Transformers: Rescue Bots Academy Explained

Theme Music Composer:	Doug Califano
Opentheme:	"Rescue Bots Academy" by Zach Allen
Endtheme:	"Rescue Bots Academy" (instrumental)
Composer:	Stuart Kollmorgen Doug Califano Keiffer Infantino Matt Mahaffey
Country:	United States Ireland
Language:	English
Num Seasons:	2
Num Episodes:	104
Producer:	Peter Lewis
Runtime:	11 minutes

Transformers: Rescue Bots Academy (or simply Rescue Bots Academy) is an animated children's television series on Discovery Family. Based on toy manufacturer Hasbro's Transformers franchise, the series is a sequel of , sharing the name with the Rescue Bots season three episode called "Rescue Bots Academy". It was created by Rescue Bots co-creator Nicole Dubuc. The first two episodes were previewed on December 8, 2018,^[1] and officially premiered on January 5, 2019. The voice cast of Rescue Bots leaves their roles, with existing characters being recast with New York–based voice actors.

Premise

School is in session at the Transformers: Rescue Bots Academy, and Griffin Rock's heroes Heatwave the Fire-Bot, Chase the Police-Bot, Blades the Copter-Bot, and Boulder the Construction-Bot are back and ready to train a new batch of recruits. Just arriving on Earth from their home world of Cybertron, young Cube player Hot Shot, aspiring rescue hero Hoist, the enthusiastic Whirl, Construction-bot Wedge and field medic appropriately named Medix have the honor of being the first class in history to enroll in the Rescue Bots Academy, a highly advanced training facility located at a top-secret base. With encouragement from Optimus Prime, Bumblebee, and Grimlock, the new recruits learn the power of team building through simulated and real-life rescue missions that highlight the importance of heroism, teamwork, and most importantly, friendship.^[2]

Characters

Autobots

See main article: Autobots.

Rescue Bots Recruits

• Hot Shot (voiced by Pierce Cravens) is a former Cube player recruited by Optimus Prime, who also gives him a Mul-T-Change T-cog that lets him use a different vehicle mode per day. His regular vehicle mode is a red and yellow ATV, while his alternate forms are a red jet plane and a yellow and red hovercraft boat. He later gains a fourth vehicle form in Season 2 by scanning Heatwave's fire truck mode.
• Whirl (voiced by Courtney Shaw) is an enthusiastic police trainee who, like Chase, has studied the rules of being a Rescue Bot, and who serves as the team's optimist and sister figure. She transforms into a blue and light gray police helicopter, and later adopts Chase's blue squad police car form during Season 2's Multi-change story arc.
• Hoist (voiced by Alan Trinca) is an aspiring inventor and mechanic who transforms into a teal green tow truck. In Season 1, he was revealed to be afraid of dinosaurs when Grimlock arrived at the academy, later fully overcoming his fear in Season 2's "Mission Dinobot." During season 2's T-cog story arc, he scanned Grimlock's Tyrannosaurus Rex form to become a Dinobot himself.
• Medix (voiced by Adam Andrianopoulous) is a Rescue Bots recruit who does not like surprises and works purely with logic. He serves as the team's intelligence officer on missions and transforms into a white emergency response car with green and a red light bar mounted on the roof. During Season 2's T-Cog story arc, he gains Blade's white and orange rescue helicopter form as a second form.
• Wedge (voiced by Mason Hensley) is a former Decepticon turned leader who turns into an orange payloader. He had a rivalry with Hot Shot in Season 1 and shares Blades' fanboy attitude towards Bumblebee. He even has a collection of trading cards detailing all the major Autobots called "Heroes of Cybertron." His Decepticon past is revealed in the Season 2 episode "More Than Meets the Eye" when the team is not certain how to deal with Laserbeak. Like Hot Shot, Optimus Prime believed he had potential and recruited him. He later gains a second sports car mode in homage to his idol Bumblebee. Wedge has a fear of heights as first stated in season one.

