My thought on the matter is that the studio is going to be the one to apply pressure to the production team to go with more well-known voices.  They are ponying up the big bucks, afterall - and don't want people to go, "Who?" when the VA for Optimus is mentioned.

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Well, they could solve that easily. all they have to do is advertise it to the guys who grew up in the '80s and say "Starring the men who voiced Optimus Prime and Megatron while you grew up." I tihnk that'd work well.

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I think just having them unveil the voices of Prime & Megatron in the trailers is good enough. They're immediately recognizable.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

JMO.

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Teaser trailer:  Black screen. Sound of huge robotic footsteps, thudding through the surround speakers.  Small spinning object in center of screen, slowly getting larger/closer.  Cullen's voice - "AUTOBOTS, TRANSFORM AND ROLL OUT!"  Spinning autobot/decepticon logo (bot on one side, con on the other) reaches full frame size, and stops on Autobot logo.  "SUMMER, 2007" stamped on logo with a metallic clang.

 

I can smell the fanboys pitching tents in line to buy tickets already.  :thumb

 

[fanboy]*starts pitching own tent to beat the rush*[/fanboy]  :redface

I think I just pitched a tent.

As regards Ian's comments on voice actors:

 

Casting

Will not begin in earnest until mid January although we have preliminary ideas for several of the main characters.....can't elaborate further but totally hear the note from earlier about big names versus "newer" names....

 

I have seen the recurrent note of fans preferring the voices to be from original cast.....I started raising this note with the studio yesterday....is this a consistent fan note? Cullen and Walker have been mentioned.....others that are fan faves?

 

Voices/Location

Re: Voice -Thanks for the responses thus far.....will be sure to make sure Bay and studios are well aware of the importance of this sentiment...

 

Re:Locations - thanks for info and offers - have staff here to look into all this....locations must (obviously) fit the script needs so will update this when I know more....

 

Thanks for all the feedback so.....really appreciate it and can tell how important this issue is.......will convey this end....

 

All of the above in response to an insanely enthusiastic HELL YEAH as regards to Cullen and Welker.

i would rather see big hollywood names in the roles....  Better for the movie's budget/marketing and better product for us, JMO of course.

 

Besides, all of the voices are probably going to be synthisized somewhat for that robotic effect so they can get some schmo with a deep voice (clooney, Bana, etc) and make him recognizable as the actor but synthed up enough to sound like optimus.

 

not that i didn't have a joygasm when cullen did the voice over ads for TF armada before it started airing.

i would rather see big hollywood names in the roles....  Better for the movie's budget/marketing and better product for us, JMO of course.

 

Besides, all of the voices are probably going to be synthisized somewhat for that robotic effect so they can get some schmo with a deep voice (clooney, Bana, etc) and make him recognizable as the actor but synthed up enough to sound like optimus.

 

not that i didn't have a joygasm when cullen did the voice over ads for TF armada before it started airing.

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Big Hollywood names for the voice acting roles? Or just in general?

 

IMO whenever people try to draw an audience via celebrity voiceovers (viz. just about anything done by any non-Pixar animation studio), it doesn't work. I fully agree with the sentiment that if the audience won't care either way, and if it pleases the fans, and if it won't destroy the movie to do so, then why not use Cullen and Welker?

 

Plus IMO it's best to have "unrecognizable" voices for the 'bots. As an example, Peter Jackson had originally wanted to cast David Bowie as Elrond in LotR. Now he would have been totally perfect for the part, but the only problem is that he's David Bowie and there's no way you could have him onscreen without totally ripping people out of the movie. I think the same applies here.

Big Hollywood names for the voice acting roles? Or just in general?

 

IMO whenever people try to draw an audience via celebrity voiceovers (viz. just about anything done by any non-Pixar animation studio), it doesn't work. I fully agree with the sentiment that if the audience won't care either way, and if it pleases the fans, and if it won't destroy the movie to do so, then why not use Cullen and Welker?

 

Plus IMO it's best to have "unrecognizable" voices for the 'bots. As an example, Peter Jackson had originally wanted to cast David Bowie as Elrond in LotR. Now he would have been totally perfect for the part, but the only problem is that he's David Bowie and there's no way you could have him onscreen without totally ripping people out of the movie. I think the same applies here.

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and Sean "the goonies" astin didn't? Every time he gave Frodo a perk up speach i just kept hearing, "It's our time, down here" :tflaugh.  I think you'd be amazed at how many hollywood actors do voice overs for cartoons these days and you wouldn't even have known it if you hadn't read the credits.  Or maybe you do know but in either case, i think the general public will care simply because they've come to expect it.

