Frank Welker

The name or term "Frank" refers to more than one character or idea. For a list of other meanings, seeFrank (disambiguation).

Frank W. Welker(bornMarch 12,1946) is an American voiceactorgod and former stand-up comedian (of somewhat less divine quality). During his stand-up career, he famously participated inThe Dean Martin Celebrity Roastof 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 theScooby-Doofranchise, several characters inG.I. Joe: A Real American Hero,Dr. Claw fromInspector Gadget,Ray StantzandSlimerinThe RealGhostbusters,the current voice of Garfield, and that parrot that got eaten by the shark inDeep 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.

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.

“	Frank would do something ridiculous and then go, "Well, it was either this or college."	”
—Gregg Berger

Contents 1Generation 1 1.1The Transformers 1.1.1Humans 1.1.2Aliens 1.1.3Creatures 1.1.4Other 1.2Transformers: Devastation 2Movie franchise 2.1Transformers: Beginnings 2.2Transformers:The Game 2.3Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen 2.4Revenge of the Fallen:The Game 2.5Transformers: Dark of the Moon 2.6Transformers: The Ride – 3D 2.7Transformers: Age of Extinction 2.8Transformers: The Last Knight 3Aligned 3.1Transformers: Prime 3.2Transformers: Prime - The Game 3.3Transformers Universe 3.4Transformers: Robots in Disguise 4Convention appearances 5Notes 6External links 6.1Interviews 7References

Generation 1

The Transformers

Humans

• Frankenstein
• Hector Ramirez
• Poplock

Aliens

Creatures

Other

• Auto-combatant
• Teletraan II

Transformers: Devastation

• Megatron
• Soundwave

Movie franchise

Transformers: Beginnings

• Megatron

Transformers:The Game

• Megatron

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen

• Soundwave
• Devastator
• Grindor
• Ravage
• Reedman

Revenge of the Fallen:The Game

• Megatron

Transformers: Dark of the Moon

• Shockwave
• Soundwave

Transformers: The Ride – 3D

• Devastator
• Grindor
• Megatron

Transformers: Age of Extinction

• Galvatron

Transformers: The Last Knight

• Megatron

Aligned

Transformers: Prime

• Bumblebee(pre-audio-enhanced dialogue)^[1]
• Megatron
• TerrorconCliffjumper( "Darkness Rising, Part 2")
• Trooper( "Con Job")
• TerrorconSkyquake( "Shadowzone")
• Trooper #2 ( "Hurt")
• Truck driver ( "Legacy")
• Trooper #1 ( "Thirst")
• Insecticons
• Soundwave
• Unicron(while possessing Megatron in "Predacons Rising")

Transformers: Prime - The Game

• Megatron

Transformers Universe

• Megatron

Transformers: Robots in Disguise

• Grimlock(roar sound effect only)
• Soundwave

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^[2]that revealChris Lattaprovided the squawks ofLaserbeak,when the role had been attributed to Welker for over thirty years. Ratbat, despite Frank voicing him inthe one episode where he does squawk,had used Latta's caws for Laserbeak in theSecret Files of Teletraan IIsegment on the cassettes.
• Welker's name was mistakenly left out of the credits of theoriginal pilot mini-seriesofThe Transformers.
• According to Ben Yee,Bob Forwarddesperately wanted Welker to reprise the role of Generation 1 Megatron for theBeast Warsepisode "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 onFamily GuyandRobot Chicken.
• Throughout the '90s, Welker was the official voice ofSteven Spielbergin all his animated appearances in shows likeTiny Toon Adventures,Animaniacs,Pinky and the BrainandFreakazoid!.
• Welker also provided the voice of theGoBotsScooter,Rest-Q, Zeemon and Blaster, andRock LordsPulver-Eyes, Sticks and theNarliphanton theChallenge Of The GoBotsanimated series and movie.
• Welker had originally auditioned for the role ofMegatronin the 2007 movie. However,Michael Baydeemed his voice too light for the character and, feeling it would be disrespectful to ask him to change it, choseHugo Weavinginstead. As a bit of compensation, hedidget to go alongside his palPeter Cullenin the first two video games. Welker got his feet wet when taking the role of Galvatron inAge of Extinction(reprising three roles at once - two incarnations of Megatron and one incarnation of Galvatron), and ultimately returned to the role for good inThe Last Knight,using a deeper version of the sinister tone he implemented forPrimeMegatron. Welker has voiced his approval for Weaving’s take in the years since the films’ release.
• Welker voicedSoundwavenot only in the English version ofRevenge of the Fallen,but also in a large number of foreign dubs. Welker described the process as "very hard".^[3]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 inRevenge of the Fallenis that ofHorst Lampe.^[4]Lampe was credited for Soundwave inDark 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 inDark of the Moonas being played byLeonardo García,who is generally accepted as having also played him inRevenge of the Fallen.
  • His name is misspelled "Franck Welker" in the European French voice credits ofRevenge of the Fallen.
• Welker was one of the eight voice actors featured inShout! Factory's cast reunion in the 25th Anniversary "Matrix of Leadership" Collection of the original series.
• Welker also reprised Megatron during theFebruary 24,2022Hasbro Pulse G.I. Joe 40th Anniversary celebration announcing he had partnered up withCobrawhen they revealed the G.I. Joe CollaborativeMegatron H.I.S.S. Tank.
• The voice Welker used for Bumblebee when recorded for Prime was hisScootervoice.
• Welker was born the same exact day as fellow Garfield VAGérard Surugue.

External links

• Frank Welker at the Internet Movie Database
• Frank Welker's other works

Interviews

• September 17,2024'sThe Voices of Optimus Prime & Megatron: Interview with Frank Welker & Peter Cullen | Transformers G1on theHasbro PulseYouTube channel, withPeter Cullen.

References