CREDIT: TRANSFORMERS BEAST WARS
Was Transformers Beast Wars actually better than Transformers?

I can still recall the first time in my life that I came across what is commonly referred to as “fandom,” I was seven years old and they had just announced that the Transformers, my favourite cartoon, was being remade as Beast Wars, turning my beloved car and plane robots, and putting them in the bodies of gorillas and dinosaurs instead. Being the wide-eyed youngster that I was, I thought it was awesome, but my older cousin, responsible for my love of all things Cybertron, pulled me aside and told me how bad the new show was going to be.

Thus, I was thrown into the world of fandom, a world of irrational annoyance at the tiniest of things, where people flock to forums in order to dissect every minute detail of the latest episode or issue and where conclusions and judgements are often made far in advance of any official information is actually presented. Websites such as Reddit have allowed these groups to form their own, central mini communities, prompting discussion and careful consideration about the topic at hand, (just kidding, it's almost always a bunch of people bitching).

With geeky adaptations such as The Walking Dead and Game of Thrones, dominating the television ratings, and cinemas filled with sci-fi and superhero films (and their dozens of sequels), the howls of fans have been becoming louder and louder in the cyberspace word, as “original fans” grieve at the notion of their beloved story and characters being put in the hands of another, so that usurper can crush all that was good about it under a heel of mainstream sensibilities. They certainly have a right to be concerned, after all I could fill this entire paper with a discussion about poorly done adaptations, but it's often far more interesting to see what the reaction is when it turns out they were wrong, and it turns out to actually be really good.

It's too easy to say that fans don't like to be mistaken, or that everything looks better over time, and that causes them to change their tune, but that would be just as much a generalization as some of the arguments these fans provide. A key fact to consider is that for the most part, the sorts of concerns that you hear coming from the mouths of fans are often made as a snap reaction to an announcement, single image or even a rumour that someone else spread, it is very rare for the people behind the scenes to come out and give the details that fans desire.

Using the aforementioned Beast Wars as an example, almost 20 years after its original airing, it is considered to be THE high point in Transformers' storytelling and animation, creating believable characters in an (at the time) unbelievably detailed CG world. Looking at it with the eyes of an adult I can't even see how you can compare BW to the original, a nostalgically charming, but fundamentally sloppy bit of ‘80s animation that is more and more obviously just a toy commercial as time goes on. Ask fans who were around for the change, and it's pretty likely that they will point to the animal era as the one they hold the closest to their hearts, that and they all really dislike Michael Bay.