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Peter Cullen Chosen to Voice Optimus Prime (Again) 201

Posted by CowboyNeal from the roll-out dept.
bigdady92 writes "Yesterday at Comic-Con it was announced that the new voice for Transformers the Movie was to be Peter Cullen who will voice Optimus Prime, the leader of the Autobots. Peter Cullen was the voice of the original Optimus Prime. The lending of his voice to the cast in a quick 'intro' at Comic-con was greeted by unanimous cheer from the crowd. Many fans, internet boards, blogs were calling for the return of Cullen to voice his most famous and well-loved character Optimus Prime."
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Peter Cullen Chosen to Voice Optimus Prime (Again) More

Peter Cullen Chosen to Voice Optimus Prime (Again)

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  • Don't bother clicking the link, its a spam site (Score:3, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 22, 2006 @12:38PM (#15763228)
    uly 22, 2006 - During Paramount's presentation on Friday at Comic-Con International in San Diego, the studio made an official announcement regarding their live-action feature film version of Transformers.

    While the announcement, which was preceded by a taped greeting from director Michael Bay, wasn't as momentous as the much expected first look at the giant robots in action, it was almost as eagerely anticipated by the fans.

    A vocal "greeting" by Optimus Prime himself announced that voice actor Peter Cullen, who played the character in the popular 1980s cartoon TV series, will voice Optimus Prime in nest summer's big -budget movie version.

    The announcement was met with rousing applause from Comic-Con attendees. The fans have long desired that Cullen reprise the role he'd made famous on TV.
    • How is IGN a spam site? Granted the article is quite short, and most of us aren't transformer-savvy enough to know or care who Peter Cullen is, and IGN supports itself with ads, but how does that make it a spam site? Wait, why am I responding to an AC?
      • Compare the number, placement, and obtrusiveness (ESPECIALLY when they serve up these fscking annoying flash-based ones!!!) of the ads on IGN, add in the ads-disguised-as-content links to ebay, amazon, pricegrabber, and such; and compare all that to the ads on, for example.... Google.

        It may be a bit of an exaggeration to describe IGN as a full-out spam site. But the AC does have a point.

        cya,
        john

  • What about the movie theme song? (Score:4, Funny)

    by Average_Joe_Sixpack ( 534373 ) on Saturday July 22, 2006 @12:41PM (#15763238)
    Will Lion reunite one more time for this project? otherwise this film would be a waste of time.
  • I heard it was going to be Jackie Mason.

  • Waste of time (Score:2, Insightful)

    by BobSutan ( 467781 )
    What a waste of time that show was (on G4). The only thing we got out of it about Transformers is that Optimus Prime is 32' tall and that Peter Cullen is doing the voice. That, and there won't be any actual CGI of them until January or so. Basically it means its going to be a while until we get a real trailer like we were lead to believe they'd be showing.

    • Re:Waste of time (Score:3, Insightful)

      by mrseigen ( 518390 )
      You may be the last person in the world to discover G4 cannot actually deliver on anything.

      • Re:Waste of time (Score:3, Interesting)

        by BobSutan ( 467781 )
        I've never bothered to watch G4 in the past as everything I've tried to sit through was, well, painful. The closest thing to any of their content I'll watch is old reruns of ST:TNG. With their claim of a Transformers exclusive I was suckered into recording it on the DVR. Thankfully I was able to watch it on FF until they got to the segment on TF that I was waiting for. And we all know the rest...

    • Re:Waste of time (Score:2, Informative)

      by cyberformer ( 257332 )
      Haven't they already made a CGI trailer, showing a giant robot on Mars? It doesn't show very much (you can't identify which TF it is), but it's still CGI.

      I loved the Transformers, but I can't really get excited about the voice actors (even if they could resurrect Orson Welles...). They need to get Simon Furman involved.
      • Yeh, but you only see a sillouete for like 0.5 seconds before the camera cuts out. For all you know that could be something a CGI threw together without any real source materia.
      • Haven't they already made a CGI trailer, showing a giant robot on Mars? It doesn't show very much (you can't identify which TF it is), but it's still CGI.

        Here's the direct link [ign.com]. Basically, it appears to be Independence Day 2: Transformers. They're even releasing it on the 4th of July.
      • That was original for the trailer and won't be part of the movie, so I guess they meant no CGI that will actually appear in the movie.

  • I Say good. (Score:4, Insightful)

    by jellomizer ( 103300 ) * on Saturday July 22, 2006 @12:51PM (#15763279)
    Part of the goal in the movie is to regain nostalgia of when we were kids, no doubly it will be different in a lot of aspects. Just having The Voice of Optimus Prime make us feel at home. His voice was perfect of Optimus Prime, Was a Good Guys Voice but with authority, Other voices could make him seem Either to Pansy and Mean and heartless.

