Toonami
From Transformers Wiki
Toonami is a programming block on Cartoon Network that specializes in action cartoons. Toonami infrequently premiered numerous Transformers animated series during its first incarnation from March 17, 1997 to September 20, 2008. It was revived in 2012 on [adult swim], though no Transformers series have aired on it since.
Thought it was initially hosted by Moltar of Space Ghost fame (voiced by C. Martin Croker), the block has been hosted by a robot named TOM since 1999. Unlike many programming blocks, Toonami takes occasional stabs at continuity, with narrative events happening between commercial breaks (and sometimes occurring in webcomics or online video games.) Often these are used to give reason for TOM to get an entirely new body, and on one occasion in 2000 even a new voice--the switch from Sonny Strait to Steve Blum happened in 2000, and Blum has held the role since. In most incarnations, TOM is accompanied by his AI companion SARA.
Other characters include:
- The Big Guy, a disembodied trailer voice, provided from 1999 to 2008 by none other than Peter Cullen. Howard Parker took over the role when Toonami returned in 2012.
- Flash and D, who replaced SARA from 2007-2008, and who were voiced by Dave Wittenberg and Tom Kenny.
Toonami began at a time when TV CG was still rare and expensive. These facts dictated Toonami's aesthetic, specifically its character design and lighting choices. TOM's head typically resembles a motorcycle helmet, and his lack of mouth and minimalist body language allows his dialogue to be overdubbed on limited footage any number of ways. His robotic body is easily lit without looking uncanny, and the lights on his spaceship are always low, and tinted a cool blue to compliment his chassis. (Moltar, similarly, wore a full-body red costume and was typically lit in warm red tones.) All of this combined with TOM's casual, laid-back voice result in an atmosphere that provided a chill contrast to the action-based programming.
The block is also noted for its distinctive editing and musical stylings. Music videos are often made for individual shows or to represent the block as a whole, often set to techno-funk tracks. A 30-second intro video typically runs ahead of each show, before the proper title sequence.
Contents |
Transformers series
Beast Wars
Beast Wars was Toonami's first Transformers series, replacing The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest for a special week of premieres from March 9th to 13th, 1998. The five episodes in question were "Code of Hero", "Transmutate", "The Agenda (Part 1)", "The Agenda (Part 2)" and "The Agenda (Part III)".
- Promo: Moltar introduces Beast Wars as Rattrap sends Jonny Quest to a gruesome fate. "All next week at 5:30, Jonny Quest packs his bags, and Toonami goes to war."
- Promo: Moltar gives the block's lineup for the week, noting Beast Wars is "this week only." "My turn!"
- Bumpers: Moltar introduces Beast Wars, coming up next. "Transformers, '90s-style!"
- Sweepstakes: An unidentified female voiceover offers kids the chance to call a toll-free number and get a free Beast Wars toy if they watch Toonami from 4-6 PM.
Armada
Toonami wouldn't see any Transformers action again until 2002, when it premiered Transformers Armada. The first three episodes were combined and advertised as a "movie", premiering on the "all new" Friday night block. Reruns were then aired Monday through Thursday, with a new episode each Friday.
The Unicron Trilogy would be plagued by Cartoon Network's rather indecipherable scheduling logic, oftentimes being moved off of the block and back onto it without any warning, making following the series a chore at best.
In March 2003, TOM's second body was replaced by his third, with the surrounding events being documented in the online comic Toonami: Endgame.
- Promo (The Big Guy): "Whoever can possess the Mini-Cons will command their great power. Now, every Transformer in the universe will fight to claim them!" "Or die trying!"
- A high-quality video recording of the promo, bundled with one for the 2002 He-Man series.
- A fan recreation of the promo with high-definition Armada footage.
- Intro (TOM 2): "It is our destiny to take control of the Mini-Cons and bring the Autobots to their knees!"
- Intro (TOM 3): "We can't let Megatron get hold of the Mini-Con!" "Get those Mini-Cons, you fools!"
Marathon promo: "Everyone loves transforming robots, but sometimes 22 minutes isn't enough. We're here for ya." (Narrated by Blum.)
Energon
Beginning in 2004, Toonami moved to Saturday nights from its original weekday afternoon format and issued one new Transformers Energon episode a week.
Intro: "We gotta stop fighting each other." *punches*
Marathon promo: "He who controls the Energon... controls the universe." (Narrated by Blum.)
Cybertron
Transformers Cybertron would be Toonami's fourth Transformers series, premiering in 2005. In 2006, they cobbled several episodes together to create a TV special called "Primus Unleashed". On June 30, 2007, as a tie-in during the opening week of the live-action Transformers film, Toonami dedicated an entire night to a Cybertron marathon, followed by a sneak preview of the film.
Promo: "Beat it, Megatron!" "Oh, really?!" (Narrated by Blum.)
Intro: "These guys can rock!"
Marathon promo 1: "Hooking you up, 'VIP style'." (Narrated by Cullen.)
Marathon promo 2: "We're giving you four back-to-back episodes of Transformers: Cybertron! All you have to do is sit there on your couch." (Narrated by Cullen.)
Animated
While never airing on the block itself, Transformers Animated was one of the series featured on the short-lived Toonami Jetstream video-streaming service, which launched on July 17, 2006. A limited number of episodes were hosted on Jetstream at a time, with episodes each being added shortly after they first aired on Cartoon Network. The series premiered on Jetstream on February 18, 2008, and remained a part of the service until it was shut down on January 30, 2009, roughly half a year after the Toonami block was taken off the air.
Notes
- Blum, being a professional anime dubber, frequently finds himself in the position of having to hype his own work while playing TOM. However, neither Blum, Cullen, nor Kenny have ever narrated a promo for a Transformers series they were in during the block's run. The closest Cullen came was briefly promoting the 2007 film during the Cybertron marathon. (This is also true of Wittenberg, though given his involvement in the franchise postdates his tenure on Toonami, this is perhaps less interesting.)
- While the revival of Toonami that began in 2012 has yet to broadcast any official Transformers series, it did begin airing SSSS.Gridman in January 2021, a show that's been noted many times on this wiki for using Transformers characters for character design inspiration.
