The Transformers franchise began in the 1980s with the Transformers toy line co-developed by Takara Tomy and Hasbro, bringing hugely popular mecha toys from Japan to the United States and worldwide. The toy line was developed into an animated TV series to coincide with the toys' release in the United States, and a new pop-culture icon was born. The premise focuses on the huge wars between the Autobots and the villainous Decepticons as they land on a prehistoric Earth before awakening in 1985, with the Autobots looking to protect humanity and the Decepticons looking to conquer Earth.