View source for Frank Welker

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{{disambig3|Frank}}

[[File:FrankWelker1.jpg|upright=1.4|thumb|So good, it's scary.]]
'''Frank W. Welker''' (born [[March 12]], [[1946]]) is an American voice <s>actor</s> god and former stand-up comedian (of somewhat less divine quality). During his stand-up career, he famously participated in ''The Dean Martin Celebrity Roast'' of George Burns and released a comedy album in 1988, ''Frank Welker--Almost Sold Out (featuring Answering Machines of the Rich & Famous)''.

As a voice actor, he's had a notoriously prolific career. Though it is but the tip of the iceberg, some of Welker's most notable roles include Fred Jones (and later Scooby) from the ''Scooby-Doo'' franchise, several characters in ''[[G.I. Joe (franchise)|G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero]]'', Dr. Claw from ''Inspector Gadget'', [[Ray Stantz]] and [[Slimer]] in ''The Real [[Ghostbusters]]'', the current voice of Garfield, 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, films and television in North America in the last few decades. Abu from ''Aladdin''? That's Frank.

Basically, if you haven't seen a cartoon with Frank Welker in it, then that's because you've never seen a cartoon in your entire life.

{{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]]
*[[Blaster (G1)|Blaster]] (1985 toy commercial only)
*[[Chromedome (G1)|Chromedome]]
*[[Frenzy (G1)|Frenzy]]
*[[Galvatron (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Galvatron]] (commercial and post-[[The Transformers: The Movie|movie]])
*[[Groove (G1)|Groove]]
*[[Jazz (G1)|Jazz]] (1989-1990 toy commercials only)
*[[Scrapheap (G1)|Scrapheap]] ("Junkion 2")
*[[Megatron (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Megatron]]
*[[Mirage (G1)|Mirage]]
*[[Mixmaster (G1)|Mixmaster]]
*[[Ratbat (G1)|Ratbat]] ("[[Webworld]]")
*[[Ravage (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Ravage]]
*[[Rumble (G1)|Rumble]]
*[[Sharkticon (species)|Sharkticon]] ("[[The Return of Optimus Prime, Part 1]]")
*[[Skywarp (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Skywarp]]
*[[Sludge (G1)|Sludge]]
*[[Soundwave (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Soundwave]]
*[[Superion (G1)|Superion]] ("[[The Key to Vector Sigma, Part 2]]" only)
*[[Sweep (G1)|Sweep]]
*[[Throttlebot]] ("[[The Return of Optimus Prime, Part 2]]")
*[[Trailbreaker (G1)|Trailbreaker]]
*[[Wheelie (G1)|Wheelie]]
*[[Wreck-Gar (G1)|Wreck-Gar]] (1986 toy commercials only)
}}

====Humans====
*[[Frankenstein]]
*[[Hector Ramirez]]
*[[Poplock]]

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

====Creatures====
{{collist|3|
*[[Bruta Lo]]
*[[Dweller (G1)|The Dweller]]?
*[[Nitro (G1)|Nitro]]
}}

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

===''[[Transformers: Devastation]]''===
*[[Megatron (G1)|Megatron]]
*[[Soundwave (G1)|Soundwave]]

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

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

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

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

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

===[[Transformers: The Ride – 3D]]===
*Devastator
*Grindor
*Megatron

===''[[Transformers: Age of Extinction (film)|Transformers: Age of Extinction]]''===
*[[Megatron (Movie)|Galvatron]]

===''[[Transformers: The Last Knight (film)|Transformers: The Last Knight]]''===
*[[Megatron (Movie)|Megatron]]

==Aligned==
===''[[Transformers: Prime (cartoon)|Transformers: Prime]]''===
*[[Bumblebee (WFC)|Bumblebee]] (pre-audio-enhanced dialogue)<ref>''Frank Welker records actual words written for Bumblebee which are later replaced with sound effects.'' -- Revealed in "The Autobits Edition" of [[Darkmount, NV|episode 53]].</ref>
*[[Megatron (WFC)|Megatron]]
*[[Terrorcon (Prime)|Terrorcon]] [[Cliffjumper (WFC)|Cliffjumper]] ("[[Darkness Rising, Part 2]]")
*[[Vehicon (Prime)|Trooper]] ("[[Con Job]]")
*Terrorcon [[Skyquake (Prime)|Skyquake]] ("[[Shadowzone (episode)|Shadowzone]]")
*Trooper #2 ("[[Hurt]]")
*Truck driver ("[[Legacy (episode)|Legacy]]")
*Trooper #1 ("[[Thirst]]")
*[[Insecticon (WFC)|Insecticons]]
*[[Soundwave (WFC)|Soundwave]]
*[[Unicron]] (while possessing Megatron in "[[Predacons Rising (Prime)|Predacons Rising]]")

=== ''[[Transformers: Prime - The Game]]'' ===
*[[Megatron (WFC)|Megatron]]

=== ''[[Transformers Universe (Jagex)|Transformers Universe]]'' ===
*[[Megatron (WFC)|Megatron]]

