“Optimus Prime: Awakening” partial key art.
Fathom Entertainment/Hasbro Entertainment
Longtime Transformers Optimus Prime voice actor Peter Cullen will be heard as the classic character in a short film that is soon heading to movie theaters.
Cullen died on Aug. 26 at his home in Los Angeles at age 85. Cullen amassed more than 200 credits— mostly as a voice actor— in his six-plus decades in show business. In addition to voicing Optimus Prime in the Transformers movie, TV and video game franchise, Cullen famously provided the voice for the sad donkey, Eeyore, in the Winnie the Pooh franchise.
Cullen also lent his vocal talents to such animated series as Voltron: Defender of the Universe, Dungeons & Dragons, G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero, Ghostbusters, Rambo and Invincible, and in the live-action realm, he utilized his voice to bring the title characters to life in King Kong and Predator, as well as Mogwai in the first Gremlins movie.
Long before he voiced Optimus Prime in six live-action films, Cullen voiced the leader of the Autobots in the 1986 classic The Transformers: The Movie. On Sept. 17, The Transformers: The Movie is returning to the big screen to celebrate the film’s 40th anniversary, and along with it is a new 12-minute animated short film, Optimus Prime: Awakening.
Film event company Fathom Entertainment is distributing The Transformers: The Movie, which will play in wide release for two weeks, from Sept. 17 through Oct. 1.
“Optimus Prime: Awakening builds on the acclaimed storytelling and visuals of The Transformers: The Movie (1986), giving audiences the rare opportunity to experience the iconic cultural moment from the franchise’s past while exploring its future on the big screen,” Fathom and Hasbro said in a press release.
HOLLYWOOD, CA – SEPTEMBER 30: Voiceover actor Peter Cullen at the Optimus Prime hand and footprint ceremony held at TCL Chinese Theatre IMAX on September 30, 2014 in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Albert L. Ortega/Getty Images)
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‘Optimus Prime: Awakening’ Will Also Feature The Voice Of Frank Welker
In addition to Peter Cullen, another voice acting icon, Frank Welker, will be featured in Optimus Prime: Awakening as the voice of Optimus’ nemesis, Decepticon leader Megatron. Welker will voice the Decepticon Soundwave in the short film as well.
“Optimus Prime and Megatron were made for each other. After all, one needs the perfect hero against the epitome of evil to create great drama,” Welker said in a statement to Screen Rant.
“Peter’s portrayal of Prime was born of his own personal beliefs; honesty, loyalty, and always insisting on doing the right thing. This made it easy to be friends,” Welker added. “Returning as Megatron and Soundwave for one final story opposite Peter’s Optimus in Optimus Prime: Awakening was a real gift. I will miss my friend, but that voice and his heart and values will always be part of Optimus Prime.”
Optimus Prime: Awakening, along with The Transformers: The Movie, will play in theaters nationwide from Sept. 17 (which is Transformers Day) through Oct. 1.
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