TFW2005 Interviews Frank Welker Part 1 of 2

Very cool interview, looking forward to part two.

Lulz.

Wow thats just not true. Just honestly most people in VA have unique qualities to there voice that mostly anyone dont have other wise you dont last as long as he did.

on topic though its not a suprise that soundwave is not voiced by him when Hasbro practically forced the hand of Bay to let Cullen voice prime.

He seems to have a personal distaste for anything that came before with his movies. He tries to hard to put his stamp on the material like he is its creator.

That might be why every movie says "By Michael Bay" in big letters next to the title. Keep in mind thats not just this or the first movie.


Not to mention if there is one specific Generation they were to make into a movie its been said already it would be G1 hence why the new movies include G1 characters galore.

But im sure that most will miss that point even though points like yours are absolutely right G1 set the stage for all this.

The funny thing about that quote stating Hugo is a better VA notice welker basically points out that the voice was heavily processed and it could be anybody. And IMO because it was so generic.

Without G1 there is nothing else. No movies, no toys, no games, no bedsheets. If G1 is over then why are there so many reissues being made? Then there are classics/universe figures, another reissue of season 1, toothbrushes tshirts and many more products. G1 is far from ever being over

It certainly wasn't an effort to replicate Nimoy's Galvatron (as would be consistent with another item in Welker's interview)....

This was a nice interview! I'll be looking forward to reading the rest!

Woah. Don't limit Frank Welker to just Transformers. He is admired by people because there is nothing he can't voice. Who else can claim to have voiced Megatron, Soundwave, Rumble, the Gremlins, Nibbler, Santa's Little Helper, Freddy Jones, Scooby-Doo, and Curious George? Not to mention countless animals in The Simpsons series.

Cartoonist golf tounament FTW

Read my second post, I'm more than aware of his impressive list of roles in TV, I (for the sake of not HAVING to write a two-page report on why I like and dislike what I do) simply said I was not a fan of his voices, and said I think that the voices he's done for TFs are not exactly hard to duplicate. I simply took it as a given that everybody knew that I knew what he's done outside TFs.

Not quite. Half that stuff only came back because the Movie brought back old fans, and so they felt the need to 'bridge the gap" in some way shape or form. (next to none of this stuff was around during, say, Beast Warsm RID or AEC) G1 is over, but over like Beast wars is over. No more cartoon or new toys, but there or homages, reissues, etc. In fact, G1 actually almost killed TFs. Back near and around when Machine Wars was just trying to keep fans around, G1, and at that time, TFs in general, were rapidly fading in the publics intrest. Only the bold new reboot of Beast Wars and other reboots afterwards kept TFs fresh. Think of "G1" as the canvas and art. The art has been washed away to make way for a new picture. The base is still there, but all the dressings, plots and designs get revamped almost completely each time it's time to move on.

Yup. I was surprised on both counts.

I think that was actually a fairly decent interview. It doesn't have any of that "aww man he's telling it like it is, he's such a badass" feel to it, and I'm glad. He has been doing this for so long, there's few people who should be so seasoned and professional in the field. There wasn't exactly any startling revalations, but it isn't like he even seems in the loop for anything TF related at the moment.

A point of interest, for me, anyways, was how he never actually auditioned. I could have sworn everyone said he auditioned and they just didn't think he was fit for the job. It's also always interesting to hear how someone who was so involved with something we all care about a lot DOESN'T care about it. I mean, he liked the job, but couldn't care less about the state of TF's if a paycheck wasn't involved. I'm not saying that's wrong because that's the way it is with a lot of people, but interesting just the same.

That was a good interview. Its more to get to know more about him and the business. I can't wait for reading part 2. Nice job Super_Megatron.

Man it would be great to hear his voice for Megatron again!!! I miss hearing it.

He plays Megatron in the first movie game. And Megatron gives you all the mission orders.

i heard some where thier going to use his growls and snarls for ravage
bay needs to have frank and peter together for the movie.. i hope he voices soundwave

I still don't get where you're going with that point. Any of the work done by any voice actor can be duplicated or mimicked by someone out there. I guess they all suck?

That's a great interview, if a somewhat sad one.

Great interview!
Incidentally he was also Iceman on Spider-Man & His Amazing Friends.
So next year if he is at TFCC & you happen to have the Amazing Friends 3 pack(Marvel Universe) you should have him sign it.
I don't think it will be out by this year's TFCC.

And after yet another "Please hire Frank Welker for Soundwave" thread at Bay's board, which lead to a collective groan from everybody, Bay himself posts this...

^
Oh bay you and your shenanigans.

So is frank welker to busy with voice work to come to botcon?
I'd feel a little giddy buying him a reissue megatron.