    • Re:I Say good. (Score:4, Insightful)

      by kfg ( 145172 ) * on Saturday July 22, 2006 @02:15PM (#15763543)
      Part of the goal in the movie is to regain nostalgia of when we were kids . . .

      In exchange for your adult money.

      KFG
    • Well ya know what's odd. I was watching Eureka last night and Gary Chalk was on there doing a non-russian voice (like he does on SG1) and im like 'i know that voice' and lo and behold. he does the OP voice on that new series cybertron and a few of the other CGI shows.

  • Who cares? (Score:4, Insightful)

    by SuperBanana ( 662181 ) on Saturday July 22, 2006 @12:52PM (#15763286)
    I take it this will be the start of a series of "news articles" on Slash, AP, Reuters, etc about the movie?

    I recall reading recently that entertainment "news" is very popular with newspapers and TV stations because they don't have to have a reporter do any leg-work or research, just get a clip or parrot a quote from the celeb's agent.

    These days, thanks to newspaper/radio/tv mergers, all the big wigs care about is profit margin. Entertainment "news" like "Britney marries again!" can be made to fill the same amount of time as a story about (gasp) some bill before the House of Representatives that takes a reporter, camera crew and van travelling to the statehouse, fact checking, interviewing a couple representatives etc. Guess which is cheaper, by far?

    • Congrats fellow 20-30 men in america! You are now in the demographic that spends money on worthless crap. So now you will be targeted in a more mainstream way than before when you were just part of the kid demo and they were busy targeting your parents. Back then, you were not interested in the crap your father was getting sold on and probably being told how great that stuff from his childhood was that he was getting back into--inbetween the "i walked miles in snow to school" compensation.
    • I don't really understand what your point is, though. Slashdot doesn't check any of its stories anyway.
    • News is entertainment.

  • stuff that doesn't matter that much. (Score:5, Funny)

    by brunokummel ( 664267 ) on Saturday July 22, 2006 @12:57PM (#15763299) Journal
    What about the slashdotters that are not american, you insensitve clod!?
    We'll probably enjoy much more watching it dubbed by the same guy who dubbed the animated series!

    something like:
    "Sayonara, Optimus Roboto-sam! "
    "Hasta luego, Señor Optimus Roboto!"
    "Auf wiedersehn, Herr Optimus Roboter"
  • What can I say? How can you go wrong with this decision?

  • Best... news... EVAR! (Score:3, Insightful)

    by hellfire ( 86129 ) <deviladvNO@SPAMgmail.com> on Saturday July 22, 2006 @01:25PM (#15763400) Homepage
    At this point and time, I'm only worried about three things in any transformers movie remake:

    1) It has a good and entertaining plot
    2) It has stunning artistic quality in the visual effects
    3) That peter cullen is optimus prime

    You can argue til your blue in the face as to what the characters look like and the technology bullshit of disappearing parts or even including the dinobots. The appeal of the Transformers has always been about the characters. They weren't just cute toys, or an afternoon cartoon. The brilliance has always been about the characters. Who they were, what they did, as well as what they transformed into. It was the total package.

    The total package includes Peter's voice. It's unmistakable, unduplicatable, and undeniably the best!
  • Set Photos here [tigerdroppings.com]

    Notice how lame Optimus Prime looks with those flames.

    Nice Jubblies though in the last pic.

  • The rapidly dropping quality of Hollywood (Score:4, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 22, 2006 @02:02PM (#15763499)
    Granted; a lot (if not most) movies were made after some author wrote a book which was picked up by a director who eventually made it into a movie. All in all it used to be one (or more) people who wanted to get a story out. Actually create something enjoyable by the masses.

    But these days I taste none of that, its like people are desperatly trying to find certain storyline(s) for the sole purpose of making more money. First you've seen this behaviour happening on the 'superheroes' front where Marvel created movies from their several characters, even when there already was such a movie (Spiderman comes to mind). But even in those cases you're basicly making a movie from a phenomenon. The 'superheroes' saga has lasted for years and was enjoyed by millions of people, young and old alike.

    However, IMO it started becoming a little ridiculous when you get movies from cartoons while the cartoon itself was already a phenomenon in itself. Take, for example, 'Masters of the Universe'. Whats even striking me more is that this series was originally launched with the idea of merchandize in the back of people's mind. Is that really a good starting point to make a movie from it ? Or what about the 'Flintstones' ? In my opinion thats an even worse movie since it doesn't even try to be a regular movie but mimicks all the cartoon effects, sometimes in a more than ridiculous manner.

