Transformers: Animated is an American animated television series based on the Transformers toy line. It was produced by Cartoon Network Studios and Hasbro and animated by The Answer Studio, Mook Animation, and Studio 4°C (shorts). The series debuted on Cartoon Network on December 26, 2007, and ended on May 23, 2009. In Japan, the show debuted on April 3, 2010, on both TV Aichi and TV Tokyo.[5] The series has 42 episodes (two sets of three interrelated episodes make up two 90-minute made for TV movies) across three seasons, with many fanservice references to other Transformers shows.[6] The show's continuity is separate from any other previous Transformers continuities, despite using footage from the first series (The Transformers) in its first episode as a historical film, and having many references to the other Transformers continuities in the Transformers franchise. The Japanese version of the cartoon was slightly rewritten to tie into Michael Bay's Transformers film series. Despite being a Cartoon Network original series, the show was aired on Nicktoons in the UK since February 2008, Jetix/Disney XD in the rest of Europe from September 10, 2008, and, finally, back in the U.S. on The Hub, now known as Discovery Family in high definition until 2014.