You asked the 'talking to yourself' question. Awesome. (His answer was funny, too.) Good job, as usual.

I KNEW the minute I read that he didn't have any toys that there would be a demand to send him some. I move we include the WST Megs so that he can have a wallet-sized momento.

Thanks for doing the interview guys and thanks to Frank Welker for taking the time to do it . I really enjoyed it and can't wait for the second half.

Slightly off-topic, but I felt people should know that Cullen does have some Prime toys. During his BC 04 panel, he said he has the original Optimus AND the Hasbro re-issue. Also in the autograph line, I saw someone give him MP Prime.

Thoroughly enjoyed the interview and I'm very much looking forward to part 2. Will it by chance be published Thursday... which also happens to be Frank's birthday?

I would like to request that the typo on the mentions of Rob Paulsen's name in the interview be corrected. Rob Paulson was a character Meatloaf played in "Fight Club". Rob Paulsen is the cartoon voice actor.

^ This. In most cases, if you hear a poor voice performance in an animated TV show or film, it's due to one of three things:

1) It's the fault of the casting director for miscasting the wrong performer for the role to begin with.

2) It's the fault of an inexperienced voice actor.

3) It's the fault of the voice director for either giving poor direction or giving misdirection in the interpretation of the dialog/character.

And in most cases where it occurs, I'd say it's the voice director's fault. Welker had been doing cartoon voiceovers for more than a decade before he was booked for Transformers, so to say that he was "miscast" as Megatron or Galvatron would be grossly inaccurate. Frank can handle pretty much any role thrown at him -- his range and ability are staggering.

His performance as Megatron was directed that way by Wally Burr, whom every TF cast member I've ever had the chance to meet say he was a taskmaster who ran recording sessions like a drill sergeant. And listen to the excellent performance Welker gives in TFTM compared to the TV series -- it's much more fitting to the character than in the series.

And I've no doubt Welker could've managed a passable Leonard Nimoy impression for Galvatron, but unfortunately that's not how Burr directed him to perform the character. That Galvatron was not the same character from TFTM. The hot lava bath apparently rendered him insane, and disappointingly he became the comic relief.

That was a nice interview, and I am also looking forward to part 2; it shows how much of a classy guy Welker is (like Cullen), which is in stark contrast to the many prissy little whiny bitches of Hollywood. I wonder if this interview contributed to Bay's decision to announce that he's pursuing Frank for Soundwave.

Part 2 up: TFW2005 Interviews Frank Welker Part 2 of 2 - Transformers News

I really enjoyed reading this! I liked the questions that were asked. Mr. Welker's responses were both well spoken, and very entertaining. I laughed at quite a few of those answers! Frank Welker and other voice actors like him have so much talent; I really think it's a shame that most people aren't aware of it.

I sincerely hope that he gets the part of Soundwave for the next film!

Thank you for putting up this interview with him!

Welker gives a very entertaining interview, I really enjoyed both parts.

Another enjoyable read... however, he never revealed what he teased in the first half about still being involved in the TF franchise?

I assume he was speaking about the upcoming ROTF video game, but it's disappointing that he hinted at this and it was never actually revealed.

Was very pleased to see that IMDb actually was accurate in crediting Welker for his supporting role in the upcoming feature film, "The Informant." Frank has done very few on-camera appearances in the last 30+ years, and it's a nice change to see him working on camera for once.

BTW, was this a phone, e-mail, or in-person interview? Every interview with a voice actor should also be made available as an audio or video download if possible. They're generally fun to read, but much more fun to watch or listen to. I get the impression it was done via email because Frank uses emoticons a couple times.

Also, when this goes up on the frontpage, it would be nice to mention that Thursday is Frank's birthday.

And I mentioned this just a few posts up in this thread, but please correct the typos on Rob Paulsen's name where he is mentioned in both parts of the interview.

Great interview. I'd have liked to hear more about his "Spock Screams" credit in Star Trek III: The Search For Spock that was alluded to here. Why does he have to do screams for Leonard Nimoy & Michael Jackson? Are they too busy to do it?

Off-Topic: Speaking of old VAs and Spider-man's Amazing Friends, does anyone else think that bay should have contacted Dan Gilvezan for Movie Bumblebee?

Or anyone else, actually. Movie Bumblebee sounds like an old man, which doesn't fit for being the youthful Autobot sidekick to Spik--err, Sam...

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...

This was an email interview, and as such, most spelling, wording and grammar has been left unchanged.

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."

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!

Awesome interview. Great job Aernaroth, and many thanks to Frank for taking the time to speak with us.

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.

I can so agree with that!

Great interveiw, great stuff. Looking forward to the next one.

A very pleasant read. He seems like a real class act.

that was it only two parts

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.

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.

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?

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.