I recently had the privilege to pose a number of questions to the inimitable Frank Welker.  While you may not know his name, you should know his voice.  In his continuing 45-year acting/voice-acting career, Welker’s voice has brought Scooby-Doo’s Fred Jones, Transformer’s Megatron and countless other characters to life.  Welker is still going strong, voicing multiple characters in Transformers Prime, the title role in The Garfield Show, plus video games, movie work and more.

In this recent interview with Welker, he talked about the changing landscape of the voice acting world over the years, how much time he spends in the studio, which voices give him the most trouble and which roles he’d like to see revisited.  He also commented on the recent remarks by Hugo Weaving, who voiced Megatron in Michael Bay’s Transformers movies. Welker also reflects on his long-time working relationship with Peter Cullen, the on-going voice of Optimus Prime.  Hit the jump for the interview.

Last week, we discussed the potential of a feature adaptation of Disney’s Gargoyles, a dark and Gothic animated serial from the mid-1990s. There was a good amount of support for the idea and more than a fair share of nostalgia for the property.  To encourage more discussion in the comments, feel free to let us know if you think a particular adaptation is a good idea and why, who should star in the major roles and who is fit to sit in the director’s chair.  This week, we’ll set sail for the distant waterworld of Mer in search of the lost Thirteen Treasures of Rule.  If you don’t know what I’m talking about, hit the jump to find out.  Hollywood! Adapt this: The Pirates of Dark Water.

We’re currently in a time when Hollywood seems more likely to revamp, reboot, remake or re-adapt an already established property than to take a chance on something wholly original.  Financially, this makes sense as the general public is already aware of the franchise in question and may be more likely to go see a new iteration out of a sense of nostalgia or plain old curiosity.  We’ve seen Hollywood continually mine our rich, fertile and imaginative childhoods as a source of box office fodder (Transformers, G.I. Joe, Teenage Mutant/Alien Ninja Turtles) and that’s not likely to stop any time soon.  So I’m here to take the initiative and offer up some forgotten franchises, some lesser-known vintage properties and some downright obscure media to sacrifice to the box office gods.  Our initial feature will plead the case for a re-imagining of one of my favorite mid-90s animated shows and you can read it after the jump.  Hollywood! Adapt This: Disney’s Gargoyles.  

They had me at hello. Okay, maybe that isn’t quite right.  They didn’t have me at hello, as this is a DVD release and not a Cameron Crowe film.  But the sentiment is right on.  I love the Transformers.  And not the G2, or beast machines, or the silly animee style series.  I’m talking G1 baby. Transformers the Complete First Season 25^th Anniversary edition is it!  I’m talking voiced by Peter Freaking Cullen, Frank Damn Welker and Chris bloody Latta!  This was my favorite cartoon as a kid.  And seeing a beautiful collection like this kind of makes me salivate.  More after the jump:

If you’re an old school “Transformers” fan, you know the names Peter Cullen and Frank Welker. That’s because Peter Cullen is the voice of Optimus Prime, and Frank Welker is the original voice of Megatron. But even though you might be an old school fan, I’m sure many of you have never seen what they look like and have never seen them record their dialogue.

So when Activision sent over a short video showing these two recoding their lines for the new “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” video game, I figured it was worth posting. Also, you can see them talk about the advances in video game technology. It’s kind of funny…

Take a look after the jump.