=== ''[[Transformers: Robots in Disguise (2015 cartoon)|Transformers: Robots in Disguise]]'' ===
*[[Grimlock (RID 2015)|Grimlock]] (roar sound effect only)
*[[Soundwave (WFC)|Soundwave]]
*[[Mayor Trujillo's secretary]] ("[[Collateral Damage]]")

==Convention appearances==
*[[BotCon 2015]]
*[[HasCon 2017]]
*[[Hasbro PulseCon 2020]]

==Notes==
*Because of Welker's fame for doing animal sound effects, there is a longstanding tendency in Transformers fandom for his name to immediately be attributed to any random animal screech heard in the Generation 1 cartoon. This is not always correct, as evidenced by the discovery of unmodified voice recordings from Generation 1 episodes<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o4jM2nittQk&t=5m16s Transformers Fire On The Mountain Extended and Deleted scene audio]</ref> that reveal [[Chris Latta]] provided the squawks of [[Laserbeak (G1)|Laserbeak]], when the role had been attributed to Welker for over thirty years. Ratbat, despite Frank voicing him in [[Webworld|the one episode where he does squawk]], had used Latta's caws for Laserbeak in the [[Secret Files of Teletraan II]] segment on the cassettes.
*Welker's name was mistakenly left out of the credits of the [[More than Meets the Eye (mini-series)|original pilot mini-series]] of ''The Transformers''.
*[http://web.archive.org/web/20070711190446/http://www.bwtf.com/bw/tvshow/episodes/seasontwo/agenda2/ According to Ben Yee], [[Bob Forward]] desperately wanted Welker to reprise the role of Generation 1 Megatron for the [[Beast Wars: Transformers (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.
*Welker regularly reprises the roles of Megatron and Soundwave on ''{{w|Family Guy}}'' and ''{{w|Robot Chicken}}''.
*Throughout the '90s, 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!''.
*Welker also provided the voice of the [[GoBots]] [[Scooter (GoBots)|Scooter]], Rest-Q, Zeemon and Blaster, and [[Rock Lord]]s Pulver-Eyes, Sticks and the [[Narly|Narliphant]] on the ''Challenge Of The GoBots'' animated series and movie.
*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, feeling it would be disrespectful to ask him to change it, chose [[Hugo Weaving]] instead. As a bit of compensation, he ''did'' get to go alongside his pal [[Peter Cullen]] in the first two video games. Welker got his feet wet when taking the role of Galvatron in ''Age of Extinction'' (reprising three roles at once - two incarnations of Megatron and one incarnation of Galvatron), and ultimately returned to the role for good in ''The Last Knight'', using a deeper version of the sinister tone he implemented for ''Prime'' Megatron. Welker has voiced his approval for Weaving’s take in the years since the films’ release.
*Welker voiced [[Soundwave (ROTF)|Soundwave]] not only in the English version of ''Revenge of the Fallen'', but also in a large number of foreign dubs. 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 his performance was retained for the European French, European Spanish, and Italian dubs, other versions had his lines redone by native-speaking actors before the film's release. Welker still retained credit in those foreign versions, leading to confusion: 
**German dubbing insiders insist that the voice heard in ''Revenge of the Fallen'' is that of [[Horst Lampe]].<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> Lampe was credited for Soundwave in ''Dark of the Moon'', seemingly confirming this claim. 
**The credits for the American-Spanish dub do not specify Welker's role, but Soundwave's voice as heard in the film does not seem to be Welker's. Soundwave is credited in ''Dark of the Moon'' as being played by [[Leonardo García]], who is generally accepted as having also played him in ''Revenge of the Fallen''.
**His name is misspelled "Franck Welker" in the European French voice credits of ''Revenge of the Fallen''.
*Welker was one of the eight voice actors featured in [[Shout! Studios|Shout! Factory]]'s cast reunion in the 25th Anniversary "Matrix of Leadership" Collection of the original series.
*Welker also reprised Megatron during the [[February 24]], [[2022]] Hasbro Pulse G.I. Joe 40th Anniversary celebration announcing he had partnered up with [[Cobra]] when they revealed the G.I. Joe Collaborative [[Megatron (G1)/Generations toys#Collaborative|Megatron H.I.S.S. Tank]].
*The voice Welker used for Bumblebee when recording for ''Prime'' was his [[Scooter (GoBots)|Scooter]] voice.
*Welker was born the same exact day as fellow Garfield VA [[Gérard Surugue]].

==External links==
{{GBwiki|Frank Welker}}
*[http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0919798/ Frank Welker at the Internet Movie Database]
*[http://www.voicechasers.com/database/showactor.php?actorid=1059 Frank Welker's other works]

===Interviews===
* [[September 17]], 2024's [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uONSlRiYhNA The Voices of Optimus Prime & Megatron: Interview with Frank Welker & Peter Cullen | Transformers G1] on the [[Hasbro Pulse]] YouTube channel, with [[Peter Cullen]].

==References==
{{reflist|2}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Welker, Frank}}
[[Category:Activision]]
[[Category:Convention guests]]
[[Category:English voice actors]]
[[Category:French voice actors]]
[[Category:Hasbro Studios]]
[[Category:Italian voice actors]]
[[Category:Hall of Fame creators]]