Dark of the Moon Michael Bay has killed Transformers for me

[Optimus_Prime_]

Why would Bay fight so hard to get Cullen, Welker and Adler to return to Transformers when he "despised" the series so much.

 

[sto_vo_kor_2000]

Bingo


Bay will probably end up with a quarter billion from Transformers. That's only reason he did three movies, not because he likes the concept or source.

I guess its possible he has grown to like TF's.

Why would Bay fight so hard to get Cullen, Welker and Adler to return to Transformers when he "despised" the series so much.

Excuse me.......but what exactly are you refering too??

Peter Cullen was forced on Bay by Hasbro, he openly stated he didnt like or want Cullen for the part.

He refused Welker for the part of Megatron in the first film, and its my understanding he wasnt too thrilled with having him for Soundwave for the 2nd film.

 

[Mr. Earle]

Why not? Cullen is fantastic as Prime.

Welker i understand. I never liked him. If you get your nostalgia goggles off you'll realize that his current voice is better and more fitting to his appearence.

 

[roach]

I guess its possible he has grown to like TF's.



Excuse me.......but what exactly are you refering too??

Peter Cullen was forced on Bay by Hasbro, he openly stated he didnt like or want Cullen for the part.

He refused Welker for the part of Megatron in the first film, and its my understanding he wasnt too thrilled with having him for Soundwave for the 2nd film.

source?

 

[Optimus_Prime_]

He refused Welker for the part of Megatron in the first film, and its my understanding he wasnt too thrilled with having him for Soundwave for the 2nd film.

Your understanding is mistaken.

Michael Bay wrote that, "I think I'm going to pursue Frank [Welker] on Soundwave," after fans kept requesting that Welker return.

He said Welker didn't sound right for his Megatron, but they did give him an audition for it. Also, Don Murphy was the one who pushed for Cullen's return. This notion that Bay begrudingly hired some of the original VAs is nonsense though.

 

[Optimus_Prime_]

source?

Until Bay makes a film that looks like this:

I guess it's safe to assume he hates the franchise.
(Starscream is clearly happy he looks like a walking Looney Toons robot)

I guess it's also safe to assume the producers of Beast Wars, RiD, and Animated! all hated the franchise too, since they recast many of the voices, including Megatrons!

 

[CEREBRAL....]

Until Bay makes a film that looks like this:

I guess it's safe to assume he hates the franchise.
(Starscream is clearly happy he looks like a walking Looney Toons robot)

I guess it's also safe to assume the producers of Beast Wars, RiD, and Animated! all hated the franchise too, since they recast many of the voices, including Megatrons!

ahhh sto_vo_kor_2000 was right..i think you need to check your facts...cullen and welker were not in Bays thoughts at all....after the fans and hasboro voice their opinions Bay gave them an audition...he thought cullen voice was fine but welker didnt sound right for megs, his voice in bays opinion had gotten older and you could tell the difference from how he voiced megs in the cartoon til now...but he used cullen's voice for the video game....

and as fars your sacrasm goes...what do you think most fans were gonna expect when you talk about having Prime and Megs in a live action film..wow..fans shouldn't want the two voices that made the two characters so popular..yeah you never heard of that happening before.....*shrugs shoulders*

 

[Optimus_Prime_]

ahhh sto_vo_kor_2000 was right..i think you need to check your facts

I seriously have yet to see a source that claims any of this is anything other than hearsay of speculation. The only thing he did say was that "Welker sounded too old", and he invited him (Bay did) to audition for Soundwave.