    In the end all of those movies don't pay attention to anything which made the whole thing great and basicly introduces the "directors liberty". You know; when a simply known fact from the original is twisted because "it matches the movie/story/scene/whatever better". You've seen this happening in many if not all movies. Narnia: The professor met the kids right after they left the closet. Hello; wasn't there some tour going? In the original BBC series they looked him up in his study. Master o/t Universe: In the end battle Skeletor rambles about getting the power to become God. Hello? Don't tell me that the whole "Master of the Universe" has already degraded to nothing more than a mere title? In the original Skeletor always tried to become the Master of the Universe. Inspector Gadget: Lets not even get into this one, when compared with the original it was just bad since nothing was adopted, not even the mystery behind Dr. Claw. Lord of the Rings: While not totally bad its plain out obvious that the story isn't exactly the most important anymore, its the special effects. Where previous cartoons totally focussed on story and passion these movies need the special effects for "massive battles". A pity IMO.

    In all honosty the last example isn't fair since this isn't something which has been remade. It simply is the first real movie from the book, just like any other of its kind. But it does goes to show you that money is ruling supreme here. Being a big Transformers fan myself at the age of 36 (I stopped caring when we got Beast Wars and the Transformers Armada) and a big Evangelion fan (basicly I just like cartoons but these two are rather special IMO) I'm really not looking forward to the upcoming live movies. I'd rather see some television station doing a re-run of the original series, and I don't mean the horrible series where they started sticking the serie together with an awfully annoying cube animation.

    Why can't we leave something great as great as it is and simply acknowledge its greatness by enjoying the original all over again?
    • Hollywood isn't in the business of making quality films. It's in the business for making flashy trailers to get people to pay to come to an overcrowed, overpriced cinema; and buy merchandice for their kids. If a film has to actuall be made in order to make this trailer, so be it, but no-one said it had to be good. these days, the best talent in Hollywood goes into making the TV trailers and billboards.

      Anyone still going to the movies, is a sucker. Even TV can surpass the tripe that Hollywood passes off as e

  • Great news, but... (Score:3, Funny)

    by FriendOfBagu ( 770778 ) on Saturday July 22, 2006 @02:03PM (#15763504)
    ... the bad news is that he's going to be voicing a robotic lawn mower [penny-arcade.com].
    • Actually I'm looking forward to Megatron's transforming and showering the Lawnobots with chocolate sauce (or, if filled with Energon, melted cheese).

      I especially can't wait to see how they handle Unicron in cruise ship mode ...
  • I grew up watching tf and loved it. But going back and watching the original series, you see a lot more cheese than you remembered. Still a fun ride but not the same. But the animated movie I watched a few times over the years and I think it really stands the test of time. Ya it was an obvious ploy to kill a bunch of em for new toys, but they did it with such style. The animation is obviously better than the series, the story more serious, and c'mon, Orson Welles as unicron! (I've read it's the last th

  • The best choice possible. (Score:4, Insightful)

    by Maul ( 83993 ) on Saturday July 22, 2006 @02:48PM (#15763630) Journal
    I was a little dismayed seeing some of the "creative" changes that Bay seemed to be applying to this film. I can handle Optimus Prime being a long-nose truck, mainly because in some iterations of the franchise (i.e. Armada), he does appear that way. However, the decision to paint him with flames, as well as making Bumblebee a Camero, indicated to me that Bay had no regard for the original personalities of the Transformers. Basically he just wanted to make everything be "eXXXXXtreeeme" as possible.

    Cullen voicing Prime will at least ensure that some elements of character's original personality will stay intact, and this is probably the selling point for me seeing the movie.
    • What "creative" changes? In 1995 Optimus Prime [cobraislandtoys.com] was a red-black long nose truck sporting flames.

      Also if VW was unwilling to allow Bumblebee to be a New Beetle in the current Alternators toy line, why do you think they would allow him to be a New Beetle (or an old one) in the movie?

  • My grandfather loved John Wayne movies... (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Greg_D ( 138979 ) on Saturday July 22, 2006 @03:44PM (#15763772)
    He loved the way the Duke always came out on top. Loved the way Wayne's characters acted and lead and showed men how to be men.

    And all that stuff.

    And while I've never watched a John Wayne movie, I tip my hat to them despite how cheesy they may have been, because I loved and respected my grandfather and those movies were the ones we bought for him when he was suffering from cancer at the end of his days. He was in obvious pain, but he enjoyed them nonetheless.

