But Bumblebee doesn't sound or come across like the Bumblebee we know and I don't know how he is characterized is going to translate well.
Well that is your opinion and I respect it and yes there is some truth to what you're saying since I would be giving my opinion of what the character is but I do think you're generalizing to some degree on the characters.
Take Hound for example. He's very different from the rest of the Autobots in some important ways.
Well we havent seen the movie though, have we. So it's unfair to the movie to judge Bumblebee so early. He might be just as great and likeable as the G1 version. In fact, I'm going to bet on it. He's never going to be or emulate the original G1 Bumble. He isnt the original bumblebee. He's a new one, a different one. But I think he'll be just as fun and entertaining.
I'm not trying to generalize the characters of G1. I know they are all diverse, but there's nothing to study about them. The characters are paper thin, you could read them like a book in their respective episodes. You got the "head strong autobot" the "Gruff but loveable autobot" "by the books autobot" etc etc. They truly arent characters that can be studied for hidden detail is what I'm getting at.
But you know the original G1 cartoons are great so might as well watch them and enjoy anyways. I know I rewatch a few episodes of S1 every now and then.
Yeah but y'know what, Z? They have to do it that way. Us Trans fans aren't gonna be the ones that make the movie do 100 million or more. They have to make it acceptable to the mainstream. The mainstream audience is where the money is. Sure, we count for something but the hardcore audience can't do it alone, so why are they gonna try to cater to us for every little thing we want. We'll never be happy anyway. We care about the robots we grew up with but the casual movie go-er can't sympathize with giant robots though they sure as hell can relate to humans that are about to see their world get trampled. I'm sure that if the movie is successful and spawns a sequel then maybe there will be more leeway into giving us the stuff that make us happy. The majority of fans are so dead set on hating this flick that no matter how good it might turn out to be, they're gonna wind up hating it anyway.
I'll be keeping an open mind and I'm not gonna hate it because they're not the Transformers I grew up with.
Case and point. Trans-fans will not be the ones making this movie a blockbuster hit. They will only amount to a 1/50th of a fraction in the ultimate scheme. Most of the people going to see this movie either havent seen or cared about TF or only saw the original cartoons and didnt watch beyond their childhood years. In order for this movie to sell it has to make sense to THOSE people and not to fans. It has to appeal to THEM and not YOU.
Be a "true fan" all you want, Sky Knight. In the end, some of us will go into the theater and come out smiling and happy. You'll just be by yourself, bitter, angry, and alone with nothing but a Message Board that will listen to your rantings and labels.