Rescue Force Sigma-17 and Faculty

• Heatwave (voiced by Paul Guyet) is the leader of Rescue Force Sigma-17 and the academy's chief instructor. He transforms into a red fire engine with an extending ladder, a red fire boat, and a brontosaurus due to the events of the original TV cartoon. In the second season he becomes Hot Shot's mentor, and allows Hot Shot to scan his form in the same season.
• Chase (voiced by Frank Cwiklik) is a second-in-command for the Rescue Bots, Chase is a by-the-books police officer and one of Whirl's favourite teachers. He transforms into a dark blue and white police car, as well as a robotic stegosaurus due to the events of the original TV series. In the second season he becomes Whirl's mentor, and allows Whirl to scan his form in the same season.
• Boulder (voiced by Keyon Williams) is a gentle giant who serves as the bulk and science officer of Rescue Force Sigma-17. He serves as the trainees' teacher on Earth studies and transforms into a green bulldozer in addition to his robotic triceratops form from the original TV show's third season.
• Blades (voiced by Michael Hansen) is a perky Rescue bot who turns into a rotund orange and white rescue helicopter and is one of Whirl's favourite teachers. In the original TV series, he also transformed into a white and orange pterodactyl. In the second season he becomes Medix's mentor, and allows Medix to scan his form in the same season.
• Grimlock (voiced by Terrence Flint) – portrayed as a hybrid of his Fall of Cybertron and RID 2015 selves, Grimlock is an old friend of Optimus Prime and Bumblebee who serves as the bots' gym and field operations coach, He transforms into a mechanical T-Rex and still has his cat phobia from Transformers: Robots in Disguise. In the second season he becomes Hoist's mentor, and allows Hoist to scan his T-Rex form in the same season.
• Bumblebee (voiced by Jeremy Levy) is a member of Optimus Prime's team who transforms into a yellow muscle car with black racing stripes, and Grimlock's former commanding officer from Bee Team. In the second season he becomes Wedge's mentor, and allows Wedge to scan his sports car form in the same season.
• Ratchet (voiced by Todd Perimutter) is Optimus Prime's friend and chief medical officer who transforms into a white Ford ambulance. He is later revealed to be Medix's uncle and one of the academy's guest lecturers.
• Perceptor (voiced by Jeremy Levy) is an Autobot science and intelligence officer who served alongside Optimus during the Great War for Cybertron. He transforms into a red science expedition vehicle and can downsize himself into a microscope that can be used by other Transformers. In his debut episode, Bumblebee convinces Perceptor to join the academy as its math and science professor.

Cube Players

• Scorch (voiced by Adam Andrianopoulous) is Hot Shot's old friend and leader of the Cyberblazers Cube team.
• Mach is a Cube player who turns into a sports car.
• Glow (voiced by Courtney Shaw) is a female Cube player who resembles the Decepticon Glowstrike from 2015's Robots in Disguise spinoff to Transformers Prime. She seems to turn into a red motorcycle.

Others

• Optimus Prime (voiced by Jake Foushee, Hiro Diaz in "Recruits") is the benevolent leader of the Autobots who turns into a semi-trailer truck cab.
• Sludge (voiced by Billy Bob Thompson) is a Dinobot science officer who transforms into a metallic apatosaurus with red and silver body Armor. He has not been seen since the Transformers Prime tie-in comics, Rage of the Dinobots, and Transformers Beast Hunters issues 1–8.
• Snarl (voiced by Mark Ashton) is the Dinobots' tactical officer and one of Grimlock's old war friends who tends to be grouchy. He transforms into a mechanical stegosaurus with red spinal plates.
• Slash (voiced by Alex Hairston) is a female dinobot who turns into a velociraptor. She is an expert tracker and an old friend of Grimlock's who prefers to work alone. After getting herself in trouble while trying to rescue Griffin Rock news reporter Huxley Prescott, Whirl teaches her it pays to have a partner watching out for her.
• Brushfire (voiced by Bimini Wright) is a lone Cybertronian on Earth in Australia who transforms into an orange halftrack ATV. She previously appeared exclusively in the toy line, and makes her onscreen debut in Season 2's 31st episode "Brushfire," where she meets and befriends Whirl when the Rescue Bots arrive to help her with mobs of kangaroos.

Decepticons

• Lazerbeak is Soundwave's former helper and a retired Decepticon. Lazerbeak was found injured by the Rescue Bots in "More than Meets the Eye" when his shuttle was damaged and Hoist retrieved his cassette form before waking him up. After Wedge got rid of their prejudice, the Bots took him back to the academy to heal the wound on his left wing.

Humans

• Cody Burns (voiced by Andy Zou) is the first kid who befriended Heatwave's team in the original series, and the youngest member of the Burns Family Emergency Response team; he helps Heatwave teach the recruits whenever he is not too busy.
• Wes (voiced by Xander Crowell) is a member of Cody's Teen Pioneer troupe who is a fan of the Rescue Bots and idolizes Wedge.
• Francine Greene (voiced by Kaitlin Becker) is Cody's best friend since childhood and the second youth to learn the Autobots' true nature in the original series, Frankie is the eldest child of Griffin Rock's resident genius scientist, Dr. Ezra Greene, and is a science prodigy. She and Doc make their first reappearance in the Season 2 episode “Partners.”

Other cast

• Tough Luck Chuck (voiced by Todd Perlmutter)
• Scraplets –
• Citadel Secundus (voiced by Frank Cwiklik) is a Titan

Episodes

Series overview

Season		Episodes	Originally aired
			Season premiere	Season finale
	1	52
	2	52

Season 1 (2018-19)

• This season takes place during the Rescue Bot recruits' first year at the academy.

Season 2 (2020–21)

• This season takes place during the Rescue Bot recruits' final test of second year at the academy.

