Animation
Blood of Zeus
Creativity abounds here, but those artistic measures can’t blur the obvious issues that families are sure to discover.
The small town of Whitwicky, Pennsylvania is worlds apart from Philadelphia.
No consistent wifi. Not much to do. And 13-year-old Robby and 9-year-old Mo Malto feel the town’s smallness the most. These Philadelphia kids left behind their friends and the life they’ve always known to relocate to Whitwicky for their mom’s dream job and their father’s place as a professor.
Robby can’t accept his new reality, but optimistic and empathetic Mo is determined to help him adjust. So she does. But she doesn’t do it on her own.
One night, Robby hops on his bike in an attempt to run away from his new home and life. Mo chases him down, and the two of them happen upon something mysterious and wonderful: a glowing cave where they’re suddenly outfitted with cyber sleeves from the magical Emberstone.
And Transformers. But not just any transformers. Terrans. The world’s first Earthborn transformers.
As Robby and Mo witness the birth of these new bots, they’re immediately, emotionally bonded to them. And both humans and bots unite to become family.
Mentored by Bumblebee, these Terrans learn, with the help of Robby and Mo, how to function on Earth and how to work together to protect the planet from all sorts of evils, including the wandering Decepticons bent on the planet’s total destruction.
Transformers: EarthSpark, a TV-Y7 series on Paramount+, is set 15 years after the civil war between Autobots and Decepticons. In this present time, Terrans and Autbots work together for G.H.O.S.T (Global Hazard and Ordinance Strike Team) to repair the relationship between Autbots and humans and to fight off rogue Decepticons and even assimilate those who have pledged their robotic lives to a higher, purer purpose.
In this effort, sweet and empathetic Jawbreaker, obedient Hashtag, Dinobot ruler Grimlock, kind-but-fierce Aleta 1 and trainer Bumblebee work in unity.
It’s not always easy, especially when they come face to face with evil Mandroid, a one-time Transformer scientist. But they do their best with the help of their own instincts, and ethical traits learned from Robby and Mo Maleta.
This iteration of the Transformers franchise is new in that it feels deeply emotional–something that not all Transformers series can claim. But that’s also the point: It’s all about the human connection built between the Maleta children and the Earth-born Terrans.
We see a deep family connection between humans, too–as well as a lot of examples of kindness, empathy and understanding. There’s even an emphasis on learning how to control your inner power (speaking of the Transformers), so that it doesn’t control you. A lesson in self-control.
But there are some issues.
First, there’s still violence. After all, this is Transformers. There’s also a Transformer who tells Mo that it is non-binary–something accepted by the empathetic Mo.
So while there are praiseworthy elements here, there are also agendas that parents should recognize. Especially in a series aimed at elementary aged students.
King of the Dinobots, Grimlock, teaches Jawbreaker how to access and control his powers, while wrestling to do the same for himself.
A group of Transformers battles it out while crushing cars, breathing fire and using blaster guns, accidentally destroying the town around them.
Grimlock wrestles with his own inner thoughts and his desire to transform into a harmful Dinobot.
The word “stupid” is used twice.
Kristin Smith joined the Plugged In team in 2017. Formerly a Spanish and English teacher, Kristin loves reading literature and eating authentic Mexican tacos. She and her husband, Eddy, love raising their children Judah and Selah. Kristin also has a deep affection for coffee, music, her dog (Cali) and cat (Aslan).
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