...cullen and welker were not in Bays thoughts at all....after the fans and hasboro voice their opinions Bay gave them an audition...he thought cullen voice was fine but welker didnt sound right for megs, his voice in bays opinion had gotten older and you could tell the difference from how he voiced megs in the cartoon til now...but he used cullen's voice for the video game....

and as fars your sacrasm goes...what do you think most fans were gonna expect when you talk about having Prime and Megs in a live action film..wow..fans shouldn't want the two voices that made the two characters so popular..yeah you never heard of that happening before.....*shrugs shoulders*

He doesn't have to though, I don't understand why this is so hard to understand. Wow?!? A director has his own thoughts in regards to his movie? Astonishing! He has a set of actors or voice actors he'd like to try out for the parts? Weird? That never happens, ever. If it's a "fact" Bay didn't want Cullen, it's also a "fact" Cullen is currently voicing Optimus in the movie. Directors have and do jump ship when studios force them to use actors they don't want to. If Bay didn't "want" Cullen he wouldn't have given him an audition, and he certainly wouldn't have cast him as the part. Hasbro recasted Optimus numerous times in the past.

This notion that a man who has stuck by a franchise for three films, putting all other projects on hold is just doing it begrudgingly to f*** with fans is quite honestly an obnoxious opinion. Moreover it's inane to saddle one guy with everything you hate about the film, while claiming everything you like or agree with is the product of someone else. Bay gets the final say on casting, which means he had the final say on Cullen.

Question: Did Michael Bay try to correct you about being Optimus Prime?

Cullen: He's a great director and I had no problems with him at all. He genuinely appeared to like my work. He never asked me to do anything, as a matter a fact he would say would Prime do this? And I would say, umm, maybe not, but you know the whole concept is different and very well could because here he is relating to human beings. In a live action scenario, he's talking to a young kid Spike Witwicky and so he had to become more human and that was one of the elements I worked on to make him generally more human in a sense of relating to a human being, talking one on one with one and even trying a few dumb one liners like he would throw out one like "eBay" and it's just so foreign for Optimus to say some of those things.

 

[CEREBRAL....]

I seriously have yet to see a source that claims any of this is anything other than hearsay of speculation. The only thing he did say was that "Welker sounded too old", and he invited him (Bay did) to audition for Soundwave. .

i will find you a source..........because where you found him to say "welker sounded too old" was also where he also didnt have plans for either of them to voice the main characters and we are talking about TF...orig

He doesn't have to though, I don't understand why this is so hard to understand. Wow?!? A director has his own thoughts in regards to his movie? Astonishing! He has a set of actors or voice actors he'd like to try out for the parts? Weird? .

you have an issue of paying attention to what i said, where did say Michael Bay should have a thought to have the orig. actors voice the two main characters?..where did i say he shouldnt have is own vision, since i never said that and you never read that you need to repost your comments

now understand this...the comment was Bay was not ORIGINALLY GONNA CAST EITHER OF THE TWO VOICE ACTORS FOR THE MAIN ROLES UNTIL HASBORO AND FANS VOICE THEIR OPINION ON THE MATTER...Bay then had them come in and audition; he like cullens voice but thought wellkers was too old..where in that statement says Bay didnt like the voice actors or was gonna have problems with the voice actors..where in that statement said Bay is not gonna want his own PPL doing the acting....??

i mean it's like some of you of skip over the main point to what someone says just to add your own opinion, and i find it laughable that none of you get the point when these types of movies are said to be made..that MOST FANS are gonna ask for classic moments, orig. actors to play the parts of the characters they once played because after all IT'S NOT THE DIRECTORS ORIG IDEA..he's doing a movie off of the orig idea..so it's only natural for fans to wanna see alot of what made the orig concept great

what is so hard for you guys to understand, like i said..you didnt think fans wasn't gonna want the orig voice actors for megs and prime be in the movie..i mean really...the voice actors made the characters...

i understand there are other version of TF..but it's always gonna go back to the orig being the more popular one, or the one more fans will remember..its only natural...the originals get notice more over diff. other verison...no diss to the diff other version.

 

[Avengers-Report]

Why would Bay want to use anyone other than Cullen for Prime? I mean I know Bay sucks, but come on.

 

[The Cocreator]

I think that bay made a good job with the first transformers movie, the secound sucked but the 1st was pretty good.

 

[Optimus_Prime_]

Why would Bay want to use anyone other than Cullen for Prime? I mean I know Bay sucks, but come on.

