Friends

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Friends
GenreSitcom
Created by
Showrunners
  • David Crane
  • Marta Kauffman
Starring
Theme music composer
Opening theme"I'll Be There for You"
by the Rembrandts
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons10
No. of episodes236 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producers
Production locationsWarner Bros. Studios, Burbank, California
Camera setupMulti-camera
Running time20–22 minutes (per episode)
22–65 minutes (extended international TV & DVD episodes)
Production companies
Original release
NetworkNBC
ReleaseSeptember 22, 1994 (1994-09-22) –
May 6, 2004 (2004-05-06)
Related

Friends is an American television sitcom created by David Crane and Marta Kauffman, which aired on NBC from September 22, 1994, to May 6, 2004, lasting ten seasons.[1] With an ensemble cast starring Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc, Matthew Perry and David Schwimmer, the show revolves around six friends in their 20s and early 30s who live in Manhattan, New York City. The original executive producers were Kevin S. Bright, Kauffman, and Crane.

Kauffman and Crane began developing Friends under the working title Insomnia Cafe between November and December 1993. They presented the idea to Bright, and together they pitched a seven-page treatment of the show to NBC. After several script rewrites and changes, including title changes to Six of One[2] and Friends Like Us, the series was finally named Friends.[3] Filming took place at Warner Bros. Studios in Burbank, California. The series was produced by Bright/Kauffman/Crane Productions and Warner Bros. Television.

The show ranked within the top ten of the final television season ratings; it ultimately reached the number-one spot in its eighth season. The series finale aired on May 6, 2004, and was watched by around 52.5 million American viewers, making it the fifth-most-watched series finale in television history[4][5][6] and the most-watched television episode of the 2000s.[7][8] Friends received acclaim throughout its run, becoming one of the most popular television shows of all time.[9] The series was nominated for 62 Primetime Emmy Awards, winning the Outstanding Comedy Series award in 2002 for its eighth season.[10] The show ranked no. 21 on TV Guide's 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time,[11] and no. 5 on Empire magazine's The 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time.[12] In 1997, the episode "The One with the Prom Video" was ranked no. 100 on TV Guide's 100 Greatest Episodes of All-Time.[13] In 2013, Friends ranked no. 24 on the Writers Guild of America's 101 Best Written TV Series of All Time,[14] and no. 28 on TV Guide's 60 Best TV Series of All Time.[15] The sitcom's cast members returned for Friends: The Reunion, a reunion special which was released on HBO Max on May 27, 2021.

Cast and characters[edit]

  • Jennifer Aniston as Rachel Green:
    A fashion enthusiast and Monica Geller's best friend from childhood. Rachel first moves in with Monica in season one after nearly marrying Barry Farber. Rachel and Ross Geller are later involved in an on-again, off-again relationship throughout the series. Rachel dates other men during the series, such as Italian neighbor, Paolo, in season one; Joshua Bergin, a client from Bloomingdale's, in season four; Tag Jones, her assistant, in season seven; and Joey Tribbiani, one of her close friends, in season ten. Rachel's first job is as a waitress at the coffee house Central Perk, but she later becomes an assistant buyer at Bloomingdale's in season three, and a buyer at Ralph Lauren in season five. Rachel and Ross have a daughter named Emma in "The One Where Rachel Has a Baby, Part Two" at the end of season eight. In the final episode of the series, Ross and Rachel confess their love for each other, and Rachel gives up a dream fashion job at Louis Vuitton in Paris to be with him. It is heavily implied in the spin-off series, Joey, that Rachel married Ross after the series finale.
  • Courteney Cox as Monica Geller:
    The "mother hen" of the group and a chef,[16] known for her perfectionist, bossy, competitive, and obsessive-compulsive nature.[17][18] Monica was overweight as a child. She works as a chef in various restaurants throughout the show. Monica's first serious relationship is with a long-time family friend Richard Burke, who is 21 years her senior. The two maintain a strong relationship for some time until Richard expresses that he does not want to have children. Monica and Chandler, one of her best friends, later start a relationship after spending a night with each other in London in the season four finale, leading to their marriage in season seven and the adoption of twins at the end of the series.
  • Lisa Kudrow as Phoebe Buffay:
    A masseuse and self-taught musician. As a child, Phoebe lived in upstate New York with her mother, until her mother committed suicide and Phoebe took to the streets. She writes and sings her own strange songs, accompanying herself on the guitar. She has an identical twin named Ursula, who shares few of Phoebe's traits. Phoebe has three serious relationships over the show's run: David, a scientist, in season one, with whom she breaks up when he moves to Minsk on a research grant; Gary, a police officer whose badge she finds, in season five; and an on-and-off relationship with Mike Hannigan in seasons nine and ten. In season nine, Phoebe and Mike break up due to his desire not to marry. David returns from Minsk, leading to the two getting back together, but she eventually rejects him for Mike when both of them propose to her. Phoebe and Mike marry in season ten.[19][20]
  • Matt LeBlanc as Joey Tribbiani:
    A struggling actor and food lover who becomes famous for his role on soap opera Days of Our Lives as Dr. Drake Ramoray. Joey has many short-term girlfriends. Despite his womanizing, Joey is innocent, caring, and well-intentioned.[21] Joey often uses the catchphrase pick-up line "How you doin'?" in his attempts to win over most of the women he meets. Joey rooms with his best friend Chandler for years, and later with Rachel. He falls in love with Rachel in season eight, but Rachel politely tells Joey that she does not share his feelings. They eventually date briefly in season ten, but after realizing it will not work due to their friendship and Rachel's complicated relationship with Ross, they return to being friends. At the end of the series, he is the only remaining single member of the group, and becomes the main protagonist of the sequel series Joey.
  • Matthew Perry as Chandler Bing:
    An executive in statistical analysis and data reconfiguration for a large, multinational corporation. Chandler hates this job, although it pays well. He attempts to quit during season one but is lured back with a new office and a pay raise. He eventually quits this job in season nine due to a transfer to Tulsa, Oklahoma. He becomes a junior copywriter at an advertising agency later that season. Chandler has a peculiar family history being the son of an erotic novelist mother and a gay, cross-dressing Las Vegas star father. Chandler is known for his sarcastic sense of humor and bad luck in relationships.[22] Chandler marries Monica, one of his best friends, in season seven, and they adopt twins at the end of the series. Before his relationship with Monica, Chandler dated Janice Hosenstein in season one and subsequently broke up with her many times.
  • David Schwimmer as Ross Geller:
    Monica's "geeky" older brother, a PhD-carrying palaeontologist working at the American Museum of Natural History, and later a tenured professor of palaeontology at New York University. Ross is involved in an on-again, off-again relationship with Rachel throughout the series. He has three failed marriages during the series: Carol Willick, a lesbian who is also the mother of his son, Ben Geller; Emily Waltham, who divorces him after he accidentally says Rachel's name instead of hers during their wedding vows; and Rachel, as the two drunkenly marry in Las Vegas. His divorces become a running joke within the series. Following a one-night stand, he and Rachel have a daughter, Emma, by the end of season eight. They finally confess that they are still in love with each other in the series finale. It is heavily implied in the spin-off series, Joey, that Ross married Rachel after the series finale.

James Michael Tyler appears as Gunther, a barista at Central Perk, in every season of the show, but is only ever credited as a guest star. Gunther has a mostly secret profound love for Rachel throughout the entire series. At one point he becomes the manager of the coffee house. It is revealed that Gunther speaks Dutch in addition to English, as well as being a former soap opera actor.

In their original contracts for the first season, cast members were paid $22,500 per episode.[23] The cast members received different salaries in the second season, beginning from the $20,000 range to $40,000 per episode.[23][24] Before their salary negotiations for the third season, the cast decided to enter collective negotiations, despite Warner Bros.' preference for individual deals.[25] The actors were given the salary of the least paid cast member. The stars were each paid $75,000 per episode in season three, $85,000 in season four, $100,000 in season five, $125,000 in season six, $750,000 in seasons seven and eight, and $1 million in seasons nine and ten, making Aniston, Cox, and Kudrow the highest-paid TV actresses of all time.[26][27][28] The cast also received syndication royalties beginning in 2000 after renegotiations. At the time, that financial benefit of a piece of the show's lucrative back-end profits had only been given out to stars who had ownership rights in a show, like Jerry Seinfeld and Bill Cosby.[29]

Series creator David Crane wanted all six actors to be equally prominent,[30] and the series was lauded as being "the first true 'ensemble' show."[31] The cast members made efforts to keep the ensemble format and not allow one member to dominate;[31] they entered themselves in the same acting categories for awards,[32] opted for collective salary negotiations,[31] and asked to appear together on magazine cover photos in the first season.[33] The cast members also became best friends off-screen,[34] so much so that recurring guest star Tom Selleck reported that he sometimes felt left out.[35]

The cast remained good friends after the series run, most notably Cox and Aniston, with Aniston being godmother to Cox and David Arquette's daughter, Coco.[36] In the official farewell commemorative book Friends 'Til the End, each separately acknowledged in interviews that the cast had become their family.[37][38]

Episodes[edit]

Friends in first season. Front: Cox, Aniston. Back: LeBlanc, Kudrow, Schwimmer, Perry.
SeasonEpisodesOriginally airedRankRatingViewers (millions)
First airedLast airedNetwork
124September 22, 1994 (1994-09-22)May 18, 1995 (1995-05-18)NBC8[39]15.624.8
224September 21, 1995 (1995-09-21)May 16, 1996 (1996-05-16)3[40]18.731.7
325September 19, 1996 (1996-09-19)May 15, 1997 (1997-05-15)4[41]16.826.1
424September 25, 1997 (1997-09-25)May 7, 1998 (1998-05-07)4[42]16.125.0
524September 24, 1998 (1998-09-24)May 20, 1999 (1999-05-20)2[43]15.724.7
625September 23, 1999 (1999-09-23)May 18, 2000 (2000-05-18)5[44]14.022.6
724October 12, 2000 (2000-10-12)May 17, 2001 (2001-05-17)5[45]12.622.1
824September 27, 2001 (2001-09-27)May 16, 2002 (2002-05-16)1[46]15.026.4
924September 26, 2002 (2002-09-26)May 15, 2003 (2003-05-15)2[47]13.523.9
1018September 25, 2003 (2003-09-25)May 6, 2004 (2004-05-06)5[48]13.624.6
The ReunionMay 27, 2021 (2021-05-27)HBO Max

Season 1[edit]

The first season introduces the six main characters who live in New York City: Rachel Green, a waitress; professional chef Monica Geller; her paleontologist brother, Ross Geller; free-spirited masseuse Phoebe Buffay; struggling actor Joey Tribbiani, and Ross's college friend, Chandler Bing, whose precise occupation at a corporation is unknown. Rachel arrives at Central Perk, wearing her wedding dress, after leaving her fiancé, Barry, an orthodontist, at the altar. She moves into her high school friend Monica's apartment, and gets a waitress job at Central Perk.

Ross, who has had a crush on Rachel since high school, often attempts to declare his feelings for her. However many obstacles stand in his way, including his insecurities, Rachel dating an Italian neighbor named Paolo, and the fact that he is expecting a baby with his lesbian ex-wife, Carol, who gives birth to Ben later in the season. Joey never has a steady girlfriend and constantly sleeps with a variety of women. Phoebe is rather odd and complex, mostly due to her mother's suicide when she was a child and having lived on the streets for a time. However, the gang loves her regardless.

Chandler breaks up with his girlfriend, Janice (Maggie Wheeler), only to find himself reconnecting with her throughout the series. Near the end of the season, while Ross is at a paleontology dig in China, Chandler accidentally lets slip that Ross loves Rachel, who then realizes that she also cares for him. The season ends with Rachel waiting at the airport for Ross, who is returning from China.

Season 2[edit]

Rachel greets Ross at the airport only to discover that he has returned with Julie (Lauren Tom), someone he knew from graduate school. Rachel's attempts to tell Ross that she loves him initially mirror his failed attempts in the first season. After he breaks up with Julie for Rachel, friction between them develops when Rachel discovers Ross's list of the cons of dating her. They eventually begin a relationship after Rachel sees an old home video from her and Monica's prom night and realizes Ross was going to stand in for her prom date who nearly stood her up.

Monica is promoted to head chef at the Iridium restaurant, then gets fired for accepting gifts from a supplier, which is against company policy. Needing money, she is forced to take an embarrassing job as a waitress at a 1950s-style diner. She begins dating Richard Burke (Tom Selleck), a recently divorced family friend who is 21 years her senior. They eventually break up when Monica rea

Resident Evil #4

Resident Evil theme by Paja

Download: ResidentEvil_4.p3t

Resident Evil Theme 4
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Resident Evil
Resident Evil logo
Created byShinji Mikami
Tokuro Fujiwara
Original workResident Evil (1996)
OwnerCapcom
Years1996–present
Print publications
Novel(s)Novel list
ComicsComic list
Films and television
Film(s)
Television seriesTelevision list
Games
Video game(s)Video game list
Official website
game.capcom.com/residentevil/

Resident Evil is a Japanese horror game series and media franchise created by Capcom. It consists of survival horror, third-person shooter and first-person shooter games, with players typically surviving in post-apocalyptic urban environments infested with mutant humanoids and bizarre animals (such as mutated dogs), zombies and other lethal creatures. The franchise has expanded into other media, most notably a live-action film series, as well as animated films, television series, comic books, novels, audiobooks, and merchandise including clothing, costumes, action figures and toys. Resident Evil is the highest-grossing horror franchise.

