Оптимус Праймын дүрээр олон арван жилийн турш шүтэн бишрэгчдийн хайрыг татсан жүжигчин Питер Каллен ертөнцийн мөнх бусыг үзүүлэв.
Питер Каллен нь 1984 оноос хойш Transformers франчайзын салшгүй хэсэг байж, Оптимус Праймын дүрд дуу оруулан олон үеийн үзэгчдийн сэтгэлд хоногшсон билээ. Тэрээр сүүлд Amazon Prime Video-ийн Invincible цувралд Таэдусын дүрийг бүтээсэн юм. Хэдийгээр 1986 онд Оптимус Праймын анхны үхэл тохиож байсан ч Каллен тус дүрийг олон тооны телевизийн цуврал, кино болон тоглоомуудад үргэлжлүүлэн бүтээсээр ирсэн түүхтэй.
Майкл Бэйгийн найруулсан кинонуудад Оптимус Праймын дүр илүү ширүүн, харгис тал руугаа эргэсэн нь үзэгчдийн дунд маргаан дагуулдаг ч Каллений дуу хоолойн чадвар нь тус дүрийг өвөрмөц болгож чадсан юм. Paramount студийн зүгээс түүнийг хүссэн хугацаагаараа Оптимус Праймын дүрийг бүтээхийг дэмжиж ирсэн бөгөөд тэрээр энэ дүрдээ маш их хайртай байв.
Цаашид Transformers цувралыг үргэлжлүүлэхэд дараагийн дуу оруулагчид хүндхэн сорилт тулгарах нь ойлгомжтой байна. Өмнө нь Гарри Чалк, Дэвид Кэй нар тус дүрийг бүтээж байсан бол саяхан Transformers One кинонд Крис Хемсворт залуу Оптимус Праймд дуу оруулж, аажмаар Каллений хэв маягт ойртсон өвөрмөц хувилбарыг үзүүлсэн билээ. Питер Калленийг Бэтмений дүрээр Кевин Конрой үүрд дурсагддаг шиг шүтэн бишрэгчид нь хэзээ ч мартахгүй.
Дэлгэрэнгүй эх сурвалжийг харах
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This was a week full of surprising celebrity deaths, with Peter Cullen among those who passed. Though his most recent role was on Prime Video’s Invincible as Thaedus, he famously voiced Optimus Prime for Transformers.
Cullen was a constant for the Hasbro franchise, going all the way back to the original 1984 series and its movie to various TV shows and games. The Autobot leader has had a hold on fans ever since his first death in 1986, but for those of a younger demographic, Michael Bay’s movies were likely their intro or foundation for the character. And that’s very funny, because the live-action Optimus Prime is a full-on psychopath. From the first movie to the reboot timeline, he’s constantly on one: he mutilates his enemies (and beats them with their own limbs), viciously executes them when he gets the chance, and always makes it clear he is not the one to mess with.
Optimus’ gradual distaste for humanity’s nonsense makes his end-of-movie monologues hilariously out of step with what’s onscreen, and in another world, it feels like another filmmaker would give him a proper villain arc. At a time when Superman was always under fire for not being his most well-known, hopeful self, live-action Optimus notably avoided catching the same ongoing, loud flak, despite the Transformers movies’ continued success. Maybe Cullen’s ability to bring robotic gravitas was just that good, or maybe it was how focused Optimus’ ire was. He found friends in Sam and Cade while specifically hating government authority and tech giants degrading the corpses of his people, letting him be righteously violent in a way the films’ actual villains couldn’t.
However true that actually is, Cullen clearly loved playing Optimus, something Paramount was content to just let him do for as long as he wanted. If and when the studio gets anotherTransformersmovie started up, and provided there’s no digital necromancy at play, whoever’s up next in the booth has some big shoes to fill. It won’t be an impossible feat—Garry Chalk and David Kaye voiced Prime in past cartoons without trying to imitate Cullen. More recently, Transformers Onesaw Chris Hemsworth voice a young Optimus, with his voice gradually shifting to a Cullen-like register over the course of that film.
It’s a subtle, but impressive bit of voice work that likely would’ve made for a compelling evolution had One been big enough to warrant a sequel, and time will tell whether he made enough of an impression to get another go at the role when the time comes.Whatever actor takes up that task, it’s safe to say no one will be forgetting Cullen anytime soon. Like how Kevin Conroy is always Batman no matter who picks up the torch alongside or after him, the same’s true here. Hopefully the next full-time Optimus gets a fair shake to make the role their own, as fans still hold the most famous voice in their hearts.
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