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Ian Ascher
04-08-2007, 05:49 PM
A few weeks back I thought someone posted that Megatron would be voiced by Hugo Weaving aka Mr Smith from the Matrix.

Last night on G4 they said he would be voiced by Frank Welker, the original voice from the cartoon.

Anyone know which is true?
C. Wallace
04-08-2007, 06:40 PM
A few weeks back I thought someone posted that Megatron would be voiced by Hugo Weaving aka Mr Smith from the Matrix.

Last night on G4 they said he would be voiced by Frank Welker, the original voice from the cartoon.

Anyone know which is true?

Hugo is doing the voice for the movie and Frank is doing the voice in the video game...thats the last thing I heard late last week.
Paul Sanderson
04-08-2007, 07:00 PM
Yep, that's right.
Spacious Interior
04-08-2007, 08:42 PM
Big ups t Frank for making the character what he is and getting in on the action at all. Adam West wasn't so lucky with the Batman movies. :har:
DoctorWHO
04-08-2007, 09:41 PM
I could give two flying figs about the video game....once again they missed the ball on this one. Welker should be the movie megs...put Weaving in the game. But that's my personal lone opinion.
JamieRoberts
04-09-2007, 10:49 AM
Not lone. Welker's considered the god of voice acting, so the only reason I can think that he's not Megatron in the new movie is through the producers' fear of non-recognition. He has star power only among the faithful, I'm afraid.
DoctorWHO
04-09-2007, 07:04 PM
Not lone. Welker's considered the god of voice acting, so the only reason I can think that he's not Megatron in the new movie is through the producers' fear of non-recognition. He has star power only among the faithful, I'm afraid.

He probably wanted a staggering fee for his services and they wouldn't fork it over for this "unknown" actor.
JamieRoberts
04-09-2007, 07:16 PM
He probably wanted a staggering fee for his services and they wouldn't fork it over for this "unknown" actor.
They could have used the money they saved on the designs.

HO!
DoctorWHO
04-09-2007, 07:33 PM
No...Bay wanted it to buy a new pair of sunglasses.

"Those cost how much???!!"

"Hey...I'm Bay! I've got to look good while directing this frickin' stupid toy movie I didn't even want to do in the first place. These added tassles make it look even cooler!"
Biofungus
04-09-2007, 08:13 PM
I think it's more like the same reason they used Leonard Nimoy for Galvatron, instead of having Welker carry over the voice from Megatron in the movie. Star power/appeal.
Mwynn
04-09-2007, 11:27 PM
Not lone. Welker's considered the god of voice acting, so the only reason I can think that he's not Megatron in the new movie is through the producers' fear of non-recognition. He has star power only among the faithful, I'm afraid.
Then explain Cullen.
Moonrider
04-09-2007, 11:36 PM
I think it's more like the same reason they used Leonard Nimoy for Galvatron, instead of having Welker carry over the voice from Megatron in the movie. Star power/appeal.

Or maybe because...that's not Megatron? :whistlin:
Biofungus
04-10-2007, 12:19 AM
Or maybe because...that's not Megatron? :whistlin:
That's fanboy logic, not studio exec logic.
Calloway
04-10-2007, 12:22 AM
I thought Mel Blanc was the God of voice acting...
Biofungus
04-10-2007, 12:38 AM
Looney Toons, yeah.

But if you look at Welker's resume, I think even Blanc would gladly hand over the title personally (if he could)...
Calloway
04-10-2007, 12:39 AM
Show me his resume? Blanc didn't just do looney tunes...you'd be shocked at everything he's done...or maybe you wouldn't.
Moonrider
04-10-2007, 12:59 AM
I second that Mel Blanc comment. Frank Welker is a tiny speck compared to the greatness that is Mel Blanc, he was a legend.
Biofungus
04-10-2007, 01:00 AM
But Blanc did mainly voices.

Welker does a LOT more than just voices.
Biofungus
04-10-2007, 01:03 AM
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000305/ A good 90+ % of what Blanc did was Looney Toons.

Welker has a more diversified resume, and as I said, he does more than merely voices.
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0919798/
Calloway
04-10-2007, 01:10 AM
we're talking voices here....


Look at Mel's resume...that suckers huge!
Biofungus
04-10-2007, 01:15 AM
Look at the diversity though. If you broke it down by that, Franks would only go down by maybe 100 jobs. Mel's would only be left with about 9. That's not to knock the guy, but out of 947 or so main entries, like 900+ contain the same characters over and over again.
Moonrider
04-10-2007, 01:18 AM
But Blanc did mainly voices.

Welker does a LOT more than just voices.

That still don't qualify Welker as a legend, or heavens forbid, a 'god'. The fact that it was solely Mel who brought almost all of the Looney Tunes character to life and still popular to this day already give him more credibility.

And you can't be 'the god of voice acting' by counting your non-voice works too. Welker's career is just starting compared to Blanc, he probably can take over the reign but not now.
Calloway
04-10-2007, 01:43 AM
Yeah, what he said. I never heard of welker. The only characters voices that should always remain the same are starscream and prime. Megatrons voice can be anyone who sounds angry.

