It was directed by Josh Cooley from a screenplay by Eric Pearson, Andrew Barrer and Gabriel Ferrari, the latter two of whom also conceived the film's story.

The film features voices of Chris Hemsworth, Brian Tyree Henry, Scarlett Johansson, Keegan-Michael Key, Steve Buscemi, Laurence Fishburne, and Jon Hamm.

The film received positive reviews from critics, who praised the story, animation, screenplay, voice performances, action sequences, score, and humor.

Cybertron is a technological world inhabited by sentient robots fueled by a substance called Energon, many of whom have cogs that allow them to transform into vehicles.

In the underground city of Iacon, Orion Pax, a mining robot without a cog, sneaks into an archive to watch a documentary on the Primes, the first Cybertronians made by their creator Primus.

Cybertron's leader, Sentinel Prime, returns from an expedition to the planet's surface to find the lost Matrix of Leadership, the absence of which caused Energon to stop flowing—thus forcing the miners to extract it.

While Sentinel promises to reward them for boosting mining morale, an enraged Darkwing drags them to garbage incineration for upstaging him in the race, where they meet the eccentric B-127.

Evading their pursuers, the group travels back to Iacon but is captured en route by the Primes' former warbots, the High Guard, who are rebelling against Sentinel.

While D-16 takes command of the High Guard by defeating their leader, Starscream, Orion is concerned by his friend's aggression since learning the truth.

Once there, Orion convinces the miners to revolt and frees the captives while Elita exposes Sentinel by broadcasting memory recordings of his lieutenant, Airachnid, throughout the city.

Following the release of Transformers: Age of Extinction (2014), Paramount Pictures tasked Akiva Goldsman in March 2015 to work with the film franchise's director Michael Bay, executive producer Steven Spielberg, and producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura to set up a writers' room to create ideas for future Transformers films.

According to Deadline Hollywood, one of the ideas from the writer's room had the working title Transformers One[9] and would serve as an animated prequel focusing on the Autobot–Decepticon conflict that began on Cybertron.

[14][15] In April 2020, it was reported that former Pixar animator and filmmaker Josh Cooley had been hired to direct the film and was overseeing the script by Barrer and Ferrari.

[20] di Bonaventura stated that the plot will center around the origins of the Transformers, and explore the events that lead Optimus and Megatron to go from being brothers-in-arms to becoming enemies.

[24] Cooley wanted to capture an "epic quality" and grand scale for the film and used The Transformers: The Movie (1986) and Dune (1965) as points of reference.

[27] The voice cast of the film was announced at CinemaCon in April 2023, consisting of Chris Hemsworth and Brian Tyree Henry as younger versions of Optimus Prime and Megatron, alongside Scarlett Johansson, Keegan-Michael Key, Jon Hamm, and Laurence Fishburne headlining.

From a fan's point of view, di Bonaventura felt important to respect longtime Optimus Prime actor Peter Cullen's performance while not bringing him back to ensure the audience felt Prime's youth, leading to Hemsworth's casting, who surprised di Bonaventura with his "very strong sense of story".

[32] Cooley's desire to harken back to the chattier version of Bumblebee seen in other Transformers media influenced Key's casting, who he had worked with before when directing Pixar's Toy Story 4 (2019).

[34] Around before the film's release in August 2024, more additional cast members were announced for the film which included voice actor and longtime fan Jon Bailey reprising his role as Soundwave from Bumblebee (2018)[35] and Isaac C. Singleton Jr., who previously voiced Soundwave in several Transformers video games developed by High Moon Studios as Darkwing.

[43] An original song for the film, "If I Fall", written by Tyler and performed by Quavo and Ty Dolla Sign, was released as a single on September 6, 2024.

[45] Transformers One screened as a work-in-progress at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival on June 10, 2024; audience and social media reactions were reportedly positive.

[6][5] In the United States and Canada, Transformers One was released alongside The Substance and Never Let Go, and was projected to gross $30–40 million from 3,978 theaters in its opening weekend.

[6] In the United Kingdom and Ireland region, where it released on October 11, 2024, the film opened to £1.6 million, ranking it above DC Comics holdover Joker: Folie à Deux.

The website's consensus reads: "Dramatically satisfying with a dash of good humor, Transformers One suggests that animation might be the optimal medium for this oft-adapted franchise.

[69] G. Allen Johnson of the San Francisco Chronicle compared the film favorably to the live-action installments, applauding its screenplay, visuals, and resonant themes, and describing it as unapologetically made for "the inner child.

[71] Adam Graham of The Detroit News awarded the film a B- rating, praising the animation, direction, screenplay, and humor, and comparing it favorably to the live-action installments.

[72] Frank Scheck of The Hollywood Reporter praised the film for its direction, animation, screenplay, and emotional core and felt it to have revitalized the Transformers franchise.

[75] Tom Jorgensen of IGN rated the film 5 out of 10, praising the voice cast and Brian Tyree Henry's performance, as well as the story of Orion Pax and D-16.

[77] Wilson Chapman of IndieWire gave the film a C grade and said: "It’s all executed competently but joylessly, with zero fun to be had as it labors across an hour and 40 minute runtime that feels both too short and painfully long.