Transformers: Animated

Transformers: Animated

Optimus Prime

Prowl

Bumblebee

Isaac Sumdac

Ratchet

Sari Sumdac

Art director and character designer Derrick Wyatt is one of the few official Hasbro employees who had already been Transformers fans even before being employed by the company.

Most likely the first Transformers cartoon in which the Japanese dub calls Optimus Prime by his English name, rather than Convoy (his traditional Japanese name). Also, the Japanese have renamed Bulkhead to Ironhide, even though Ironhide is a different character in the show and toy-line.

The series received a brand new intro sequence for the Japanese dub, consisting fully of new animation. In it, multiple characters who have very little screen-time in the actual show are made to seem like major characters, and the Transformers' war is shown spanning across the entire Earth. Further, a mysterious, cloaked villain appears briefly during the intro, but it's never made clear who he is supposed to be, as no such character shows up in the cartoon.