Of course if your 40 and got into tf when you were 20 or 30 you might be a little too anal if you disagree.
Biofungus
04-10-2007, 01:49 AM
You guys are also forgetting about the times (modern vs. back in the day).

Blanc himself even has said before that the only reason he did most/all of the voices is because he was basically all the studio could afford.

Welker does/can do things with his voice that Blanc never could. Just because giving 'voice' to a dragon or monster is considered a "special vocal effect" rather than an actual "voice over" doesn't negate it's status.

Plus, Blanc did what, maybe a dozen voices? Only maybe 6 regularly, and okay, even if it was another dozen "incidental voices"? Even two dozen such voices?

Just in voices *alone* Welker has done *hundreds*.

I'm not saying he's necessarily better than Blanc, but I'm saying he deserves a HELL of a lot more credit than you two are giving him, and while Blanc does the deserve the credit, you two are also exaggerating just how much he actually did.
Calloway
04-10-2007, 01:51 AM
Did you know Blanc did voice overs for Luke skywalker?
JamieRoberts
04-10-2007, 05:14 AM
Then explain Cullen.
Nowhere near the same number of jobs under his belt, so he's cheaper. Also, if you've got rabid fans going at you 24/7 for original voices, you've got to give them something. I think most people would choose Prime over Megatron if it came down to it.
Mwynn
04-10-2007, 08:07 AM
Nowhere near the same number of jobs under his belt, so he's cheaper. Also, if you've got rabid fans going at you 24/7 for original voices, you've got to give them something. I think most people would choose Prime over Megatron if it came down to it.

Not lone. Welker's considered the god of voice acting, so the only reason I can think that he's not Megatron in the new movie is through the producers' fear of non-recognition. He has star power only among the faithful, I'm afraid.

So while Welker is the "god of voice acting" as stated by John DiMaggio and Billy West, he does not have recognition. Cullen on the other hand does not have the resume, which would also mean he has recognition problems. I have no clue what you are trying to say.
JamieRoberts
04-10-2007, 08:18 AM
I'm saying that, given the choice, Bay would probably have gone with other voice actors entirely. With fanboys being what they are, they will have demanded at least one original voice, and it's highly likely they would have preferred Cullen. Welker is considered a voice acting god by other voice actors. I'm guessing they had no say in the casting of this movie.
Moonrider
04-10-2007, 10:39 AM
Taking the hint from quones, I think Cullen works as some sort of Bay's riot control for the masses. He shouldn't even get the part because Hollywood executives would think a face actor will give the film more star power (especially since they got a Shia LeBeouf for the title role, how dangerous is that!). But Convoy's the main hero so you can't really fuck with it, so instead they totally bang up Megatron and even give him the voice of one of the most overused actor in movies this millenium (not saying Mr Weaving is a bad actor but does he have to be in every frickin' epic movie there is?). Welker's godlike status or whatever is insignificant to the casting choice, they have little respect for the original voice actors in the first place. It's a give and take situation, they give Cullen for us but they take Welker out thinking that it's the lesser of two evils through the Hollywood executives' business perspective.

By the way any news on Starscream's voice? That one voice is inimitable.
Moonrider
04-10-2007, 10:49 AM
I'm not saying he's necessarily better than Blanc, but I'm saying he deserves a HELL of a lot more credit than you two are giving him, and while Blanc does the deserve the credit, you two are also exaggerating just how much he actually did.

Well, it's kind of a rare occasion that LilGreenMan and me agree on each other so it must be right. :laugh:

Seriously though, Mel Blanc owns the era he lived in just as much as Welker owns his.
Calloway
04-10-2007, 02:29 PM
actually he didn't voice luke that was a pause until I remembered the one that surprised me years ago. The robot on buck rogers.
spider
04-10-2007, 03:36 PM
not saying Mr Weaving is a bad actor but does he have to be in every frickin' epic movie there is?

Geez, you make him sound like Johnny Depp.
Moonrider
04-10-2007, 09:19 PM
Dude, Johnny Depp only made, like, three epic movies in his career so far. POTC, POTC, POTC.
spider
04-11-2007, 02:57 PM
As soon as the first POTC was released everyone wanted him in their shitty movies hoping his brilliant acting would balance it out.

Then we get Charlie and the chocolate factory.
Calloway
04-12-2007, 12:08 AM
Geez, you make him sound like Johnny Depp.

Can't get more epic then prisilla of the desert...
Moonrider
04-12-2007, 01:00 AM
As soon as the first POTC was released everyone wanted him in their shitty movies hoping his brilliant acting would balance it out.

Then we get Charlie and the chocolate factory.

Depp is very selective in his role, but I think he'll do most anything for Tim Burton.

Weaving tend to look and/or sound the same in any movie he's in, that's why I think he's overused so fast in his career. Depp can be many different people so he's never boring, not even in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.