Hasbro and their animated partners only recast the role several times over. In fact the new movie was the first time Cullen had voiced Prime since his G1 days. Transformers Prime marks his first television return to the series. I'm glad he signed on, and I'm glad he's reprised the role of Optimus, but he's far from the only individual who can play that part.

that MOST FANS are gonna ask for classic moments, orig. actors to play the parts of the characters they once played because after all IT'S NOT THE DIRECTORS ORIG IDEA..he's doing a movie off of the orig idea..so it's only natural for fans to wanna see alot of what made the orig concept great

That's kind of balony, sorry. This is my problem with fanboys, they think they have some ownership over the "idea" they like. The classic moments, or 'original actors' were not decided by the fans, nor was the concept. I hate when fans decide that certain moments are "classic". No, certain moments are your personal favorites. Take the Phoenix Saga for example. You think they were happy when Jean Grey died? That everyone was instantly happy? What about Beast Wars. You're clearly pretty ignorant of the reactions to Transformers cartoons over the years. Anyone who grew up in the 1980s is going to have a lot of love for the G1 cartoon, but they are not the only people to ever like Transformers.

 

[CEREBRAL....]

http://www.aintitcool.com/node/38111


Mr. Beaks Rolls Out An Interview With Optimus Prime Himself, Peter Cullen!

Published on: Aug 28, 2008 6:37:23 PM CDT
Though Michael Bay didn't exactly go out of his way to placate the TransFans during the production of the first TRANSFORMERS, he did make one very wise concession: he brought back the inimitable Peter Cullen as the voice of Optimus Prime. Regardless of what Bay and his team did to the design of the character (I had no qualms with any of their alterations), it would've been wrong to hear anything but Cullen's baritone rumbling forth from the leader of the Autobots.

I didn't get to chat with Cullen prior to the theatrical release of TRANSFORMERS last year, so it's nice to catch up with the veteran voice actor as he makes the press rounds in support of the Blu-ray (which hits shelves on September 2nd). Cullen's got a reputation as one of the nicer guys you'll ever interview, and he certainly lived up to it as he spoke warmly and enthusiastically of the fans' tireless support, the enduring appeal of the animated show, and what we might be able to expect from the second film. Though Cullen's enjoyed a long, successful career as a voice actor (stretching back to his days as an the announcer on THE SMOTHERS BROTHERS COMEDY HOUR), he's especially proud of his work as Optimus Prime. The fans are lucky to have a class act like Cullen.

Here's the MVP of the TRANSFORMERS universe...



Beaks: The fans played a huge part in getting you in the film. Are you still sensing an appreciation from them now that the film has been made?



Peter Cullen: Oh, absolutely! To tell you the truth, Jeremy, I was knocked out by it. It gave me a whole new perspective on the work that we all did. I tried to let that fan base know that I was extremely grateful for their lobbying efforts, and that I didn't want to disappoint them or have them be disappointed in any way.



Beaks: It's very rare that a voice actor gets to feel that kind of connection with their audience. You do your work in relative isolation, and it goes out into the world, and you know it connects with people in one way or another. But this is kind of unprecedented.



Cullen: It took me by surprise, I must admit. Of the conventions that I have been to, the amount of people is another surprise; to think that anyone can muster that from the voiceover world... it's strange and wonderful.


.....................

 

[Optimus_Prime_]

http://www.aintitcool.com/node/38111


Mr. Beaks Rolls Out An Interview With Optimus Prime Himself, Peter Cullen!

Published on: Aug 28, 2008 6:37:23 PM CDT
Though Michael Bay didn't exactly go out of his way to placate the TransFans during the production of the first TRANSFORMERS, he did make one very wise concession: he brought back the inimitable Peter Cullen as the voice of Optimus Prime. Regardless of what Bay and his team did to the design of the character (I had no qualms with any of their alterations), it would've been wrong to hear anything but Cullen's baritone rumbling forth from the leader of the Autobots.

