Transformers: How The Beast Wars Series Inspired the New Movie Rise of the Beasts Almost 15 years after the release of Michael Bay's Transformers brought the characters from the original 1980s franchise to live action for the first time, Paramount today teased that the next film in the franchise will explose the mythology of the Beast Wars animated series, which launched in 1996. It seems that after its most '80s installment yet (2018's period piece Bumblebee), the franchise will opt out of the '80s nostalgia market and move into '90s nostalgia, which conveniently also gives them a whole new premise to work with and a timeline that will avoid conflicts with the Bay series as much as possible.