Cartoon Network and Hasbro, Inc. announced today that the next generation of the Transformers animated series is being jointly developed by the two entities for a 2008 debut on the network in the U.S. The 2-D animated series is a new twist on the old favorite, with new characters as well as legends such as Optimus Prime and Megatron. Each episode will be a standalone story featuring heroic Autobots who fight to triumph over the evil Decepticons. “Transformers Animated” series will be co-produced by Cartoon Network Studios.

Twenty-six, half-hour episodes will be produced as well as a 90-minute special of “Transformers Animated” scheduled for release in early 2008 on Cartoon Network in the U.S. Matt Youngberg (”Teen Titans,” “The Batman”) is the supervising director, Derrick Wyatt (”Teen Titans”) will provide the character designs and Sam Register (”Ben 10,” “Teen Titans”) will serve as executive producer of the series. Marty Isenberg (”Danny Phantom,” “X-Men,” “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles”) acts as head writer.

The “Transformers Animated” will be set on Earth in the near future in Detroit. Optimus Prime, Bumblebee, Prowl, Bulkhead and Ratchet will work in the human world and show the heroic Autobots working together to battle the evil Decepticons and save the Earth all with kid-friendly plotlines that include humor and action. Hasbro and HPG, its licensing division, will expand the “Transformers Animated” series through toys, games, licensed merchandise and promotions around the world.