The first Resident Evil game was created by Shinji Mikami and Tokuro Fujiwara for PlayStation, and released in 1996.[1][2] It is credited for defining the survival horror genre and returning zombies to popular culture. By the time of Resident Evil 4 (2005), the franchise shifted to more dynamic shooting action, achieved critical acclaim, and influenced the evolution of the survival horror and third-person genres, popularizing the "over-the-shoulder" third-person view.[3]

The franchise returned to survival horror with Resident Evil 7: Biohazard (2017) and Resident Evil Village (2021), which used a first-person perspective. Capcom has also released four Resident Evil remakes: Resident Evil (2002), Resident Evil 2 (2019), Resident Evil 3 (2020) and Resident Evil 4 (2023). Resident Evil is Capcom's best-selling franchise and the best-selling horror game series, with 154 million copies sold worldwide, as of December 2023.[4]

The first Resident Evil action film was released in 2002, starring Milla Jovovich, followed by five further sequels and a reboot, Welcome to Raccoon City (2021). The films have received mostly negative critical reviews, including on Rotten Tomatoes and some on Metacritic; however, some of the films have received mixed reviews on Metacritic. Nevertheless, the films have grossed more than $1.2 billion, making Resident Evil the third-highest-grossing video game film series.

History[edit]

Release timeline
1996Resident Evil
1997
1998Resident Evil 2
1999Resident Evil 3: Nemesis
2000Resident Evil Survivor
Resident Evil – Code: Veronica
2001Resident Evil Survivor 2 – Code: Veronica
Resident Evil Gaiden
2002Resident Evil (remake)
Resident Evil Zero
2003Resident Evil: Dead Aim
Resident Evil Outbreak
2004Resident Evil Outbreak: File #2
2005Resident Evil 4
2006Resident Evil: Deadly Silence
2007Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles
2008
2009Resident Evil 5
Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles
2010
2011Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D
2012Resident Evil: Revelations
Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City
Resident Evil 6
2013
2014
2015Resident Evil: Revelations 2
2016Umbrella Corps
2017Resident Evil 7: Biohazard
2018
2019Resident Evil 2 (remake)
2020Resident Evil 3 (remake)
Resident Evil: Resistance
2021Resident Evil Village
2022Resident Evil Re:Verse
2023Resident Evil 4 (remake)

The development of the first Resident Evil, released as Biohazard in Japan, began in 1993 when Capcom's Tokuro Fujiwara told Shinji Mikami and other co-workers to create a game using elements from Fujiwara's 1989 game Sweet Home on the Family Computer (Famicom) in Japan.[5][6] When in late 1994 marketing executives were setting up to release Biohazard in the United States, it was pointed out that securing the rights to the name Biohazard would be very difficult as a DOS game had been registered under that name, as well as a New York hardcore punk band called Biohazard. A contest was held among company personnel to choose a new name; this competition turned up Resident Evil, the name under which it was released in the west.[7] Resident Evil made its debut on the PlayStation in 1996 and was later ported to the Sega Saturn.

The first entry in the series was the first game to be dubbed a "survival horror", a term coined for the new genre it initiated,[8] and its critical and commercial success[9] led to the production of two sequels, Resident Evil 2 in 1998 and Resident Evil 3: Nemesis in 1999, both for the PlayStation. A port of Resident Evil 2 was released for the Nintendo 64. In addition, ports of all three were released for Windows. The fourth game in the series, Resident Evil – Code: Veronica, was developed for the Dreamcast and released in 2000, followed by ports of Resident Evil 2 and Resident Evil 3: Nemesis. Resident Evil – Code: Veronica was later re-released for Dreamcast in Japan in an updated form as Code: Veronica Complete, which included slight changes, many of which revolved around story cutscenes. This updated version was later ported to the PlayStation 2 and GameCube under the title Code: Veronica X.

Despite earlier announcements that the next game in the series would be released for the PlayStation 2, which resulted in the creation of an unrelated game titled Devil May Cry, series' creator and producer Shinji Mikami decided to make the series exclusively for the GameCube.[10] The next three games in the series—a remake of the original Resident Evil and the prequel Resident Evil Zero, both released in 2002, as well as Resident Evil 4 (2005)—were all released initially as GameCube exclusives. Resident Evil 4 was later released for Windows, PlayStation 2, and Wii.

A trilogy of GunCon-compatible light gun games known as the Gun Survivor series featured first-person gameplay. The first, Resident Evil Survivor, was released in 2000 for the PlayStation and PC but received mediocre reviews.[11] The subsequent games, Resident Evil Survivor 2 – Code: Veronica and Resident Evil: Dead Aim, fared somewhat better.[12] Dead Aim is the fourth Gun Survivor game in Japan, with Gun Survivor 3 being the Dino Crisis spin-off Dino Stalker. In a similar vein, the Chronicles series features first-person gameplay, albeit on an on-rails path. Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles was released in 2007 for the Wii, with a sequel, Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles released in 2009 (both were later ported to the PlayStation 3 in 2012).[13]

Resident Evil Outbreak is an online game for the PlayStation 2, released in 2003, depicting a series of episodic storylines in Raccoon City set during the same period as Resident Evil 2 and Resident Evil 3: Nemesis. It was the first in the series and the first survival horror title to feature cooperative gameplay.[14] It was followed by a sequel, Resident Evil Outbreak: File #2. Raccoon City is a metropolis located in the Arklay Mountains of the Midwestern United States that succumbed to the deadly T-virus outbreak and was consequently destroyed via a nuclear missile attack issued by the United States government. The town served as a critical junction for the series' progression as one of the main catalysts to Umbrella's downfall and the entry point for some of the series' most notable characters.

Resident Evil Gaiden is an action-adventure game for the Game Boy Color featuring a role-playing-style combat system. There have been several downloadable mobile games based on the Resident Evil series in Japan. Some of these mobile games have been released in North America and Europe through T-Mobile. At the Sony press conference during E3 2009, Resident Evil Portable was announced for the PlayStation Portable,[15][16][17] described as an all-new title being developed with "the PSP Go in mind" and "totally different for a Resident Evil game". No further announcements have been made, and the game is considered to have been canceled.[18][19]

In 2009, Resident Evil 5 was released for PlayStation 3, Windows and Xbox 360, becoming the best selling game of the franchise despite mixed fan reception. Capcom revealed the third-person shooter Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City, which was developed by Slant Six Games for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Windows and released in March 2012. A survival horror game for the Nintendo 3DS, Resident Evil: Revelations, was released in February 2012.[20] In October of the same year, the next numbered entry in the main series, Resident Evil 6, was released to mixed reviews,[21] but enthusiastic pre-order sales.[22]

In 2013, producer Masachika Kawata said the Resident Evil franchise would return to focus on elements of horror and suspense over action, adding that "survival horror as a genre is never going to be on the same level, financially, as shooters and much more popular, mainstream games. At the same time, I think we need to have the confidence to put money behind these projects, and it doesn't mean we can't focus on what we need to do as a survival horror game to meet fan's needs."[23] Resident Evil: Revelations 2, an episodic game set between Resident Evil 5 and Resident Evil 6, was released in March 2015. A series of team-based multiplayer games were developed beginning with the poorly received Umbrella Corps, which was released in June 2016.[24] Resident Evil: Resistance was released in April 2020, followed by Resident Evil Re:Verse in October 2022, with both being available for free to those who bought Resident Evil 3 and Village respectively.[25][26]

Using the new RE Engine, which would develop the next generation of Resident Evil games, the series continued to shift back towards more horror elements. The next mainline game, Resident Evil 7: Biohazard was released for Windows, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One in January 2017.[27][28] Set in a dilapidated mansion in Louisiana, the game uses a first-person perspective and emphasizes horror and exploration over action, unlike previous installments.[29][30][31][32] The first-person perspective continued in the eighth mainline game Resident Evil Village. Released in May 2021, the game, set in a mysterious European village, is a direct sequel to Resident Evil 7: Biohazard although it incorporates more action elements inspired from Resident Evil 4.[33][34] The game also marked the franchise's debut on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S[35]

A new generation of remakes of older entries began in 2019 with a remake of Resident Evil 2, being released for the PlayStation 4, Windows, and Xbox One. The remake outsold the original game within a year, selling over five million copies.[36] Following in the success of the Resident Evil 2 remake, Capcom revealed a remake of Resident Evil 3: Nemesis in December 2019, known as Resident Evil 3. It was released in April 2020.[37] In June 2022, a remake of Resident Evil 4 was announced and released on March 24, 2023 for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC.[38]

Story overview[edit]

Logo for Umbrella Corporation, a prominent antagonistic faction in the franchise

The early Resident Evil games focused on the Umbrella Corporation, an international pharmaceutical company that secretly develops mutagenic viruses to further their "bio-organic weapons" (BOW) research. The company's viruses can transform humans into mindless zombies while also mutating plants and animals into horrifying monstrosities. The Umbrella Corporation uses its vast resources to effectively control Raccoon City, a fictional midwestern American city. In the original Resident Evil, members of an elite police task force, Special Tactics and Rescue Service (STARS), are lured to a derelict mansion on the outskirts of Raccoon City. The STARS team is mostly decimated by zombies and other BOWs, leaving only a handful of survivors, including Chris Redfield, Jill Valentine, and Albert Wesker. Chris and Jill explore the zombie-infested mansion and uncover a secret underground Umbrella research facility. Wesker reveals himself to be a double agent for Umbrella and betrays his comrades. However, Wesker is seemingly murdered by a Tyrant, a special BOW that is the culmination of the Umbrella Corporation's research.[39][40]

Chris and Jill escape the mansion, but their testimony is ridiculed by Raccoon City's officials due to Umbrella's influence. Meanwhile, a separate viral outbreak occurs in another Umbrella research facility underneath Raccoon City. Most of the city's residents are infected and become zombies. Resident Evil 2 introduces two new protagonists, Leon S. Kennedy, a rookie police officer and Claire Redfield, the younger sister of Chris. Leon and Claire arrive in Raccoon City amidst the chaos of the viral outbreak. Leon is aided by Ada Wong, a corporate spy posing as an FBI agent, while Claire rescues Sherry Birkin, the daughter of two prominent Umbrella researchers. At the same time, Jill makes her escape from the city in Resident Evil 3: Nemesis. She is relentlessly pursued by a new Tyrant, Nemesis, who is deployed by Umbrella to eliminate all surviving STARS members. The U.S. Government destroys Raccoon City with a missile strike to sterilize the viral outbreak.[41] Leon, Claire, Sherry, Ada, and Jill escape the city before its eradication. Claire continues to look for Chris, whereas Leon is recruited to work for the U.S. Government. Resident Evil – Code: Veronica follows Claire as she escapes from a prison camp in the Southern Ocean and later reunites with Chris at an Umbrella research facility in Antarctica. Resident Evil 4 is set six years after the Raccoon City incident and focuses on Leon as he tries to rescue the U.S. President's daughter from a cult in Spain.[39][40]

A government investigation into the Umbrella Corporation reveals its involvement in the Raccoon City disaster and leads to the company's dissolution. Despite the downfall of the Umbrella Corporation, the company's research and BOWs proliferate across the black market and lead to the rise of bioterrorism. Chris and Jill establish the Bioterrorism Security Assessment Alliance (BSAA) to combat these ever-growing threats on a global scale. Wesker is revealed to be alive and involved in the development of new potent viral agents and BOWs. In Resident Evil 5, Wesker seeks to unleash a highly mutagenic virus that will infect all of humanity. Chris and the BSAA confront and kill Wesker in Africa before he can fulfill his mission.[42] Resident Evil 6 features Leon and Chris meeting for the first time in the video game series.[43] The two work separately to triage bioterrorist attacks in the United States, Eastern Europe, and China. They are assisted by Sherry, Wesker's illegitimate son Jake Muller, Ada, and many members of the BSAA and U.S. government.

Resident Evil 7: Biohazard and Resident Evil Village introduce a new protagonist, Ethan Winters, who becomes entangled in a bioterrorism incident while searching for his missing wife. He encounters Chris and the BSAA, who help him rescue his wife and defeat Eveline, a powerful BOW. Ethan, Mia, and their newborn daughter, Rosemary, are relocated to Eastern Europe but are abducted by a cult. Ethan ultimately sacrifices himself to destroy a fungal colony being weaponized by bioterrorists and save his family.[39][40][44]

Gameplay[edit]

The Resident Evil franchise has had a variety of control schemes and gameplay mechanics throughout its history. Puzzle-solving has figured prominently throughout the series.[45]

Tank controls[edit]

The first game introduced a control scheme that the player community has come to refer to as "tank controls" to the series. In a game with tank controls, players control movement relative to the position of the player character, rather than relative to the fixed virtual camera from which the player views the current scene.[46] Pressing up (for example on a D-pad, analog stick, or cursor movement keys) on the game controller moves the character in the direction being faced, pressing down backpedals, and left and right rotates the character.[46] This can feel counter-intuitive when the character is facing the camera, as the controls are essentially reversed in this state. This differs from many 3D games, in which characters move in the direction the player pushes the controls from the perspective of the camera.[46] Some critics have posited that the control scheme is intentionally clumsy, meant to enhance stress and exacerbate difficulty.[47]

While the first three entries in the series featured this control scheme, the third, Resident Evil 3: Nemesis, saw some action-oriented additions. These included a 180 degree turn and dodge command that, according to GameSpot, "hinted at a new direction that the series would go in." Later games in the series, like Resident Evil 4, would feature a more fluid over-the-shoulder third-person camera instead of a fixed camera for each room, while Resident Evil 7 and Resident Evil Village are played from the first-person perspective.

