During the 80’s, Peter Cullen was a hero to an entire generation of young boys throughout their formative years. In fact, he may have even been two or three. They just didn’t really know it.
He is perhaps best known for his role as the leader of the Autobots in the 1984 Transformers animated series, a role which he would reprise in Michael Bay’s two smash-hit Transformers movies (like them or not, you can’t deny they made money), their associated merchandise (games included), and in Activision’s Transformers: War for Cybertron (Transformers: Cybertron Adventures on the Wii), which was released on Tuesday.
In an MP3 interview with Wired Game|Life (video aside, is there any other way to do an interview with a voice actor?), Cullen talks about how he came to acquire the role of the legendary Matrix-bearer, what influenced the voice, and being something of a pop-culture icon:
“For all the people listening that remember those years, so many years ago: to become aware of the significant influence it had was a real surprise to me. My daughter had convinced me to go back to a BotCon [an annual Transformers fan convention, which coincidentally happens to be going on now in Orlando –ed] in New York (or Rochester, I’m not sure, it’s been a while). She had convinced me to go, saying ‘Dad, Optimus is a very popular character!’ I said ‘what? Nobody’s going to remember me, that was back twelve… fifteen years ago.’ She said ‘oh, no, Dad… you have no idea.'”“And so she convinced me to go back east, and I did. And the reception that I received was overwhelming; I was stunned. I mean, I was literally… my jaw dropped. And it was hard to imagine, I had to explain to them that I was so popular, or an icon, by any means, because I had never had any feedback. I hadn’t received fan letters… this is a story I’ve told several times, but there was no thermometer for me to judge where I was.”
“And so it was a total surprise… and it continues to be, the more I realize what impact it’s had, to hear a young man in his 30’s, or a writer say I was his other father, that’s very touching and it means a great deal to me. It’s very important, very important to me.”
So, for anyone who might not understand the significance to fans of Cullen returning to the role, there you have it.
Cullen goes on to discuss what it was like recording his lines for a video game, as opposed to the cartoons or movies, and as it so happens, Transformers is not his only brush with video game fame. In fact, though not in a game itself, it turns out that he as the original voice of none other than Mario, as seen in CBS’s Saturday Supercade Donkey Kong cartoon:
Cullen: *as this little reminder is brought to his attention* “Oh my… Oh my god, oh my… oh wow. Yeah, I remember vaguely… I remember because I played Donkey Kong, it was one of the first video games… am I right? Yeah, I remember seeing this little character, you know, when my kids would be playing it, and inevitably, when we went out somewhere, there would be some of those games. Donkey Kong was one of them, and it was kind of funny, I don’t remember how it goes today…Soon after that, I am auditioning for Mario *laughs* There I was, this same little character that was on the video screen, and I told my kids about it: ‘Dad, that’s fantastic! Gee, maybe we’ll get our own game!’ *laughs* …it was short-lived.”
Wired: “It didn’t last very long, right?”
Cullen: “No, I don’t think so. And I think I was even replaced, so… which is not uncommon in this Tinseltown-world.”
Wired: “Right, right right. Well, apparently, you are the first person to give a voice to that character. So says Wikipedia.”
Cullen: “I’m… honored. *more laughter from both*
Before wrapping up, Cullen recalls one other voice people might recognize: Eeyore, the gloomy donkey from Winnie the Pooh.
You can hear the full interview here, though he does not touch on some of the other roles he has played over the years, including some from Voltron and Disney’s Ducktales. However, it appears that he will be reprising the role of Optimus Prime again, not only for the upcoming third Michael Bay Transformers movie, but also for the Transformers: Prime animated series, slated to come soon to Hasbro and The Discovery Channel’s new “The Hub” network.
