![]() The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.Peter Cullen, known worldwide for his voice acting role as Optimus Prime in cartoons, movies, and video games, is to be honored with a Life Time Achievement award. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at for further information. You can catch him in theaters playing Optimus Prime in "Transformers: Age Of Extinction."Ĭopyright © 2014 NPR. It was great fun talking with you.ĬULLEN: I appreciate that. I enjoyed doing Eeyore because he was simply charming.ĬULLEN: (As Eeyore) Rock-a-bye baby, on the tree top, when the wind blows the cradle will rock.ĬULLEN: And I get an awful lot of reactions from especially young kids when I come up and just say, hello, thanks for noticing me. Of all the characters you voiced over the years - you did Eeyore from Winnie the Pooh - you've done some Smurfs, some Gremlins.ĬULLEN: Optimus Prime, number one. RATH: We haven't even scratched the surface of your career. We are autonomous robotic organisms from the planet Cybertron. Why did I throw them away, you know?ĬULLEN: (As Optimus Prime) My name is Optimus Prime. Peter Cullen says, it was good to be back.ĬULLEN: It's like slipping into an old pair of shoes that you had in the back of your closet and took out 20 years later and said gosh these are so comfortable. But in 2007 the director Michael Bay brought the series back to the big screen and asked Peter Cullen to voice the big guy again. Peter Cullen found other roles in TV and film. Other actors have played the character over the years. RATH: The character Optimus Prime was actually killed off in the 1986 animated Transformers movie. UNIDENTIFIED MAN 1: Another planet? That's awesome. But in a fact the lines just came out and I just did my brother Larry.ĬULLEN: (As Optimus Prime) We are autobots. I had no idea what the script was going to be. Don't be a Hollywood stereotypical thing, you know, the yelling and screaming. He says, well, if you're going to be a hero, be a real hero. A hero truck? This is really good Pete, yeah, he said. And he says, a truck? And I said, yeah but he's a hero truck. And I told him one day I was going out to audition for a truck. He had returned from service as a Marine in Vietnam. ![]() ![]() I was living with my brother Larry at the time. I was told it was a hero and I was told it was a truck.ĬULLEN: Work with that. RATH: So how did you land the part of Optimus Prime?ĬULLEN: I auditioned like everybody else. Let's actually hear a little clip of the cartoon.ĬULLEN: (As Optimus Prime) This new planet is rich with sources of energy. And you became the first person to voice Optimus Prime. RATH: So in 1984 there's a cartoon show based on a line of toys known as the Transformers. (SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "THE SONNY AND CHER COMEDY HOUR")ĬULLEN: Ladies and gentlemen, Sonny and Cher.ĬULLEN: So it ended up being a series and for four years I, you know, I could make the house payments and lived happily ever after. He was the announcer for the pilot of a new variety show - "The Sonny And Cher Comedy Hour." RATH: Peter Cullen got his big break in voice acting in the early 1970's. And I walked down the center of that aisle with these cows looking at me and I said, this is fantastic. I found one day that if I made a loud noise and all the cows looked up and to me - so I did something silly like, I know that I have your attention. And one of the greatest memories I have is I had a full dairy barn where I would collected milk pails with my brother Larry. RATH: Peter Cullen said he first realized his talent for voices when he was a young boy.ĬULLEN: I lived on a farm and I remember the very first summer I could imitate the cows, the calves, the chickens, the different dogs they had. (SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "THE TRANSFORMERS") ![]() But behind optimist prime is 72-year-old voice actor Peter Cullen who first voiced the character 30 years ago on the Transformers cartoon show. RATH: "Transformers: Age Of Extinction" stomped into movie theaters this weekend with the kind of spectacle that comes alive when massive, building-sized robots smash each other to bits on the big screen. PETER CULLEN: (As Optimus Prime) Humans are hunting us. (SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "TRANSFORMERS: AGE OF EXTINCTION") Hey, thanks for joining us on ALL THINGS CONSIDERED.
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