A Loving Homage to 40 Years of Transformers...and More

Not every studio hates what you love….

For forty years, Transformers has thrilled fans young and old with its various animated, live action, and comic book series. Now the original creators of the toys that spawned the stories teamed up with Studio Trigger to produce a three-minute video homage to the franchise and its history:

Transformers 40th Anniversary Special Movie by Studio Trigger

Several of Trigger’s employees have worked on Transformers’ toylines, and according to reports, the studio loves the brand as well. Fans were hoping they would give viewers an actual anime but even the “movie” is more than enough to make many thousands of Transformers aficionados happy!

Transformers started as the Diaclone toyline from Takara Tomy before making its way to the U.S. via Hasbro, where it was christened with the more familiar American name, history, and characters. This is not unusual, as another property of Takara Tomy’s – Zoids – began celebrating its own 40^th anniversary in August of 2023:

【ZOIDS】「ゾイド 40周年プロジェクト」PV

The original anime for the toyline, known as Zoids 1999 in Japan but called in the English-speaking world Zoids: Chaotic Century and/or Zoids: Guardian Force, is also experiencing it’s 25^th anniversary. Rerun in Japan for the first time in decades on April 3, 2023, this led to a year of exhibits and lots of new merchandise for the brand, some of it rather zany. More has been teased for the anime’s upcoming anniversary, and as of this past August, the series became available for streaming on Amazon Prime and Hulu – at least in Japan. Another popup tour coincided with this release.

Along with Transformers, Zoids is also part of a multi-toy and universe crossover this year, as shown in the video below:

【特報】T-SPARK新シリーズ『SYNERGENEX/シナジネクス』ティザーPV

Optimus Prime gets a makeover in this toyline, turning into a Shield Liger from the Zoids toyline (known as Shield-D-Prime). There is also going to be a Spider-Man crossover with Zoids, a reference to the British comics where he appeared alongside the toys, and several other combinations for hungry fans to enjoy! These are all under Takara Tomy’s new brand, Synergenex, which will focus on these and other crossovers. Godzilla, Monster Hunter, and Macross are slated to join the mashup of toyline crossovers along with both Transformers and Zoids.

With the addition of Studio Trigger’s love letter to fans, it is not hard to see that Takara Tomy and various Japanese studios are intent on bringing their audience what they want. This does not mean others outside the country cannot enjoy the fruits of their hard labor, but it is a good reminder of what companies can actually accomplish when they listen to their customers. In fact, as Dengeki Online revealed about the rerun of the original Zoids anime:

The rebroadcast was decided in response to the voice of an adult fan who was crazy about playing Zoids as a child, "I want to see the video of the TV anime "Zoids -ZOIDS-".

It is a work that should be enjoyed not only by adult fans, but also by people of all ages, including children and parents and children.

Studio Trigger clearly believes that the same is true of Transformers and most would agree with them. That is the thing about good stories, especially if they are written to help sell toys, games, or other items: they often go beyond the merchandise to affect people in extremely personal ways. For proof, look no further than this video that lists all the characters and references in the Studio Trigger “movie”!

Studio Trigger Transformers 40th Anniversary Special Movie- ALL REFERENCES AND CHARACTERS

Companies and corporations hating their customers is not the norm. It is good to be reminded of that, particularly by the likes of Takara Tomy and Studio Trigger. Fans can disagree over the creative choices in each anime of their favorite franchise, but they can all tell that the owners of these brands want to please them. Now, they can also see how much those owners love what they so passionately care about.

So, let’s kick back, enjoy the Studio Trigger movie (again), and be grateful for these people who have reminded us that corporations can love what they produce as much as their audience does. It is just a matter of the owners or those in charge being “allowed” to care about it, rather than to “needing” to hate it to fit into their social circles.