I didn't get to chat with Cullen prior to the theatrical release of TRANSFORMERS last year, so it's nice to catch up with the veteran voice actor as he makes the press rounds in support of the Blu-ray (which hits shelves on September 2nd). Cullen's got a reputation as one of the nicer guys you'll ever interview, and he certainly lived up to it as he spoke warmly and enthusiastically of the fans' tireless support, the enduring appeal of the animated show, and what we might be able to expect from the second film. Though Cullen's enjoyed a long, successful career as a voice actor (stretching back to his days as an the announcer on THE SMOTHERS BROTHERS COMEDY HOUR), he's especially proud of his work as Optimus Prime. The fans are lucky to have a class act like Cullen.

Here's the MVP of the TRANSFORMERS universe...



Beaks: The fans played a huge part in getting you in the film. Are you still sensing an appreciation from them now that the film has been made?



Peter Cullen: Oh, absolutely! To tell you the truth, Jeremy, I was knocked out by it. It gave me a whole new perspective on the work that we all did. I tried to let that fan base know that I was extremely grateful for their lobbying efforts, and that I didn't want to disappoint them or have them be disappointed in any way.



Beaks: It's very rare that a voice actor gets to feel that kind of connection with their audience. You do your work in relative isolation, and it goes out into the world, and you know it connects with people in one way or another. But this is kind of unprecedented.



Cullen: It took me by surprise, I must admit. Of the conventions that I have been to, the amount of people is another surprise; to think that anyone can muster that from the voiceover world... it's strange and wonderful.


.....................

You'll have to find me the article where the fans say they auditioned him, and then signed him to the role. All you're proving is Bay looked into the property he was directing. Also your article convienently leaves out signing Charles Adler to the movie to voice Starscream. He voiced Cyclonus and Silverbolt in the cartoon (Starscream's VA is dead). Moreover the article isn't a "source". The writer claims Bay didn't contact Cullen, but if you read what Cullen says in interviews it's pretty apparent he did.

 

[CEREBRAL....]

You'll have to find me the article where the fans say they auditioned him, and then signed him to the role. All you're proving is Bay looked into the property he was directing. Also your article convienently leaves out signing Charles Adler to the movie to voice Starscream. He voiced Cyclonus and Silverbolt in the cartoon (Starscream's VA is dead).

smh; are you and "martin" the same ppl????...IT'S NOT MY ARTICLE ONE....and 2. we talking about the main characters. that's what you were talking about...and 3.....i dont think the link was trying to attack M.Bay but state what you're trying to hard to avoid...that M.Bay wasn't going after the orig voice actors..plan n simple that was what you were arguing and that's what i tried to prove to you what happened

...you want anymore..go find it yourself...i did my part..you can continue to ignore the facts all you want..but you now have two different posters tell you want happened.

 

[Optimus_Prime_]

...that M.Bay wasn't going after the orig voice actors...

In what way does this influence the actual outcome of him casting them. This is such inside Baseball it's irrelevant.

 

[GhostPoet]

Why not? Cullen is fantastic as Prime.

Welker i understand. I never liked him. If you get your nostalgia goggles off you'll realize that his current voice is better and more fitting to his appearence.

Because Bay didn't want to make anything even remotely like Transformers...which is why he didn't want to use any original voice actors.

 

[Optimus_Prime_]

...you want anymore..go find it yourself...i did my part..you can continue to ignore the facts all you want..but you now have two different posters tell you want happened.

I'm not ignoring facts, as hard as this is to believe, I'm ignoring the agenda you guys are pushing, there's a difference. I know you think it's apparent to everyone that Peter Cullen voice Optimus Prime, but that's what being a nerd is; a single-minded enthusiast. It probably wasn't Bay's first, second or third decision to cast Peter Cullen, just like if you polled ten people at random I'd doubt you'd find many, if any, who knew who Cullen was. I doubt, before Bay directed the new movies, you could find one out of one hundred that knew who Peter Cullen was.

I have no doubt Peter Cullen, or this or that is important to your concept of what Transformers is. At the same time YOU have to realize that these things are not apparent.

As I said, all you're doing is playing inside Baseball. You know what other characters had multiple reads: all of them. That's kind of the point. The Director has a vision and then he'll appraise people until he gets a group he feels can make that vision a reality.