Remember, they're talking about sequels as well. Just from a logical and financial point of view, hiring "no names" makes much more sense...

i would rather see big hollywood names in the roles....  Better for the movie's budget/marketing and better product for us, JMO of course.

 

Besides, all of the voices are probably going to be synthisized somewhat for that robotic effect so they can get some schmo with a deep voice (clooney, Bana, etc) and make him recognizable as the actor but synthed up enough to sound like optimus.

 

not that i didn't have a joygasm when cullen did the voice over ads for TF armada before it started airing.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Big Hollywood names for the voice acting roles? Or just in general?

 

IMO whenever people try to draw an audience via celebrity voiceovers (viz. just about anything done by any non-Pixar animation studio), it doesn't work. I fully agree with the sentiment that if the audience won't care either way, and if it pleases the fans, and if it won't destroy the movie to do so, then why not use Cullen and Welker?

 

Plus IMO it's best to have "unrecognizable" voices for the 'bots. As an example, Peter Jackson had originally wanted to cast David Bowie as Elrond in LotR. Now he would have been totally perfect for the part, but the only problem is that he's David Bowie and there's no way you could have him onscreen without totally ripping people out of the movie. I think the same applies here.

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If there are going to be big-named celebrities in the movie, they should be live actors and not the voices. Pixar has already proven that you don't need big names to get box office hits as voice actors. Compare Finding Nemo to Shark Tale, I don't think people care as much as Will Smith being in the lead, then having a great story and memorable characters.

 

Still, I believe that it would be very profitable to have a central human leads played by famous actors and actresses, and give memorable personalities and voices for the Transformers. Couple that with a great story that would appeal to the masses of all ages and aggressive marketing, and you have a box office hit.

 

If they're going to hire "no names" for the lead human roles, they have to really do good casting calls and actors who are so good that they would remain attached to the role for years and loved by many. The Spider-Man and X-Men movies have proved that it is possible, and hopefully Superman Returns.

Big Hollywood names for the voice acting roles? Or just in general?

 

IMO whenever people try to draw an audience via celebrity voiceovers (viz. just about anything done by any non-Pixar animation studio), it doesn't work. I fully agree with the sentiment that if the audience won't care either way, and if it pleases the fans, and if it won't destroy the movie to do so, then why not use Cullen and Welker?

 

Plus IMO it's best to have "unrecognizable" voices for the 'bots. As an example, Peter Jackson had originally wanted to cast David Bowie as Elrond in LotR. Now he would have been totally perfect for the part, but the only problem is that he's David Bowie and there's no way you could have him onscreen without totally ripping people out of the movie. I think the same applies here.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

and Sean "the goonies" astin didn't? Every time he gave Frodo a perk up speach i just kept hearing, "It's our time, down here" :tflaugh.  I think you'd be amazed at how many hollywood actors do voice overs for cartoons these days and you wouldn't even have known it if you hadn't read the credits.  Or maybe you do know but in either case, i think the general public will care simply because they've come to expect it.

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I do know about film actors doing voiceovers for cartoons etc. The thing is, in most cases the TV cartoon people cast them because they have great voices. There's no marketing advantage to having a big name film actor in your cartoon, unlike with animated movies. So you can have people like Stockard Channing in Batman EXTREEEEM Beyond, for example, and nobody's the wiser. Why don't people notice? Because she's right for the part and she disappears into it. I don't have any problem with this at all. The problem for me is when marketing trumps good casting sense and you end up with a film like "Sinbad" that has Brad Pitt, Michelle Pfeiffer, and Catherine Zeta-Jones in it, despite the fact that none of them are particularly well-known for having distinctive voices.

 

And no, I didn't think of the Goonies whenever I saw Sam.... but then I didn't really grow up on that movie.

 

Here's the thing; we already know that the primary focus of the TF film is going to be the human actors. So that's where I would expect to see the big names. And I also think of The Incredibles -- Craig T. Nelson as the main character? When has he ever done a movie? But his voice was perfect for the part. (Not to mention the daughter, whose voice was done by some random NPR commentator.) And the movie made an assload of money, just by being a good movie.

Not that that really applies. I'd hardly class the cast of Spider-man as huge stars, but the movies have been incredibly successful. With Transformers I think the same applies, up to a point.

 

It may be a necessary evil to have celebs in voice roles, but I think Prime and Megatron should be immune to that.

 

Either way, even if you DON'T believe that Cullen and Welker should necessarily reprise their roles, you'd have to be blind not to see that the majority of people who've offered an opinion on the matter DO.

 

It's about the only thing I've ever seen the majority of the fandom agree on and as such, I really hope it's heeded.