Transformers, Roger Rabbit and fanboys

The Hornet: Do you think fans of the original [G1] Cartoon are going to like Transformers 2 more than they liked Transformer 1, because a lot of fans [from the original cartoon] disliked the first film [when compared to the original]?

Shia LaBeauf: In terms of fans liking the cartoon, I think that you cant make the G1 cartoon of yesteryear. If people wanted to see the G1 cartoon they would've just picked up the fuckin' G1 cartoon but they didn't, did they?

They don't like it because its cool and sheak and awesome, just like foux depression is in college, meaning it's cool to be dark, it's cool to be into Bob Dylan, it's cool to be into The Beatles. I mean it's just one of those types of things. I think people just like to hate on Transformers, even though they like to go watch it. But I'm a fan of the G1 cartoons and comic books; I understand the fan base, I'm an '80s baby myself, most of my friends are into it, were all die hards. I got into this movie because of that, but you cant have the same exact animation that you had in the cartoon because it would just look like fuckin' Roger Rabbit and you'd be like; what is this dude doing?

You're trying to cater to everyone, and that subset of those cartoon fans is a very small, small group of people.

In terms of catering to them, there's a man named Lorenzo di Bonaventura, who [is an] executive producer that pays extreme amounts of attention to it. There's a man named Tom Desonto who pays extreme attention to details, things like that. There's Constructicons, there's Beast Wars there's so many different versions of the Transformers that there's no way to cater to everybody's history and belief systems and you cant put on the screen what everyone loves. So I think its hard to cater to that fan base the same way it is hard to cater to the fan base of the original Miami Vice show, or the original Fat Albert show.

I mean its like were our own move, were trying to stay rooted in the Transformers theme, which is this outlandish world with these outlandish situations.

When you really start breaking it down, why wouldn't a transformer that can transform into anything, just transform into a human being?

The beauty of Transformers is the suspension of disbelief is a give in because the tone of the cartoons was humorous.

It was never taken to seriously. It's the same way as Ninja Turtles was never taken too seriously; nobody wakes up and goes, man you know what I need? I need a fuckin' turtle with a red thing around his head, to come up in here with swords and take care of this problem. Nobody's really tangibly thinking like that.

But they beat up on us because Michael Bay is directing, because I'm the hatred of every geek fanboy in the universe, and because its Transformers. It's as cool to hate on transformers as it is to listen to a Bob Dylan album.