Third-person shooter gameplay[edit]

Resident Evil 4 saw significant changes to the established gameplay, including switching from fixed camera perspectives to a tracking camera, and more action-oriented gameplay and mechanics. This was complemented by an abundance of ammunition and revised aiming and melee mechanics. Some critics claimed that this overhauled control scheme "made the game less scary."[47] The next two games in the franchise furthered the action-oriented mechanics: Resident Evil 5 featured cooperative play and added strafing, while Resident Evil 6 allowed players to move while aiming and shooting for the first time, fully abandoning the series' signature tank controls.[47]

First-person shooter gameplay and VR[edit]

Resident Evil 7 is the first main Resident Evil game to use the first-person perspective and to use virtual reality. It drew comparisons to modern survival horror games such as Outlast and PT.[47] The eighth main-series game, Resident Evil Village, also features a first-person perspective.[48] A VR version of Resident Evil 4 was released on the Oculus Quest 2 on October 21, 2021.[49]

Other media[edit]

The Resident Evil franchise features video games and tie-in merchandise and products, including various live-action and animated films, comic books, and novels.

Films[edit]

Live-action films[edit]

The live-action film series logo

From 2002 to 2016, six live-action Resident Evil films were produced, all written and produced by Paul W. S. Anderson. The films do not follow the games' premise but feature some game characters. The series' protagonist is Alice, an original character created for the films portrayed by Milla Jovovich. Despite a negative reaction from critics, the live-action film series has made over $1 billion worldwide.[50] They are, to date, the only video game adaptations to increase the amount of money made with each successive film.[51] The series holds the record for the "Most Live-Action Film Adaptations of a Video Game" in the 2012 Guinness World Records Gamer's Edition, which also described it as "the most successful movie series to be based on a video game."[14]

A reboot, Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City, was released on November 24, 2021, with Johannes Roberts as writer/director.[52]

Animated films[edit]

The first computer animated film for the franchise was Biohazard 4D-Executer. It was a short 3D film produced for Japanese theme parks and did not feature any characters from the game.[53]

Starting in 2008, a series of feature-length computer-animated films have been released. These films take place in the same continuity with the games of the series, and feature characters such as Leon Kennedy, Claire Redfield, Ada Wong, Chris Redfield,

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WALL-E

WALL-E theme by YASAI

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WALL•E
Theatrical release poster
Directed byAndrew Stanton
Screenplay by
Story by
Produced byJim Morris
Starring
Cinematography
Edited byStephen Schaffer
Music byThomas Newman
Production
company
Distributed byWalt Disney Studios
Motion Pictures
[a]
Release dates
  • June 23, 2008 (2008-06-23) (Greek Theatre)
  • June 27, 2008 (2008-06-27) (United States)
Running time
97 minutes[1]
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$180 million[2]
Box office$532.5 million[3][4]

WALL-E (stylized with an interpunct as WALL·E) is a 2008 American animated romantic science fiction film[5] produced by Pixar Animation Studios for Walt Disney Pictures. The film was directed by Andrew Stanton, produced by Jim Morris, and written by Stanton and Jim Reardon. It stars the voices of Ben Burtt, Elissa Knight, Jeff Garlin, John Ratzenberger, Kathy Najimy, with Sigourney Weaver and Fred Willard. The film follows a solitary robot named WALL-E on a future, uninhabitable, deserted Earth in 2805, left to clean up garbage. He is visited by a robot called EVE sent from the starship Axiom, with whom he falls in love and pursues across the galaxy.

After directing Finding Nemo, Stanton felt Pixar had created believable simulations of underwater physics and was willing to direct a film set largely in space. WALL-E has minimal dialogue in its early sequences; many of the characters in the film do not have voices, but instead communicate with body language and robotic sounds that were designed by Burtt. The film incorporates various topics including consumerism, corporatocracy, nostalgia, waste management, human environmental impact and concerns, obesity/sedentary lifestyles, and global catastrophic risk.[6] It is also Pixar's first animated film with segments featuring live-action characters. Thomas Newman composed the film's musical score. The film cost $180 million to produce, a record-breaking sum for an animated film at the time. Following Pixar tradition, WALL-E was paired with a short film titled Presto for its theatrical release.

WALL-E was released in the United States on June 27, 2008. The film received critical acclaim for its animation, story, voice acting, characters, visuals, score, sound design, screenplay, use of minimal dialogue, and scenes of romance.[7][8] It was also commercially successful, grossing $521.3 million worldwide and becoming the ninth-highest grossing film of 2008. It won the 2008 Golden Globe Award for Best Animated Feature Film, the 2009 Hugo Award for Best Long Form Dramatic Presentation,[9] the final Nebula Award for Best Script,[10] the Saturn Award for Best Animated Film and the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature with five additional Oscar nominations. The film was widely named by critics and organizations, including the National Board of Review and American Film Institute, as one of the best films of 2008,[11][12] and to be considered among the greatest animated films ever made.[13][14][15]

In 2021, WALL-E became the second Pixar feature film (after Toy Story) to be selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".[16] In September 2022, at the request of Stanton, Disney licensed WALL-E to The Criterion Collection, who re-released the film as a special edition 4K Blu-Ray-standard Blu-ray combo pack on November 22, 2022, marking the first Pixar film to ever receive such an honor.[17][18]

Plot[edit]

In the 29th century, Earth is a garbage-strewn wasteland due to an ecocide, caused by rampant consumerism, corporate greed, and environmental neglect.[19]

Humanity is nowhere to be seen, having been evacuated by the megacorporation Buy n Large (BnL) to space on giant starliners, leaving trash compacting robots to clean up the planet, seven hundred years prior. All the robots on earth have since stopped functioning and the last remaining active robot, a Waste Allocation Load Lifter: Earth-class (WALL·E), has developed a personality. WALL·E remains active by salvaging parts from other inactive robots and lives with his pet cockroach as his only companion in a large robot carrier truck.

One day, WALL·E's routine of compressing trash and collecting interesting objects is broken by the arrival of an unmanned rocket probe carrying an egg-shaped robot called an Extraterrestrial Vegetation Evaluator (EVE), which is sent to scan the planet for signs of sustainable life. WALL·E is smitten by the sleek, otherworldly robot, and the two begin to connect, until EVE goes into standby mode when WALL·E shows her his most recent find: a living seedling. The probe ship eventually returns and collects EVE and the plant, with WALL·E clinging on in fear of losing her. The probe ship then returns to its mothership, the starliner Axiom.

In the centuries since the Axiom left Earth, its passengers have degenerated into helpless obesity due to microgravity and laziness, with robots catering to their every whim. Even Captain B. McCrea is used to sitting back while his robotic AI autopilot helm, nicknamed AUTO, pilots the ship. McCrea is unprepared to receive the positive probe response, but discovers that placing the plant in the ship's Holo-Detector will trigger a hyperjump back to Earth so that humanity can begin recolonization. When McCrea inspects EVE's storage compartment, the plant is missing, with EVE blaming WALL·E for its disappearance.

EVE is deemed faulty and taken to diagnostics. Mistaking the process for torture, WALL·E intervenes and inadvertently releases all the other faulty bots, causing him and EVE to be designated as rogue robots. Frustrated, EVE tries to send WALL·E home in an escape pod, but before she can, the two witness McCrea's first mate robot, GO-4, stowing the plant in a pod set to self-destruct, revealing that WALL·E did not steal the plant. WALL·E enters the pod to retrieve the plant just as it launches, but both he and the plant survive unscathed. EVE catches up to him and they reconcile, celebrating with a dance in space around the Axiom.

EVE brings the plant back to McCrea, who watches her recordings of Earth, concluding that they can and must save it. However, AUTO reveals that he has been ordered to not return to Earth by a secret no-return directive A113, issued by BnL CEO Shelby Forthright, also revealing that GO-4 attempted to dispose of the plant on AUTO's instruction. When McCrea goes against the directive, AUTO and GO-4 electrocute WALL·E, forcefully puts EVE into standby, throws them both down a garbage chute and confines McCrea to his quarters. EVE (having been reactivated by a mouse-like robot) and WALL·E are nearly ejected into space with the ship's refuse, but Microbe Obliterator (M-O), a cleaning robot who had been following WALL·E's dirt trail across the ship since his arrival, inadvertently jams the door and saves the two, prompting the Waste Allocation Load Lifter: Axiom-class (WALL·A) garbage bots to abort the ejection. As humans and robots help in securing the plant, McCrea and AUTO fight for control of the Axiom. AUTO crushes WALL·E using the Holo-Detector in a last-ditch attempt to keep the human passengers in space; McCrea eventually overpowers and deactivates AUTO by switching him to manual mode, and EVE successfully inserts the plant, initiating the hyperjump.

Arriving back on Earth, EVE quickly repairs WALL·E, but finds that his memory and personality have been erased. Heartbroken, EVE gives WALL·E a goodbye "kiss", which releases a static electricity shock, restoring him to his normal self. WALL-E and EVE reunite as the Axiom inhabitants take their first steps on Earth. Humans and robots turn the ravaged planet into a paradise, and the plant grows into a mighty tree, which WALL·E and EVE rest beneath.

Cast[edit]

Voice cast[edit]

  • Ben Burtt as WALL·E (Waste Allocation Load Lifter: Earth-class),[20] a compactor robot who has achieved sentience, he is the only one still functioning on Earth. He is a small mobile compactor box accompanied by his cockroach friend Hal. He collects trinkets from the garbage and displays them at his home, where he watches a video cassette of 20th Century Studios' Hello, Dolly!, mimicking the dance sequences.
    • Burtt also voices M-O (Microbe-Obliterator), a cleaning robot.
  • Elissa Knight as EVE (Extraterrestrial Vegetation Evaluator),[20] a glossy white egg-shaped probe robot with blue LED eyes, whose directive is to verify the habitability of planets for humans. She moves using antigravity and is equipped with scanners, specimen storage, and a cannon which she is quick to use.
  • Jeff Garlin as Captain B. McCrea, the captain of the Axiom. (While McCrea's name was never spoken, it does appear on a portrait of him in his quarters. He is only ever referred to as the Captain.)
  • MacInTalk, the text-to-speech program for Apple Macintosh computers, is the voice of AUTO, the Axiom's villainous AI autopilot which handles command functions of the ship. Loyal only to directive A113, he and GO-4 are the only computers not influenced by WALL-E.
  • John Ratzenberger and Kathy Najimy as John and Mary, who live on the Axiom, so dependent on their automatic services as to be oblivious to their surroundings. They are brought out of their trances by encounters with WALL-E and fall in love with each other.
  • Sigourney Weaver as the Axiom's computer. Stanton joked to Weaver: "You realize you get to be 'Mother' now?"[21][22] referring to the ship's computer in the film Alien, starring Weaver.[22]

Live-action cast[edit]

  • Fred Willard as Shelby Forthright, CEO of the Buy n Large Corporation and President of Earth. The only major live-action character, appearing only in videos recorded around the time of the Axiom's launch in the 22nd century. Forthright proposed the plan to evacuate Earth's population and then clean up the planet so they could return within five years. Discovering that Earth had become too toxic to support life, the cleanup and recolonization were abandoned. Forthright issued directive A113 preventing anyone from returning to Earth. As of 2024, Forthright is the only live-action character with a speaking role in any Pixar film.
  • Michael Crawford and Marianne McAndrew appear in an archival recording performing "It Only Takes a Moment" from Hello, Dolly!.

Production[edit]

Writing[edit]

BACK ON M-O AND WALLY [sic]

M-O just finishes cleaning the floor.
Wally is fascinated.
Impishly makes another mark.
M-O compulsively cleans it. Can't resist.

M-O (bleeps):
[Look, it stays clean. You got that?]

Wally wipes the bottom of his tread on M-O's face.
M-O loses it.
Scrubs his own face.

—Stanton wrote the screenplay to focus on the visuals
and as a guide to what the sound effects needed to convey[23]

As depicted in the teaser trailer, Andrew Stanton conceived WALL-E during a lunch with fellow writers John Lasseter, Pete Docter, and Joe Ranft in 1994. Toy Story was near completion and the writers brainstormed ideas for their next projects—A Bug's Life, Monsters, Inc., and Finding Nemo—at this lunch. Stanton asked, "What if mankind had to leave Earth and somebody forgot to turn off the last robot?"[21] Having struggled for many years with making the characters in Toy Story appealing, Stanton found his simple Robinson Crusoe-esque idea of a lonely robot on a deserted planet strong.[24][25] Stanton made WALL·E a waste collector as the idea was instantly understandable, and because it was a low-status menial job that made him sympathetic.[26] Stanton also liked the imagery of stacked cubes of garbage.[27] He did not find the idea dark because having a planet covered in garbage was for him a childish imagining of disaster.[28]

Stanton and Docter developed the film under the title of Trash Planet for two months in 1995, but they did not know how to develop the story and Docter chose to direct Monsters, Inc. instead.[29][30] Stanton came up with the idea of WALL-E finding a plant, because his life as the sole inhabitant on a deserted world reminded Stanton of a plant growing among pavements.[31] Before they turned their attention to other projects, Stanton and Lasseter thought about having WALL-E fall in love, as it was the necessary progression away from loneliness.[28] Stanton started writing WALL-E again in 2002 while completing Finding Nemo.[32] Stanton formatted his script in a manner reminiscent of Dan O'Bannon's Alien. O'Bannon wrote his script in a manner Stanton found reminded him of haiku, where visual descriptions were done in continuous lines of a few words. Stanton wrote his robot "dialogue" conventionally, but placed them in brackets.[25] In late 2003, Stanton and a few others created a story reel of the first twenty minutes of the film. Lasseter and Steve Jobs were impressed and officially began development,[33] though Jobs stated he did not like the title, originally spelled "W.A.L.-E."[34]

