Bumblebee: Meet Director Travis Knight In Behind-The-Scenes Featurette

The new Transformers universe film Bumblebee has a new behind-the-scenes featurette focusing on director Travis Knight.

Michael Bay’s Transformers series was criticized for many things: over-the-top explosions, bad acting, incoherent storylines, etc. But one of the biggest complaints was having the Transformers not look like … well … Transformers. The characters looked more like heaps of sharp, cold scrap metal. And there was a lack of color—something that was boldly displayed in the cartoons. In other words, fans wanted the G1 Transformers from the early ’80s.

Ahh, yes, remember those simpler times? When video game art looked nothing like the actual graphics of the game. When McDonald’s was actually allowed to include a toy in Happy Meals. And parents could pack a PB and J sandwich for their kids’ school lunches without having the federal government descend upon them.

Anyway, we digress. The point we’re trying to make is that nostalgia is very powerful. And when you’re dealing with a property that was at it’s height over three decades ago, you’re going to have a lot of passionate people—people who were children at that time. This is why the choice of a director for such a property is so important, which brings us to Travis Knight. In a special Bumblebee behind-the-scenes featurette, we get to meet the storyteller and get his take on why the Transformers franchise is so special to him

From what we’ve seen from the first trailer, Paramount made the correct choice in hiring this luminary. He seems to really capture the heart of these characters and understand that story much come first. After all, they guy did make some pretty critically acclaimed projects—Coraline (2009), Paranorman (2012), The Boxtrolls (2014), and Kubo and the Two Strings (2016).

More Movies: Bumblebee Trailer Takes Transformers In A Whole New Direction

We were already excited for Bumblebee after the initial trailer. But after seeing the passion of Knight, we can say that December cannot come sooner. We’re really looking forward to him transforming this franchise.

Bumblebee will be released in the United States on December 21, 2011.