Peter Cullen has died

schlauerfox 2 days ago | parent | next [-]

Here he is telling a powerful story about finding the voice by being inspired by his brother's calm authoritative voice, a Vietnam veteran. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zryfjSaxXLo

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horacemorace 2 days ago | parent | next [-]

“Strong enough to be gentle” is the epitome of manhood.

	▲	gchamonlive 2 days ago \| parent [-]
		Uncontrolled power is easy, just give a kid a gun, real power is serene. "All truly strong people are kind" - Vagabond

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proactivesvcs 2 days ago | parent | prev [-]

From BBC News' article:

His Optimus Prime voice was inspired by his older brother, a decorated US Marine and Vietnam War veteran, who suggested he should play the character as "a real hero, don't be a Hollywood hero".

"He said, 'Don't go yelling and screaming. He's strong enough to be gentle.'

"And that resonated with me, and I could hear his voice all the way to the audition. When he drops down, when he gets serious, is where I found Optimus Prime."

Cullen gave his brother a cut of the wages he received for playing Optimus Prime until his death.

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datakan 2 days ago | parent | prev | next [-]

I hope they retire Optimus Prime the way Baseball teams retire players numbers. Peter Cullen is an act that can't be followed and any attempt to do so will sully the memory.

	▲	keeda 2 days ago \| parent \| next [-]
		Wellllll, they kinda already retired Optimus Prime in https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Transformers:_The_Movie ...
	▲	bitwize 2 days ago \| parent \| prev [-]
		A number of other actors have already voiced Optimus in Transformers media, with varying quality. Jake Foushee, who has appeared in a few recent productions, does a competent impression of Cullen's performance. The neat thing about characters is they can outlive the actors who play them. Retiring Optimus would be like retiring Bugs Bunny after the death of Mel Blanc.

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ThrowawayR2 2 days ago | parent | prev | next [-]

I'm surprised to learn that he was also the voice of Eeyore from Winnie the Pooh. Rest in peace, Mr. Cullen.

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mixmastamyk 2 days ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Was a bit too old for Transformers when it became popular but even watching a few mins here and there was enough to imprint Optimus’ voice on me. When they hired him for the movies I thought, well of course they did.

Believe that puts him in the same league as James Earl Jones as Mufasa. RIP

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TheCondor a day ago | parent | prev | next [-]

He also voiced aspects of Voltron and Saber Rider, maybe “narrated” is the right description

Such a big part of my youth

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MBCook 2 days ago | parent | prev | next [-]

I had no idea he was the voice of the Predator.