Designer: Hasbro, Inc.
Builder: Paramount Pictures Corporation
Based on: 1967 Volkswagen Beetle
Fighting for the Autobot resistance on Cybertron, scout B-127 (also known as “Bee”) is sent on an escape mission to Earth in order to gather help for the resistance but is assumed to be hostile upon his crash-landing in California. Able to transform into the cars he scans nearby, Bee becomes a 1967 Beetle as his alternate mode. For years he remained dormant until being discovered in a junkyard by curious teenager Charlie Watson (Hailee Steinfeld), who nicknames him “Bumblebee.” Together, they must defend Earth as the threat of Decepticon takeover looms.
As an homage to Bumblebee’s original form in the 1984 Transformers cartoon and Marvel Comics series, the movie Bumblebee (2018) is set in the 1980s and shows the title character in his original Volkswagen Beetle form. In addition to explaining how Bumblebee got his name, the film also shows the origins of Bee’s distinct style of communication through the use of a car radio.
Though Bumblebee was originally portrayed as a Volkswagen Beetle in the 1980s, Michael Bay reconceptualized him as a Chevrolet Camaro. He claimed the Beetle incarnation reminded him of Herbie the Love Bug, and he was seeking a more action-focused vehicle. The ability to garner funds based on product placement was also a likely influence. With the greater focus on character in the prequel, a return to the Beetle form was chosen. The different identities are resolved at the end of the movie by having Bumblebee, after nearly being destroyed, scanning and transforming into a 2007 Camaro before driving off from teenager Charlie Wilson, who had helped resurrect him.