We’ve sadly lost a lot of popular icons within the span
of seemingly days and the losses aren’t getting any easier. While the loss of Tim Curry and Dolly Parton
still feels unreal, for me, the most heart wrenching departure of a famous and
beloved human being is still Peter Cullen.
For many of us, he is forever immortalized as the voice of one of the
greatest heroes in science fiction: Optimus Prime, leader of the Autobots in
the Transformers franchise. But for those of us who didn’t grow up with his
awesomeness as a voice actor in the 80s, the Toonami age saw Cullen’s vocal talents
brought to a whole new generation.
Alongside Steve Blum’s Tom, Cullen provided the hype for virtually every
single show on Toonami’s line up in dozens of promos across Toonami’s ongoing
lifespan. It’s just not going to be the
same hearing him announce the arrival of a new title or remind us when an
awesome show like Bleach or Naruto is coming up next. Heck, how many Anime did Cullen bring to our
attention in the same way he narrarated the epic opening for Voltron? Well today that’s how I’m going to honor a
hero whose loss did as much a number on me as losing Leonard Nimoy. Today on Top 5 Wednesday, we honor the voice
of multiple generations with the Top 5 Best Peter Cullen Toonami Promos. Rest well in The Matrix old friend, Til all
are one.
Summer 2000 saw Tenchi Masaki and his intergalactic
escapades arrive on Toonami and the trailer had Peter Cullen announce it to the
world.
What starts with the air of sage
wisdom discussing Tenchi’s destiny and the many changes coming to his life
turns very lighthearted when Cullen mentions “oh yeah and he’s got a bunch of
hot Alien girls vying for his attention.”
It’s the perfect combo of epic space adventure with a dash of humor as
Cullen reminds us that “The universe needs a new hero.
Tenchi just needs…some peace and quiet.
Love stinks.”
Better believe this got us all hyped for Toonami’s newest hero living
out the fantasy we all wanted to live, and still kind of do.
#4-Rurouni Kenshin
Peter Cullen’s voice really does sound like it could
narrarate every moment in the history books and not only sound awesome, but
like he’d witnessed it all himself.
Case
in point, the way he speaks of the Bakumatsu and Kenshin’s rise as Battosai the
Manslayer just sucks you right in. In such a short time he conveys the bloody
tragedy of Kenshin’s past and his vow to never kill again, though as he puts it
“Old memoires seldom fade and old habits die hard.”
Much like his famous opener for Voltron, Cullen’s
description could be used as a custom US intro for Rurouni Kenshin if it was
ever an option.
I was already curious
from seeing this title on Anime VHS shelves but this got me psyched to check
out Rurouni Kenshin properly when it finally dropped on Toonami.
#3- Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo
Not every show requires a serious promo.
And sometimes, there are even some premises
even the greatest have a hard time selling, and that’s kind of the point with
this one.
I did check out one episode of
Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo on Toonami and understood less coming out of it than I did
going in.
Peter Cullen gives the same
kind of experience trying to detail what this show is about before eventually
surrendering to “Yeah this ones just weird.”
The show might not be my cup of tea but damn if this one doesn’t feel
like one of Cullen’s more fun promo jobs.
Plus, the man invokes Issac Hayes’ legendary lyrics to the Theme from
Shaft, “He’s a complicated man.
But no
one understands him but his woman,” before adding, “Actually, I don’t think
anyone understands him.”
#2-Advanced Robotics
Back in the early 2000’s when Toonami was doing music
videos, they always felt like major events.
One of my personal favs is one with original narraration from Cullen in
addition to all the audio from various shows.
Across multiple titles like Gundam Wing, Outlaw Star, Blue Submarine
No.6 and even Dragon Ball Z, Cullen describes the rise of the machines like a
prophet predicting the end times.
And
what’s scarier and impressive, you almost believe him with how serious he makes
it all sound.
Match it with perfect
music and an abundance of awesome action bits and you’ve got one of Toonami’s finest
pieces of music ever crafted.
#1-Gundam Wing
While the blink and youll miss it teaser holds a special
place in my heart as my very first glimpse of Gundam ever, I think we can all
agree this is the trailer that really put Gundam Wing on the map for all of
us.
His brief description of the setting
got us all curious but when the Gundams were presented, you can feel the pick
up in his voice, like THIS is what you’ve all been waiting for.
“These pilots will shake the foundations of
the Alliance and change the course of history…if they can stay alive.”
Hearing that mixed to Gundams kicking ass,
how could you not be excited.
But for
me, it was the tail end that got me.
Peter Cullen’s delivery of this one line is like Nick Fury at the end of
Iron Man heralding the arrival of the MCU, “From the Gundam Universe, a new
chapter in one of the greatest Anime sagas of all time.”
It might not have registered at the time, but
Peter Cullen was telling us all that we had just stepped into a much larger
universe, we just didn’t know it yet.
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