I was inspired by one of Disney's most brilliant animators and character designers, Glen Keane. From Beauty and the Beast to Pocahontas to Tarzan, the exaggeration yet accuracy to the characters' designs, facial expressions, and actions. So, being the lover of transforming robots as I am, I wanted to challenge myself and see what the Autobots would look like if they were part of the Disney universe. Brace yourselves, these designs might seem weird to you, but let's be real when Generation One was being created, you don't think it turned a few heads to see a drawing of a truck turning into a robot?

Optimus Prime

Optimus was the final design, because I love saving the best for last! I took a bit of Generation 1 and Transformers Prime designs and mashed it all together. As you can see, I sketched more on the face than I did the body. Being the powerful leader of the Autobots, I wanted Prime to have a strong yet gentle look. I tried to make him look confident and new, but ancient and full of wisdom at the same time. I wanted to give him a more of a 'father-figure' outlook.

Bumblebee

Bumblebee was the first one I drew out of all the Autobots. I looked at the Generation One design and thought he looked too blocky, so I took a lot from the Michael Bay movie version and Transformers Prime. I got the inspiration from Disney's Aladdin's face and thought it fit perfect with Bee's posture and exaggerated body language. Oh and yes, in this version he CAN talk.

Ironhide

When I sketched Ironhide, I knew what I wanted him to look like; big, tough, gruff, proud, and strong. Very much like the one from G1, but I tried to put a lot of character into his face. The eyebrows are probably my favorite out of this design. Oh, and I dig the license plate on his chest.

Ratchet

Ratchet was portrayed in many different ways throughout the Transformers franchises. To name a few, in Generation One he's the caring friendly doctor who gets in arguments with Ironhide. In the Bayverse movies he's old, wise, and rather a bit of a diplomat. In Transformers Prime, he's basically the grumpy uncle of the group. So, for this design, I took the color scheme of TFP (Transformers Prime) the friendliness from G1, and the diplomatic attitude from the Bayverse movies, mixed them altogether and BOOM! My version of Ratchet. My favorite part is his lab "coat." 

Jazz

'No one's cooler like Jazz, no one blasts music like Jazz, no one fights with style and agility like Jazz.' Of course Jazz is going to look cool, and give you the thumbs up. He's the type that will be your pal and look out for you 'til the bitter end. This is what I came up with. I tried to resemble his face to Scatman Crothers, the original voice of Jazz in G1. Then I thought to myself, "He's going to have a visor over his eyes, nobodies' going to catch that." So, I winged it.

Arcee

I know, I know, I'm getting a lot of TFP inspiration out of all these characters and Arcee is no exception. I loved her in Prime and her motorcycle form. The G1 version for some reason didn't do it for me, but I had an idea about the "hair" shape of her head. I gave her what looks like a bowl-cut hairstyle with bangs. It's close to resembling a motorcycle helmet as well. 

Wheeljack

There was only one man I thought of when I drew Wheeljack-- Doc Brown from Back to the Future. I don't know why, but I thought it was perfect. This Wheeljack carries a lot of similarities as Doc Brown, his eagerness, excitement, and over the top actions. It pays homage to his G1 counterpart, it gives him good body language that let's you know what he's up to, and again with the faces. Great Scott! I LOVE the faces!

Drift

So here's the deal with Drift. In Age of Extinction he was blue, in The Last Knight he was red. In the 2015 Robots in Disguise he was orange. So I thought the choice of color seemed obvious to me. He probably looks the most human out of all the Autobots. Don't get me wrong, he still transforms into an awesome car, but it's his posture and body language that seem so fluent. That's what I was trying to do with all the others, to give them a robot body, but stand and pose like a humans. I feel like I did that with Drift.