INTERVIEW PART 1:
TFW2005 was given the opportunity to talk to the legendary voice actor Frank Welker recently, the result being an interview so epic, we had to split it into two segments. In this first segment, Mr. Welker discusses the 2007 Transformers movie and video game, as well as his long and successful career in voice acting.
TFW:
What was your reaction, when you heard about the out-pouring of support from the fans for you to reprise your role as Megatron in the recent movie?
Well, I was absolutely blown away. I really had no idea how big the Transformers were, let alone the size of the fan base. Their passion and knowledge of all things TF is pretty awesome. For me, knowing the fans felt my G1 Megatron was original and important to them and should have been included in the feature production was humbling. That loyalty has pretty much increased my hat size about two fold. Of course I realize it is “Megs” ultimately…not me.
TFW:
How did you feel about the role of Megatron in the recent transformers movie going to Hugo Weaving?
Welker:
Hey, if it can’t be me or an immediate member of my family playing the role of Megaton, Hugo Weaving is not too shabby. He is a superb actor who always brings interesting interpretations to his work. His agent Smith from the Matrix series was an example, he used a very slight robotic twitch and underplayed it so nicely…top notch. The clips I saw of his Megatron seemed to work just fine, but it was pretty heavily processed and made the voice sound typical of what you might expect of a 40 foot mechanical villain. I think it would have been more interesting to hear less process and more Hugo.
TFW:
Can you describe what kind of interactions you had with the producers, and were these related to your later work on the video game adaptation?
I really had no interaction with the producers or the director. We tried to get together several times to do an in person interview/audition but couldn’t make our schedules meet. I sent a couple of lines in via audio tape but never saw or read a script. From what I heard, the ultimate decision came down to the director and he did not feel my G1 Megatron voice would work with his vision. As far as the game…no, my work on the game was separate from the film group.
TFW:
Have you been approached at all for any further work with the franchise, either with the movie
(Soundwave?) or another incarnation, such as Transformers: Animated?
Well it is a little too early to be specific but I will say yes and no. No, I have not been approached by the movie folks but yes I am still involved in the franchise…more on that later.
TFW:
How did it feel reprising the role of Megatron for the Transformers Movie video game?
It was great. It was a lot of fun to see my old buddy Peter Cullen and the folks at Activison are a very cool group and a pleasure to work with. Talk about loyalty…they insisted on the G1 Megatron voice and felt strongly that it was integral to the game and important to the fans.
TFW:
Was it hard to get back into the old voice? Some fans have noted that they feel your current Megatron performance for the video game and animated prequel comic was somewhat different from the old 80s performance.
No, it wasn’t hard getting back into the voice. I did watch some of the old shows for home work and I enjoyed seeing and hearing my friends and arch enemies again. As for the voices, the reviews of the game that I read were specifically very favorable to the voices and considering the blending of two different mediums with different ideas and personnel and voices I thought that was remarkable. I do remember reading that one reviewer thought Peter and I sounded more mature and this especially worked for a more evil Megatron and a stronger wiser Prime.
TFW:
Did you consciously go a slightly different way with the delivery, or is any difference a matter of different post-production editing?
Whenever you work with a director, there is a good chance you will be asked to go on acting adventures …but no, other than doing what is asked of me, I tried to stay true. As far as production and sound are concerned I don’t believe Activision did much to the vocals. In the old TV shows we had an echo effect rolled in over our voice tracks. This was done by our sound designer and engineer Scott Brownlie. It gave the voices an interesting metal and other worldly quality. It was subtle but I liked it and it worked well with the scratchy Megatron.
TFW:
When you’re not behind the mic, what does Frank Welker do in his spare time?
Think about why I’m not behind a mic!
TFW:
Did you ever buy any toy versions of the characters you voiced? Were you ever given anything from Hasbro or any other companies?
Yes, I once took bought a toy doll of Stripe from the “Gremlins” and used it as a prop on the Merv Griffin Show. It was a fantastic little creature. I went off and left it at the show and was totally bummed. Then about three years later my secretary gave me another one for Christmas. I still have it. I had a Megatron that Hasbro gave us in the 80’s but it is gone…I have no Transformers stuff at all.
TFW:
Which voice actors have you felt most privileged to work with over the years? What was is like working with legends like Mel Blanc? Do you find that a lot of younger voice actors now look up to you? How you feel about this?
I worked with Mel a few times and Daws Butler and Stan Freberg, Bill Scott and many others. Of course it was an honor working with these giants, and I will never forget it. Bill Scott, Bulwinkle and Dudley DoRight, was one of my all time heroes and we became friends and were planning a screen play with Mark Evanier, the premier director/writer of Garfield, and many other shows. I was so excited to be working with Bill and we had a deal with a major studio to develop our script. It was a complete shock but Bill died of a heart attack and we never got to page one. I really enjoyed his company and working with Mark and Bill was a dream that unfortunately didn’t last. Bill used me as Boris, the announcer and other great Jay Ward characters for some commercials so at least we did get to voice together for a short while.
TFW:
What differences do you find in voicing animals, as opposed to “speaking” characters?
I think people have more of a preconceived idea of what a human voice’s should sound like but when you do animals there is more freedom of artistic movement. You are creating sound the listener hasn’t pigeon holed ….directors are more apt to leave me alone with my etch-o-sketch and I like that.
TFW:
Recently, it seems like you’ve been voicing more animal roles. Do you feel that you have been typecast? Would you prefer to have more speaking roles?
Yes and Yes.