While the first act of WALL-E "fell out of the sky" for Stanton,[28] he had originally wanted aliens to plant EVE to explore Earth and the rest of the film was different. When WALL-E comes to the Axiom, he incites a Spartacus-style rebellion by the robots against the remnants of the human race, which were cruel alien Gels (completely devolved, gelatinous, boneless, legless, see-through, green creatures that resemble Jell-O). James Hicks, a physiologist, mentioned to Stanton the concept of atrophy and the effects prolonged weightlessness would have on humans living in space for an inordinately extended time period.[21][35][36] Therefore, this was the inspiration of the humans degenerating into the alien Gels,[37] and their ancestry would have been revealed in a Planet of the Apes-style ending.[38] The Gels also spoke a made-up gibberish language, but Stanton scrapped this idea because he thought it would be too complicated for the audience to understand and they could easily be driven off from the storyline.[39] The Gels had a royal family, who host a dance in a castle on a lake in the back of the ship, and the Axiom curled up into a ball when returning to Earth in this incarnation of the story.[39] Stanton decided this was too bizarre and unengaging, and conceived humanity as "big babies".[38] Stanton developed the metaphorical theme of the humans learning to stand again and "grow[ing] up",[38][40] wanting WALL-E and EVE's relationship to inspire humanity because he felt few films explore how utopian societies come to exist.[41] The process of depicting the descendants of humanity as the way they appear in the movie was slow. Stanton first decided to put a nose and ears on the Gels so the audience could recognize them. Eventually, fingers, legs, clothes, and other characteristics were added until they arrived at the concept of being fetus-like to allow the audience to see themselves in the characters.[39]

In a later version of the film, AUTO comes to the docking bay to retrieve EVE's plant. The film would have its first cutaway to the captain, but Stanton moved that as he found it too early to begin moving away from WALL·E's point-of-view. As an homage to Get Smart,[42] AUTO takes the plant and goes into the bowels of the ship into a room resembling a brain where he watches videos of Buy n Large's scheme to clean up the Earth falling apart through the years. Stanton removed this to keep some mystery as to why the plant is taken from EVE. The captain appears to be unintelligent, but Stanton wanted him to just be unchallenged; otherwise he would have not been sympathetic.[37] One example of how unintelligent the captain was depicted initially is that he was seen to wear his hat upside-down, only to fix it before he challenges AUTO. In the finished film, he merely wears it casually atop his head, tightening it when he really takes command of the Axiom.[39]

Stanton also moved the moment where WALL-E reveals his plant (which he had snatched from the self-destructing escape pod) from producing it from a closet to immediately after his escape, as it made EVE happier and gave them stronger motivation to dance around the ship. Originally, EVE would have been electrocuted by AUTO, and then be quickly saved from ejection at the hands of the Waste Allocation Load Lifter: Axiom-class (WALL·A) robots, by WALL-E. He would have then revived her by replacing her power unit with a cigarette lighter he brought from Earth. Stanton reversed this following a 2007 test screening, as he wanted to show EVE replacing her directive of bringing the plant to the captain with repairing WALL-E, and it made WALL-E even more heroic if he held the holo-detector open despite being badly hurt.[37] The idea of WALL-E losing his memory and personality came after the braintrust team abandoned a scene where EVE had been shot in her heart battery and WALL-E gave her his own battery instead.[43] Stanton felt half the audience at the screening believed the humans would be unable to cope with living on Earth and would have died out after the film's end. Jim Capobianco, director of the Ratatouille short film Your Friend the Rat, created an end credits animation that continued the story—and stylized in different artistic movements throughout history—to clarify an optimistic tone.[44]

Design[edit]

WALL-E was the most complex Pixar production since Monsters, Inc. because of the world and the history that had to be conveyed.[24] Whereas most Pixar films have up to 75,000 storyboards, WALL-E required 125,000.[45] Production designer Ralph Eggleston wanted the lighting of the first act on Earth to be romantic, and that of the second act on the Axiom to be cold and sterile. During the third act, the romantic lighting is slowly introduced into the Axiom environment.[21] Pixar studied Chernobyl and the city of Sofia to create the ruined world; art director Anthony Christov was from Bulgaria and recalled Sofia used to have problems storing its garbage.[46][47] Eggleston bleached out the whites on Earth to make WALL-E feel vulnerable. The overexposed light makes the location look more vast. Because of the haziness, the cubes making up the towers of garbage had to be large, otherwise they would have lost shape (in turn, this helped save rendering time). The dull tans of Earth subtly become soft pinks and blues when EVE arrives. When WALL-E shows EVE all his collected items, all the lights he has collected light up to give an inviting atmosphere, like a Christmas tree. Eggleston tried to avoid the colors yellow and green so WALL-E—who was made yellow to emulate a tractor—would not blend into the deserted Earth, and to make the plant more prominent.[48]

WALL-E holding a bra
WALL·E finds a bra. Roger Deakins and Dennis Muren were consulted on realistic lighting including backgrounds that are less focused than foregrounds.

Stanton also wanted the lighting to look realistic and evoke the science fiction films of his youth. He thought that Pixar captured the physics of being underwater with Finding Nemo and so for WALL·E, he wanted to push that for air. While rewatching some of his favorite science fiction films, he realized that Pixar's other movies had lacked the look of 70 mm film and its barrel distortion, lens flare, and racking focus.[24] Producer Jim Morris invited Roger Deakins and Dennis Muren to advise on lighting and atmosphere. Muren spent several months with Pixar, while Deakins hosted one talk and was requested to stay on for another two weeks. Stanton said Muren's experience came from integrating computer animation into live-action settings, while Deakins helped them understand not to overly complicate their camerawork and lighting.[41] 1970s Panavision cameras were used to help the animators understand and replicate handheld imperfections like unfocused backgrounds in digital environments.[21] The first lighting test included building a three-dimensional replica of WALL-E, filming it with a 70 mm camera, and then trying to replicate that in the computer.[49] Stanton cited the shallow lens work of Gus Van Sant's films as an influence, as it created intimacy in each close-up. Stanton chose angles for the virtual cameras that a live-action filmmaker would choose if filming on a set.[28]

Stanton wanted the Axiom's interior to resemble Shanghai and Dubai.[24] Eggleston studied 1960s NASA paintings and the original concept art for Tomorrowland for the Axiom, to reflect that era's sense of optimism.[21] Stanton remarked "We are all probably very similar in our backgrounds here [at Pixar] in that we all miss the Tomorrowland that was promised us from the heyday of Disneyland," and wanted a "jet pack" feel.[24] Pixar also studied the Disney Cruise Line and visited Las Vegas, which was helpful in understanding artificial lighting.[21] Eggleston based his Axiom designs on the futuristic architecture of Santiago Calatrava. Eggleston divided the inside of the ship into three sections; the rear's economy class has a basic gray concrete texture with graphics keeping to the red, blue, and white of the BnL logo. The coach class with living/shopping spaces has "S" shapes as people are always looking for "what's around the corner". Stanton intended to have many colorful signs, but he realized this would overwhelm the audience and went with Eggleston's original idea of a small number of larger signs. The premier class is a large Zen-like spa with colors limited to turquoise, cream, and tan, and leads on to the captain's warm carpeted and wooded quarters and the sleek dark bridge.[48] In keeping with the artificial Axiom, camera movements were modeled after those of the steadicam.[50]

The use of live action was a stepping stone for Pixar, as Stanton was planning to make John Carter of Mars his next project.[24] Storyboarder Derek Thompson noted introducing live action meant that they would make the rest of the film look even more realistic.[51] Eggleston added that if the historical humans had been animated and slightly caricaturized, the audience then would not have been able to recognize how serious their devolution was.[48] Stanton cast Fred Willard as the historical Buy n Large CEO because "[h]e's the most friendly and insincere car salesman I could think of."[38] The CEO says "stay the course", which Stanton used because he thought it was funny and a "natural thing to say at the time".[52] Industrial Light & Magic did the visual effects for these shots.[21]

Animation[edit]

WALL·E went undeveloped during the 1990s partly because Stanton and Pixar were not confident enough yet to have a feature-length film with a main character that behaved like Luxo Jr., the Pixar lamp or R2-D2.[25] Stanton explained there are two types of robots in cinema: "human[s] with metal skin", like the Tin Man, or "machine[s] with function" like Luxo and R2. He found the latter idea "powerful" because it allowed the audience to project personalities onto the characters, as they do with babies and pets: "You're compelled ... you almost can't stop yourself from finishing the sentence 'Oh, I think it likes me! I think it's hungry! I think it wants to go for a walk!'"[53] He added, "We wanted the audience to believe they were witnessing a machine that has come to life."[21] The animators visited recycling stations to study machinery, and also met robot designers, visited NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory to study robots, watched a recording of a Mars rover,[32] and borrowed a bomb detecting robot from the San Francisco Police Department. Simplicity was preferred in their performances as giving them too many movements would make them feel human.[21]

Stanton wanted WALL·E to be a box and EVE to be like an egg.[54] WALL·E's eyes were inspired by a pair of binoculars Stanton was given when watching the Oakland Athletics play against the Boston Red Sox. He "missed the entire inning" because he was distracted by them.[55] The director was reminded of Buster Keaton and decided the robot would not need a nose or mouth.[56] Stanton added a zoom lens to make WALL-E more sympathetic.[56] Ralph Eggleston noted this feature gave the animators more to work with and gave the robot a childlike quality.[48] Pixar's studies of trash compactors during their visits to recycling stations inspired his body.[21] His tank treads were inspired by a wheelchair someone had developed that used treads instead of wheels.

Smallville

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Smallville
Genre
Based on
Developed by
Showrunners
Starring
Opening theme"Save Me" by Remy Zero
Composers
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons10
No. of episodes217[1] (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producers
Production locationsBritish Columbia, Canada
Cinematography
Editors
  • Ron Spang
  • Andi Armaganian
  • Neil Felder
  • David Ekstrom
  • Debby Germino
  • Vikash Patel
  • Stephen Mark
  • Peter B. Ellis
Running time40-53 minutes
Production companies
Original release
NetworkThe WB
ReleaseOctober 16, 2001 (2001-10-16) –
May 11, 2006 (2006-05-11)
NetworkThe CW
ReleaseSeptember 28, 2006 (2006-09-28) –
May 13, 2011 (2011-05-13)

Smallville is an American superhero television series developed by writer-producers Alfred Gough and Miles Millar, based on the DC Comics character Superman created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. The series was produced by Millar/Gough Ink, Tollin/Robbins Productions, DC Comics and Warner Bros. Television. Initially broadcast by the WB, the show premiered on October 16, 2001. After its fifth season, the WB and UPN merged to form The CW, the series' later United States broadcaster until its tenth and final season ended on May 13, 2011.

Smallville follows the coming-of-age adventures of teenage Clark Kent (Tom Welling) in his fictional hometown of Smallville, Kansas, before he formally becomes the Man of Steel. The first four seasons focus on the high school life of Clark and his friends, his complicated romance with neighbor girl Lana Lang (Kristin Kreuk), and his friendship with future nemesis Lex Luthor (Michael Rosenbaum). From season five onwards, Smallville ventures into Clark's early adult years, eventually focusing on his career alongside Lois Lane (Erica Durance) at the Daily Planet and introducing other DC comicbook superheroes and villains.

Before the series' production, Bruce Wayne, a drama series chronicling the young protagonist's journey toward Batman, was proposed first. Although that series failed to generate interest, it inspired the idea of a Superman origin story, which later became Smallville. Series developers Gough and Millar pitched their "no tights, no flights" rule to the president of Warner Bros. Television, reducing the Man of Steel to the bare moral essentials and examining what led Clark Kent to become the iconic superhero. After seven seasons with the show, Gough and Millar departed with little explanation. Smallville was primarily filmed in and around Vancouver, British Columbia, with local businesses and buildings substituting for Smallville locations. Most of the music for the first six seasons was composed by Mark Snow, who incorporated elements of John Williams's musical score from the Superman film series. In season seven, Louis Febre (who worked with Snow from the beginning) became the series' primary composer.

Smallville was generally positively received when it began. Former Superman star Christopher Reeve expressed approval for the series, making two guest appearances before his death. The pilot episode set a ratings record for a WB debut, with 8.4 million viewers. Over ten seasons the series averaged about 4.34 million viewers per episode, with season two the highest-rated at 6.3 million. By the end of its run, Smallville passed Stargate SG-1 as the longest-running North American science fiction series by episode count.[2] Since its first season, the series received accolades ranging from Emmys to Teen Choice Awards. Smallville spawned a series of young adult novels, a DC Comics bimonthly comic-book, soundtracks and series-related merchandise. All ten seasons are available on DVD in regions 1, 2 and 4. After the series finale in 2011, the story resumed in comic-book form, with 22 issues of Season 11 from April 2012 to November 2013.

