The following contains spoilers for Transformers: Rise of the Beasts, in theaters now.
Transformers: Rise of the Beasts may feature Autobots such as Optimus Prime and Bumblebee, but its main draw is how it brings in characters and concepts from Beast Wars. This was a radical reinvention of the Transformers franchise from back in the 1990s, with the Beast Era changing everything from the properties aesthetic to the factions involved.
It would eventually be connected back to Generation 1, however, namely through the machinations of the series' villain. This would be manifested in the now iconic Golden Disk, which itself was tied to the Transformers' Transwarp technology. The concept is loosely adapted in Rise of the Beasts, though things are handled a bit differently. Here's a look at how the movie's "Transwarp Key" is tied to a pivotal object from the Beast Wars cartoon.
Beast Wars' Most Important Object Was Based On a Real-Life Disk
In Beast Wars: Transformers Season 2, it's revealed that the original Megatron from Generation 1 engraved a hidden message on the Golden Disk placed within the human-made Voyager space probe. This message implored any Decepticon descendants who may find it to use their hopefully perfected Transwarp technology in order to go back in time and prevent the defeat of the Decepticons. Eons later, a Predacon would take the name Megatron in the original's honor, stealing the Golden Disk and setting course for prehistoric Earth. His mission: to assassinate Optimus Prime, prevent the rise of the human race and otherwise change history to keep the Autobots from winning the Great War.
When the former Predacon warrior Dinobot discovers the truth behind Megatron's goals, he valiantly fights off the entire Predacon army in order to protect the ancestors of the human race. He gives his life in pursuit of this, though not before destroying the Golden Disk and preventing Megatron from completely decoding its message. This would turn the Predacon leader's sights on the Ark and Optimus Prime, who he would try to kill in the past. This forced Optimus Primal to unite with Prime's spark via the Matrix of Leadership, mutating him into the mighty Optimal Optimus.
The Golden Disk wouldn't be a factor beyond that, though it would appear in later adaptations of the Beast Wars premise. This included War for Cybertron: Kingdom and the IDW Beast Wars comics, not to mention a loose variation in the franchise's newest movie.
Rise of the Beasts' Plot Device Is Based On Beast Wars' Golden Disk
In Transformers: Rise of the Beasts, the central artifact that the Maximals and Autobots search for is the Transwarp Key. This (like Transwarp technology in Beast Wars) allows for the user to travel throughout time and space, making it necessary for Scourge and the Terrorcons in order to free their dark master Unicron. Beyond the name referencing how the Maximals and Predacons got to prehistoric Earth in Beast Wars, the function and gilded luster of the device make it very similar to the Golden Disk.
Scourge is analogous to the Predacon Megatron, namely given his rivalry with both Optimus Prime and Optimus Primal. Thus, it's no wonder he seeks to use the Transwarp Key and rewrite Transformers history, in a way. The Maximals also travel back in time and are a factor in humanity's history. This furthers the similarities with the classic show, not to mention Scourge having the Transwarp Key being particularly detrimental to humanity and its fate.
Even the fact that it's broken into two pieces reflects the shattering of the Golden Disk, plus there being two disks on the Voyager spacecraft. This allowed the movie to hit similar beats to the basic Beast Wars story, all without simply retreading its storyline. Whether a Beast Wars spinoff movie is produced by Paramount or not, the basic MacGuffin of the original series has in many ways already had its story told.
Transformers: Rise of the Beasts is now playing in theaters.