by David Underwood (Author)
The fictional narratives that have been developed for the support of the Transformers brand, with their underlying emphasis on the sale of action figures, have been dismissed as a somewhat juvenile and uninteresting text. Little to no serious academic analysis of any of the various iterations of the franchise has been undertaken. With this work, the author endeavours to begin that analysis and thus broaden and problematize the currently limited understanding of Transformers fictions. Focussing on the original animation (1984-1987) and the recent live-action movies (2007-2011), this work examines their attempts to offer a representation of the contemporaneous socio-political environment in America at the time of their production. Combining political analysis with film and media studies to seek out and explore the political themes and commentaries present in the world of Transformers, the key areas of political philosophy, technological change, the depiction of politicians, gender and sexuality, and America's international role are analysed.