Series overview[edit]

SeasonEpisodesOriginally airedAverage viewership
(in millions)
First airedLast airedNetwork
121October 16, 2001 (2001-10-16)May 21, 2002 (2002-05-21)The WB6.41
223September 24, 2002 (2002-09-24)May 20, 2003 (2003-05-20)7.77
322October 1, 2003 (2003-10-01)May 19, 2004 (2004-05-19)5.64
422September 22, 2004 (2004-09-22)May 18, 2005 (2005-05-18)5.02
522September 29, 2005 (2005-09-29)May 11, 2006 (2006-05-11)5.32
622September 28, 2006 (2006-09-28)May 17, 2007 (2007-05-17)The CW4.52
720September 27, 2007 (2007-09-27)May 15, 2008 (2008-05-15)4.15
822September 18, 2008 (2008-09-18)May 14, 2009 (2009-05-14)3.88
921September 25, 2009 (2009-09-25)May 14, 2010 (2010-05-14)2.38
1022September 24, 2010 (2010-09-24)May 13, 2011 (2011-05-13)2.54

The regular cast is introduced in season one, with storylines involving a villain deriving power from kryptonite exposure. The one-episode villains were a plot device developed by Gough and Millar.[3] Smallville's first season primarily dealt with Clark Kent's coming to terms with his alien origin and the revelation that his arrival on Earth was connected to the death of Lana Lang's parents.[4] After the first season the series had fewer villain-of-the-week episodes, focusing instead on individual-character story arcs and exploring Clark's origins.[5] Major storylines include Clark's discovery of his Kryptonian heritage and Lex Luthor's escalating conflict with his father, Lionel.[6] The disembodied voice of Clark's biological father, Jor-El, is introduced; he communicates to Clark through his spaceship, setting the stage for plots involving his role in fulfilling Clark's earthly destiny.[7] In a fourth-season arc Clark, instructed by Jor-El, searches for three Kryptonian stones which contain the knowledge of the universe and form his Fortress of Solitude.[8][9] Clark battles Brainiac in his attempts to release the Kryptonian criminal General Zod,[10] and must capture (or destroy) other escaped Phantom Zone criminals.[11] His cousin Kara arrives,[12] and Lex Luthor discovers Clark's secret.[13] The eighth season introduces Davis Bloome (Smallville's version of Doomsday), and Tess Mercer replaces the departing Lex Luthor. Justin Hartley becomes a series regular as Oliver Queen (Green Arrow) after being a recurring guest in season six.[14] In the ninth season Major Zod (Callum Blue) and other members of Zod's military group are revived (without their Kryptonian powers) by Tess Mercer,[15] and their efforts to regain their powers are the season's central conflict. The final season revolves around Clark's attempts to lose his doubts and fears and become the hero he is meant to be, while confronting his biggest challenges: the coming of Darkseid and the return of Lex Luthor.[16]

Cast[edit]

Young, casually-dressed man looking left
Although Welling initially refused to audition for the role of Clark Kent, he changed his mind after reading the script for the pilot episode.
  • Tom Welling as Clark Kent, a young man with superhuman abilities who tries to find his place in life after discovering that he is an extraterrestrial in origin and uses his powers to help those in danger. Clark's season-one problems include his inability to share his secret and his desire for a normal life. After months of scouting, Welling was cast as Clark.[17] David Nutter had to convince Welling's manager that the role would not hurt the actor's film career in order to get Welling to read the pilot script. After reading the script, Welling agreed to audition for the role of Clark Kent.[3]
  • Kristin Kreuk as Lana Lang, the girl next door. Grieving the loss of her parents, she has empathy for everyone and feels connected to Clark.[18] Kreuk was the first to be cast, after Nutter saw an audition tape the actress had sent.[3] Although she left the series after the seventh season,[19] she returned for five episodes in season eight as a special guest star.[20]
  • Michael Rosenbaum as Lex Luthor, a billionaire's son sent to Smallville to run the local fertilizer plant. After Clark saves his life, they become fast friends.[21] As the series progresses, Lex's friendship with Clark crumbles until they consider themselves enemies. The role was difficult to cast;[4] Michael Rosenbaum auditioned twice and, feeling that he did not take his first audition seriously enough, outlined a two-and-a-half-page scene indicating where to be funny, charismatic or menacing.[22] His second audition went so well that he was hired.[4] Rosenbaum left the show after seven seasons,[19][23] reprising his role for the series finale.[24]
  • Eric Johnson as Whitney Fordman, Lana's boyfriend in season one, who becomes mean to Clark and Lana's budding friendship and bullies him.[21] He reconciles with Clark before joining the Marines and going to Afghanistan.[25] Although Whitney was written out of the show in the first-season finale, he made a special appearance in the season-two episode "Visage" (where it is disclosed that he was killed in action) and was also a guest star in the season-four episode "Façade" (during a flashback to Clark's freshman year of high school). Johnson, who auditioned for Lex and Clark before he was cast as Whitney,[26] was pleased that the writers gave his character a hero's exit.[27]
  • Sam Jones III as Pete Ross, another best friend of Clark and the first person to whom Clark voluntarily tells his secret.[28] Although he is in love with Chloe,[29] he does not admit it because of the Clark-Lana-Chloe love triangle already in place.[30] Ross was written out of the series at the end of season three, but made a guest appearance in season seven. Jones was the last of the series regulars to be cast, with Gough and Millar seeing him four days before they began filming the pilot.[30] Jones is African-American while the comics have traditionally portrayed Ross as Caucasian.[30]
  • Allison Mack as Chloe Sullivan, one of Clark's best friends, who is in love with him (although her feelings are not reciprocated).[31] Editor of the school newspaper, her journalistic curiosity and desire to "expose falsehoods" and "know the truth"[32] create tension with her friends (especially when she investigates Clark's past).[33] After learning about Smallville from casting director Dee Dee Bradley, Mack considered auditioning for Lana Lang but auditioned twice for Chloe Sullivan.[32] The character was created just for the series[4] and was intended to have an "ethnic background" before Mack was hired.[32] She has since appeared in the comic book.[34]
  • Annette O'Toole as Martha Kent, Clark's adoptive mother. She and her husband, Jonathan, give Clark wise advice about coping with his increasing abilities. In season five Martha takes a state-senate seat,[35] and in season six she leaves the show.[36] Although Cynthia Ettinger was originally cast as Martha Kent, during filming everyone (including Ettinger) realized that she was not right for the part.[4] O'Toole was committed to the television series The Huntress when Ettinger filmed the original pilot. Around the time the creators wanted to recast Martha Kent, The Huntress was coincidentally canceled, allowing O'Toole to join the cast.[37] The actress had previously played Lana Lang in Superman III.[38]
  • John Schneider as Jonathan Kent, Clark's adoptive father, who goes to great lengths to protect his son's secret; according to Schneider, Jonathan is "perfectly willing to go to jail, or worse, to protect his son".[39] Schneider was written out of the show in the series' 100th episode, with Jonathan dying of a heart attack on the night of his election victory.[40] Millar and Gough wanted a recognizable face for Smallville; they were happy to cast Schneider as Jonathan because he was known as Bo Duke from The Dukes of Hazzard, which Gough saw as adding to the belief that Schneider could have grown up running a farm.[4]
  • John Glover as Lionel Luthor, Lex's father. Lionel is responsible for the Kents' adoption of Clark without legal ramifications or questions about his origins.[33] Glover tried to make Lionel seem to try to "toughen [Lex] up", and saw the character as a rich, powerful businessman who was disappointed in his son.[41] Lionel was created for Smallville to parallel the Kents and as an "experiment in extreme parenting".[4] A recurring first-season guest, Glover became a series regular from seasons two to seven until Lionel was murdered by Lex near the end of the seventh season.[42] Lionel returns in a parallel-universe version, also portrayed by Glover, during the final season as a special guest star.[43]
  • Jensen Ackles as Jason Teague, Lana's love interest, in season four. He follows Lana to Smallville from Paris, taking a job as the school's assistant football coach,[44] but is fired when their relationship comes to light. By the end of the season, it is disclosed that he was working with his mother to track the three Kryptonian stones of knowledge.[45] Before he was cast as Jason, Ackles was second in line for the role of Clark Kent.[46] Although he received top billing for season four and was contracted for season five, he was written out of the show in the season four finale because of his commitment to Supernatural.[47]
Smiling young woman with long, light-brown hair
Erica Durance was cast as Lois Lane days before fourth-season filming began, and her appearance was initially restricted by the film division of Warner Bros. Studios.
  • Erica Durance as Lois Lane, Chloe's cousin who comes to Smallville to investigate Chloe's supposed death[8] and stays with the Kents. Durance, a recurring guest in season four, became a series regular. The producers wanted to bring Lois Lane to the series, and Chloe's supposed death in the season-three finale provided the opportunity. Durance was cast three days before filming began; although she could initially appear in only four episodes, according to the film division of Warner Bros., after negotiations her character was cleared for more appearances.[48]
  • Aaron Ashmore as Jimmy Olsen, Chloe's photographer boyfriend who works at the Daily Planet. Ashmore, a recurring guest in season six, became a regular cast member in season seven. He called his casting a welcome surprise: "I auditioned for [the role] and I put myself on tape. I hadn't heard anything, and a couple of weeks later, all of the sudden (sic), I got the call saying, 'You're going to Vancouver to start shooting Smallville'. It's a dream come true, really".[49] After three seasons on the series (two as a regular), Ashmore's character was killed off. Although Ashmore's Jimmy Olsen was murdered, he said his character was not the "real" Jimmy Olsen, his real name revealed to be Henry James Olsen. Jimmy's younger brother, who appears briefly in the season-eight finale, is intended to be the Jimmy who works with Clark and Lois.[50] Ashmore returns as the younger Jimmy in the series finale.
  • Laura Vandervoort as Kara Zor-El, Clark's Kryptonian cousin. Sent to look after Kal-El (Clark), she was in suspended animation for eighteen years. When the dam confining Kara's ship broke in the season-six finale, "Phantom", she was set free. She has Clark's abilities, including flight.[51] At the end of the seventh season, Kara was trapped in the Phantom Zone. Although Vandervoort did not return regularly for the eighth season,[52] she returned to wrap up her storylines as a guest in season eight's "Bloodline" and as a special guest star in season ten's "Supergirl" and "Prophecy".[53]
  • Cassidy Freeman as Tess Mercer, Lex's handpicked successor as LuthorCorp CEO in season eight.[54] Her name is an homage to two Superman characters, Eve Teschmacher and Mercy Graves.[55] Freeman described her character as "fierce", "fun", and "intelligent", with finding Lex her primary season-eight goal. Tess believes that Clark will be able to help her.[56] In the season-ten episode "Abandoned", it is disclosed that her birth name is Lutessa Lena Luthor and she is Lionel's illegitimate daughter.[57]
  • Sam Witwer as Davis Bloome, a "charismatic" paramedic struggling with inner darkness,[54] Davis Bloome is Smallville's version of Doomsday (the only character to kill Superman). Davis would come to resemble his comic-book counterpart over the course of the season.[58] Brian Peterson said that with Michael Rosenbaum's departure, the new executive producers were looking for a villain "as great as Lex" and Doomsday fit the bill.[59]
  • Justin Hartley as Oliver Queen, the CEO of Queen Industries and leader of a small group of superheroes known as the Justice League. Hartley, a recurring guest in the sixth and seventh seasons, became a series regular in season eight[14] and was the producers' first choice to play Oliver Queen. He

Star Wars #4

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Star Wars Theme 4
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Star Wars
Created byGeorge Lucas
Original workStar Wars (1977)[a]
OwnerLucasfilm
Years1977; 47 years ago (1977)–present
Print publications
Book(s)List of reference books
Novel(s)List of novels
Short storiesSee list of novels
ComicsList of comics
Comic strip(s)See list of comics
Magazine(s)Star Wars Insider
(1987–present)
Films and television
Film(s)List of films
Television seriesList of television series
Television special(s)See list of television series
Television film(s)See list of films
Games
Role-playingList of RPGs
Video game(s)List of video games
Audio
Radio program(s)List of radio dramas
Original musicMusic
Miscellaneous
Toy(s)Merchandise
Theme park attraction(s)List of attractions

Star Wars is an American epic space opera media franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the eponymous 1977 film[a] and quickly became a worldwide pop culture phenomenon. The franchise has been expanded into various films and other media, including television series, video games, novels, comic books, theme park attractions, and themed areas, comprising an all-encompassing fictional universe.[b] Star Wars is one of the highest-grossing media franchises of all time.

The original 1977 film, retroactively subtitled Episode IV: A New Hope, was followed by the sequels Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back (1980) and Episode VI: Return of the Jedi (1983), forming the original Star Wars trilogy. Lucas later returned to the series to write and direct a prequel trilogy, consisting of Episode I: The Phantom Menace (1999), Episode II: Attack of the Clones (2002), and Episode III: Revenge of the Sith (2005). In 2012, Lucas sold his production company to Disney, relinquishing his ownership of the franchise. This led to a sequel trilogy, consisting of Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015), Episode VIII: The Last Jedi (2017), and Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker (2019).

All nine films, collectively referred to as the "Skywalker Saga", were nominated for Academy Awards, with wins going to the first two releases. Together with the theatrical live action "anthology" films Rogue One (2016) and Solo (2018), the combined box office revenue of the films equated to over US$10 billion, making Star Wars the third-highest-grossing film franchise of all time.

