Transformers – The Beginning: “We wanted to create our own continuity” [interview]

The animated film which returns to the origins of the saga is released in cinemas this week. Meeting with its director, Josh Cooley.

Transformers: The Beginning tells the story of how Optimus Prime (Chris Hemsworth) and Megatron (Brian Tyree Henry), known as sworn enemies, were originally brothers in arms. This origin story attempts to restore some order to a mythology that has gone in all directions, and offers its share of spectacular action scenes. During the last Annecy animated film festival, we met director Josh Cooley, who we hadn't heard from since Toy Story 4.

First: You spent your entire career at Pixar, why did you change creameries to direct an animated film? Transformers ?
Josh Cooley: Yeah, I think I was there almost 18 years. But I've been a lifelong fan of Transformers, especially the 80s cartoons, because I grew up watching them on Saturday mornings. And I had all the toys from the series. I think there's something inexplicably cool about seeing robots transform! But when I started reading the script for this film, I said to myself – probably like many people – that I was fed up with sequels and reboots. And then I continued reading and I loved the idea that everything took place on Cybertron, the Transformers' home planet. In addition, there was not a single human in the script: it was totally different from what had been done so far. And I completely immersed myself in the story of Optimus Prime and Megatron, two future enemies who were first best friends. It was epic. Very quickly, it became obvious that I had to make this film.

How did the absence of humans in this story change your approach to directing?
Everything, or almost. When you put robots on Earth, like in the movies live actiontheir massive scale is very clear since the size of humans and the elements of our planet allow us to have points of comparison. On Cybertron, we have no idea what's big or small… So we decided to treat our main characters like humans, at least in terms of size. There is a plot element – which I won't reveal – that makes them smaller than other Transformers. So they are forced to look upwards when interacting with them, which gives a very clear effect of scale for viewers.

Mythology Transformers is quite a mess between cartoons, comics and films. And yet here you manage to make us accept things that are very difficult to swallow… How did you go about sorting it out?
Real question, that. There are so many different versions of the Transformers stories… And that's because they weren't designed as a linear narrative. A bit like Star Wars and its extended universe, for that matter. There is no single continuity. So I had a huge sandbox at my disposal. I shopped for good ideas (Laughter.) We wanted to create our own continuity, while ensuring that the public immediately understands the issues of this world. And when you think about it, it all revolved around Cybertron: most of the versions we've seen in cinema feature a planet dying or falling into ruin. Just kind of a big gray ball in the sky. We go the opposite way: it's a very living planet, with a lot of people. We made sure to base it on the scale of a city like New York, adding lots of small, subtle decorative objects, like fire hydrants. Which doesn't really make sense in the world of Transformers and you'll barely notice them, but these little cheats allow the audience to ground themselves in some form of reality.

How do you explain that the franchise Transformers been going on for so long? Robots that transform and hit each other, it seems light to last 40 years.
There is something of the order of mythology or legend in this franchise. The story of these characters almost resembles that of King Arthur's court. There is a biblical side, the Transformers are releases from gods. Basically, it's good and evil that clash. And you're right, it couldn't be simpler. But I think that's where the power of attraction of Transformers lies.

You are already thinking about potential sequels to Transformers: The Beginning ?
We talk about it, yes. I would love to see it continue. And given what happens at the end of this film, we could really imagine some crazy action stuff!

Transformers: The Beginning will be released in theaters on October 23.