The Voice of a Hero
I am a Christian. I am against idolatry, because God tells me to be. But when I was growing up, the three things that influenced me the most were my church, my family, and the heroes I admired on the TV screen and in comic books. Heroes like He-Man, Duke or Snake Eyes from G.I. Joe, or Magic Johnson and Larry Bird, William 'the Refrigerator' Perry or Walter Peyton in the sports world; these were the heroes to watch from kindergarten to third grade. But then Michael Jordan came along - and I thought I'd seen a man fly. That would entertain me for years to come, and even aspire me to try to improve my own basketball skills. But when it came to a hero's voice, in third grade, I heard Optimus Prime for the first time. From that day forward, I never heard a more heroic sounding voice, anywhere. Keep in mind, I was an imaginative little guy. I liked to draw pictures in the air as a small child, and by third grade I enjoyed drawing He-Man figures and monsters and dinosaurs. But Peter Cullen's voice as the 'heroic truck that transformed' was one of the coolest things I ever heard. To this day, I think the voice of Optimus Prime is just the voice of the consumate hero.
Stick with me here; I am an idealist, and the ideals that were represented by the 'robot in disguise' known as Optimus, were ideals I already became familiar with through church, and family. Whenever one sat down in the morning or afternoon, before or after school, to see the Transformers, they could count on a few things from the voice of Optimus Prime. They were going to see and hear about sacrifice; they were going to see and hear an example of leadership; they were going to see and hear examples of good, versus evil. That was it, in a nutshell. But does anyone think that it was an accident that Optimus was red, white, and blue? Is it any wonder that Transformers would go on to be the biggest selling toy to boys since GI Joe? And it was all thanks, to the voice of a hero.
If you have never heard the origin story of Peter Cullen's decision on how Optimus Prime should sound, it is a really neat story. To sum it up, Peter Cullen was close to his older brother, and they were roommates shortly after his brother returned from Vietnam, because he was a Marine. One day, Peter was off to another voice-acting audition, and his older brother asked him where he was going. Peter told him that he was off to land the part of a truck. "A truck?" his brother laughed and questioned at the same time. Peter smiled, but clarified, "Yeah, but this truck is a hero." It is great to hear Peter Cullen talk about this in his interviews about this very memory, but he always clears his voice, and says that his brother's countenance changed and became serious but calm: "Peter, remember, if you're going to be a hero - be strong, enough to be gentle." Fast-forward to Peter's big moment behind the mic. He hadn't even practiced, but at the last second, before he said the words to introduce himself, he remembered his own strong but gentle hero in his own life. When he spoke through the mic, "I am Optimus Prime,' he couldn't help but hear himself imitate the voice, of his older brother. How cool is that?
Strong enough to be gentle; there is a whole theological essay to write on that. But we will save that for another day. Just understand something. Peter Cullen's older brother, the Marine, was the inspiration behind the voice of Optimus Prime. Meek - that is actually the term for strong, but gentle. That was what Peter saw in his older brother, who was several inches taller than him. When you see a giant space robot, kneeling down next to a human, knowing good and well the giant space robot could flatten the human for arguing, but doesn't. There is your 'strong, but gentle.' That - was Optimus Prime.
So even in his own subtle way, Peter Cullen gave the world a voice that represented a hero, who would later go on to demonstrate through fiction, ideas like sacrifice, leadership, righteousness, and yes - even brotherhood. Now, mind you, I never idolized Optimus Prime. But I also never felt worthy to draw him, either. Yet it was no coincidence that every other transformer I would later draw in my elementary years, had the same token face shield that you see on our hero, Optimus Prime. But I never drew Prime himself. I just couldn't do it. It was like wanting to wear #23 when playing basketball; unless you thought you could come somewhere close to imitating Michael Jordan, it just seemed like an insult to me. Optimus Prime, was just the perfect animated hero to me when I was a boy.
Fast-forward yet again, to 2007, when I took my five-year-old son with me to see the Transformers in live-action on the big screen. I had not heard any trailers of Prime on screen or in previews before other movies at the time. So when the big red, white, and blue, re-vamped body style and flaming paintjob pulled up to Shia LeBouf and transformed, even at thirty years old, I was mesmerized. And then you hear Peter Cullen's voice; for me, it was the first time in years. The hero lived again, and the nostalgia made my heart leap like a kid again. It was just so cool. Even my son gets it. He knows there will never be another voice like that; only the recorded versions from here on out. Peter Cullen will never again thrill us with lines like, "One shall stand; one shall fall."
Who does that? Seriously? The drama, though over the top, was just accepted, because Optimus Prime, like it or not, represented the best in us all. This is speaking strictly from a worldly point of view, but keep in mind, I wanted to write this in the first place, to remember Peter Cullen and his ultimate legacy to the world. No, he was not a hero like Prime in real life. But did he provide the image of a hero to children, and adults, of all ages? You bet he did. I hope and pray that Peter Cullen was a Christian. I do not know much about his private life. But I can say that his life did show much fruit, as it relates to moral decency in the world. And even my own son got to experience that, because the voice of a hero lasted for decades.
The line I remember most from the Transformers movies, that stands out from the digtized voice of Peter Cullen - the line to be said as a moniker for what the Autobots stood for, was a line not all that different from the Declaration of Independence. "Freedom is the right of all sentient beings," Optimus Prime said. The Red, White, and Blue 'heroic truck' basically applied the words of Thomas Jefferson to the cosmos. Many fans probably don't even realize that. They probably didn't even pay much attention in the animated series, when Prime and the others also paid homage to some great creator being of their kind. But I digress. Peter Cullen gave us voices aplenty throughout his career. He gave us the voice of Eyore from Winnie the Pooh. He gave us the voice of Venger, a villain in Dungeons and Dragons. He gaves us one of the heroic voices in the show, Voltron. He even voiced Ironhide in Transformers; that was a little tidbit I didn't even know.
But allow me to be a kid, once more, as I tell you that Peter Cullen gave us the voice, of a hero.
I will always remember the Canadian voice actor for his positive contribution to the world. Alas, we say farewell to yet another piece of history, that reminds me just how old I am.
"I am Optimus Prime," I still hear in the background somewhere in my mind's eye, and cannot help but wonder if there was ever a more appropriate voice for a specific character. There is something to be said for the uniqueness in God's created universe. There will always and forever be one voice of Optimus Prime for me, in the fictional universe.
Here's to the voice of a hero.
---JEF
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