Frank Welker

2011-06-28T12:08:09Z

212.219.65.1:

{{disambig3|Frank}}

[[Image:FrankWelker1.jpg|right|250px|thumb|So good, it's scary.]]
'''Frank W. Welker''' (born [[March 12]], [[1946]]) is an American voice actor. Though it is but the tip of the iceberg, some of Welker's most notable roles include Fred (and later Scooby) from ''Scooby Doo'', Ray and Slimer from ''[[Susan Hoffman#Related characters|The Real Ghostbusters]]'', Santa's Little Helper from ''The Simpsons'', Nibbler from ''Futurama'', Dr. Claw from ''Inspector Gadget'' and that parrot that got eaten by the shark in ''Deep Blue Sea''. He has also done nearly all the animal sounds recorded for cartoons in North America in the last few decades. Though he has given voice to numerous Transformers, he is particularly remembered for his portrayal of [[Megatron (G1)|Megatron]].

Basically, if you haven't seen a cartoon with him in it then that's because you've never seen a cartoon in your entire life. Unless it was one of those public domain 1930s cartoons which sell for a buck at Family Dollar, of course.

{{Bigquote|Frank would do something ridiculous and then go, "Well, it was either this or college."|[[Gregg Berger]]}}

==Generation 1==
===''[[The Transformers (cartoon)|The Transformers]]''===
{{collist|3|
* [[Blades (G1)|Blades]]
* [[Buzzsaw (G1)|Buzzsaw]]
* [[Chromedome (G1)|Chromedome]]
* [[Frenzy (G1)|Frenzy]]
* [[Galvatron (G1)|Galvatron]] (commercial and post-[[The Transformers: The Movie|movie]])
* [[Groove (G1)|Groove]]
* [[Jazz (G1)|Jazz]] (1989-1990 toy commercials only)
* [[Junkion (species)|Junkion]]
* [[Laserbeak (G1)|Laserbeak]]
* [[Megatron (G1)|Megatron]]
* [[Mirage (G1)|Mirage]]
* [[Mixmaster (G1)|Mixmaster]]
* [[Ratbat (G1)|Ratbat]]
* [[Ravage (G1)|Ravage]]
* [[Rumble (G1)|Rumble]]
* [[Sharkticon (G1)|Sharkticon]]
* [[Skywarp (G1)|Skywarp]]
* [[Sludge (G1)|Sludge]]
* [[Soundwave (G1)|Soundwave]]
* [[Steeljaw (G1)|Steeljaw]]
* [[Superion (G1)|Superion]] ("[[The Key to Vector Sigma, Part 2]]" only)
* [[Sweep]]
* [[Trailbreaker (G1)|Trailbreaker]]
* [[Wheelie (G1)|Wheelie]]
}}

===Humans===
* [[Frankenstein]]
* [[Hector Ramirez (G1)|Hector Ramirez]]
* [[Poplock]]

===Aliens===
{{collist|3|
* [[Delta Pavonis IV|Cat-people]]
* [[Niko Don]]
* [[Pinpointer (G1)|Pinpointer]]
}}

===Creatures===
{{collist|3|
* [[Booper]]
* [[Brutalo]]
* [[Dweller|The Dweller]]
* [[Nitro]]
* [[Groyle]]
}}

===Other===
* [[Auto-combatant]]
* [[Teletraan II]]

Yeah, we're impressed, too.

==Movie franchise==
===''[[Transformers: Beginnings]]''===
* [[Megatron (Movie)|Megatron]]

===[[Transformers The Game (console)|''Transformers:'' The Game]]===
* Megatron

===''[[Revenge of the Fallen (film)|Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen]]''===
* [[Soundwave (ROTF)|Soundwave]]
* [[Devastator (ROTF)|Devastator]]
* [[Grindor (ROTF)| Grindor]]
* [[Ravage (ROTF)|Ravage]]
* [[Reedman]]

===[[Revenge of the Fallen (Xbox 360/PS3/PC)|''Revenge of the Fallen'': The Game]]===
*Megatron

===''[[Dark of the Moon (film)|Transformers: Dark of the Moon]]''===
*[[Shockwave (Movie)|Shockwave]]
*[[Soundwave (ROTF)|Soundwave]]

