James Roberts"