Bumblebee Transforms and Rolls Out!

By Stuart Wood: 2006-06-27 00:00:00

Those of you who have been following Transformers news will know that, in possibly the biggest product placement cock-up in history, Volkswagen refused to let producers keep Bumblebee's vehicle mode as the iconic Beetle. So instead the decision was made to replace the classic look with a sporty new Chevy Camaro.

It may be some saving grace that Volkswagen just flat out refused and didn't insist that their sexually questionable New Beetle was used instead but guaranteed whoever signed off on that refusal decision at VW will be out of a job shortly after July 4th 2007. There aren't many places where blatent product placement is welcome in Hollywood but this would've been an exception.

But I digress.

A photo has been leaked to AICN from the set of Michael Bay's Giant Freakin' Robots epic and it's sure to divide the fanboys even more than that decision. Why? Because it shows a bunch of techies loading somthing onto a trailer. What is that something? Only a full size model of Bumblebee in robot mode!

Don't click here to see a Giant Freakin' Transformer though because in true studio style, Dreamworks has issued a cease and desist on the image despite, like smuggled trailers and the likes, it will have propagated throughout the net by now and most people will have seen it anyway by breakfast tommorow. Still Dreamworks is just trying to stop you from spoiling the surprise I guess.

However, the main issue with the image that you can no longer see is that, even as a robot and even at a questionable angle, aside from his trademark yellow paint job, there seems to be very little evidence of the well loved bot from the original series. This Bumblebee is all exposed engine-blocks, sleek curves and servos, with no evidence of his trademark horns or body.

As a massive fan of the original there is a side to me that is gutted. Not as gutted as when I learned that it's still under wraps that Peter Cullen was auditioned but failed to get the part of the voice of Optimus Prime. But still a pang of disappointment rang through me.

However a more philosophical part of me thought about it. The whole logistical problem with translating the cartoon to real life is just that. In the cartoon, it's far easier to bend the rules of physics and reality to the needs of turning a blocky drawing of a car/tank/aeroplace/handgun of a certain design into a blocky drawing of a robot of another certain design, practicality be damned. When you have a real car on a real set with detail which you need to convincingly change into a real, highly detailed three storey high robot, the limitations of real life and real life expectations come in.

So I ask my fellow fans out there not to judge these superficial changes to harshly. Just like when translating a novel, there are things that will work just as well on screen as they do on paper but conversly there are things in the book that just will not work in the medium of film.

If we must learn anything it's taking a leaf from the book of Superman Returns, in that it's more important to capture the spirit of what we know and love than to slavishly remain faithful to our rose-tinted memories.

Thus changes have to be made to reflect this.

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