Premise[edit]

The Star Wars franchise depicts the adventures of characters "A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away"[2] across multiple fictional eras, in which humans and many species of aliens (often humanoid) co-exist with robots (typically referred to in the films as 'droids'), which may be programmed for personal assistance or battle.[3] Space travel between planets is common due to lightspeed hyperspace technology.[4][5][6] The planets range from wealthy, planet-wide cities to deserts scarcely populated by primitive tribes. Virtually any Earth biome, along with many fictional ones, has its counterpart as a Star Wars planet which, in most cases, teem with sentient and non-sentient alien life.[7] The franchise also makes use of other astronomical objects such as asteroid fields and nebulae.[8][9] Spacecraft range from small starfighters to large capital ships, such as the Star Destroyers, as well as space stations such as the moon-sized Death Stars.[10][11][12] Telecommunication includes two-way audio and audiovisual screens, holographic projections and hyperspace transmission.[13]

The universe of Star Wars is generally similar to the real universe but its laws of physics are less strict allowing for more imaginative stories.[14] One result of that is a mystical power known as the Force which is described in the original film as "an energy field created by all living things ... [that] binds the galaxy together".[15] The field is depicted as a kind of pantheistic god.[16] Through training and meditation, those whom "the Force is strong with" exhibit various superpowers (such as telekinesis, precognition, telepathy, and manipulation of physical energy).[17] It is believed nothing is impossible for the Force.[18] The mentioned powers are wielded by two major knightly orders at conflict with each other: the Jedi, peacekeepers of the Galactic Republic who act on the light side of the Force through non-attachment and arbitration, and the Sith, who use the dark side by manipulating fear and aggression.[19][20] While Jedi Knights can be numerous, the Dark Lords of the Sith (or 'Darths') are intended to be limited to two: a master and their apprentice.[21]

The franchise is set against a backdrop of galactic conflict involving republics and empires, such as the evil Galactic Empire.[22] The Jedi and Sith prefer the use of a weapon called the lightsaber, a blade of plasma that can cut through virtually any surface and deflect energy bolts.[23] The rest of the population, as well as renegades and soldiers, use plasma-powered blaster firearms.[24] In the outer reaches of the galaxy, crime syndicates such as the Hutt cartel are dominant.[25] Bounty hunters are often employed by both gangsters and governments, while illicit activities include smuggling and slavery.[25]

The combination of science fiction and fantasy elements makes Star Wars a very universal franchise, capable of telling stories of various genres.[26]

Films[edit]

The Skywalker Saga[edit]

Film U.S. release date Directed by Screenplay by Story by Produced by Refs.
Original trilogy: Episodes IV–VI
Star Wars May 25, 1977 (1977-05-25) George Lucas Gary Kurtz [27][28]
The Empire Strikes Back May 21, 1980 (1980-05-21) Irvin Kershner Leigh Brackett and Lawrence Kasdan George Lucas [29][30]
Return of the Jedi May 25, 1983 (1983-05-25) Richard Marquand Lawrence Kasdan and George Lucas Howard Kazanjian [31][32]
Prequel trilogy: Episodes I–III
The Phantom Menace May 19, 1999 (1999-05-19) George Lucas George Lucas George Lucas Rick McCallum [33]
Attack of the Clones May 16, 2002 (2002-05-16) George Lucas and Jonathan Hales [34][35]
Revenge of the Sith May 19, 2005 (2005-05-19) George Lucas [36][37]
Sequel trilogy: Episodes VII–IX
The Force Awakens December 18, 2015 (2015-12-18) J. J. Abrams Lawrence Kasdan, J. J. Abrams and Michael Arndt Kathleen Kennedy, J.J. Abrams and Bryan Burk [31][38]
The Last Jedi December 15, 2017 (2017-12-15) Rian Johnson Kathleen Kennedy and Ram Bergman [39][40]
The Rise of Skywalker December 20, 2019 (2019-12-20) J. J. Abrams Chris Terrio and J. J. Abrams Derek Connolly, Colin Trevorrow, J.J. Abrams, and Chris Terrio Kathleen Kennedy, J. J. Abrams and Michelle Rejwan [41][42]
Darth Vader (left), Emperor Palpatine (center), and Luke Skywalker (right), are the characters in Star Wars

The Star Wars film series centers around three sets of trilogies, the nine films of which are collectively referred to as the "Skywalker Saga".[43] The saga was produced non-chronologically, beginning in media res with the release of the original trilogy between 1977 and 1983. This was followed by the prequel trilogy, released between 1999 and 2005, and the sequel trilogy, released between 2015 and 2019.[44]

Each trilogy focuses on a generation of the Force-sensitive Skywalker family and their struggle against the evil Sith lord Palpatine (Darth Sidious).[45] The original trilogy depicts the heroic development of Luke Skywalker as a Jedi and his fight against Palpatine's Galactic Empire alongside his sister, Leia.[46] The prequels tell the tragic backstory of their father, Anakin, who is corrupted by Palpatine and becomes Darth Vader.[47] The sequels follow the conflict between Leia's son, Ben Solo, and Luke and Leia's protegé, Rey, and their eventual alliance against Palpatine after the fall of the Empire.[48]

Original trilogy[edit]

The original trilogy's main cast includes (from left to right) Mark Hamill (Luke Skywalker), Harrison Ford (Han Solo), Carrie Fisher (Princess Leia), and David Prowse (Darth Vader).

In 1971, George Lucas wanted to film an adaptation of the Flash Gordon serial, but could not obtain the rights, so he began developing his own space opera.[49][c] After directing American Graffiti (1973), he wrote a two-page synopsis, which 20th Century Fox decided to invest in.[50][51] By 1974, he had expanded the story into the first draft of a screenplay.[52] Fox expected the film would be of limited financial success, and so it was given a relatively low budget, with production being moved to Elstree Studios in England to help save on cost.[53]

Star Wars was released on May 25, 1977, and first subtitled Episode IV: A New Hope in the 1979 book The Art of Star Wars.[54] The film's success led Lucas to make it the basis of an elaborate film serial.[55] With the backstory he created for the sequel, Lucas decided that the series would be a trilogy of trilogies.[56] Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back was released on May 21, 1980, also achieving wide financial and critical success. The final film in the trilogy, Episode VI: Return of the Jedi, was released on May 25, 1983.

Prequel trilogy[edit]

The prequel trilogy's main cast includes (from left to right) Ewan McGregor (Obi-Wan Kenobi), Natalie Portman (Padmé Amidala), Hayden Christensen (Anakin Skywalker),[d] and Ian McDiarmid (Palpatine).

According to producer Gary Kurtz, loose plans for a prequel trilogy were developed during the outlining of the original two films.[57] In 1980, Lucas confirmed that he had the nine-film series plotted,[58] but due to the stress of producing the original trilogy, he had decided to cancel further sequels by 1981.[59] In 1983, Lucas explained that "There was never a script completed that had the entire story as it exists now ... As the stories unfolded, I would take certain ideas and save them ... I kept taking out all the good parts, and I just kept telling myself I would make other movies someday."[60]

Technical advances in the late 1980s and early 1990s, including the ability to create computer-generated imagery (CGI), inspired Lucas to consider that it might be possible to revisit his saga. In 1989, Lucas stated that the prequels would be "unbelievably expensive".[61] In 1992, he acknowledged that he had plans to create the prequel trilogy.[62] A theatrical rerelease of the original trilogy in 1997 "updated" the 20-year-old films with the style of CGI envisioned for the new trilogy.[63]

Episode I: The Phantom Menace was released on May 19, 1999, Episode II: Attack of the Clones on May 16, 2002, and Episode III: Revenge of the Sith on May 19, 2005.[64] The first two films were met with mixed reviews, with the third being received somewhat more positively. Together with the original trilogy, Lucas has referred to the first six episodic films of the franchise as "the tragedy of Darth Vader".[65]

Sequel trilogy[edit]

The sequel trilogy's main cast includes (from left to right) Adam Driver (Kylo Ren), Daisy Ridley (Rey), John Boyega (Finn), and Oscar Isaac (Poe Dameron).

Prior to releasing the original 1977 film, and made possible by its success, Lucas planned "three trilogies of nine films".[56][66] However, he announced to Time in 1978 that he planned "10 sequels".[67] He confirmed that he had outlined the prequels and sequels in 1981.[68] At various stages of development, the sequel trilogy was to focus on the rebuilding of the Republic,[69] the return of Luke as a Jedi Master (a role similar to that of Obi-Wan Kenobi in the original trilogy),[66] Luke's sister (not yet determined to be Leia),[57] Han, Leia,[70] R2-D2 and C-3PO.[56][71] However, after beginning work on the prequel trilogy, Lucas insisted that Star Wars was meant to be a six-part series and that there would be no sequel trilogy.[72][73]

Lucas decided to leave the franchise in the hands of other filmmakers, announcing in January 2012 that he would make no more Star Wars films.[74] That October, the Walt Disney Company agreed to buy Lucasfilm and announced that Episode VII would be released in 2015.[75] The co-chairman of Lucasfilm, Kathleen Kennedy, became president and served as executive producer of new Star Wars feature films.[76] Lucas provided Kennedy his story treatments for the sequels during the 2012 sale,[77] but in 2015 it was revealed Lucas's sequel outline had been discarded.[78][79] The sequel trilogy also meant the end of the Star Wars Expanded Universe stories, which were discarded from canon to give "maximum creative freedom to the filmmakers and also preserve an element of surprise and discovery for the audience."[1]

Episode VII: The Force Awakens was released on December 16, 2015, Episode VIII: The Last Jedi on December 13, 2017, and Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker on December 18, 2019, in many countries.[e] The Force Awakens and T

Kat Von D

Kat Von D theme by Daniel Keen

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Kat Von D
Von D in March 2016
Born
Katherine von Drachenberg

(1982-03-08) March 8, 1982 (age 42)
Occupations
  • Tattoo artist
  • television personality
  • entrepreneur
  • recording artist
Spouses
  • (m. 2003; div. 2007)
  • (m. 2018)
Children1
Websitekatvond.com

Katherine von Drachenberg[2][3] (born March 8, 1982), known professionally as Kat Von D, is a Mexican-American tattoo artist, television personality, entrepreneur and recording artist. She is best known for her work as a tattoo artist on the TLC reality television show LA Ink, which premiered in the United States on August 7, 2007, and ran for four seasons. She is also known for being the former head of Kat Von D Beauty (renamed KVD Vegan Beauty). In May 2021, Kat Von D released her first single "Exorcism" from her album Love Made Me Do It.

Early life[edit]

Katherine von Drachenberg was born in Montemorelos, Nuevo León, Mexico.[2][4] Her parents, René and Sylvia (née Galeano),[5] both of whom were missionaries for the Seventh-day Adventist Church,[6] were born in Argentina, and are respectively of German, Italian, Spanish, and Indigenous descent.[4][7][8] Von D has a sister, Karoline and a brother, Michael.[9] She moved with her family to the Inland Empire at age four and grew up in Loma Linda, California. Von D was classically trained in piano beginning at age six.[10]

Von D credits her paternal grandmother, Clara von Drachenberg, as an inspiration for her in music and art,[11] and the culture of San Bernardino County as a major influence on her tattoo art and style.[12] She began listening to the Ramones, Misfits, and other punk rock bands at the age of 12. She got her first tattoo at 14 and quit school at 16 to become a tattoo artist.[13][14]

When she was 15, Von D was sent to Provo Canyon School for six months, a notorious facility of the troubled teen industry, where she says she suffered abuse.[15][16] Provo Canyon School is the same boarding school that Paris Hilton attended; Hilton has also alleged that she was abused while attending this school.[15]

Career[edit]

Von D at the 2007 Calgary Tattoo & Arts Festival

Von D appeared in two seasons of Miami Ink, the reality TV show taped at 305 Ink in Miami[17] for the cable network TLC. She was offered the place on the show after fellow artist Darren Brass broke his elbow,[18] preventing him from tattooing. While on the show, she had a falling out with Ami James, which led to her decision to leave the shop and the show.[19]

She subsequently acquired her own TLC series, LA Ink, which chronicled her work at her tattoo shop, High Voltage Tattoo, in Hollywood, California. On the show, she broke the Guinness World Record of most tattoos given by a single person in 24 hours, with a total of 400.[20] Accomplished in December 2007, it involved a Von D-designed logo for the city of Los Angeles, with proceeds going to the children's-blindness charity Vitamin Angels.[21] LA Ink ran four seasons, ending September 15, 2011; TLC announced the cancellation on August 18, 2011.[22] Von D has publicly said that the cancellation was because she chose not to continue doing the show.[23]

Her first book, High Voltage Tattoo, compiling her artworks and tattoos, with a foreword by Mötley Crüe's Nikki Sixx, was released in January 2009 and reached #6 on The New York Times Best Seller list.[24] Von D described the book as "not an autobiography, you know, 'cause I'm too young to do that. But this is just kind of like a picture-driven outline of my career as an artist. So, you see everything from my drawings when I was six to tattoos that have never before been seen."[25] Her second book, The Tattoo Chronicles, an illustrated diary following a year in her life, was released October 26, 2010, and reached #3 on The New York Times "Hardcover Advice & Misc." Best Seller list.[26]

In 2008, Von D created and launched a make-up line for Sephora.[27] She has released new collections every year and has expanded her line to include fragrances.[28] In 2012, through Sephora, her New American Beauty Art Tour benefitted the Art of Elysium charitable organization.[29] In June 2016, she announced that all products in the line would be reformulated to be vegan.[30] In August 2016, the line released a limited-edition lipstick named Project Chimps, with 20% of sales being donated to Project Chimps, an organization dedicated to providing care for retired research chimpanzees.[31]

Her makeup line received controversy after the release of a lipstick called "Selektion," because the word is considered controversial and inappropriate in the word's native Germany, where it was a term used for Nazis who decided which individuals would be chosen to either be put to work or death upon arrival to concentration camps during World War II. The fallout led to the lipstick being renamed "Beloved". The choice of "Selektion" drew attention to other perceived insensitive acts; The Forward called her "anti-Jew."[32] Von D fell under criticism again when she named a lipstick "Celebutard", Sephora quickly pulled the lipstick from their stores and issued an apology.[33]

Von D is the creator of the MusInk Tattoo Convention and Music Festival,[34][35] which began in 2008.[36] Musink is an all ages tattoo, music, and art festival located in Southern California.

On September 2, 2010, Von D opened the art gallery and boutique Wonderland Gallery in the space next door to High Voltage Tattoo.[37] She launched the clothing lines KVD Los Angeles and Kat Von D Los Angeles in the US and Canada in fall 2011, with the latter expanding internationally the following year.[38]

Von D provided the female vocals to the song "Rosary Blue" on X, a 2012 studio album by the Finnish gothic rock band The 69 Eyes.[39] In August 2013, she tweeted that Dave Grohl and producer Danny Lohner had finished two tracks of an album she had talked about recording as early as 2011.[40]

In 2016 she recorded vocals for the electronic music duo, Prayers, on the song "Black Leather", and appeared in the band's video for the song.[41][42]

In 2018, she collaborated with Rooney Mara, Sia, Sadie Sink and Joaquin Phoenix to narrate Chris Delforce's animal rights documentary Dominion.[43] For her contribution to the documentary, she was granted the 2018 Award of Excellence for Narration by Hollywood International Independent Documentary Awards.[44] Von D makes guest appearance on three songs on the 2018 album Alive in New Light by IAMX.[45] She also appeared on synthwave band Gunship album Dark All Day in the song "Black Blood, Red Kiss".

