Posted on: Friday, June 13, 2003

Cartoon bots from '80s head into film

By Anthony Breznican
Associated Press

The shape-shifting Transformer robots from the 1980s may soon use twentysomething nostalgia to fuel a Hollywood movie.

The Hasbro Inc. toy company has teamed with the production company Angry Films to create a live-action version of the popular cartoon series that ran from 1984 to 1987, about a group of alien robots who disguise themselves on Earth as common vehicles.

"The basic thing is that if you've been going to the comic-book festivals and seeing all that stuff, the '80s kind of came back last year in a huge way," Angry Films producer Don Murphy said Wednesday.

"We figured the technology had finally caught up to the point where we could actually show an 18-wheel truck turning into a giant robot," added Murphy, who also helped make the upcoming comic-book movie "The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen."

The story of "The Transformers" centers on a war between two mechanized armies — the heroic Autobots, led by the red tractor-trailer Optimus Prime, and the evil Decepticons, ruled by the gigantic silver gun Megatron. Seeking new sources of energy, both factions crash-land on Earth.

Although the Transformers toys have changed over the years — from animal shapes to the current series of futuristic machines — Murphy said the movie will be based on the original lineup.

The 1980s Hasbro toys, which the cartoon helped turn into a money machine for the company, have recently been reissued by the original Japanese manufacturer, Takara Co. A recent comic book based on "The Transformers" and a DVD of the original cartoon series have also become best sellers.

Murphy and his producing partner, Tom DeSanto, whose credits include "X-Men" and "X2: X-Men United," are still in the early stages of the Transformers movie. The project has not yet settled at a studio and no potential release date has been set.