Frank Welker

Sorry I've been away so long, everybody.

Before I get into this week's actor, I'd like to take this opportunity to let you all know that I'm planning to start doing reviews of material that features voice over work. In my reviews, I'll talk about the quality of the piece and the voice actors' performances. For now, though, check out this week's actor.

Frank Welker is a veteran voice actor, and at one time, the films he appeared in grossed higher than those of any other actor. This lasted from 1980 until 2011. After that, Samuel L. Jackson's films grossed the highest.

Welker is known for providing voices for many animated characters. Some examples were Megatron from the 1980s Transformers cartoon, in which he voiced the character opposite Peter Cullen's Optimus Prime. He has been the voice of the Scooby-Doo franchise's Fred Jones since 1969, and took over as the voice of the title character in 2002. In fact, a great number off Welker's credits come from Hanna-Barbera cartoons. In Super Friends, he voiced the two sidekicks Marvin White and his pet Wonder Dog. He also voiced the titular roles of Jabberjaw and Dynomutt, Dog Wonder. In the later Super Friends cartoons, Welker lent his voice to the characters of Kalibak, Darkseid and Mr. Mxyzptlk (pronounce that as you will).

Megatron from Transformers:

Since 2005, he has also been the voice of the cat Garfield in several different pieces of Garfield media.

Garfield:

Welker's other roles include that of Doctor Claw from the Inspector Gadget cartoons, Malebolgia in the 1997 Spawn movie.

Despite the wide range of speaking roles in his repertoire, Welker is also known for providing voices for a lot of characters who lack the ability to talk.

For example, he has provided vocal effects to the monkey Abu from Aladdin, the dog Toby from The Great Mouse Detective, Nibbler from Futurama, Santa's Little Helper from The Simpsons, and even the gopher from the second Caddyshack movie.

Frank Welker as Megatron from the 1980s Transformers cartoon:

Apart from his role of Megatron, Welker voiced several other Decepticons in the original Transformers series, including Soundwave, Skywarp, Mixmaster, Ratbat, Ravage, Frenzy, Rumble, Buzzsaw and Laserbeak. He also voiced a small number of Autobots: Sludge, Mirage, Chromedome and Trailbreaker.

While not being able to reprise his role in the live-action Transformers movies, Welker was able to play the Decepticon Soundwave in the second and third movies, using the same style of voice which he provided to such villains as Doctor Claw from Inspector Gadget. He was also given the roles of Shockwave and Barricade in the third movie, and has since voiced Megatron in the animated series, Transformers: Prime.

There can't be any doubt in our minds the Welker loves what he does. One thing I would love to see is him voicing Megatron in one of the live-action Transformers movies, which I realize is a long shot now, but if Peter Cullen was good enough to play Optimus in the movies, why can't Welker play his part? I was, however, happy when they let him play a couple of the movies' Decepticons.

Overall, I think most would agree that Welker has a great villain voice. It would be interesting to see him play more lead villains in newer productions. The shows Adventure Time and Regular Show would certainly benefit from a diabolical villain with Welker's voice.

If nothing else, I think this entry can serve as a reminder of the credit Welker is due for a lot of the animal sounds we enjoy hearing in our favorite animated productions. If you had told me when I was 9 that Abu from Aladdin was Megatron, I would have said you were out of your mind, but that just goes to show you how good Welker is at what he does.