When you’re a kid, you tend to play with your toys. And when you’re young, it’s an easy way to imagine your own stories and realize your own epic battles. That’s the essential premise of a recently released short called “The Real Deal,” which features the Transformers as filtered through the eyes of a five-year-old boy. And as he envisions them, the robots in disguise actually come to life and move on their own.

Filmmaker Patrick Boivin released the “The Real Deal” on his YouTube channel, and it definitely recaptures some of that old Transformers magic. Almost every sound effect in the video is supplied by the kid, including the soundtrack, the character voices, and even the transforming sound effects. The dialogue is in French, but even without the subtitles it’s pretty easy to understand what’s happening

Romeo Bulte Boivin provided the story, music, and sound fx for this short, while Alexis Lemay created the mix. The brief shots of the animated toys are the most impressive part of the video, but it’s well-made on all levels.

Boivin is a self-taught filmmaker who has posted several live-action and stop-motion animated shorts on YouTube, including a series of videos that pit Optimus Prime’s original incarnation against the Bayformers’ Optimus.

Another one of Boivin’s previous videos included an Indiana Jones vs. Darth Vader fight that went better for Doctor Jones than Han Solo‘s brief encounter with the Dark Lord of the Sith in The Empire Strikes Back.

You can check out the rest of Boivin’s videos here.

What did you think about these animated shorts? Transform and roll out to the comment section below!

Image: Patrick Boivin