CNN has posted a profile piece on the legendary voice of Optimus Prime, Peter Cullen where they discuss Transformers and the "responsibility" he feels for Optimus Prime. The full article is here. Below are a few highlights but really just better to read the full article.
"I was taken aback by the response and the sheer love that was in the audience," he said [at his first convention of Botcon 1997]. "It became quite evident that (voicing this character) was a responsibility that I wanted to fulfill. I had no idea he was so popular."
Cullen said he is personally touched by how strong the response has been. "I remember an officer in the Marine Corps who had just returned from Iraq, and he gave me his golden anchor emblem from his officer's hat," he said. "He presented that to me and said this is how much you mean to me. There are no words to describe it, but I was humbled. That sticks with me forever."
Cullen -- who said that police officers have made similar gestures toward him -- came up with the voice because of his brother Larry, an officer in the Marine Corps. "I saw a difference in him when he came home. There was a maturity and calmness and understanding, and a very strong source of confidence, respect, caring and dignity," he said.
A few Transformers video games stuff has popped up today. Activision has released a press release for yesterday's release of Transformers: Dark of the Moon The Game while the voice of Optimus Prime, Peter Cullen, did his part to promote the game to USA Today. In addition Jagex, makers of the Transformers Universe MMO, released their Botcon teaser video, screensaver and concept art. From the Cullen interview:
"Doing the movie or the animated series, there's a plot and character development and a sense of continuous feeling of one kind or another," Cullen explains. "But in the game, you're one-on-one with an individual, and the lines are quick one-liners oftentimes, and maybe some advice now and then. Basically, it's a one-on-one mental intimacy with the player. That is much different than being involved as a spectator watching a film or a show."Read More »
This is a repost. Do to blogspot.com failure, Google had to restore from a backup that was 30 hours old eliminating the original and related comments
Transformers: Prime's first season has scored 4 Daytime Emmy Award nominations and two wins today from the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. The show accounts for six of the eight nominations The Hub received in its first year of broadcasting. I also believe that it is the first Emmy nomination for the legendary Peter Cullen whose long history of voice work should have garnered more than just Emmy mod. Below is the press release from the Hub. Congratulations to Peter Cullen and the cast and crew of Transformers: Prime. Hopefully they will add a few trophies when winners are announced at the live ceremony on June 19th.
Nominations
Outstanding Performer In An Animated Program - Peter Cullen as Optimus Prime
Outstanding Directing In An Animated Program
Outstanding Achievement in Music Direction And Composition
Outstanding Writing In Animation
Winners
Outstanding Individual Achievement in Animation - Vince Toyama (WINNER)
Outstanding Individual Achievement in Animation - Christophe Vacher (WINNER)Read More »
I am not sure how I missed this but around the time that MTV spoke with Roberto Orci and Frank Welker about Transformers: Prime, they also spoke with Peter Cullen. The interview covered the usual questions about playing Prime, how does the voice, how has the character lasted so long, etc that we have read before many times over the years. However, MTV did manage to uncover a new spoiler (so warning and junk) about Transformers: Dark of the Moon. That segment of the interview is below, the whole thing can be found here.
Geek: Do you have any other projects you are working on at the moment, or are looking forward to?Read More »
PC: I’ve been involved with NASA, and it started a few years back, during their 40th anniversary. They came up with an Optimus Prime award to be given to a student who participated in the NASA program for young people, and I’m going back to Colorado Springs in April to be part of that award ceremony. I talked with NASA about doing things with the Hub network, about a NASA-based Optimus Prime collaboration for younger kids and teenagers. Whether it goes through or not I don’t know, but I think it’s a natural fit. And if it happens there will be another show on the Hub network with me voicing Optimus Prime. So that’s pretty exciting.
In the feature film coming out this Summer, they have Neil Armstrong, a former astronaut, and Buzz Aldrin -- Optimus has a scene with Buzz Aldrin, and this is where it all started to come together in my mind. I thought, wow I really got to get these guys and Optimus together after the movie. Maybe we can do a series of some kind.
A new commercial from NASA to promote a video contest aimed at elementary kids to promote interest in science might just show a brief look at the Transformers: Dark of the Moon version of Optimus Prime. The commercial is part of the partnership between Paramount and NASA when TF3 filmed there this summer and includes the as always excellent voice work of Peter Cullen. Prime's appearance begins at the 15 second mark. Hopefully tonight's Superbowl commercial will give us another look.
The first teaser trailer is out and while there isn't much in the movie news department, I do have to tidbits. Also hit the links for reviews, news of upcoming toys and more.
Optimus Prime Signed by Peter Cullen
If you are in the Maryland area, Beyond Comics is holding a raffle ($1 each) for Optimus Prime Hybrid Style THS-02 signed by the voice himself, Peter Cullen. All the proceeds will be going to Toys for Tots. The raffle is through December 18th and while it requires a visit by the store to participate it doesn't mean you can't do your part for Toys for Tots by clicking here.
Frank Welker Interview
The voice of Megatron talks Transformers: Prime and different between doing Megs now and for Generation One.
Peter Cullen Interview
Another interview, this time with the voice of Optimus Prime as he also talks about the cartoon and desire to maintain a consistency with the character through the years and various incarnations along with joy of working with Welker again. Of note is it turns out he has been working on Dark of the Moon for about a year. Thanks to rumah for the links.
I’ve been recording now for about a year with Michael Bay, and I’ve had some wonderful experiences. I went down to an airport hangar in Long Beach and worked with some of the on-camera actors and that was a wonderful experience to be a part of the movie on the technical side, because normally I’m just pinned into a small room in front of a microphone by myself.Read More »
Source: Heather Newgen
Superhero Hype!: How often do you have people come up to you on the street and know you from Transformers?
