![]() ![]() In order to convincingly be Optimus Prime, you absolutely need to play the character so that he sounds, as the man himself put it, "strong enough to be gentle." The problem today is that Optimus Prime sounds like Optimus Prime, but without the emotion to ground the voice and make it believable. That does then beg the question: what exactly is the iconic heart and soul that makes Optimus sound like Optimus? That's why they, especially Garry Chalk, work so well as Optimus Prime despite not really sounding that much like Peter Cullen. They put a similar energy and feeling into it, though they make it sound different. Likely, that's also why the Optimus performances of Garry Chalk and David Kaye worked as well as they did. That's why new Megatron voices are better received than new Optimus voices they try to breathe a similar life into it while doing something that sounds different. The voice itself is not iconic the life put into it by the man behind it is. There's a certain feeling it has to it, and impressions tend to miss the feeling despite nailing the sound. I'd argue that Peter Cullen's voice for Optimus Prime is iconic not only because of how it sounds, but more importantly because of how much life is put into that performance. You can't get someone to just impersonate Peter Cullen because they can't do it like he could. The problem is, however, that just impersonating Peter Cullen doesn't work. Peter Cullen's voice has become so linked with that of Optimus Prime's that it might be difficult to think of it differently. I also think that, perhaps, Hasbro doesn't really know how else to portray Optimus Prime's voice. That, coupled with the fact that G1, and especially the Sunbow cartoon, has such an influence on the current branch of media, is why they're go-to guy is just someone who is cheaper than but still (kinda) sounds like Peter Cullen. For over a decade, Peter Cullen has been the sole voice of Optimus Prime. That's obviously (well, hopefully) not Hasbro intent, but it's pretty clear as to why they're doing this. That hurts, especially considering that Peter Cullen has defined - or, at least, solidified - many elements of the Optimus Prime character through his iconic voice performance. I think that gets to the heart of the issue, here: in trying to sound exactly like Peter Cullen, it feels to some fans as though Jake Foushee - and, by extension, Hasbro - is trying to replace Peter Cullen and that legacy, but without the actual heart of that original performance. He said in an interview once on the subject something along the lines of: "I might be able to sound like Peter Cullen, but I will never be Peter Cullen." But even then, Neil Kaplan didn't just do an impression of Peter Cullen he tried to put his own spin on it and make it his own. Neil Kaplan, who played the character in the original Robots in Disguise, was probably the closest we had to a Peter Cullen impression up until recently. It's just an impression of something that we all like, but it doesn't have quite the same weight to it. Just because it's not surprising, though, doesn't make it any less disappointing. And the fact that he's just impersonating Peter Cullen isn't a surprise, really he was likely chosen to play the character because he did that on YouTube a few years ago. That's how he plays Optimus in Cyberverse, in Rescue Bots Academy, and it seems to be how he'll play him in the upcoming Netflix series. Jake Foushee, who now seems to be Hasbro's go-to Optimus voice, is just doing an impression of Peter Cullen. It's with Optimus Prime that I have the problem. Neither of them are trying to be Frank Welker they're just trying to be Megatron and put their own spin on that legacy. Transformers: The Last Knight (2017) cast and crew credits, including actors, actresses, directors, writers and more. Both of them put their own unique spin on the voice while still respecting the roots. ![]() Here's how The Mutineers Trilogy sounded to me.You know, I'm actually fine with Marc Thompson and Jason Marnocha playing Megatron instead of Frank Welker. Shockwave: Steve Blum(post Shadowplay) Corey Burton (pre Shadowplay) Grimlock: Greg Berger (Fall of Cybertron) Some of them are still the same, but on the other hand it's a bit hard not to read some of these characters as the voices in a Transformers audio drama I'm a part of lol. Optimus Prime has the most epic shape shifts effortlessly transitioning from a classic truck to his legendary and powerful Autobot form. ![]() Shockwave: David Sobolov (Post Shadowplay) Liam O'Brien (Pre-Shadowplay)ĭaniel "Sparkplug" Witwicky: Richard Epcar For the ones that had specific voices, it went something like this: For a while when reading the comics, some of the characters I had specific voices in mind while others no one in particular. ![]()
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