On January 16, 2020, Von D announced she had sold her namesake beauty brand to its parent company, Kendo Brands (a subsidiary of LVMH). The brand will be rebranded as "KVD Vegan Beauty". According to the company the letters KVD now stand for "Kindness, Vegan Beauty, and Discovery (and Doing Good)".[46] This was followed by another rebrand on Tuesday 2 March 2021 to "KVD Beauty" where KVD stands for "Kara", "Veritas", "Decora". This translates to "Value", "Truth" and "Beauty" respectively.[47]

In October 2021, she announced that she would be closing High Voltage on December 1 and moving with her family to Indiana.[48]

Personal life[edit]

In July 2007, Von D decided to stop drinking after her usage of alcohol started to threaten her work.[49] Von D recalled that "getting sober was not easy for me...I still clearly remember the physical pain from withdrawals, the profound desire to die, and the overwhelming sense of loneliness I felt that day that I decided to quit."[50]

Von D has tattooed herself with the emblems of the bands HIM, Misfits, Turbonegro, ZZ Top, Guns N' Roses, AC/DC, Kent, Slayer, Mike Got Spiked and "Slutallica", a modified Metallica logo.[10] She appeared in the music video of HIM's "Killing Loneliness", Alkaline Trio's "Help Me", GUNSHIP's "Black Blood Red Kiss",[51] and "Black Leather" by Cholo Goth band Prayers. Other musical artists that Von D lists among her favorites include Lemmy Kilmister, The Mars Volta and Selena.[52]

Von D divides her time between Windsor Square, Los Angeles and Vevay, Indiana.[53]

Views[edit]

Von D is a vegan, and her former makeup line is vegan and cruelty-free.[54] In 2016, she received Farm Sanctuary's "Compassion in Action Award" for her work on behalf of animal rights.[55]

Von D sparked controversy in June 2018, when she indicated in an Instagram post that she would refuse to vaccinate her future child and would raise her child on a vegan diet.[56][57] In March 2020, renounced her anti-vaxxer position, saying she had been "completely uninformed" about vaccinations and that she is "not an anti-vaxxer at all".[58]

Religious beliefs[edit]

During an interview with Allie Beth Stuckey, Von D shared that she had become a Christian a year prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.[59] In 2023, she was baptized at the Switzerland Baptist Church in Vevay, Indiana.[60][61]

Relationships[edit]

Von D married fellow tattoo artist Oliver Peck in 2003.[62] They separated in August 2007,[63] and finalized their divorce later that year.[64]

Von D then dated Alex "Orbi" Orbison from 2007 to early 2008, as was documented on the first season of LA Ink. Von D and Orbison move in together in the episode "Kat Cleans Up", and in the last episode of the season, titled "Orbi's Secret", Orbison asks Von D's father for permission to marry her. By the first episode of Season 2, their relationship was over.

From February 2008 until January 2010, Von D dated Mötley Crüe bassist Nikki Sixx.[65][66]

She subsequently began dating motorcycle customizer, West Coast Choppers CEO, and reality TV personality Jesse James.[63] On August 19, 2010, Von D confirmed media reports that she and James were dating, tweeting, "I think it's pretty obvious that we're dating."[67] Von D and James became engaged in January 2011.[68] Von D announced that they had split in July 2011.[69][70] However, in August 2011, Von D and James announced that their engagement was back on.[71] In September 2011, Von D announced that she and James had broken up again.[72]

In September 2012, Von D began dating Canadian music producer Joel Zimmerman, known professionally as Deadmau5,[73] and gave him a star tattoo below his eye to match her own.[74] They broke up in November 2012.[74] However, on December 15, 2012, Zimmerman proposed to Von D over Twitter, and she accepted, becoming engaged to him.[75] In June 2013, Von D announced that she and Zimmerman had ended their engagement. Von D cited Zimmerman's alleged infidelity as the reason, which Zimmerman has denied.[76]

On February 21, 2018, Von D married artist Rafael Reyes.[77] In November 2018, she gave birth to their son.[78]

Media[edit]

Von D is referenced in the Eagles of Death Metal song "High Voltage", which was named after her shop and is featured on the band's third album, Heart On. In an interview, Eagles of Death Metal's Jesse Hughes said, "I wrote that for Kat Von D, because that girl's bad ass."[79]

Selected filmography[edit]

In addition to cameo and talk-show appearances, Von D's television, film, and video game appearances include:

Year Title Notes
2004 Pimp My Ride[80]
2005

2006

Miami Ink[80]
2007

2011

LA Ink
April 5, 2008 MADtv[81]
2008 Bam Margera Presents: Where the ♯$&% Is Santa?
2008 I Love the New Millennium
2009 The Bleeding[82] As Vanya
2009 Tony Hawk: Ride[83] Video Game; unlockable skater
2010 Lemmy
2013 I Love Jenni[84]
February 11, 2016 Life in Pieces[85]
2018 Dominion[86] Narration
2022 The Lincoln Lawyer Poker Dealer

Discography[edit]

Studio albums[edit]

Year Title
2021 Love Made Me Do It[87]

EPs[edit]

Year Title
2021 Exorcisms

Singles[edit]

Year Title
2021 Exorcism
I Am Nothing
Enough
Fear You
2022 Fotos y Recuerdos
Lovesong
2023 Vampire Love

Other releases[edit]

Year Music Title Note
2013 Rosary Blue The 69 Eyes feat. Kat Von D
2017 Black Leather Prayers feat. Kat

Von D

2018 Stardust IAMX feat. Kat Von D
Stalker IAMX feat. Kat Von D
The Power and the Glory IAMX feat. Kat Von D
2019 The Boy Inside the Skeleton Heaven Process feat. Kat Von D, Prayers
Creatures (Out of Tune) Heaven Process feat. Mark Burgess, Kat Von D, Prayers, Chelsey Boy
Time Stands Stil Heaven Process feat. Kat Von D
Heaven Below (Descending) Heaven Process feat. Kat Von D
2020 Black Blood Red Kiss Gunship with Kat Von D
2023 This Murder Takes Two The 69 Eyes feat Kat Von D

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Kat Von D". TVGuide.com. Archived from the original on September 14, 2015. Retrieved July 14, 2016.
  2. ^ a b Rojas, Theresa N. (2013). Aldama, Frederick Luis (ed.). Latinos and Narrative Media: Participation and Portrayal. New York, NY, United States: Palgrave Macmillan. p. 119. ISBN 9781137361783. Retrieved September 9, 2014. Katherine Von Drachenberg, who was born in Montemorelos, Nuevo León, Mexico, and grew up in Colton, California, began tattooing friends at age 14
  3. ^ Von D, Kat (2009). High Voltage Tattoo – The Autobiography of Kat Von D. HarperCollins. p. 55. ISBN 978-0-06-168438-8. Portrait of my father: Black-and-gray portrait of my father, Rene Von Drachenberg, in a high-school photo taken in Argentina in the 1960s. Note: Kat Von D's official biography gives father's name as simply "René Drachenberg": "Her father René Drachenberg and her mother Silvia Galeano were both born in Argentina, though René's family origins were German and Silvia's Spanish-Italian."
  4. ^ a b Von D, Kat (2009). "One Highway to Hell: The autobiography of Kat Von D". High Voltage Tattoo. United States: HarperCollins. p. 15. ISBN 9780061684388. Retrieved September 9, 2014. The first person who ever held me was my grandfather, Carlos Von Drachenberg. He was the doctor who delivered me in March 1982, in Montemorelos, Nuevo León, Mexico. I come from a long line of doctors. When I was born, my grandpa was teaching medicine in Mexico as a missionary for the Seventh-day Adventist Church Church while my father finished his schooling in the medical field. My family came from Argentina, but until I was four, we lived in Mexico.
  5. ^ "Inside the life of Kat von D, the controversial tattoo artist who ditched the occult and is covering her ink". Insider.com.
  6. ^ Krause, Amanda (July 26, 2022). "Inside the life on controversial artist Kat Von D". The Insider. Retrieved September 29, 2022.
  7. ^ Von D, High Voltage Tattoo, p. 57
  8. ^ "Facts about Kat : LA Ink". TLC. Archived from the original on November 14, 2010. Retrieved September 20, 2010.
  9. ^ Von D, Kat (2010). The Tattoo Chronicles. HarperCollins. p. 22. ISBN 978-0-06-195336-1.
  10. ^ a b Geist, Brandon (June 2008). "Region of Blood". Revolver: 83.
  11. ^ Von D, High Voltage Tattoo, p. 15
  12. ^ "Kat Von D Exclusive!". En.Terra.com. Retrieved December 5, 2009.
  13. ^ Cooper, Leonie (July 11, 2008). "Life at the sharp end". The Guardian. London, UK. Archived from the original on April 2, 2009.
  14. ^

rev LCARS

rev LCARS theme by revscott

Download: revLCARS.p3t

rev LCARS Theme
(1 background)

P3T Unpacker v0.12
Copyright (c) 2007. Anoop Menon

This program unpacks Playstation 3 Theme files (.p3t) so that you can touch-up an existing theme to your likings or use a certain wallpaper from it (as many themes have multiple). But remember, if you use content from another theme and release it, be sure to give credit!

Download for Windows: p3textractor.zip

Instructions:

Download p3textractor.zip from above. Extract the files to a folder with a program such as WinZip or WinRAR. Now there are multiple ways to extract the theme.

The first way is to simply open the p3t file with p3textractor.exe. If you don’t know how to do this, right click the p3t file and select Open With. Alternatively, open the p3t file and it will ask you to select a program to open with. Click Browse and find p3textractor.exe from where you previously extracted it to. It will open CMD and extract the theme to extracted.[filename]. After that, all you need to do for any future p3t files is open them and it will extract.

The second way is very simple. Just drag the p3t file to p3textractor.exe. It will open CMD and extract the theme to extracted.[filename].

For the third way, first put the p3t file you want to extract into the same folder as p3textractor.exe. Open CMD and browse to the folder with p3extractor.exe. Enter the following:
p3textractor filename.p3t [destination path]Replace filename with the name of the p3t file, and replace [destination path] with the name of the folder you want the files to be extracted to. A destination path is not required. By default it will extract to extracted.filename.

Transformers #6

Transformers theme by ROYCOROOI

Download: Transformers_6.p3t

Transformers Theme 6
(no backgrounds)

Transformers
Transformers franchise logo introduced in 2014
Franchise logo, 2014–present
Created by
Original workTransformers (based on Diaclone and Micro Change)
Years1984–present
Print publications
Book(s)Complete list
ComicsComplete list
Films and television
Film(s)Animated Live-action
Animated seriesComplete list
Games
Video game(s)Complete list
Audio
Soundtrack(s)Transformers audio releases
Miscellaneous
Related franchises

Transformers is a media franchise produced by American toy company Hasbro and Japanese toy company Takara Tomy. It primarily follows the heroic Autobots and the villainous Decepticons, two alien robot factions at war that can transform into other forms, such as vehicles and animals. The franchise encompasses toys, animation, comic books, video games and films. As of 2011, it generated more than ¥2 trillion ($25 billion) in revenue,[1] making it one of the highest-grossing media franchises of all time.

The franchise began in 1984 with the Transformers toy line, comprising transforming mecha toys from Takara's Diaclone and Micro Change toylines rebranded for Western markets.[2] The term "Generation 1" covers both the animated television series The Transformers and the comic book series of the same name, which are further divided into Japanese, British and Canadian spin-offs, respectively. Sequels followed, such as the Generation 2 comic book and Beast Wars TV series, which became its own mini-universe. Generation 1 characters have been rebooted multiple times in the 21st century in comics from Dreamwave Productions (starting 2001), IDW Publishing (starting in 2005 and again in 2019), and Skybound Entertainment (beginning in 2023). There have been other incarnations of the story based on different toy lines during and after the 20th century. The first was the Robots in Disguise series, followed by three shows (Armada, Energon, and Cybertron) that constitute a single universe called the "Unicron Trilogy".

A live-action film series started in 2007, again distinct from previous incarnations, while the Transformers: Animated series merged concepts from the G1 continuity, the 2007 live-action film and the "Unicron Trilogy". For most of the 2010s, in an attempt to mitigate the wave of reboots, the "Aligned Continuity" was established. In 2018, Transformers: Cyberverse debuted, once again, distinct from the previous incarnations.

Although initially a separate and competing franchise started in 1983, Tonka's GoBots became the intellectual property of Hasbro after their buyout of Tonka in 1991. Subsequently, the universe depicted in the animated series Challenge of the GoBots and follow-up film GoBots: Battle of the Rock Lords was retroactively established as an alternate universe within the Transformers multiverse.[3]

Fiction[edit]

Transformers: Generation 1 (1984–1993)[edit]

Classic Transformers franchise logo used until 2014
Spider-Man battles Megatron on the cover of The Transformers #3.

