Transformers One follows the story of the young bots on the planet Cybertron. Thor actor Chris Hemsworth voices the role of Orion Pax / Optimus Prime while Godzilla x Kong actor Brian Tyree Henry voices D-16 / Megatron. With no humans on Cybertron to deal with, the Transformers One team put extra effort into the world-building of the series. Director Josh Cooley admitted that the world-building of their film took inspiration from Denis Villeneuve’s Dune.
The film reunites Hemsworth with his The Avengers co-star Scarlett Johansson, who voices the role of Elita. Other cast members of the film include Keegan-Michael Key as Bumblebee, Jon Hamm as Sentinel Prime, and Steve Buscemi as the antagonist.
Transformers One Director Admits Taking Inspiration From Dune‘s World-Building
Transformers One director, Josh Cooley, talked in detail with Collider about his animated film that marks the eighth installment in the Transformers film franchise. During the interview, the host brought up the 3D release of the film. Cooley shared that he usually loved seeing animated films in 3D, but he was mindblown when Transformers One 3D footage was shown to him.
The storytelling was elevated by adding an extra dimension to the visuals. Cooley strongly recommended fans to watch the film in 3D as the detailed world of Cybertron becomes so much more alive in them. The director shared that the scale for the film became important because humans usually provide a sense of scale on screen for a film. The lack of humans in the film made it challenging to understand the size of the world and the objects in it.
However, Dune inspired the director to focus on building a massive world. The expansive and dramatic landscapes become a significant part of the story in both films, which would otherwise be hard to appreciate. According to Cooley, 3D makes the massive world more immersive for the audience. Cooley shared with Collider:
“I strongly recommend seeing it in 3D because our world is so detailed. It just makes everything so much more alive as an extra dimension, obviously, but also the scale was so important for this film. Without having humans, you don’t have anything to kind of relate the scale of this world to, and so we went the other direction, which is like, ‘The world is massive.’ Dune was a big influence on that. So it was like, ‘Let’s go the opposite direction.’ The 3D just enhances all of that.”
Cooley also praised the animation work done in the film by George Lucas‘ Industrial Light & Magic. Some of the scenes in the less-than-two-hour film required extreme details, making it a complicated animation job. Cooley believed that “ILM just knocked out of the park.”
Transformers One Characters & Looks Are Inspired From Generation One Series
During the Collider interview, Josh Cooley shared that the production team and ILM wanted the film to feel believable. They took inspiration from the original designs of The Transformers television series. Popularly termed the Generation One series among fans, the American-Japanese show ran from 1984 to 1987.
The series was produced by Marvel Productions and Sunbow Productions in association with Japanese studio Toei Animation. Cooley shared that they were able to achieve the living metal look for the characters. Cooley shared with Collider:
“I didn’t want it to go photorealistic, but I did want it to feel believable. That was my keyword for everything, was like, ‘I want to feel like you could actually reach out and touch it.’ So we were inspired by the original designs, the G1 original designs. Because it’s animation, we can actually achieve that living metal look, which is what their faces are made of and everything. So, we went with that look for it.”
Transformers One is scheduled to be released in the United States theaters on September 20, 2024.
