Cartoon Network Studios and Hasbro Inc. are co-producing a new animated "Transformers" series set to premiere in January that they're hoping will build on the momentum created by the highly anticipated "Transformers" movie opening July 3 and the film's DVD release in the fall. While there have been three other "Transformers" series on Cartoon Network and eight series altogether since 1984, this is the first one Hasbro is co-producing with Cartoon rather than its Japanese toy and production partner, Takara. Cartoon and Hasbro execs said the new series, "Transformers Animated," will be significantly different than the others, adding humor, never-before-seen characters and a new premise in which the Autobots fight evil humans in Superhero fashion much more frequently than they battle the Decepticons -- the traditional "Transformers" lore since the property launched as a toy in 1984.

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