As for this or that being crucial to the mythos. Alan Moore had a phrase about that: "If the audience knew what they wanted they wouldn't be called 'the audience'"

Because Bay didn't want to make anything even remotely like Transformers...which is why he didn't want to use any original voice actors.

Clearly, that's why he signed them, to f*** with everyone. Same reason he used characters like 'The Fallen' and 'Sentinel Prime'.

 

[CEREBRAL....]

I'm not ignoring facts, as hard as this is to believe, I'm ignoring the agenda you guys are pushing, there's a difference. I know you think it's apparent to everyone that Peter Cullen voice Optimus Prime, but that's what being a nerd is; a single-minded enthusiast. It probably wasn't Bay's first, second or third decision to cast Peter Cullen, just like if you polled ten people at random I'd doubt you'd find many, if any, who knew who Cullen was. I doubt, before Bay directed the new movies, you could find one out of one hundred that knew who Peter Cullen was..

you know...grow up, no where in any of my post have i approached any topic in here with an agenda, i told you that before, i never once said or down played any other verison of TFs never once. never i went out of my way to say that because you only read what you want to read..i explained to you how fans look at comic book adaptions..i never once told you that i wanted G1 version but you still go ahead and assume that is the platform for which i stand on but you couldnt be more wrong AGAIN..you arguing a point and showed you ..you were wrong now i'm playing "inside baseball"

if you dont like the fact that i brought in what you ask for to support the statement we were arguing THEN DONT ADDRESS ME....plan n simple....you dont know anything about me so dont act like you do....stick to what i post and reply only to things i have said, not what you assume me to say..that's the second time i have to say that to you...


you didnt believe the casting story..i got you proof but some how that's not good enough for you...wow!

never once said there wasnt' diff version of tfs..that is completely stupid of you to assume that when clearly i understand there's been plenty of TFs after G1..never even said G1 was the best...learn to pay attention.

 

[CEREBRAL....]

In what way does this influence the actual outcome of him casting them. This is such inside Baseball it's irrelevant.

seriously it's like talking to a 2yr...the statement was he "didnt want the orig actors but hasbro and fans made him give the orig. actors a shot.." that's it, nothing more to the statment....what more out of this statement do you want???..do you know how to read...does anything esle need to be said..the debate was what happened..not the outcome...you chose to address the statement, if you didnt like the answer you recieved then you shouldnt of address the statement in the first place plan n simple.

 

[Optimus_Prime_]

seriously it's like talking to a 2yr...the statement was he "didnt want the orig actors but hasbro and fans made him give the orig. actors a shot.." that's it, nothing more to the statment....what more out of this statement do you want???..do you know how to read...does anything esle need to be said..the debate was what happened..not the outcome...you chose to address the statement, if you didnt like the answer you recieved then you shouldnt of address the statement in the first place plan n simple.

I've seen no source that substantiates the claims that Bay was "forced" by Hasbro or the "fans" (which is proposterous, the fans weren't making the movie) to use the original voice actors. The only thing you proved was it wasn't his first inclination to hire Cullen for the role. They didn't make him do anything. Directors have the final say on casting.

Guess who called Cullen in for an audition?
Bay
Guess who called him back to tell him he wanted to hear him again?
Bay
Guess who signed him to the movie?
Bay

The fact that other people may have had an influence on his decision, such as Producer Don Murphy or the people at Hasbro has nothing to do with anything. It's a technical aspect of making films. The whole "collabrative process". Hence the term 'inside baseball'. Would it matter to you to find out G1 auditioned other people for the role of Optimus in the original cartoon?

 

[sto_vo_kor_2000]

Why not? Cullen is fantastic as Prime.
.

I think Bay just didnt like not having a choice.

source?

Bay himself in early interviews durring production of the first film.It was wildly reported on TF fan sites back in 06.I'm not about to go looking for old articles from 5 years ago.

Your understanding is mistaken.

About which part, Megatron or Soundwave?

He said Welker didn't sound right for his Megatron, but they did give him an audition for it.

And turned him down for the part.