    Optimus Prime is the John Wayne of the generation who grew up in the 80s. Sure, there was Duke from GI Joe, but he was usurped in midstream by a general. There was Lion-o, but the Thundercats were too wierd for most kids to take seriously. There was He-Man, but he was never anything more than a bad Superman re-interpretation.

    But Optimus, man... Optimus was a truck and an action figure all in one. And when he spoke, he did so with conviction on the side of right and he used his leadership to defeat those who would harm others. And even when he was wrong, he eventually did the right thing. I don't own any "toys" anymore. I mean, I have recreational objects that I use to unwind with, but nothing that a kid would understand or find interesting. Except one. My 20th anniversary edition Optimus sits proudly on my desk. The original toy looked little like the cartoon character. But this one? 60 bucks and it doesn't even matter... Optimus looks like he shoulda. He's a kickass poseable paperweight.

    When Optimus died in the movie, I was a kid, and I was upset. Who was this Rodimus dude, and what did he do with our hero? See, even with the neat futuristic car and the neat flaming paint job, Hot Rod and Rodimus just weren't as cool. Didn't matter that he could fight Galvatron and kick some Swoop ass... he wasn't the hero. He wasn't the legend. And when Optimus came back, he died saving the universe again. And then he came back for more.

    Children today will tell their kids about the time they saw Kobe Bryant score 81. They'll swear Duane Wade was the best ever. But they never saw Jordan play. They never watched Magic pass. But I never got to see Wilt in his heyday, or see Oscar Robertson average a triple double. They'll claim that LaDainian Tomlinson is the best RB to ever lace them up because of his fancy moves, but they never got a chance to watch Barry spin the way I never got a chance to see Jim Brown knock people over.

    Everyone grows up and has their own legends to tell tales about. For the 80s bunch, Optimus Prime saved the day after school, and that's why so many love and respect the character to this day. And you can't have Optimus Prime without the deep, John Waynesy voice of Peter Cullen. Just wouldn't be right.
    • Optimus Prime is the John Wayne of the generation who grew up in the 80s. Sure, there was Duke from GI Joe, but he was usurped in midstream by a general. There was Lion-o, but the Thundercats were too wierd for most kids to take seriously. There was He-Man, but he was never anything more than a bad Superman re-interpretation. ....
      Everyone grows up and has their own legends to tell tales about. For the 80s bunch, Optimus Prime saved the day after school, and that's why so many love and respect the character

  • Doesn't matter... (Score:3, Insightful)

    by mshiltonj ( 220311 ) <mshiltonjNO@SPAMgmail.com> on Saturday July 22, 2006 @04:05PM (#15763821) Homepage Journal
    With Michael Bay running the show, the movie will still suck.

  • KARR! (Score:4, Informative)

    by payndz ( 589033 ) on Saturday July 22, 2006 @04:18PM (#15763858)
    Optimus Prime? Bah! Peter Cullen will always be KARR to me. (Even though he wasn't in KARR's second appearance. :p) "I have checked my data on basic human desires. Therefore, I understand your needs. You wish to eat. You wish to drink. You wish to reproduce. Which one first?"

  • The man is Eeyore (Score:4, Informative)

    by thefinite ( 563510 ) on Saturday July 22, 2006 @05:13PM (#15764024)
    ...to voice his most famous and well-loved character Optimus Prime.

    I think a billion little kids--not to mention most of their parents--would take issue with calling Optimus Prime his "most famous and well-loved character." Peter Cullen has voiced Eeyore from Winnie the Pooh for decades [imdb.com].

    • I must admit I love Eeyore, he's practically my role model in life, but growing up in the Eighties, Optimus Prime was my hero and the hero of every boy my age. Most of it was because of Peter Cullen's voice. You just had to listen to what he said.

      Optimus Prime was like General Patton with lasers that transformed into a giant truck. There was nothing better than him when I was young.
  • I would've waited an eternity for this!
  • M-O-O-N spells Optimius
  • Here [wkyc.com] is a guy who legally changed his name to Optimus Prime a couple years back. His military buddies kicked his butt a little bit over this. From the article

    "They razzed me for three months to no end," said Prime. "They really dug into me about it."

  • A better info resource for those who care.... (Score:3, Interesting)

    by 8127972 ( 73495 ) on Saturday July 22, 2006 @11:19PM (#15764844)
    ..... Can be found below:

    http://www.transformersthemovie.com/ [transformersthemovie.com]

  • good news... (Score:3, Funny)

    by Tumbleweed ( 3706 ) * on Sunday July 23, 2006 @02:33AM (#15765167)
    ...for Elias. He's gonna go nuts over this.

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