Peter Cullen: Seldom, if ever. I'm not recognizable. That's one of the perks about being in voiceover because nobody sees your face and unless I purposely do the voice would I get a reaction with children… I like that anonymity. I've always kind of felt when I was a kid, I remember being disappointed at seeing the physical look of the person behind the voice because I always had my own imaginative in my brain of what that person looked like. When I met that person, it did even come close so I'm afraid that some child will have that same reaction to me. I don't push it.
SHH!: You only got to see the parts of the script you were in so what was it like to see the entire movie for the first time?
Cullen: I was at the premiere. I've never been to one really before. I'd been to "Winnie the Pooh" premiere once. We walked down the pink carpet. This was a blue carpet. I was kind of sucked into the energy and the nervousness. Finally when the movie came on, I wasn't I a relaxed state at al by any means surrounded by other major well known celebrities. I was never really comfortable through the whole thing. I made a point to see it again. I got a whole lot more out of it by being in a relaxed state and I had a better objective. So, my second time around I thought it was fantastic. I can't remember ever having been through a movie and seeing it again saying, ‘I don't remember seeing that.' It was overwhelming and loud.
SHH!: Did they do anything to your voice to enhance it?
Cullen: Yes, I think they did. I had a question about that early on with Michael Bay. I was just curious. I wasn't going to object in any way. It was their film, but I just wanted to know if they were going to make my voice as recognizable as it was on the original series. And he said, "don't worry about it. Don't worry about it. We're going to do something to justify it's size relative to the actors on screen." If he's a 40 foot high mechanical robot and Shia LaBeouf is less than his knee cap or whatever it is, he had to justify the sound without losing the character and without losing the original nuances that we had developed back in '84.
SHH!: What was Michael Bay like as a director?
Cullen: He was wonderful. He's an exciting man to work for and even if you didn't know anything about him, he has a presence. It's a strong presence and that presence alone is enough to energize you. Having known a little more about him than some other directors that you've never worked with before, he was generous, he was helpful, he was production in the sense that he could find a way to get things out of me that I appreciated, he made me extremely relaxed. I was very privileged because I can't imagine accomplishing the things that he's accomplished by just in scope alone in size. I would look at that and say, "that's insurmountable." I have to admire him for that because I'm in awe of that. "How does he do that?" Then you see him in action and you understand why. That brain is going all the time like the Energizer. It was a privilege and it was a pleasure. It was always a joy.
SHH!: What were you initial thoughts when Optimus Prime died in the "Transformers" movie and did anyone ask you to come back and play the character in the other shows over the years?
Cullen: Well the first part of that question, I was stunned. I was really disappointed more than anything else and I've said this before. I'm a day labor and I do my chores, as many jobs as I can. To see you're getting killed off, all you see is car payments going off. You don't think about it. You go off to the next job. When they did bring me back on two separate occasions it was because of fan base and parental uproar. I heard a story that some kid was not coming out of his closet, his room. He was so devastated, he wasn't coming out. There was a few. I wasn't aware and when I went in to do those shows, I wasn't aware as to why they were bringing me back. We never got fan mail. We didn't have a barometer to judge this thing on. It was just a job.
SHH!: Did they ever ask you to join the series that took place before the movie?
Cullen: No. It's funny. I wasn't aware of any of that popularity the Transformers had created until I went to my first convention back in Rochester, New York in '98 maybe or '99. That's when I found out. My daughter is the one who said, "dad you've got to go. You have to go." I said, "why Claire why?" She said "the kids in my class said, 'your dad is Optimus Prime' and they go nuts." I said, "you're kidding?" She said, "no, you've got to go." So I went. I was really surprised. I was sitting down in front of 3-400 people and they started applauding. It startled me. It really did.
SHH!: I understand you based the character on a family member?
Cullen: It was my brother Larry. We're very close. He's like my best friend. We're 13 months apart. It's quite a serious story how I came about. I was impersonating my brother Larry. He served in the Marine Corps and was in Vietnam. [He was] a purple heart recipient, a bronze star recipient. When he came home there was a significant change in him and that's where I got the qualities that I have applied to Optimus. His voice being the first thing. (in his Optimus Prime voice) "Peter cut it out." So we always laugh.
SHH!: Do you feel a sense of possessiveness with your characters like Optimus?
Cullen: I would say that if you do a character long enough, you do develop a sense of possession to it because it does become a part of you and you have an awareness of the popularity and how it's affected people. In this general case with Optimus, I am personally attached that way, but I will never allow myself to get so personally attached to something that I'll be injured the way I was hurt when I was replaced. It's hard enough to justify your day laborer attitude without being stomped on all the time. But that's life and I just avoid those areas where I can be terribly disappointed and that's part of it. I just move on. As far as some of the other characters I've done, I hope to never have to go back to them again. Some of them.
SHH!: You've said before you had to audition for the role. What did that audition consist of?
Cullen: Reading the character. Letting him hear it. He's directing a major motion picture, there's a lot at stake. I admire and respect that this guy is doing his job. He wasn't about to risk anybody's money so we played by the rules.
SHH!: Do you know when production for the second film is supposed to start?
Cullen: No, I have no idea. I hope the writer's strike doesn't affect the ongoing plans. It affects everyone.
We learned a few interesting things about the HD DVD that you can look forward to. The first disc will not only have the feature film, but a funny commentary by Michael Bay which includes him talking about not liking Shia LaBeouf's "nappy hair" and how he couldn't cut it because LaBeouf was still filming "Disturbia" There's funny factoids about the production and Transformers themselves. Viewers can watch picture-in picture b-roll and video with Bay, Steven Spielberg and other filmmakers. On disc two, fans can zoom in and get a 360 degree view of the robots. Using the HD DVD player, viewers will be able to update information and material on the film and the actors when new details are available.
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