November 7th, 2022 
Jackson Murphy 
New CG animated series Transformers: EarthSpark premieres this Friday November 11th on Paramount+. (You can also watch the one-hour debut episode Friday at 4pm on Nickelodeon.) EarthSpark comes from EP Ant Ward and Co-EP Dale Malinowski. They spoke with me for this Animation Scoop Q&A about how some legendary characters — and whole-hearted new ones — will excite franchise fans of all ages this fall. (This interview was edited for length and clarity.)
Jackson Murphy: Ant, I just interviewed you a couple months ago for Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Movie. How did you have time to do that AND this Transformers show?
Ant Ward: Well, the benefit of both projects being work from home and during the COVID times is going from one meeting room to another meeting room. Didn’t even [have to] get up. It’s a very sedentary lifestyle for the last two years, but it would’ve been extremely challenging to do that in-person — running between literal productions, but it was okay to do it… very busy! Very, Very busy! But it was okay to do it in the work from home environment.
JM: I really enjoyed the first two episodes of this. The Malto family moves from Philly to a Pennsylvania town called Witwicky. Now that’s as in Sam Witwicky, Shia LaBeouf’s character from the Michael Bay live-action Transformers movies. Dale, how has that franchise really impacted your show and the Transformers brand over the past 15 years?
Dale Malinowski: Ant and I grew up as Transformers fans from the very beginning watching G1 and Beast Wars was the new content I was watching with my brothers as a kid. Our toy chest was also full of transforming robot toys that we played with constantly. We of course draw inspiration from all those previous iterations… keeping true to the core of each of those characters that are in Transformers: EarthSpark as well. We were grateful in wanting to tell the next chapter of their lives, post-The Great Eternal War that has been going on between autobots and decepticons forever. We’re excited to share this new chapter with a new crop of fans.
JM: I can’t wait for families to check this out, especially because of this bond between brother and sister Robby and Mo. Really like their relationship. Ant, what do you think is so special about this combo?
AW: Family is heart and center. When we join the Maltos, Robby isn’t in the best of places. He’s not necessarily happy with the events that led him to where he is. And it’s that strong sibling bond, almost taking advice from the younger sibling. It’s Mo’s heart that really starts to kick everything into gear. It’s a very, very close relationship. They yin and yang a little bit, but it’s cool.
Ant Ward, Dale Malinowski and Jackson Murphy
JM: As they get into these unpredictable situations, they bond and care about each other AND these new, born on Earth Transformers, Twitch and Thrash. They’re so cool-looking. Dale, tell me about all that went into their look and vibe to fit into the Transformers world.
DM: Starting with the blank page of just creating these characters from scratch, we wanted their alt-modes to be informed by their personality types. So Twitch is a very fast thinker, competitive and zippy with her movement. A drone that a lot of kids might have at home and control with their phones or remote controls felt like the perfect companion to a real, human kid character as a best friend and as a Transformer. And something that’s never been done in the franchise. It blew our minds that a drone, in this way (the quadcopter drone), hasn’t been used before. That was very exciting to us. And Thrash is a bit of a wild child and the comic relief. It felt like maybe this character shouldn’t have all four wheels. (laughs) We started looking at motorcycles and cafe racers that are hyper-stylized and very cool and sleek. Felt like the right expression for a character like Thrash.
JM: I think Twitch and Thrash are gonna become household names. There’s a moment in the first episode where, without giving too much away, you take us back in time to a specific date in the Transformers universe. And you give us these sequences that are different from what we’ve seen already in the show but very familiar for Transformers fans. Ant, was there any risk in doing exactly what you do there?
AW: I don’t think so. It’s very playful what we’re doing. Initially Dale brought the idea to the table of doing this “Drunk History” as far as the backstory of updating the audience and the Terrans to where we are. What more of a better visual to accompany that then paying respect to the G1 stuff. It’s very, very iconic. And it was really, really fun. It was a very fun, playful sequence to do.
JM: Good. It’s bold and will take a lot of people by surprise. And they’ll be pleased with it. We already talked about the sense of togetherness of the Malto family, but I also feel there’s a sense of togetherness with all the good guys. Dale, how are we gonna see that over the course of the first 10 episodes?
DM: We’re gonna see those generational gaps bridged by characters like Bumblebee, who has been with the autobots and the legacy bots forever. But now he’s in this mentor role and he’s helping the young Terran robots understand what it means to be a cybertronian and Transformer and explore the cybertronian side of their heritage, while the Malto family is helping them develop and understand the human side of their personalities and heritage. We are very grateful that we get to play with Bumblebee in this way because he’s one of our favorites, and we know the fans love him too.
JM: Oh yeah. An absolute icon for sure. I was recently at New York Comic-Con for a day. You guys had your Transformers panel. Ant, how was that experience for you?
AW: It was absolutely fantastic. I love New York Comic-Con. I love New York. The fans came out and it went down really, really well. We couldn’t have asked for a better reception. We did a Q&A after the show and it was so much fun to engage with the fans.
JM: That’s awesome. Dale, I loved seeing the whole display section Nickelodeon had for a lot of their shows and movies. But the giant Transformers display was amazing. How did you enjoy it?
DM: We couldn’t have asked for a better red carpet treatment than that. You could see Bumblebee from what felt like a mile away. And having a photo-op with the known legacy bot of Bumblebee standing 15 feet tall and inclusive of our new characters Twitch, Thrash, Robby and Mo was really special. We got our photos. We hope the fans did too.
JM: I want to ask each of you not just who your favorite Transformer is but your favorite Transformer to see transform — and to actually make transform — on this show. Ant, who would that be for you?
AW: Probably Thrash. Having that sidecar was a unique challenge, but it was really needed for Mo to be able to interact in a fun way with him. But also the amount of playfulness we could get in with the transformation itself — little bits of character that we interject. There’s a little bit of a swagger as he does it.
JM: Nice. Dale, what about you?
DM: I would say Twitch really pops for me. And something her design ended-up informing in the story after Ant and the art directors and designers were putting out sketches and ultimately fine-tuning what her look is going to be: We found elements of her drone body that we could expand upon and use in story and in action. That was a lovely discovery along the way that was born out of what the incredible artists and designers on the show were creating.
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