A Line That Shouldn’t Have Been Crossed
What. The. FRAG, Hasbro?!
Within the past year, it has come to my attention that Hasbro and Paramount are collaborating on a new Transformers series, this one dubiously dubbed Transformers: EarthSpark. While most of my friends - and perhaps even my followers - on this site are aware that I’m a huge fan of the franchise, I have actually lost severe interest in the more recent adaptations for the Transformers. The reason for this, as discussed here, is that Hasbro themselves have taken to hiring non-union voice actors for the productions.
Why is this a problem, you might ask? The problem resides in that two of these men in particular, Peter Cullen and Frank Welker, who are not only the sole reason the Transformers franchise has survived the past almost forty decades, are still INVESTED in their characters. They continue to appear at conventions, they still do the voices for their characters, and have repeatedly expressed a desire to continue to play Optimus Prime and Megatron respectively.
But Hasbro, in their obscene greed, vanity, and hubris, have thrown dirt in their faces for almost five years by hiring low-level talent from up in New York. These people, whom the shallow company has procured for the last two abominable animated projects that somehow passed as television shows, are outside the Screen Actors Guild, which means they are free to pick up any work for a low price, often at half the talent of the SAG voice actors. By seeking these people out, Hasbro is telling Mr. Cullen and Mr. Welker that they’re not worth the paycheck and are easily replaced, not to mention insulting their acting abilities.
But that’s not the problem for EarthSpark. Below is a link to the Wikipedia article for this travesty of media entertainment:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transformers:_EarthSpark
If you stuck around long enough to read that page, you may have noticed some familiar names. That’s because these people are actually from the SAG. By selecting this group of people, Hasbro’s Freudian Excuse to “save money” falls completely flat on its repugnant face because these actors are as expensive as any other name in Hollywood. And if they have the gall to use the above financial defense, then how in the Pits of Kaon are they able to afford Sandor “the Hound” Clegane from Game of Thrones fame, and not longtime VA Frank Welker for the Leader of the Decepticons himself?
Hasbro has pulled a lot of BS the past few years. Heck, they were even doing it when the original Transformers film came out in 1987 when they first killed Optimus, as it was never in the original script.
But this? This is an entirely new level of underhandedness. It’s cheap, it’s dirty, it’s despicable, and downright disrespectful. It’s disrespectful to Peter Cullen and Frank Welker; it’s disrespectful to Mr. Cullen’s late elder brother Larry, who inspired Optimus’ voice; it’s disrespectful to the characters, lore, and history; and more to the point, it’s disrespectful to me and every other fan of the Transformers. Because by telling Mr. Cullen and Mr. Welker that they’re old news and unimportant, they’re telling me and everyone in the fandom that we don’t matter, and that we must move on for “progress”.
Well, Hasbro, you conniving creature that would make a fox turn its nose up in disgust, I’m telling you that you’re a bunch of selfish, greedy backstabbers who have lost any lingering support that I might have had for your treacherous company. I am done with your ideas for Transformers, G.I. Joe, and all of your other properties, because you are denying me and the men who have given me nothing but joy for years the remaining opportunities to tell more stories with the characters. And considering that you still haven’t given Mr. Cullen a standalone Optimus film, which, in his own words, “...[I] want to do before I’m [Peter Cullen] gone”, I will most certainly not be supporting you. Because we all know that neither him nor Mr. Welker is getting any younger, as much as it pains me to say it, and by taking these chances away from two wonderful men who are so kind to their fans, you are showing just how detestable you really are.
I refuse to have anything to do with the support of this or any other product Hasbro churns out in the coming years. To anyone who feels the same way, please, I beg of you, boycott this monstrosity and anything else of Hasbro’s. The sooner Hasbro’s budget is hit, the sooner they’ll get the message that our voice tips the balance in the flow of entertainment. Mr. Cullen and Mr. Welker have spent decades helping us through any trial and tribulation we’ve faced, regardless of how large or small it was. By doing this, we can pay back the hours they spent making us happy, and maybe, just maybe, we’ll be able to get them another series before their time is up.
