A Legendary Singer Influenced Both Megatron & The Cave Of Wonders From Disney's Aladdin
Frank Welker is one of the highest-grossing actors of all time. He has appeared in some of the biggest blockbusters ever which have, collectively, earned over $17 billion. Children everywhere can likely recognize Welker's voice on the spot, as he played Freddy in the original "Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!" TV series, a role he continued to play until the present day. He also eventually took over playing Shaggy when Casey Kasem passed away in 2014.
Welker has also played DynoMutt, Jabberjaw, Mr. Mxyzptlk, Bogg, Flooky, Spike, Tyke, Droopy, Slick Wolf, Sporticus XI, Hefty Smurf, Clockwork Smurf, Poet Smurf, Chomp Chomp, Morris, Adult Pac-Baby, Brain, Dr. Claw, M.A.D. Cat, Donkey Kong Junior, Q*Mungus, Coilee, Ugg, Wrongway, Sam Slick, Blades, Chromedome, Frenzy, Groove, Mirage, Mixmaster, Ratbat, Ravage, Rumble, Sharkticon, Skywarp, Sludge, Soundwave, Superion, Sweep, Trailbreaker, Wreck-Gar, Orbitty, Richard Rocketeer, Copperhead, Flash, Freedom, Junkyard, Polly, Short-Fuse, Timber, Torch, Wild Bill, Terry, Lunex, Zorg, Skulk, Trancula, Raplor, Slimer, Ray Stantz, Samhaine, The Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man, The Bogeyman, and we just arrived at 1986. He's still working today.
If you've heard an animal or a creature make a sound in a movie, it's likely that Welker provided the vocalizations. He was the Gremlins, he was the monkey in "Raiders of the Lost Ark," he was Cujo. He played the aliens in "Independence Day" and a parrot in "Deep Blue Sea." In the American dub of "My Neighbor Tororo," he was both Totoro and the Catbus. He's played cats, bats, bunnies, and Satan.
For the purposes of this article, Welker also played the evil Decepticon Megatron in "Transformers" and the living Cave of Wonders in the 1992 film "Aladdin." Those roles in particular — as Welker said at the 2018 Transformers Con — saw him trying out his very best Barry White impersonation.
Can't get enough of your love, Megatron
Many professional voice actors will likely have a whole catalog of celebrities they can accurately impersonate. As such, a lot of their more outlandish characters are likely combinations of two random voices culled from their vast mental library. Welker, as it happens, loved — and was a little frightened by — the deep-voiced romantic stylings of Grammy-winning soul legend Barry White.
"I have told the story before but when I was trying to come up with a voice for Megatron, I had this deep voice that I played with. It was actually started as an impression of Barry White. Probably a lot of you don't know who Barry White is. He was the singer of love. And he used to sound kind of [very deep] I love ya, baby. I want ya, baby. I need you, baby. [Welker voice] And it was such a big powerful, funny voice to me. Because I was just a kid saying 'Boy, that guy is funny! And scary too!' So I loved that voice and I started kind of fiddling with it."
Welker's "fiddling" with Barry White led his larynx into a throaty, gravelly territory that the actor found very handy. His Barry White impersonation, via a James Bond villain, became the basis for the nefarious Doctor Claw from "Inspector Gadget." He said"
"I used it for also for Doctor Claw. [Growling] 'I'll get you, Gadget, if it's the last thing I do!' And in a couple of other features, Disney features. The Cave of Wonders. [Growling] 'He who enters the Cave of Wonders, beware.'"
The Cave of Wonders, some may recall, was the giant living tiger-shaped edifice in the desert that would magically form out of the sand when summoned in "Aladdin."
Barry White meets Peter Cullen
It's a bit odd that Welker would be asked to voice so many deep-voiced characters as he himself has a naturally high-pitched voice and is more adept at playing fast-talking, nasal-voiced figures. For the evil Decepticon robot Megatron, Welker took his Barry White voice and added in some qualities he felt he was borrowing from his "Transformers" co-star Peter Cullen, the voice of Optimus Prime. He also inserted an eerie additional vocal quality that is rarely heard outside of the highlands north of Mongolia. He said:
"When I was trying to think of something different for Megatron — because I know there are other actors with low voices, Peter Cullen — but there was a thing that I did that I called my 'Cave Voice.' I'm trying to do maybe eleven different sounds at the same time."
Welker then unleashed an impressive noise that sounded like electronic Tuvan throat singing.
"I take that and put it with [deep] this, and [Megatron] 'I am Megatron!'"
The transcription does not do it justice. Welker's throat is a Cave of Wonders unto itself.
Welker, as noted above, played multiple characters on "Transformers," many of which he reprised for the live-action "Transformers" feature films. In the early chapters of that particular continuity, Hugo Weaving played the voice of Megatron, and the filmmakers used computers and mixing equipment to distort his voice. When Welker returned to the role of Megatron in "Transformers: The Last Knight," less processing was apparently required.