Peter Cullen: Voice of Optimus Prime and Eeyore
Transformers and Winnie the Pooh Actor Showcases Many Animated Faces
What does the leader of the Autobots have in common with a donkey and giant crab? Plenty, if you’re voice over actor Peter Cullen who played all of these characters in Transformers, The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, and My Little Pony and Friends.
A graduate of the National Theatre School in Montreal, Canada, Cullen initially worked as a stage actor, performing in Shakespeare plays. However his talent for voices soon led him to jobs on radio and TV, including The Sonny and Cher Show, and earned him an agent who got Cullen auditions for film trailers, dramatic narration, and cartoons.
Optimus Prime
In the early 1980s, Cullen went to audition for Transformers an animated cartoon series about warring alien robots. But when he first heard about Optimus Prime, a giant robot who could turn into a freightliner and lead his team of Autobots against the evil Decepticons, Cullen wasn’t sure how to approach the character.
“Normally when I look at a cartoon character I will look at its neck and body, chest cavity, and what kind of a sound would come from it, whether it would be a trumpet or a tuba or whatever,” he explains in an April 5, 2007 GameSpot interview. “But there was none of that. It was really confusing.”
Ultimately, Cullen decided to model Optimus Prime’s voice after people he knew, including his brother Larry who had served as a captain in the Marine Corps during the Vietnam War.
“[My brother’s] approach to serious situations was always calm and controlled and authoritative,” states Cullen in a September 28, 2006 USA Today.com interview. “So my brother is in [Optimus]. Even my dad, too, (and) former friends.”
This commanding voice earned Cullen the role, and he went on to voice Optimus in several Transformers cartoons as well as the 1986 animated film Transformers: The Movie. His versatility even let him play other Transformers characters, including the fan favorite Ironhide.
But it is Optimus Prime that Cullen is best known for – so much so that when Michael Bay directed a live action 2007 Transformers movie, fans lobbied to have Cullen reprise the role, and were thrilled when he brought his quiet strength back to the Autobot leader. Cullen will also reprise the role again for the 2009 sequel Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen.
Other Voice Over Work for Animated Cartoons
Cullen’s voice graced many popular cartoons during the 1980s, including G.I. Joe (1983) and Spider-Man and his Amazing Friends (1981). One of his animated series even featured another giant robot – Voltron: Defender of the Universe (1984). For this show, Cullen did not voice the robot but provided a memorable opening narration and voiced additional (human) characters.
Yet even a voice known for action shows can enjoy lighter fare, as Cullen demonstrated when he became Captain Crabnasty, a giant law enforcing crab, for the story “Fugitive Flowers” in My Little Pony and Friends (1986) Here, Cullen spoofed his Transformers role by playing an ugly but heroic crab who protected the ponies from evil flowers – proving there's “more than meets the eye” when it comes to heroism.
Eeyore
By the late 1980s, even Autobots got the blues when Cullen became another famous character – Eeyore, the lovable but depressed donkey from The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh (1988).
While not the first actor to play Eeyore, Cullen’s voice took so well to the part that he reprised Eeyore for The Tigger Movie (2000), Pooh’s Heffalump Movie (2005), and many television specials.
Asked about his role as Eeyore, Cullen expressed great fondness for the donkey, stating how glad he was to play a character that makes so many people happy – a sentiment he shares with all of his animated characters.
“If you can receive anything in your life that's bigger than that, I couldn't conceive it,” he states of people’s response to his work in an August 28, 2008 interview for “Ain’t it Cool News.” “That kind of feeling that you get from people appreciating something you've done is a wonderful, wonderful thing.”
Sources:
- Ekberg, Brian. “Q & A: Truckin’ with Optimus Prime.” GameSpot, 2007.
- Matheson, Whitney “A Chat With… Peter Cullen, aka Optimus Prime.” USA Today.com 2006.
- “Mr. Beaks Rolls Out an Interview with Optimus Prime Himself, Peter Cullen!” Ain’t it Cool News, 2008.
Curious about voice acting? Check out Inside the Voice Actor's Studio and Yuri Lowenthal Talks about Ben 10: Alien Force.
Also see: From Dark Knight to Disney Sidekick
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