TFW:
You’ve done a number of roles with characters that other actors have previously established, such as Barney Rubble and Ray Stanz. How do you approach such a role?
First I try and replicate them as close as possible if that is what the show requires. Then over time you can change them carefully into your own… carefully. After all, it is you and your own personality and humor that will through osmosis rearrange the gene lines, but you are mixing with someone else’s DNA. I look at it as a privilege and an honor, not a right.
TFW:
Is there any difficulty in doing multiple roles in the same show, especially all at once? How do you feel about times when you end up “talking to yourself”?
I used to be very good at it. Now that I am older I talk to myself all the time just as a matter of course. I guess all those years were training. Most actors are good at talking to one’s self and doing back to back characters…Jeff Bennett is very good at it. I have been in a session right next to him and thought there were two other actors, it was just Jeff.
TFW:
In the past few years, you’ve been given the opportunity to revisit some of your roles in a comedic fashion (Robot Chicken, Harvey Birdman: Attorney At Law). How did you feel about that?
It is always great fun, I like working with the young blokes and they always treat me with great reverence. It is interesting to hear the stories of how they grew up listening to me…a bit disconcerting considering I am now growing up listening to them!
TFW:
Do you stay in touch with many of the other voice actors you’ve worked with?
Not enough, I actually live within minutes of Rob Paulsen and Jim Cummings and we never see each other, only at sessions. We do get in the occasional round of golf in fact the team of Rob Paulsen, Jeff Bennett, Sue Blu and I won first place in the annual Cartoonists golf tournament representing Universal Studios this past year. Peter and I see each other a couple of times a year and spend more time talking about getting together than actually being together. It’s just one of those things…
TFW:
What do you think makes a good voice director?
In my opinion, the best directors hire people they know can do the job and then get out of the way. Too much time is wasted on interpretation and line readings and character building. Get folks who know what they’re doing and let them do it. All most actors need to know is what is the action and where is the microphone.
Galvatron1
Gun not "The One"
_Galvatron_
A god who walks among men…
Aernaroth
It's a little easier when you can hide behind a computer, but between you, me, and the rest of the internet, I'd be lying if I didn't say I felt it was a privilege to do this, and that I wasn't just as nerdy as you'd be.
Grimwing
This bit alone made my day. It's just such a perfect answer to everything behind that voice.
But it relieves me to know Frank is still well connected to megatron; despite the hundreds or thousands of other roles he's done. Granted he's had to do it lately for the Seth Mcfarlene shows and the movie game.
Here's hoping Frank Welker makes the movie game sequel (as Megatron) and Transformers:Revenge of the Fallen: movie (as Soundwave) *cheers*
Great review, Aernaroth! It's not easy to keep your cool in front of a living legend.
I'd just be to nerdy to get that job done.
trebleshot
Great review, Aernaroth! Thanks to you and Frank for doing this for us.
And I hope Bay really is persuing Welker for ROTF Soundwave. It shouldn't even matter if his voice has aged, since it will be run through some kind of processing and they can always "tweak" it then.
Batman
Great second half. Thank you to everyone who was involved with the interview (Good questions ) and Thank you Frank Welker for participating.
Aernaroth
I'm afraid that was all he said, so we'll all have to wait.
Some minor edits, including a few typos, were made. Mr. Paulsen's name was missed, however, as I did not realize his name was spelt differently. I chose to leave as much as I could unchanged to try and preserve what I could of the "character" of the email, for lack of a better term.
Voiceroy
I figured as such, but unless it was asked in advance by the agent/mgr to leave it unchanged journalists are normally allowed to make changes and corrections for the sake of clarity as long as it's noted properly.
Either that, or if you do need to make those kind of corrections you can always clear them with the agent/mgr/interviewee. It's fairly standard media protocol for email interviews.
So, no follow-up on Welker's hint ("more on that later") that he was still involved in the TF franchise?
Voiceroy
It's not that they're "too busy" but that they don't want to do it. They know it will blow their voice out.
It's the same reason that stand-ins are hired for movie/TV shoots so the "celebrities" don't have to stand there for an hour or two for all the technical stuff.
Aernaroth
Well who knows, with all the stories we heard about how great and fun the recording sessions were, maybe some of these VAs got the feeling that it was more than just another job, you know, something that would endure a little longer than Inhumanoids or Silverhawks.
optimusprime42
that was it only two parts
Randomus Prime
A very pleasant read. He seems like a real class act.
Railguard
Great interveiw, great stuff. Looking forward to the next one.
Bahamut Prime
I can so agree with that!
Ezilla82
Just reading Part 2 of the interview thats why I like Frank he's funny and being a professional at the same time. Awesome interview.
Sol Fury
Awesome interview. Great job Aernaroth, and many thanks to Frank for taking the time to speak with us.
Kickback
You know, for every ten interviews that ask that question and get the "no" response, there will be one interview where someone goes "Well, I knew it was something special, but you never know because ____" …
So no need to be a dick about it, right?
Thanks!
Fit For natalie
The perfect answer to these types of questions. No offence, but I've never understood why fans like to ask this, given that for pretty much all voice actors, these sorts of roles were among hundreds of roles on various shows they would have performed on at the time. What could they possibly say?
"Yes, 25 years ago, I totally foresaw that by the year 2009, Transformers would become a successful multi-billion dollar franchise."
Aernaroth
This was an email interview, and as such, most spelling, wording and grammar has been left unchanged.
Enigma2K2
TFW:
Also, have you succeeded in making Mr. Cullen squirt water from his nose yet?
Welker:
Yes, and I am damn proud of it!!
CAN… DIE… HAPPY…