Frank Welker: Difference between revisions
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[[Image:FrankWelker1.jpg|right|250px|thumb|So good, it's scary.]] | [[Image:FrankWelker1.jpg|right|250px|thumb|So good, it's scary.]] | ||
'''Frank W. Welker''' ([[March 12]], [[1946]]–) is <strike>an American voice actor</strike> god. 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]]. | '''Frank W. Welker''' ([[March 12]], [[1946]]–) is <strike>an American voice actor</strike> [[Primus|god]]. 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. | 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. | ||
Revision as of 23:07, 27 October 2010
| The name or term "Frank" refers to more than one character or idea. For a list of other meanings, see Frank (disambiguation). |
Frank W. Welker (March 12, 1946–) is an American voice actor god. 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 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.
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.
| “ | Frank would do something ridiculous and then go, "Well, it was either this or college." | ” |
Generation 1
Humans
Aliens
Creatures
Other
Yeah, we're impressed, too.
Movie franchise
- Megatron
- Megatron
Other
Notes
- According to Ben Yee, Bob Forward desperately wanted Frank Welker to reprise the role of Generation 1 Megatron for the 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.
- For an episode of Adult Swim's Robot Chicken series, "Werewolf vs. Unicorn", Frank Welker reprised the roles of both Soundwave and Megatron.[2] He reprised the role of Megatron again for the Family Guy episode "Oceans Three and a Half".
- 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 GoBot Scooter, Rest-Q, Zeemon and Blaster, and Rock Lords Pulver-Eyes, Sticks and the Narliphants on the 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.[3]
- Welker had originally auditioned for the role of Megatron in the 2007 movie. However, Michael Bay deemed his voice too light for the character and chose Hugo Weaving instead.
- For Revenge of the Fallen, Welker voiced 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".[4] 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 Animated Ratchet), presumably as a last-minute decision because Welker's "German" performance was considered sub-standard.[5]