Generation One is a retroactive term for the Transformers characters that appeared between 1984 and 1993. The Transformers began with the 1980s Japanese toy lines Micro Change and Diaclone. They presented robots able to transform into everyday vehicles, electronic items or weapons. Hasbro bought the Micro Change and Diaclone toys, and partnered with Takara.[4] Marvel Comics was hired by Hasbro to create the backstory; editor-in-chief Jim Shooter wrote an overall story, and gave the task of creating the characters to writer Dennis O'Neil.[5] Unhappy with O'Neil's work (although O'Neil created the name "Optimus Prime"), Shooter chose Bob Budiansky to create the characters.[6]

The Transformers mecha were largely designed by Shōji Kawamori, the creator of the Japanese mecha anime franchise Macross (which was adapted into the Robotech franchise in North America).[7] Kawamori came up with the idea of transforming mechs while working on the Diaclone and Macross franchises in the early 1980s (such as the VF-1 Valkyrie in Macross and Robotech), with his Diaclone mechs later providing the basis for Transformers.[8]

The primary concept of Generation One is that the heroic Optimus Prime, the villainous Megatron, and their finest soldiers crash-land on prehistoric Earth in the Ark and the Nemesis before awakening in 1985, Cybertron hurtling through the Neutral zone as an effect of the war. The Marvel comic was originally part of the main Marvel Universe, with appearances from Spider-Man and Nick Fury, plus some cameos,[9] as well as a visit to the Savage Land.[10]

The Transformers TV series began around the same time. Produced by Sunbow Productions and Marvel Productions, later Hasbro Productions, from the start it contradicted Budiansky's backstories. The TV series shows the Autobots looking for new energy sources, and crash landing as the Decepticons attack.[11] Marvel interpreted the Autobots as destroying a rogue asteroid approaching Cybertron.[12] Shockwave is loyal to Megatron on the TV series, keeping Cybertron in a stalemate during his absence,[13] but in the comic book, he attempts to take command of the Decepticons.[14] The TV series would also differ wildly from the origins Budiansky had created for the Dinobots,[15][16] the Decepticon turned Autobot Jetfire[17] (known as Skyfire on TV[18]), the Constructicons (who combine to form Devastator),[19][20] and Omega Supreme.[19][21] The Marvel comic establishes early on that Prime wields the Creation Matrix, which gives life to machines. In the second season, the two-part episode The Key to Vector Sigma introduced the ancient Vector Sigma computer, which served the same original purpose as the Creation Matrix (giving life to Transformers), and its guardian Alpha Trion.

In 1986, the cartoon became the film The Transformers: The Movie, which is set in the year 2005. It introduced the Matrix as the "Autobot Matrix of Leadership", as a fatally wounded Prime gives it to Ultra Magnus; however, as Prime dies he drops the matrix, which is then caught by Hot Rod who subsequently becomes Rodimus Prime later on in the film. Unicron, a Transformer who devours planets, fears its power and re-creates a heavily damaged Megatron as Galvatron, as well as Bombshell or Skywarp becoming Cyclonus, Thundercracker becoming Scourge and two other Insecticons becoming Scourge's huntsmen, the Sweeps. Eventually, Rodimus Prime takes out the Matrix and destroys Unicron.[22] In the United Kingdom, the weekly comic book interspliced original material to keep up with U.S. reprints,[23] and The Movie provided much new material. Writer Simon Furman proceeded to expand the continuity with movie spin-offs involving the time travelling Galvatron.[24][25] The Movie also featured guest voices from Leonard Nimoy as Galvatron, Scatman Crothers as Jazz, Casey Kasem as Cliffjumper, Orson Welles as Unicron and Eric Idle as the leader of the Junkions (Wreck-Gar, though unnamed in the movie). The Transformers theme tune for the film was performed by Lion with "Weird Al" Yankovic adding a song to the soundtrack.

The third season followed up The Movie, with the revelation of the Quintessons having used Cybertron as a factory. Their robots rebel, and in time the workers become the Autobots and the soldiers become the Decepticons. (Note: This appears to contradict background presented in the first two seasons of the series.) It is the Autobots who develop transformation.[26] Due to popular demand,[27] Optimus Prime is resurrected at the conclusion of the third season,[28] and the series ended with a three-episode story arc. However, the Japanese broadcast of the series was supplemented with a newly produced OVA, Scramble City, before creating entirely new series to continue the storyline, ignoring the 1987 end of the American series. The extended Japanese run consisted of The Headmasters, Super-God Masterforce, Victory and Zone, then in illustrated magazine form as Battlestars: Return of Convoy and Operation: Combination. Just as the TV series was wrapping up, Marvel continued to expand its continuity. It follows The Movie's example by killing Prime[29] and Megatron,[30] albeit in the present day. Dinobot leader Grimlock takes over as Autobot leader.[31] There was a G.I. Joe crossover[32] and the limited series The Transformers: Headmasters, which further expanded the scope to the planet Nebulon.[33] It led on to the main title resurrecting Prime as a Powermaster.[34]

In the United Kingdom, the mythology continued to grow. Primus is introduced as the creator of the Transformers, to serve his material body that is planet Cybertron and fight his nemesis Unicron.[35] Female Autobot Arcee also appeared, despite the comic book stating the Transformers had no concept of gender, with her backstory of being built by the Autobots to quell human accusations of sexism.[36] Soundwave, Megatron's second-in-command, also breaks the fourth wall in the letters page, criticising the cartoon continuity as an inaccurate representation of history.[37] The UK also had a crossover in Action Force, the UK counterpart to G.I. Joe.[38] The comic book features a resurrected Megatron,[39] whom Furman retconned to be a clone[40] when he took over the U.S. comic book, which depicted Megatron as still dead.[41] The U.S. comic would last for 80 issues until 1991,[42] and the UK comic lasted 332 issues and several annuals, until it was replaced as Dreamwave Productions, later in the 20th-Century.

In 2009, Shout! Factory released the entire G1 series in a 16-DVD box set called the Matrix of Leadership Edition.[43] They also released the same content as individual seasons.[44]

Transformers: Generation 2 (1993–1995)[edit]

It was five issues[45] of the G.I. Joe comic in 1993 that would springboard a return for Marvel's Transformers, with the new twelve-issue series Transformers: Generation 2, to market a new toy line.

This story reveals that the Transformers originally breed asexually, though it is stopped by Primus because it produced the evil Swarm.[46] A new empire, neither Autobot nor Decepticon, is bringing it back, however. Though the year-long arc wrapped itself up with an alliance between Optimus Prime and Megatron, the final panel introduces the Liege Maximo, ancestor of the Decepticons.[47] This minor cliffhanger was not resolved until 2001 and 2002's Transforce convention when writer Simon Furman concluded his story in the exclusive novella Alignment.[48]

Beast Wars and Beast Machines (1996–2000)[edit]

The story focuses on a small group of Maximals (the new Autobots), led by Optimus Primal, and Predacons, led by Megatron, 300 years after the "Great War". After a dangerous pursuit through transwarp space, both the Maximal and Predacon factions end up crash landing on a primitive, uncivilized planet similar to Earth, but with two moons and a dangerous level of Energon (which is later revealed to be prehistoric Earth with an artificial second moon, taking place sometime during the 4 million year period in which the Autobots and Decepticons were in suspended animation from the first episode of the original Transformers cartoon), which forces them to take organic beast forms in order to function without going into stasis lock.[49] After writing this first episode, Bob Forward and Larry DiTillio learned of the G1 Transformers and began to use elements of it as a historical backstory to their scripts,[50] establishing Beast Wars as a part of the Generation 1 universe through numerous callbacks to both the cartoon and the Marvel comic. By the end of the first season, the second moon and the Energon are revealed to have been constructed by a mysterious alien race known as the Vok.

Beast Wars Megatron attacks Optimus Prime in a clash of generations.

The destruction of the second moon releases mysterious energies that make some of the characters "transmetal" and the planet is revealed to be prehistoric Earth, leading to the discovery of the Ark. Megatron attempts to kill the original Optimus Prime,[51] but at the beginning of the third season, Primal manages to preserve his spark. In the two-season follow-up series, Beast Machines, Cybertron is revealed to have organic origins, which Megatron attempts to stamp out.

After the first season of Beast Wars (comprising 26 episodes) aired in Japan, the Japanese were faced with a problem. The second Canadian season was only 13 episodes long, not enough to warrant airing on Japanese TV. While they waited for the third Canadian season to be completed (thereby making 26 episodes in total when added to season 2), they produced two exclusive cel-animated series of their own, Beast Wars II (also called Beast Wars Second) and Beast Wars Neo, to fill in the gap. Dreamwave retroactively revealed Beast Wars to be the future of their G1 universe,[52] and the 2006 IDW comic book Beast Wars: The Gathering eventually confirmed the Japanese series to be canon[53] within a story set during Season 3.[54]

Beast Wars contained elements from both the G1 cartoon series and comics. Attributes taken from the cartoon include Transformers that were female, the appearance of Starscream (who mentions being killed off by Galvatron in The Transformers: The Movie), and appearances of the Plasma Energy Chamber and Key to Vector Sigma. The naming of the Transformer ship, the Ark (and reference to 1984, the year the Transformers on board are revived), the character Ravage being shown as intelligent, and Cybertron having an organic core are elements taken from the comics.

In 2011, Shout! Factory released the complete series of Beast Wars on DVD.[55]

Dreamwave Productions (2001–2005)[edit]

In 2001, Dreamwave Productions began a new universe of annual comics adapted from Marvel, but also included elements of the animated. The Dreamwave stories followe the concept of the Autobots defeating the Decepticons on Earth, but their 1997 return journey to Cybertron on the Ark II[56] is destroyed by Shockwave, now ruler of the planet.[57] The story follows on from there and was told in two six-issue limited series, then a ten-issue ongoing series. The series also adds extra complexities such as not all Transformers believing in the existence of Primus,[58] corruption in the Cybertronian government that first led Megatron to begin his war,[59] and Earth having an unknown relevance to Cybertron.[57][60]

Three Transformers: The War Within limited series were also published. These are set at the beginning of the Great War, and identify Prime as once being a clerk named Optronix.[61] Beast Wars was also retroactively stated as the future of this continuity, with the profile series More than Meets the Eye showing the Predacon Megatron looking at historical files detailing Dreamwave's characters and taking his name from the original Megatron.[52] In 2004, this real life universe also inspired three novels[62] and a Dorling Kindersley guide, which focused on Dreamwave as the "true" continuity when discussing in-universe elements of the characters. In a new twist, Primus and Unicron are siblings, formerly a being known as the One. Transformers: Micromasters, set after the Ark's disappearance, was also published. The real life universe was disrupted when Dreamwave went bankrupt in 2005.[63] This left the Generation One story hanging and the third volume of The War Within half finished. Plans for a comic book set between Beast Wars and Beast Machines were also left unrealized.[64]

G.I. Joe crossovers (2003–present)[edit]

Throughout the years, the G1 characters have also starred in crossovers with fellow Hasbro property G.I. Joe, but whereas those crossovers published by Marvel were in continuity with their larger storyline, those released by Dreamwave and G.I. Joe publisher Devil's Due Publishing occupy their own separate real life universes. In Devil's Due, the terrorist organization Cobra is responsible for finding and reactivating the Transformers. Dreamwave's version reimagines the familiar G1 and G.I. Joe characters in a World War II setting, and a second limited series was released set in the present day, though Dreamwave's bankruptcy meant it was cancelled after a single issue. Devil's Due had Cobra re-engineer the Transformers to turn into familiar Cobra vehicles, and released further mini-series that sent the characters travelling through time, battling Serpentor and being faced with the combined menace of Cobra-La and Unicron. During this time, Cobra teams up with the Decepticons. IDW Publishing has expressed interest in their own crossover.[65]

IDW publishing (2005–2022)[edit]

The following year, IDW Publishing rebooted the G1 series from scratch within various limited series and one shots. This allowed long-time writer of Marvel and Dreamwave comics, Simon Furman to create his own universe without continuity hindrance, similar to Ultimate Marvel. This new continuity originally consisted of a comic book series titled The Transformers with a companion series known as The Transformers: Spotlight. The main series was broken up into several story arcs. Eventually, with IDW Publishing losing sales, the series was given a soft reboot. Beginning with All Hail Megatron, the series was set in a new direction, discarding the miniseries and Spotlight format with ongoing comics. By 2012 the series had split into three ongoing series; The Transformers: More Than Meets The Eye, The Transformers: Robots in Disguise (which later changed in 2015 to "The Transformers") and The Transformers: Till All Are One. In 2022, it was announced that IDW lost the publishing rights to Transformers.[66]

Alternative stories[edit]

In January 2006, the Hasbro Transformers Collectors' Club comic wrote a story based on the Transformers Classics toy line, set in the Marvel Comics universe, but excluding the Generation 2 comic. Fifteen years after Megatron crash-lands in the Ark with Ratchet, the war continues with the characters in their Classics bodies.[67]

IDW Publishing introduced The Transformers: Evolutions in 2006, a collection of mini-series that re-imagine and reinterpret the G1 characters in various ways. To date, only one miniseries has been published, Hearts of Steel, placing the characters in an Industrial Revolution-era setting. The series was delayed as Hasbro did not want to confuse newcomers with too many fictional universes before the release of the live-action film.[68]

However, IDW and the original publisher Marvel Comics announced a crossover storyline with the Avengers to coincide with the film New Avengers/Transformers.[69] The story is set on the borders of Symkaria and Latveria, and its fictional universe is set between the first two New Avengers storylines, as well in between the Infiltration and Escalation phase of IDW's The Transformers.[70] IDW editor-in-chief, Chris Ryall hinted at elements of it being carried over into the main continuities,[71] and that a sequel is possible.[72] In June 2018 it was announced there would be Star Trek and Transformers Crossover being released in September 2018.[73]

Transformers: Kiss Players (2006–2007)[edit]

Transformers: Kiss Players (トランスフォーマー キスぷれ, Toransufōmā Kisu Pure), shortened to Kiss Players (キスぷれ, Kisu Pure), is a Japanese Transformers franchise which began in 2006 to 2007 as was helmed by artist and writer Yuki Ohshima. By virtue of being the only Transformers toyline and fiction released in Japan by Takara between the conclusion of Cybertron and the live-acti