NO! Peter Cullen is Optimus So If he isn't Voicing Him It's Not really Optimus
And I Won't watch it if Optimus is Not In It!
Just My Preference  

 

Basement dwellers bitch a lot!  


My serious answer....HELL TO THE NO!!

The only voice I ever want to hear from Optimus Prime is Peter Cullen's. Period.

 

Cullen for the win. Sorry.

 

No.

 

Peter Cullen = Optimus Prime

I'm not knocking other VA's who have done an equally amazing job at portraying other incarnations of Prime, but for me Cullen's voice defines Optimus--particularly this clearly movie based Optimus--best.

That having been said, where I think the issue with Cullen as TFP Optimus is coming from is not Cullen's voice per se. Right now it seems as though peeps are disgruntled with the consistently epic deliverance of every line Optimus has, which of course can make for a stiff sounding performance. I don't think this can wholly be blamed on Cullen, but rather a mix of the writers and the director. Remember Cullen probably has very little input (if any) on the lines that he's given, and if he is sounding repetitively booming and epic its because he is being directed to read the lines/ character that way. Cullen is an amazing VA, but for whatever reason, I feel as though between the writing and TFP directing we're not seeing the amazing range we know he has. I'm not trying to hate on the TFP directing and writers entirely, especially since they have given us an amazing season one, but how they're choosing to handle both this iconic character and VA, while overall is solid, isn't without its flaws.

Again, if this version of Optimus is sounding stiff and overly booming, its not Cullen's fault, its because he is being directed to read the lines and character that way.

 

The thing about Cullen, is he's aged, which is unavoidable, but now Prime sounds... odd.

It sounds like Cullen can only do his Optimus voice when he's scowling or really trying to sound like things are dire. He has no casual voice, and this goes for the movies too. I know nothing can really be done about it, because age is unavoidable. It just seems weird when you have the original voice, playing the original character and they can't do it like they used to.

Welker doing Megatron was a happy surprise because he decided to do him in a different way. He specifically said he was trying for a slower, more talky Megatron, and the experiment was a success.

In any event, I'd much rather see a series without the usual roster and see them try something different like with Skyquake and Knockout. New characters that have no expectations attached to them. No Optimus, Megatron, BB, Arcee, etc.

 

Yes! This is the problem.

 

No, I could listen to Cullen Primes forever.

 

Peter Cullen will always be my real true Optimus Prime voice! no one else!

 

As an italian fan, I have grown with lots of different voices for Optimus (I counted at least 10 during the decades...) and also a different name (in the G1 it was names "Commander"). So I discovered the original versions lately and I fell in love with them, I think are waaaaay better than the italian ones.

Particularly I love Peter Cullen as Optimus, his voice give me the chills. I appreciated also David Kaye, but that was another kind of Optimus, not the Great Leader. Instead I didn't like at all Neil Kaplan and the voice of Garry Chalk sounds odd to me because I connect him to Primal.

Because I can't prove the nostalgia feeling of "growing with his voice", I think that the actual Cullen is better than the 80's version, I feel him much more compassionate and calm and carismatic. I also prefer the actual characterization of Welker for Megatron than the previous one.

At last my answer to the question is NO, because Peter Cullen (this Peter Cullen) is the voice I prefer for Optimus Prime.

 

No. What I would actually like is for Peter Cullen to use a different voice for Orion Pax/de-Optimus'd Optimus- something that sounds a little less mature and wooden. The man is a professional voice actor with over twenty years of experience under his belt, so I doubt he couldn't modulate his voice to sound a little different.

As to the complaints that he's been a little dull- yes. He has. But now, with the massive twist that ends episode 26- I think we're all in for a treat on November 28th, when the new season starts.

 

Agreed; perhaps Cullen could take a page out of Welker's book and for Orion try for a softer, more questioning tone instead of Optimus' usually booming timber which conveys confidence and command. Where Welker made Megatron's voice softer and lower, loosing its harsh rasp to invoke age, perhaps a quieter tone from Cullen would work on inverted yet equally effective scale, imparting innocence and confusion as Orion struggles to ascertain his identity.

As a tangential note, for once that very stylized facial design--and its lack of detail--works really well I think to lend Orion/ Optimus an innocent and unknowing facade; after all he is pretty much tabla rasa at the moment. Poor Orion/ Optimus, Megatron is going to have a field day making him into a 'Con.

 

Totally agree. I do like the voice he used for Optimus, but for Orion I think a softer, maybe lighter toned voice would do better, help with that youth and innocence thing.

 

If this actually happens, just wait and watch Orion/Optimus fangirls multiply by the hundreds. 

 

Ive always prefered Garry Chalk, but this Optimus does well with Peter Cullen. I only wished that they wouldve softened Optimus's voice or something when in the last ep of the season, he lost all his memories and returned to Orion Pax. He would sound alot more innocent & believeable to me if it didnt have Cullen's older voice in that scene.

 

I like Cullen's Prime much more in this series than in the live movies. I've enjoyed every voice actor's version of Prime in every one of Transformers cartoons that I've seen/heard. I think that all of the voice actors have been the right selection for their particular version of Prime.

 

If a VA as good as Cullen can't get some friggin' emotion into this Optimus, I don't see anybody else being able to. The problems of Optimus' voice are not Cullen's fault, it's the voice director's.

But how would that make sense? He isn't actually Orion Pax, he just thinks he is. His voice shouldn't change.

 

I like Peter Cullen as this Optimus Prime, but I still miss Gary Chalk's Optimus.

 

^This and David Kaye.

 

I've grown through every iteration of Transformers and Peter Cullen is the Optimus Prime, he is the most deserving, captivating Prime I've been entertained by.