Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen writers Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman recently spoke with IGN at the 2009 Screenwriting Expo about the controversy over the Mudflap and Skids Autobot characters. The two characters were widely viewed as playing on racist stereotypes.

“On a collaboration of that scale, many people’s sense of humor gets expressed in the movie,” Orci said.

He also added that he warned those involved with the production of the movie that the character would end up being received badly.

“This character will be compared to Jar Jar. Will that be fine [for you]? We had our eyes wide open on that one [as far as how Mudflap and Skids would be received].”

When it was brought up that Pixar never resorts to dumbed-down characters as a way of appealing to kids, Kurtzman agreed.

“That’s right. You don’t see that on Pixar movies, because they know what they’re doing at Pixar.”

As for the reaction to the movie, Kurtzman said the following.

“The tough part of a movie like Transformers 2 is, I don’t want to say battles, but the process you go through to fight for what you want on screen… And then the absolute savaging you take from critics for things you fought against.”

Kurtzman added, “What amazes us is the amount of credit we’re given for these choices. I guess we should be flattered by it! The amount of credit we’re given for choices we wouldn’t necessarily make… We can’t just walk into a room and bowl these people over.”

The duo have already stated that they won’t return for Transformers 3.