==Aligned==
===''[[Transformers: Prime (cartoon)|Transformers: Prime]]''===
* [[Megatron (Prime)|Megatron]] <ref name="botcon2010hasbro">[http://mobile.coveritlive.com/mobile.php/option=com_mobile/task=viewaltcast/altcast_code=ec64a5dd5f/start=2 BotCon 2010 Hasbro panel]</ref>

==Notes==
*[http://www.bwtf.com/bw/tvshow/episodes/seasontwo/agenda2/ According to Ben Yee], [[Bob Forward]] desperately wanted Frank Welker to reprise the role of Generation 1 Megatron for the [[Beast Wars (cartoon)|Beast Wars]] episode "[[The Agenda (Part 2)]]" and even offered to go to Welker's home in California and tape-record his lines there. However, Welker declined the role supposedly because Forward was unable to offer him a sufficient amount of money and his schedule was too busy.

*Frank Welker regularly reprises the roles of Megatron and Soundwave on ''[[Wikipedia:Family Guy|Family Guy]]'' and ''[[Wikipedia:Robot Chicken|Robot Chicken]]''.

*Throughout the '90s, Frank Welker was the official voice of [[Steven Spielberg]] in all his animated appearances in shows like ''Tiny Toon Adventures'', ''Animaniacs'', ''Pinky and the Brain'' and ''Freakazoid!'' (the only exception being the ''Tiny Toon Adventures'' episode "Buster and Babs Go Hawaiian", in which Spielberg played himself in his first appearance on the show).

*His awesome skills are noted by peers and fans alike. On a ''Futurama'' DVD commentary, Billy West referred to Welker as "a voice-acting god", an appellation that has stuck in various fan communities. On a ''Gargoyles'' DVD commentary, it was claimed that there was an industry joke of "Did you see a cartoon? Frank was in it". And on the R2 ''Dungeons and Dragons'' DVDs, a fan commentary started to identify who in a single scene was voiced by Frank, ending with "and if those horses could talk, that'd be Frank too".

*Welker also provided the voice of the [[GoBots (franchise)|GoBot]] [[Scooter (GoBots)|Scooter]], Rest-Q, Zeemon and Blaster, and Rock Lords Pulver-Eyes, Sticks and the [[Narliphant]]s on the ''[[GoBots (franchise)|Challenge Of The GoBots]]'' animated series and movie.

*Because of the sheer ''number'' of films he's been in, he's listed as number one in the "All Time 100 Stars at the Box Office" list, in terms of total revenue from his films.<ref name="records">[http://www.the-numbers.com/people/records/ "All Time 100 Stars at the Box Office" list]</ref>

*Welker had originally auditioned for the role of [[Megatron (Movie)| Megatron]] in the 2007 movie. However, [[Michael Bay]] deemed his voice too light for the character and chose [[Hugo Weaving]] instead. As a bit of compensation, he ''did'' get to go alongside his pal [[Peter Cullen]] in the video games.

*For ''[[Revenge of the Fallen (film)|Revenge of the Fallen]]'', Welker voiced [[Soundwave (ROTF)|Soundwave]] not only in the English version, but also in a large number of foreign dubs, including the Italian and French versions. Welker described the process as "very hard".<ref name="welkernewsarama">[http://www.newsarama.com/tv/090915-Animated-Shorts-Welker.html Newsarama interview with Frank Welker], September 2009.</ref> Although Welker is also credited in the German dub of the movie, German dubbing insiders insist that the voice heard in the actual movie has been provided by someone else ([[Horst Lampe]], who also dubbed ''[[Transformers Animated (cartoon)|Animated]]'' [[Ratchet (Animated)|Ratchet]]), presumably as a last-minute decision because Welker's "German" performance was considered sub-standard.<ref name="germandub">[http://215072.homepagemodules.de/t511643f11775323-Transformers-Die-Rache-Transformers-Revenge-of-the-Fallen-7.html German dubbing board thread about ROTF, with a discussion about Soundwave's voice]</ref>

==External Links==
*[http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0919798/ Frank Welker at the Internet Movie Database]
*[http://www.mkbmemorial.com/FWHp/ The Frank Welker Homepage]
*[http://www.voicechasers.com/database/showactor.php?actorid=1059/Frank Welker's other works]

==Footnotes==
<references/>

{{DEFAULTSORT:Welker, Frank}}
[[Category:Activision]]
[[Category:English voice actors]]
[[Category:French voice actors]]
[[Category:Hasbro Studios]]
[[Category:Italian voice actors]]

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Frank Welker