Peter Cullen Talks Transformers as Titans Return Episode Three Premiere

Go90.com has the third episode of Transformers: Titans Return as Metroplex and Trypticon start what looks to be a series long fight as the rest of the Autobots try to find other ways to end it before a weekend Metroplex falls. To go along with the release the voice of Optimus Prime, Peter Cullen, did an interview about Transformers and once again voicing Prime for this series. Below are some highlights, the full interview is at the LA Times.

When you were first presented with the opportunity to voice Optimus Prime?
Voiceover actors, especially in the animation world, were [once] on call every day from your agent, 24-seven. “Go here, go there.” Today, you don't do that. You audition in your own home in your underwear in front of a microphone on a computer. Back in those days, you had to drive across town and wait in line in auditions. Mostly, what we called then cattle calls — like an NFL tryout. You don't just audition for one, you audition for about four or five roles, and you pick out the characters to read for. You take out a few pieces of paper and try to come up with a voice for each character. I did my Optimus Prime, and found out two weeks later that I was hired for the role. This was a toy that nobody has seen before. Kids will get their teeth into it. There was always the feeling of, “Gee, we got a hit.' G1 [or Generation One of the toys] — that was a long time ago.

In voicing Optimus in so many different iterations, from TV to video games to film, is there much difference for you in terms of the process?
Well, yeah. The animated series, before digital, was done in a small recording studio with cast. When you're working on a movie, you're working on an ongoing piece, and that means a couple of hours. The script has been written and subject to change, and in many cases, I was lip-syncing to animation that had already been created. For those that weren't animated, there were pencil sketches to go on — or we were just speaking dialogue into a microphone. So, yeah, there's definitely a creative process different than what I was accustomed to. Today, working wth the internet process of animation, and its ability to reach so many millions of people, this is exciting as well. It's all new to me, and I'm embracing it because let's face it, the success of anything is about the amount of people that watch it.