On September 5, 2018, the series was renewed for a second season of another 52 11–minute episodes that premiered on March 21, 2020.^{[3] [4]} The first six episodes of season 2 were released earlier on Google Play on February 14, 2020.^[5] It is also the last season of the series.^[6]

Production

Shortly after its acquisition by Hasbro, Boulder Media Limited started developing a Transformers series,^[7] The series was first announced on June 7, 2017, with officially ending production.^[8] along with .

On July 16, 2017, voice actor D.C. Douglas, who voiced Chase in , announced that he would not reprise his role in this series. He has also confirmed that the voice cast for this series are non-union New York–based voice actors.^[9]

On July 23, 2017, Ben Ward joined the series as writer.^[10]

On August 4, 2017, at Hasbro Investor Day 2017, the show's runtime was announced to be 11 minutes.^[11]

On December 25, 2017, it was revealed that the first season consists of 52 11-minute episodes.^[12]

On March 21, 2018, the series was announced to air on Discovery Family in Fall 2018.^[13]

A trailer was released on April 6, 2018.^[14]

On September 5, 2018, Ciarán Morrison and Mick O'Hara joined the series as writers. Additionally, the series was renewed for a second season of another 52 11-minute episodes.^[15]

A poster was released on October 3, 2018, and the release date has been rescheduled back to 2019.^[16]

A sneak peek consisting of the first two episodes aired on December 8, 2018.^{[1] [17]} The series began proper airings on January 5, 2019.^[2]

In late 2020, it was announced that the show would end production after the Season 2 finale, ending the show with the same number of episodes as its predecessor.

Broadcast and release

In the United States, the series premiered with a two episode sneak peek on December 8, 2018,^{[1] [17]} and officially premiered on January 5, 2019, on Discovery Family.^[2] It premiered on Nickelodeon in Germany, Nick Jr. in India, TiJi in France, Frisbee in Italy, Tiny Pop in the UK, TVP ABC in Poland, Karusel in Russia, Treehouse TV in Canada, Minimax in CEE and Arutz HaYeladim in Israel.

External links

• Transformers: Rescue Bots Academy on Transformers Wiki

Notes and References

1. 1071401838841397249. discoveryfamily. Discovery Family. Are you ready for the Transformers: Rescue Bots Academy sneak peek? Tune in NOW to Discovery Family!. December 8, 2018.
2. Web site: Discovery Family Introduces Young Viewers to a New Generation of Heroes in Transformers: Rescue Bots Academy Beginning Saturday, January 5. Discovery Press Web. Jared Albert. December 11, 2018. January 7, 2019.
3. Web site: Double Z Creative Working On Transformers: Rescue Bots Academy - Transformers News - TFW2005. September 5, 2018. Transformer World 2005 - TFW2005.COM.
4. Web site: Transformers: Rescue Bots Academy Renewed For Season 2 By Discovery Family!. December 11, 2018.
5. Web site: First Six Episodes of Transformers Rescue Bots Academy Season 2 Posted to Google Play With Titles . 2020-04-16.
6. Web site: Transformers Rescue Bots Academy Cartoon Is Ending After Season 2. Transformer World 2005 - TFW2005.COM. June 28, 2020.
7. Web site: Hasbro To Develop Future Animated Series With Boulder Media Studio - Transformers News - TFW2005. July 18, 2016. Transformer World 2005 - TFW2005.COM.
8. Web site: Boulder Media Announces Plans To Open Second Studio Space in Dublin. The Hot Press. Newsdesk. Hotpress.
9. Web site: Animation-Games » Good Night, Citizen, and Thank You!. D. C.. Douglas. June 9, 2017. Male Voiceover Talent & Los Angeles Actor: D.C. Douglas.
10. Web site: More Tidbits On Transformers: Rescue Bots Academy - Transformers News - TFW2005. July 23, 2017. Transformer World 2005 - TFW2005.COM.
11. Web site: TFW2005 Coverage Of Hasbro Media And Investor Day 2017 - Transformers News - TFW2005. August 3, 2017. Transformer World 2005 - TFW2005.COM.
12. Web site: Hasbro Studios Sales Guide. 2017. Hasbro Studios. https://web.archive.org/web/20170603001527/https://www.hasbrostudios.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/pdf/Hasbro%20Studio%20Sales%20Guide.pdf. June 3, 2017. dead.
13. Web site: 03/20/18: Legacy brands, spinoffs bolster Discovery Family lineup. March 20, 2018.
14. Web site: Exclusive: New Transformers Animated Series Announced, First Trailer Revealed. TV Shows.
15. Web site: Double Z Creative - Home. www.doublezcreative.com.
16. Web site: New Poster For Transformers: Rescue Bots Academy Featuring Evergreen Bumblebee - Transformers News - TFW2005. October 3, 2018. Transformer World 2005 - TFW2005.COM.
17. Web site: Transformers: Rescue Bots Academy - sneak peek. www.facebook.com.