Until Bay makes a film that looks like this:

Is that your only counter in this argument?

I guess it's also safe to assume the producers of Beast Wars, RiD, and Animated! all hated the franchise too, since they recast many of the voices, including Megatrons!

Truth be told I would have preferred BW' Megatron as the voice.

Hasbro and their animated partners only recast the role several times over. In fact the new movie was the first time Cullen had voiced Prime since his G1 days. Transformers Prime marks his first television return to the series. I'm glad he signed on, and I'm glad he's reprised the role of Optimus, but he's far from the only individual who can play that part.

Very true.

Also your article convienently leaves out signing Charles Adler to the movie to voice Starscream. He voiced Cyclonus and Silverbolt in the cartoon

What episode did Charles Adler voice Cyclonus??

He did several characters in the G1 toon, but as far as I know Cyclonus was only voiced by Roger C. Carmel and Jack Angel.

 

[CEREBRAL....]

I've seen no source that substantiates the claims that Bay was "forced" by Hasbro or the "fans" (which is proposterous, the fans weren't making the movie) to use the original voice actors. The only thing you proved was it wasn't his first inclination to hire Cullen for the role. They didn't make him do anything. Directors have the final say on casting.

Guess who called Cullen in for an audition?
Bay
Guess who called him back to tell him he wanted to hear him again?
Bay
Guess who signed him to the movie?
Bay

The fact that other people may have had an influence on his decision, such as Producer Don Murphy or the people at Hasbro has nothing to do with anything. It's a technical aspect of making films. The whole "collabrative process". Hence the term 'inside baseball'. Would it matter to you to find out G1 auditioned other people for the role of Optimus in the original cartoon?

basically about the casting story...like i said before you look it up yourself, i have only repeated what others remembered the story to be..you take it how you want to take it..i'm not gonna waste any more of my time...

and when the film was first rumor edto be made..i did expect to hear the orig voice of prime and meg plus starscream because to me they stick out and they capture the characters as i remember'd....as of now i could careless..the orig voice is prime is there and i think that is great, to me it's the ironic voice of prime...i really dont like hugh for megs but again at this point i can careless....just have a good voice for the characters and i'm good....love the voice for ratchet(movie verison) btw.....

 

[sto_vo_kor_2000]

Guess who called Cullen in for an audition?
Bay

Bay only did so because of pressure from Hasbro, and they were trying to satisfy the fan base.

Your right on the rest.

But Bay only had Cullen called in due to outside pressure.

 

[Optimus_Prime_]

basically about the casting story...like i said before you look it up yourself, i have only repeated what others remembered the story to be..you take it how you want to take it..i'm not gonna waste any more of my time...

and when the film was first rumor edto be made..i did expect to hear the orig voice of prime and meg plus starscream because to me they stick out and they capture the characters as i remember'd....as of now i could careless..the orig voice is prime is there and i think that is great, to me it's the ironic voice of prime...i really dont like hugh for megs but again at this point i can careless....just have a good voice for the characters and i'm good....love the voice for ratchet(movie verison) btw.....

First of all the guy who voiced Starscream has been dead for a very long time, so I can shoot that expectation right down (the original voice for Ratchet, also dead). Second, before Bay even signed on there were rumors of Tom Hanks voicing Optimus Prime (it's true). So Bay wasn't the only person "thinking of other people". Third, it's a dumb expectation yet again. G1 had quite a few characters who had multiple voice actors; like Jazz (one line), Rodimus Prime, Galvatron, Unicron, Ultra Magnus, Cyclonus (VA died), Ratchet (same). Also Hasbro hadn't sought Cullen for Optimus in nearly 20 years and Gary Chalke had voiced him in more episodes. I know it's hard to understand but there are no rules to making a good superhero movie. You may have a problem with Bay's take, but it's not because he deviated (or in this case thought of deviating and then decided against it) from the "source material" (which in this case, is no more of a source than any of the others).

Transformers is supposed to be about toys, that's really the only source it goes by. If the movie was supposed to reiterate G1, then they wouldn't have even bothered releasing a new line of toys to go with it.